Things Jade Hates

Summary: Things Jade Hates: Happiness. The color pink. Giggling. Bras that hook in the front. When people talk in your ear and you can feel their warm breath.

When Jade and Tori are paired up for a project in their songwriting class, Tori ends up finding out the real reason Jade is heavily into Goth and dark entertainment, when Jade's mother returns from being "away". While originally promised to have until her 18th birthday for her comfort and safety, Jade now has to come to the realization that her time has run out, which is something she deeply hates.

I

Jade grumbled to herself as sunlight filtered in between her blackout curtains. Cracking one eye open, she glanced over at the digital clock on her dresser, taking note of the time. Heaving a deep sigh, she pulled her black comforter over her head and turned onto her side, digging her cheek into her plump pillow.

A few moments later her bedroom door gently creaked open. Jade tensed up at the familiar sound, her stomach clenching in a tight knot, her pule kicking into high gear, her heart beat a steady staccato in the silence of her safe place. Quiet footsteps patted across the wooden floor, stopping by the side of her bed. Jade tried to steady her shaky breath while squeezing her eyes shut, her entire body rigid.

"Gotcha!" A high pitch voice shouted before Jade felt a heavy weight on her back. A grin broke out on her face when she heard the high pitched giggles from above. She made a big show of yawning and flopping over onto her back, forcing herself to ignore the wriggling mass underneath her.

"Gosh, my bed sure is lumpy," Jade pondered. She rolled onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows. "Maybe, I should get rid of the lumps by using the Tickle Bunny." She poked the lump a few times, smiling gently as it squirmed wildly.

"No, no bunny," the high voiced screamed. Jade leaned to one side and propped herself up on her elbow as her six-year-old little brother emerged from the tangles of her comforter. "It's just me, Sissy!" he cried.

"Ash, you were a few seconds away from being bed dust." Jade leaned over and placed a light kiss on his cheek. "Morning, kid."

"I'm not a kid," Ash pouted, crawling closer towards his older sister, and snuggled against her underneath her chin. "I'm a big boy."

"My apologies." Jade said gently. She playfully fused with his hair before holding him close. "Have you eaten already?"

"Daddy made breakfast," he answered.

"Dad's home?" she asked. Her father was normally gone by the time she and her little brother woke up to go to school since their mother left. While it did frustrate her at first, she didn't mind spending time with her little brother.

As she sat up in her bed, her father entered the room. "Jade," he greeted her, no emotion crossed is face.

"Dad," she responded with a raised eyebrow. She then noticed a letter clutched in his hand. Nodding toward it, she frowned. "What's that?"

"Here." Her father tossed the letter onto the bed. "It's about your mother." Jade felt her lips pull into a deep frown. "Have a good day." Her father leaned over and ruffled his sons hair, and spared Jade a glance before leaving the room.

"J, what does it say?" Ash asked excitedly. He sat up in Jade's bed, bouncing up and down in his seat. "Is mommy coming home?"

Jade's breathed quickened as she read the contents of the letter. Her hands shook, her eyes darted across the page trying to consume the words etched onto the paper. She swallowed hard, slowly folding the letter back up and placing it onto her dressed. Feeling a tug on the bottom of her shirt, she faced her brother, lost in his wide, confused green eyes.

Forcing a light smile, she muttered, "Yes, Ash. Mommy is coming home."

Jade watched as her brother skipped beside her toward the elementary school. Gripping his hand tightly, her arm bounced up and down in sync with his steps. From time to time, she'd had to stop and help him re-tie his shoelaces.

"Sissy, you're not happy," Ash commented as Jade bent down outside of the elementary school, fixing up his shoes.

"No, bud, I'm not," she admitted. Scoffing a little, she then began to roll up the bottom of his pant legs, making sure they didn't drag on the ground and become torn. "But what else is new?"

"No," Ash insisted. "You're happy when you make kissy face with your Beck," he giggled. Jade looked up at him with a half-smile. He bent down a placed a light kiss on her cheek. She broke out into a full smile. "You're happy when you play with me," he added.

"Yeah, I love playing with you." Jade reached up and tickled him on his sides, pulling him close. Ash giggled wildly before leaning into her embrace. "It makes things simpler," she added softly.

"Sissy is sad."

"No, Ash." Jade gently pushed him away, pressing her forehead against his, staring into his eyes. "Sissy is mad, disappointed, and a little scared," she admitted.

Ash gasped, before stomping his foot and pouting. He puffed up his chest and pointed to himself with his thumb. "My Sissy is never scared," he declared. "Sissy is a bad-butt!"

Jade snorted. "A…a bad-butt?" she asked around a laugh.

Ash gasped loudly before covering his mouth with his hands. "Oh, I said a bad word. Don't tell Daddy," he pleaded.

"I won't, cutie." Jade answered before tapping him on the tip of his nose.

"But…why are you sad?" he titled his head to the side. His eyes shined with excitement. "Mommy is coming home."

"I know, Ash," she sighed. Instead of answering him, she got back to her feet and looked towards the front of the school to see the principal standing by the doors and greeting the influx of students and their parents. "Okay, do you have everything?" she asked. "Your lunchbox?"

"All here," Ash said, thrusting the plastic box in her face to prove his point.

"Good boy." Jade picked her little brother up and gave him a tight hug, before spinning him around in circles. He laughed happily while flying through the air. "Daddy is going to pick you up after school. I'll see you at home." She steadied her little brother as he struggled to regain his balance.

"Okay. I love you, J," Ash said. He gave Jade a quick wave before running towards the front of the school, excitedly greeting the principal at the door.

"I love you too, Ash," she called after him. "Have a good day at school."

"West, you're late," Anthony called out as Jade barged into the classroom. She drained the rest of her coffee before dumping the cup into the trash. She marched towards the front of the room for her usual seat.

"Anthony, you're African-American," Jade snapped. She paused, smirking lightly when she her a quiet murmur around the room. Her teacher, however, wasn't impressed. He gave her a stern look, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sorry, I thought we were listing things that were obvious."

"Detention, immediately after school," he ordered.

"Good chiz." Jade responded, giving him a quick sarcastic salute. She turned and paused, raising an eyebrow upon finding her self-assigned seat already taken. "Andre, get up," she ordered.

"Actually, this is my seat for the rest of the semester," he said quietly, slowly leaning away from her as her eyes narrowed.

"You see, Ms. West, if you had arrived on time you'd know that I paired up everyone in this room for a project," Anthony said, leaning up against his desk. "It will be due by the end of the semester. You and your partner have the option to either analyze and perform a song of your choosing or write your own song which you will create a music video for and show it in class."

"Okay." Jade shrugged "So who's my partner? You?" She reached out and flicked Andre in the ear.

"No."

She shrugged once more before turning towards the red head sitting a few seats behind him. She was too busy chewing lightly on the ends of her hair to notice the Goth staring at her. "Then…Cat…" Jade asked slowly, clearly showing her hesitance to work with her quirky friend.

"Not this time," Cat muttered around her hair.

"There's an empty seat next to Ms. Vega," Anthony called out.

Jade quickly turned, her eyes widened, her teeth bared. "Please tell me you're talking about Trina."

"Take your seat, Jade," Anthony insisted, pointing to the back of the classroom. Jade inhaled sharply, tilting her head back and closed her eyes for the briefest of moments, before turning and storming toward the back of the room. She yanked her chair away from the table, dropped her bag to the ground, and then plopped into her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Um," Tori said quietly. Jade slowly turned to look at Tori with a raised eyebrow. The Latina smiled sheepishly giving a small wave. Jade rolled her eyes before leaning over her backpack, pulling out a pair of scissors. Holding her hand up, she began to trim her long fingernails. "I was thinking we could go over playlists of our favorite artists and then-"

"Sounds good," Jade interrupted. "I'll meet you at your place after detention."

Tori reached out, her hand shaking, and took a long sip of the ice coffee sitting in front of her. "See I thought we could change things up and bit and I could go to your place."

Jade paused, the scissor blades open around one of her fingernails, poised to close and cut the sharp tip. She cleared her throat, slowly closing the blades, relaxing a bit as she heard the familiar sound of the metal scraping against each other.

"No, your place is closer," Jade answered.

"But-"

"I said no." Jade exhaled sharply from her nose. She glanced at Tori out of the corner of her eye. "Your place or not at all. I can't be seen with you."

"But, we eat lunch together," Tori reminded her. Jade gave her a harsh glare. Tori's eyebrows rose. She reached out for her iced coffee once more, taking a long sip. Even after she depleted its contents, she continued to inhale through the straw, emitting a loud sucking sound. Jade reached over and cut the straw in half with her scissors.

Ignoring Tori's frown, Jade finished trimming the rest of her fingernails before moving to place them back into her bag. She cried out quietly after they slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor, scratching her left wrist on the way down. Jade glanced at the light scrape on her pale skin, noting the light pink line before picking up the cutting utensils off of the ground and stuff them into her bag.

Rating may go up in the future. Some warnings may be placed at the beginning of some chapters depending on its content.