Chapter 8- "What's the Point?"

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Jenna sat at the kitchen bar, her head in her hands, and a cigarette pressed between her lips. She took a long drag, and put it out. Her coffee was growing cold, so she shrugged it down, and took her mug to the sink. It had been a week, and none of them saw much of River. She stayed in her room, and wouldn't talk to anyone. Jenna felt so bad and no matter how much James and Noah told her it wasn't her fault; she beat herself up about it. And as much as they tried persuading Jenna to have a party for her birthday, she refused. All she did was work, and stay in her room. Of course she helped around the house, but the four of them weren't really messy anyway.

Her savings were multiplying quickly, and she was about $200 away from going home. Secretly, James and Noah didn't want her to go; but they wouldn't say anything to her. She didn't really want to either, but she knew she had to. Noah and James watched as Jenna picked herself up, and carried herself limply to her room. They glanced at each other, and parted ways. Noah went to speak to Jenna, and James to River.

As soon as James knocked, he felt nervous. River muffled a "what" and he slid his way through the door. It was dark, and full water bottles were lying around on the dresser and night stand, where James and Noah left them. Her shelves and everything on them were dusty, from lack of attention, and James felt suffocated in the depressing air. He sat on the bed, and laid a hand on the side of Rivers face. "River, baby. You gotta come out. We miss you. Jenna misses you. She's been just as depressed as you. She feels like it's her fault." James whispered to her. He wasn't sure why he was whispering, but it felt right.

River sat up, outraged that Jenna was blaming herself. "Jenna didn't do anything! It was all Courtney. All Jenna did was show me how great a friend she is. I can't believe that she's blaming herself." James agreed, and the two began plotting on how to make her feel better.

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"Jenna. It's not your fault. You know that right? You didn't cheat on her." Noah held Jenna in his lap. She snuggled into him as soon as he sat down on her bed. She paid attention to the way his chin felt on her head as he talked. She of course did know that, but she felt as though it was her fault that River felt so terrible. She thought River was mad at her.

Noah stroked Jenna's head in a loving way, coaxing her to cheer up. "What's the point?" Jenna said aloud, causing Noah to make a confused "hmm?" sound. "Oh. My birthday. What's the point in celebrating it. My family's not here, and you guys don't need to waste any time or money on me." Jenna sighed and Noah felt outraged. "Are you kidding me?" He jumped off the bed. "No way! Of course we should! Jenna we love you. You're an amazing friend, and like a sister to me. I'm gonna make sure you're happy and healthy, and definitely make sure you have a fun birthday! Now get up. We're going to the party planning store!" He pulled her up, and pushed her into the bathroom so she could shower.

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"She loves Alice In Wonderland." Noah whispered to James and River as they were waiting on Jenna. "I think we should get her an Alice costume, and we could all cosplay, and set up a whacked out, psychedelic theme. Like, black lights, and lava lamps. The works." James and River loved that idea, and they left to get the supplies. Noah had decided to take Jenna to a different store to "pick out another theme", to throw her off their trail. She walked out of her room, with a hint of hope for a good day, and Noah smiled. "You ready cutie?" He asked as she did a little twirl to show that she had showered and dressed kind of nice. She nodded, and since River and James took the car, they were walking. The store wasn't to far from their house, so it was a nice walk. It was perfect weather outside. The sun was out, and the breeze was ongoing; which made Jenna feel even better.

As they walked through the door, Jenna was nervous. She knew what she wanted; it had been her plan since she was in high school. On her 21st birthday, she would buy a bunch of alcohol, and have a kind of a rave party. She knew it would cost way too much, so she got rid of the idea. The two of them went around the store, laughing and playing with little toys they found, and looking for a few themed things.

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"Okay, a few more black lights, and a few of those hookah things that the caterpillar had, and I think we're good." James told River as they went through the Isle of the boho store. "We have the posters and weird paintings, and the costumes. I think Noah's taking her to get alcohol. So let's get the bulbs, and stuff, and go set up before they get back." James nodded, and River grabbed as few things, taking them up to the counter. "You guys having a rave?" The man behind the counter asked. "Its for a friend's birthday, yeah." James smiled as River opened up a text from Noah.

New Message!;
Noah's Arc: just dropped off the drinks and cups and stuff. Gonna go pick up food. HURRY AND DECORATE.

River showed James the text, and the hurried out the store, and made their way home. The began replacing all of the regular bulbs with black light bulbs, and plugging in all the lava lamps all strobe lights. James began throwing hippie looking pillows on the floor for people to sit on, and moved the couch to the wall. River started putting up the posters, and bead strings for the doorways, and it was starting to look like a hippie house. They brought the table in, and set up all the alcohol and and cups, when a knock at the door stopped them.

They looked at eachother, and James went to open the door. "Hi! I'm Caroline, and this is Trent. We're here for Jenna? We wanted to surprise her for her birthday." A tall blonde girl stood in the doorway with another boy. He had light blue hair, that was styled just like Noah's. "Yeah, come on in! We're just setting up!" James pushed them in. Caroline gasped at the setup. "Did she tell you how she wanted it?" River shook her head, and James looked at her confused like. "This was always her dream for her 21st birthday. You guys must know her so well." Caroline smiled.

"Is it okay, if we have other people coming too? We kind of invited all of Jenna's friends." Trent trailed off. "That's fine! The more the merrier!" James chirped. The door opened once again, and Noah dropped off food, and walked right out. "Okay.." Caroline trailed off, obviously confused.

"He's with Jenna. They're out shopping for her 'party stuff'." River laughed. The other two nodded, and helped set up for the party. More and more of Jenna's friends showed up, and they helped with the party, as James and River got dressed. Caroline went out to talk to Jenna, as Noah ran in and changed. Noah had already made Jenna dress in her costume, and she was super confused, and ready to go inside.

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