Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2016 18:25:49 GMT
OFF-CAMERA
'I don't feel too good about this, Jen...'
Jen picks at her salad, pushes an olive to the side of the plate. 'About Tiger? You already beat him once. You can totally do it again. You're the Champion for a reason...'
'No, not that.' I sigh, take a bite of my eggs, wash it down with a swig of Coke. 'This whole thing.'
'The Championship thing? I told you...'
'No, Jen, darn it!' I look around self-consciously as my tone goes up a few decibels. 'Not the Championship thing! The mask thing! The Vainillo thing!'
I make an effort to pull myself back together, sigh, and drop the bombshell.
'I'm thinking of unmasking.'
This time, Jenny looks up; not only that, she chokes on her bite of lettuce and gets a coughing fit. That derails proceedings for a solid minute, but the minute Jen regains her composure, we get right back to the subject.
'Jace!!! Are you sure?! I mean, won't it get you in trouble? Because of the whole thing with Walter and stuff?'
I have to admit, that is something I thought about extensively myself. 'It might. But it beats living a lie.'
'You never had a problem living the lie before...' Score another one for the girlfriend.
'Well..I did some soul-searching and...it just doesn't feel right. I mean...it goes against everything I used to tell my fans. How can I tell kids to be themselves, to be the best they can be, when I'm not doing the same? How can I pretend to be proud of who I am, when I spent almost a year hiding under a mask, pretending to be someone not even from the same country? You know what I mean?'
Jenny nods, but does not let up. 'And you started thinking about this now because...?' She answers her own question before I can. 'Because you have your big Championship match, and you're freaking out about losing the belt back to Tiger. One thing leads to another, and you start doubting yourself.' She sighs. 'Jace, we've been through this. Multiple times. There's no reason you shouldn't believe in yourself. You've got talent, and you've got heart. That's more than most people have.'
She reaches in and takes my hand, but I shake my head. 'That's not all there is to it. Not this time.' I sigh. 'I went to see Nana yesterday.'
Jenny almost chokes again. 'And you didn't tell me?'
'I'm sorry, Jen. It was something I had to do alone.'
Jen blinks. 'What? Why?'
'Because I wanted to...' The words catch in my throat, but I force them out regardless. '...to apologize. For letting her down.'
'Letting her down...? Jason, you're a Champion!'
'I'm not', I cut across. 'El Vainillo is. And that's the problem.'
Before Jen can say anything else, I stand up and walk over to the front counter to pay for our meal; suddenly, I can't wait to get out of here.
Final Word Count: 497
'Because I wanted to...' The words catch in my throat, but I force them out regardless. '...to apologize. For letting her down.'
'Letting her down...? Jason, you're a Champion!'
'I'm not', I cut across. 'El Vainillo is. And that's the problem.'
Before Jen can say anything else, I stand up and walk over to the front counter to pay for our meal; suddenly, I can't wait to get out of here.
Final Word Count: 497