pecan pie [descendants]

step fifteen

For the rest of the day, Jo couldn't focus in her classes. When the day was finally done, she ran to her dorm and decided to spend the rest of her day, maybe even her life, hiding under her blanket.

She heard the door open. Two sets of footsteps walked into the room. One was definitely Imogen; No one moved quite like Imogen. The other she'd guess was Audrey. Shit, that was right. Imogen and Audrey were supposed to have a study date in their dorm after school. Maybe if Jo was lucky, they'd just ignore the obvious lump in her bed and carry on with their studies.

But Jo Beaumont was not lucky.

The next thing she knew, Imogen was tearing her comforter away, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, why do you think something's wrong?" Jo lied. She lurched forward and tried to wrestle her blanket out of Imogen's grip. "Give me my blanket back!"

"Not until you tell me what's wrong!" Imogen shot back.

Audrey stood by their table awkwardly. "Should I go?"

"No, everything is fine!" Jo shouted. She might've done a better job of convincing her best friend if she hadn't started crying. "Just give me back my blanket!"

Imogen tossed the blanket aside and clambered onto Jo's bed. "Come on, Jojo. Tell me what's going on." Jo groaned loudly and buried her face in her hands. She knew Imogen wasn't going to give up until she admitted what was wrong. But wouldn't it be wrong to confess her feelings for Ben when Audrey was standing right there? She didn't know much about Ben and Audrey's break-up; Just that it was messy. What if Audrey still had feelings for him?

But then again, Audrey and Imogen had been spending a lot of time together.

"Are you guys dating?" Jo blurted out. Imogen reacted much like Jo had punched her in the gut. Audrey's face went bright red.

The princess smoothed the skirt of her dress just so her hands had something to do. "No, we're not dating. Why would you think that?" There was a glint of something in Imogen's eyes. Jo resisted the urge to openly scoff. She knew her best friend far too well to believe she and Audrey were just friends.

"You spend all your time together, you share these secret looks and Imogen seems to really like you," Jo listed. "If you're not dating, you should be. Imogen deserves someone who makes her smile like you do." 

Back on the Isle, Imogen really only had Jo. Jo, in some shape or form, had Uma and her crew, but it wasn't like that for Imogen. For Imogen, Jo was the only person she could be herself with. Feel safe with. When Jo and Imogen were hanging out in Imogen's bedroom/laboratory, it was the only time Imogen could actually breathe and not spend every second looking over her shoulder.

Imogen and Jo were best friends. Maybe they weren't always, but they were going to be for the rest of their lives. They meant far too much to each other to ever let the other go. Imogen didn't believe in destiny, but Jo knew they were destined to live hand-in-hand. They were puzzle pieces built to fit together, the night to the other's day. Still. Imogen deserved to have more than just Jo.

Imogen Gothel deserved more than just the world. She deserved the entire fucking universe, and it was going to take more than Jo to give it to her.

Audrey and Imogen exchanged looks. Jo watched them intently, waiting to see who would break the stalemate.

Then Imogen's eyes narrowed and she whipped around to look back at Jo. "You're just trying to change the subject!" Jo scowled. Okay, yeah, maybe she had been hoping to shift the focus of the conversation. But she really did think Imogen and Audrey would make a cute couple, and maybe, just maybe, it would help ease her own mind.

Audrey looked mildly conflicted. She sighed and took a seat on the foot of Jo's bed. "Come on, Jo. What's going on?" Imogen and Jo must've both looked at her like she was insane because she scoffed. "Stop looking at me like that! I'm a nice person!"

"I thought you hated VKs," Jo said.

Audrey rolled her eyes dramatically. She seemed to do that a lot. "I don't hate VKs. I just...don't like Mal. You're not Mal. You're actually nice. You're only of the only people who's treated me like an actual human being since Ben and I broke up. Also, Imogen's been hyping up your chocolate chip pancakes, so I figured I should stay on your good side." 

Jo couldn't help but be impressed. Audrey was trying so hard to act like she didn't really care. Like she was really only in it for herself.  She was guarded to the point she was nearly impossible to read. She invested as little as possible to prevent future disappointment. She never let anyone know how much she really cared. She walked around all day wearing a front so no one could see the cracks in her foundation. No wonder she and Imogen got on so well. She was basically an Isle kid.

Jo smiled and launched herself forward, throwing her arms around Audrey. "I want to be your friend too."

"I didn't say that," Audrey retorted. She stiffened under Jo's touch. A few seconds passed, and she relaxed. She returned the embrace. "That would be nice, though. I'm getting kind of sick of only ever talking to Imogen or Lonnie."

Jo pulled away. She didn't want to ruin this moment, but she needed to know. She just hoped Audrey wouldn't be too mad. She took a deep breath and asked, "How did you and Ben break up?"

Audrey's face fell. In a matter of milliseconds, her shield was back up. Jo felt a pang in her chest. She knew it was a sore subject, and in a perfect world, a world where Jo was not an idiot who developed feelings for Ben, she never would've brought it up. But this was not a perfect world. This was a world where Jo's stupid heart decided it belonged to someone who would never feel the same way.

"We didn't really break up," Audrey explained. Her tone was bitter. "Mal love-potioned him just before a tourney match and he confessed his love for her in front of the entire school. Sang a whole song about how much he loved her. That was how we broke up."

Jo didn't have to look at Imogen to know the girl was pissed. Jo herself was fuming. And horribly sad. But she swallowed her feelings and laid a comforting hand on Audrey's shoulder. "That's awful. I'm so sorry that happened. You deserve so much better."

"The worst part is, I should've seen it coming." Audrey laughed, but it lacked humor. "Not Mal love-potioning him, but him breaking up with me. I knew we weren't happy. Not really. But I think we so desperately wanted to be each other's true love because that's what everyone told us we were that we forced ourselves into a relationship neither of us wanted. And it sucks, it really fucking sucks, because before Ben and I started dating, we were best friends. Us, Chad, and Lonnie. And now whenever I look at him it's like I'm looking at a stranger."

Her shield fractured. It was like lunch that day all over again. Her eyes were welling up with tears and she was quaking, trying so hard to hold it all back. "I think that's the real reason I hate Mal so much. Like, yeah, getting publicly humiliated was pretty shitty, but I feel like I lost my best friend. I always knew Ben and I were never going to live happily ever after, but at least if we'd broken up on our own terms, he might still be in my life. And I want to move on. I want to forgive him. But he still hasn't apologized-"

"What?" Imogen interjected. Jo's eyes widened. Oh, she knew that tone. That tone was Imogen's version of a rattlesnake tensing before sinking its teeth into your flesh. That tone meant there was hell to pay.

"I just want him to apologize," Audrey admitted, her bottom lip quivering. Finally, the shield shattered and she began to sob. Jo's heart broke in two. She knew better than most what it was like to fall apart. No one deserved that. 

Jo and Imogen both rushed to wrap their arms around Audrey. As she cried, the two Isle girls had a quick silent conversation with their eyes. They nodded in agreement before turning their attention back to the princess in their arms. Jo had promised Uma she would raise a little hell.

And now she had the perfect excuse.

*

this is so bad but oh well