Defined as: a blank space, a missing part
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I walk in and Jisoo takes us up to 2 bedrooms.
One is a large bed in a room and another is a makeshift mattress on the floor.
Jisoo points to the room with a makeshift mattress. "That's yours. I moved RJ's bed from there into mine."
I nod slowly. "Sure. Is RJ the little girl?"
Jisoo's expression looks tenser if that's even possible. "Yes. My daughter RJ, Ruby Jane."
I nod. "That's beautiful. Are you a single mom?"
She stares at me and crosses her arms. "Yes."
"Did you adopt RJ?" I assume quickly.
Jisoo swallows and I see her eyes roam over my face. "You haven't aged at all."
I smile. "Since I was 18? I think I changed a bit. I hope I didn't get plastic surgery or anything."
I hear the door to my parents' room close.
"Maybe it would've been easier had you looked uglier," she says and my jaw drops.
"Did you just....Did you—"
"Get over it," she mutters and walks closer to me. She points and her finger digs into my shoulder. "You better not be fucking with me Jennie because I can make your life a living hell if I wanted to."
Then she turns around and walks away.
I stand there long after Jisoo leaves, still trying to process the fact that she's not the same sweet girl that I knew in high school.
Yet she still knows me after all these years....
And I fucked up....baaaaaadly.
•••••••••••
My mattress on the floor isn't that bad. The blanket is cozy so that's a plus.
I fell asleep for some time because of how tired I was from no sleep and luckily no nightmare memories plagued me. But no dreams did either.
I wake up and rub my eyes as I walk out and I see RJ lying on her stomach near the bannister.
I smile and lay down on my stomach next to her. I whisper, "Whatch ya doin'?"
She jumps and looks at me. I hold my hand out with a big smile. "Hi. I'm Jennie," I say, keeping my whisper.
She looks at my face for a few moments like her mom and shakes my hand. "I'm RJ."
I nod and she turns back to look between the poles in the bannister. I follow her gaze and see Jisoo talking with my parents very seriously.
"What do you think they're talking about?" I ask RJ.
She shrugs. "I don't know," she whispers. "But I hope it's not because I'm in trouble."
I shake my head. "I'm probably in trouble."
"Why?" She asks curiously.
"Because it's my parents and your mom."
RJ nods. "Oh. Did you do anything wrong?"
I shake my head. "I don't know. I woke up one day as myself and now people are telling me I'm 34 and a great ice skater."
RJ nods. "Huh. Are you 34? You don't look old."
I give a fake gasp. "34 isn't old RJ!"
She giggles and it makes me feel warm and cuddly. "How old are you?"
"I'm going to turn seven soon," she says with an excited whisper.
I smile. "Really? Cool!" Then I point to Jisoo. "How old is your mom?"
"Mama's thirty-four."
Oh wow. She's mentally, almost double my age.
"Is your mom fun?" I ask.
RJ smiles widely and nods. "Mama is the best! I love her so much!"
I nod. "What about your dad?"
She shakes her head as her face drops. "I don't have a dad."
I raise an eyebrow. "You don't? But everyone has a dad."
She looks confused. "How?"
I start to explain when I hear a sharp voice say, "RJ come down here."
The little girl quickly gets up and runs down the stairs. I look at Jisoo and see her hard look holding my gaze.
I shrug and get up. I walk down the stairs and walk until I'm standing next to my mom.
Jisoo pulls her gaze from me to look at my mom.
Okay. I'm having none of this.
I tap her hand and she looks at me, the anger filling immediately in her gaze.
"Look I don't know what I did to make you hate me but I'm not who I was at 34. I'm 18. All I remember is just graduating high school. And I remember you, all smiles and filled with happiness, hugging me on that day. So this is a bit of a slap in the face. Your whole...." I use both hands to wave to her whole body "Ice queen act is intimidating I'm sure to everyone else but it isn't going to work on me."
Jisoo looks at my mom and points to me. She scoffs. "This is absolutely ridiculous. This whole idea is ridiculous! I'm not having her live with me and RJ!"
Mom looks desperate. "Please Jisoo. This is the only way to get her memory back."
Jisoo shakes her head. "What will she do? She can't lazily sit at home and waste my money!"
I tap her hand again and her gaze shoots to me. I smile. "I can be your secretary at your firm."
She glares at me. "You are 18 years old! You don't know how to do anything!"
I place my hands on my hips. "Well, Elsa, if you wouldn't mind showing me the ropes then I won't be wasting your money!"
She scoffs and looks at my mom again. "This is completely ridiculous!" She repeats incredulously.
I scowl at her. "How do I know you now anyway? We weren't even that close in high school!"
My mom says, "You're—"
Jisoo stands up and walks into my personal space. Her eyes are filled with rage and her body language is leaning into me like she's trying to intimidate me but I keep my straight posture and my hands on my hips.
"You're nothing to me. And you're not staying here," she says in a low voice probably so that RJ wouldn't hear.
She leans away and turns around to RJ. "Come on. Let's get you to bed. You still need to practice reading before sleeping."
RJ nods and runs to the staircase. Jisoo gives me one last hard look and leaves.
I sigh and fall into the seat Jisoo left alone.
I wait for both of them to close the door to RJ's room before turning to my mom. "I can't believe you want to leave me here with Elsa!"
Mom gives into a small smile. "Elsa?"
I nod vigorously. "She's a complete ice queen! She hates me and I can't do anything about it!"
I reach for her hand. "Just tell me Mom what I did wrong! I won't be able to live like this!"
My dad shakes his head. "Jennie. The doctor said no and we're sticking to it. Your best bet is Jisoo and....we're leaving tomorrow morning. Just mom and I. We'll buy you clothes here and—"
"Dad!" I plead. "Tell me! I can handle it! I can—"
My mom holds my hand and squeezes it. "You don't know yourself or your body. Just live your life. Everything will come together."
I tighten my jaw and pull my hands into my lap. "When will I see you both again?"
"It's September. We'll be back in November for Thanksgiving and you can always call either your mom or me."
I sigh. "So.....I have a degree...in what?" I ask and look at her.
My mom nods. "I'm pretty sure it's business and data analysis with a minor in physics."
I nod. "And how did I think that would help with my career in ice skating?" I ask with deadpan because what the actual hell was going through my head.
"Well as far as I guessed, it was probably to be able to make better decisions career wise and the physics part I imagine was to figure out how far you could push yourself."
I blink. "On Earth? I learnt physics to figure out how much I could do on Earth?! I sound completely insane!"
My dad laughs. "I was a bit surprised but it's nothing you didn't imagine badly. You went in undecided the first year and after you started getting serious you researched and decided on that."
"And you went along and paid for everything?!" I protest.
"Jennie. It happened 16 years ago! Leave it! It's in the past!"
I glare and he sighs, "For us at least."
"So, I have to deal with Elsa and you both are going back to happy California?"
They both nod.
"You'll talk to Jisoo again?"
They both nod again.
I stand up. "Then I'm going back to sleep. That was mentally draining."
I wave bye to them and go up the stairs.
••••••••••
To be continued 😉