"I need space." Those were the words Jacky said to Ryan the night before they both left for separate colleges. Now, each of them will try to learn who they are without the other. Will their paths lead them back together?
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Jacky
At the appointed time, Jacky had made his way to the common room, where Hannah already had the movie queued up on the big TV. Deja and a girl with blue hair who Jacky assumed was Natalie were curled up one of the couches, talking animatedly.
"It's such a good series! I recommend it to everyone and almost no one has heard of it."
"Right? So underrated."
Jacky plunked himself down in one of the armchairs and pulled out his phone. Ryan hadn't texted him back, and he was trying not to take it as a sign of disinterest. Ryan didn't usually swear, which could mean that Ryan was actively in a situation with said entitled assholes. He looked up at Hannah expectantly. They were all here, they might as well start the movie, only Deja and Natalie were still gushing over some tv show or whatever, and Hannah didn't look like she was about to interrupt them.
"And when Juliette and Adam finally—"
"I know!"
"Hey," Jacky said loudly.
Deja and Natalie stopped talking and turned to glare at him in eerie unison.
"Are we gonna watch a movie or what?" Now Jacky looked at Hannah pointedly.
"Um, uh, yeah," Hannah whispered.
Jacky waited a beat, then asked, "Which movie is it?"
"It's – uh." Hannah took a breath and swallowed like it was difficult. "Um. It's Metropolis. First on the list."
"Great," Jacky said. When Hannah didn't move, he glanced over at Deja and Natalie. Their combined glares were murderous. "What? Did we want to make popcorn first?"
Natalie scoffed and muttered to Deja, "It's like he's never talked to anyone ever."
"I don't even think he knew we were all in the same class," Deja said back.
Jacky felt a steel mask take over his face. It was uncomfortable but familiar, the same one he wore through half of high school. And oddly, a line from the Disney movie Frozen danced through his head: Conceal don't feel. He almost started laughing hysterically.
"Anyway, let's get this show on the road," Jacky said, twirling a finger in the air.
"You have someplace else to be?" Natalie demanded. "You don't have to be here, you know. Hannah was just being nice asking you." The words she didn't say were No one else wanted you to be here. It felt like he'd fallen back in time two years, to when Monica had been paired with him for an English assignment and grabbed two other people to join them because she didn't want to work with him alone.
Unfortunately, he didn't have anywhere else to be. If he went up to his room, he'd have to watch the movie by himself while trying not to listen to the partying going on across the hall. Going to meals with Braedyn had gotten too weird, so he just went by himself and got takeout and ate alone in his room on the nights when Billy wasn't around. And he wasn't about to cross the hall and invite himself in.
