Always Something There to Remind Me (A Black Lightning Jen X Khalil Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty-Seven- Danger Zone.

Happy belated birthday, Brandi 💚💚💚

Chapter Thirty-Seven- Danger Zone.

Jen's POV

Wednesday morning.

A series of loud pops woke Jen from her fitful slumber. She cranked one eye half open, fighting to free her arms from the tangle of her sheets. Anissa always said sleeping in the same bed as Jen was like getting into a boxing ring with a bear- dangerous. A dazed thought crossed her sleepy mind- were those firecrackers? It was too early for Halloween, but when it came to college kids, they could be counted on to get fireworks and firecrackers anytime of the year. Stretching out in the narrow bed, Jen reached out for her phone, surprising herself with a cheek creaking yawn. What time was it anyway?

The popping noises continued, drawing closer and closer to her dorm building, it sounded like. Rubbing her blurry eyes with her knuckles, she blinked at the bright light in the room. She must have fallen asleep with the lights on again, something she was prone to do when she felt alone and needed comfort. And with Quinn gone, Khalil needing space, and her being shunted to a new, single room since she no longer had a roomie, Jen felt lonelier than ever.

The memories of last night were coming back, of her dropping into bed after a late class and an early takeout dinner, trying to read one of her psychology books but losing focus as her thoughts drifted to Khalil for the umpteenth time since their Sunday breakfast. Clutching her pillow like a safety blankie, Jen had decided to take a nap. Sadness and despair swept through her whenever the memories of what could have been a perfect day surfaced, and she preferred not to dwell on it. Easier said than done.

Things had been going so well, too! There had been such a spark between her and Khalil, although Jen was scared of saying the wrong thing, scared that their brittle connection could be shattered by a single word. And she had been making progress with him, getting to know the new Khalil, bantering with him like old times, and telling him the truth about their past. But then Philky had interrupted while they were having a tender moment and turned the rest of the day- hell, week- into a nightmare.

Huffing out a breath, Jen fell dramatically back against her pillows. These thoughts had been consuming her for the past few days, as she wondered what she could have done or said to change the outcome, to prevent Khalil from shutting her out. She hadn't heard from him since Sunday and since she didn't have his number it wasn't as if she could pick up her phone and call him. TC could probably get her his number, but she didn't want to seem pushy, or worse, needy.

Her phone vibrated and she groped around for it, now fully awake. Speak of the devil. TC's name flashed onto the screen. As she pressed the answer button, the sound of multiple sirens, near as shit, suddenly filled her ears. She glanced at the window, frowning at the pale rays of sunshine splashing across the glass. Some depression nap that had been, she'd slept the whole night through!

"Those can't be fireworks, it's daytime," she said to herself, slipping out of bed. "Hey, TC," she said casually as she padded to the window. She couldn't remember if she was still mad at him, and decided to let it go. A familiar voice was exactly what she needed right now. "What's- oh, my God!"

Jen could see her wide, horrified eyes reflected in the windowpane as she stared out at the courtyard in the middle of the four resident halls, where students usually hung out on their way to and from class. It was usually peaceful, with people lounging on blankets or towels on the beautifully tended lawn, usually a guitar player or two jamming out and some ultimate Frisbee being played.

What was happening in the courtyard now was the antithesis of peaceful. It was pure pandemonium. For one horrible, disjointed moment, Jen was thrown back in time to the Freeland occupation, but this was so much worse.