Chapter 7
Jennie was 18 years old when she discovered the true meaning of heartbreak…
It was nearing midnight and all Jennie could think about was getting into her warm bed and sleeping all of the next day away. It seemed that no one else shared her idea thought as people jumped around to the pounding music that blasted from the speakers. It was Friday night and one of the popular guys was throwing an end of the year party and Lisa had somehow managed to convince her to come. Neither of them were really fans of parties, both preferring to stay in and watch movies. The only exception had only ever been the celebratory parties after the team won a game back when Lisa had been in the soccer team.
Lisa had argued, however, that graduation was right around the corner and that it could be one of the last times that they ever saw their classmates and Jennie had reluctantly given in, unable to say no to her puppy eyes. Now Jennie was wondering if maybe she shouldn’t have given in so easily. She was leaning against a wall in a corner watching her drunk classmates having the time of their lives as they jumped around to what sounded to Jennie like some horrible screeching but what was actually some popular rap song, waiting for Lisa who had gone to get her a drink.
Jennie personally couldn’t wait to get out of her small town and never see any of them again. Things had been rough after Lia had outed her to the school, although they had never reached that point again. It seemed that, after the third time of Jennie having to physically stop Lisa from jumping on someone for calling her names, her classmates had gotten the warning and had simply taken to ignoring her, asides from the occasional harsh comment. She had wanted to keep them dating a secret, afraid Lisa would experience the same harsh treatment but Lisa had refused to hide and had happily walked into the busy cafeteria the very next day and announced it to everyone looking like she had won the lottery.
To Jennie’s surprise and relief, they were actually left relatively alone, as they probably didn’t want to mess with Lisa who had made a reputation for herself thanks to her somewhat explosive personality whenever someone tried to go after Jennie after she was outed. Jennie hated the mistaken image that all their classmates had of Lisa but she had insisted that it was for the better as it helped keep them safe.
She sometimes worried about all that Lisa had lost, going from the popular star soccer player with lots of friends to being seen as a violent individual with only her as a friend. Lisa had simply scoffed at her when she had shared her worries with her, telling her that she would do it all over again because the only thing that mattered was that she had her at her side.
A sight left her as she tapped her foot impatiently, mentally urging Lisa to hurry up. As she waited, she started wondering about what it would be like once they lived in New York. Both had agreed early on, on moving to a big city together after graduation. Somewhere they could finally be themselves without being judged constantly. Lisa had been the one to choose New York after they had spent a week there with Jennie’s mom a year earlier during the summer. She had fallen in love with the city on first sight and had immediately decided that that is where they would live one day. Jennie personally hadn’t cared where they moved as long as it was far from their small town. They had both applied and gotten into NYU. Her mother had been happy to help them with the move and had even helped convinced Lisa's parents to let her move there. They had been unable to understand why they wanted to move so far away, both being unaware of the fact that Lisa and Jennie were more than just best friends.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by a loud cough right in front of her. Jennie looked up at Lisa's smiling face. She was holding a cup out to her. “Sorry, you were lost in your thoughts again”, she told her. Jennie smiled back at her as she took the cup that was being offered. She took a sip and grimaced as the bitter taste of beer flooded her senses. “Sorry, wrong cup.” Lisa told her as she switched their cups. Jennie mock glared at her as she took another sip, this time being rewarded by the taste of lemon soda. “We’ve been here for two hours already, Lili, can we please leave now?” she whined. Lisa sniggered at the petulance that filled Jennie’s voice, making Jennie scowl at her. Lisa simply laughed again before leaning down to peck her lips. She grinned as she saw her scowl disappear at her gesture. “As you wish”, she told her, laughing once again as Jennie immediately grabbed her wrist and started making her way out of the house, dragging her girlfriend behind her.
Once outside, they got into Jennie’s truck and she backed away from the driveway as Lisa started fiddling with the radio, finally settling on one channel as a familiar song started filling the car. She grabbed Jennie’s hand over the partition and they made casual conversation as Jennie drove Lisa home. A short while later, they arrived at her house but Lisa didn’t make any move to get out, not wanting the nigh to end. They sat there for a while, simply holding hands and talking about all the things they wanted to do once they moved to New York in less than two weeks. Eventually, they had to part as Jennie’s mom was expecting her home soon. Lisa leaned over the partition to give her a parting kiss. “See you tomorrow, firefly.” She got out of the truck and made her way to her front door, looking back at Jennie one last time before going in.
Jennie stayed there until Lisa was inside before driving away, unaware of the angry eyes that followed her from the upstairs window.
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Jennie was in the middle of giving her Nobel peace prize acceptance speech when she was awoken from her dreams by a loud gasp. She drowsily sat up in her bed, the rays of sun coming from the window indicating that it was the early morning. Certainly, too early for her to be awake on a Sunday. She sat there for a few seconds, confused about what had awoken her when she heard a loud sob coming from downstairs. Sleep quickly left her mind as she shot up from her bed and made her way downstairs. She walked into the living room and saw her mother crying on the floor, the house phone clutched in her hand. Jennie was instantly on alert. She hadn’t seen her mother cry in years. Ever since her dad had left them.
Dread started filling her stomach as she got down on her knees in front of her crying mother. “Mom? What’s wrong? What happened?”. Her mom was surprised at Jennie’s abrupt arrival, not having heard her approaching. She immediately started drying her tears, trying to act like she hadn’t just been caught crying on the floor. She looked at her daughter sadly, unsure of how to break the news. As the silence stretched on, Jennie started losing her patience as anxiety started to eat her up. “Is it dad? Is he okay?”. Her mother opened her mouth but was interrupted as another loud sob burst out. She grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.
“That was the hospital on the phone. Oh Jen, I’m so so sorry”. Jennie was starting to grow angry as she still had no idea what was happening. “Mom. Tell me what happened. Please.”
Her mother opened her mouth and Jennie felt her whole world crashing down at the words that came out. It was worse than anything she could have ever imagined. Her mother continued talking, explaining the situation but Jennie didn’t hear anything past the first words, a buzz filling her mind and drowning all other noises except the words echoing over and over in her head. “It’s Lisa. She’s gone.”