Unraveling Broken Threads: Chapter 9

After a long wait, I’m finally here with the next chapter of Unraveling Broken Threads. In case you aren’t sure where to begin, here is the first chapter. If you would like to refresh your minds in what happened last, the previous chapter is here. So here it goes…..

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The next day was better and worse. It was better because she was surer of what she had to do in the next 24 hours. She had, in fact, made a list of all that she had to do:

• Make new friends.
• Inform Alex and Nick.
• Be nicer to people.
• Talk to the nerdy group.
• Find Spanish homework

Last night had been a complete emotional pandemonium. What had happened had not been expected. She had fought with her sister, praised her mom and had done things she sure wouldn’t have done in hell. Having been late, she had done her Spanish homework in a bit of a confusion, and wasn’t sure where she had done it now. It was worse because she had no plans on what she would do for the elections. She wasn’t sure what her plans for the elections were, how she was going to beat the peer pressure, and the most important thing, whether she was going to contest them or not. Yet she was sure of one thing, whether or not she was contesting, she still had to make new friends.

She was moving down the stairs into the dining room to look for the homework, when she passed Jules and her mom’s room, which looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. Everything was a mess. She entered the room, and immediately saw her notebook, partially hidden by a quilt. She went in to retrieve it, and noticed some papers sticking out of it, and started reading it when she heard an argument, ‘Mom! This won’t work. You choose, it’s either me or that bitch?’ Jennifer stopped near the stairs.

‘Why do you say that? She’s not as bad as you think she is. In fact, even you never tried making amends with her, did you?’ Some silence. ‘I know, after your dad, it never worked between you two, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll never talk to each other, does it? She’s your sister, after all.’

There was someone sniffing after which Jules said, ‘You know, after she came to my room and started all this nonsense with, and before leaving, you know what she said to me? She said that she had done this all on purpose and that she would like nothing better than to beat her own little sister at the elections. She also said that she’d destroy anything that comes between the batch and her this time,’ a small pause, ‘even me.’

‘What?’ her mother whispered, too shocked to shout, ‘I don’t believe it-’

Some brisk noises came from the room, the closing of a zip, the noise of the cutlery and moving feet. ‘Of course, you wouldn’t. She is your daughter, after all.’

With that, Jules turned around and moved out of the room, where she spotted Jennifer, huddled beside the mirror table, noticed the expression on her face, smirked and moved outside.

Jenny was too shocked to move. She slowly made her way outside, the hunger inside her suddenly evaporated. She switched on her car in a blur, and drove to school, unaware of her surroundings.

‘Jennifer! I tried calling you, like a million times, and then Jules picked up the phone, said you were unwell and that you won’t come to school tomorrow.  I was just coming to visit you this afternoon- What’s up?’ Alex was at her car’s window and seeing the blank expression of her friend’s face made her suspicious.

‘Jules. Apparently, she is contesting the elections too and we had this big fight last night,’ her words were rushed, and she was now choking with emotions, ‘she told mom that I was contesting them on purpose as a way to get back to her and that I would stop at nothing, even if it means, going against her.’

‘Oh honey! I’m sorry. So what do we do now?’ she stepped aside as Jennifer stepped out of the car.

Jennifer covered her face with her hands, then after a minute, smiling, got out of the car, ‘We do what we were doing. Hey Nick!’ she spotted him a hundred yards away and called out to him, at the same time whispering to Alex, ‘Don’t tell him about this.’

‘Hi Jen, Alex! So are you all ready?’ he asked. Then without waiting for an answer, he said, ‘Look, I asked my dad about all these things and he has certain knowledge pertaining to topics like these. He said the first most important thing is to be sure. It is absolutely essential that you are sure of what because you are there to represent. Secondly,’ he increased his pace as he heard the bell ring, ‘you must be convincing. You should be sure that what you do would be beneficial to not just you or me but everyone in the school. Thirdly, you have to have friends. Dad says it is no use having any of one of these three. You should be sure of the decisions you take, you must have people believe in what you are doing is right, and without people believing in you, all you work goes down the drain. So,’ he panted stopping before the classroom, ‘what do you think?’

Jennifer smiled. ‘I think that we’ll talk in lunch today.’

Two hours, forty five minutes later, Jennifer was sitting on the table, her hand twitching nervously as she waited for Nick to return from the table at the end of the room. Her lunch tray, kept in front of her, was untouched. They had just been discussing about the “campaigning” as Nick liked to call it. They had been making a list of what all they’d have to do before the elections, when Nick had strode over to a table of five, at the other end of the café. Nick returned from the table and had flung himself across the seat, when Alex had questioned, ‘What?’

‘Oh that! Lindsey is in Spanish with me and she had a great hand at art. She has gladly agreed to help us with the posters and all. She’d be over at your house after school.’

‘Thanks Nick.’ She turned to her lunch gratefully. Then something clicked and she said, ‘My house?’ she gave Alex a meaningful look.

‘Of course, why?’ Nick asked unaware of this silent exchange.

‘Well, um, uh, it is, uh,’ Alex interrupted, ‘It’s that Jules is having some friends over tonight and they’re partying. It would be difficult. Could we come at your house, because you know of how my father is, right? Please?’ she requested.

‘Sure, I’ll tell Lindsey. Around 7?’ he asked.

‘Yes, fine.’ Both Alex and Jenifer replied in unison, both red to the ears.

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How’d you like it? Is it what you had expected? Like, comment and share to let me know! I hope you look forward to the next chapter. 

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