Chapter Two: The Dark Deed
"I'm not so sure about this anymore, Tiff. What if she gets mad?" The next morning Blake and I made our way to the Power Station. "She's your best friend! I'd think the last thing that you'd want to do is hurt her."
"Oh, quit whining! It was your idea anyway..." Blake huffed and hung his head. "Maybe we should talk to Jak. He might be able to pump her for some information."
"Right now, Jordan's love life is at stake. If we don't do something soon, who will?"
"Maybe she wants to handle this-"
"Handle what?" Damn it! Jordan was walking behind us. "Uh, hi, Jordan!"
"Who can handle what?"
"Oh, nothing! We were talking about, um...Jak and Keira!" With a puzzled look on her face, she turned around, but she didn't stop questioning me. "What's wrong?"
"Erm..." I didn't know what to say. Let's see. What have Jak and Keira been fighting about lately? Stupid wish! They haven't been fighting about anything lately. I guess we'll just have to lie! "Um, oh yeah. Keira was telling me that she wants another baby and Jak disagrees! Men!" Blake gave me the, "If-this-doesn't-work-and-she-hates-me-too-it's-all-your-fault" look. Sorry, Blake! I'm just trying to help her!
"Poor Keira!" she gasped. Uh oh. "She needs me!" With no further words, she took off in the direction of the palace. Blake spun around to look at me. "Now look what you've done! Now Keira and Jak are gonna' think she's psycho!"
"She is psycho...right now. Come on, we're almost there!" As we neared the Power Station, I thought about what I had said. "Um, oh yeah. Keira was telling me that she wants another baby and Jak disagrees! Men!" Lie. Maybe with some off chance Keira does want another baby. It would be a miracle to have that happen, let alone have Jak disagree.
When we got inside, Torn stood by himself at one of the consoles. I didn't like it here. Sure, I love to play with computers, but I could make an exception for this place. Wires and cords hung loosely, and weird screens made odd sounds and graphs. Enough to drive one mad, I say! "Hi, Torn!" Blake said cheerfully. Torn peeked over his shoulder and huffed. "What do you want?"
"We need a favor!" I pulled out a slip of paper and laid it on the console. "We need you to go to this site and post, 'Jordan Dronebarger: Open for Any Singles' on that chat forum!"
"Did she ask you to do this? This doesn't sound like Jordan..."
"Oh yeah! She's been dying to get a date for weeks!" Lie. Torn continued to stare suspiciously at us. Please buy it! Please buy it! "Okay, but if it doesn't work, it was her idea."
"Thanks!" Then we ran out the door. "I just know something's gonna' go wrong," Blake mumbled as we ran through the streets. "She's eventually going to pick it up on the streets."
"How is she going to do that?"
"I'll stand at the front of the palace with a megaphone and yell it through the window!"
"Blake!"
"Okay, I won't. But I think you should tell her." Blake's words haunted me for the rest of the day. I couldn't focus on my work. Apparently this wasn't such a good idea after all. "Um, Jordan, have you talked to Keira today?"
"No, she wasn't home. But thanks for reminding me! I'll talk to her this afternoon." She looked back down at the paper work on her desk. Did I mention that we have our own office? Pretty sweet. "We have to get back to work right now." Guilt...Weighing...Down...On...Mind...Must...Stay...Focused! "Uh, yeah. Work."
"Are you okay? You've been acting wierd today."
"Perfectly fine!" Lie.
Later that afternoon, I saw Jordan talking to Keira. Well, I lived a good life. If Keira hears about this, then Jak hears about this. And if Jak hears about this...Oh, I can't even think about it! "...So I just want you to know that...I'm here for you." This is it. I'm done for. "How did you know?" WHAT? "A little birdie told me." Hallelujah! "I actually haven't told Jak yet..." This may sound mean, but I hope he doesn't want another baby! "Need some assistance?" Oh please, Keira. Just play along until the time is right! "Thanks, but I can handle it."
I couldn't believe how lucky I got. But it wouldn't be long before me or Blake cracked. This was just too much! Now I know how Jordan felt when she had tried to get Jak and Keira so long ago!
Blake came to visit me while I was going over some documents for the next meeting. "So, have you told her?"
"Ugh, when are you going to get off my back?"
"When you tell her!" I loved Blake with all my heart, but sometimes, he can be a bit of a pain. "I'll tell her tomorrow! Or..." I thought for a moment. Maybe Torn hasn't posted yet. I'll just have to find out tomorrow when we leave...
"This is weird. All these guys kept on asking me out this morning when I left to get some breakfast!" Shouldn't have waited. Jordan left that morning to buy a special breakfast for my birthday. I was surprized she remembered considering all the work she's been doing.
"I refused them all, politely at least. It's like someone had told everyone in the city that I didn't have a boyfriend..." You have no idea! After eating we rounded up all of our papers and left for the meeting. Even though we were a part of the Grand Council, we didn't really look like it. We were supposed to be wearing sophisticated suits with ties and our hair pulled back. Instead, we loosened the ties and let them hang around our necks like scarves. Our hair wasn't up like they suggested, and our neatly rolled up pants were let down to drag on the ground.The sleeves of the blue jackets were rolled up and undone. We looked like party animals. Underneath the jackets we wore black t-shirts, so when we left the meeting,we could take off the itchy-overcoats.
"Jordan! Tiffany! How many times have I told you to fix your uniforms!" Samos scolded. I thought I had a talent for nagging... "You look like you just came back from a party!"
"We did! It's calledbeing a teenager!" Why couldn't he understand that we're rebels. Everyone does it! We're actually starting a new fashion trend in Haven. But no. He just crosses his arms and stares at us for a long long time and shakes his head. Then we're forced to fix ourselves up and go through with the stupid meeting.
Once inside we took our seats and pulled out all of the documents. As Jordan sorted them, I got lost in my own little dream world again...
Okay, so you haven't been caught yet. You got lucky. But what happens if Jak actually disagrees? I could start a fight! Then they'll get divorced, Jordan will never speak to me again, Blake will break up with me, Keira will take Michael away from Jak, we'll all have to move out of the palace, we'll be poor for the rest of our lives. All this could come from one little sentence posted on a chat forum. Ugh...
"...And that concludes my presentation. Miss Jordan, Tiffany, what do you think?" Jordan obviously had nothing to say, so she turned to me. "I say we take her name off the chat forum!"
"What?" Everyone was staring at me now. I wish someone would shoot me... Jordan glared suspiciously. "What did you do?" There's no escaping this... She wouldn't stop. "Okay," I sighed. "Blake and I had Torn post your name on a chat forum and we said that you were currently available. After awhile I started to feel guilty about it. I'm really really sorry Jordan. I truly am..."
"You...You really did that?"
"I'm sorry!"
"After I said that I would never see anyone but Michael..."
"Jordan, I can explain-"
"You don't need to..." She left. I suddenly realized that everybody in the council room was staring at me, accusing me for Jordan's broken heart. I deserve this. I admit that I was a bad friend... I lay my head down on the table as the man up front gave his presentation, never asking me for my opinion for the rest of the meeting.
For days Jordan didn't talk to me or Blake. Sometimes she would look at me, frown, look at the floor, and shuffle off. If there was ever a point in your life that everyone made you feel like a monster, this had to be it. We attended the meetings together, but she never said anything. Jordan used to be the kind that whenever she got mad, she would go on and on about it for days until she finally got over it. Now, she doesn't say anything.
Keira told Jak about her problem. Again, I saw her and Jordan talking...
"I don't believe it! He feels the same way? That's great, Keira!"
"I know! He's so kind, especially when it comes to our family..." She was right. Jak was the perfect father. Even after a long, hard day at work, he would always come into the play room with his son. He's away a lot, but sometimes, well, we used to take little Mikey up to see his dad. Somehow, I knew that Jak would agree all along.
"Sure it's going to be a lot of work taking care of two children, but think about it! Think of how proud little Michael would feel!"
"Yeah, I felt that way about my brothers...until they turned three..." Keira laughed. "What do you think you'd name it?"
"That's a good question. Jak and I haven't really thought about it. I'll ask him tonight. Oh, Jordan. I'm so excited!" With that Keira got up from the table in the dining hall and left. Jordan was left alone. This was my chance. I peeked around the door and sighed. Finally, I got enough courage to step in.
"Jordan, I-"
"Jordan! Tiffany!" My communicator sprang to life and hovered in between us. "We need your help!" Jak was on the other end. "Some kid is down at the Pumping Station setting up bombs everywhere. Get down there before he destroys more pipes!" The commi shut down and floated back into my back pack. Jordan got up from the table without a word. I followed close behind, making sure that I didn't say anything.
