Jenna can hardly believe she's back in Maniac's, sitting across from Aileen. Embarrassingly, they are dressed almost identically. Jenna remembers—when they were young, they used to dress identically, but each in their favourite colours. It seems like the universe is playing a trick today. They're both wearing a plain t-shirt, Jenna in light purple with pale denim blue jeans, Aileen in a light pink shirt and white denim pants. They're set somewhat apart by their shoes—Jenna is wearing high tops and Aileen flats. Jenna's brown hair sits in two plaits, on either side of her head, her usual hairstyle while Aileen's blonde hair is in a stiff bun, with no flyaway strands. Her usual style too.
'Jenna, can we please talk about this?' Aileen fidgets in her chair, her blue eyes fighting back tears.
'What for? What's the point?' Jenna is exasperated and looks over towards Cooper and Daniel, who are chatting nearby. Her brown eyes narrow, her face pale beneath her tan.
'Oh... well, I just—' Aileen stops mid-sentence; Jenna isn't paying any attention. 'What's distracting you?'
'Um, random thoughts...' Jenna replies, still not looking at Aileen. 'I can't help feeling that the male versions of us are sitting over there, perhaps even... flirting with each other?' Jenna points at Cooper and Daniel. Cooper doesn't seem to be able to keep his hands-off Daniel—every so often touching his hand or arm. They look happy. It's been years since they've seen each other; life truly does get in the way—it's easy to fall in and out of contact with people.
'Why are you ignoring me?' Aileen asks, becoming increasingly upset.
'Because I hated you for what you did to me!' Jenna fires back.
'Do you still hate me now?' Aileen whispers, blinking back tears.
Jenna's mouth pulls into a tight line; she frowns, arms crossed tightly across her chest.
'C'mon Jenna, please... let's talk about this,' Aileen pleads. Her throat feels like it's closing up.
'I'd rather talk about anything else, Aileen! But, if you insist... let me get this straight—do you have feelings for me?' Jenna looks sceptically at Aileen. 'I can't believe it!'
'It's true, Jenna. Let me expl—' Aileen begins, but Jenna immediately holds up her hand, silencing her. She's even angrier than she was before.
'I'm not finished, Aileen! We haven't talked since primary school because you ditched me. You only cared about what the others thought—you were embarrassed by your friendship with me,' she blurts. 'You chased popularity, you wanted to be at the top of the ladder—you never really cared about our friendship at all.' Finally, Jenna pauses, taking a deep breath. It felt good to finally get her frustrations off her chest; they'd been building for years.
'Jenna, look,' Aileen begs Jenna, desperate to explain herself. 'I know that what I did in the past was wrong. I've regretted it ever since. It's affected me in so many ways, it affected who I came became, my life even though it might not look like it to you.' Aileen reaches out to take Jenna's hands in hers, but she pulls them away.
'Well, I wouldn't know—we haven't spoken since primary school. Losing your friendship hurt me so badly, especially as you never even apologised. And now...' Jenna trails off, tears in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and continues, 'now you're a lesbian, or experimenting with your sexuality, and you've stumbled upon me by chance or maybe even fate, or... whatever.' Jenna takes another deep, shaky breath. 'Anyway, I can't say I'm not happy for you, but you can't mess with my feelings by alternating between who you really are and who you pretend to be! I'm not going to give you another chance to hurt me again.'
'Jenna, honestly, I'm not pretending anymore—you have to believe me!' Aileen insists, bringing her hands together. 'You have to know, I wasn't pretending to like you—the whole time we were talking! To top it off, I didn't even know it was you until yesterday—I figured it out here, where we're sitting now!'
'Oh, come on!' Jenna scoffs. 'Do you seriously expect me to believe this narrative you're spinning? How stupid do you think I am?' Jenna almost laughs, incredulous. 'Besides, anyone would panic if their name was revealed online—blocking you was a totally normal reaction. Also, I have been diagnosed with anxiety, but you haven't been in my life for years so you wouldn't know this!
If you knew Simplicity was me, you should have waited and told me in person yesterday. You could've even come to my house and thrown a pebble at my window, like you did when we were ten... not just bail because you were scared!' Jenna begins to stand up, her palms planted firmly on the table.
'And I bet you were hiding in the bathroom, in the stall that was engaged, on the night of our date—weren't you?
You were hiding from me, I know it!'
Aileen averts her eyes from Jenna's harsh stare. 'Look, yes, you're right... that was me in the bathroom. But seriously, I only found out I was meeting you when I saw you rushing to the door—you have to believe me!'
'Well, Aileen, I don't.' Jenna rolls her eyes.
'Jenna, listen!' Aileen stands up quickly, to match Jenna. 'You're not the only upset one, OK? I didn't even think you were going to show up and, when I saw you, I was too scared to do anything.'
'Yeah, and you're still scared. You've just been sitting around moping, and hoping for someone—most likely Cooper—to solve all your problems. You're a coward, selfish and never say sorry to the people you hurt or make any effort to fix your mistakes or own problems.' She scowls. 'I know he and my Danny are the only reason we're both here today.'
'Jen—' Aileen begins, but she struggles to find the right words. She reaches her hands up to touch Jenna's face, hoping to salvage the moment. 'Your skin is so soft to touch, you know?' Jenna pulls back as though she's been slapped; she's done with the conversation—she wants to go home. Aileen mentally kicks herself for wasting her last opportunity—she blew it by saying something dumb.
What an idiot.
'Aileen, I'm never going to forgive you, for the things you've done. I want nothing to do with you from now on. Just leave me alone!' Jenna hastily makes her way to the door. As she opens it, she turns to face Aileen. 'This is goodbye, Aileen. Have a nice life!' She slams the door furiously, leaving the bell at the top of the door jingling loudly in the thick silence left behind.
Aileen slowly slides back into her seat—her whole body is numb with shock. Daniel and Cooper cautiously approach her. 'Shit, that's not the happy ending I expected at all!' Daniel says, rubbing his neck. The pair share a guilty look, but Aileen is too upset to notice.
'Should I go after her?' Aileen cries. 'I mean, what kind of person would I be if I didn't?'
'I can answer that,' say Cooper and Daniel, in unison. They look at one another, surprised, and Daniel gestures for Cooper to continue.
'She's feeling furious and hurt right now; but, deep down, if you go after her, it would demonstrate you truly care about her,' Cooper says. Aileen nods, slowly. 'Even if she slams the door in your face, the fact that you went after her would show her how you really feel—that you do care about her!'
'And,' Daniel interjects, 'she'd have time to reflect on what's happened, later. She could come around.'
Deep down, Aileen knows they're right. She brushes a few loose strands of hair from her face and wipes away her tears. 'You don't think she'd put herself in danger because she's upset, do you?' She asks, worriedly.
'Jenna? No, not at all.' Daniel tries to reassure her.
'And, how well do you know her?'
'Uh, well...' Daniel looks at her awkwardly and trails off.
'I know she can be impulsive sometimes, when her emotions are running high.' Aileen snaps at him. 'Oh shit, I really should go after her, shouldn't I?' Aileen's heart sinks. She's terrified, thinking about the trouble that Jenna could get herself into. 'You guys stay here, I need to do this alone.'
'Are you sure?' Cooper extends his hand towards Aileen as she heads for the door. 'We can come with you!'
'I'm sure!' Aileen calls as he exits. She's never been surer of anything in her life. She knows she needs to do this alone, friends can only carry you so far.205Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnU2TOuW7A
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