During my childhood, I wanted to be an adult so badly because I wanted to be able to stay up as late as I wanted — and now I'm a grown-up who can indeed stay up as late as I want, but I also have so many responsibilities (ugh). I think that's why I've always loved the Jennifer Garner movie 13 Going On 30 . In the 2004 film, Garner plays the young Jenna Rink, who gets to flash forward from 13 to 30 with a simple touch of wishing dust, but I always wondered what may have happened after the 13 Going On 30 credits. At the end, Jenna flashes back to fix some mistakes at 13, so she can marry soulmate Matt Flamhaff (played by Mark Ruffalo) at 30 and live happily ever after — or do they?
Believe me, I want Jenna and Matt to have a wonderful, peaceful life together, and I think they do, even with all that time traveling. She runs her own online magazine and Matt works as a freelance photographer — sometimes even taking photos for Jenna's site. I bet they even have some kids — let's say a son named Rick (after Rick Springfield, of course) and a daughter Dorothea (after famous photographer Dorothea Lange). The Flambaff family has a happy life in the suburbs — except, you know, all that teenage angst from the kids.
Want to know more? Read on for a journey of what I think happened in the world of 13 Going On 30 after the credits rolled.
17 Going On 40?
Jenna and Matt are both approaching 40 and, well, life has settled down. They have the house, the kids, and are pretty stable in their careers. It's a little boring. One night, Jenna confesses to Matt that she misses their teenage years when they first fell in love. Matt doesn't really get it — is she not happy? Of course she is, but she misses that time when everything was new and exciting.
In a fit of nostalgia, Jenna retreats down to the basement and sits with the dream house Matt made her when they were 13. And that's when she wishes she was 17 again (ahem, unrelated to that Zach Efron movie of the same name).
17 Again
Jenna walks the halls again as a high school junior and it's the excitement she was looking for. Once again, she's among her peers and there are dances, proms, and football games. There's even Matty, who she's been seeing on and off since that kiss at her 13th birthday party. He's still very into her, but she takes him a bit for granted this time around, knowing that they'll get married in the future.
Jenna doesn't join try to join the Six Chicks again — been there, done that — but she does flirt with other guys, which upsets Matt. Jenna takes it too far when she attends a party, gets drunk, and sleeps with another guy. Matt finds out, breaks up with her for good and stops talking to Jenna.
Edge of 17
Jenna panics. Not only will she lose Matt as a husband if they don't get back together, their kids will never be born. She tries everything she can think of to win him back — nostalgic photos, telling him that they do get married in the future, and even building him his own dream house.
So how do they get back together? Just a little bit of Wishing Dust...and waking up from this dream. Thankfully, Jenna was just asleep.
The lesson here: No drama is better than tons of it. Appreciate what you've got, even if it seems boring.
Images: Giphy (3)
