Surprise?They hadn’t known I was coming? I’d expected a little warmer reaction, but Will and Sue didn’t look happy at all, and I could tell something had changed. It wasn’t their looks: Sue was still thin and wrapped in endless layers of clothes that didn’t match. Her hair was pulled back sloppily, and she was staring daggers into me. Will was handsomeas ever: black eyes, black hair, tight sweater, the spitting image of the guy your mother prays you’ll bring home to meet her.
Feeling awkward, I joked, “I’m glad you’re so happy to see me.”
Will stood and glared at Naya. Was he…angry? Since when did Will get angry? Especially at Naya?
I really have just entered a parallel universe, I thought.
“I can’t believe you,” he said. “You know this isn’t right. And you do, too, Lana. I don’t know what kind of scheme this is, but you shouldn’t have done it.”
Well, then. I tried not to look hurt as Naya murmured an explanation I didn’t understand, but Will noticed, then his features relaxed and he came over and hugged me.
“It’s not you,” he reassured me in a softer tone. “I’m happy to see you, Jenna.”
“Happy to see you, too, I just don’t…”
Sue interrupted me: “This is sure going to be interesting, as you’ll soon find out. But hey, I’m glad you’re here.” And to everyone’s astonishment, she hugged me. What the hell was going on? I asked Sue how things were. She told me she had just stocked up on ice cream, which was the same as saying things were going well. I couldn’t relax and talk longer with her, though, because I saw Will looking pissed again and stomping around the living room, sighing and saying, “I can’t believe it.”You can’t believe what?I wondered.
Lana flopped down in one of the armchairs and said, “Believe it. It’s best for everyone.”
Will seemed skeptical, and I was getting impatient. “Can somebody tell me what the hell’s going on?”
Naya was sitting on the couch at a prudent distance from her boyfriend, looking guilty as her boyfriend asked her, “You’re kidding me. She doesn’t know?!”
What didn’t I know?
Naya crossed her arms and said, “If I’d told her, she wouldn’t have agreed to come!” This went on for a moment, with Will complaining that Naya and Lana had lost their minds and them making excuses, and finally, I interrupted their bickering to plead, “Can you all stop ignoring me?”
Will cursed under his breath and said, “You better take a seat.” Nervous, I did so, sitting down beside him and letting him take my hand in his. The way he was looking at me, I’d have thought he was about to confess a crime. He asked me not to get upset, and I told him what was upsetting me was everyone leaving me in the dark. He responded that I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear. Sue growled at him to spit it out, but he hemmed and hawed a few more moments before finally confessing, “Ross is living here!”
My whole body tensed from head to toe. Surely he hadn’t said what I thought he’d said.
“What?” I forced myself to say.
“Surprise!” Naya responded weakly.
I waited for someone to tell me this was all a big joke, but no one did.Come on, Will, I thought, and when I didn’t get the reply I wanted, I tried asking again: “What?”
“Imagine how he’s going to react when he sees her,” Sue murmured. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to record it.”
I passed in a matter of seconds from surprise to panic to rage, and I turned to Naya, letting all of those feelings out at once: “You said he was still in France! And you, Lana, you knew all this, and you didn’t say a damn thing!”
“Yeah, but if we told you, you wouldn’t have come!” Lana protested.
“Of course I wouldn’t have, and that’s my right!” I said, letting go of Will’s hand and standing up. “This is an ambush, and you have no right!”
I couldn’t believe Naya was still smiling and trying to tell me what she’ddone was fine. She argued that Jack would be happy to see me, that we’d be like a little family again. Even Will wasn’t buying that. He asked, “You really think he’s going to want to see her after what happened last year?”
Naya looked down and admitted he wouldn’t. “I just wanted everything to be the way it used to be.”
“Well, this wasn’t the way to do it,” Will said. “So what are we supposed to do now?”
Sue, completely relaxed, responded that there was nothing to do but wait for Jack and hope he’d behave, and I looked up and asked what that meant. When there was no reply, I pressed them: “Is there something you all haven’t told me?”
Lana started to try to explain, but trailed off, and Naya did the same. Finally, Will took the lead: “Ross isn’t exactly like he was before.”
Sue grinned. “You saw his good side. Hopefully you’re ready to see the bad one.”
“He’s changed a lot this year,” Naya murmured. “Or, like, he’s gone back to the way he used to be. When he actually changed was when you were here…”
