This update took me some time. Please enjoy
Soft rays of dawn's light delicately danced over Maya's eyelids, awakening her from a comfortable sleep. To her relief, the sun had not fully risen which meant she could still leave Jenna's house unseen.
Maya attempted to slide off of the bed as carefully as possible as not to awake Jenna, but failed. Jenna tightened her arms around her pulling her against her body. "Where do you think you're going?" She whispered sleepily into Maya's ear.
Maya smiled softly and turned to face her. She let her fingers slowly comb through Jenna's hair, delicately removing a lock from her brow and tucking it behind her ear. "I have to go," she whispered back.
"No, stay just for a little while longer; please, Maya." She whined while tightening her hold on her and burying her face into Maya's chest.
In response, Maya placed a kiss on top of her head and wrapped her in her arms holding her tight for a few more minutes. Knowing that she had to end the moment and do what she actually went there to do, she placed her index finger under Jenna's chin and lifted her head so that she could look her in the eye. "Baby, I have to go but before I do, I need you to listen to me." Maya's voice held a gentle yet serious tone.
Jenna reluctantly allowed her eyes to move up from Maya's inviting full lips to her soft beautiful brown eyes. She couldn't help but kiss her full on the lips before pulling away and sitting up. Maya remained laying down with her head propped up on her right arm. She slid her left hand across the sheets and intertwined her fingers with Jenna's.
They both looked at their intertwined fingers then back into each other's eyes. Jenna suddenly felt a feeling of dread. The sad look in her lover's eyes meant only one thing; this was the last time she would see her for some time.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Maya could see the tears begin to well up in Jenna's eyes and could feel her own heart breaking.
Maya swallowed hard before answering her, "No but you are."
Jenna suddenly pulled her hand away and stared, open-mouthed at her. "What? Why?" The confusion and shock in her voice caused Maya to sit up and take both of Jenna's hands into hers.
Maya looked her squarely in the eye, "Emily knows I'm alive and she won't let up on you. I know her and what happen the other day will happen again and again until she ends up drawing too much attention to the two of you. We can't afford that. Just the fact that the incident got back to me proves that others are watching you, Emily and her friends. I can't let anything happen to you; I won't."
"But, Maya…" The sadness in Jenna's eyes was overwhelming for Maya but she stood her ground.
Maya gently squeezed Jenna hands and spoke with a soft but firm voice, "No 'buts,' Jen. You will leave Rosewood High and Rosewood immediately. Go stay with family for a while until things simmer down. Jason is already gone and Melissa is leaving as well. I called and spoke to her before I came here and she agrees that you all should stay away for a while…"
Before Maya could finish, Jenna angrily cut her off. "So, what about you? Why are you staying? You're in more danger than any of us. Is it for Emily? It is; isn't it?" She demanded accusingly.
Normally, Maya would have become defensive after being accused of something false but this time she held her temper because she knew that Jenna was just upset so getting into an argument would serve no purpose. "It is not because of her and you know that. Besides, she has no idea how to contact me especially with you and Jason gone. I have to be here to make sure all of our efforts don't go straight to hell." Maya took a deep breath to maintain control.
Jenna could see that she upset her and felt bad for accusing her but it didn't stop her. "You're telling me that when I leave, you won't go straight to Emily?" Jenna challenged her.
"No, I didn't say that. I have to talk to her too because her and her friends are snooping around the wrong places looking for me and it has to stop for their own sakes. What they are really looking for, they will find soon enough without any help from me." Maya's eyes took on a hardening that almost frightened Jenna into silence, almost.
A mixture of emotions; frustration, fear, and angry jealousy came bursting forth from Jenna before she could think to stop herself. Within seconds, she was on her feet standing beside the bed with fists clenched tight at her sides, wearing nothing but pajama bottom shorts and a red lace bra that almost matched the color that had crept up into her cheeks.
"So you are going to see Emily! Is that what last night was about?! One last romp with 'Jenna the sucker, Jenna the replacement!' before you run back to her?! Oh, haha! I forgot; we didn't make love because you suddenly felt exhausted because of everything that has been going on, right? Liar! I suppose the prospect of seeing Emily again had nothing to do with your sudden exhaustion!" At this point Jenna was seething and, although Maya saw her that angry before, it was never directed toward her.
Jenna bent down and picked up her satin spaghetti strapped pajama top and through on. "You know what, Maya? Do what ever the hell you want! Just remember who was always there for you; who would do anything for you; who never lied to you! I was there when your darling Emily was out testing the waters and left you without a fight!"
The more Jenna spoke, the more pain Maya could see through all the yelling and anger. She knew she couldn't stop it for her and even if she tried, it would only happen again. Maya always knew that her and Jenna couldn't last that's why she never fell in love with her. Oh, she loved Jenna deeply there was no doubt about that but wasn't in love with her. Maya had to admit to herself that, above anything else, Emily had everything to do with that.
Jenna turned her back to Maya to stare out of the window at the rising sun. As she began to regain her composure, she reminded herself that some part of her knew this day would come but she had hoped against hope that it wouldn't. She could hear Maya behind her moving around, most likely getting dressed to leave.
Jenna felt a sudden desperation to stop her. She swung around and reached for her, catching her by the arm. "Maya, please wait. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to go off on you. Yes, I know you don't love me the way you love Emily, I've always known, but that doesn't change how I feel about you. I'm worried and scared for you everyday. I don't want to think about you being here and taking care of things by yourself. It would kill me if something happened to you. I love you, Maya and I just want to keep you safe."
By this time, Maya's face was wet with tears. Seeing Jenna's anguish felt like a dagger piercing her heart. She never meant for things to go this far between them and now she felt shameful and cruel. How could she bring this much pain to someone who only wanted to love her and be loved by her? She should have ended this a long time ago but she didn't and now she stood laden with guilt.
Maya struggled to control her voice as she spoke, although a slight quiver could still be heard. "Jen, I never meant to hurt you. I do love and care for you and always will. I swear that you going away has nothing to do with Emily. Things are moving faster than any of us anticipated. You all have to disappear for her to finally show her face. She won't do it while you guys are here. The time is coming, the time to end all of this." Maya made sure she kept eye contact with Jenna as she spoke.
"You know when this is over, Emily will probably never forgive me. She will be out of my life and I don't want to make you her replacement. That was never my intention. I'm leaving when this is over, after I do some jail time of course, but I want to keep you in my life as a friend, like we were before anything else. I don't want to lose you." The sincerity in Maya's voice touched Jenna deeply. She moved forward and wrapped Maya in her arms.
"I will never leave you, no matter what. I want you in my life any way that I can have you and if that means friendship; then I'll take it. I will leave Rosewood tonight. You are right; we have things to finish." Jenna released her, reluctantly.
Maya slid her arms from around Jenna and slowly moved her hands upward until they cupped her face. She steadily stood up on her toes and placed a gentle kiss on Jenna's forehead. Jenna began to shake as sobs ripped through her. Maya moved her head downward so that their foreheads rested against each other. Jenna cried as she gripped Maya's forearms. Maya kept her hands on the sides of Jenna's face until she stopped shaking.
Without a word, Maya released her and turned her back to her. She grabbed her hoodie off of the bed and turned to Jenna once more. Jenna's head was down with her face in her hands. Maya knew that this was the time to leave. There was no more to be said. They both knew that their time as lovers was over. Maya turned and walked to the door. She paused just incase Jenna wanted to say something else but there was no sound other than soft cries coming from her former lover and best friend. With a heavy heart, Maya opened the door and walked through it, closing it silently behind her.
Friday morning at Rosewood High…
Emily sat at her usual lunch table fidgeting with her food. Every so often she would lift her head and scan the cafeteria only to once again be disappointed that there was no sign of Jenna. Spencer, Aria and Hanna continued their theory swaps about who A could possibly be; a conversation that was becoming tiresome to Emily. All she wanted was to find Maya.
"Emily…Emily," Hanna called to her while waving a hand in front of her face.
Emily snapped up. "What?"
"What do you think about going to Ravenswood?" Spencer asked.
"For what?" Emily's response was more of a dismissive answer than a question.
"Duh, because A invited us to that magic thing. What's up with you?" Hanna leaned back in her chair crossing her arms while studying her friend.
"More like dared us to go." Spencer added.
Aria had been watching Emily ever since they sat down at the table. She took that opportunity to reach across and lay a hand on Emily's causing her to look at her. "Have you heard from her?" Aria asked sincerely.
Hanna and Spencer quickly glanced at each other suddenly feeling ashamed for not being more in-tuned to what Emily had been going through ever since they found out about Maya.
Emily lowered her eyes and shook her head sadly. "And Jenna hasn't been in school all week. She's not at home; I can't find her anywhere."
"Jason and Melissa are gone too." Spencer spoke up keeping her eyes casted downward.
Emily's head shot up and her eyes locked onto Spencer. The anger was rising fast within her so her words passed through clenched teeth, "When did they leave?" she demanded.
Without looking up, Spencer lightly shrugged her shoulders, "Three days ago."
"Three days ago? And you're just now mentioning it? They are the only ones that know where she is and how to reach her!" Emily was infuriated.
"That we know of," Hanna added and suddenly wished she hadn't. Emily flashed her a piercing look and then turned back to Spencer who was still looking down.
Suddenly, Emily's anger was replaced by a feeling of helplessness. She lowered her head into her hands and spoke just above a whisper. "That's it then; I'll never find her. They left because of my stupid plan."
"Talk about an epic fail." Hanna tried to lighten the mood but instead received an elbow to her arm by Spencer. "Ouch; I was just joking; you know, trying to make Emily feel better." She whined while rubbing her arm.
"Well it was an epic fail of a joke." Aria scolded her.
Emily didn't want to hear anything else; she just wanted to be alone. She quickly stood up and grabbed her tray. "I'll catch up with you guys later. I just need a minute alone." She then turned put up her tray and exited the cafeteria.
Emily's friends sat in silence watching their friend leave feeling completely helpless to do anything for her. "Well, on the bright side, she's the only one who has been able to single-handedly drive away the N.A.T. club." Hanna once again tried to lighten the mood.
Without looking at each other and tilting their heads to the side, Spencer and Aria ponder that for a moment and in unison let out a "hmm…" while nodding their heads.
Emily slowed her pace once she made it out of the cafeteria. She felt relieved to be away from all the chatter and clanking of trays. She went straight to her locker and pulled out the books that she would need for the next two periods. She then headed to her next class when she was stopped by a beep on her phone.
Emily pulled the phone from her back pocket and read the text: Meet me in the basement, now. Emily sighed and made a quick decision to ignore the text until she looked up and saw Paige walking toward her from the other end of the hall. She was not in the mood to make out with her in the basement. She would just tell her that she had to go to class early to talk with the teacher.
Emily squared her shoulders and made her way towards Paige ready to tell her the lie when a realization stopped her in her tracks. Paige never sent her texts to meet in the basement before. There was only one person that would and has done that often in the past…
Emily felt the panic rising in her. If this was who she thought it was then she needed to get to the basement right away. And here was Paige, coming straight at her. Emily searched her mind frantically. I'll just tell her what I was going to tell her to begin with and then when she's gone, jet out of the class before the teacher gets there. Yeah, that can work. Before she could finish her thought, Paige was standing in front of her with a wide smile.
"Hey you, I've been looking all over for you. I tried to catch you in the cafeteria but the girls said that you left early. Is everything okay?" Paige asked trying to make eye contact with Emily.
"Yeah, yeah, everything is great." Emily smiled while nervously tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I just wanted to get to class early so I can talk to the teacher about an assignment; that's all." She continued to smile nervously.
Paige either didn't notice Emily's nervousness or didn't want to mention it right then because she simply kissed her cheek. "Okay, I'll just give you a call after school. Maybe we can hang out and watch a movie? Your mom extended her stay in Texas for another week, right?"
"Yeah, she did and a movie sounds nice. Just give me a call." Emily was trying to hide her anxiousness to end their meeting in the hall.
Paige smiled again and walked pass her. Emily watched until she saw her disappear down the hall and then sprinted to the door in the other hallway that led to the basement. She looked around quickly to make sure no one would notice her go through the door like she had so many times in the past. Once the coast was clear, she opened the door and made sure to quickly but silently close it behind her.