"So how did your friends take the news?" her dad asked as they ate dinner that night.

She glanced up at him and smiled.

"Better than expected," she replied.

"Does that statement encompass everyone?" her mom questioned, a slight smile playing about her lips. Jenny knew just who her mom was referring to.

"Admittedly Tom and Dee were less than thrilled and to tell you the truth I think Tom still isn't totally on board with the whole idea but what can you do?" she shrugged as she answered.

"What are your plans for this weekend?" her dad asked.

"Well I'm supposed to go to a sleepover at Aba's tomorrow night and then start studying in earnest for my finals the rest of the weekend. Why?"

"I thought maybe the family could do something together this weekend, that's all."

After sharing a knowing look with her brother Jenny turned back to her dad.

"Sure, sounds good to me. I'll need a break from studying anyway. Just let me know what you want to do and when."

After school Friday Jenny found herself with some time on her hands before she had to go to the slumber party but unfortunately she wasn't tired so a visit to Julian was out of the question. She decided to track down her little brother and see if he wanted to do something with her to kill time. Luckily for her he felt like playing war and so they got out two decks of cards and spent the afternoon and early evening wrapped up in their game. They even forced their parents to hold dinner for them until they were through. Finally Jenny's brother won and did his victory dance all the way to the kitchen table. Jenny just shrugged and rolled her eyes at her parents, who were watching the display with amusement.

"I thought maybe we could go downtown tomorrow eat lunch and see a movie in the afternoon," her dad announced, "How does that sound to everyone?"

"Sounds good to me," Jenny said, "I'll make sure I'm home from Aba's before lunchtime tomorrow."

"I'll try to get all of my errands done in the morning so I'll be free to go, too," her mom stated.

Three pairs of eyes turned to focus on her little brother.

"As long as my shows are over I'm okay, too," he decided.

They all laughed over that declaration and settled in to eat.

Jenny made her way upstairs after dinner, having beaten her brother in their race up the stairs. She dug through her closet and got a backpack and her sleeping bag out and proceeded to collect all the things she needed. She was looking for a spare tube of toothpaste when her mom called up the stairs to her.

"Honey?"

She left her room and went to stand at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah Mom?"

"I forgot to tell you that this was waiting for you in the mailbox when I picked up the mail this afternoon."

Jenny peered down and saw that her mom was holding an envelope in her hands. It didn't appear to have a stamp on it. Strange, she thought to herself.

"Ok. I'll get it when I come down. Thanks, Mom."

Her mom nodded and placed the envelope on the table in the foyer. Jenny turned to leave but then remembered what she had been doing before her mom called to her.

"By the way, where's the extra tube of toothpaste?"

Her mom had to think for a moment.

"I believe it's in the hall closet next to the band-aids."

"I'll check there. Thanks."

As she closed up her backpack she took a last glance around to make sure she had everything then she picked up her sleeping bag and made her way downstairs to wait for Audrey to come and get her.

The face of the envelope was blank except for her name written on it in a bold, flowing script.

Jenny, it began. You are the most beautiful girl in the world. I am so happy when I think of us together. With you in my arms I am in heaven. Yours always. And then it was signed with a heart. Or at least it sort of looked like a heart. It was a bit lopsided. This person was definitely no artist.

"Well that's too bizarre," Jenny announced to the empty hallway. Suddenly the sound of a car horn interrupted her thoughts and she placed the letter back on the table, resolving to deal with it in the morning.

After the girls had filled up on pizza, chips and soda they settled onto their sleeping bags. Dee shared a look with Audrey and turned to Jenny.

"Ok Sunshine. Spill it."

Startled, Jenny looked over at her two friends.

"What?" she asked.

Audrey rolled her eyes and heaved a very audible sigh.

"The details about you and Tom, of course. How much patience do you think we possess?"

"Are you sure that's what you want to talk about?" she persisted, hoping they would drop it but knowing they wouldn't.

Summer, Audrey and Dee looked at each other and one by one, the girls nodded to Jenny. She took a deep breath and began telling the tale. They listened intently, interrupting only a few times until Jenny got to the part where Tom explained how he had felt seeing Jenny kiss Julian.

"Oh my god! I can't believe Tom said that!" Summer exclaimed.

"Yeah, well." Jenny was at a loss as to what the appropriate response was, if one indeed existed.

"Shush. Let her finish. Go on, Jenny." Dee encouraged.

"Well I was blown away, obviously. I mean, what could I say to that? But before I could come up with some response he kept talking. He said 'You asked me 'What happened to us?' And that's it, isn't it? At least partly. It's just not there, is it?'"

"What did he mean?" Audrey asked, as caught up in the story as everyone else.

"Well that's what I said. But he kept on talking like he didn't even hear me. He told me that the funny thing was he never knew it was missing until it was gone. He finally looked at me but kept talking, not letting me get a word in edgewise. He asked me if I thought it was weird to miss something you never had. That until that moment he swore he never even considered it."

"What in the world was he babbling about?" Dee interrupted.

 "I wasn't sure. So I asked him. And he told me it was 'Passion. Chemistry. Whatever you want to call it. Between us.'"

"Wow." All three girls fell away from Jenny back onto their various seats. They were almost as stunned as Jenny had been to hear it.

"I never would have thought Tom was capable of it. That took some guts to say." Dee couldn't help the admiration that laced her words. Jenny nodded her head, silently agreeing with Dee.

"So then what?" This was from Summer.

"Well he stated that he never thought that our relationship was lacking in any way. And it's not that he never thought about our relationship in a physical sense, because he had."

Jenny was about to continue when Audrey interrupted her.

"Oh that is such a guy thing to say!"

The other girls giggled but didn't dispute her claim.

"So anyway he said he'd always thought there'd be time for us to focus on that stuff later. That everyone had been saying that we'd be together forever for as long as he could remember. And in the end he believed them and assumed he had all of his life to work it out. I told him that he'd assumed I'd always be there, too."

"Go you! Way to tell it like it is!" Dee exclaimed, throwing her fist in the air and giving Jenny a friendly smack on the leg.

"What did Tom say to that?" Summer inquired.

"He agreed that he probably did. Then he let me know that he had been told about other girls who would tell me I was lucky to have him and he always thought I agreed with them. He never thought I'd ever like someone else."

"No one did," Audrey interjected, looking a bit sheepish as all eyes were suddenly upon her, "Sorry. Keep going."

"He said he knows how guys look at me, and before now he thought I didn't realize it more often than not."

They all shared a smile at that.

"That is such a guy thing to say, too." Dee stated.

"So did you agree with him to placate his ego?" Audrey asked.

"Of course. I told him he was right about both things. Even if I would see some guy checking me out I didn't really give it a second thought unless he was a jerk and then I just brushed him off like Audrey would."

"Well you did learn from the best," Audrey declared.

"So how did he take that?"

"He said he always thought we were the perfect couple and that he never gave a thought to any possible flaws until…"she faltered as she remembered the look in his eyes as he had delivered the blow.

"What did he say, Jenny?" Dee's voice brought her out of her momentary trance.

"Until the moment he saw Julian and I kiss. That the way I looked at Julian is something he will never forget because I never looked at him that way."

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Disclaimer: One day I'll say I own them, just to mess with people. But today is not that day.

Author's Notes: Wow…three chapters this week. Happy Birthday pixxi!