Jason woke up the day of the freshman dance feeling better than he had in weeks. For the past three days straight, he had managed to hold fast to his commitments of self-improvement. He had exercised twice, spending one day on his upper body, resting the next day, and then subsequently exhausting his lower body. The uptick of physical activity of course meant that his appetite had increased as well -- Jason was quite happy to remind himself that he had eaten a full meal, three times a day, for the past three days. He rolled out of bed, pulled the scale out from under his bed with his toes, and weighed himself. 167.2.
"There we go," he said out loud, nodding a little smugly to himself. "That's more like it."
He had started to gain back the weight he had lost during his weeks of floundering. And not only had he become more physically vigorous, but he had started regularly attending his classes as well, even going so far as to verbally participate in them. He had taken a quiz in his Intro to Biology class (which Eve had tested out of because of her AP scores), and even though he hadn't quite managed an "A," his 88 was significantly higher than the class average of 74. As icing on the academic cake, Jason had even decided to join a biology study group, which consisted of himself, Ben from down the hall, and several other people who had clearly shown, by their higher grades and eager participation in class, that they were the driven ones, the cream of the intellectual crop.
At least, that's how Jason was choosing to see it all. In the past few days he had been almost high on the idea of rising to the occasion, meeting the challenge, stepping up to the plate, and any other vague cliche he could think of. In reality, he subconsciously knew that all of his behavior was guided by one purpose: to reassure himself that Eve was not outgrowing him, moving beyond him, or becoming too much for him. When he really thought about it, Jason was well aware that everything he was doing was purely reactionary and imitative -- nothing was done because of intrinsic ambition or motivation. He was working out and eating more because he wanted to meet Eve in the middle, since that's exactly what she was doing; he was going to class regularly, participating, and studying hard because he knew that Eve was doing the same; he had joined the biology study group because, in his mind, it served as a kind of counterbalance to all the time and effort that Eve put into her math club. So even though his behavior had the appearance of self-motivation and rigor, it was all about Eve, at its core.
But Jason just decided not to think about it that way. So what if he was doing all of this to impress Eve, to keep pace with her, to make sure that she didn't feel like she was outgrowing him? Wasn't it a perfectly valid thing, to want to keep her? And anyway, as his good habits formed, he would start to do all of these things for their own sake, and not to prevent the collapse of his relationship with an increasingly confident, driven, and growing young woman.
Jason's phone buzzed on his nightstand, setting his heart aflutter. He was thrilled to see a message from Eve:
"Heya stud! Excited for the dance tonight?? Wanna get some breakfast?"
Jason felt almost too happy to receive a message like this -- it showed how much things had changed, even just in the past few days. Before, it had always been Jason texting Eve, asking to do things. And she had often been busy with homework, or math club, or exercise. But now, she was the one texting him!
Jason was about to quickly reply back with an enthusiastic "Yes!!" when he suddenly caught himself. What was he doing?! Of course he wanted to get breakfast with Eve, and maybe even spend the whole day with her before the dance later that evening, but he realized with a start that he had an opportunity right here...an opportunity to show Eve that he wasn't just sitting there, waiting for her to text him...an opportunity to show her that he was just as busy as she was, just as preoccupied with his own ambitions and interests. Her choosing to text him was the perfect chance to nonchalantly show how engaged, how serious, how adult he was.
"Aw, babe, I'd love to," Jason replied, feeling a strange elation as his fingers typed, "But I've got a biology study group to go to -- big test next week! I'll hit you up later this afternoon! <3 <3"
His finger hovered for an instant over his phone, and then he sent the message. The strange exhilaration swelled within him, even as he actively pushed down the genuine sadness he felt in denying himself time with his favorite person. A flash of uncanny guilt passed through him, its immediate freshness flaring for a moment on his conscience. He had just lied to her. It was 9 in the morning. Of course there was no biology study group at this hour...on a Saturday!? And yet, this odd feeling lasted only a moment, since Eve had replied back immediately.
"Oh wow! This early? You guys are dedicated, haha. Ok, let me know when you can hang out! Can't wait for tonight!!"
Jason's swagger returned. So what if there wasn't a study group happening right now? He had already set it all in motion -- he would just conjure one up on the spot. He'd actually take advantage of this opportunity to study...and in the morning on the weekend, no less.
'Keep it up, Jason, just keep it up,' he told himself contentedly as he walked down the hall a few minutes later. He'd just knock on Ben's door -- he was usually up early, anyway. And the two of them could have an impromptu little study session.
"Yeah?" came Ben's deep voice a moment later, after Jason knocked. It sounded a little thick with sleep, and Jason suddenly grew worried that he had woken him up.
"H-Hey Ben, it's me, Jason! Uhh...I hope I'm not waking you up!" Jason liked Ben a lot -- he was a really smart, chill, down-to-earth guy, who, because of his immense size, didn't really have to tolerate any shit from anyone else. Jason wasn't afraid of him by any means, but in this moment, he suddenly became a little afraid that Ben would be irritated with him for wanting to study biology so early on the weekend. He heard some shifting behind the door, and the sound of two big feet plopping down on the floor, approaching the door. Jason took a step back, his heart suddenly beating quite fast.
The door opened, and Ben filled the space the door had previously occupied -- all of it. He ducked his shaggy head down a little, so he could see Jason under the doorframe, and sleepily held his big arms up, leaning them heavily on the doorframe.
"Nah, you didn't wake me up," said Ben, blinking his beady eyes down at Jason and giving him an almost-pained smile. "I've been lying in bed awake for the past couple hours."
"Oh! Are...are you ok?" asked Jason.
"Haha! I'm fine," chucked Ben, shaking his head self-deprecatingly. "Just had a bit too much to drink last night is all."
"Oh...haha, well, I know how that is!" laughed Jason, staring up at the giant man. Ben was just over an entire foot taller than Jason, which meant that, even as Ben was leaning slightly in the doorway, he was still staring up at Ben's shoulders; the top of Jason's head didn't even come up to his neck.
"So what's up?" asked Ben, pivoting his great hairy head down slightly at Jason.
"Oh...uhh...well...haha, you're probably gonna say no, since, well, yeah...but, uh, I was just...just wondering if you'd wanna join me for a little biology review? Since...you know...we have that test next week...?"
Jason suddenly felt foolish, and immediately felt like he was acting bizarrely. Ben blinked once down at him, as if confirming Jason's perception. Then his bushy black eyebrows went up.
"This early?"
