Between the Spirit and the Dust

Chapter Twenty One

Having heard the front door bang open, I immediately stepped away from Max to see who was there.

Jenna stood there staring at us, with her lips parted in shock and one hand still on the doorknob. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two of us while she slowly removed her key from the front door.

Shit. She must’ve seen us.

“Hey guys,” she finally managed to say.

Trying to stop myself from freaking out about how Max and I must’ve looked to her, I took in Jenna’s appearance. She was soaking wet, with her top and jeans completely drenched and her usually sleek blonde hair stringy with rainwater. But aside from how wet she was, she looked perfectly fine. There was no sign at all of her feeling bad about having disappeared from us.

Outside, the heavens continued to pour. 

As the silence dragged on, Max was unable to stand it and finally went, “Well…so you’re back." 

“Oh, yeah. Yeah I am." 

“And where have you been?” I asked. Wincing at how harsh I’d sounded, I tried to backtrack a little, “I mean, we were all really worried about you." 

Jenna nodded slowly. “I know you were. I just…I didn’t know how to handle everything Evie told us. I didn’t know what to make of it.”

“And what do you think about it now?”

Jenna folded her arms, shivering slightly from the dampness of her clothes but said nothing.

I didn’t understand. If she wasn’t ready to accept us, why did she even bother coming back? What was the point of coming back for the investigation if she didn’t believe in a huge part of it? If she didn’t believe in me?

Suddenly, I was so pissed with Jenna that I wished that she had never came back in the first place.

She spoke, interrupting my thoughts, “Emily, I know you want to talk about this and it’s important to you. But can’t you let me change out of my clothes first?” Jenna managed a weak smile. “I got caught in the rain outside and I just want to take a hot shower before we talk.”

“Whatever. Go do what you want,” I snapped. It wasn’t any of my business what she wanted to do.

I knew that I was being snotty but I didn’t care. She had disappeared on us when we needed her and now she was back, there wasn’t even an apology. 

Jenna walked to her room, dripping water with every step she took. The entire time she didn’t make eye contact with me, only managing to nod at Max as she passed. Then she closed her bedroom door behind her.

Without a word, Max grabbed the English muffin from the table and handed it to me. I bit into it viciously.

Max stared at Jenna’s closed door. “She seems awfully…reserved. 

“Isn’t she always like that?”

He frowned. “I mean, she’s always been quiet but… I don’t know doesn’t it feel like she was keeping weirdly composed just now?”

I shrugged. Whatever, Jenna could anything she wanted. It wasn’t like we were friends or anything.

“You’re really upset about this, aren’t you? About her not believing you?” asked Max, his lips twisting in an amused smile.

“I don’t see how this is funny?” I growled.

“It’s just that half a year ago you wouldn’t have even heard of what being an Empath is. And now you’re getting all protective about it and wanting people to accept you.” He wrinkled his nose. “It’s pretty cute.”