(AN Soooo, I was writing the sixth chapter for Should've Seen It Coming, and THIS popped into my head! I really hope you like is :])
"Beck!" Jade was yelling after her boyfriend.
As always, the two were fighting about something stupid. The rest of us usually just sit back and watch as a good fight unravels before our eyes, but this one was different. Jade was seriously wazzed off about something. Earlier, in the hall before school, I caught a glimpse of her tearing up as she looked down at a PearPhone. I don't think it was hers because her own phone was poking out in her back pocket.
Beck was leaning up against some colorful lockers as Jade stormed up behind him. A punch to the back and one more growl of his name brought him to turn around. With a calm look spread across his face, Beck let out a soft sigh and prepared himself for more yelling.
"Before you go off on me, have you seen my phone anywhere?"
Jade huffed and glared up at the boy in front of her. Her gray eyes looked like sharp stones that could slice a hand open on contact. Jade took an unexpected turn, calmly reaching into her Gears of War bag and pulled out a small, pear shaped device. From my hiding spot behind the corner, I could tell that it was the phone Jade had been looking at before. With slight hesitation, she handed the phone over to Beck.
"It was in my car." Jade said, surprisingly calmly. "By the way, you got a text. From Alyssa Vaughn. Quite a few of them."
Jade turned around to walk away from Beck. I could tell that she was trying to suppress tears that the crowd surrounding the couple so desperately wanted to see. Beck reached a hand out and placed it on her shoulder only to get it shrugged off. The hurt in her eyes was killing me; I just wanted to go over there and tell her that she's way too good for Beck anyway. That she deserved someone better. Someone… someone like me.
"Jade, it's not wh-"
"I read the texts Beck."
A look of panic struck Beck's face as she said this. His eyes widened slightly and his mouth hung open.
"All of them?"
Jade squeezed her eyes shut, opened them, and repeated the process two more times.
"I didn't need to…"
Jade started walking my way. All eyes were on her as she turned the corner, completely ignoring me as I tried to talk to her. She just brushed right passed me and disappeared down the hallway. Even though I know she wouldn't want me to, I trailed behind her. Within a matter of minutes, we were standing in the Black Box Theatre. Jade sat on a wingback chair that was on the stage from the play the other night. Not wanting to be seen, I hid in the very last row of seats.
"Why am I even so upset about this?" Jade asked herself "Beck and I were never really in love with each other. Why didn't I just break up with him before he had this chance?"
Again, I wanted to go up on the stage and somehow comfort her; but that would only make her hate me even more. Jade went on mumbling some words that I couldn't make out and got up off the chair. Walking in circles for a few minutes, she kicked the ground. When she was finished, she sat back down and started picking at the fabric on the armrest.
"It's all because of… of her. She's been messing with my head since the day she got here."
My ears perked up as Jade started talking again. Since I couldn't let my presence be known, I used this time to somehow get to know this mysterious girl little bit better. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try. Right?
"Heh. Who are you trying to fool, Jade? She'd never go for a girl like you."
I'll admit, hearing Jade talk about someone she liked kind of hurt a little bit. Over the passed year, I found myself feeling jealousy for anyone she had thought was cute or hot or whatever; especially Beck. So now, now that I hear she has a legit crush on someone, well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Dealing with her relationship with Beck was hard enough, but I'll just have to find a way with this one. Whoever it was, if Jade ever gets with them, they better realize that they are the luckiest person in the world.
"Either way, isn't she straight? She's gotta be. Even if she wasn't, you don't deserve her. No, not goody-goody Vega."
My heart stopped. Did she just say what I think she just said? Was all that… possibly for me? No way, there's no way. Not possible. I must've been hearing things or something. There was no way something so amazing and special could happen between me and Jade, even if it was indirect. My stomach was doing summersaults and couldn't be more ecstatic.
Shuffling feet sounded from the stage. I looked up just in time to see Jade heading for the stage exit. Once again, I left my hiding position to go follow her. As I was leaving the row I was in, I tripped over one of the extra fold-up chairs at the end of the regular seats. The chair clattered to the ground with the loudest noise possible. Landing right next to the metal chair, the side of my face met cold, stick concrete. Right next to my head, my bag and all of it's contents were scattered all over the ground.
"Vega?"
Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot! How could I be so ditzy? Now she knows I was spying on her.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Jade snapped and started stomping towards me.
Moments later, Jade's combat boots were right in front of my eyes. Deciding that I must've looked pretty stupid on the ground the way I was, I picked myself of the floor. I came to face to face with the famous stone cold glare of Jade West.
"I was just, um, looking for you." I covered.
"You were looking for me?"
"Yeah. Jade, I was worried. I, uh, just got her and, you know, tripped over this… chair thing."
Jade gave me a "Whatever" look and turned around to walk away. She was careful not to step on anything that had fallen out of my bag. To my surprise, when she got to the end of my debris, she stopped and started picking some stuff up. I just kind of watched in shock as she did so.
"Well? Are you just going to stand there and gawk? Or help me?"
I did as she said and started gathering up some stuff off the ground. Trying to avoid any general eye contact with Jade was going miserably. All I could do was glance at her whenever she wasn't looking. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but slowly going back to their natural pale. On the top of her head, brown roots began to form at the beginning of the dyed black hair. Honestly, I liked her hair better when it was brown; the color complimented her eyes just a bit more.
"So how much did you hear?"
Snapping out of my trance, I attempted giving Jade a confused look. She was still looking down as she threw some pencils and pens back into my bag. When she was done, she moved onto some small jars of makeup that had rolled underneath the theatre seats.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb, Vega. You know what I mean. How much did you hear?"
Some papers that laid a little to the right of me suddenly caught my attention. Definitely procrastinating the question, I took my sweet time gathering my Theatre History notes and shoving them in some folders on the ground nearby. My evasiveness was going swimmingly, until a certain someone's hand blocked the mouth of my bag when I was trying to put the folders in it.
"How much… did you… hear?"
"All of it…" I whispered, averting my eyes.
Jade suddenly stood up, now towering over me. Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared down at me. I couldn't tell whether look in her eyes was anger, or disappointment. It could've very well have been a mixture of both. Knowing Jade, it probably was.
"So what are you going to do now?" She spat "Make fun of me? Tell the world? Call me a freak? Tell me I'm a sick person?"
"No, Jade I actu-"
Jade spun around on her heels and stormed away. I looked down in shame, as I'm sure Jade would want me to. On the ground before me, where the intimidating girl had been standing just moments before, were some bitter teardrops. Not many, just about three, but still enough to make me feel terrible about myself.
Jade avoided me for the rest of the day. Every time I saw her, she would turn around and run in the other direction. No matter how big of a crowd was in the hallway, classroom, whatever, she would find a way to get out. After school though, I had finally found my chance.
I walked into the rec room to get a Wahoo Punch from one of the vending machines. Playing ping-pong with the wall, Jade was looking as intense as ever. On the wall in front of her, there were a few, small ping-pong ball sized dents. Each time the small ball came back to her, she hit it with a greater aggressive whack than before.
"What do you want?"
I don't understand how she does that. Know I'm here without even looking or turning around. It was beginning to creep me out a bit.
"I, um, just wanted to get something to drink before I left."
Throughout all this talking, Jade didn't look at me for a second. She just kept on playing ping-pong with the wall. As I walked towards the vending machine, the clacking noises became louder and slightly more vigorous. The tension in the room increased as I reached into my bag and grabbed my wallet. With each clank of a coin dropping into the machine, I flinched and looked over at Jade. I felt like a little kid sneaking out of his bed in the middle of then night trying not to wake his parents.
"So… Who's winning?" I asked and punched the button labeled cherry.
A blue can crashed to the bottom of the machine and appeared in the little opening. I reached down and grabbed the can, keeping my eyes on Jade. My question went unanswered even when I walked over to stand by Jade's side.
"Do you mind if I join?"
With a lazy one shoulder shrug response, I picked up the extra paddle. Jade caught the ball as it came back to her from the wall and helped me move the table back to it's original position. After that, we proceeded with the game at hand. We each paid close attention to the small white ball in between us. Back and forth and back and forth; but no words left our lips. Besides the table and the ball, the only thing between us was the remaining tension and a hint of awkwardness.
So badly, I wanted to talk about the events from earlier today; but I knew if I did, she would just stomp away again. Then, once again, leaving me behind to follow her. I was beginning to think that that was just the way Jade West handled things. Or maybe she just wanted someone to follow her. To know that someone was there for her and cared enough to see what was wrong with her.
The sound of the ping-pong ball hitting the wall behind me brought my mind back to reality. When the ball dropped to the ground and rolled back to my feet, I bent over and picked it up.
"Do you want to go again?" I asked.
"What are you doing here Vega? It's late. Don't you have a family to get back to or whatever?"
I looked up at the clock positioned above the door; it read 4:47. Considering the season, it would be getting dark in about twenty more minutes. Looking back to Jade, she had her arms crossed over her chest and an eyebrow raised at me. There was no way to tell whether she was actually curious, or just bored.
"Why don't you just go home." she demanded "We both have a lot of homework to do."
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."
With that, we got our bags and I grabbed my now warm Wahoo Punch. After leaving the room, we went our separate ways. When I got to the main doors of the school, I discovered that I was right. It was getting darker, and quickly. Without wasting any time, I walked to my lonely car in the parking lot. I threw my bag in the passenger seat and walked around to the driver's side.
I drove off and exited the gates of the parking lot. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jade walking on the sidewalk with her arms crossed. When she saw my car coming up behind her, she walked just a little bit faster. When I finally caught up to her, I slowed down to her speed and rolled down my window. Jade looked over to me and rolled her eyes. Without stopping, she started talking to me.
"Now what do you want Vega?"
"How come you're walking? It's getting dark."
"Is it? I would've never known. Thank you so much; what would I do without you?"
Jade finally stopped walking and turned towards me. I stopped the car and listened as she went into an explanation.
"My dad has my car. I got a ride from Cat this morning."
"Oh. Well do you want me to take you home then?"
Without answering my question, Jade stomped away from my car and didn't look back. Going at about five miles per hour, I drove along side her. Constantly, I was calling her name out my window hoping to catch her attention again. To no avail, I didn't have any such luck of even getting her to acknowledge my existence.
My car screeched to a stop as a driver sped across the road inches in front of me at an intersection, leaving skid marks as he tried to avoid me. Jade spun around at the noise of the tires against the cement and my heart was racing. Shock filled Jade's eyes as she looked at me; I could've sworn that I had even seen some concern in them. Without a word, she raced over to my window and took a look inside. A cold hand reached up and touched my cheek, almost causing me to jerk away. Jade said something under her breath and walked around to the passenger side, moving my bag as she slid into the seat.
"Turn right up here."
Adrenaline was still pumping through my system as I made the right turn at that very intersection. Wanting to push the images of that speeding car out of my head, I contemplated striking up a conversation with Jade. As usual though, I stumbled over my words and screwed up on my conversating skills.
"Did you mean what you said in the Black Box?"
Jade cleared her throat and threw her glare my way. Immediately, I regret not thinking through what I was going to say.
"It… it doesn't concern you."
"I think it kind of does, Jade."
"Vega, you just almost got yourself killed, and this is what you're thinking about?"
From the passenger side of the car, Jade was drumming her fingers on the console. Jaws clenched and eyes back on the road, neither of us spoke again. Jade only talked to give me directions.
"Left here."
I made the left turn down a road with large houses, some of them being up to five stories. Jade ever so slightly turned her head in my direction. Her mouth opened just a crack, and closed abruptly. I little noise that sounded kind of like a wine emanated from Jade's throat. Once again, her mouth opened.
"What you heard in the Black Box was just me… it was just me letting my thoughts out."
I felt the corners of my mouth curl up into a tiny smile. The slightest hint of a grin popped up on Jade's face as well. I could just be overreacting to a small little twitch of the mouth, but it was a nice little thought. I've only ever seen Jade smile on very few occasions. Two or three times at the most. Not one of those devious little smiles that she gives when she's plotting something; those don't count. No, an actual smile that was brought to her face by something that actually made her happy.
"I feel the same way…"
I shocked myself as those words left my mouth. I swear, it was supposed it be a thought but it just kind of slipped out. Jade's head shot towards me as I stopped at the red light. I could tell without even checking the mirror that my cheeks had turned as red as the light in front of me. I just couldn't work up the nerve to look over at Jade. I'm not sure what I was more afraid of; her not ok with it, or her ok with it. On one hand, I'm scared of that sort of advancement in our relationship. But then again, it would be like a dream come true to me.
Since the day I started going to Hollywood Arts, I've been head over heels in love with Jade. I didn't know exactly how to describe it, but there was just this feeling there. For some reason, I was always afraid of it. Whenever it surfaced, I would get all panicky and not even be able to talk right. Now, knowing that Jade feels the same way, I'm not afraid of this feeling anymore.
"Vega-"
She was cut off by the sound of a car honking behind us. Looking back up, I realized that the light had turned green. Waving an apology to the man behind me, I drove off and down the road.
The rest of the drive to Jade's house was silent torture. The only words that were spoken were the occasional "right" and "left" coming from Jade. When we finally drove up Jade's driveway, I was completely shocked. Her house was amazing; it was huge! Three stories high with brick walls. Vines grew up the lattice along the left side of the house. The front door was green and had an old fashioned knocker on it.
Jade's expression changed from menacing to uneasiness as she reached for the door handle. Mouth slightly opened and eyes locked on me, she made an attempt to speak. When no words were able to be produced, Jade pulled her hand away from the handle just a little bit. Slowly, Jade's head started to get closer to mine. Before I could describe the situation any better, soft lips were pressed up against mine. It was a simple, sweet kiss that didn't last very long. Although I yearned for it to go on for just a bit longer, I knew it had to end sooner or later. When it was over, Jade's lips hovered over mine. Her breath held the scent of Colbalt 5 gum. In a very soft voice, she whispered to me.
"I just… don't want to hurt you."
With that, she dashed out of the car and stormed into her house. Without even thinking, I unbuckled my seatbelt and went after her. In the spur of the moment, I sprinted towards the house. When I got to the green door, I finally took some time and gathered my thought. In a more than calm manner, I opened the door and walked into the house.
The door led into a small room with coats hanging on the wall and shoes lined up on the floor. The room was about the size of a handicapable bathroom stall. Straight across the way from the front door, was another wooden door. This one was white with crystal doorknob. I walked over to the door and gently laid a hand on the knob; oh so slowly, I opened the door and stepped into the next room.
This room appeared to be the living room. A flat screen was hanging on the wall way to the left of me. A long couch was set up about ten feet away from the TV with a recliner on each side of it. Photos hung up on the wall; most of them with an old man and younger versions of Jade. Neither of them had looked very enthusiastic about having their picture taken. In the far left corner of the living room were stairs going up the wall and disappearing.
Not wasting anymore time, I rushed up the stairs to the second floor. At the top of the stairs was a long, straight hallway. On each side of the hall were two doors. I walked up to the first door on the right and lightly knocked. When there was no answer, I opened the door to reveal a light blue room. In the corner was a writing desk with papers scattered all over it. Next to the desk, a window gave a magnificent view of LA. The sun was just setting on the horizon and everything seemed so peaceful. On the right wall, a canopy bed was perfectly centered with the sheets made. On the opposite wall was yet another door.
Not even bothering to knock this time, I opened the new door. Just looking for any sign of a person, I didn't take anytime to let the scenery sink in and was quickly blindsided by a bathtub. Tripping over the little wall, I landed with a thud in the tub. Shampoo and conditioner bottled toppled down over me, hitting me on the head and shoulders. A bar of soap landed right on top of my head, surely leaving a bump there. Right now, I think Jade's house is causing me more pain than she ever could.
Jade! Remembering what I came into this god forsaken house for, I dashed out of the bathroom and headed for the door leading back into the hallway. Crossing the hall to the left side, I barged into a very similar room. The only difference that I could tell was that the walls were a navy blue color and that the desk was a little bit more neat. Almost as if it had been untouched in years.
There last two rooms were much, much smaller than the first two. They were probably just guest rooms. When I finally gave up on the second floor, I searched for stairs leading up to the third floor. There was no sign of a staircase or anything; that is, until I looked up. A string hung from a small door on the ceiling. I tugged at the string and a staircase dropped down, making me jump back a little bit out of shock. Hesitating just a smidge, I walked up the creaking stairs and poked my head through the hole in the ceiling.
Expecting a dark, messy room with boxes stacked on top of boxes, I was surprised to find a very busy room. The are of the room was enormous; there were no separate rooms or anything, so that made it massive. To the left, bookshelves lined the length of the wall. When I walked over to them, I discovered that they were chocked full of thick novels, textbooks from school, and a few encyclopedias and dictionaries. Right in the center of the bookcases was a little opening for a window. Now, the sun was down and street lights were lining the roads.
A large carpet covered the wooden floors not too far away. Two beanbag chairs and a rocking chair were spread out over the orange shag carpet. Books were scattered all over the floor; the one that caught me eye the most was an open scrapbook. I sat down in one of the beanbag chairs and picked the book up off the ground. The page was open to a smiling family of three; a mom and a dad stood side by side with one arm around the other's shoulder and their other arms holding onto the beaming girls shoulder. The parents were probably in their late twenties, early thirties and the little girl couldn't have been older than six or seven. It definitely looked like the picture perfect family that anyone would kill for. They all just looked so happy. Especially the little girl.
Taking another look at the scrapbook, I recognized the smiling face of a young Jade. Almost as if in slow motion, the book fell from my hands and hit the carpeted floor. In shock from seeing such a happy Jade, I stood up from the beanbag chair and turned around. About five feet away from me was a guitar rack filled with electric Gibsons. I walked over to them, touching each one as I walked passed it. A little to the right of the guitars was a desk with a Pear desktop on it. The screen showed my page on TheSlap with my latest post up on the top of the screen. In between the guitars and the computer was a window. And to think, I thought the window in the first room had an amazing view. In this one, you could see almost all of LA. Way off in the distance, Hollywood Arts shown bright.
"Like what you see?"
I jumped a little at the sound of Jade's voice coming from my right. In the corner passed the computer desk, Jade sat leaned up against the wall on a queen sized bed. As I walked over to her, I grabbed the chair from the desk and wheeled it along behind me. I sat down in front of the bed and looked into Jade's stormy eyes. A pale hand swiped away little droplets falling down her cheeks.
"What in the world were you doing downstairs?"
It took me a little while to understand what she had been talking about. When I finally realized that she meant the incident in the bathroom, I small smile grew on my face.
"I fell in a… it's a long story."
Jade let out a little chuckle and straightened her posture. Without any warning, she moved of the bed and walked over to a grand piano in the center of the room. She pushed down on the highest key a few times as she leaned up against the big black instrument. A small smile found it's way to Jade's face as she glanced down at the rows of black and white gleaming keys.
"My mom… she used to play the piano for me all the time."
I got out of the rolly chair and positioned myself in front of Jade as she spoke. She lifted her head up and looked at me to reveal watering eyes. Once again, she walked away from me and sat down on the long bench in front of the piano. She put her hands into starting position and smiled again.
"She would be waiting for me to be home from school. Right here." she wentr on with her story. "She would always ask me 'What artist to you want me to play, Jadey?' and she would play a piece by them. I always picked Beethoven."
More tears sprung to Jade's eyes and slipped down her face. She wiped them away again and tried to collect herself. A pain rose in my chest at the sight of Jade so hurt. Something inside of me told me that this story wasn't going to end well.
"One day, in third grade, I got off the bus and ran right up here. I was so excited to see my mom. It had been a really bad day and I just wanted to see her… to hear her."
Her voice started to crack as she went further on. After some deep, steady breaths, she calmed down again and went on telling me about her mom.
"When I got up here, she wasn't here. Instead, my dad was sitting right over there." She pointed towards a couch in front of the piano. "He wasn't crying, but he was getting ready to. He told me… he told me Mom had gotten into a car accident a few hours before I got home. Right at the intersection where you were."
Jade finally broke down completely. She stood up from the bench and walked over to me. Slender arms wrapped themselves around my waist and a head placed itself on my shoulder. I suddenly realized why Jade had reacted the way she did when that car almost hit me. It was just bringing back old memories.
Wow, this explained so much. Why Jade is… well, the way she is. Why she has such a terrible relationship with her father. Maybe even why her father dislikes music so much now. That happy family that I saw in the picture is now broken because of a few moment in history.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."
I kept whispering into Jade's ears as her body shook, hoping it helped her even at the least. More shaking came from her as she tried to talk.
"What I told you out in the car… that's not the real reason."
Jade pushed herself away from me and shuffled over to the tattered couch. She collapsed down on the couch and tipped herself over into lying position. I walked up behind the couch and looked down at her. She looked so pitiful. So hopeless. So hurt.
It's just… you remind me of her… so much. The way you look. The way you dress. Your personality… It's like being eight again and being able to see her everyday."
"Why is that a bad thing?"
I walked around the couch and sat at the end so that Jade's head was a few inches away from me. She was lying face down into the cushion and her whole entire body started to tremble again. Before speaking, she turned on her side and looked towards a TV set up in front of the couch.
"I'm not sure. I guess it's just… intimidating."
She sat up and scooted closer to me. When she got close enough, I slung my arm around her shoulder and let her fall into me. She adjusted the way she was sitting so that she was facing me. She pulled herself away from me and pointed to a desk that was set up against the wall. I got up and walked over to the desk; a neat stack of paper was in one corner and in the other sat a picture of a lady with her arms wrapped around a smiling little girl. I picked up the framed photo and brought it back over to Jade. Clearing her throat, she began to talk again.
"We took this picture maybe a week or two before the accident." she started and smiled down at the picture. "She just taught me how to play Ode to Joy… my dad came up here and took the picture after I played it for him. He said he never wanted to forget that moment."
The smile on Jade's face grew larger just a bit. Biting her lip, she looked back up at me. Everything was starting to fall perfectly into place. Jade leaned in closer to me, her eyes beginning to close slightly. When the white was completely hidden behind eyelids, I started leaning in too. The moment our lips met, my stomach started doing those flips again. The taste of Jade flooded into my mouth and as soon as it started, it ended just like that. We parted and looked down at the picture in Jade's hands.
"Tori… do you know how to play any Beethoven?"
AN So what did you think of this little side project? Any favorite parts? Did you have a favorite line? Was there any part that you related to at all? Tell me what you thought :]