The Lie by S. Syed, G. Klein (reading well TXT) 📕

Leanna hadn’t forgotten about the time travel thing, but she didn’t think about how everybody else was living their lives at a normal rate, with no do-overs. It seemed like it had been forever since she had been trying to build Jenny’s confidence, but to Jenny it had been less than twenty-four hours. Jenny wasn’t reliving last Friday—to her this was just the Friday after finding out that her best friend’s mom didn’t believe in her. Her best friend who was now telling her that she didn’t believe in her either.

Leanna’s heart dropped into her stomach. “Jenny, I didn’t mean—”

Jenny pushed her tray toward the center of the table and stood up, her chair grinding across the plastic tiles with a painful creak as it slid back.

“This is unbelievable! I was just telling you about how nervous and uncomfortable I am about doing the tryouts that were your idea in the first place. And then you think this would be a great time to mention that you’d changed your mind about believing in me and would rather we just called the whole thing off? Seriously, I’m curious, Leanna—how could you ever think that was a good idea?” Jenny’s voice continued to rise as she spoke, and she was starting to draw the attention of some of the other people in the food court.

“Jenny, please,” Leanna begged. “I’m sorry. Look, why don’t you just sit down, people are looking at us.” As soon as the words passed her lips, she regretted them.

“What’s wrong, Leanna? Am I embarrassing you in front of the food court? Do you think it would be better if I just went to the crappier mall across town so that you don’t have to worry about looking bad in front of these strangers?” Jenny shouted. “Look, I’m out of here. Enjoy your salad—I’m sure the JV squad will be very impressed that you’re trying so hard to stay fit for your Kramer High tennis debut.”

Leanna sat in stunned silence as Jenny grabbed her bag, spun on her heel, and stormed off. Well, that went horribly wrong, Leanna thought, staring into her salad. She felt bad—terrible actually. Jenny did have a point. Leanna thought back to how irritated she’d been when Jenny disappeared after tryouts and then refused to see her, and realized that now Leanna was doing the exact same thing. She wasn’t thinking about what it was like to be Jenny, she was just thinking about how she had wanted things to go.

Jenny was almost out of the food court by the time Leanna snapped out of her thoughts. She could think about all of this later. Right now, she had to catch up with Jenny and try to make things right. Her friend was hurting—and this time it was definitely her fault. By trying to do the right thing and talk it through, she’d forgotten to do something else important—listening to what Jenny actually said. If I would have thought less about what I wanted and more about how Jenny felt, I wouldn’t have come off as so insensitive, Leanna scolded herself.

“Hey, Jen, wait up!” she shouted. Racing through the mall, Leanna attracted even more stares, but she didn’t care. She just kept shouting Jenny’s name as she wove through the crowds, hoping Jenny would stop.

She caught up to Jenny at the bike racks, where she was rushing through putting her combination into the lock.

“Jenny, it’s not like that,” Leanna panted, trying to catch her breath. She placed a hand on Jenny’s shoulder, but Jenny quickly shrugged it off.

When Jenny looked up at her, her face was starting to get red and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes, but it was clear that she was determined to fight them off.

“Actually, Leanna, I think that it is,” Jenny said, her voice beginning to break. “You’ve clearly been lying to me all week, and it’s obvious that getting onto JV is much more important to you than our friendship.” Jenny seemed to regain her composure and she stood up straighter, faced Leanna, and spoke with more confidence. “I know you can’t control whether or not I make JV. I know that I probably wouldn’t make it anyway, but none of that matters. I just wanted you to remember that you’re my friend too, not just my doubles partner, and at least try to be supportive, which I thought was what you were doing—until tonight.”

Leanna wanted to tell Jenny everything. Maybe if she knew what had happened when Leanna tried to be supportive the first time around, Jenny would be a little more understanding. As much as she wanted to explain herself, she held back. There was no way Jenny would believe she was time traveling from the future and trying to save her from embarrassing herself at tryouts while Leanna got friendly with Kelsey and basked in the glory of her great tryout.

“I was just trying to keep you from getting hurt,” Leanna said weakly.

Jenny snorted, then shook her head. “Well, you’re doing a real great job, Leanna. Give yourself a pat on the back. But you don’t have to worry about me embarrassing you at tryouts. Or ever again. We’re 

continued to rise as she spoke, and she was starting to draw the attention of some of the other people in the food court.

“Jenny, please,” Leanna begged. “I’m sorry. Look, why don’t you just sit down, people are looking at us.” As soon as the words passed her lips, she regretted them.

“What’s wrong, Leanna? Am I embarrassing you in front of the food court? Do you think it would be better if I just went to the crappier mall across town so that you don’t have to worry about looking bad in front of these strangers?” Jenny shouted. “Look, I’m out of here. Enjoy your salad—I’m sure the JV squad will be very impressed that you’re trying so hard to stay fit for your Kramer High tennis debut.”

Leanna sat in stunned silence as Jenny grabbed her bag, spun on her heel, and stormed off. Well, that went horribly wrong, Leanna thought, staring into her salad. She felt bad—terrible actually. Jenny did have a point. Leanna thought back to how irritated she’d been when Jenny disappeared after tryouts and then refused to see her, and realized that now Leanna was doing the exact same thing. She wasn’t thinking about what it was like to be Jenny, she was just thinking about how she had wanted things to go.

Jenny was almost out of the food court by the time Leanna snapped out of her thoughts. She could think about all of this later. Right now, she had to catch up with Jenny and try to make things right. Her friend was hurting—and this time it was definitely her fault. By trying to do the right thing and talk it through, she’d forgotten to do something else important—listening to what Jenny actually said. If I would have thought less about what I wanted and more about how Jenny felt, I wouldn’t have come off as so insensitive, Leanna scolded herself.

“Hey, Jen, wait up!” she shouted. Racing through the mall, Leanna attracted even more stares, but she didn’t care. She just kept shouting Jenny’s name as she wove through the crowds, hoping Jenny would stop.

She caught up to Jenny at the bike racks, where she was rushing through putting her combination into the lock.

“Jenny, it’s not like that,” Leanna panted, trying to catch her breath. She placed a hand on Jenny’s shoulder, but Jenny quickly shrugged it off.

When Jenny looked up at her, her face was starting to get red and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes, but it was clear that she was determined to fight them off.

“Actually, Leanna, I think that it is,” Jenny said, her voice beginning to break. “You’ve clearly been lying to me all week, and it’s obvious that getting onto JV is much more important to you than our friendship.” Jenny seemed to regain her composure and she stood up straighter, faced Leanna, and spoke with more confidence. “I know you can’t control whether or not I make JV. I know that I probably wouldn’t make it anyway, but none of that matters. I just wanted you to remember that you’re my friend too, not just my doubles partner, and at least try to be supportive, which I thought was what you were doing—until tonight.”

Leanna wanted to tell Jenny everything. Maybe if she knew what had happened when Leanna tried to be supportive the first time around, Jenny would be a little more understanding. As much as she wanted to explain herself, she held back. There was no way Jenny would believe she was time traveling from the future and trying to save her from embarrassing herself at tryouts while Leanna got friendly with Kelsey and basked in the glory of her great tryout.

“I was just trying to keep you from getting hurt,” Leanna said weakly.

Jenny snorted, then shook her head. “Well, you’re doing a real great job, Leanna. Give yourself a pat on the back. But you don’t have to worry about me embarrassing you at tryouts. Or ever again. We’re not friends anymore. Goodbye.”

Leanna hung her head in silence as Jenny rode off on her bike without another word.

Leanna desperately wanted to make things right with Jenny before tryouts. She needed to make sure that Jenny wasn’t serious about not being friends anymore, but Jenny didn’t give her much of a chance. She wouldn’t take Leanna’s calls or reply to her texts, and whenever Leanna tried to stop by Jenny’s house, she had conveniently just stepped out and her mother didn’t know when she’d be back. For the next two miserable days, Leanna felt like she deserved it. She knew that she had been insensitive, and that her friend’s feelings were really hurt. After all, if the roles were reversed, she would have felt crappy herself.

Still, tryouts were coming up fast. And as her mother had gotten into the habit of pointing out, she wouldn’t get another chance at making the team until next year if she didn’t play her best on the big day. Although the additional pressure didn’t help her mood much, Leanna knew that her mother was right. She had already gotten one do-over, which was more than most people ever got. She couldn’t count on getting another one.

Even though she knew she had to, it was tough to keep practicing through the weekend. Her mother wanted to help however she could, so they spent all of Saturday and Sunday at the school courts drilling and playing practice sets. It didn’t help her feel any better about Jenny, but Leanna did notice that her game improved when she was playing against her mother, who was still a pretty exceptional player despite not playing as much as she used to.

By Sunday night, Leanna was physically and emotionally exhausted. She still hadn’t been able