A Shattered Mind

Finally home

2021 - continues from part 3 (confusion)

Jenny was now walking back home after her quick pop in at Riley's, it felt good to see her old friend, the one that started it all, but Jenny was a different person now. With her new found focus and determination he has lost most of her sexual appetite and was focused on developing a solid foundation that she could build on. With Alex at the helm she adopted a new outlook synchronizing with that of Nero's. Use before you get used. Manipulate before you get manipulated. Be the scariest thing in any situation. Self preservation was her only goal and she would make sure that she at least got a quality life out of it. When she got home she went straight up to her room to unpack her suitcases, while she was hanging up her dresses she had taken in enough of her environment that she realized her room had to change to fit her. She was starting to feel like a stranger surrounded by all the things of a little girl. She started taking down some old posters. "Distractions" she thought to herself. After her walls were cleared up she shifted around some of her furniture to optimize the use of the space and shrunk everything down to a minimalistic layout. If it wasn't something she could utilize it had to go and this offered up quite a lot of space in what she felt was a very small room. After she was done with her room she felt a lot better and once again she felt at home in this space. Her mother came in to her room to offer her some tea when she was a bit startled by what she found. She walls were barren and clean, the desk was now place close to the window as to take advantage of the natural light coming in through the curtains. For night time a lamp in the corner of the desk looking like is was measured to fit exactly in its space and as if it was placed using a protractor. Perfect angles and straight lines wrapped all around the room. In front of the closet the space was now cleared completely to give a very open feel to the room, across from it a bookshelf against the wall organizing books by subject, size and thickness. The shelves had no decorations or any wasted space, books were aligned by their spines all perfectly perpendicular to the shelf itself. On the other side of the room, the bed, pressed up against the wall with only enough space to allow her bedding to be tucked in. Next to her bed a side table with only a lamp, a coaster and her phones charging cable already laid out ready to accept a phone. "Oh I see you redecorated" her mother said. "Yeah, I felt the room was a bit to messy and a bit out of date for my style" Jenny replied absentmindedly while turning the desk lamp just a smidge to have it at the perfect angle. "It looks nice dear, I like it" her mom replied joyfully with a voice full of support in an almost "go get 'em" tone. "Thanks" Jenny said looking back and smiling, "I like that there's a place for everything and everything is in its place". Her mother smiled "I'm going to make some tea, would you like some?" She offered. "Sure thanks" Jenny said hastily while walking towards the door. "I'm just going to take a quick shower..." she said while pushing past her mom in the doorway, "...then I'll meet you in the kitchen" she said as she walked into the bathroom. Her mother smiled and nodded and went to the kitchen, switching on the kettle and sitting at the dining room table. After about ten minutes or so, the room was filled with the scent of fresh tea mixed with the flowery fragrance of Jenny's wet shampooed hair. Every time a breeze blew through it, it refreshed the room with that lovely smell. "I really missed you honey" her mom said, "are you really okay now". "I missed you too mom" Jenny replied "and yes I really am. No more nightmares, no more nervousness or anxiety and I've got the tools to get okay if I ever feel that I'm not" she finished reassuringly. They sat at the table chatting and drinking tea.

The rest of the week was quiet and Jenny did not return to school immediately. She asked Riley on where they were in all their classes and decided to do self study and catch up at home before returning to school. She spent her days getting up at seven, quick shower, breakfast at seven-thirty, done by a quarter to eight and into her first subject of the day promptly at eight. She followed this routine religiously all the way through to the end of the week and by Friday she was all caught up and even a bit ahead in one or two subjects. As she closed her book that Friday afternoon, she once again tidied her room back to its pristine condition and grabbed her shoes. "Mom! I'm off to see Riley!" She shouted as she made her way to the front door. "Be safe honey" the reply came from somewhere in the house as Jenny stepped out onto the porch. She walked towards Riley's house and decided that she would meet her at the bus stop. As she was sitting there waiting the bus approached and as it pulled up she saw Riley almost at the very back of the bus ending her chat with another boy on the bus. She then proceeded to hug him, far too long and too friendly-like if you asked Jenny, and headed towards the exit. As she stepped off the bus, Riley was met with a smiling and happy Jenny, arms open ready to embrace her. "Hey gorgeous..." Jenny said in an over embellished voice, "... guess who's ready to rejoin the world" she said completing her embrace around Riley's neck and hugging her tightly. "Oh my gosh Jen! That's amazing! I'm so glad to see you out and about" Riley said in a truly happy tone tightening her arms around Jenny's waist. The two girls laughed in pure joy at being close together and proceeded to walk towards Riley's home. "Soooo..." Jenny started, "...who's the lucky guy?" She asked, having alarm bells being set off by what she saw on the bus. Riley looked a bit confused, "what do you mean?" She answered giggling at what she perceived as being playfully teased by her friend. "Your hunky boy-toy from the bus" Jenny said keeping her "joking" tone. Riley smiled and had her typical "oh stop it" face. "Oh..." she answered, "you mean Jimmy from Science class? Yeah I always wanted a girly best friend and once you left I had to fill the gap somehow" Riley mocked back. Jenny's jaw flung open in an over exaggerated manner, "oh no you didn't" she said waving her finger in Riley's face and they both burst out laughing. Riley's laughed turned serious and she looked down at her feet biting her lip. "I really did miss you a lot Jen." She said in a soft, sad voice. "The days just wasn't the same without you. I actually can't remember the last time that I had as much fun as I've had in these last two minutes since getting off that bus" "I'm sorry I had to leave Ri, I missed your annoying laugh as well" Riley smiled and bumped Jenny in her side with her elbow, "I'm serious though" she said, "At times it got really dark for me". Jenny once again lifted Riley's face by her chin and looked her straight in the eyes. "Hey, all that matters is that I'm here now, that I've got you by my side and that I'm not planning on going anywhere any time soon." Riley gave her a smile, not her usual smile, but rather an almost awkward sidewards smile using just the one side of her face. Jenny thought she looked very cute and this was Riley's "thanks, but I don't know what to say" smile, the one she used when you lock her into any touchy feely sort of situation. The sight of Riley giving her that smile made Jenny happy and she smiled back. "Let's go inside" Jenny said as they were actually standing in front of Riley's gate. Riley nodded and they went into Riley's yard.