The Heart-Warming Tale of How Jamie and Jason Got Together, Part I: The Hook Up

I have actually known Jason since my first year of high school, when he was just some guy who walked in the same halls as I did. Eventually, the circles we moved in drew closer and closer over 2 or 3 years, until we existed in roughly the same circle, though I assure you it was a pretty big circle. We were friends, we went out for coffee, we went to movies. We had Party of Five nights, during which he would help me with my trig homework. We had roles in the same murder mysteries at school. He was dating a girl that I had known (and hated) since I was 4, who I’ll call Danielle. Actually, most of his friends hated her, and told him that repeatedly, but he was smitten.

Nothing happened between us then. The first time I met Jason’s mom, she told him that he’d better never break up with Danielle because she liked her sooo much. I think that she still feels the same way, but oh well. Jason and I were ‘close’, but not that kind of close, thank you very much. I never even thought of him that way, mostly because he had a really bad haircut back then and I had very high standards. There was one incident involving his bed and some touching, but I was a touchy-feely kind of girl and didn’t think much of it.

Jason eventually moved to Toronto, 500km away, to be with Danielle. He would visit us on the weekends, but it was during this time that he and I had a blow-out fight and I decided to never talk to him again. And I didn’t, for a year.

And then suddenly he was back in my hometown. The first time I saw him, I was pulling into my best friend’s driveway, and it was totally unexpected (I was in the habit of refusing any invitation that might involve him at the time). I thought really hard about just backing right out and avoiding the whole situation, but I didn’t, for two reasons:

1. I knew that since he was back, I couldn’t possibly avoid him for much longer. It’s a small town.
2. I was never much good at driving in reverse.

So, my best friend Jane, Jason and his friend Toni, and I, all drove off for coffee at a great little place called Of One Earth. Sadly, that place is closed now, which makes us feel old. Jason pretty much ignored the other girls and fired one question after another at me. I was used to getting a lot of attention, so it didn’t really occur to me that this meant anything. That day, we all left messages in the coffee shop’s guest book, and I would do anything to be able to go back and take a look at it now.

The time was not right for us to hook up: Jason was busy cheating on Danielle with Toni, and I was busy testing my theory that sleeping with lots of men was fun (it was). So, I tolerated him in my life again. He had a great haircut, he filled out…he looked good. Plus, he seemed more mature, and was actually interesting to talk to.

Then came the fateful New Year’s Eve party at Toni’s house. Jason was there, no Danielle in sight, and the thing between him and Toni solidly ended. I was there, without any of the 3 boyfriends that I had at the time. I drank a whole bottle of Crown Royal by myself that night, so I was as socially lubricated as it gets. I got more tongue action at midnight than I cared for, and was touched inappropriately by at least 2 male friends, so it was a great night, all in all. When we all went to sleep that night, Jane and I would both come into some strange contact from unexpected corners.

The next day, she told me all about it: Jason had kissed her. He wanted to go out with her. What did I think? Very defensive of my fragile friend, I told her all the reasons why Jason was a scumbag and why she should not even be considering this. Hello, once a cheater, always a cheater! Not to mention that he seems to be serially sleeping with all of our friends. She agreed, and he received a very nasty phone call from Jane that night.

But as for our friendship, we seemed to be on the slow and steady path. He was single, and I was the kind of single where you say you’re single, but you have some good friends with benefits (that’s the way I liked it: no strings). He would call me up and lament his single status, and ask my advice. I was a good friend, although busy.

And then it was Valentine’s day. As you can tell by my Christmas card post, I love to do cheesy stuff like that for my friends, so I must have had 30 treat bags filled with heart-shaped candies, and little Valentine cards made out to all my friends, male and female alike. Valentine’s was on a Wednesday that year, which just a few years prior would have meant Party of Five night, but in this case, it was Dawson’s Creek night. There was a big snow storm that night, so I almost cancelled on Jason…but he insisted.

I got there, we watched the show (I probably cried, I cried every Wednesday night for 6 years straight back then). I gave him his little treat bag, he gave me a gift. A velvet box. With jewelry inside.

And I thought ‘…hmmm….Did he give this to all his friends this year?’ It made me a little uncomfortable to think too much about it, I think I tried to say it was too much, we probably argued a little about it, and then I kissed his cheek and said thank you. (Jason to this day thought that jewelry would merit more than a kiss on the cheek) But I was oblivious: we were just friends!

But the next day, I told Sarah about it, and she agreed that it didn’t seem like a ‘just friends’ thing to do. But when I called him that night to discuss plans for the weekend, it was business as usual. Weird, but whatever. Weird things happen every day when you’re in high school (yup, I was still in high school…Jason wasn’t, if that makes it any better for you).

That weekend, we went tobogganing with a couple of our friends. They were being all lovey-dovey, so that left the two of us pretty much on our own, and things were not awkward or weird at all. Horray!

We grabbed some hot chocolates afterward, and he and I headed back to his house to smoke a joint. And then we had sex.

Yup, that's how it happened. We were listening to some crap music, Underworld I think, really loudly, cramped on his bed, and I was so stoned that I could hardly move my arms. Sexy, eh? We never talked about it, we never went on a single date. One day we just got high and had sex. And that's the romantic story we will someday tell our grandkids. Or not.

Stay tuned for Part II: everything else!