A/N: So I know I said I wouldn't be active on here anymore, but I lied. A little. It's just this one-shot wouldn't let me go. Anyway, this idea came from My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, but don't worry, this isn't one of those possession-type stories, I just liked the scene, so naturally I had to translate it to Jane and Maura.
Side note: I know Maura's birthday is in August, but for the sake of this, let's pretend it's before the summer.
I wish you weren't here.
.
As it turned out, Maura Isles wasn't very popular.
She was sitting in the reserved Party Room at Rocky's Roller Rink counting backward from a million by nines, pretending she didn't notice that the clock's hands read 3:37 when her party should have started at three.
She made the mistake of looking over at her parents.
Her mother was shifting in her orange plastic seat having a silent conversation with her father that probably had a lot to do with the fact their daughter didn't seem to have any friends.
To Maura, this silent room wasn't too much of a shock. She'd handed out invitations to her fifth-grade class in its entirety last Monday. By no means did she expect everyone to come. She thought a few might show up out of politeness. No more than ten, of course.
But nobody at all?
Her eyes stung a little bit, so she focused on the grimy plastic window on the other end of the room. She could see strangers out on the rink passing the window every few seconds. They all looked so happy.
One of the reasons she chose to have her party at the roller rink was because she thought it would be a neutral place everyone else would feel comfortable in. It wasn't intimidating like her home, if anything, it seemed like the type of place children her age would actually want to go to on a Friday afternoon.
As grim a conclusion as it was, Maura accepted it almost gracefully: the other children simply didn't like her.
Her father set his camera on the table next to the cake with eleven unlit candles. "Maura…"
"Ten more minutes, please?" she asked, knowing it wouldn't make a difference. But her mother went through so much trouble decorating the room. She just wanted to look at the green and white streamers of her first and last birthday party for a few more minutes.
..
When the ten minutes passed, she stood and smoothed her skirt. She couldn't bear to look at her father at this point. He flew across the country to be with her on her special day, only to have her drag him to this run-down rink and sit for an hour in silence.
Her mother stood, a quiet sigh escaping her, "Would you still like to skate, darling?"
Maura looked down at the scuffed linoleum and answered softly, "I don't know how."
She knew her father was shaking his head and running a hand down his face. And she knew what was coming next, so she was already rehearsing her apology in her head.
"Are you kidding me? You wanted your party at a roller skating rink, and you can't even skate?"
"I—"
"Jesus, Maura," his voice was low, but it did nothing to stop her knees from shaking, "you made—"
"Hello?" the door opened, and a woman stuck her head in. The three of them froze, her father's hand still pressed to his forehead, "Is this Maura Isles' party?"
A long pause followed by an awkward yeah on her father's part brought a smile to the woman's face, "Great."
She disappeared for a moment, and Maura felt her heart beating faster. Her mother gave her an encouraging smile, and even her father looked apologetic. She heard muffled voices on the other side of the door. Maura's hopes were up in the stratosphere. Somebody was out there.
But then Jane Rizzoli was pushed into the room by her mother who didn't seem to notice her daughter digging her heels into the ground and whispering, "No, Ma! I don't wanna!"
Maura's heart sank. Give her the brute Nolan Walters, or the bossy girl Katy Lennox, but for the love of god give her anyone but Jane Rizzoli.
"I thought we were running late," Mrs. Rizzoli said, relieved as she took in the emptiness of the room. She nudged her daughter, "Go on, give her your gift."
Jane rolled her eyes and thrust the small pink envelope at Maura. "Happy birthday," she muttered.
Maura swallowed as the girl shoved her hands into the pockets of her basketball shorts. This was the girl who made fun of the glasses she wore for reading. The girl who mimicked her every time she answered a question in class. The girl who carved the f-word into Maura's desk with nothing but a plastic spork and sheer determination.
She tore open the pink envelope, caught between her manners and her overwhelming urge to just throw it back in Jane's face. It was a ten dollar certificate for the movie theater a few blocks from her house. She chose the latter.
"I'm not allowed," she pushed the certificate into the crook of Jane's elbow but flinched when she felt her mother's eyes on her. "But thank you," she added.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Mrs. Rizzoli apologized, "I didn't realize."
It was quiet again, and it felt like everyone was staring at that stupid certificate. Or maybe they were all looking at her because it was her birthday, and the only person who showed up hated her. So she didn't have any friends. What was the big whoop? She was used to it, but now? With everyone looking at her with such… pity?
Maura glanced at the door, immediately taken with the idea of just running. What could they do? Tackle her? So she took off, ducking between Jane and Mrs. Rizzoli. She tore into the lobby area, weaving through high school kids carrying skates and greasy slices of pizza. By the time she crashed into the bathroom and locked herself into a stall, she was completely out of breath and honestly, she wasn't in much better shape than she was two minutes ago.
The music outside got louder as someone else entered the bathroom.
"Maura?"
It was Jane. Maura felt like scoffing, but instead, she climbed onto the toilet. Mrs. Rizzoli probably forced her to come in there. "Maura, I know you're in here."
She saw Jane's dirty sneakers stop in front of her stall, "I didn't want to get you that certificate. My ma made me. I wanted to get you that penguin book you always check out from the library… I saw it at the store, but she said you wouldn't like it."
Maura didn't care. This girl was the worst. She heard movement outside the stall and stared in horror as Jane peeked her head under the door and started to crawl in. What did she think she was doing? And suddenly, she was right there, standing in front of the toilet, staring as Maura leaned away from her, unsure of what she might do next.
"What?" the girl mumbled toward the toilet paper dispenser.
Maura knew what she should say, but what fell out sounded a little less tactful: "I wish you weren't here."
"I know," Jane side-eyed her with a slight smirk, "do you really not know how to skate?"
Nobody came to her birthday party, but Jane chose to tease her about skating? Maura let out a sigh, exasperated and confused, "Please don't make fun of me."
"I wasn't."
It was quiet for a few beats, and Jane just stood there awkwardly like she was fighting a reflex or something. Maura looked at the girl's muddy shoes and her too-big t-shirt. She started to wonder why she had been afraid of this girl for so long. She was just a kid.
"I'll teach you how to skate if you want." It came out so quietly all Maura could do was stare dumbly at her. "Only 'cause it's your birthday and I didn't get you a very good present. And besides, I'm really good."
"You are?"
"I'm really good."
..
After Maura's dad rented their skates, Jane tied them on Maura's feet so tightly she gasped, but Jane just rolled her eyes and hauled her to her feet and into the Baby Skate Zone.
"Perfect," Jane joked, knocking on the sign with her fist. Maura rolled her eyes in a way that reminded her a little too much of the girl pulling her around. But Jane showed her how to turn and balance without holding onto the wall, so Maura thought she might let the teasing slide just this once.
A half hour passed before Jane started getting tired of going in tiny circles. "Wanna try the big rink now?"
She shook her head and clutched the wall.
"C'mon. It'll be great."
Maura glanced over at the rink filled with older kids. She saw a million and one flashes of herself getting knocked into the walls and falling on her face. She didn't mean to sound like a baby, it just came out that way. "Will you hold my hands?"
Jane's eyes went up to the ceiling, but she grabbed Maura's hands anyway and pulled her into the big rink just as the announcer said it was Free Skate. A horde of skaters filled the rink and whizzed by, but Maura wouldn't move. She closed her eyes and flinched every time someone brushed against her.
"C'mon, Maur," Jane said over the music, and her eyes shot open. She was Jane looking at her expectantly, rhythmically dotted with the light bouncing off the mirror ball spinning in the center of the room.
Suddenly, Jane started to back skate, pulling Maura slowly by their tethered fingers, and before long Maura pushed off with one leg then the other. Jane smiled widely as they picked up speed, spinning with the crowd and skating in time with the rambunctious rock song blaring over the speakers.
To anyone else, they just looked like two little kids going around the rink in a slow circle, taking the turns extra wide. But for Maura, the world was a neon wonderland full of bright pink and turquoise lights flashing on and off so fast with every beat of the music as they zoomed around, and everyone was dancing and flying on their skates only going faster, and Jane had come to her birthday party, and she didn't want anyone else there now because Jane was really good, and they could eat the whole cake by themselves now.
Somehow Maura knew what was in Jane's head, and the other way around too because Jane smiled at her, and Maura smiled back, squeezing her sweaty fingers. And Jane let out a loud whoop!
"This is awesome!" Jane shouted up toward the ceiling.
And then Jane skated into Joey Grant, got tangled in his legs, and landed hard on her face, driving her tooth through her lower lip and dripping blood all down her Celtics t-shirt. Maura's parents had to take her to the emergency room where she got three stitches once Mrs. Rizzoli showed up. Maura didn't see Jane again until Monday at school. Her lip was swollen up like a balloon, so Maura took the ice pack from her lunch box, wrapped it in a napkin, and held it to the girl's face despite her protests, and from that day forward, Maura was pretty certain they were best friends.