Brown eyes meet mine, theirs slightly puffy and red, mine normal, but confused. Jenny stands, twiddling her thumbs as she looks away from me. She looks miserable if I'm being completely honest. Jennifer Braxton has never looked so sad save for when her grandmother had died a couple years ago, shortly followed by her grandfather. For a teenager, she has always been one of the strongest people I know, so to see her like this, it's a bit odd.

My hands shoot to Miguel's arm, pushing him aside so I can take Jenny in. Despite our friendship being on the rocks, she's been my confidant for years. Even with recent events, Jenny is part of me and I love her like a sister, to see her this way is treacherous.

"We'll talk later, Miguel," I tell him, shooting him an apologetic look, but he nods, motioning for me to go. One thing about Miguel is that he's understanding.

I step towards Jenny and grab her hand. My eyes are wide as I look at her. Complimenting her puffy eyes is a pale face, her usual vibrant skin tone, dull. Her curly hair is pulled back into a ponytail, looking dry as if she woke up and decided to not moisturize her hair which is out of character for Jenny. Her clothes are rumpled too and I'm just going to assume that she had grabbed whatever was on her floor. This isn't my normal Jenny, this is like a shell of her, and I don't like it.

"Come, let's leave the cafeteria." I tug her arm gently as I lead the way to the exit. Deciding the best place is the library, I lead Jenny there, knowing only the librarian will be inside.

Like I had predicted, the place is quiet and almost empty, save for the librarian and a couple of students. They pay us no mind as we walk past the student computers and towards some tables in the back. I pull out Jenny's chair, somehow thinking that will brighten up her mood. It doesn't, the frown remains on her face as she plops down. Her head falls into her arms as she places them on the light, wood table. I take my seat next to Jenny and begin rubbing her back. Her shoulders shake as she cries silently, occasionally sniffing.

I decide to finally break the silence. "What's wrong, Jenny? Tell me what happened," I command softly, hoping my voice is open and inviting, just how I feel.

For a moment it's back to silent. The only sound is the typing coming from the students at the computer and the distant sound of turning pages from the librarian. Jenny's shoulders still, her breathing is a little rough now, but she says nothing.

"Do I get to be a bitch?" she suddenly asks, lifting her head and looking at me. Her face is soaked with her tears, new ones quickly replacing the old.

I furrow my eyebrows as I look at her. "What do you mean?" I ask slowly because I'm not sure where this is coming from. Maybe she's been evaluating her attitude towards Micah?

"I mean," Jenny starts, pushing her chair back from the table. "Do I even have a right to discriminate against Micah? I mean, technically no, right? M, out of all people, should know what it's like to feel outcasted."

A frown slowly starts to make its way onto my face. I want to shake my head and groan from Jenny's words. To me, it sounds like she's trying to grasp at any way to perhaps make herself feel better? I'm not sure what she's trying to say. Maybe because she's black, she doesn't get to discriminate against anyone whether for race, ethnicity, or sexuality. That logic...it's a little twisted.

"Jenny, what's going on? Why are you suddenly changing how you think? Because you feel alone or because you actually feel guilty for what you said?" I ask her, tired of beating around the bush.

"Emie," she shakes her head, her lips curling as she thinks. "Greg broke up with me."

Her words stir more confusion within me. Greg is the reason she's been thinking about everything? He's that silver lining to change her?

"Okay..." I mumble. An anger starts to well up in me. How can she just come to me because her boyfriend doesn't have her back? She's seeking forgiveness for the wrong reasons.

"He said that he doesn't want to be with someone who's so close minded. That he can't believe I could be so vile to people."

I scoff and Jenny shoots her eyes over to me. Her mouth drops open and I can see she had expected me to sympathize with her. Unfortunately that won't happen.

"You're my best friend, Jenny." I tell her firmly, my teeth clenching, causing a pain in my jaw. "You're my best friend, but I can't stand by and support you. Did you only reach out to me because Greg doesn't want to support you either? If that's the case then I see what I'm actually here for. I'm not going to be your backup. What you said, what you believe, I don't even understand why you feel that way. Where does this hate come from?"

Jenny furrows her eyebrows and presses her lips into a tight line. "Why do you even care how I feel? Now I have to change because you don't agree with me? How does that make you a better person than me? Everyone is making me feel like I need to change myself to please them and no, I shouldn't! I don't like gay people, why is it such a big deal?"

Jenny's words stump me. She's right, by me ending this friendship and Greg ending their relationship, it's like we're saying we can't be in her life until she changes. While neither of us agree with the way she feels, we can't force Jenny to change by guilt tripping her. With that being said, Jenny also needs to understand that she can't just go out and start shouting hate towards people because they like something different than she does.

"You're right," I say, nodding. Jenny's anger quickly turns into satisfaction, a small smile on her face now. "But here's the thing, Jennifer, you're filled with this hate. Hate for people of a more eccentric sexuality and while it may not be your cup of tea, that doesn't mean you can hate someone solely for what they're attracted to. You know what Micah told me one day?"

Jenny opens her mouth to speak, but I don't let her. "She told me that her sexuality doesn't define her. It's part of her, yes, but she's so much more than that. So how you can look at her and just see a lesbian, is crazy to me. All I see is a girl who's a great friend and who puts up with the hurtful words of someone else for her friend. Just like when I look at you, I don't see Jenny, the heterosexual female. I see Jenny, my best friend who is like a sister to me. I don't want you to change, but you need to learn tolerance."

Jenny clenches her jaw, her hands form fists and she shakes her head. I'm not sure if my words made sense or if she even listened, but I need her to. For some reason, I just can't stand the thought of my friend being this hateful because of something she doesn't understand.

"I saw my mom kiss a woman once." Jenny breathes out, her bottom lip clenched between her teeth. "That's why I feel this animosity. She cheated on my dad with a woman and I hate that woman for destroying my parent's marriage."

My stomach clenches in disbelief. I hadn't even known this about my best friend, that her home life has been hard like this. Looks like I'm not the only one who has been keeping secrets. This is why Jenny is so hateful towards that community because of a mistake her own mother had committed. And Angela had said it's because of Jenny's father. I guess you don't really know a person until their true colors come out.

I now understand, but even if that happened, Jenny cannot group people like that. "Are your parents getting divorced?"

Jenny offers a shrug. "They barely talk now. In public they seem all buddy, buddy, but it's all an act. And it's tiring to have to pretend like everything's okay."

My arms shoot around her as I hug her, but the balance is thrown off from both sides as our chairs slip out from under us. We land on the hard carpeted ground with a muffled thud. In spite of this, both of us laugh as we're a mess of limbs.

"I'm sorry this is happening, Jenny...but you know you can't blame anyone but your mom." I'm the first to sober, mentioning the harsh reality of the situation. "It's easy to blame someone else, but your mother made the choice to cheat on your father."

Jenny's arms tighten around my back, nodding slightly. My shoulder becomes wet, letting me know she's crying again. "I'm just so angry. How could she do this to my dad. What if that woman knew she was married?"

"What if she didn't?"

Jenny stills before she huffs. "I guess I've made an ass out of myself. My best friend hates me, my boyfriend wants nothing to do with me."

"I don't hate you, Jennifer Braxton. I could never hate you and I'm sorry I made it seem that way. It's just...what if I liked girls, Jenny? Would you be disgusted with me too?" I pull away to look at her, my eyes staring into hers to search for the truth. "Would you automatically think that I watch you as you change or think about you in a not so friendly way?"

"You're my best friend..." she mumbles. Her eyes dart away from mine. "I could never be disgusted with you, I would do my best to look past that."

"So why is it so hard for you to do the same with Micah?" I ask her, though I think her dislike for Micah is a little different.

"Micah is a best friend stealing bitch, Emie." Jenny speaks sternly and I suddenly see that her dislike for Micah is much deeper than I had thought.

I should've never tried to force them to be friends. Not only that, but I should've realized Jenny had been feeling like she was being cast aside. All I'm seeing is jealousy from her, but I didn't think this would be a lifelong thing. I wish Jenny and I had somehow talked about this before.

"Jenny, you're my best friend and that won't change, but Micah is also my best friend. Why didn't you tell me you felt this way? We could've talked this out."

Jenny purses her lips and crosses her arms. The sleeves of her t-shirt bunch up under her armpits with the movement. "I'm supposed to be strong and independent. How does it look if I'm jealous of my enemy?"

My jaw drops and I stare at her with wide eyes. "You listen up, Jennifer. I will admit my part in this. I should've been a better friend and seen that you were hurting, I'm sorry for that. I need you to know that nothing can come between us...well, most things can't. You've always been my best friend and while Micah is my best friend too, she can't take your place just like you can't take hers. You guys are different in your own way and you should never be jealous. You're like my sister, Jenny, and I don't want to lose you again. You never have to be strong in front of me."

Next thing I know, I'm being suffocated. My nose bumps into Jenny's shoulder, the bridge now hurting from the force. I force myself away, taking in a breath. It's good to have my best friend back. My thoughts have been preoccupied by everything, but I was starting to feel empty without my best friends. I now know that they'll never vibe good or even become acquaintances, and I'm kind of okay with that. I can't force people to become friends for my benefit. I'll just need to divide my time up.

But first, I just need to get Micah back.

*Hello, hello. How are you guys? Good? Good. How was this chapter? I have to say that Jenny coming first wasn't planned, nor was her breakup with Greg. I lost it a little in this chapter, but I'm kind of happy with the awkward dialogue because I feel like they seem more like teenagers with not knowing what they're talking about and saying. Anyways, do you guys think it was too early for Emie to forgive Jenny? I mean, technically, Jenny didn't do anything wrong to Emie, but let me know with a comment. Please don't forget to vote and thanks for reading.*