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Liberty pretended to swoon, rolling her eyes in the back of their sockets, swaying slightly, and flopping back onto the pillows she had propped behind her back. She clasped her hands to her heart and smiled dreamily.
Emma gave her a weird look. "Are you okay?"
Liberty finally returned to Earth and grinned widely at her friend. "He actually told you that he won't accept that? I hate to be a Jay-supporter, but that has to be the most romantic line I've ever heard."
Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing. Liberty VanZandt was actually saying something nice about Jay Hogart? Had the world gone crazy?
"You hate Jay," Emma reminded, grabbing a pretzel and crunching on it daintily.
Liberty raised a knowing finger and left it hanging in the air. "Correction; I used to hate Jay. You have to admit that since you two hooked up, the man has changed for the better."
Emma knew that what Liberty was saying was true in a roundabout way, but the image of Jay and Manny entangled in sheets put a damper on any nice feelings she may have had for Jay.
"Look, I know that you're still hurt about what happened between Jay and Manny, but I really think you need to access the whole situation," Liberty pointed out. She sat up straighter and positioned herself more comfortably, fluffing the pillows around her. "Jay is completely in love with you, Emma. I still can't wrap my mind around the idea of him throwing everything the two of you had away, for a one-nighter with Manny."
"Manny has certain assets that a lot of guys find attractive," Emma reminded.
Liberty wrinkled her forehead, giving a disgusted look. "Manny Santos may have a great body, but she hasn't got the Emma wit and personality that Jay Hogart loves so much."
"Still doesn't explain why he slept with her."
Liberty didn't want to voice her suspicions, but they still continued to swim around in her head whenever she thought of just how miserable her friend really was. Emma had tried, unsuccessfully, for nine months to forget about Jay and her feelings for him. Throughout their sporadic conversations on-line and over the phone, Liberty knew that Emma was still in love with Jay. Now, hearing Emma's tale of Jay's recent declaration, Liberty guessed he felt the same way. The question was, who was going to break first and how could Liberty help speed up the process?
"I can almost hear the wheels grinding around in that head of yours," Emma joked. "What's up?"
Liberty breathed in deeply. "I just don't think it happened."
"What?"
"Jay and Manny."
Emma sighed heavily, not wanting to relive such a painful moment in history. "I saw it, okay. I saw them together."
"You saw what looked like they were...you know. You didn't actually see them having sex, right?"
Emma closed her eyes tightly, wishing the memory of that night would just fade away.
FLASHBACK
"Have you seen Jay?" Emma asked Darcy, who was busy snuggling up close to Peter.
Darcy looked nervous as she pointed to the stairs at the far end of the long, narrow, two storey house.
Emma gave her a weird look and went off to find her boyfriend. She wished she could have come to Marco's party with Jay, and silently cursed her parents for planning Snake's mother's birthday party on the same night, as she gripped the banister and climbed the old stairs.
Every door upstairs was open, except for one. Emma made her way down the hallway, checking the open doors first. Why would Jay be up here anyway?
She knocked on the closed door and heard Manny's voice come back to her, saying, "Jay! Get your pants on!"
Emma turned the glass knob slowly, dropping the plastic cup that had been in her hand, when she saw...
END OF FLASHBACK
Emma shook her head, refusing to go there once again. She looked over at Liberty, who was watching her intently. "I saw enough, okay? Any moron would deduce the exact same thing I did."
Liberty rubbed Emma's shoulder supportively. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you relive it yet again. I just think that Jay wouldn't be so stupid. He knew you were coming to that party. Why would he choose that time and place to hook up with your best friend?"
"Ex-best friend," Emma reminded. "It doesn't matter, Liberty. It's over and I couldn't be happier about that."
Liberty smiled at Emma, getting to her feet and grabbing the now empty pretzel bowl. She walked to the stairs, preparing to go the upstairs kitchen for a refill. She turned back to Emma and insisted, "It's not over...not until Jay says it is."
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