Chapter 2
Chapter two
Petra wakes up the next morning with a crushing headache, and slightly nauseous. She tries to sit up, but something is holding her down. When she looks, she sees Jane laying on top of her, tangled in the sheets. Petra yelps. What is happening?
Jane stirs at this, and groans. “Uuuuugh, quiet. Headache. Sleep.”
Petra awkwardly pokes Jane’s bare shoulder.
“Jane…”
When Jane recognizes Petra’s voice, her head whips up.
“Petra?”
They both stare at each other, not a clue how they ended up like this. Petra sighs. I can’t deal with this right now.
“I beg your pardon, but why the hell are you laying on top of me?” she asks Jane, a sharp tone in her voice.
“I… I honestly don’t know”, she says. “What happened last night?”
And then it all came rushing back to them. The talk at the bar. Getting hammered. Hiding from Michael and Rafael... The kiss.
Petra stares wide eyed into the air. “I think, maybe, you should leave.”
Jane looks a little hurt. “Petra, shouldn’t we talk about this?”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Jane. We kissed. So what? We were drunk, let’s not mention it again”, she says coldly, and gets out of bed.
Jane can’t help but gulp a little, as she watches Petra only in her underwear. Suddenly she remembers something more from last night.
“Are you drunk, or gay?”
“Probably both”.
Shit. Jane tears her eyes away from Petra’s body. Why did I say that? I’m not gay. Jane thinks to herself.
Petra turns around, now wearing her robe.
“Could you maybe, uhm… could you just turn around for a second?” Jane asks nervously.
“Why? You’re not naked”.
Jane sighs. “Yeah, I know. But it’s just… Please just turn around”.
Petra rolls her eyes and turns around.
“Fine, it’s not like I’m dying to see anything anyway”.
When Jane is dressed, Petra almost pushes her out of the bedroom.
“Weren’t you leaving?” she asks impatiently.
Jane has had about enough of Petra’s cold, rude attitude, and she turns around.
“Seriously Petra?” she says.
“What?” Petra asks, pretending she is completely uninterested in the whole situation. Like she is bored out of her mind.
“Do you have to be so cold towards me? I mean, what happened last night did, in fact, happen. Why are you pretending it didn’t?”
Petra fixes Jane with a cold stare. “Because it didn’t mean anything. Now, I would really appreciate it if you would just leave. I don’t want to ever think about this again”.
Jane looks at Petra with disbelief in her eyes.
“Is it really so horrible that we kissed, that you can’t even stand to look at me? What, are you ashamed to have kissed me?”
Petra just wanted Jane to leave as quickly as possible, so she said the only thing she could think of, to make Jane leave without asking any more questions.
“Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I don’t do this kind of thing. Getting drunk and making out with people like you. It’s embarrassing. And honestly? It wasn’t even that good. So please just leave”.
Jane’s eyes widen in disbelief, and her eyes get a little watery.
“People like me? What is that supposed to mean?”
“I… I only associate with people of influence, Jane.” It pains Petra so much to say this, but she needs Jane out of her home.
“Wow… Okay, fine. Whatever, I’ll leave.” Jane says. As she turns around, a single tear escapes the corner of her eye.
When Jane is gone, Petra sinks down to the floor. What have I done? Why is this happening? Petra’s breathing is fast and shallow, as she starts panicking. She couldn’t believe she had just ruined everything with the only friend she has. All because of a stupid drunken kiss, that left her more confused than she’s ever been before in her entire life. Tears starts welling up in her eyes. Great, now I’m crying because of Jane. What has she done to me?
Xx
When Jane walks in to her house thirty minutes later, Xiomara and Alba are all over her instantly.
“Where have you been, Jane? We were so worried!” Xiomara exclaims, looking a mix of relieved and angry.
“No se puede simplemente quedarse fuera toda la noche, sin tener que llamar a casa.” (You can’t just stay out all night without calling home) Alba says with a stern look, but pulls Jane into a hug nonetheless. Then they both notice the sad look on Jane’s face, and her slightly red eyes.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Xiomara face softens, and she hurries over to Jane and brushes her hair out of her face.
“Nothing, I… It’s nothing.” Jane says quietly, and hurries into her room. She really doesn’t want to talk about it right now.
When Jane got to her room, the first thing she did was pick up Mateo. He was laying in his crib, sleeping, but now Jane is holding him, whispering sweet words in his ear, immediately taking comfort from his presence.
“Hey mister sweet face”, Jane coos. Mateo looks up at her sleepily, but cracks a little smile.
“So… Your mama had a pretty weird night last night. I kissed Petra. Can you believe it, Mateo? Petra, who I hated only one year ago. I don’t know why I did it. Well, I do know why. To hurt Michael and Rafael. Oh god, Michael and Rafael! I had completely forgotten about them... I wish it could just be you and me for a while, nothing else to worry about. Wouldn’t you like that, mister sweet face?”
Mateo makes a gurgling sound and grabs his mother’s hair. Jane laughs a little.
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
Then there is a knock on her door, and Xiomara walks in slowly.
“Hey honey. What’s going on? Where were you last night?”
Jane sighs. “I was uhm… I was at Petra’s?” Jane says cautiously, grimacing a little. She knows Xiomara is not that fond of Petra, you know, since the whole ‘Magda pushed Alba down the stairs’ thing.
“Petra’s? Why were you with her?” Xiomara asks surprised.
Jane looks away, avoiding eye contact with her mother.
“Well… We uh… We sort of got really drunk, and then-“
“Oh my god, did you have sex with her?!” Xiomara exclaims, a shocked look grazing her face.
“Ma! No! Of course I didn’t have sex with her, what are you thinking?” Jane says.
“I don’t know, you said you got really drunk, and you stayed the night, so…” Xiomara says cautiously.
“I can’t believe the first thing you assume is that I slept with her,” Jane says, shaking her head. “I mean, if I were gay, sure I could see why you would think that, but I’m not”.
Xiomara pauses. “… Are you sure?”
Jane looks confused. “Sure about what?”
Xiomara looks softly at Jane. “That you’re not gay?”
Truth be told, Jane wasn’t all that sure right now. But she wasn’t about to let her mother know that.
“Ay dios mio, Ma! What is that supposed to mean?” Jane asks in disbelief.
“It’s just… Lately, I’ve kinda been getting these vibes from you. You know, gay vibes”.
“What?!”
“Nothing big. But your eyes kinda linger a little longer on women these days. And when you’ve had a nice exchange or lunch date or something with Petra, you seem a little… Giddy? I don’t know Jane. I’m your mom, I notice these things. I know you better than anyone”.
Jane sighs and puts her head in her hands. “Better than I know myself, it seems. Why haven’t I noticed this?”
Xiomara places a comforting hand on Jane’s arm.
“Sometimes you just don’t. So, what happened with Petra that made you upset?”
Jane looks up at her mom. “Well, we got really drunk, and I was really tired of Rafael and Michael chasing after me all night. So we decided to come up with a plan to make them stop. Apparently my genius drunken brain thought it would be a great idea to make out.”
Xiomara’s eyes widen, as she gasps.
“You guys kissed?”
“Yeah. And then we kinda went up to her room, and I don’t remember anything more. But we woke up in our underwear, so we didn’t have sex. But then Petra started acting really cold, almost shoving me out of her apartment. I wanted to talk about what happened, but then she said some things…”
“What things?” Xiomara asks.
“Something about being embarrassed to have kissed ‘someone like me’” Jane says, looking down sadly.
Xiomara frowns. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know Ma, she said something about only associating with people of influence or something”. Jane’s eyes start getting watery again. Xiomara pulls her in for a hug.
“Oh honey, I’m sorry. But Petra, she’s… I’m sorry to say this, but she’s not a particularly nice person”.
Jane pulls away. “But that’s the thing, Ma! She was really nice to me last night. We had a lot of fun, before the kissing thing obviously. I actually had a great time hanging out with her.”
“And what about the kiss? How was it?” Xiomara asks. She may not like Petra that much, but she can see that her daughter is conflicted about it, and she wants to help.
“I don’t know. Good? Maybe it’s just because I was drunk.” Jane looks down at Mateo, who has fallen asleep again. She walks over to his crib, puts him down, and sits back on the bed.
“Or maybe it’s because you have feelings for her?” Xiomara says. She doesn’t like the idea of Jane liking Petra, but it sure seems like that’s the case.
Jane looks at her mother, a little shocked.
“No! It can’t be that. I do not have feelings for Petra, Ma.”
Xiomara sighs, and takes Janes hand.
“Honey, it kinda sounds like you do. I mean, if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be this upset, right?”
“I don’t know… I’m just so confused!” Jane throws herself down on the bed, face first.
“I know baby. It sounds like you have some thinking to do. Maybe you should try and talk to Petra again?”
Jane looks up. “She doesn’t wanna talk, Ma. She made that very clear.”
Xx
Petra is sitting at her desk, trying to get some work done so she won’t think about Jane. She is failing. Suddenly, her door slams open, and Rafael storms in.
“What did you do to Jane?!” He yells, and slams his hands down on the desk.
Petra looks up, trying to hide her shock.
“What do you mean? I did nothing to Jane, Rafael,” she says coldly, looking back down at her papers.
“Oh come on, Petra. I saw you two last night. You must have done something, because Jane would never kiss you in her right mind. So, what was it? Did you drink her under the table? Did you drug her, and then force her to kiss you, just to get to me?”
Petra looks offended. “No, I did no such thing!”
Rafael scoffs. “Why should I believe you? It’s not like you haven’t done crazier things”.
“I would never do such a thing to Jane. She’s my- she’s my friend, okay? We were both having a pretty shitty night, so we decided to get drunk. And then it just kind of happened,” Petra says, dismissing it with a wave of her hand.
“Actually, Jane was the one who suggested it”, she adds, not being able to resist taking another stab at Rafael.
When she sees the slight glimpse of hurt in his eyes, Petra feels a little better.
Rafael sighs. “I still don’t believe you. I’ll talk to Jane, she’ll tell me the truth”.
“She will tell you exactly what I told you, because that is the truth. Anyways, it didn’t mean anything.” Petra says, looking down at her papers. Petra had been trying all day to convince herself that it didn’t mean anything, but it was not going very well. She was hoping Rafael didn’t pick up on it.
It seems like he didn’t, because he shoots her one final glare, before storming out of the office. Petra lays her head in her hands. This is such a mess.
Xx
Back at the Villanueva household, Jane is sitting by her computer, trying to write. Nothing comes out. She can’t stop thinking about that kiss, about the hurt she felt when Petra dismissed it, and what her mother said about Jane maybe having feelings for her. While she is deep in thought, her fingers start typing on their own.
“Carla was watching her from across the room. Her long legs, smooth curves, blonde curly hair, and her breathtaking face. She was talking to some of the guests, and Carla couldn’t keep her eyes off of her. She kept thinking back to that kiss. How soft her lips had been against her own. How she smelled slightly of vanilla, her warm hands on her body. All she wanted to do at that moment, was to run up to her, grab her face and smash their lips together for another passionate kiss. Carla realized suddenly, that she was falling in love.”
Jane looks down at what she had written. Oh god. Then it hits her full force. Jane is falling in love with Petra.
Suddenly there is a knock on her door, and Michael is standing in the doorway.
“Hey,” he says softly. He looks a little sad.
“Hey.”
Michael stands there awkwardly for a second, before stepping into the room.
“So, about last night,” he starts. Jane sighs, knowing what is going to come next.
“Michael, I-“
“Why did you do it?” he interrupts. He looks a little hurt.
Jane is quiet for a second. “I don’t know, Michael. We were drunk and I was kinda annoyed at you and Rafael for pestering me all week, and we just... It seemed like a good idea at the time. I’m sorry, I know there are a ton of better ways to let you know that we are completely over.”
Michael looks down to the ground. He doesn’t want to believe that there is no chance for him and Jane, but it’s getter harder and harder.
“So there is no hope? For us? Because I don’t believe that, Jane,” he says, looking her in the eyes, a hopeful glint in them.
“No, Michael. It’s not going to happen, I’m sorry. But after everything that’s happened, I just don’t have those kind of feelings for you anymore. Or Rafael.”
Michael looks defeated. “Do you have those kind of feelings for Petra?” He hates to ask this, but he has to know.
“Are you sure you want to talk about that?” Jane asks, narrowing her eyes a little.
“No, but I feel like I have to know.”
Jane sighs for what feels like the thousandth time today. “I… I might. Have those feelings. For Petra. I don’t know Michael, I’m really confused right now and she won’t talk to me.”
Michael’s eyes widen. “Seriously? You actually have feelings for Petra?! Jane, are you completely out of your mind! Petra’s crazy!”
“Michael!” Jane says, surprise and irritation lacing her voice. “She is not crazy, she is a good person!”
Michael scoffs. “A good person? Really? Need I remind you that she covered for her mother when she pushed your abuela down the stairs, she tried to get Rafael arrested for domestic violence, she tried to take custody of Mateo, Jane!”
Jane shakes her head. “I know, Michael. But she’s changed! Now that Magda is out of her life, she’s really trying!”
Michael looks at her in disbelief. “You’re really defending her?”
“Yes I am. I had a great time with Petra last night, and no, it wasn’t just the kissing. My night was a little rough before Petra came up to me, and she made it a whole lot better by agreeing to hang out.”
“So it’s true?” Suddenly Rafael appears, apparently having heard their conversation.
“Rafael? What are you doing here?” Jane asks surprised.
“I went to talk to Petra, but I didn’t believe her when she said she didn’t do anything to you, or force you or anything. So I went over here to ask you what really happened,” he said.
Jane sends a stern glare to Rafael. “Petra didn’t force me to do anything. Actually, the kiss was kind of my idea,” she adds quietly.
“What?” Michael asks.
“Yeah, Petra said that”, Rafael says, looking anywhere but at Jane.
“So… I’m gonna go now”, Michael says, leaving the room.
“Do you really have feelings for her?” Rafael asks quietly.
“I think so, yeah” Jane answers. Rafael scoffs, and looks to the ceiling.
“Great. That’s just great”, he says ironically and then leaves.
“Rafael! Ugh,” Jane slumps down into her chair. She doesn’t want Rafael to be mad at her. She doesn’t have feelings for him anymore, but he is her baby daddy, and she cares for him. She also still cares for Michael. They were together for two years, and he was her best friend. This is such a mess.