Chapter 32

Jennie

Three Months Later

I've been trying to get Sorn to warm up to Irene since Irene moved into their complex several months ago. As it stands, Sorn is still pretty cold.

She's sitting on Irene's bed while I help Irene pick out an outfit for tonight, so we're making progress. She hasn't been over here since Irene moved in, other than one time when Irene had to stay a few nights in the hospital for an illness. Sorn came to get some clothes for her, but only because Bobby made her.

"I think the black shirt would look better with these," Irene says. "I'm gonna try it on." She grabs the shirt I brought over and takes it to her bathroom, closing the door behind her. I look at Sorn. She's on her back, staring up at the ceiling, yawning. I pull out my phone and text her because I don't want Irene hearing our conversation.

Jennie: You're making this uncomfortable.

Sorn reads her text and then looks at me, holding up a frustrated hand.

Sorn: What?! I'm just being me.

Jennie: Yeah, no offense, but that's the issue. Sometimes people have to make an effort NOT to be themselves in order to make situations around them a little more tolerable. You haven't said a word to her. Make an effort. Ask her questions.

Sorn: I AM making an effort. I'm here. Besides, I don't have any questions for her. What would I even say? I don't know how to do fake.

Jennie: Ask her about her graduation. Ask her about when we went bungee jumping. Ask her how she and Jackson are doing. Lots of potential conversation starters if you just try.

Irene walks out of the bathroom just as Sorn drops her phone onto the bed and rolls her eyes.

"I like that shirt on you," I say to Irene. She's turning back and forth in the mirror.

I look at Sorn and make a face. Sorn sits up dramatically, slapping her palms against the bed. She clears her throat.

"So…Irene. How are…you and Jackson doing? Well? I hope?" She forces a smile, but sounds like a stiff robot.

Maybe this was a bad idea. I glance over at Irene, and she's just standing there, staring at Sorn with her head tilted.

I glance back at Sorn and shake my head. "Wow. You really don't know how to talk to people."

Sorn throws her hands up and says, "I told you!"

Irene looks at me. "Did you make her ask me that?"

I shrug. "I'm just trying to teach her how to interact with humans in a normal way."

Looking back at Sorn, Irene says, "It doesn't suit you."

"See?" Sorn falls back on the bed. "I should just be me. I'm good at being me."

"Fine. I'm sorry I tried." I give my attention back to Irene. "But how are you and Jackson doing?"

Sorn sits up on the bed again and throws a hand out toward me. "Why does it sound so normal when you say it?"

Irene and I both laugh. She looks in the mirror and fingers her hair. "We're good," she says, smiling into the mirror. "It's all been so easy with him. He's just…simple. He likes to have fun, doesn't take anything too seriously. Until he needs to."

"But is he good in bed?" Sorn asks.

I see a pattern here. The only conversations that come naturally to Sorn always have to do with sex. Does Lisa moan during sex? Is Jackson good in bed?

"He's very good," Irene says without hesitation.

"Who is better?" Sorn asks her. "Lisa or Jackson? Or Bobby? Wow, you've slept with all three of them."

I slap a hand to my forehead. She's a lost cause.

Luckily, Irene just laughs it off. "Yeah, Sorn, let's just not do the whole conversation thing, okay?"

Sorn pouts. "But I actually want to know the answer to this question. I bet it was Bobby."

Irene looks at me and scrunches up her nose while shaking her head. "It wasn't," she mouths.

Sorn mutters something about wanting a snack, so she heads to the kitchen. I hand Irene a purple button-up shirt. "Try this one on. I think you'll like it better than the black one."

"What's it even matter? Jackson is on call all weekend, so he won't even be there." Irene goes back to the bathroom just as Sorn walks back into the bedroom, crunching on chips. She looks at herself in the mirror, turning so she can see her ass. She holds up a Pringle and positions it so that it covers her but in the mirror.

"What are you doing?" I ask her, just as Irene comes out in the purple shirt. "Definitely that shirt. It's perfect."

"Irene," Sorn says, still looking at herself in the mirror. "When you said my ass looked like two Pringles hugging, was that a compliment?"

Irene laughs. "Have you seen your ass? Of course it was."

"I don't see it." Sorn pulls another Pringle out of the can and holds both chips back to back so that they're curved away from each other. "This is not attractive."

Irene walks over and grabs the two Pringles, turning them inward. "Like this."

Sorn stares at the chips and nods, like it finally clicks. "Oh. Yeah, it kind of does look like that."

•••

Lisa and Bobby have been at the venue helping the band set up for the show, so Irene and I rode with Sorn. Lisa isn't playing tonight, though. She said sometimes she just likes being a spectator.

Irene has a smile on her face as we get out of the car, but I can tell it's strained. She pauses as she looks up at the building. "I wish Jackson could have made it," she says quietly.

I grab her hand. "He can come to the next one. Just try to have fun."

I'm anxious to get inside, so I pull her after me and text Lisa to let her know we're at the back door. A moment later, the door opens and Lisa walks out. She's followed by Bobby. I feel bad because Lisa is giving me a hug, and Bobby is giving Sorn a hug, and Irene is just standing there, awkward and alone.

It won't last long though.

Just when the door slams shut, it's pushed open from the inside. Jackson walks out.

It's been hell keeping it from her, but he really wanted to surprise her. He was able to switch his on-call weekends, but he didn't want her to know. He's planning on staying with her until Monday morning.

As soon as she realizes he's actually here and she's not seeing things, she lights up all over and runs at him. She jumps on him and wraps herself around him like a spider monkey, her feet locked around his back, her wrists locked behind his neck. He's holding her with little effort, and it makes me envious that I can't jump on Lisa like that. I mean, I guess I could. We'd need to plan it. We'd need a spotter. And a mattress for when we fell.

They're so in love. It's so adorable.

Lisa leans into my ear and says, "You look beautiful."

Her comment gets her a kiss. We're so adorable.

Bobby opens the back door and holds it for everyone as we all shuffle inside. I feel my phone vibrate, so I look back at Lisa and she indicates she just texted me something.

Lisa: I gave Jackson the ring.

Me: You did? Did it freak him out? Or did he seem appreciative?

Lisa: He thanked me like five times and kept staring at it on the drive over. I doubt he waits long.

That makes me smile. I know marriage wasn't an item on Irene's bucket list, but I think she's at a point in her life where she wants to add more to the list. And Jackson isn't going anywhere. I can see that just by the way they look at each other.

The room is packed when we get out to the floor. Luckily, one of the crew members saved an area up front for us. Perks of writing music for the band.

Jackson and Irene stand next to us. He's standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her. When Bambam and the band walk on stage, Irene separates herself from him and starts clapping and jumping. I have no idea how long it's been since she's seen them play, but she's genuinely stoked to hear them. It makes me think about everyone's dynamic and how she's been a part of these people's lives since right after they started the band. I'm sure Bambam and everyone on stage mean more to her than I ever realized.

It makes me appreciate what we had to go through to get here even more. Had we all not figured out a way to coexist, she would have had to give up huge pieces of her life. I never would have felt right about that.

I look over at Bobby and Sorn, and even she's smiling and clapping as Bambam introduces the band to the audience. Bobby has his hands cupped around his mouth as he yells for the band. Then he drops his arm and wraps it around Sorn's waist. She looks up at him and he smiles down at her, then gives her a quick kiss. It's so odd to see them in moments like this, but when I do get glimpses of it, it's beautiful. They love each other, even if they do it differently from everyone else.

That's the beauty of love, isn't it? It comes in so many different forms, shapes, sizes, textures. And it's ever changing. Like the love Lisa held for Irene. It's still there… It's just a different form. And that's what I love the most about her. She never stopped loving her. She never stopped caring for her. And now that she's one of my closest friends, I can't help but love that for her, because she deserves it. She deserved her love then as her girlfriend, and she deserves her love now as one of her best friends.

Lisa moves closer behind me and wraps her arms around me, lifting one hand to my chest. She rests her palm at the base of my throat and presses her head to the side of mine. She wants to hear the concert through me, so I start singing along to the music. And I don't realize it until halfway through the song, but I'm crying.

I don't even know why.

I just love her so much. And I love being here with her. And I love her friends.

I just…love.