Cooking for the Avengers

3. Being Alone

"PERFECT! I think..." I twirl around admiring my image in the floor length mirror. "I look casual and adorable... right?" I cock my head at the image. Jemma comes up behind me taking in my dark wash jeans, red quarter length sleeve top and blue infinity scarf. She nods "I like the boots!". I look down at my black ankle boots with a small golden buckle on the sides. I smile back up at her "Only $9.87 at a thrift shop!" She laughs and turns back toward the closet "That's amazing! You always find the best bargains!". I watch as she pulls clothes, from a box and hangs them up. "Yeah well, when you don't have any money, you gotta do what you can to save money." I go to stand beside her. "If it wasn't for my aunt paying for half my rent" I shrug "I wouldn't have been able to come to New York!"

Jemma turns and hugs me. "I'm glad you're here now" she says softly. She pulls away and hold me at arms length. "You're the only 'family' I have left." Her eyes begin to moisten and she laughs, hastily walking towards the bathroom to dry her eyes.

"Sorry." She says as she dabs her eyes with a tissue. I come to stand in the door frame. Her eyes meet mine through the mirror. "It's just hard being alone..." Her hand drops and she tries to give me a reassuring smile, though I know better.

When Jemma was just a baby her mother passed away from ovarian cancer. She had no siblings so it was just her and her father. He was a nice guy and all, loved his daughter, but after his wife died he buried himself into his work. Jemma practically raised herself. She had a few close friends but a lot ended up moving away so, like her father, she buried her self into the only friends she still had. The only problem was they lived in books, movies, and TV shows. She made herself into a self-proclaimed "fangirl"! When she was 13 she convinced her dad to take her to the Tampa Bay Comic Con. After continually watching the Batman Movies and reading what comics she could get her hands on, she went as Batman! Even though the Con was still fairly new with not much to see and her store bought costume itched up a storm; she loved every minute of it.

Her father on the other hand did not. After seeing the "fat dumb weirdos" as he called them, he feared Jemma would fall into the insane crowd. So after arriving home with fresh comics the next day and a dream of who she'd dress up as next year; she was surprised to find her room in shambles. Gone were the Posters, toys, DVD's, and comics (yes the poor, poor comics!). The jerk had thrown them out saying "they were not becoming of a lady to own or fantasize about such things"! He forbade her from reading or watching things he didn't agree with. Every summer he enrolled her in summer courses and camps so that she didn't have time for anything else. (Incidentally, it was at one of those courses where she discovered her love of cooking, but that's not the point!!)

In secret, she continued to read her "silly" books, watch her "disillusioned" TV shows, and smuggle her "mind-numbing" comics into her house. When she was 15 she met a silly wild-eyed 12 year old at another cooking class. Upon seeing her Catwoman shirt, she knew she had found someone to confide in. It was ME! Obviously! After that she didn't feel quite so alone and during sleepovers I kept her up to date on all the latest shows and movies since my parents didn't really care that I was into that stuff. We were inseparable... that is until Jemma went to College and left me behind in High School.

She went to the Le Cordon Bleu College in Orlando, which wasn't far so we still hung out often. However in her first year of college, her father had a heart attack and died. Despite not having a great relationship with him, she was crushed to find herself suddenly without a family. She immersed herself into her school work to deal with the pain. Out of a tragedy she found success and graduated at the top of her class. After graduation she withdrew into herself and decided to move away to New York for a job she acquired while at school. When she left, I felt like I had lost a part of myself. We talked or skyped every day, and I visited as often as I could, but it wasn't the same, and I could sense her pain at being alone in a big city. So after I graduated from college I moved to big apple myself and I could already see her getting back to normal.

I shake my head and give her a reassuring smile "You wont have to be alone now that I'm here. You're stuck with me babe!" Jemma just laughs and gives me another hug. "Thank you".

I shake her off me. "Okay Okay! Enough emotions,I'm ready for the tour! Time to meet some Avengers!!" I pump my arm in the air and wiggle around excitedly. She rolls her eyes at me and does one last makeup check. "All right, lets do this!"    

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Ok ok enough of the teasing, we'll see the Avengers next ;)

i just wanted to shed some light on the BFF-ness of these gals ;) 

thanks you reading and being amazing ;)

sorry for all the winking ;0