From bad to worse

Seeing the confused look on Jason's face when she said the words "Well, not necessarily" Jenny explained, "I just told you that I rejected our friendship under the same conditions I rejected your friendship with Liz back then. Just as Liz is now back in our group of friends, Max may one day be too. If he can prove to me that he is over me or if he finds someone else, then I see no reason that I can't go back to being friends with him." After explaining the meaning of her words to Jason, she added with a smile, "In fact, he is already dating someone. Though it is still a bit casual right now, there is good hope for the both of them. You should see them together, they seem so sweet and they are so affectionate. I am sure that before long he will be calling her his girlfriend."

Though Jason did not recall hearing the words about conditions, he sure knew he couldn't believe the words he was hearing right now. He knew that even if he had heard the part about Elizabeth, he wouldn't have thought that they meant that Max would have a way to weasel himself back in. Now that he did, it brought his calmed anger right back up. Clearly unhappy with Jenny's decision from back then he responded, "Are you kidding me?! Like I know what those words meant. You never told me the conditions for Liz back then. Besides, you weren't even able to see that he liked you in the first place, you wouldn't believe me or Elizabeth when we told you that he did and only found out the truth because he was stupid enough to admit his feelings to you. How will you be able to determine if he is over you? How can you be sure that he didn't learn his lesson from telling the truth this time and chose to trick you into thinking that he is over you when he isn't? Who says this 'girlfriend' isn't just some poor girl he has tricked into thinking he likes her or someone who is under cahoots with him."

This seemed to have offended Jenny, who suddenly grew very defending. "What's that supposed to mean. So what, because of one error in judgement, my judgement can never be trusted again?"

Jason, not expecting this reaction at all, quickly said, "No, .." But before he got the chance to explain, Jenny continued. "So, just because he isn't over me, that means that I will suddenly fall for him?"

Jason slowly losing his patience said with a cold but calm voice, "No, that's not what I meant."

"Then what?! What sane person would actually go so far into tricking someone that they could never have and use an innocent girl to do so. What would he gain from that? Why can't it be possible that he is really trying with this girl in hopes of saving our friendship? Why can't you just trust me to make my own decisions."

Jason sighed. "I get what you are saying, but not all people are sane or have good intentions. No offense Jen, but no guy would go through such lengths in hopes of saving a friendship of just a few weeks. It's not you that I am not trusting, but what makes you so sure that HE can be trusted?"

"So now my friendship isn't something worth saving? Thanks for that compliment. Well Mr. Know it all, what makes you so sure that he can't be trusted? He could have lied to me up on that rooftop, but he chose to tell the truth knowing that he will probably get rejected. Why would he do that if he wanted to stay close to me? It could have saved him a lot of trouble don't you think? I may not have all the answers and you may be right, all I know right now is that I don't want to punish someone for simply telling the truth. Especially when they haven't done anything wrong. At least not yet."

"That is exactly it, Jenny. Those last two words, 'Not yet'. I have said it before and I will say it again, why do we have to play this game of back and forth until something does happen. Why is the fact that nothing has happened 'yet' a reason to keep him close. Don't you find this whole girlfriend story a bit weird. If he really liked you so much that he couldn't stop himself when he found out that you were engaged, then how could he find someone to replace you in just two weeks? Did his feeling suddenly change overnight now? If he was speaking the truth, then his feelings should be hurt right now. Him being rejected should want him to be far away from you right now. The only reason you try to cling onto someone who has rejected you, is when you haven't given up and want to keep whatever connection possible to give yourself another chance."

Jason saw the situation going from bad to worse. They are so busy trying to prove their own point, that they are not listening to each other anymore. So, he tried to calm himself down again. He sighed and grabbed Jenny's hands as he looked into her eyes. "Look, maybe you are right and you have no reason to distrust him. Maybe he really is trying to find a way to be friends with you again and nothing more than that. But I am asking you to stay away from that kid, because right now I can't trust him and I don't like seeing you two together. Whether he gets a girlfriend or not. I am sure he has plenty of friends and so do you. Can't you be satisfied with that and let this one go? For me?"