That Girl We Knew

o4 | j e n n i f e r

Jennifer arrives as one of the first people, hoping that Richard isn't there yet. She moved out a month earlier and hasn't seen him since. She thought about not going to the reunion at all, but there are a few people she wants to see again. Besides, the place is big enough, she can probably manage to avoid him for one night.

To her dismay she sees him across the room talking to Logan and Lisa. She sighs and makes her way to the bar, where she finds Liam sitting on his own.

Liam and Richard were best friends ever since elementary school, but they grew apart after graduation. Jennifer started dating Richard almost immediately and he never expressed any regret, but she could tell he sometimes wondered why Liam had backed away. He didn't even come to their wedding.

"Long time no see", she remarks as she sits down next to him.
"Jen!" He looks up in surprise. "How are you?"

Coping. She is coping. It's hard for her, coming home every day to an empty apartment, eating by herself, not having anyone to say good night to. None of her old high school friends live near her, and all the friends she and Richard made as a couple took his side.

She smiles sadly. "I'm okay, you know, considering."
He wrinkles his forehead. "Considering what?"
"You know, the divorce..." She trails off as she notices his puzzled face. "You didn't know?"

"Shit Jen, what happened? Did he cheat on you? Because if he did, I will murder that bastard-"
"No, don't do that. Hang on-" She glances over at Richards group and sees that they are standing too close for her comfort. "Let's go over there." She grabs Liam's hand and her drink and pulls him away from them, towards the door that leads to the patio.

"Sure?" He pauses, then snaps his fingers. "Ooh, Richard. Right."

They stand in silence. Jennifer wants to ask him what happened between him and Richard. Why he is the only person taking her side. But she also doesn't want to bring it up. They already have one depressing topic between them, no need for another. So she stays quiet.

"Jen?"

She turns to find the source of the voice. "Mar! Oh my gosh, it's been ages!"

Jennifer and Maria were friends for years, but when Jennifer got accepted into the Harvard and Maria didn't, things changed. They didn't hang out as much, and lost touch completely after graduation. Jennifer thought about contacting her every once in a while, but then got scared that Maria still hadn't forgiven her.

"Bitch, I hear you're getting divorced!"
Jennifer forces a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Um, so how are you?" She turns to Liam and desperately mouths the words 'save me'.

Maria laughs and throws her arm around Jennifer. "Oh, I'm doing great! My parents set me up with this really cute guy and we're getting married in six months!" She pauses. "Also, I may or may not be pregnant."

Jennifer stares at her in mixture of confusion and pity. Before she can say anything, Liam steps between them. "Why don't you tell us all about that later, okay? Hey look, there's Clark!" He waves him over and Maria shrugs. "I guess. But this whole reunion thing is really boring."

    Relieved, Jennifer shoots a thankful look to Liam and takes a step back, disappearing behind a curtain of hair. She is starting to wonder whether coming really was worth it. She doesn't want everyone asking her about the divorce, it's hard enough as it is. The only thing stopping her from leaving is that she doesn't want Richard to think he won. As much as she hates herself for thinking that, she can't shake it. There are worse ways to spend a Saturday night.

    She doesn't pay attention to Clark and Liam arguing until she hears her name mentioned. It annoys her that Maria blurts out the divorce thing so casually, but luckily Clark doesn't make a big thing of it.

When he leaves he asks the exact question Jennifer pushed to the back of her mind. Why is Liam talking to her and not Richard? The way he flinches makes her not want to ask him, so she tries to talk over it. "So, um, Liam, what did you say your job was again?"

He gives her a smile before replying. "I'm a cop. Detective in training."
Maria clinks back into the conversation. "Oh my gosh, that is so cool! Do you shoot people all the time?"
Jennifer grins at him biting his lip to keep from laughing. After a moment of silence, he answers. "Not really... I mostly just arrest people."
Maria wrinkles her nose and sighs. "Oh well, that's boring. I'm gonna go see what the others are up to." She trails off across the floor.

With her gone, Jennifer gets interested in the conversation again. "Hey, so what kind of cases do you have?"
"I'm helping out in homicide right now, so a lot of murder..."
"Do you solve all of them?"
"Pretty much. We had this one case last year that we couldn't get any leads on, it still bugs me. Um, so there was this body that got washed up on the beach, teeth knocked out, finger tips cut-" He breaks off at Jennifers horrified face. "Sorry, sorry, you don't want to hear about that."
She laughs. "It's fine. That must be hard though, right? Dealing with all those dead people, their families?"
"It was hard at first, I'm starting to adjust now. The whole team is really supportive, so that's great."
"I'm glad."

The silence comes back. Jennifer is trying not to wonder, but she can't help it. Finally, she just blurts it out. "Why aren't you friends with Richard anymore?"
He shifts from one foot to the other. "Do we have to talk about that?"
She sighs, then gets determined. "Yes, yes we have to talk about it. You guys were friends for over ten years, then all of a sudden it stops? What the hell happened?"
"Jen, please."
"Liam, please."

He groans. "Look, I really don't want to talk about this. I... I promise I'll tell you before the night is over, okay? Just not right now."
She looks at him and sees the desperation in his eyes. "Fine. I'll go talk to other people then."
"Fine."

She huffs and goes out onto the patio. The only people there are the two Juliets, who she isn't exactly eager to talk to. Because she doesn't want to have to go back inside and deal with all the divorce questions either, she wanders off away from the patio.

She wants to know what is going on with Liam, but at the same time she's scared. Scared of what could have happened that tore them apart so badly. Now that the Richard thing is over, she values her friendship with Liam and couldn't bare to loose him.

The park behind the patio goes on for a long time, and she keeps walking further and further away. She doesn't want to have anything to do with all the people in there. All that's holding her back is that she wants to know what Liam will tell her, she doesn't even care about Richard anymore. He's obviously won. He's the one surrounded by friends, he's the one who kept the house, he's the one who doesn't seem to show even the tiniest bit of remorse.

She's sick of it.

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Alrighty I'm back!

I have one question for you: Do the characters confuse you? I'm doing my best to introduce them slowly, but if it's still too much please let me know!

Thanks for reading, voting and commenting! It means so much to me!
Love,
Ellie