Page 34 of Off Script

“Why? What happened? Did he pull something?”

Jada ignored Mikayla’s questions as she went to her room and switched her party dress for a comfortable PJ set. They were Doctor Who themed (with David Tennant, of course) and not nearly as sexy as Tristan had probably been imagining.

“Kayla, give me a second to breathe. I’ll tell you about my train wreck evening, but first: ice cream.”

“Oh snap. If this calls for rocky road then thingsreallymust have been bad.” Mikayla followed Jada as they made their way to the kitchen, and eventually forced the full story out of her.

“You two almost kissed? Twice?” Mikayla gasped.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’m not sure what it was. All I know is before I could even think about going through with it, Daniel showed up.”

“That shithead,” Mikayla said, “has the worst timing.”

“Sip That Teawas right. He’s back in town. I thought I was fine with what happened, but the second I saw him, I freaked and ran out.”

“That guy is like a cockroach.” Mikayla shook her ice-cream spoon in indignation. “Extremely resistant to attempted murder and he pops his ugly head out at the worst times.”

Mikayla’s comparison was dead-on. Jada’s tempting what-if moment with Tristan would forever be tarnished by the memory of Daniel intruding on them.

“He didn’t say anything to you?” Mikayla asked.

“I didn’t give him a chance. After I took off, Tristan brought me home. So that’s that.”

“Ugh. He should officially move to Germany with his new girlfriend.”

Thinking back on the singer from the blog’s picture, Jada realized she hadn’t seen the pretty redhead with Daniel at the club.

“If they could rebuild the Berlin Wall to specifically keep him there, then I’d be all for it,” Jada added. “I didn’t think seeing him could affect me anymore. It’s been months, and between our different work schedules it’s rare for me to run into him like that, but . . . maybe I’ll never fully get over what he did.”

Jada had tried so hard to push Daniel to the back of her mind, but it wasn’t truly possible. Not with his mom as her agent or with them ultimately still working in the same town and industry. It wasn’t just the messy breakup that hurt. The deepest wound came from the fact they were forever bonded through their work, throughFallen Creatures, a show Jada had once loved and been proud of. A show she couldn’t watch now without feeling betrayed.

When the writers decided to kill off Jada’s character, Dana, Alia had been livid enough to stage a protest. Jada convinced her elaborate outrage wouldn’t work, and instead, asked Alia to write her death scene. It was the only way to ensure her character’s death would be poetic or have any meaning in the scope of the show. When the episode aired and her demise became canon, she received an outpouring of love from the viewers, saying they’d miss her. Because of their support, she’d made another mistake, agreeing to attend Comic-Con that year. When the show execs had offered her the opportunity, Jada saw it as an olive branch. A tiny part of her hoped this might mean they were thinking of reviving her character. Either way, she’d decided to attend as a way to say good-bye to the fan base.

Thankfully, Alia had come along to be on the panel, with Mikayla agreeing to be the “cheer squad” in the audience. With her girls by her side and dressed in Dana’s iconic siren costume (her parting gift from the crew), she’d felt confident. As fans greeted her with so much enthusiasm as she made her way through the venue, she even felt valued, loved.

That changed the second she arrived in the conference hall for the FC panel, because her former co-stars made it clear she wasn’t wanted. Maggie gave her a stiff nod while some of the other secondary actors attempted to make poor small talk. Daniel didn’t speak to her at all, acting as if she didn’t exist. Even though after she’d left the show he’d called her repeatedly for weeks on end, begging for her to take him back.

Jada’s self-worth shriveled like a dry raisin. All she wanted to do was use Alia as a decoy so she could dash out of there. Instead, though, Jada stuck to the high road and sat down toward the very end of the long panel table. No matter what her former co-workers threw at her, she’d be okay. After all, she was supposed to be here for the fans. Unfortunately, that meant answering some very painful questions from them.

During the Q & A, a bright-faced girl with gorgeous Afro puffs stepped up to the mic.

“Hi, Jada. I’m Amaya. I wanted to know what you thought of your character’s fate on FC?”

“Oh . . . well, I was sad to leave such a magical world behind but I think with where the show was trying to go it made sense.”

“Really? Because I feel like killing off the one Black character on the show—a character I looked up to—kind of sucked.”

“We’ve actually got quite a diverse cast, I feel. And we don’t discriminate in terms of who bites the dust. Or gets staked.” One of the producers chimed in.

Jada held back the urge to retort with the truth. By diverse cast, he meant June, who had been stuck in the Asian best friend role since season one, and Eric, the one Black guy they hired after Jada was gone. Her heart ached at the girl’s crestfallen expression, still seeking out Jada’s gaze, for that comradery, that connection of understanding.

“I do understand how you feel, though, Amaya. Thank you for seeing yourself in Dana. I did too . . .” Her voice puttered out pathetically, unable to fully describe how much the girl’s words had meant to her. Underneath the conference table, Alia squeezed her hand—her stay-strong signal as Jada’s spirits plummeted further because of having let this kid down.

Another fan, not waiting for their turn to speak, shouted, “Do you think you’ll ever bring Dana back? Or that she could be resurrected?”

Jada barely had time to process the question, let alone the secret wish she’d been holding on to, before Daniel tore it to shreds.

“As Jada said, the show’s been going in a different direction and she’s moved on. I think you guys could tell by the finale who the main villain will be next season and what the rest of us have in store.”

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