Jenna ortega

Joy's house was full of laughter, warm lights, and overlapping conversations. The entire cast had been invited to the dinner, a sort of improvised reunion that no one quite knew how would end.

Emma arrived late. She always did when she didn't want to face something. Ben walked beside her, relaxed, confident, as if everything were simple. For him, it was.

But not for her.

When she stepped through the door, the first thing she saw was Jenna.

She hadn't changed that much... or maybe she had. Her gaze was still intense, but now it had something more: exhaustion. Beside her was Elias, smiling for no apparent reason, his eyes glassy and his hands restless.

Emma felt a knot in her chest.

Jenna saw her too.

The world around them seemed to fade for a second. The laughter became distant noise, the voices an echo. It was just the two of them, like before... but completely different.

"Hi," Emma finally said, her voice lower than she expected.

"Hi," Jenna replied, curtly, but without looking away.

Ben placed a hand on Emma's back, as if reminding her where she stood now. She didn't pull away, but she didn't react either.

Elias approached Jenna, too quickly.

"Is she...?" he asked, pointing at Emma with a crooked smile.

"Yes," Jenna answered. "It's her."

No further explanation was needed.

The dinner continued as if nothing had happened. Joy tried to keep the atmosphere light, some made jokes, others avoided looking toward that table where the past and present collided in silence.

At one point, Emma went out to the patio. She needed air.

It wasn't long before she heard footsteps behind her.

"I knew you were going to come out," Jenna said.

Emma didn't turn around immediately.

"And I knew you were going to follow me."

Silence.

"You're getting married..." Jenna murmured, finally.

Emma closed her eyes.

"Yes."

"To him?"

The question wasn't just about Elias. It was about everything.

"No," Emma replied, finally turning around. "Not to him."

Jenna frowned.

"Then... why?"

Emma hesitated.

"Because what we had... didn't wor"