The first update for Fanfiction Friday! I was able to get this cranked out and am glad to get the ball rolling with the new rewrite quickly.
Review or PM with feedback if you so please
I hope you enjoy
DarkxSonata
Chapter One: A Quiet Night In
The first thought Jenna had that morning was that the leaves were changing color too soon. It was only the second week of September but already the leaves were deep colors of orange, yellow, and red. She really should have grabbed a jacket this morning if she had been so fascinated by how quickly autumn had come to New York. She was currently regretting that choice feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge and her shoulders begin to shake. The thin long sleeved shirt just wasn't cutting it.
Sure, skip the taxi and enjoy the walk. She rolled her eyes thinking of her own stupidity. Rubbing her hands together to try and prevent her fingers from going numb Jenna crossed the street cutting through slower pedestrians trying to get home. She could already see the familiar brownstone beyond the light of the intersection. Her heels clicked loudly against the concrete while she picked up the pace. Jenna fumbled with her keys watching her hands shake further making the point that she had made the wrong call. Frustrated, she jabbed the key into the lock and shoved open the door almost tripping into her own home.
Taking a moment to right herself she closed the door remembering to lock up. Jenna hooked her keys on the peg next to the door thankful that the heat was on. Running her fingers through her hair she navigated her way to the kitchen in the dark before she even bothered turning on a light. Looking around the kitchen counter she quickly found what she was looking for.
Young Miss,
There is a plate in the oven for your dinner. Your mother has a message on the machine for you. I have pulled out a few extra blankets in case you get cold. Enjoy the weekend and I will be back on Monday.
Linda
Jenna smiled placing the note back on the counter. She pulled the plate out of the oven to heat up in the microwave. After setting the time she made her way to the phone and pressed the answering machine.
"Jenna? It's your mother! Why aren't you picking up? Dear, don't be too mad at me but I'm going to be staying longer than expected. I'll be sure to send extra presents this time. Stay focused on your school work and I don't want you out every night. Call me when you get home. Love you, my darling."
"Typical." Jenna muttered hearing the machine read that there were no other messages. Picking up the cordless phone she pressed the third speed dial and waited. After the fifth ring, she knew where this was going.
"You have reached-" Jenna hung up putting the phone back on the holder. She really didn't feel like leaving a message and if her mother was really curious about her day, she would call back.
Jenna pulled her food from the microwave pulling up the news on her phone. She ate as she read the newest article about the dark vigilante, Nightwatcher. Jenna was fascinated with the idea of someone risking their life to save those that couldn't save themselves. Whoever he was, he was filling in where the police slipped up and he certainly made her feel safer walking home knowing he was around. There had been a lot of discussion at the college's coffee shop with female gossip and it had been discussed in her ethics class with many of the other students voicing very strong opinions. She was glad that most were positive but there were still some that said that it should just be left to the police and that's what we have a judicial system for.
Jenna rubbed her left arm turning away from the article. After finishing up Jenna placed everything she used in the dishwasher before heading up to her room to get changed. Tossing her clothes in the hamper she reached for her pajamas before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. She would never be used to how defining the empty house was. Just turning on the shower seemed to fill the entire space.
If her mother was going to be extending her stay in Paris did that mean that she was with Derrek again? Jenna didn't mean to have negative feelings towards the man but there was just something not right about him, at least in her opinion. Her mother thought the world of the man and would go on and on about how he made her happy, but sometimes Jenna wondered if it was the prospect of more business for her mother's fashion line that was the initial allure.
Feeling the warm water begin to relax her neck and shoulders, Jenna attempted to think of something else. She still needed to work on that history assignment and Becky was going to tutor her for stats on Tuesday. If Jenna began working now maybe it wouldn't force Becky to work so hard. Jenna felt bad for how terrible she was at math and how much of Becky's time she took up to study for exams. Jenna never recalled seeing Becky in any of her classes but she did know that the girl worked as a tutor and at the help desk of the college library.
"I wonder what her major is? Probably math." Jenna laughed to herself finishing up. Tossing her hair up into a towel and rubbing herself dry, she pulled on her sweatpants and ratty tang top. She left the bathroom seeing her cellphone light up with a text message.
:Hey. Got asked to stay till 11. Mind if the plans get pushed back?: Oh good, Trisha was getting extra hours at the pizza shop tonight. Jenna knew that the next few weeks were going to be tight for Trisha so any hours the girl could get would help. Jenna had offered on multiple occasions to help her out, but Trisha wasn't one for charity if she could help it.
:Glad you've got the extra hours. Just send me a text when you're on your way so I know to unlock the door. If you bring pizza I may forgive you.: She laughed sending the message. Tossing her phone back onto her bed Jenna hauled over her backpack searching for her history folder. If Trisha wouldn't be over until midnight, then that gave Jenna plenty of time to get a few pages of her essay done to get a jumpstart on the weekend. She was glad that she had taken the time to already complete the research she needed so she could just look over the articles she pulled and write out her paper. Jenna put on some music grabbing what she needed then buckled down to get some work done.
Three pages, two stiff shoulders, and one headache later Jenna was startled from her train of thought when her phone began going off. Putting the notebook down Jenna rubbed her eyes reaching for her phone.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Jesus, get down here! I'm freezing and our pizza's getting cold." Trisha did not sound too pleased.
"I didn't notice your text!" Jenna was already on her way downstairs. "Sorry, sorry I'm right here let me unlock to the door!" Hanging up she quickly unbolted the lock swinging the door open to be greeted by a very pissed off Trisha.
"Text me when you're on your way. I'll be there." Trisha stomped into the building waving her free hand about in mock annoyance at her friend.
"Oh, har har. For your information, I was working on homework." Jenna folded her arms over her chest in defense hearing Trisha's laugh.
"Yeah, still never going to be jealous of the fact you still have to do homework." Trisha was already at work preheating the oven to warm the pizza back up.
"Alright, I give. How was work?" Jenna sat on one of the barstools as Trisha sat on the counter next to the pizza box.
"Not bad. It sucked walking deliveries though. The hell is it so cold for?" Trisha complained. Jenna noticed how red Trisha's hands and cheeks were feeling sympathy for her. She had gotten cold from just walking for twenty minutes. Trisha had been at work since early afternoon.
"Coffee?" Jenna offered already standing to prepare it.
"You're a blessing Jenna, you know that?" Trisha was laughing putting the pizza in the oven.
"I do what I can." The two smiled to each other before laughing. Jenna always felt better whenever Trisha was over. Ever since they were children she had enjoyed the other girls company. They had been best friends since kindergarten after all. "Oh, did you read the new article on Nightwatcher?" She asked putting the coffee grounds into the filter.
"Didn't get the chance yet. What are they blaming him for this time?" If Jenna was interested, Trisha was obsessed. Not in a possessive sort of obsession more like needed to read the funnies before the front page of the Sunday Paper.
"They're saying he's beginning to mock the police department. He's putting the criminals he catches on display like a giant middle finger to the cops." Jenna smiled hearing Trisha roar with laughter.
"Man, that's a guy after my own heart." She calmed then frowned a bit. "Honestly, it's gotta be tough. He's just trying to do some good for the slums of this city and the media's running around with their heads up their asses."
"We talked about it in class the other day." Jenna brought up seeing Trisha roll her eyes.
"Oh, I can only imagine what the privileged class has to say about it." Trisha snorted.
"Most agreed with you, like I do. Remember Adam, the guy I told you about last week?" Jenna started laughing. "I wish you were there. The entire class got on his case after he said that Nightwatcher was only helping people to do some political stunt. As if helping people isn't a good enough reason." The two shared a laugh. The oven timer went off with Jenna pouring some coffee and Trisha getting the pizza cut and onto a trey.
"Living room?" Trisha asked already heading in said direction.
"You know it." Jenna smiled following behind with two mugs.
"You know I don't mean you when I make jibes at the upper-class right? Obviously, you aren't so high and mighty that you wouldn't socialize with slum like me." Trisha shrugged the comment off but Jenna frowned.
"Something happen at work today?" Jenna tried knowing that if Trisha didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't. Yet, the comments clearly showed that something had rattled Trisha.
"Justin broke up with me." She said after a long sip of her coffee. Jenna almost dropped her slice of pizza.
"What?!" Jenna watched Trisha's face.
"Yeah," Trisha rubbed the back of her neck taking a deep breath. "He called me during my lunch break. The bastard knew when I was on it too. He called me and started out trying to be nice about it. I . . . I probably said some things I shouldn't have but by the end of it he'd basically called me street scum and way beneath him." Trisha's laugh was hollow. "It's not even like he's that much better than me. He lives two blocks up and doesn't even have cable." Trisha fumbled in her jacket pocket for her pack of cigarettes. Jenna got up to open the window while Trisha continued.
"I was really starting to get into the relationship, you know? In a week, we would have been going strong for eight months." She took a drag. "I really thought this one was going to be serious."
Jenna sat closer to her on the couch cuddling up to her while she smoked. Jenna waited for a moment or two wanting to see if Trisha would keep talking, but when the cigarette was down to the butt Jenna knew she wasn't getting anything else on the subject tonight.
"Want to take a shower and I'll set up the movie? It might make you feel a bit better? I'll put the pizza back in the oven to keep warm." Jenna suggested seeing Trisha smile.
"You really are a blessing, Jenna." Trisha ruffled Jenna's hair as she stood overly familiar with the layout of the brownstone to know where the bathroom was. Trisha even kept some clothes here since she was over all the time.
With the bathroom door closed Jenna put the pizza back into the oven and made another round of coffee for them. Heading back into the living room she shifted the coffee table further away from the couch giving her enough room to pull it out into a bed for them to lounge on while they watched the movie. Jenna tossed extra pillows, and the blankets that Linda had left out, wanting to make it as comfortable as possible.
Setting up the DVD player with Princess Bride menu repeating happily for background noise, Jenna returned to the kitchen to refill their coffee mugs.
"Ugh, did I leave my cleaner here?" Trisha's voice made Jenna jump seeing the girl in basketball shorts and a sports bra with her hair dripping onto the kitchen floor. Trisha was squinting up at her glasses trying to get the dirt off of them from being at the bottom of her bag all day.
"I put it in the medicine cabinet." Jenna laughed. "Can you even see to clean them?"
"Shut up." Trisha nudged her heading back to the bathroom. Jenna shook her head getting the pizza back out knowing Trisha wouldn't be long. Getting everything back into the living room she saw Trisha sprawled out with a hoodie on and a blanket tossed over her.
"You know, I don't get why you don't wear them more often." Jenna said handing over the coffee and setting the pizza down between them.
"They don't fit right on my ears anymore so they piss me off after a while." Trisha mumbled hitting the play button on the remote.
"Do you need new ones?" Jenna asked without looking over to Trisha.
"Don't worry about it." Trisha's voice was tight.
"Do your contacts need refilled?" Jenna tried again.
"Jenna, we talked about this. I don't need you to take care of me." Trisha huffed but she cuddled up to Jenna anyway.
"You need them and I can afford to refill your prescription and a pair of well fitted glasses." Jenna looked over at Trisha. "This is a surprise expense Trisha, let me help with surprise ones, at least."
"I don't know how to just . . . accept that." Trisha muttered sipping her drink again.
"Think of it as me paying you back for all the pizza you bring." Jenna smiled.
"I get the pizza for free, you nugget." Trisha laughed.
"Yes, but that also means I don't have to pay for it. How many pizzas have we had this month alone? I'm sure if we did the math it would come out about even." Jenna was very proud of herself.
"Not if you did the math." Trisha snorted.
"Ouch, low blow." With that the two were laughing again. "We'll go tomorrow, sound good?"
"Thanks, Jenna." Trisha hugged Jenna's arm tightly as the two became involved with the movie.
"We could mute the movie and still say every line, yet it never gets old." Trisha stretched watching the end credits rolled down the screen. The pizza was long gone and the girls had switched from coffee to coco with too large of marshmallows.
"It's a classic." Jenna stood grabbing their empty mugs and the trey to clean up while Trisha took another smoke break. Normally, Jenna would have a fit about Trisha smoking in the house, but she was stressed and smoking relieved that. Jenna had recently only seen Trisha smoking when she was super stressed.
"Hey Trish!?" Jenna yelled.
"Yeah?" The reply was muffled but still understandable.
"Are you trying to quick smoking?" Jenna asked. There was a pause before Trisha responded.
"I mean, kinda, but it's hard as hell when I'm so pissed off at everything." Trisha laughed but Jenna was beaming! Jenna had been trying to get Trisha to stop smoking for at least three years now. Trisha had sadly gotten the habit from attempting to rebel against her parents. She had gotten a tongue lashing about it but oddly enough Trisha's parents had never followed through with a punishment for Trisha's behavior. Jenna wondered if it was because of their lack of interest in Trisha after she stopped caring about school.
Jenna always thought it was strange. Trisha had grown up in a similar life style to Jenna's. Well off, a solid education, a secure future, but where Jenna was lacking in parental guidance, Trisha may have had too much. Jenna remembered all the late-night phone calls of Trisha just feeling trapped under her parents, so Trisha just stopped doing what they wanted. She stopped caring about school, sports, and any of her other extra-curricular activities. Finally, her parents just gave up on her in disappointment. That had only seemed to solidify itself when they had moved out of state and Trisha moved out on her own.
"Oh, how's Tina?" Jenna asked suddenly realizing she had yet to check up on Trisha's roommate.
"The bitch still refuses to clean up after herself. I'm not her goddamn mother!" Trisha shouted. Trisha living on her own had to be hard. Not only did all of the money she made go to rent and food, the roommate she lived with was horrible. Jenna walked back into the living room.
"My offer still stands." Jenna said quietly. She had already won a battle with the glasses and contacts, she didn't want to push it. Jenna was surprised though at the long pause that followed.
"Maybe . . . maybe after the holidays I'll think about it." Trisha said after puffing out smoke.
"Really?" Jenna was afraid to show her excitement.
"You gotta let me pay rent." Trisha pointed her cigarette at her.
"Trisha, I'm not going to-"
"It's that or no deal, Jenna. I'm not going to be a freeloader." Trisha hissed before taking another long drag then putting it out.
"Deal." The two got comfortable on the pull-out bed again.
"So, tell me more about this Lauren we're going to be meeting up with tomorrow." Trisha said putting Lauren's name in air quotes.
"What do you mean, "Lauren"." Jenna mimicked the motion.
"Well, it just seems like she came out of nowhere. I know more about your math tutor than I do about this girl." Trisha joked.
"Becky is a regular at your work. You knew her before I did, that's cheating." Jenna chuckled nudging Trisha.
"Alright, alright point taken. Seriously, am I going to like this girl?" Trisha shifted to be able to look at Jenna better.
"I promise. She takes a few minutes to calm down, but you get used to that. She's very sweet and we've worked on enough school projects together that we figured it was time to hang out away from school." Jenna explained.
"Look at our little friend group expanding." Trisha laughed with Jenna following suit.
"Nobody could replace you though." Jenna smiled seeing Trisha return it holding out her pinkie.
"You too." The two crossed pinkies and laughed like they did when they were five.
"Alright, come on. We've got an early start tomorrow." Jenna snuggled further into their mountain of blankets.
"Ugh." Was Trisha's only response as the two settled in and drifted off to sleep.
