Forgiveness is Key

(Jayden)

"Jayden, oh my god are you alright?"

I turned around to find Bianca embracing me. "Bianca, what are you doing here?"

"Sydney called me, she said that you were paralyzed," Tears flowed down Bianca's eyes.

"Waist down, there go my dreams of learning how to drive," I laughed. "Wait, did you say Sydney called you?"

"Yes, why?" Bianca asked.

"Vienna, did Rachelle come?" I called.

Vienna peeked behind the door, "No, only Sydney and Chloe."

"Chloe was here?" I couldn't believe it. "God damn she's good."

"What?" Bianca asked.

"If Chloe was here, she probably told Rachelle."

"Is that so bad?" Vienna asked.

"Yes, Rachelle will use this to her advantage, Vienna do you have my laptop?" I asked.

Vienna handed me my laptop, "Here, what are you going to do?"

"The one thing I know how to do, write!"

The question was write what? I couldn't do Alexander Anderson, that wouldn't make sense. Maybe try creating a new character. But who? Then I realized what I could do.

"Vienna, how's this for a name?" I handed her a sheet of paper.

She took the paper, "Hmm, a bit on the short side, but it could work."

"Let me see!" Bianca snatched the paper from Vienna. "Suzuki Koshiro?"

"That's his real name, I'm thinking of calling him, Cal Suzuki," I told them.

"Cal Suzuki, but what is he?" Bianca asked.

"Easy, one of the youngest heroes in history," I said.

"But how is this character going to help you with Rachelle?" Vienna asked.

"Easy, Cal is from the year thirty-seventy-one meaning…"

"He can rival Rachelle's character's who are from thirty-sixty-nine, that's genius," Vienna laughed.

"Now, all he needs is a codename," What could I do? It had to be good, but it had to be original. Cyber Raider was already a thing and I was really hoping for that. He was fast, maybe too fast so maybe he could be like a Viper. His main color was a teal but the Teal Viper sounded weird. Maybe I could make his robes red or something. "Scarlet Viper!" I said.

"I have a better idea, Cerulean Raider," Vienna suggested.

"Yeah, that actually sounds better," I laughed.

"Jay, if you don't mind, I kind of want to help," Bianca said.

"This is kind of a two man thing, sorry Bianca-"

"Don't be silly Jay, of course," Vienna smiled. "Jay, they're letting you out tomorrow so how about we all meet up at my house for dinner?"

"That sounds good, I'll see you two later," Bianca winked.

"So Jay, I bought a wheelchair for you," Vienna went into the bathroom, "I hid this from you when you were asleep."

The wheelchair was a black with vibrant blue bars and handles.

"It reminded me of you, if you get what I mean," Vienna smiled at me.

"Yeah, I get it," I said dismissively, the thought of the wheelchair frightened me. The fact that I couldn't stand anymore scared me. It was going to be different.

"Jayden, hello?" Vienna waved her hand in front of my face. "You there?"

"They say that they're letting me out tomorrow, if you don't mind, can we go to the mall after?" I asked.

"The mall, what for?" Vienna asked.

"For old times sake," I told her.

The day went by so quickly. Before I knew it, I was being wheeled out of the hospital.

I was being given looks from bypassers. Obviously some of them knew who I was.

When we reached the outside, I noticed two people standing there.

It was Chloe and Sydney.

I didn't want to see them, not now.

"Jayden, great to see you out of there," Sydney smiled.

"Yeah, it's great to be out," I wanted to stand up, but I couldn't.

"Nice wheelchair," Sydney said. "It suits you."

Was that a compliment? Did she mean that it looked bad and that I was bad. Or did it look good.

"Hi Chloe, how are you?" Vienna asked.

Chloe waved but said nothing.

"Oh, are you shy?" Sydney said mockingly.

"I am not, stop it Syd!" Chloe shouted.

So she could speak, I thought something had happened to her.

As Vienna and Sydney both messed around with Chloe, I just sat there on my wheelchair waiting.

"I would join you guys but I'm a bit occupied, Vienna!" I called.

"Oh that's right, sorry about that." Vienna wheeled me down the stairs of the hospital. "We're going to the mall, you guys want to tag along?" Vienna asked.

No no no, stop what you're saying right now. I thought to myself.

"Sure why not," Sydney said.

"God damn it," I said under my breath.

"What were you saying?" Vienna asked.

Oh crap she heard me, abort abort! I was freaking out inside, but on the outside was quiet. "Oh nothing."

Vienna nodded, obviously not convinced.

"Oh, I have a present for you!" Sydney handed me her notebook.

"Are they Rachelle's character models cause I don't want to see them," I said as I flipped through the pages.

Instead of drawings of Rachelle's characters. There was a drawing of me, Vienna, Bianca, Ito, Chloe, Rachelle and Sydney all in a group holding hands. It seemed like I was the center of the drawing.

I was astonished. There was so much detail and effort was put into this.

Sydney smiled, "You like it?"

I nodded, "Thank you Sydney, and I'm sorry for running off like that."

We continued down the busy street.

It felt weird not walking but I found it rather relaxing.

We reached the mall where we found Rachelle Turner herself.

"Rachelle, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Hello Jay," She said with a demeaning look. "How's life out of the hospital, done a lot of running?" She wasn't very good at roasting people, but it still hurt.

"Actually no, obviously."

Vienna winked in my direction, "So Rachelle, we were just talking about when you were relevant."

Rachelle was confused.

I was also confused, where was she going with this?

"Oh wait, you were never relevant," Vienna laughed.

Still waiting, was that all she had?

"Anyways, Sydney, Chloe where have you been?" Rachelle asked. "You were supposed to be back half an hour ago."

"We said we'd be back by-" Chloe was cut off by Rachelle.

"You said you would be out for thirty minutes, it's been an hour!" She was getting on my nerves. Everything was about her.

"Rachelle, nobody wants to hang out with you!" I shouted. "You think, just because you're a girl means that you have more rights than I do!" I wasn't holding back, not for her. I needed to show her what I was made of. "This has been going on for far too long, just drop it ok?"

Rachelle shook her head, "You hurt me, now you have to pay-"

"I'm done with your crap, The audacity of your antics is worse than anything I've ever seen!" I shouted. "You need to understand that this world doesn't revolve around you, even your best friends agree with me."

Rachelle looked towards Chloe and Sydney, "Is that true?"

Chloe and Sydney nodded.

"We still want to be your friends, but we can't follow you down this road," Sydney told her.

Rachelle seemed extremely offended. "You know what, you two are fired!"

"We were going to leave anyways, good luck without us," Chloe winked.

Rachelle stomped off. "I'll get all of you back for this, now or later!"

(Rachelle)

You can tell that I was lonely.

Sydney and Chloe had joined Jay and I had nobody else (Unless you count Kya).

I had to push forward. Even if I had nobody on my side, I was still determined.

I had to give Jay the punishment he deserved.

That night at the dinner table. I had invited my friends from school over because I couldn't talk with my besties.

"So I heard that you had a huge crush on that Jayden boy," My friend Tanya laughed. "He hit quite hard considering he's some pesky boy."

"Tanya, leave Rachelle alone," Kya begged.

"It's not my fault that boy dumped her, I was just making a statement."

"Yeah, a rather rude statement," I said under my breath.

Tanya left to go use the bathroom which left me and Kya alone.

"So, what's his name again?" Kya asked.

"Jayden Davis," I responded.

"Is he cute?" She longed to know.

"Yeah, sort of, but wait I-"

"Why did he break up with you?" Kya leaned closer to me with that puppy dog look.

"Don't give me that Kya," I sighed.

"Give you what?" She said, still giving me the look. "Come on, just tell me please!"

"Fine, he doesn't love me the way I love him!" I shouted.

There was silence. Nobody said a word.

I didn't know what to do.

What was Kya thinking? Kya smirked, "Got you."

"What, I'm so confused."

"You just admitted that you still have feelings for him, just forgive him, maybe he'll friend zone you which is better than where you are now," Kya smiled.

"He hurt me, why the hell should I forgive him!?" I asked.

"Do you want to be friends with him or not?" Kya asked.

I paused, I did want to be friends. Maybe I should do it.

I stood outside of Vienna's house. I could hear Chloe laughing inside. I had left my own dinner to come here, please work. As I slowly walked towards the door, it opened immediately.

"Rachelle, you're here!" Sydney smiled.

"Yeah, can I talk to Jay?" I asked.

Sydney nodded and ushered me inside. "Jayden, somebody's here to see you!"

Jayden wheeled himself over to us, "Rachelle."

"Jayden," I sighed.

"I would come down but they haven't finished the stairs."

I looked down to see a flat ramp leading up.

"It's not done yet, so if you don't mind," Jay nodded towards the actual stairs.

"Yeah, of course," I walked up the stairs towards Jay.

"So, down to business," Jay said. "What do you want?"

"I came here to say that I forgive you."

Jay was speechless, "what?"

I laughed, "Maybe we could hang out for a bit?" I asked.

Jay nodded, jaw still wide open.

I walked into the house and into the kitchen. "Guess who's here!"

Everyone turned.

"Rachelle," Bianca said, "What a nice surprise. It was kind of obvious she was being sarcastic.

"What's going on?" I asked them.

Chloe looked to Sydney who looked to Bianca who looked to Vienna.

Vienna sighed as she handed a piece of paper to me. "We've started a group, Python Studios."

I looked down at the paper, "And you want me to join?"

"Sure, Bianca and Sydney are the artists, Chloe and I are the editors and Jayden is the author, we need a second person to help Jay."

Wow, this could work. I thought to myself. "That sounds great."

"We should get to work then," Bianca suggested.

Jay handed me a piece of paper, "This is our latest character, what do you think?

I looked down at the messy handwriting. "Is this why you write on a computer?" I asked.

Jay nodded, "Get used to it."

I still didn't trust him. The main reason I did this was to get inside the system. Then I could hurt him even more. "So this character of yours, how does he fit with the story?"

"He's supposed to rival your characters, if you don't mind." Jay said.

Rival my characters. What's that supposed to mean? "So is he a bad guy or a good guy?"

"He's a bit of both, he's more of a vigilante if you get what I mean," Jay explained.

Fricking hell, he's trying to be my friend and starting with a character meant to destroy mine? I thought. I had to change things. "Wait can we change a few things?" I asked.

"Of course-"

"But that can wait, after dinner, tables set," Vienna winked.

Jay sighed, "You can tell me later."

I nodded and headed for the dinner table.

"So I decided to get some Sushi, so we have a large variety of food," Vienna said.

"Rachelle, do you have anything you would like to say before we start?" Bianca asked.

Did she really want me to do this now?

"No?" I answered.

Bianca laughed, "Just kidding."

A feeling of relief rushed over me. I wasn't really in the mood for Bianca's crap right now.

The day continued. It felt good talking with Sydney and Chloe.

Sydney drew up cover art and character models to show us.

Jay seemed rather impressed, considering he had no talent whatsoever.

Vienna read through Jay's writing while Chloe read through mine.

"Thanks for doing this Chloe," I whispered to her.

Chloe nodded, "No problem, I know you find Vienna a bit harsh so it's probably better this way."

That night, I was thinking to myself.

Had Jay really changed.

If Chloe could take him, why couldn't I?

I couldn't bring myself to truly forgive him. I just had to wait for the right moment.

But what if Jay got the best of me?

No, that wasn't going to happen.

"Rachelle, are you still awake?" My mother walked in with a flashlight.

"No, why?" I asked.

"I noticed that you seem to be more angry, I think that you shouldn't hang out with that Jay kid," She said.

"Mom, I'm trying to take back everything, my friends, my life," I tried to explain.

"You are like a princess to everyone, he's a peasant, go show him what you're made of," My mom winked.

I couldn't, not yet at least.

He trusted me, I needed to keep it until he did something stupid.

(Sydney)

After Rachelle had left, I felt like I needed to ask Jay something. I dragged him into the bathroom and locked the door.

"So, what exactly are you doing?" He asked.

"Shhh, I don't want anyone to hear this," I told him.

Jay seemed somewhat weirded out. "Yeah, we're not doing that."

"Doing what-" Then I realised, I mean what a poor choice of words. "No, that's not what I meant!" I said. I felt so embarrassed, I was probably as red as a tomato.

"It's fine," Jay said with a smug grin. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Rachelle, she isn't here to be your friend," I said.

"What are you talking about, she literally walked in telling me-"

"Jay stop, I know her, she doesn't give up that easily."

"So?" I asked.

"She's only here to hurt you more," I told him.

There was a pause. Would he listen to me?

"Please Chris, don't ruin this," I said.

Jay paused. He clenched his fist and slammed it on the counter. "Don't call me that." He opened the door and wheeled himself out of the bathroom.

There were still some things that I couldn't change. The damage had been done, nothing could change that. I shouldn't have snapped at him before, maybe he would still live with us.

I heard somebody enter the bathroom. The sound of sobs echoed in the halls.

"Bianca?" I gasped.

Bianca stared at me with soulless eyes. "Why was I so stupid, I shouldn't have let him go." What was she talking about?

"Bianca, is everything alright?" I asked.

"Ever since this started, I've been hiding feelings, feelings that I didn't want to share," Bianca told me. "And I know it may not be that obvious-"

"Holy crap, you like Sean?" I gasped.

Bianca paused, "No, not Sean, he's weird and too old for me."

"Then who?" I asked.

Bianca stared into the mirror, "I rather not say, I'm too ashamed."

"Ashamed of what?" I asked. The only other person besides Sean would be, "No, no no no, not Jay!"

Bianca nodded, "Yes, you're right," She sniffled.

"But he's dating Vienn-"

"I'm aware, ever since I met him five years ago, I had fallen head over heels for him," Bianca said.

"This is straight out of a romance novel," I gasped. "You, Rachelle and Vienna!"

Bianca let out a little giggle, "I guess it is."

It was true however, all these events and things were like a novel. It was like we were characters in a story. It felt so unrealistic.

"Bianca, don't let these feelings take over you," I told her.`

Bianca wiped a few tears off her face. She nodded but I wasn't convinced.

"Now come on, let's go out there and have some fun," I told her.

Bianca shook her head, you still haven't told me why you were in here," Bianca said.

I was reluctant to tell her but what did it matter, she would figure it out sooner or later.

"I don't think Rachelle is here to be our friend," I said.

Bianca laughed, "What, that's not true!"

"You don't know what Rachelle is capable of, I do," I exclaimed.

"Hasn't she done enough damage already?" Bianca asked.

"You're just like Jay, so closed minded," I groaned.

Bianca scoffed, she was so stupid. She just followed whatever Jay thought.

"Bianca please, help me fight this," I begged.

Bianca thought for a moment. This was it, if she said no I would have to do this alone.

"Fine, I'll help you."

I felt a huge rush of relief sweep over me.

"On one condition," Bianca said.

I felt all the stress come back, "What's that?"

"Don't tell Jay anything," Bianca looked really serious.

"Yes, of course," I reassured her. However, I felt that Jay already knew of these feelings.

We came out of the bathroom, checking to see if Chloe was watching.

What we found however, was worse.

"So, what's this all about?"

I turned around.

There was Vienna, standing near the door with her arms crossed.

"Vienna, how are you?" I asked.

Vienna didn't look impressed, "You can never see the light can you, everything about you is negative."

"How much did you hear?" Bianca asked.

"Enough, like the fact that you like My boyfriend, and also that you Sydney, are a horrible person," Vienna said.

"Vienna, I can explain-"

"Explain how you just made Jay upset, he trusted you," Vienna shouted. "Both of you!"

"I didn't say anything mean to him," I said, trying to reason with her.

"Explain this then!" Vienna handed me a slip of paper.

What was it? I had a feeling I knew who it was.

"Dear Rachelle, I don't think I can keep up this act. Jayden, I think he's about to figure out what I've been doing. Try to convince Binaca to help us.

Sydney."

It was a note I had given Rachelle when this had first started. "Vienna, it's not what it looks like!" I said.

"I want both of you to stay away from my Jay!" Vienna stomped off into the kitchen.

"So much for that," Bianca sighed. "She's so clingy."

How could I be such a fool. Of course Rachelle would try to get me back on her side. She needed me more than anyone. She never wanted to admit it, but she rather would rather have me as a friend then Chloe.

Bianca and I both stood there stunned. We couldn't comprehend what Vienna had been ranting about.

Bianca seemed the most confused.

I couldn't believe how much this had affected everyone's relationships. After one mistake that Jay made. It felt like a war had started and I was caught in the middle.

Rachelle had been such a close friend of mine, but was I wrong about her.

Was Vienna right about Rachelle?

No, I knew Rachelle better than anyone. She couldn't change just like that. I found myself questioning so much. First, Vienna and Jay. Everyone thought that Bianca and Jay would get together due to them going for ramen so much. Guess they proved us wrong there. Next, why was Chloe so easily persuaded? Could she be a spy for Rachelle? Chloe cared about Rachelle more than everyone, would my friendship with her be put to the test, again?

"Hey Sydney?" Bianca asked.

"He-hey Bianca," I stuttered as I regained consciousness.

Had she been waiting there this whole time? "I don't agree with Vienna, I mean you know Rachelle best!"

"I don't want to hurt Jay's feelings, he's been through so much, I mean look at him!"

Jay wheeled himself across the hall and into the bathroom.

"He's depressed and paralyzed!" I shouted.

Bianca covered my mouth, "Sydney, be quiet."

I sighed, she was right, I had to be really quiet.

Jay no longer trusted me, he wanted to see the good in people, but that would just hurt him more.

"You know, ever since he met Vienna, we've drifted apart." Bianca sighed. "I miss him."

I knew what she meant, Jay and her had been best friends ever since they had met, but now. Now I just made things worse.

"He's so happy with Vienna though," Bianca said. "I don't know, maybe I could try to reason with him."

"What do you mean, he's in love, he already lives with them!" I shouted.

"I know, I saw how he reacted when he was in the car with me," Bianca said. "He was upset and he was very secretive."

"He's always been like that," I said.

Bianca shook her head, "Not all the time."

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

Bianca smiled discreetly, "Remember the very first time we met him?"

"Yeah of course," I said. "You're not exactly making a point, he was shy then too."

"But he opened up, remember?"

"He did, but it took some time," I said.

"I always wondered about his past though," Bianca said as she placed a finger on her chin.

"Me too, but he never told me," I said to her.

Bianca nodded, "Still I can't help but wonder what he was like back then."