Why Bother?

“I just can’t believe it took him so long to come to his senses,” Mary Binchy said as she pushed open the door to one of the school’s girl’s bathrooms. “I mean, can you imagine someone as hot as Jake being stuck with that dork for almost a year?”

“Well,” Nicole Duncan walked up to the mirror and started fluffing her long dark hair. “Derek told me that that’s how long it took for Joanne to put out. It seems Jake only went out with her because he’d never slept with a virgin before. And you know how guys are – they have to feel like every girl is willing to strip down and do them. Even if that girl is a giant loser virgin who won’t have sex for months and months. Here, lend me your lip gloss.”

Handing over the pink tube, Mary checked to make sure her eye makeup was still perfect. “Well, now that that freak show is over,” she gave Nicole a wicked smile. “How long do you think it will be before you and Jake are official? After all, you were the junior prom king and queen. It just makes sense…”

Painting her lips with the shiny gloss, Nicole gave herself an approving once-over before turning to Mary. “Official?” she grinned. “A couple weeks. But naked? This weekend.”

Both girls collapsed into giggles as they exited the bathroom, and Joanne let out the sob she had been holding back in the stall. It was only the first day of school, a week since Jake and she had broken up, but already everyone in the junior and senior classes was gossiping over the news.

People had been giggling and looking at Joanne all morning. In fact, that was why when lunch had rolled around, she had decided to hide in the bathroom. That hadn’t worked exactly as she had planned though, as she listed to Mary and Nicole making fun of her and talking about her relationship with Jake as if it had been some big joke. Joanne couldn’t even wrap her mind around the idea of Jake with another girl yet, and she had tried hard to ignore that part of the conversation.

When the door swung open again, Joanne tried to hold her breath. But the person who had entered was pushing the doors of the other open stalls one by one. When that person’s hand hit the stall Joanne was in, a voice came from the other side of the door. “Joanne, I know you’re in there,” Eve’s voice was softer than usual. “I can see your shoes. I picked them out, remember? Please come out and talk to me.”

Eve had called Joanne’s house repeatedly over the past week, but Joanne always refused to talk. Even when Eve had stopped by a few days before school started, Joanne had told her parents to say she wasn’t home. It wasn’t that Joanne blamed Eve for her breakup with Jake; she blamed herself for that one. But it would just be too hard for Joanne to talk about things with someone so close to the situation – Joanne’s best friend and Jake’s sister. And what if Jake was saying terrible things about her? Eve was never very good at censoring her words, and Joanne knew she wasn’t ready to hear Jake’s insults.

But it was too late now to hide. It was clear that Eve had no intention of leaving the bathroom until she spoke to Joanne. Slowly, Joanne unlocked and opened the bathroom stall door while trying to wipe the tears from her face. She wasn’t sure what sort of reaction Eve would have for her when they came face to face, but she was taken aback and almost fell to the floor as Eve threw her arms around Joanne’s neck and started crying, taking blame and begging forgiveness and babbling incoherently.

After a minute, Joanne reached up and forcibly removed Eve’s arms from her neck, which were beginning to cut off her air supply. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she tried to convince the grieving Eve. “Hey, stop it, Eve. I’m the one that got dumped. I’m the one who’s supposed to be crying.”

Pulling back, Eve nodded at Joanne and wiped her eyes. “I’m-I’m… so-o-o sor-ry,” her voice was still broken as she tried to catch her breath. “I-I-I… didn’t m-mean for this-this to ha-happen.”

Grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser on the wall, Joanne ran it under the cold water for a moment before handing it to Eve. “Put this on your face,” she told Eve as she put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It will help you calm down.”

At Joanne’s words, Eve looked up at her with surprise, and her face crumbled again. “You’re so g-g-good,” she hiccupped. “I, like, ruined yours and Jake’s lives, and you’re still trying to take care of me.”

Both girls slid down the length of the wall until they were sitting on the floor side by side. “You didn’t ruin our lives,” Joanne told Eve. “You didn’t even ruin our relationship. I managed to do that one all on my own.”

“But if you don’t blame me,” Eve’s red-rimmed eyes grew wide in confusion. “Then why wouldn’t you answer my calls? And why won’t Jake even look at me?”

Joanne felt her heart jump a little at this knowledge. It wasn’t like Jake to hold a grudge against Eve for anything. “I don’t know why Jake is acting like that,” Joanne said sadly. “Maybe he’s just mad that you got drunk and put yourself in a bad situation. But as for me, I just needed some time alone. And you are my best friend Eve, but you’re also Jake’s sister. I just wasn’t ready to talk to you yet. I hope you understand that.”

“But if you guys didn’t break up because of what happened at the Lucky Room,” Eve still looked perplexed as she tried to piece together the situation. “Then why did you?”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Joanne willed herself not to cry again. She had been crying straight for a week now; she was even beginning to make her parents worried, which killed her. But having to explain again why she and Jake broke up…

“Because I didn’t trust him,” Joanne’s voice cracked, a sure sign that the tears were about to flow again. “Because I thought he was going to lose it in a fight again, and I wouldn’t let him defend you or me or even himself against that jackass you were flirting with in the bar. He told me that he needed me to trust him in order for our relationship to work, and I couldn’t lie. I’m still scared of him and what he’s capable of somewhere deep down inside me.”

Joanne sniffled, and Eve quickly jumped up to grab some toilet paper from one of the stalls. Handing it to her, Eve kneeled before Joanne and put her hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think that’s a reason to break up with you,” Eve said to Joanne. “That’s something you two definitely have to talk about, but you are in love! This is too insignificant to end what you guys shared. And I’m going to tell Jake tonight.”

“No,” Joanne looked up at Eve, her voice firm. “Eve, if you have ever been my friend, I’m asking you – stay out of this. I hurt Jake. He trusted me, when he’s never trusted anyone but you, but I didn’t trust him back. If I hurt him that bad, I don’t deserve to be with him.”

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Eve sat down once more beside Joanne. “I won’t say anything to Jake about what you just told me,” Eve promised as she put her arm around Joanne’s shoulders. “But he is my brother, and he did just end the most serious relationship of his life last week. So I am going to talk to him about that once he gets over being mad at me. You get that, right?”

Nodding, Joanne leaned her head against Eve’s shoulder. “It’s just…” Suddenly, she dissolved into sobs again, bringing her hands up to cover her face as she cried. “I just miss him… I love him so much… this hurts… so… badly.”

Holding Joanne close, Eve rocked her slowly as she cried. She wished she knew how to make things easier for Joanne. She wished her brother would just look at her long enough for her to confront him regarding why he broke up with Joanne. But most of all, she wished she could go back in time one week and have never gone to the Lucky Room.

No matter what Joanne tried to tell her, Eve knew deep down that this breakup was her fault. And considering the two people she loved most in the world were suffering, Eve had every intention of fixing it.

-----

“There you are!” Nicole’s voice rang across the courtyard. “I’ve been looking all over for you! Why aren’t you sitting inside, at our table?”

“To avoid people like you,” Jake thought silently to himself as he looked up. It had gotten out fairly quickly that morning that Jake and Joanne had broken up. Between guys approaching him to tell him that it was good he was single because they were going to ‘party’ this year, and girls approaching him to flirt while offering obvious false sympathy, Jake felt like he was going to explode if he had to speak to another person about this. “Just felt like taking lunch by myself today,” Jake finally told Nicole as she plopped down next to him, hoping she would get the hint. Which, of course, she didn’t.

“Oh, that’s silly,” Nicole gave Jake one of her most winning smiles, the type that had most of his friends drooling in seconds. Jake just saw a fake smile, though – as fake as everything else about Nicole. “Now, I know you’re in a bad place, Jake,” Nicole put her hand on his shoulder. “But that’s why you should be around friends. I mean, it’s our senior year! And, as bad as this sounds, you know that our group rules this school now.”

It was hard for Jake to even believe that people actually talked and acted and thought like Nicole did. She wasn’t like Eve, whose exuberance and cheerfulness were a natural part of her personality. Nicole and her clone friends were actually unhappy, bitchy girls who liked to put other people down for the pure amusement of it. “Well, I’m glad you’re looking forward to this year,” Jake told Nicole as he stood up. “I hope it’s all you dream it will be.” Without another word, Jake started stalking towards the school building, ignoring Nicole’s voice behind him asking him to call her later.

Lunch wouldn’t be over for another ten minutes, but Jake couldn’t handle being around anyone just yet. Instead, he pushed through one set of cafeteria doors that led to a hallway that contained bathrooms. Maybe splashing his face with cold water would calm him down enough to help him make it to his next class.

The boy’s bathroom was at the end of the hall, but just as he was rushing past the girl’s room, the door opened. Jake froze when he saw Eve and Joanne both emerge, standing just a few feet from him. Both girls looked like they had been crying, but Joanne looked ten times worse than Eve. Her skin was blotchy, her eyes were rimmed in red, and her hair looked like the hand been running her hands though it all day. Also, when she saw Jake standing before her, a total look of panic took over her face.

“Hey,” Eve was the first one to speak.

Looking at his sister, Jake couldn’t think of what to say. He hadn’t spoken to Eve since the day he and Joanne had broken up. He didn’t blame Eve exactly, but he also didn’t see her as completely innocent. Yes, Joanne had mistrusted him – that night, as well as many others – even though he had been trying with all his might to earn her trust. But if it hadn’t been for Eve and her antics, perhaps he and Joanne wouldn’t have broken up that day; maybe they would have stayed together longer, allowing Joanne to grow in her trust of Jake, until finally one day, when something like that did come up, she would trust him to do the right thing.

“Hey,” Jake replied, unable to express in any way all the things that were going through his head. Shifting his eyes, he looked over at Joanne again, who was still looking at him with panic. “Hi Joanne.”

“Hi Jake,” Joanne’s voice was weak from crying, but she made herself stay calm for the moment. She was not about to let Jake see her break down. “How are you doing?”

“Okay,” Jake replied automatically, although it was a flat-out lie. “You?”

“Okay,” Joanne echoed Jake, although her heart felt like it was breaking in her chest. Even though he was still undeniably attractive, Jake didn’t look as good as usual. His face was drawn a bit, as if he hadn’t been eating right, and he had circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping.

“Well, I should-” Joanne told him.

“Well, I should-” Jake said at the exact same moment.

“Yeah,” Joanne’s voice started to shake and she could feel her eyes filling with tears. “I have to go,” she said quickly, turning on her heel and heading down the hallway. Jake watched her as she ran the whole way, knowing she was on the verge of breaking down and wanting nothing more than to hold her and soothe her. Slowly, he looked back at Eve, who was watching him closely.

“I’m sorry, Jake,” Eve said simply.

“This wasn’t just-” Jake began, but Eve shook her head and cut him off.

“I know this wasn’t just about me,” Eve told Jake, her voice soft and apologetic. “But I also know I played a role in your breakup with Joanne. And I can’t begin to tell you how horrible it makes me feel to know I had any part – no matter how small – in breaking up two people who so obviously love each other. And I just had to say that now, since you won’t talk to me when we’re at home.”

Nodding, Jake didn’t reply at first. He knew it was true, and he appreciated Eve taking the opportunity to say something. “I have to go to the bathroom,” he finally added lamely.

Giving Jake a small smile, Eve nodded. “Okay,” she said softly, putting one hand on his shoulder and raising on her toes to kiss her brother’s cheek.

“But don’t give up on the two of you yet, Jake,” Eve added as she stepped back. “You’re too good together, no matter what mistakes you or Joey have made. You love each other, and that’s the most important thing.”

Jake watched as his sister turned and slowly trudged down the corridor. Letting out a sigh, he shook his head and slowly turned towards the boy’s room. He was more confused now than he had been a few minutes earlier, but he was no longer angry.

He was just sad.

-----

“Honey,” Joanne’s mother knocked softly on her bedroom door on Friday evening. “Eve’s boyfriend’s car just pulled into the driveway, but I’m not sure what you want me tell her.”

Rolling over on her bed to face her mother, Joanne knew her face was tear-streaked, and she knew that seeing this upset her mother greatly. “You can let her in,” Joanne tried to give her mother a small smile. “We talked at school this week. We’re doing better.”

“And Jake?” Joanne’s mother ventured to ask, hope that her daughter’s pain might be coming to a close evident in her voice. “Have you spoken to him?”

Chewing on her bottom lip to stop herself from crying, Joanne nodded. “Once,” she told her mother. “It was… cordial. Meaning it sucked.”

The doorbell could be heard ringing, and Joanne’s mother gave her a small smile. “I’ll send Eve up,” she told her daughter. “You could use having some friends around right now.”

Sitting up in bed, Joanne wiped her face off. She had managed to avoid seeing Jake for the rest of the week, but today had been a particularly rough day for her for other reasons. While she had been getting her books for the weekend at the end of the day, Nicole and Mary had intentionally come by Joanne’s locker and begun speaking loudly.

“So is tonight the night?” Mary asked Nicole, glancing every few seconds at Joanne. “Is tonight the night you and Jake are going to finally close the deal?”

“Oh, I’m sure of it,” Nicole said. “I mean, a back-to-school party at your place with only the COOLEST people invited? I’m sure Jake and I will have plenty of time to get reacquainted, if you know what I mean.”

“Well,” Mary added cruelly. “At least you know he’ll be appreciative. I mean, he has been with an inexperienced nerd for the last year. I’m sure you’ll knock his socks off when you’re alone.”

“Yeah,” Nicole laughed. “That’s the thing about virgins. Guys get off on being the one to pop that cherry, but after that, they’re stuck with a complete loser in the bedroom who doesn’t know what she’s doing or how to please a man. Poor Jake. I guess I may have to be nice and treat him extra well tonight.”

Both girls had broken up into malicious giggles and taken off down the hallway. While Joanne had forced herself not to react – not to even flinch – while they tormented her, she suddenly felt like she was going to be sick. A picture of Jake and Nicole together, embraced intimately, had crossed though her mind, and now she couldn’t get rid of it.

“Hey,” Eve interrupted Joanne’s horrid memories of the afternoon. “How are you doing? I hope it’s okay that I came by. Mark dropped me off, and said he’d pick me up whenever I call his cell. And he wanted me to tell you that he says hi.”

“Tell him I say hi, too,” Joanne replied weakly.

“So, you didn’t answer me,” Eve crossed the room and sat down on the bed beside Joanne. “How are you doing?” she repeated the question as she put her arm around her friend’s shoulder.

“Fine,” Joanne lied, trying to give Eve a small smile.

Looking just a little amused, Eve tilted her head. “Fine?” she repeated. “I get the feeling someone in this room is lying, and it’s not me. So who could it be…?” She looked around the room and tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Oh, oh, I know! It’s you, you big liar!”

In spite of herself, Joanne had to laugh at Eve’s clowning around. “You’re nuts,” she told the beautiful blond. “But you’re right. This afternoon, Nicole and Mary MADE SURE that I overheard them talking about a party Jake is going to tonight where, apparently, Nicole is going to seduce him and make up to him having to deal with the boring sexual experience that is me for the last year.”

Shaking her head, Eve looked pissed off at first, but then something occurred to her. “You said the party is tonight?” she asked Joanne, who nodded in response. “Well, it looks like Nicole will be playing with herself tonight, since Jake was spread out on the couch watching sports in his sweats when I left the house. He looked like he had no intention of going anywhere tonight.”

“Really?” A small smile curved the edges of Joanne’s mouth. “He’s not going to that party?”

Shaking her head, Eve was glad she had been able to tell Joanne something that had cheered her up a little. “And he also seems to be cooling off some,” she added, though she didn’t want to get Joanne’s hopes up only to be crushed again. “I mean, he won’t talk to me about you guys at all, and the only thing he said to me about that day at the Lucky Room was that I was a reject that he will be amazed to see live until my eighteenth birthday. But he’s being friendly again to a degree, and he even drove me to school this morning. Thank God. I can’t wait to get my license. I hate riding the bus with all those freshman. They creep me out; half of them look eight.”

Joanne couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. It had always amazed her how, even in the middle of a serious conversation, Eve could go off on a tangent that barely anyone else could follow. “Well, I’m glad you two are working things out finally,” Joanne told Eve honestly. “You mean so much to him, and I didn’t want to cause a rift between you two.”

“You mean the world to him, too,” Eve replied. “It’s just going to take a little time for him to get over his wounded ego. Guys are dumb like that. I think it’s all the testosterone. Or maybe their brains really are in their dicks.”

Laughing out loud, Joanne looked at Eve. “Speaking of guys,” she asked her friend. “You said Mark drove you over here. Didn’t he wonder what’s been going on? What did you tell him? Did you say anything about the day at the Lucky Room?”

“I told Mark everything,” Eve said simply.

“And?” Joanne pushed, wanting more of an explanation. She knew that Mark loved Eve, but she was sure that he had enough of an ego to be annoyed if he knew the truth about what had transpired that day.

“He screamed at me,” Eve told Joanne. “He yelled, he asked if I was out of my mind, he told me he didn’t know what to do with me because I was nuts. And I told him he was right, and that I felt terrible about everything, and that I was sorry if I betrayed him in any way with what I did.”

“No way,” Joanne’s eyes grew wide. She had never heard Joanne apologize to Mark once besides prom night, and she had never heard her apologize that profusely to anyone since she had met her. “What did he say?”

“What could he say?” Eve shrugged. “He said I’m a pain in the ass and a whole mess of trouble, but he loves me. And I told him I loved him, too.”

“Really?” Joanne asked, overwhelmed by the news. For Eve to tell Mark she loved him was a real move forward in regards to her trust and relationship issues. “You really told him you loved him?”

“Yep,” Eve nodded. “Then I had the best sex of my life.”

Joanne just laughed. She really was glad that Eve had insisted on reconnecting with her; she was the only person that had been able to not just get Joanne’s mind off Jake, but to have her smiling and laughing. “I’m hungry,” Joanne suddenly realized. “I haven’t really eaten much this week.”

“I say we order in pizza, then raid your freezer for ice cream, and watch bad movies on cable all night. What do you say?” Eve’s eyes were shining with excitement at the prospect of cheering up Joanne.

“That sounds good, Eve,” Joanne said honestly. “And thanks for coming by.”

“Why are you thanking me?” Eve replied as the girls started heading downstairs together. “Even if I didn’t feel like all your problems were partially my fault, it is ALWAYS the role of the best friend to cheer up the other best friend in all matters of love and boys and sex.”

“Shut up,” Joanne whispered. “My parents are home.”

“Jo,” Eve whispered back. “I think they know what sex is.”

-----

THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ AND REVIEWED, ESPECIALLY AFTER THAT LONG-ASS HIATUS. AS PROMISED, I’M TRYING TO POST FAIRLY OFTEN NOW.

A FEW REVIEWER RESPONSES:

COPE: I SAW THE TRAILER FOR THAT MOVIE AND ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT JOSEPH WAS MUCH BETTER LOOKING IN MY HEAD THAN THAT GUY IS!

PSYCHOSNAKE: I DON’T THINK EVE’S HAPPY ALL THE TIME, JUST MOST OF THE TIME. AND SHE IS BASED ON SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW, WHO WAS ONE OF THE CRAZIEST, LIVELIEST, FUNNEST PEOPLE I’VE EVER MET.

THANKS ALSO TO IOTC247, PAPERMIRACLE, CU-KID, DISAPPEARED CAT AND ADAEE. PLEASE KEEP LETTING ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!