two | h.s. - t.c.

29

Jenny's pov

when everyone left kayla's room, i decided to stay and help clean up—that, and she also might've hinted that she wanted me to stay afterwards. i wondered what she wanted to tell me considering we had to be alone.

"okay so listen." she said once she shut the door, the two of us alone in her room. "you asked me about alex and—i don't know much about the party, but i do know more about her that i didn't mention."

"like what?" i asked slowly as we sat onto her bed, both of us full from the food we just ate with everyone.

she sighed, "alex was...dating marley when i first joined the team. i joined shortly after emily, so emily and i became best friends—it was obvious i was crushing on marley the day i got here." she smiled a little after her last sentence.

"were you friendly with alex then?" i asked.

she nodded, "i tried to hate her, trust me—but i couldn't. our personalities were the same, though she didn't really have a vulnerable side to her. she was always forward and confident. she'd invite me to all these parties and we'd have so much fun together."

"what changed?" i asked.

"marley left her...for me. but not in like oh, he was cheating on her with me kind of way, god, no way, i'd never do that. as him and i became closer friends he'd open up and tell me how she was never serious and always wanted to have fun, that's it. and if he didn't want to have fun with her, she'd do it herself, or with other guys. she played around with everyone. even timmy and harry."

i nodded as she spoke, understanding where marley was coming from. i could never keep up with someone who was constantly out and partying.

"she didn't seem fazed by their breakup, but ever since then, she'd be shady towards me. like so subtly, only i could tell. i hate people like that, she always tried to make it known that she was better than i was." kayla said, annoyed as she spoke about her.

"but she was always professional on the job, perfect on stage. i couldn't complain, you know? i mean yes, i was close with the boys but they wouldn't try to fire a girl for being salty towards me. at the end of the day she didn't really bother me, i sort of just ignored her. we didn't really cross paths too often."

her words reminded me of harry's. how she was perfect on stage. no one could complain. she must've made others frustrated by that, her duality.

"but oh my god, when i first came we were always with each other—it's so weird to look back on. and she was big on social media because she took advantage of the fact that she was working with two. she'd always post pictures with them, everyone became obsessed with her. looking at her page, who wouldn't? she could be a model."

"okay, now i'm curious to see how this alex girl looks." i said with a laugh, kayla smiling. "because i'm hearing all these stories about her, she seemed—seems to be popular."

"i'll show you her instagram, hold on." she said as she got out her phone, tapping her thumbs on the screen.

she scooted next to me as she showed me her screen, and i could finally match all the stories with a face. they were right, she seemed so likable and extroverted.