17

 "So... you're not friends anymore?" he guessed, staring at Clara's back as she stomped off.

Jay shrugged with a huff and explained what Clara had said. "We should have never been friends. I can't believe she'd say that to me. Like, how offensive! You don't even ask a question like that!"

Vince was silent.

"What?" Jay snapped, crossing her arms. "You, too?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Vince said, bringing his arms up in surrender. "I didn't even say anything."

"Vince," Jay gritted out, her teeth bared in anger.

"Okay - alright," Vince conceded. "It just seems like... a small thing to fall out over. Okay - she asked you something not quite politically correct," he offered before Jay could interrupt. "But who hasn't said something... maladroit, now and then? We're all learning. It doesn't help to fight first, reason later. I mean... Jeez, if I cut out every person in my life who disagreed with me over politics or made a comment that was a little insensitive, we wouldn't be friends, either."

Jay's mouth dropped open. "When have I ever said anything offensive?"

"Are you kidding me?" Vince asked with a nervous chuckle. "After what I just witnessed, I'm not going to bring that up with you. You'd drop me like a sack of moldy potatoes."

"But I just told you what she said--" 

"Yeah, and I'm telling you, the first reaction can't be to block her out completely, Jay," Vince said, leaning against his locker. His frustration was beginning to transform into irritation. "I mean, hell, if you heard what my little brother said the other day--"

"He's a kid! Kids make mistakes!" Jay cried in exasperation.

"And adults don't? Teenagers don't?" Vince shook his head. "That's a really unforgiving mentality to have, you know?"

"Unforgiving?" He could see her lungs heaving at the perceived injustice of this confrontation; his own pulse was racing, too.

"Yes. Unforgiving," Vince said, his patience just about worn out. "Listen, Jay, you've known Clara for how long now? Two years? You've been great friends. And - what? - she makes an off-hand remark that is probably coming from a place of ignorance, and you cut her off completely? Two years of friendship, down the drain? And what about me? What happens if I make a mistake, too? What happens if I don't know enough? Or if I just don't agree with you?"

"That's not fair," Jay protested, and bit her lip. 

"No, I'd say that's pretty fair, given what just happened," he muttered, opening his locker and pulling out his science textbook. "What's not fair is how you treated her. People don't like being wrong - but you know what they really hate? Not being given a chance. Being accused of something bad when it was never their intention. Being isolated because of a small comment that you could have addressed in a much more constructive way." He slammed his locker with a groan. "Oh, what the hell - now I sound like Mr. Ferris!"

Jay was silent, arms wrapped around herself in a protective gesture. The second bell rang; they were officially late. Vince sighed. "Listen, it's okay. Just... take some time to cool off, and then go talk to her. I mean - it's Clara, for God's sake. You two are practically inseparable. It's actually kind of annoying. But you're going to throw all of it away? Really - is it that much worse to talk it out instead? That's just... Miserable."

He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Talk it out, yeah? You two are besties, or whatever. I'm sure you'll get over it. Just... have a little more grace with each other." 

"Vince!" the unmistakable voice of Mr. Ferris boomed through the hall, making them both jump. "Don't you have a class you need to get to? And what about you, Jay? Trying to get out of my class, are you?"

Vince rolled his eyes. "Talk to her," he whispered, and strode off to his science class.