Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
in the whirlwind of emotions, jenna found herself demolishing anything in her path, particularly venting her frustration on vending machines, each shattering with a single, forceful strike.
wally's face lit up with delight, "oh, yes! that was, mwah, beautiful!" he exclaimed, "i'm gonna find more shit for us to break!" he announced, "best field day ever! come on, charley. yes, sir!" he grinned, giving charley a swift high-five as he hurried past.
jenna didn't react. instead she just continued to survey the aftermath of her outburst, contemplating whether this internal turmoil would ever subside.
"okay, you just went full-on tonya harding there. everything okay?" charley squinted, noticing her demeanor.
jenna released a heavy sigh, emphatically slamming the golf club down. she made her way to the bleachers where charley sat, taking a seat as she opened up. "technically tonya was exonerated, but yeah. i guess i did. i was trying to write my stupid obituary and i got mad."
"oh—uh, i'm sorry." charley frowned, "so what was it about, what part of your life?"
"a bad part. a really, really, bad part. and now i just feel stupid for trusting people that i shouldn't have." jenna responded, laying bare the depth of her emotions.
"maybe you should talk to rhonda." charley suggested, already aware her situation with the guidance counselor.
jenna glanced over at rhonda, who had just lit the field on fire casually. she was the only other person in the group who was for sure murdered, maybe talking to her wouldn't be such a bad idea.
👻
perched on a solitary hill, rhonda fixated on the remnants of the day, her usual lollipop in hand. jenna approached, silently claiming a spot beside her, the weight of unspoken words hanging between them.
"hey, princess." she sneered, her gaze fixed elsewhere.
undeterred, jenna kindly persisted, "you know, if there's a silver lining to any of this.. being dead stuff, i guess it's that i have the chance to talk to people i probably never would've been friends with when i was alive."
rhonda questioned with a scoff, "yeah? and what is that supposed to mean?"
"well, for one, i never would have had the guts to do that alive or dead." jenna admitted.
"yeah, well, the longer you're here, the less you'll care. you'll see." she replied, seemingly disillusioned.
"right. i—i was wondering.." jenna gulped, trying to ease into a delicate topic, "w-what the story was, between you and your guidance counselor? i-i'm just curious."
rhonda's tone turned cynical, "why, so you can blog about it?"
"blogs aren't really a thing anymore.. they take too long to read." the brunette responded, furrowing her brow.
"of course they do." she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"i think the word you're looking for is tweet.. but uh, not the point—i was just wanting to get some answers." jenna continued.
rhonda glared at her, "my pain is not for sale."
"no, i know that. i just—"
"you think my death can somehow make you feel better about yours?" she interrupted sharply.
burdened by the weight of a concealed truth, jenna took a deep breath, realizing she had to confide in rhonda—the one person who could truly understand. "honestly, i hope not. it's just— i lied. okay?"
now intrigued, rhonda turned her head abruptly, drawn into her revelation, "i was murdered, by someone i trusted.. and i guess i'm just trying to figure out what it all meant." jenna confessed, overwhelmed with sorrow.
rhonda squinted in disbelief, "so was it the boyfriend then? the one that girl screamed at at your memorial?"
unable to articulate the words she had never spoken aloud, she simply nodded in response. rhonda's eyes widened, a mix of shock and empathy evident in her expression, "shit, jenna."
realizing she was serious, rhonda set aside her lollipop and began recounting her own tale. "mr. manfredo was the nicest man i'd ever met. my father was a pencil pusher. long hours, never home. and my mother cared more about how that home looked— the lawn, the stupid roses. but mr. manfredo, he just cared about me."
jenna offered a sympathetic smile, "that sounds nice."
"and it was." rhonda nodded, "he saw that i was something special. he wrote to fancy schools and let them know it too. if i had a grade that slipped, he was firm. he knew what it took to succeed out in the real world, and he wanted me to see that world someday.. but then when my dream, or our dream, became a reality... it all went sideways."
intrigued, jenna tilted her head, prompting rhonda to reveal, "how?"
rhonda sighed, starting to get a bit more emotional, "i was in his office showing him my acceptance letter to berkley, and... he just shut down. and that's when it became clear that all that kindness, all that guidance came with a cost."
perplexed, the brunette inquired, "what? what happened?"
"we argued. he thought we were one thing, i.. disagreed. and then when i went to leave his office, let's just say i never left." rhonda frowned, "turns out, nobody's who you think they are, princess. if i got any lasting advice from my so-called guidance counselor, it's that."
jenna's jaw dropped a bit in sadness, "so he was never caught?"
"no, he was." she confirmed, "he died in prison. that didn't change anything for me. "it clearly wouldn't change anything for you. nothing ever changes here. it all just resets in the end."
👻
the conversation with rhonda was nice. it gave jenna some clarity. now she found herself in the school library, looking through the yearbooks. one thing she'd learned, she was just as nosey dead as she was alive.
delved into the 1962-1963 yearbook, her fingers traced the pages until she landed on the guidance counselor's office. a photo of mr. manfredo caught her eye, when a subtle similarity struck her.
opening the 2022-2023 yearbook next, jenna discovered mr. anderson's classroom, the same room. as she immersed herself in the section, maddie appeared above her, curious. "hey, what are you doing?" she inquired.
jenna, focused on her discovery, asked urgently, "what was the room you said you could first see simon in again?"
