Momentarily forgotten
Nick had completely forgotten about that. He had sent that message in the morning when they came to pick him up and he wasn't home. That was before he knew that a bomb like that would be dropped during lunch. Nick tried to laugh it off with a, "He he he. Did I? Mornings aren't my forte." He put his arm around Jason and tried to change the topic entirely. "Enough about that. Let's go get you something to eat. Let's skip next period together and enjoy a nice lunch on the roof. How about it?" Though Jason didn't seem very convinced he did enjoy his time on the roof yesterday. It was a huge improvement compared to the suffocating office and room he had as alternatives. Since there was no Jenny, there was no reason for him to worry about delaying some of his work and doing it during the time he had initially reserved for her.
Though he was in no way over the situation and he hadn't stopped searching for her, he too knew that he couldn't continue living in the way he had done till now. He could miss her, but killing himself in the process was helping no one. Including him. He needed to start accepting that there might be a chance of her never returning and if she did, she would need a place to return to. In both cases he couldn't remain in the state he was in. He needed to become stronger so that he could protect her and make sure she would never consider running away again in order to help him or so that he could move on with his plans without her by his side. Sharing lunch with a friend like a normal person was a step in the right direction.
It was as if today was a day out of a movie and lunch was proving to be very eventful. As the moment Jason and Nick had walked off, the woman of the hour, Jenny appeared from the other direction. Elizabeth was the first to notice her. "Are my eyes deceiving me or is that Jenny I see walking in our direction?" Almost immediately all eyes turned to the direction Elizabeth was looking and they were all shocked as they too saw what Elizabeth had seen. When Jenny saw that she had been spotted a soft smile came on her face. When she was close enough she raised her hand as she said, "Hi guys, have you missed me?" Everyone got up one by one out of excitement and gave her a hug as they told her "Welcome back." Once the initial greetings had been given, they started with the bigger questions and the words they had held back. Ranging from those of concern, ones with reprimand and those asked out of pure interest.
Julia was the first to ask Jenny her questions. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today? I just told everyone about you planning to return, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. How have you been?"
"I have been well considering the circumstances. I actually came back the day before yesterday. I booked a flight the moment I got your message and arrived late at night. I just didn't know how to reveal myself to Jason yet. So, I thought I should come here and ask you guys for advice." Jenny replied.
As everyone was listening with great interest they looked at Jenny and could tell that she hadn't been unaffected by the situation either. Looking thinner than she already was and looking a bit listless.
Elizabeth was a bit harsher with her questioning as she flat out asked her, "How could you walk away like that Jenny? Jason was devastated. Not letting us know where you are or how you are doing. Making everyone worried sick about the both of you like that." Though she was trying hard to look strict as she was quite angry at Jenny for leaving like that and to find out that she had chosen Julia to confide in instead of her, but the red line surrounding her eyes revealed that she was upset in more ways than one.
"Sorry Liz. I didn't know how else to do it. If I told anyone of you where I was, I knew that you would tell Jason and that he would get me back no matter what. I needed to give him a chance to live his life without me dragging him down along the way. I made sure to keep my family updated on how I was doing, but the more people I involved, the bigger the odds of one of those trails leading back to me and my location."
Elizabeth threw her arms around Jenny as she was really happy to have her friend back. Now that she had given her tough talk, she needed to get the hug she had done so long without. "Stupid. As long as you promise me that you won't do something as stupid as running away ever again. Returning with your tail between your legs after such a dramatic exit."
Jenny let out an involuntary chuckle when the next person, Harry, put in his two cents. "We searched everywhere for you. If med school doesn't work out, a career at the national secret service might be a good option. How could you cover your tracks that well?"
They were all talking and joking about when the person they had momentarily forgotten, but had all been discussing just moments before had returned.