Whatever's been weighin' you down

 "He sounds just like Ari," Jade found herself saying when Monica told her about Louis. She suddenly remembered how testy she was when they first met, too. "Just enjoy these moments." She patted her growing baby bump. Of course, these days she thought she was growing everywhere. Was it supposed to be this way?

She kept smiling even when she wanted to look in a mirror and wonder what she'd become since being pregnant. But she was feeling great. Heartburn had been an issue early on, but now she didn't eat after nine at night, and if she did it was yogurt. In fact, yogurt was her go-to snack even if she was craving ice cream.

It was such a hot summer, and she spent the majority of it inside. She and Ari didn't go walking until late evenings these days. Still, she was starting to eat smaller meals through the days and it concerned her if she'd be gestational diabetic, but at the moment her tests were coming back OK. She didn't like getting fat. On the other hand, no way would she let herself starve.

"But he's not my boyfriend," Monica looked at her blankly. "We're just friends."

Jade nodded. "That's a good start. I know you hear all the time that's not the way it should be, but really, being friends is going to give you a chance to really know each other."

"Yeah, I know," Monica said she'd learned a lot since high school. "I mean, I was so crazy about Randy from the moment I saw him. I guess I was too much of a fangirl for my own good." She was serious, perhaps even sad. 

"But you two are still friends. You live together." Jade reminded her.

Monica squinted and hugged herself. "Well, he's not really there. I mean. He is, but he's always in his room these days. We haven't really talked since he got this mysterious package."

"Mysterious package?" Jade chuckled as if to tell her more.

They both sat at the reception desk with their computers set to their home page of the Dance Academy. They weren't working very hard at proofing many of the links and information. It was a tedious process, yet they had plenty of time to do it.

"At first, he was furious about it. He didn't know who it was from, but when he opened the box and found out it was this headset and gear for ..you know, a virtual reality game." Monica went quiet then, but then added as if she feared the worst, "It's like I've really lost him. All he looks forward to now is that game."

Monica looked at her as if she didn't really know what to do about it.

"I think it's good that Louis is around." Jade looked at Monica out of the corner of her eye, with her fingertips at the keyboard.

"What do you mean?" Monica's face tensed.

"Didn't you say he's always there when Louis comes over?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Monica shrugged. She pressed a smile as if she liked knowing Louis even more.