Most of the things people do in life are pretty ridiculous. Even standards set by society for 'normal' people make no sense if you take the time to look at it. So many stupid things done for the sake of looking good. Shaving leg hair, dying hair, painting faces, inflating or deflating parts of your body like some balloon animal that doesn't know what it's supposed to be, but knows it's supposed to look good. When you grow up with very little money in your purse your priorities change. People become more natural, more like the animals that they are. Without money people focus more on surviving. Food, housing, health. They never think much on what color lipstick they wear or if their shoes go with their outfit. Maybe that was the appeal of Isaac de la Vega. He was attractive, even Jig admitted that when pressed, but he did nothing to get that way. He refused to wear any makeup in his movies or style his hair. What you saw was really how Isaac was. He grew up not caring about what on earth he looked like. He grew up with the basic natural urge to survive. And evidently, when humanity really sees it, that's what they want. Not some painted up Hollywood party doll, but something natural, and basic, and beautiful still.

That's how Isaac always figured upon his success. He was real, something new to the business. And the animal quality of every movie watcher saw that and wanted that, wanted their humanity back. Jig had always figured he was a success because of his eyes, but, she never said that, she just agreed with whatever Isaac said. Growing up, he was considered great, and she was considered his body guard. Not enough in praise herself, but not to be missed with, for Isaac truly did love her, and the great cannot be wrong. Not to the meager, anyway.

If anyone told Ephram this, if he knew that once upon a time Jig took second place, he would laugh and not believe it. But, once upon a time, Jig took second place. She let Isaac shine because she knew something; she knew that Isaac was made to shine. Isaac had always been able to shine on his own and endure. Isaac didn't need a lot of help, sometimes he just liked having Jig at his side, and most of the time, and she liked his side. His light would lighten her too, sometimes in the most difficult of times. But Ephram, Ephram could not shine on his own. Ephram was like a bird who didn't know it could fly. He needed someone to show him how, to get him up there and enjoying himself. Ephram needed a charger before he could shine. So, with Ephram, Jig gave him some of her life, some of her smiles. Of course, she also gave him frowns. She would look past at all of the times she cried in his arms, and wish they had not been. Ephram didn't need her to be like that, he needed her to shine for him. Yet, in all of Everwood, there wasn't another person she wanted to cry to. Ephram had a way of telling you everything would be alright and you'd damn well believe him. She never doubted that what he said would happen. Ephram might not be able to fly like he could, but he was more stable on the ground then anyone Jig had ever met. Isaac was there to help Jig shine, but Ephram was there to help her survive. In fact, it was Ephram who taught Jig to fly. It was him to teach her that sometimes, she needed to forget herself, and believe in him.

This is where the difficulty lay. She had one friend who was, her light. And she had another who was her dark. Ying and yang. Harmony, when they were apart. But together, without knowing it, they made her chose between them. But she can't, she couldn't, she needs them both and they both need her. There were times she would start to cry in her room, when she would yell at herself for ever sitting across the table from Ephram and talking to him. But the idea of that being a regret, filled her with so much pain. Jig had many regrets, many far worse than she told Ephram of, things she would think of and collapse onto the floor wrapping herself in her arms, trying not to vomit. There were things, or rather, thing, that she could never say aloud, to anyone. Not to Isaac, nor to Ephram. Something she had done, because she had to, because she had no choice, but that didn't help. She was supposed to make Ephram shine, how could she tell him of such things? Only three people ever knew, and now one is dead, and another probably forgotten about it. It was Jig's to bear, or, in this case, not to bear.

That Friday Ephram stayed with Desi, steering clear of Jig and Isaac, which wasn't hard to do with the swarm of people around them. Jig was even late to a few classes because they couldn't get through the crowd. But it was official; Isaac de la Vega had come to Everwood. To see his best friend, no less, a girl still very much new to Everwood herself. It was odd, though; a sudden shift that Ephram felt, a release which he thought was odd for the occasion. Until that day, Ephram had been the kid with the famous connections, but now it was Jig, with even bigger connections. The atmosphere was somewhat, altered, around him. And he was glad to say, for the better, he felt freer to an extent. Plus it was kind of funny watching Jig yell at everybody.

  It had been interesting for Amy to try and explain who Isaac de la Vega was to Colin. After she had he still didn't quite understand, but when Isaac walked into the school building and the mobs started to form, he kind of got the general idea. On his way to one of his classes, Colin walked past the school's weight training room that was oddly occupied only by one person. On a lot of gym days, he was told, the kids would get their choice of basketball, badminton, jump rope, walking around the hallway, or going into the weight room. Usually when he walked passed the room it was full of guys, but this day must be a day the girls have gym, for it was a single girl who was furiously bounding and kicking at the punching bag with anger in her grunts and a much tamed pattern to her motions. Actually, she seemed so emotionally involved with every hit of the bag that Colin stopped and watched her. She looked familiar, like Amy had pointed her out to him, but he didn't remember. It was kind of entrancing, watching her release anger in such a way. After a few moments she stopped hitting the bag and clung to it as she fell to the ground, apparently now crying. Colin took a step forward in worry but moved no farther because she did get up and walked over to a table nearby and rubbed a towel over her face and cheeks. She sighed and looked over to the doorway and saw him there. She sighed again and shook her head.

"I wish I could do that," Colin told her. She chuckled slightly, forcing it so well it almost sounded real.

"What, hitting the bag or crying like a little girl?" she asked him. He looked up at the ceiling and shook his head back and forth in thought before looking at her again.

"Probably the first one," he said and she laughed really this time and walked over to him.

"You're Colin. Don't worry; you're not supposed to know me. I'm Amy's second cousin Jig, nice to meet you," she said pulling a boxing glove off of her right hand and extending it.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," he said now recognizing her, "you're the one with the movie star."

"Heh, yeah, I guess you could say that," she said and they fell silent. He nodded back to the punching bag.

"So what was that about?" he asked her. She looked back at it, not really expecting to see anything new and turned back to him.

"A lot of unfortunate memories," she said and he chuckled slightly.

"Maybe you and I should trade then," he told her smiling, she smiled and nodded.

"Right, the amnesia thing. I saw that coming…. Well, you've come into good company here in Everwood, and believe me, I've seen bad company."

"Hence the punching bag?"

"Hence the punching bag. Right, so, if you ever need a tour around town or something, ask someone else, I'll get you lost before we cross the street," she told him and he laughed.

"I'll remember that," he said, and hurried his way to class, not really worried about being late.

It had been a surprisingly slow day. Everyone was in such a hustle about Isaac de la Vega, no one bothered being sick. So, quietly in his office, Andy took out a book and started to read. Every now and then Edna would pop in with a question or two and Andy would quickly hide the book under his desk and give her a really fake smile. Sometimes she could hear him laughing from his office and at the end of the day decided not to ask why. Andy was ashamed to say it, but he thoroughly enjoyed Winnie the Pooh. Penny Laderer did have a flare for picking the right book. Winnie had just enough childish spirit and enthusiasm to make him feel better about the day. The thought had crossed his mind to go out and buy the book to read everyday, but then another thought occurred to him. Why go out and buy it, when he could borrow it from the library? Sure the cost of buying it would seem like nothing after his long career as a neurosurgeon, but, the idea of going to the library on a regular basis seemed to give Andy some sort of smile across his face, something he really couldn't explain. Maybe it's because the building is so unusual compared to all of the other libraries he's seen. It really looked more like an old home than a library. He probably wanted to go back and figure out why.