Early Drafts: Kidnapping and Jane at the Cemetery
How the climactic scene went down in previous drafts
In the a previous version, a much less lucid Glenn kidnapps Jane as she’s in a taxi on her way to the airport to fly back to San Francisco:
Megan stood with Jane at the curb, Jane's two suitcases standing at their side, waiting for the cab Jane had called to take her to Logan Airport and her flight back to San Francisco. Thankfully, Megan had left her cigarettes inside, though Jane could tell by the way she occasionally patted the pockets of her coat that she was looking for them.
“Thank you for waiting with me,” Jane said.
“Of course!” Megan answered, smiling. “I wouldn't make you wait by yourself. If I had a car, I'd drive you to the airport myself.” She shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth from heel to toe as she looked down the street both ways again, breath streaming out as a cloud in the evening air.
“Are your roomies still freaked?” Jane asked, shame clutching at her stomach. She hadn't seen much of the other girls the last few days since the incident with Ashley. When they were even in, they spent most of their time in their rooms, and only said enough to Jane to be polite.
Megan shook her head. “They'll get over it. So, have you heard anything else from Glenn since a couple days ago?”
Jane thought of her phone, a dead brick in her purse that she was too afraid to turn on in fear of how many messages she would find, how many voice mails, of what they would say. “No. I have no idea if he made it to Albany with the rest of the band.”
“What would they do without him? Have Ashley step in for their sets?”
“She doesn't know their songs. I suppose she could learn them. They do practices and stuff. If she's even in any condition to play.”
Megan gave her an exasperated look. “You didn't scare her that badly.”
Jane gave her a haunted look back. “He told me he warned her to stay away from me. Given how he was with me, how do you think he delivered that message? And given how she was with me, you think that was a calm and rational discussion?”
“Good point.”
They were quiet for a while. Jane tried in vain to make out stars beyond the glare of the streetlights and the overall aura of light the city gave off. It was pretty futile in San Francisco too. She missed the stars. They were so clear on cold nights like this up in Maine, especially in Pleasant Cove after tourist season, when most of the businesses in town were seasonal and thus stayed dark. She longed for the tang of sea air, sand clinging to her clothes, and the black, black sky lit with innumerable pinpricks of light.
Thinking about them brought back memories of stargazing with Cyrus, though, and the dreams. Did you mean it? What you said? That you should have stayed with me?
I would've been in just as deep shit, Jane thought. “What do you think they'll use as an excuse when they announce why Glenn isn't with them?”
“Excuse?”
“They can't just say their bassist went crazy and ran off. They'll say he's sick, maybe. Or he has exhaustion.”
Megan smirked. “Everyone hears 'exhaustion' and they think 'drugs or alcohol – in rehab',” she said.
A chill wind blew down the street. Jane shuddered and flipped the of her peacoat up. She and Megan had gone to a craft store and found more buttons to sew back on. The previous ones had been black; these were the same color as the coat but caught the light like jewels and seemed to glow from within. Jane liked them better.
“Whatever they say will let us know if they expect him to come back,” she theorized. “Something like exhaustion, even rehab, is temporary. If they say he left for 'personal reasons' then...” She dropped her head. “This sucks, Meg.”
“It's my fault,” Megan said, staring at the ground. “If I hadn't gotten us tickets to their show--”
“No. It's not your fault. We didn't know what would happen. It's not anyone's fault, maybe, but it feels like it should be mine.”
Megan laughed. “Why? Because a hot boy asked you to take some pictures of him for his band's website?”
A taxi rounded the corner and made its way slowly to them. Megan turned to Jane with her arms out. They embraced, Jane taking in Megan's scent, like cigarettes, vanilla and strawberries. “Thanks for the fun time, Meg.”
“You'll call me when you get there?” Megan asked. “I want to make sure you get in safe.”
“Of course,” Jane said. The driver had gotten out to help her get her bags into his trunk. “We'll talk about spring break.”
“It'll be fun!” Megan said brightly, waving as Jane got in the car. “Have a good flight!”
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