A Special Appearance

Chapter 26

While watching the movie Lynn gets scared every time as usual. But Jenna seems even less scared than ever before, Lynn finds it a bit too suspiciously quiet. Jenna hasn't laughed about her being scared once. So Lynn glances down at Jenna who is resting her head on Lynn's shoulder. "She fell asleep. She really fell asleep during a horror movie." Lynn thinks surprised at how she is scared to death and Jenna can easily fall asleep. Lynn slowly reaches for the remote and turns off the tv. "What do I do now? Do I let her sleep? Do I wake her up?" Lynn's thoughts get interrupted by a small buzz on the table in front of them. It's Jenna's phone. Lynn looks at it, then at Jenna and then back at her phone. Should she check it? Maybe it's her stupid ex again. Lynn's curiosity takes the better of her and she reaches for the phone. She holds it in front of Jenna's face and it luckily unlocks. "A quick peak won't hurt right?" Lynn thinks before opening Jenna's phone, she goes to her messages. "It's her mom. Should I..." Lynn starts contemplating if she should open this message and yet again she does. "What do you think you're doing kissing those random girls wherever you are! You should focus on your career instead of 'taking some time for yourself' you spoiled brat." Lynn is shocked as she reads this. How could a mom ever talk to her daughter like this. Lynn scrolls up to her other messages, the last one was three weeks ago. "Don't think you can come to New years if you're going to act like last year." "Mom I didn't do anything wrong!" "you were constantly rubbing your success in everyone's faces. It's excruciating!''

Lynn is shocked. She turns off Jenna's phone and puts it back on the table. She leans her head back to think. "Damn, I never thought anyone could hate their own daughter, let alone Jenna. She is so talented and her mother hates her for it." Lynn looks down at Jenna who is still sleeping on her shoulder. "I shouldn't have taken her phone. Why am I so curious?" Lynn closes her eyes for a second, this is all so much to take in. It does make Jenna seem even stronger, she built an entire career without the support of her mother. Lynn keeps thinking about Jenna and her mother, there is a wave of feelings that come over her: pity for Jenna; pride because she had to deal with it and anger because she can't believe someone would talk to their daughter like that. What a horrible, horrible person. Lynn starts fading into sleep, thinking about Jenna's mom with Jenna by her side.

Loud thunder abruptly wakes Lynn up. She was sleeping on the couch with...Jenna. "Where is Jenna?" Lynn thinks. She sits up and looks around the room: no one. She calls out: "Jenna? You here?" again nothing. So Lynn stands up, she walks around her house, checks her bathroom, closet and her room. Jenna is nowhere to be found. "Damit, where is she." Lynn grabs her phone and calls Jenna. It rings...and rings... and rings. "No answer? Are you kidding me!?" Lynn texts Jenna: 'Where are you? Did you go somewhere?' Lynn looks out the window in her living room, the sky is black with occasional lighting followed by loud thunder. There are barely any people on the street, it looks almost abandoned. "Maybe Jenna is somewhere out there, maybe she needs my help." Lynn starts spiraling, she thinks of dozens of ways Jenna could be in danger. "Maybe that guy came back and kidnapped her. Maybe she was taken by that paparazzi. No! Jenna is strong. She can handle whoever is out there." Lynn tells herself, but it doesn't help making her feel better, Lynn falls down on the couch. She grabs her head in her hands and tries to clear her head, but she can't. A tear rolls down her cheek, then another and another. "Where the hell are you Jenna!?" Lynn cries out. She sits there, head in her hands crying about Jenna. "This isn't going to fix anything! I have to go find her!" Lynn wipes her tears and runs to the hallway, she puts on her shoes and her coat, takes her keys and runs outside. The rain is pouring down around her but there is only one thing on Lynn's mind: Jenna. Lynn takes a quick look around before running downstairs to the entrance of her building. She runs outside onto the street and looks around, she is drenched in rain and can't even feel the difference between the rain pouring down her face and the tears she is crying.

"Hey...Lynn." Lynn hears, she turns around to see Jenna sitting just around the corner of the door. "Sorry I left, I just needed some air." Jenna looks frail, sad. Lynn should be mad she just left, or mad she didn't even answer her phone, but she can't. Lynn sits down next to Jenna and gives her a tight hug. "Let's get you inside okay, we'll talk there." Lynn says into Jenna's shoulder. They both stand up and walk inside, then upstairs and into Lynn's apartment. Lynn throws off her coat and helps Jenna with hers, she quickly gets a towel to dry them off. "Sit down okay, what happened?" Lynn leads Jenna to the couch and sits down next to her. "Well I when I woke up I saw you were asleep, when I grabbed my phone I saw that my mom send me a message. And I haven't told you this but the relationship between me and my mom is...not that great. As in she hates me." Jenna explains as she uses Lynn's towel to dry her hair. Lynn feels bad that she kind of already knew, but she is still glad that Jenna feels comfortable enough with her to tell her this. "So she also saw the pictures where we are kissing and pretending to be together and stuff. She was never really supportive of me and my relationships. So I guess she hates me even more now." Jenna's voice gets softer, she looks down. Lynn didn't notice it before, probally because of the rain, but she is crying. Jenna Ortega, the strongest woman she knows, is crying. "Jenna... no mother should be like that to her daughter, I am so, so sorry for what you had to deal with. But you don't need her, you are amazing! You are a great actress, you are funny, smart, creative and you probably look better than her. She is just jealous of you because you actually did something with your life." Jenna chuckles as Lynn talks about her. Lynn reaches an arm around Jenna's shoulder, Jenna starts tearing up even more before diving into Lynn. "I'm sorry." Jenna cries out. "You shouldn't be, it's okay Jenna. I'm here for you." Lynn holds Jenna tightly as she cries. They sit there, Jenna crying and Lynn holding her. The rain pours against the window and the lighting lights up the room from time to time. After a while of crying Jenna let's go of Lynn. "Thank you Lynn, you're the best friend I've ever had." Hearing this makes Lynn's heart do a flip, she starts to feel warm. "Jenna, you are one of the only friends I've ever had. And I am so, so glad that it's you." They both smile while looking at each other. They give each other another embrace while laughing. "So how are you going to deal with your mom?" Lynn asks. "I don't know, and I also don't care. I just want to celebrate New Years with you." "Sounds like a plan to me." Lynn smiles