Sooner or later

Jenny turned her face to the side without lifting it from the desk as she looked at Elizabeth with pleading eyes. "What should I do Liz?" Elizabeth stroked her hair and said, "Well first you should reply his message to buy yourself some time. If he shows up now, then what little hope we have will be lost as well." Jenny sighed and told Jason that she was fine, but was caught by the teacher which caused her to stop midway. She told him not to worry and they could stick to their original meet up time. Once Jason replied with an 'okay' and thumbs up emoji, Jenny turned back to Elizabeth.

Seeing her puppy dog eyes Elizabeth sighed and said, "Fine, I'll help you. Why don't you just ask Mrs. Westwood to tell that teacher to pick someone else. Or just tell him that you are engaged to Jason. There aren't any teachers here that want to be on his bad side and wouldn't risk making you do something you don't want to do for fear that it will anger or upset him." Jenny shook her head. "I thought about that, but that doesn't seem fair to the other students. It isn't right for me to use the Westwood name to dodge this responsibility. That makes me no better than the spoiled kids I looked down on all this time. Besides, I wanted to be in a separate class partially so I could experience this school without Jason's influence. If I get Jason or my mother-in-law involved, then the teachers will start treating me differently again and the other students will hate me for it, making me end up back where I started."

Elizabeth crossed her arms as she gave Jenny some tough love. "Yeah, well how is that experience working out for you so far, hmm? Who cares if the other students don't like you? Isn't that better than Jason being mad at you? If they were in your position, they would use every means possible to get out of this situation." Jenny said nothing and continued to look at Elizabeth with pleading eyes. "Ugh, why do you have to be so responsible?!" Jenny couldn't help but laugh when she heard Elizabeth say that. "Is this really the time for you to laugh?!" "Sorry, but you used the exact same words as Jason a while back. It is at moments like these that I can see why you two are friends." Jenny said as she let out a few last chuckles. "So, if you have heard these words before, why didn't you learn from them the first time!" Jenny laughed again at Elizabeth's angry expression. "Stop joking around! You are hopeless. Everyone is going to come in any minute now. We have to think of something before then." Finally Jenny became quiet again and her expression became serious as she tried to of how to get herself out of this predicament.

"Well, you know Jason well enough to know that the best way to tell him about something like this, is to not tell him at all and make the situation disappear. But considering that you are determined to let that bridge burn, I doubt there is another way for you to convince that teacher. So, you are only left with the option of telling him and convincing him that it isn't such a bad thing and I really can't help you with that. Regardless of what you plan to tell him, you better think of it fast, because you have until the coffee break. He will find out sooner or later and you don't want it to be later. Now you have the chance to spin the story and tell him in a suitable environment. If he finds out by catching you or by hearing it from someone else, all hell will break loose." Jenny knew Elizabeth was right. She couldn't hide this for long. She had to take Jason apart during the break and at least let him know. That way he won't be blindsided by it.

The bell rang before they had the chance to discuss anything else, leaving Jenny no further from where she started. Elizabeth sighed and got up to go to her own seat, but before she left she placed her hand on Jenny's shoulder and said, "If anyone can make him feel okay about this, it is you. You were the one who convinced him to be in separate classes in the first place, which made me impressed. If you asked me a few weeks before, heck if you asked me the day before I found out, I would have said that Jason would never agree to something like that. But he did and he seems fine with it. So, I am sure you will find the right words to say. No matter what, you have to stop interacting with that Hoffman kid. You being friends with him will only make matters worse." Jenny smiled a bit listlessly and said, "Yeah, thanks...I will think of something."

Max returned to his seat and saw that Jenny still seemed down. He tried to talk to her and was doing whatever he could think of to gain her attention, but with no success. He thought she was simply in a bad mood and didn't feel like joking, so he tried to cheer her up. Even when the teacher came and started class, he was unable to interact with her. No matter what he did, Jenny did not respond to anything that wasn't class related. It didn't matter if he nudged her, wrote something in his notebook, tried to take away hers, she remained focused to the board. He didn't understand what he had done wrong, but before he had the chance to ask, class was interrupted by a knock on the door. The person who walked in was none other than their homeroom teacher. He whispered something to the teacher and suddenly the teacher said, "Miss Charlston, you are needed by Mr. Johnson." "Me?" Jenny said as she pointed to herself questioningly. "Yes, you. Now, hurry along so we can continue class."