Hang In There, Jolene

two girls against the world

This is how I imagine Jolene in her teenage years.

Jolene breathed in the cool, fresh air from the roof of Nina's house. The party was in full rage downstairs; the occasion being the basketball team winning the catastrophic match against Woodpine.

She could hear the muffled, distinct sound of bass thumping, mingled with the shouts of some enthusiastic schoolmates who hadn't passed out on the lawns and in the bathrooms yet. Luckily, she had made her way up to the roof, wanting to get as far as she could from the alcohol and drugs.

She had only agreed to come to this havoc of a party, for Willow's sake. She had momentarily disappeared; she was sure she had wound up talking to someone, owing to her popularity.

Jolene couldn't fathom why no one would want to be up here - it was such a beautiful night. The sky looked like someone had carelessly splattered across the stars with a paintbrush. Something about the tranquility of the night, stark against the chaos two floors below, made her voluntarily shiver. The wind gently touched her skin, causing goosebumps to appear on her skin. She breathed in the air, wishing that it could always be so beautiful.

"There is my favorite glum chum!" the familiar voice of her best friend Willow slurred, as she clumsily climbed in through the window to join her. She was slightly tipsy, but drunk or not, she was the same - loud, funny and perpetually happy.

"Join me in my splendid agony, Lady Phillips," Jolene jested, bowing low and tipping an imaginary hat. It was sort of a game for them - pretending to be the women of a royal family.

"So, what makes you sad today, Lady Jefferson?" Willow played along, leaning against the Jolene's thigh, a dead serious look in her eye. Jolene gulped, feeling her heartbeat quicken.

"The fact that you dyed your hair brown is making me excruciatingly morose," Jolene sardonically said, pulling at her freshly dyed hair.

Willow shoved her hand away as she sighed. "Isaac didn't like it. He thinks brown suits me better."

"Yeah, so we are changing for Isaac now? I don't mean to shame him, but he looks like a baboon's butt himself," Jolene hotly said, her voice sharper than knives.

"Come on, every girl thirsts for Isaac," Willow said, one eyebrow quirked.

"Okay, fine Ms. I Always Want To Please Dumb Isaac!" Jolene exclaimed, swatting Willow's hand from her thigh. "He behaves like a baboon's butt though."

"Okay, but why does it matter? Brown or red, it is just the same, just different shades," Willow sighed, leaning her head against Jolene's shoulder, her dark brown hair tickling her cheeks. She smelled like the strawberry scented soap back at her house, the diamond studs in her ears glinting against the dark background. Her mom was the cool and the fun type, allowing her to pierce her ears.

"Yeah, but why would you change something for someone who doesn't look like he even brushes," Jolene cried, exasperated at her best friend.

"Because I want him to like me! Why can't you just be happy for me?"

"How do you expect me to be happy for you when you're not happy yourself?"