𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 , 𝟖𝟎𝐬

36 = the calm before the storm

brandy's point of view

i stepped out of my parked car alongside the curb and looked up at jason's apartment complex.

i don't know what he'll think of me now that he knows the truth. i don't know how he's been feeling since i told him. but i guess there's only one way to find out and it starts with me knocking on his door.

i heard his deep voice yell out "it's open!" so i turned the knob and let myself in. jason was in the kitchen finishing putting dishes away.

"hey." i walked slowly past his sofa and into the kitchen with him.

he looked at me and gave me a half smile.

"i'll be done in just a sec if you wanna go hang out in my room for a bit." he said whilst drying a mug.

i nodded and slowly walked to his bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack once i walked in.

the curtains were open giving you a nice view of the city even though today was grey and cloudy out, los angeles looked pretty anyway.

i sat down on the edge of his bed with my eyes still fixated on the sky outside. jason's apartment was on the 16th floor so it was quiet up here. you couldn't hear the traffic unless you opened the windows.

the door pushed open, snapping me out of my gaze. instead of joining me on his bed, jason sat in the chair against the wall in front of me.

"how are you?" he asked. i just wanted to cut the awkward tension with a big pair of scissors.

"fine," i nodded, "good. i told greg that i quit filming for license to drive this morning. and i'm ninety-nine percent sure i got him to not press charges on you."

jason's eyes widened, "first of all, i'm glad you quit working for that asshole! and second, how'd you do that?"

i smirked, "i have my ways."

"right." jason smiled, shaking his head, "well, thank you. seriously."

i nodded, "how are you?"

he shrugged and bit the side of his lip, "alright. i feel a little lost i guess."

"i know this is confusing and i feel terrible that you've gotten involved in it. i don't understand it anymore than you do."

he was looking at the floor and not at me, "so you really think you're in a coma right now?"

"i don't know. a coma makes the most sense but really ... i've tried to make sense of this since the moment i woke up on the red carpet and i just can't."

"and the night of your birthday when i brought you here and you were crying telling me that nothing was real ... this is what you meant?"

"yeah ..."

his eyes finally locked with mine, "am i even real, kennedy? if you're telling me everything that's happening now in my life has already happened years ago, then what am i? am i real?"

"you're real, jason. in some way. it's gotta be some fucked up alternate universe we're in right now but you're real."

"are you? real?" he looked like he was about to cry. maybe punch something, i couldn't tell.

"yes i'm real. but if i find a way to go back then i won't be real here anymore. i'll be real in the year 2018 with a 40-something year old you who has no clue about my existence."

"and you wanna go back? you and kayla- or naomi or whatever her actual name is?"

"of course i wanna go back! my family's there, i'm not a recovering drug addict there, i wasn't raped there." i explained to him and he just nodded with his jaw clenched and peering off to the side of the room.

"but that doesn't mean i won't miss things that are here. i'll miss the fuck out of you. and the friends i made here, the fun experiences, fuck it, even aunt maggie i'll miss."

that got him to crack a small smile.

"i'll miss you too, kennedy."

a few seconds passed of us just thinking things over in our heads until he asked, "you don't know how to go back?"

i shook my head no.

"what if jake's right about what he said. what you told me last night, that if you entered this world by getting into a car accident, that's the way out."

i shrugged my shoulders, "then what do i do, just throw myself in front of a bus?"

"i'm not joking, ken. i can't let you do that, even if it's the way back home. just the thought of knowing you're purposefully getting yourself hit by a car makes me want to break something with my own fists."

"i don't know what to, jason! it's not in any textbooks!"

"i don't want you to leave, trust me, that's the last thing i want. but all night i was up thinking about you. the shit you've gone through in your time here has been hell and you don't deserve it."

i nodded, tears in my eyes were beginning to form, "then i guess i've gotta figure it out soon."

"i guess so."

we sat in his bedroom in silence for a little bit. i was too upset to say anything else and i think he noticed because he stood up and pulled me into a tight hug.

"the corey's should know too." i mumbled into his chest.

"then let's get together and tell them. we can have a party, celebrate the time we've got left with each other before you and naomi figure out how to get back."

i pulled back a little so i could look up at him, "but where?"

jason shrugged, "i just helped one of my friends move out of his apartment this week. i still have the keys and it's empty, no one's moved in yet."

"you think we could do it there?"

"yeah, sure. why not?"

i shrugged and he smirked.

"it'll be fun. let's call them up and plan it for tonight."