Past and Present

Jenny and her father were at the loft in an uncomfortable silence.

After 10 minutes Rufus was the first to speak.

-"Why did you want to meet me there?"-

She looked at him, his eyes and his voice were so cold she was almost scared.

-"Dad, I know I don't have any right to ask you any favors, but I have a proposition for you"-

-"Let me guess. You want to come back to Manhattan cause you'll be old Jenny, don't you?"-

-"No Dad. I want to stay here, at the loft. I don't want to go back to Manhattan or to Constance. I want to stay here, go to a normal school, wear normal dresses and live a normal life"-

-"Jenny I appreciate your desire to be normal again, but you're 17, and I can't let you stay here alone."-
-"I won't be alone Dad."- She sighed and said – " I asked Dan if he wanted to come back here. He told me he will. But I will be in a sort of probation. He will stay only if he sees a real change in me, and I think I owe you both that much."-

He thought about it for a while then said –" I will stay here for a couple of days. I want to see if this situation is good for you. I'm not promising anything."-

She hugged him so tight he almost saw the old Jenny, but he knew better, and he didn't trust her.

-"I'm going to Manhattan to pack a bag. I'll be back later"-

With that, he left.

Jenny grabbed her purse and went to the high school she wanted to attend to take the documents. In the waiting room she saw a couple of girls chatting. She was amazed by how they were all on the same level and no one was trying to get the better of the other.

While she was waiting for the secretary, the girls approached her.

-"Are you going to attend this school?"-
-"Hopefully…."-
-" I'm Emily! They're Alex and Nikki and we're waiting for Liz who's talking with the principal"-
-"I'm Jenny" – she smiled –" Nice to meet you all"

Just then the other girl stepped out from the office -"Girls it's all set! We can start the auditions and ….Who's she?"-
-"She's Jenny and she's new!"-
-"I'm Liz.. What…"-
Just then the secretary called Jenny. She got up from the chair and excused herself. She took the documents and was going out of the school, when the girls she met before waved at her.

-"Where do you live?"-
-" A couple of blocks away, near the Italian restaurant."-
-"you mean my father's restaurant" – said Alex

-"I can't believe it! Your father is the chef?"-
-"Yup!"-
-" I love that restaurant! My brother and I used to eat there all the time!"-

-"I have an idea!" – said Emily – " Why don't you come with us? We're heading there anyway, cause we have to talk about our project"-
-" Yeah you can help us! It would be a good way to meet new people here!"- added Liz.

'is It really that simple to be accepted here?' - Jenny thought. But then she understood that in Brooklyn, nobody knew her, and this thought thrilled her. She really had the possibility to start over, and she wasn't gonna waste it.

After an entire afternoon spent talking about Romeo&Juliet, in which Jenny offered to design the costumes, she headed home and while preparing dinner for Rufus and Dan she took an important decision. She took the phone, and signed herself out from the newsletter of Gossip Girl. She waited for Dan, and told him she wasn't gonna help him with the website anymore. Dan understood her desire to cut all the ties with UES, but warned her that if their father was going to live there, there would be times she won't be able to back away. She knew it, and she was afraid of it. She was tempted to ask Dan about Blair, Serena and most of all Eric and Nate, but she was sure they were too disappointed with her, and she couldn't take to know their bad opinion of her.

-"So Jenny, have you thought about where are you going to attend school?"-
-"Yes Dad, in fact I need your help in filling the papers. I went to a school near the park and took the documents. I need your signature"-
Rufus was impressed by Jenny's efforts, but he still had some problems in trusting her. Anyway, he signed the papers, and hoped she was really changing.

In the morning, Dan and Rufus went to Manhattan. Dan had to meet Nate and Rufus lived there. Jenny went immediately to deliver the documents at school. After a quick tour, the principal told her she was going to start on Monday. In the afternoon she met the girls again, in order to decide colors and fabrics of the costumes.

Everything was fine until she came home and found Eric ad Serena on the couch.

-"So, I heard you persuade your father…."-

-"What are you doing here Serena?"-

-"I'm here to inform you that you can fool your father or your brother…but not me."-
In a couple of minutes, Serena humiliated her and erased the little self-confidence she had gained these last few days.

-"Is that what you think too, Eric?"-
He nodded but didn't say a word.

-"Well, then I think you can get up from the couch and head back to Manhattan cause I surely made a lot of mistakes, but that doesn't mean you're allowed to came here and humiliate me."-

Eric got up and went near her –"Jenny, it's not like we want to go against you, but you do understand it's hard to trust you"-
Now she was beyond angry –"I didn't ask for your trust. I won't be a problem cause I'm not planning on going back to UES anytime soon. I've been officially banished, and even if I wasn't, there's nothing left for me there."-

-"You have your father…"-
-"This is his house too. He can come whenever he wants."-
-"You have me too."-

-"You made perfectly clear with this visit, that you wanted to check on me to see what I'm up to. Not as a friend. Now I have some things to do. If you'll excuse me, that is the door."-

When She heard the front door closed, she went to her room, and cried herself to sleep"- .

In the meantime Dan was at a coffee shop with Nate

-"So how is Serena?"-

-"Really Nate? Why don't you ask her youself?"-
-"Dan…"-

-"No Nate...are you really going to spend the rest your summer using Chuck's black book?"-
-"Dan I don't need a lecture…"-
-"Ok… none of my business.. anyway I'm not staying here anymore.."-
-"Where are you living?"-

-"I'm living at the loft." –He didn't really want to tell him, or anyone for the matter, that Jenny was still in Brooklyn. He didn't want unexpected visits. Not only for Jenny, but because Georgina was coming back with their son. A son nobody knew about.

-"Good! You're living alone… I'm going to come over sometime…"-
Dan panicked. He didn't want to tell Jenny about Georgina either, but he didn't have a choice. Anyway he didn't want to tell her till the very last minute. He didn't want to betray his sister, but Georgina was not someone to keep a low profile, and less people knew, the better it was. He figured he didn't have a choice but to tell him.

-"Jenny lives here too."-
Nate all but chocked his coffee –"WHAT?! Didn't your father send her to Hudson?"-

-" Jenny asked me to stay with her, and let her try to find a normal dimension again. My father and I decided to give her a last chance."-

-"Can I talk to her?"-
-"I don't think it's a good Idea. She's trying to stay away from all this mess. She doesn't want to come to Manhattan no matter what."-

-"Please Dan, I heard everyone's version, but I want to know the entire story. No Blair, no Chuck and no fights on the way."-

Dan thought about it and figured it was better to know first if he was going to pay them a visit instead of finding him on his front door unexpected.

-"Fine, I'll talk to her. But, if she says no, please do not insist."
-"Deal."-

-" and please, get rid of that stupid book, Ok?"

Dan came home and found Jenny sleeping on her bed. He ordered pizza and woke her up. He saw her eyes and he knew she had been crying.

-"What's wrong?"-

-"Nothing to worry about.."-
-"Jen….."-

She sobbed again –"Serena was here."-

-"What did she say? I swear I didn't tell her Jen.."-

-"She told me I was fooling you and Dad, and that she doesn't trust me. I understand, and I don't care. I'm crying because Eric thinks the same"-

Pizza arrived and they talked a little more about how to avoid Serena or Blair. They were dreading a visit from Blair, but they tried to relax anyway. He didn't wanted to upset her, but he had to keep his promise to Nate.

-"Jenny I saw Nate today."-

Her eyes widened –"Why are you telling me that?"-

-"I can't tell you the reason right now, but you'll understand soon. I had to tell him you're here."-

-"How could you? I can't believe it!"-

She got up and started washing the dished but Dan stopped her.

-"He wants to meet you Jen"-

_"Why? I don't want to see him. I don't want to see anybody from UES."-

-"Jen he wants to hear what happened. And he wants to hear it from you. Think about it, you can explain yourself, and…."-

-"And what? Listen, I'll talk to him, but I want to be clear: I'm not going to beg anybody for forgiveness. When I 'll tell him everything, he will run away. I just know it. And you too. "-

Hi girls!

Following the story, Chuck is in Prague, so he's not in the story yet. There's no winner between Nate, Chuck and Carter, so I haven't decided who's going to end up with Jenny.

Anyway, Nate is the one who has more votes so far.

I want to explain that Serena and Blair are not going to be the mean girls in this story. It's just that they're angry with Jenny.

Let me know what you think with your reviews, and sorry for any mistakes.