Chapter Text
Christine had never been more heartbroken in her entire life.
She’d been really excited to see Jake, her old friend from middle school, walk into play rehearsal. She thought, hey, maybe it was time for them to catch up. Maybe rekindle their friendship, and be the buds she’d always missed them being. Maybe they could even pretend they hadn’t been apart for almost two years.
Maybe Christine could pretend she hadn’t been a bit of a mess ever since they’d split in the first place.
But… that’s not what happened.
Christine had been enjoying her chat with a new member of the cast, Jeremy. He was a wonderful listener, and outside of his general anxiety, he seemed like a wonderful person. He was one of the few people she’d met that didn’t get annoyed with her when she went on long stretches of talking. He’d even told her he liked it, saying he wished he was as passionate about anything.
That made her feel good.
Then, as she’d told him she wanted the play to be perfect, a group of more popular students walked in. A group, including Jake.
See, she and Jake had been the best of friends since he’d moved to her school partway through the seventh grade. She’d approached him, quite interested in getting to know him, and the rest was history.
She’d always thought they’d be friends for years to come, but as they got into high school, Jake started gaining popularity. He’d met a new couple of friends, and he’d started dating a girl named Chloe, who was well known in their grade.
Soon, Jake and Christine were hanging out less, and by the time thanksgiving hit, they stopped talking all together.
Christine had been pretty sad about it. She missed everything about their friendship. His conversation skills, his listening skills, his hugs. He made her feel like she mattered, which meant the world to her. His absence made her feel like she was just another girl. Just another student.
She’d put her entire life into theatre after that.
But now, here he was, sitting in a seat that originally had Jeremy in it, and he was catching Christine’s eyes more than she’d like to admit. She should’ve been mad at him. She’d tried to make their friendship work, after all, she’d done everything she could. It was him that split them up.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to be mad, not while he was glancing at her, smiling. Not when he seemed to be talking about her. He must’ve wanted to be friends again, and Christine was more than ready to let him back in.
After rehearsal ended, Christine was excited. She’d never been more excited for the end of rehearsal in her life. She tried to pretend she didn’t care, picking the chairs on the stage to put them away. Like she’d hoped, Jake stopped her, and asked her about the play last year.
He told her he’d seen it, and he mentioned she was the girl that died at the end.
She’d have to teach him more about Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet was about as well known as it got.
But then, he introduced himself, as if they’d never known each other at all.
Christine could feel her heart breaking, and she didn’t want to be talking anymore, so rather than reintroduce herself to him, she just muttered to him that she knew who he was, and tried to escape and put the chairs away.
How could he not remember her?
How could she have meant so little?
She was stopped, and Jake told her that the play had meant a lot to him. That it brought him to a world where his problems didn’t seem to matter anymore. It made him really sad to see her die on stage.
Then, he told her, he was glad to be brought out of it, and reminded Christine was alive and well. Because now he got the chance to get to know her.
It was sweet, in its own way, but it was still frustrating. He really seemed to have no memory of her.
Christine figured though, she had the chance right here to have him back in her life. They could be friends again, heck, maybe Christine could start over. Pretend the person she was from ages 12-14 didn’t exist. Maybe this would end up being a good thing.
So, she’d decided to go with him after school to the mall, introducing herself as if they’d never known each other at all.
It was a new beginning.