Over

Dentist appointments were good for two things, Jenny came to realize. One, if got her out of her first period biology class. No one should have to suffer through biology first thing Monday morning with Mr. Kessler's droning voice.

Two, it limited the amount of people who were able to stare and whisper at her.

Now that Gossip Girl had outed her family's secret—and what better way to find out you had a long-lost sibling than via text message in a room full of strangers?—the stares were inevitable. The whispers, the giggles, the stilted conversation when she entered a room…

Sighing, Jenny wrapped her coat tighter around herself as she came around the corner to the main office that connected Constance Billard and St. Jude's. She kept her eyes down, which was probably why she never saw the other person coming.

They collided hard, the impact enough to knock her over if strong hands hadn't caught her arms.

"God, I'm so sor—" The apology died on her lips as she stared into the bluest pair of eyes she had ever seen.

It was unfair, really, that even now those eyes had the power to eradicate her power of speech. She had hoped that the weeks of silence would have been enough to disentangle herself from the mesmerizing hold they had on her.

No such luck.

Nodding her head in a quick, jerky motion, she stepped back away from him. "Sorry," she finished, proud that her voice didn't tremble even if her legs were. "I didn't see you."

"Clearly," he responded, no judgment in his voice. Just a hint of teasing.

It made her angry and nostalgic all at once. She used to love that about his voice; the way it could convey a smile with his lips barely moving. It made her warm inside, and she hated herself all the more for feeling it.

"Right. Well, sorry," she repeated, the repeated apology simply sounding lame now. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she moved to go around him and narrowly sidestepped his hands as they reached for her.

Thinking better of it, Nate let his hands fall to his sides. "I saw the Gossip Girl blast," he admitted, the right amount of chagrined concern edging its way in.

All at once, her patience snapped like a rubber band pulled too tight. Who the hell was he to be concerned about her after what happened?

"Yeah, you and everyone else," Jenny retorted quietly, rolling her eyes.

To his credit, his eyes widened with surprise. After a second of shock, he sighed and hung his head. "Jenny, I …"

"You what, Nate?" she pressed, not ready to let him off the hook with a puppy-dog look and a sigh. "You suddenly decided you care about me again?"

"I do care about you," he argued, his eyes narrowing slightly. He actually looked confused by her anger. "Just because it didn't work out between us doesn't mean—"

"I swear I'll scream if you say the word friends," she hissed, folding her arms under her chest.

His mouth dropped open slightly, gaping at her. "Jenny—"

"You know what?" She blinked hard and looked away from him. "You're right. I'm glad you didn't send me that letter because you aren't the person I thought you were either."

A muscle twitched in his jaw as he looked down at the floor. "So this is how it is now?"

She took a step forward, shaking. "Don't you dare make this my fault. Granted, what I did to Vanessa was wrong, Nate, but you got back together with her long before I gave her that dress. So what does that say?"

He couldn't answer back. After a second he shook his head slowly, sadly. "I am sorry about how things ended between us. And yes, I did hope we could stay friends. I liked being your friend, Jenny."

She lifted her eyes to meet his, her expression level. "Well I liked being your girlfriend. That worked out really well, don't you think?"

Nate sighed again. "Jenny …"

She arched an eyebrow and started to walk past him. "Say hi to Vanessa for me, will you?" she called over her shoulder as she walked into the office.

END