Returns

Chapter 3: Remembering

JJ made her way back to her friends intact, and they stared at her with concern as she set her food on the table.

"Yes, may I help you?" She raised her eyebrows sassily.

"What do you mean may I help you, what the hell just happened over there?" Ryn gestured to the center of the cafeteria where JJ had been moments ago, "Hey hey hey, don't you go thinking that taking a bite of your apple is gonna get you off the hook."

"I dkosnt shknow wcht yurr tshlkern afhut." JJ managed to get the jumbled sentence out without spitting a single piece of apple.

Ryn just rolled her eyes, "Dude seriously, what was that. From here it looked like some weird-ass stand off."

"It was kind of odd..." June chimed in, "It didn't look like either of you said anything, and he looked kind of angry the whole time..."

"Well I didn't ask him to help me, he just did. I don't know what you guys want me to say."

JJ continued to eat and the table was silent for a few minutes. It wasn't awkward, but rather contemplative. Ryn observed the ongoing ruckus surrounding Benjamin off in the corner, and June nibbled on his sandwich. Finally, he found the nerve to say what he'd been wanting to ask JJ since she'd come back to the table.

"Ryn told me you and Benjamin were good friends when you were younger..." He started carefully.

Ryn nodded, "I wasn't exaggerating when I said that they were basically inseparable."

"Yeah, we were." Was all JJ could manage as a fresh wave of memories threatened to drown her.

*4 Years Ago*

It would be a gross understatement to say that JJ and Benjamin became good friends. The two were joined at the hip by the third or fourth group therapy meeting, and it was clear after a while that seeing each other once a week would not suffice. They were granted play-dates as often as their parents could swing them, and by the time they were in middle school, they were attending the same establishment.

The two grew and changed together a lot in those adolescent years. JJ lost her childhood chub, and hit a large growth spurt. Her eyes had lightened to become the color of the summer sky, and her nose and jaw were getting more defined as well. Benjamin grew as well, making him one of the few boys who was significantly taller than JJ. He'd finally managed to find a hairstyle that kept his curls out of his face without having to chop them off completely, and his skin began to clear. There was a fair number of fights and misunderstandings between the two as their hormones began to kick in, but they never found themselves angry for very long. They always seemed to find their way back each other. Eighth grade came around and Benjamin and JJ were two parts of a whole. They had gotten so that they knew each other up and down, inside and out, and neither of them could've been more happy.

One particular afternoon, they had just gotten home from their back-to-school field trip. They were sprawled on JJ's bed, awkwardly growing limbs innocently tangled in a comfortable mess. JJ was reading a novel, and absentmindedly stroking Benjamin's hair as he played his Nintendo DS. It was fall outside, and an evening fog had set in, making the small warm house feel extra cozy.

Suddenly, Benjamin's phone buzzed from his pocket. He lazily pulled it out and flipped it open to reveal a text from an unknown number. His nose crinkled a bit as he began to type a reply.

"Why are you looking at your phone like that?" JJ asked quietly.

"I guess Alex gave Jessica my number. She's asking me if I think she's cute."