Monkey See, Monkey Do.
Jade sighed with relief, pressing the blade to her arm. She loved the feeling when the scissors sliced into her arm.
The white hot pain shooting through her vein.
The look of the blood as it stained her pale arm.
The feeling of control she had every time.
But the tears always took her by surprise. They would fall onto the cut, and it would sting. If that did not alert her that they were falling, she would not be aware.
This was the only time Jade West cried.
When she cut.
She did it daily. Whenever she got frustrated or couldn't deal with something. Or whenever Beck wasn't there.
She carried her tools around with her, but no one had ever thought anything of it. Not even her loving boyfriend. She knew that he knew something was wrong, though.
She was currently in the auditorium, sitting on the stage, her legs hanging off the front. She hit her boots rhythmically as she placed the scissors down next to her and ran her porcelain fingers across the new cut. It intersected the scar of her very first cut, making them into an x.
Tears freely fell down her face as she traced over all of her scars with her right hand, taking her time over all 40 of them. Yes, 40. One, maybe more for each day she had been cutting. She wasn't sure how long it had been, but she knew it was too long. She had to stop, but she just couldn't find the strength.
She was so wrapped up in these thoughts, she didn't hear Beck Oliver, her boyfriend, coming up behind her. But she did hear it when he gasped in horror, "Jade!" She whipped her head around and looked up at him. His eyes were wide with terror. "Jadelyn West, what the Hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, shocked and outraged. She shook her head. "You sound like my father." She said quietly, remembering what he used to sound like when he yelled at her.
Beck sat next to her on the edge of the stage and took hold of her scarred and bloody wrist. "Why?" he whispered, examining the cuts with a heavy heart. "I don't know." She mumbled, looking away from him. He grabbed her chin gently and moved her head to face him.
"Baby, what's the problem? Why would you do this to yourself?" he begged, desperate to help her.
She shook her head again. "If I knew what the problem was, I would have fixed it already." She told him, looking firmly into his eyes.
"I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is." He told her sadly.
"I love you, okay? I don't need help. I just need…" she started, reaching for the scissors. Beck grabbed her other arm and looked her dead in the eye. "If you do it, I will too." He said seriously.
Jade gasped. "Beck, I- I can't." she said desperately, tears falling from her eyes again.
"Every time you do it, I will too. We'll do it together." He dared. She shook her head. "Why would you do that?" she asked.
"Lovers are like monkeys. Monkey see, monkey do." He said simply. She nodded. "I'll try, monkey." She agreed, kissing his cheek. He wiped the blood off her wrist and with it, drew a matching x on his arm.
"Monkey see, monkey do, monkey get in trouble too."
Jade smirked at him.