Jeremy was quite taken aback by Alex’s sudden tirade. He never expected the mild mannered youth to get pissed off at him so quickly. I was only goofing around, he wanted to say, but stayed quiet instead. There wasn’t any sense in upsetting Alex further by saying the wrong thing.
Since Jeremy didn’t have any real friends on this raking mission, he’d hate to see Alex start ignoring him too. Although he had no desire to get closer to Cas or Rowan’s newest boy toy, he had hoped to rekindle his friendship with the elf. It sure didn’t look like he’d get his wish anytime soon. At least not while Soran’s around. Thinking about the way the blonde jerk weaseled his way into Rowan’s life ignited his anger again. He did his best to force down his hostile feelings, and focused his complete attention on what Alex said to him.
“I will not teach anyone who will play around and in so doing endanger his life, my life and the lifes of our companions or anyone else for that matter.”
Jeremy drew in a deep breath and stared at the ground like he did so many times in the past while his uncle Paul lectured him. When his parents were alive he never got preached to or punished because, even though he was a bit spoiled, he’d always been a well-behaved child. Hanging around with gangs, and getting involved with drugs after they died had changed all that.
The shrink his uncle made him talk claimed his lousy attitude stemmed from self-loathing. Supposedly, he felt guilty about not being on that plane with his parents and that left him with an unconscious death wish. The stupid shrink also assumed he couldn’t get too close to anyone anymore for fear of losing them and being left alone again. Hoping to prove the doctor wrong, he opened himself up to his uncle, and they finally forged a close relationship. And now he’s gone from my life too.
“I also suggest you give what I’ve said some very serious thought and consideration and decide if you really truly want to learn archery and are willing to do what I ask in the way of teaching you. When you have decided exactly what you want and are willing to do then come speak to me be it one way or the other.”
He watched Alex set the bow down at his feet before going off to retrieve the arrows. Hitting the side of the barn wasn’t really his fault. He aimed at the bull eye but lost his grip on the bow at the last second, sending the arrow into an erratic flight. And although he purposely pointed the bow at Cas and Soran, he aimed really high so that the arrow wouldn’t hit either of them. If anything bad happened to the whore or his pal, Jeremy certainly didn’t want to be blamed for it therefore he’d never attempt to hurt them in public with a bunch of witnesses sitting around. He simply wanted to startle them by having an arrow plop into the water near them, that’s all. Apparently, no one around here could take a joke!
After thinking things over a bit, he decided he better apologize to Alex because he really wanted to learn archery. He shoved his hands into his pockets and strode up to the youth. “I’m sorry for acting like a total idiot. And I promise to pay closer attention if you’re willing to continue to teach me.” He shrugged then met Alex’s eyes. “Guess I’ll go have a bowl of that stew now. If you’re done being mad at me, it’d be cool to have your company while I eat. I’ll give you a Snicker’s Bar, and let you listen to some Metallica songs on my CD player if you want.”
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