Jason and his Grandmother, parts 3192 - 3195

3192.  I had been noticing for a time that all my friends were behaving strangely, but the party made my position in my class abundantly clear. My classmates were giving me an ultimatum unawares, reject Jason, or become an outcast in my class. 

3193. But I was unable to bring myself to reject Jason, and it was not only because I had sworn to be his friend, it was more complicated than that. First it seemed to be a matter of simple honor, but also, Jason and his grandmother seemed to represent a strange and dark quality of life I knew nothing about, and I was attracted to them like an innocent to vice. 

3194. But the idea of the day of my party arriving and having nobody come was such a distressing prospect that I began to look around for some way out of the dilemma. How was I going to explain the change in my status in my class to my parents? Parents may or may not be interested in your grades, but when it comes to the question of ones social ranking in the class, what could be more important to the mother and father?

3195. Then, about a week before my birthday a bizarre situation arose that seemed to offer a way out my crisis.