Together at last || Jenna Ortega x Y/n (female)

Chapter 1

April 30th, 2023, 11 pm
Pov: Jenna

*brrrrrrrr*
*brrrrrrrr*
*brrr-*

"Duuuude, what do you want Aliyah!? I was just about to fall asleep", I hiss at my sister after answering the phone, more to stop the annoying buzzing than to actually talk to her.
"Wow, nice tone. I missed you too Jenna", Aliyah chuckles, but I notice that her voice has a serious tone to it right away, replacing my anger with worry.
"What's wrong?", is all I can bring over my lips, as I instantly slip into my 'I would never tell her this but I would protect my little sister with my life in a heartbeat if it came down to it - mode'. My muscles tense as I await her response.
"Don't worry it's nothing bad, but turn on the news."

I grimace as I stand up, having to leave the warmth of my bed, and walk over to the TV that's way too big for this hotel room.
My thoughts instantly go through all the scenarios of what might have happened. Maybe some weird rumor about me popped up, or someone took a picture of me in an inconvenient situation that was now circulating and turning the internet upside down. Regardless of my fright, I fall into the couch, turn the TV on, and switch to the news, not in the slightest prepared for what I was about to see. My mouth drops open and every emotion that's known to man spreads quickly across my body, leaving me paralyzed and overwhelmed at the same time.
Tears gather in my eyes and make their way down my face, the heat of them making the rest of my body shiver, before dropping onto my shirt.

I stare at the picture on the screen showing y/n, my best friend that has been missing since she was 13 years old, me being 12 at the time. I remember the exact day that photo was taken, we spend the day on the playground in our neighborhood. She stands smiling with a toothy grin - her signature grin - in front of the slide and shows two thumbs up, after breaking our record for "most slides in a row", 49 times to be exact. It was the last day I ever saw her.
My mind shuts off and all that comes through to me are the words "found" ... "arrested" ... "bad condition" ... "hospital".
Oh my god. Oh my FUCKING god. This isn't for real, it can't be.
"It's her, right? That's y/n", Aliyah softly asks through the phone, her voice only slightly above whispering.
"Yes", I respond even quieter, with a trembling voice. "I can't believe they found her. I seriously thought she was dead", Aliyah now says, nearly impossible to hear.

I try my best not to but right after saying goodbye to my sister, my eyes still fixated on the screen I break down crying. Many emotions shoot through my body, and right now I don't think I would be able to name even one of them because they all mix together into a giant knot in my chest and throat.
After that sudden outburst, I drag myself back to bed and curl myself up into a fetus-like position, every once in a while releasing a tear until I finally fall asleep at 4 am. Which is bad. Very bad, considering how I have to get up at 6 am to go and get ready to attend the Met Gala.

The next morning

I wake up to the unpleasant sound of my alarm, which immediately triggers a headache. Or well, that may also come from the short, unsatisfying 2 hours of sleep I had.
I still can't wrap my head around the events of last night, but I do feel a little more put together now. Y/n is alive. A smile creeps onto my face, staying there until I look at the time and notice it's already 7:10 am. FUCK, how long has my alarm been ringing before I heard it? I'm getting picked up by Enrique in 20 minutes. I quickly get out of bed and hop into the shower, while brushing my teeth. Afterward, I make myself a toast and eat it while grabbing the bag and the outfit I luckily already laid out for me last night and hurry out of the hotel, immediately spotting Enriqueʼs car and entering it.

"Hey, no eating in the car, you know that", he teases me at the sight of the half-eaten toast in my hands, but I've already put on my headphones and turned on some music, letting him know that I'm not up for a conversation right now. Enrique is my stylist and friend. He knows me well so he gets that I'm not being impolite right now, but just need my space.
As he starts driving my mind instantly turns to y/n again. When would I get to see her? Where was she? Would she even be up to see me? As I'm lost in my thoughts I remember the words of the news reporter last night. "Bad condition." What did that mean? Was she on the verge of dying, or did they mean mentally? Both would make sense, I can't even begin to wrap my head around how much she must have been through since she's gone missing. Poor girl...
I decide to text my mom, as she probably knows more by now, seeing that y/n was my neighbor and her family still lived next to my childhood home.

Jenna:
Hey mom, did you hear about y/n being found?? If yes do know anything about where and how she is?

Mom:
Hello mija, yes I was just about to text you actually. Her mom reached out to me yesterday and asked me to watch Einstein while they're gone because they had gotten the news that y/n was found. All I know so far is that she's in Los Angeles General Medical Center and that she's in a medically induced coma because her body was too weak to breathe itself, but she seems to be stable. I'll keep you updated if I get any more info.
I hope you have a good time at the Met today darling, I'm beyond proud of you.

Okay. This is not as much as I hoped for, but I'll have to live with it for now. Before I realize we're at the location for today and we get in. The day goes by unbearingly slow, I do my best to put on my happy face and pose for the pictures, but all I can think of is y/n. Of all the fun we had back then, but also all the years we've had to spend apart and everything that's changed in the meantime. I mean, I'm literally standing here in a thousand-dollar custom-made dress, which is something I didn't even dream of when I was still a kid. But y/n has always been my biggest supporter (well, apart from my mom because no one can top her) and believed strongly that I was going to be successful beyond belief. And I really think that a big part of why I've always worked this hard is because I wanted to make y/n proud, even tho she wasn't around anymore.

The next few days feel like a fever dream, as I'm swooning in nostalgia for my childhood and creating scenarios in my head of y/n and I reuniting. I check my phone and the news for updates constantly. I head from one press event to the next, trying to keep up my public figure while all I can think of is my best friend.
The story of her being found spread around the internet fast, just as it did when she first went missing. I'm really glad that the public didn't know about us being friends back then because if anyone asked me about her in an interview I would immediately start shedding tears.

I would give everything to visit her, but so far only family is allowed because she's still in the ICU until she wakes up from her coma. I can't imagine how relieving this must be for her parents, being reunited with their daughter after all these years. I've been in touch with them a lot since y/n was rescued from the terrible situation was in, and things are looking up. The doctors were able to reduce the oxygen flow she needed every day, meaning that she could wake up any day now. Also, my press tour ends in 2 days, so after that, I'll immediately fly home to LA and hopefully also get to see y/n.

2 days later

I hear the final announcement for the boarding of my flight, relieved that I made it just in time. I should seriously start counting the interruptions from paparazzi and fans into account because this is not the first flight I've almost missed because of that. I take a final look at my phone before having to shut it into flight mode. Checking my phone every few minutes is a nasty new behavior that I've developed over the last few days, but I do have a very good reason for it. I'm disappointed that I don't have any new messages regarding y/n, but just as my screen turns dark I see a message from my mom pop up.

Mom:
SHE'S AWAKE JENNA!! Y/N IS AWAKE!

I nearly jump up from my seat as the words begin to process in my head. The biggest smile that ever found its way onto my lips forms and I squeak while pressing the phone to my chest, suddenly more thankful than ever to be in first class so no one could see me doing a little happy dance. When the plane takes off I sigh happily and put on the playlist that reminds me of y/n, the smile not shying away from my lips until I fall asleep, shortly after seeing her in my dreams.

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Helloooo to everyone reading this, I hope y'all will enjoy this story as much as I did writing it! Suggestions welcome :)