Right then. Zen said sensual, apparently I heard another trip to Mexico.
[1pm Friday, The Asphalt Cafe]
"I can't believe I'm the only one that's got nothing to do for Spring Break." Jade complains from across the table. I'm in the midst of updating my Slap status when Cat's flittering touch creeps over my shoulder and she proceeds to throw my entire Spring Break into disarray.
"Robbie's not doing anything either! You two should-"
"No!" Jade's interruption drains the glee from Cat's features for all of about three seconds. Giggling, she waves off Jade's barbed reply and turns in Andre's direction. Cat's already babbling excitedly to him around a Sky Store sale when I catch Jade's fingers skittering over an imaginary itch on her collarbone.
"Rex and I have plans, y'know." I state, fumbling my words when Jade's eyes dart to mine. I fidget, tapping my hands against the table. I'm really not used to Jade's eyes meeting mine for more than a fleeting instant. I guess with Beck wrapped up in a conversation with Tori, and Cat occupying Andre, I'm her only option now.
"Oh, really?" Jade asks doubtfully, emerald eyes swimming in suspicion. My lips open and close, but nothing comes out. My heart's pumping terror through my veins. It's like Jade is scrutinizing my every word when her eyes linger on me in this way.
"W-we're going to Acapulco." I choke out, nodding down at Rex in desperation. I'm expecting him to say something witty and drag me from this bind, but the words never leave his mouth. Figures.
"Correction Shapiro, the puppet is staying here. We are going to Acapulco." Jade says, folding her arms and daring me to say otherwise. I gape at her silently, waiting for an onslaught of resistance to spew from Rex. It never comes, so the reply has to come from my lips.
"W-what?" Intelligence is practically dripping from my reply.
"You heard me, Shapiro. You're being upgraded from puppet to girl. All you have to do is pay for my room, just like you were going to pay for his, I'm sure." Jade elaborates, snagging my attention as her finger jabs haphazardly in Rex's direction.
"No way Jade. I am not taking you to Acapulco." I huff, cradling Rex to my chest and burying my nose under my eyebrows. Four days in a car with Jade? I'm pretty sure there are people in the deepest circle of hell enduring less…
"I'll see you on tomorrow at 8am." Jade states dismissively, prying the words from her throat and waving away my protests. It's all so ridiculous. I'm not going to take Jade to Mexico just because she tells me to. She's insane if she thinks I'm going to bow to her demands.
[7:59am Saturday, Jade West's doorstep]
I might be gutless, but at least I'm punctual.
Even the door to Jade's house is intimidating. When she hauls it open, I'm about one ill-timed beat away from a heart attack. Jade doesn't linger in the doorway for long, but her lips aren't pressed into their usual unhappy little line. In fact, the edges are almost flickering with a smile as she yells at me to take her luggage to my car.
Blocks of skyscrapers melt away, and buildings begin to become sparse as we roll down the freeway. It's all horribly bizarre. Jade's actually teetering on the edge of being friendly as we listen to her music. Sometimes we hold entire conversations without her screeching at me. Idly, I wonder if it's the smog clouding the city that dredges up all of the cruel words that usually fly from Jade's mouth.
Shockingly, we spend almost four full days in my car, and Jade only threatens to kill me three times. That's one less than last week at school! With the sun hanging low in the sky, we finally pull into the car park of the "Casa Del Reyes"
Jade actually squeaks gleefully when she's able to finally peel herself out of my car. She kicks the door shut happily and tramples in the direction of the hotel's reception. I'm busily unloading our luggage when Jade bounds back over to the car. I don't think I've ever seen her more excited for something not related to The Scissoring. After three nights of camping, maybe she's just really excited to sleep in a real bed in a rea-Oh no. Oh god no.
"Shapiro! What the hell?" Jade's eyebrows have broken over her nose, and she's glaring at the undersized double bed in front of us. Her shoulders carve harsh lines in the air ahead of me, and something coils around my stomach. The prospect of Jade making me ride home in the trunk feels like an inevitability, unless I act now.
"Hey, I can like sleep on the grou-"
"No!" Jade's cry bounces off the walls, as she shakes her head sharply. My eyes flick to the ground, and for a second I mistake Jade for an angel. The floor beneath my feet almost vibrates with the threat of parasites.
"Look, you can't sleep on the ground. You might, uh catch something and die. I don't need that kind of trouble." Jade states flippantly, stomping over to the bed, and sinking into its feathery embrace. My cheeks sear with a heat that's not directly related to the Mexican sun as I watch Jade drape herself over the beds covers. I guess we're sharing, but it's because Jade doesn't want me to die.
"You do care!" I muse, without realizing that I've verbalized my happiness. Jade sits up and supports herself on her elbows, looking mortified by my sentiment. It doesn't matter though. The damage has been done. I know she doesn't actually want me dead!
"Ugh." Jade's lamentation fails to dent my good mood, even as I struggle with dragging our bags through the doorway. By the time I've got our suitcases halfway across the room, my lungs are burning horribly. Releasing them from my death grip, I turn to Jade. A tiny smile has edged its way onto her lips as she watches me battle with our belongings.
"You're having fun on this trip!" I cry incredulously, the sudden realization slamming into my mind. The smile on Jade's lips immediately scatters, and her nose crinkles in distaste at the very concept.
"Just hurry up and put the bags in the corner, we're going out for dinner." Jade grumbles, falling back against the mattress dramatically. My chest swells with something that Cat used to fill me with. With the promise of food hanging in the air, the baggage I'm lifting doesn't feel so heavy. I know it's ridiculous, and a little bit crazy, but I'm actually looking forward to a misspent week with The Wicked Witch of the West in Mexico.
Misspent doesn't even begin to describe what the dinner Jade and I share mutates into. It turns out that Mexican restaurant owners aren't exactly picky when it comes to serving underage teenagers. The drinks we order with dinner turn into three or four, and then five or six. Eventually a chubby little man, whose skin is bronzed like Tori's, leads us outside.
I'm nothing but gangly limbs as we wander along the street. Jade plants herself under my arm and holds me up. I flash her sloppy smiles, and tell her how great she is. She just tells me I'm drunk, and reminds me that I owe her. When Jade and I wind up at the foot of the stairs leading to our room, it feels like the most complex mathematical riddle I've ever been confronted with.
Eventually, we conquer them and wind up falling into our room. Jade's splayed out beside me, and we're laughing. It's the unrestrained laughter that I've only ever heard come from Jade when she's totally at ease. Most of the time I've heard it, she was with Beck. Tonight's the first time I've ever head its wondrous melody alone.
"Bedtime!" I warble, hauling myself upright. My steps are unsteady, and I almost collide with the television in the corner, before Jade's fingers sink into my shoulder and send me spiralling towards the bed. I'm already sinking face first into my pillow, when I feel Jade clamber over me, and fall gracelessly onto her side of the bed. My eyelids are heavy, and I can already see the edges of my dreams when Jade's fingers prod me in the spine.
"Do not try anything funny, Freakazoid." Jade hisses, roaring to life when I drag my gaze to her, and she's got my full attention. Nodding in agreement, I clumsily lift my arm and flash her a thumbs up. Her lips actually surrender a smile at my gesture. As unconsciousness blankets me, I realize that this whole leaving Rex at home thing isn't so bad.
Maybe I'll try it again sometime.
[9:36am Wednesday, Casa Del Reyes]
I wake up the next morning feeling like death.
The sunbeams streaming through the window beside Jade are trampling over my eyes like fire. Blearily, I stumble in the direction of my suitcase and grope through it for my darkest pair of sunglasses. Under their shadowy embrace, the relief is instantaneous. Peering over my shoulder, I realize Jade is still asleep. From the looks of her, I doubt she'll be awake for some time. Memories of last night flood my head, and with a push of my lips, I'm stepping through the front door of our room. Maybe there's a decent coffee place around here, somewhere.
Some time later, I jab our room key through the lock, and slink back inside. Jade's still splayed over the bed, and since I left, she's taken over my half of the bed too. Claiming a small piece of real estate at the very edge of the bed, I drop Jade's coffee onto the table beside me. I've seen Beck's battle wounds from attempting to wake her in the past. A hot cup off coffee in my hand, and a freshly awakened Jade does not sound like a good combination.
"Morning Jade!" The words flounce through my lips so brightly, I could swear they're blinding. Jade mumbles something that's probably a death threat into her pillow, and rolls in my direction. Left in her wake is a small translucent puddle of drool, and it's just a little adora-
"What are you laughing at, nerd?" Jade mumbles, words blunted by the haze of sleep. Her hand is draped over her eyes, and I guess she's feeling the sting of the sun just as I had. I really should have sprung for a room with curtains.
"I'm not laughing at you, I'm just relieved you didn't drown last night." I retort, with a wit sharpened by the sea breeze and several coffees. Jade's fingers slide away from her eyes, and a feeble early morning attempt at conveying her irritation arrows her eyebrows. It's actually kind of cute, though. Jade's really not so scary when she's half asleep.
"Ugh. You suck so much." With that statement, Jade flies into motion and attacks me with all the force of a displeased kitten. Jade rolls with her punch, and the satisfaction on my lips is fleeting at best when she lands half on me. Her blouse is built to beat the heat, but right now it's the cause of my erratic heartbeat. I'm certain Jade can feel the thumping in my chest, too. Her ear is pressed right against my heart, and her hair is splashed across my chest. I'm almost too preoccupied to wonder why she hasn't moved, but then the thought hits, and my tongue springs to life.
"Whoa, watch out Jade! Do you want your coffee or not?" No sooner have those nervous words left my lips, and Jade is scrambling the rest of the way onto my chest. Throwing a leg over my waist, she straddles me, and glares through ringlets of raven hair at me. With a squeak, I jab my index finger at the cup resting right next to us. Jade's eyes land on it too, and in a flash, she's dragging it to her lips. Jade's so lost in the caffeine that's beginning to work it's way into her veins, that I'm not sure she even realizes she's still sitting atop me. Certain parts of me are aware, painfully aware.
"I thought you said no funny business?" My voice barely scratches the air in front of me, and until Jade's eyes dip to me, I'd have thought she had missed it entirely. Raking jet black locks from her face, Jade chews thoughtfully on her lips for a moment. The harsh look melts away from her features, and gee, she's really beautiful. I know I'm staring, but I can't help it. Jade's staring right back at me though, kohl rimmed eyes widening slightly, which is strange.
That's nothing compared to what she does next.
Jade dips down, and amid a cloud of raven tresses, she plants a lingering kiss on my lips. It's wonderful and soft, and the taste of coffee still lingers on her mouth. Then, just when I think my heart is going to stop, Jade pulls away and takes another sip from her coffee. She looms over me, and I just grin up at her. The light bouncing through the window catches in Jade's eyes, and brings flecks of gold out in them. I want to say something poignant to Jade. But all that shoots through my lips is an involuntary groan when she shifts her hips.
"I told you not to try anything funny. Me…I can do whatever I want." Jade whispers, leaning down and breathing the words like hot magma into my ear. My eyes screw shut, and Jade nips at my earlobe. My body writhes against Jade, but then in a cloud of black smog she's gone.
"Get up Shapiro, we can't spend all day in bed. What will we do at night?" Jade's lips curl in a smirk that I remember floating in Beck's direction from time to time. Even as Jade disappears into the bathroom, I'm grinning like an idiot.
I've never looked more forward to a sunset.
Yeah, sorry guys. Kind of just implied what was going to happen here. I could always write a second chapter if anybody is wondering what kind of trouble hormones, sunsets and empty beaches might lead result in though.
All of this writing is rather draining. Do be dears and leave some reviews. They keep me from dehydrating :)
