-The next day!-
Dave: Get your face out of John's hand.
Wait, who's hand?
You open your eyes to sunglasses askew and feel an imposter's hand on your face, one finger getting dangerously close to going into your nostril. You slept on the floor last night, and John slept on the couch, both on borrowed blankets.
Eugh, you shudder. You flash-step to the other side of the room next to the doorway to the kitchen, leaving your sunglasses behind. You glance at the microwave, where the time reads six in the freaking morning. The fact that the sun was already up is a surprise. Barely up, anyway. Not that it matters. Today is the day that you hand over the girl that runs all over your mind like an Olympic marathoner to your worst enemy.
The door to the girls' room opens, and Rose emerges wearing a light purple silk robe, yawning behind her hand. Your eyes meet and she pales for a half second, like she forgot she has guests and just now remembered you existed. Either that, or she forgot something very important. Suspicious.
"Good morning to you, too," you say.
She pushes past you and prepares a bowl of cold cereal.
"You're acting really suspicious, you know that?" you say. She ignores you. "You have been since the minute we met, no the second. The millisecond, even." No response. You take a shot in the dark. "There's something wrong with your connections, isn't there?" She pauses, then continues pouring the milk. "I'm right, aren't I? There's no meeting set up, is there?"
"You are not incorrect," she says before lifting a spoonful of… Lucky Charms? "But you are obviously misled."
Damn, she's good. "There's no show then?"
"No there is most definitely a show." Another spoonful. Chew, swallow. "And she will be in attendance."
"Come on, don't leave me guessing." You pull up a chair and sit, trying to get to her eye level. She closes her eyes in response, not missing a beat in eating.
"I have a plan, and that is all you need to know at the moment."
"Bullshit."
"No."
"Then at least let me help!" you yell, slamming your hands on the table.
She puts her spoon down and looks ahead calmly. Is she thinking? You can't tell. "I need to make a few modifications," she says after ten full seconds of silence.
"And they are…?"
"Sit down, and maybe I will tell you all about them."
Shit, you didn't even know you stood up. You sit.
"With that attitude, you will definitely survive the encounter with my boss."
"Am I supposed to be insulted?"
"You will live a long and healthy life if you treat her like that."
"Now that was definitely sarcasm!"
"She will even pay for your retirement in full."
"Bullshit! She'll be dead by then!"
She chuckles, smiling a smug Mona Lisa smile and puts her elbows on the table, resting her chin lightly on her fingertips. Her expression just screams "you know nothing, knave".
You let out a frustrated groan. You gesture for her to finish and cross your arms.
"I have given it many eons of thought," she begins. You roll your eyes. "And I have determined that I need you to fully participate in my plan." She pauses, waiting for you to do something. You shrug. "I'm glad you agree. What will happen is that she and I will sit in our normal seats, and you three will sit somewhere else."
Before you can protest, she shushes you and explains the rest. You lean back thoughtfully. Maybe this will work, you think. You might have underestimated the purple girl.
"Now please let me finish my breakfast. We need to pick up our garments soon."
You put your hands up in defeat and get up to leave. You are about to turn around when she adds something else.
"I will be taking John with me to pick them up, so please keep Jade from leaving."
"Is that a warning or an order?"
"Both." A pause. "Maybe. She had a rough night last night and I had to tie her to the bed post to keep her from sleepwalking. She is still sleeping now, but I need you to wake her up before we come back."
"Right." You turn your head behind you to look at the single bedroom she and Jaya shared.
"And don't think that you're getting past me when you gaze longingly in her general direction whenever you get the chance to do so. She might be dense enough to not realize that you stare at her like the last slice of cake, but I assure you, I am quite perceptive."
"Get off my back, Lalonde. That's none of your fucking business." You turn on your heel without looking back and head to where you were sleeping. You come back and take what's left of Rose's cereal, ignoring her protests (she only ate the marshmallows what the hell). You pass by John and dump the cereal on his face while passing by.
"Wh-ACKPLF!" he yelps. You've always wanted to do that. You set the bowl on the back of the couch and flash-step outside to hide on the roof until everyone inside calms the fuck down. You take the time to look around the neighborhood to see if you can find Bec, but he is nowhere to be seen. He must have found a lady friend or something.
You see John and Rose leave about half an hour later, and ninja yourself back inside, inserting a few parkour moves here and there; off the fence, dodging the litter of headstones, etc. You really need to practice your skills more. It's starting to bother you that there hasn't been any signs of trouble from those guys lately. You're positive that there are two, not just the one. It blows your mind as to why they even want to hurt her in the first place. You feel your eye twitch when you think that.
You enter the house again and hear the shower running. Immediately, your mind goes to the gutter.
Dave: Calm the fuck down.
You succeed in calming the fuck down. Not.
-Be Jade-
Your name is Jaya Maryam and—
Wait, that's not right.
Your name is temporarily Jade Crocker and you have a pounding headache. You wake up in Rose's room and stretch your arms over your head. You throw off the covers, swinging your feet out of bed leisurely, and feel a slight tug on your ankle. There's a strand of yarn tied from your ankle to the bed post. Sleepwalking again. You sigh and untie yourself. You need a shower.
Thankfully, there is a shower in Rose's room, so you take advantage of the fact that no one seems to be home and take a long, hot shower. Back on your island, you had to conserve water for everyone else. And it was always cold. Hot water was a luxury. You're actually surprised the place even had working indoor plumbing. Sighing happily, you force yourself to get out after you notice your wrinkled fingers.
You exit the bathroom to see that someone has closed the bedroom door. Or was it closed before and you didn't notice? You shrug and change into your blue dress, leaving your hair unbrushed like you usually do, and head to the kitchen.
You don't notice Dave on the couch until you pass it by. You jump and nearly whip out your gun to shoot him. You made a hidden pocket in your dress after you got home last night with Rose's sewing machine. Her idea, not yours, and it ended up being a great one.
"Whoa there," he says, putting his arms up. "It's just me, no need to get your panties in a bunch."
You let your guard down and shake your head. "I guess I'm a little jumpy." Since the other night.
"It's no problem. I'm here so you don't need to worry about a thing. Nothing gets past me. I will be your knight in shining armor and be that one tooly princely guy from that one fairy tale. I will be so bright, the bad guys will be blinded, and by my utter brilliance they'll run away with their tails between their legs, never to return." He smirked at the end of that.
You giggle, feeling your cheeks warm up, and instinctually putting your fist over your lip to cover your teeth. They always look bigger when you smile widely like this and you think it looks terrible.
Suddenly, Dave is right in front of you and lightly holding your wrist. You look up at him with wide eyes and stop laughing. He must be serious because he took off his sunglasses.
"U-uhm," you stutter, trying to break the silence.
"Stop hiding your smile," he says softly. "It's nice."
"No it's not…" you mumble, looking off to the side. He pulls down the hand that was covering your face and you close your lips. Dave is the last person that you want to show your flaws to, especially your teeth. You are really insecure about them and—
"Guys, we're back!" John yells. It sounded like he kicked the door in! You and Dave immediately separate while Rose chastises him for nearly breaking her door. His arms are full of two black garment bags with the logo from the tailor shop on it, and Rose carries two white garment bags with the logo from the dress shop with the white store front.
"Jade, we have to make one slight change in your dress," Rose says, approaching you with both bags. She wiggles her eyebrows slightly. You frown and she winks. "And I am confident enough to do it myself, but we need to hurry." She shoots a look to the boys and pushes you in. "You two need to put the suits on as soon as possible. I will call a taxi as soon as I am finished fixing Jade's dress. Then I'll fix up you two. Jade and I will join you later in a different taxi. I—er, we cannot have you embarrassing me in my own hometown, got it? Especially in the theatre district!" She shuts the door and locks it. She then laughs under her breath, still facing the door. You could've sworn it was an evil laugh. You gulp as she places the bags on the bed carefully. "Strip."
"What?"
"Strip."
"I—"
"No talking."
"Okay, okay!"
Jade: Obey.
-THAT NIGHT OUTSIDE THE THEATRE.-
-John, I choose you!-
John: Stop being nervous.
What is there to be nervous about? It's only a play. And it's not like she's your actual sister and giving her away at her wedding. It's to get the money from the Batterbitch and bankrupt her. That's all. You fiddle with your necktie nervously anyway.
"John, stop that," Dave says, reaching over and swatting your hands away from your tie. You narrow your eyes when you see Dave's own necktie askew.
"You're one to talk," you retaliate, reaching for Dave's tie.
"Don't touch me. I can do my own tie." He steps backward.
"Dave, you look like crap. Get back here!"
"I refuse."
You finally grab the tie, and he makes a choking sound. "Stop whining. At least you're not wearing a bolo tie."
"Gross. And completely racist."
"And Rose isn't making you wear a cravat." You're actually surprised he went along with the bow tie thing. He's said bow ties were cool, but that was probably a reference to some show you don't watch.
"How do you know so much about ties?" he asks.
"I had a half-brother growing up. He taught me everything I know."
He scrunches his eyebrows together. "Liar. I was practically your half-brother."
"Yeah, you're right. Internet. Done!" You step back to admire your handiwork. "Well, the girls should be getting here any minute, so don't touch your tie. We need to look like gentlemen."
"That reminds me. John, I need to tell you something."
"Yeah?"
He takes a deep breath. "Remember when I told you that Jaya was your sister?"
Oh. You'd forgotten about that. You just figured he was in the moment and blowing it out of proportion. "Yeah…?"
"I have proof."
You blink. "R-really?"
He sighs. "Yeah." He reaches behind his head, but hesitates. He probably doesn't want to mess up his hair for fear of being yelled at again. It had been entirely slicked back and cemented into place with hair gel, but you guess he doesn't want to take any chances.
"Well, what is it?"
"Do you remember what she said, when she answered Rose's question about how she escaped and all that?"
"I was plugging my ears the whole time. But I do know what she said. Rose told me."
"Well, it was me."
You frowned and narrowed your eyes. "What was you? The boy? As in the kid who got them out with the time travel and threw the rock?"
Dave nodded. He's sweating like there was no tomorrow. "Yeah. But it wasn't time travel, it was the stepping. And not just me. Me and bro. Dirk." A rare moment in the life of the coolkid Dave Strider: getting emotional over a girl, even if it didn't show on his face.
Wait, what?! "So… She's the real, real thing? My sister? This whole time?" You grab him by his upper arms and shake him.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past two days!" he explodes. There he goes. He shifts out of your grip easily. People start turning their heads, but overall let you and Dave be.
"We… We have to tell her," you say. Maybe she doesn't even know that she knows?
Dave mutters something.
"What?"
"But what if I don't want to tell her!" he repeats loudly, shrugging his shoulders up and pressing his elbows against his sides, palms up.
"Tell me what?" a familiar mezzo-soprano voice sings from behind.
You both turn and see two beautiful ladies standing there. Rose is in a lovely floor-length lilac dress that is layered and strapless, matched with heels that raised her from her normal height of your nose to the height of your eyebrows. Her hair is bobbed like a flapper girl's and she added a black feather to her signature black headband. Her makeup matches her dress perfectly, and she even used her usual black lipstick. Well, you think it's usual. She's always worn it.
You look over to Jade, who also looks beautiful. She's in a black floor-length strapless gown with lime green ribbon lining the top. The fabric is embedded with glitter that looks like the night sky with white gloves that goes past her elbows. Her hair is tied up in a large bun with her bangs doing the swoopy thing, and rhinestones litter the top of her head. The makeup around her eyes match the green, and the red lipstick matches her glittery shoes. She got to keep her glasses, too.
You compare the red to Dave's outfit. It's almost like Rose planned it. You glance at Rose, who smiles and winks at you. Suspicions confirmed: she planned this. You smile back and look back at Dave expectantly. Both of you ship it real good.
"Tell me what?" Jaya—er, Jade repeats.
Dave is absolutely speechless. Well, except the part where he gets it wrong.
"How beautiful you look tonight," he answers.
Despite that being a surprisingly un-douchy thing for him to say, both you and Rose to a quadruple face palm combo. He takes Jade on his arm and you take Rose in yours, and you all enter the building.
The four of you find your seats in the theatre; you, Dave, and Jade in the front row of the second tier balcony, and Rose to her and the Batterwitch's normal seats in a private box near the stage, just across the way. The curtains are drawn so you can't see them. Oh, she's too good to see the common people before the show, huh? She thinks she's so high and mighty…
John: Calm down and worry about your OTP.
You totally forgot!
You steal quick glances at Dave and Jade, who are being very lovey-dovey indeed.
Yes. Good.
-Be the Girl.-
Jade: Abscond!
You cannot abscond. Everything you and the boys have worked towards will go to waste if you do. You're still not sure if you're the real Jade or not, but even if you weren't, you could still use your new connections to find out who you are anyway. It's a win-win, you tell yourself.
At least you hope so.
And if you are the real Jade, you hope she'll still remembers you, even if you can't remember anything yourself, or try to remember without inducing a headache. The key is not to make things up when you don't know the answer. Now that you think about it, the scene you described to Rose when you answered how you escaped now sounds like it was completely made up and completely impossible! Where did that even come from?! You groan softly, bending forward in your seat and holding yourself, feeling nauseous on top of another headache. How the heck did you even get this far, anyway?
A comforting hand on your partially-bare back startles you. You gasp and jump, and lift your head to see Dave slightly bent over, close to your eye level. He had the courtesy to take off his dumb sunglasses inside for once, and you notice his eyes full of genuine concern.
"You okay?" he asks quietly.
"I will be," you mumble. You take a deep breath and straighten yourself up. It feels like you messed up the makeup that Rose worked so hard at applying when you scrunched your eyebrows just now. "I just hope she remembers me."
"You're gonna be fine. That program you're ripping up, though…" He fades out, turning his gaze to your lap. You didn't even notice you were mutilating the playbill. "…it won't survive the first act. It's going to be raining paper all up in this bitch if you keep doing that." He hands you his. "Shit, take mine too, we'll make this a playbill party with playbill confetti, then we'll throw it all on the crowd below and create a fucking playbill blizzard."
You laugh weakly, giving Dave a small shove with your elbow. He throws in a few "heh's". John stares completely confused and asks what's going on. You shake your head and don't try to explain. You were starting to feel calm again when the lights flashed on and off, signaling the show was about to start. Getting serious again, you lock your gaze on the private box across the way. The curtains had opened and you spot Rose, but the lights dim to near-darkness as soon as you look over to Betty Crocker. All you see is her tall silhouette. She doesn't seem very old by what you can see.
The live orchestra starts the overture and you start to mess with the playbill again. You gulp uncomfortably and start to rip out the pages one by one, barely following the storyline. You think it's about some servant girl and grew pumpkins that turn into a carriage at the end. It reminds you of your garden back on the island. You have a small private place that you sometimes hung out in to get away from everyone at the mansion. A place just for you. You grew flowers, mostly. Then, late one October, Vriska came back from her trip with a huge orange gourd over her shoulder. She said she won it gambling, but she didn't know what to do with it so she just took it home. The grubs immediately took an interest, taking turns trying to break it open to see what was inside. Kanaya finally had to use her chainsaw to open it, which made a huge mess, and the grubs loved. Eridan threw a fit because a tiny bit of pulp got on his cape.
You smile at the memory and manage to calm down some. You remember cleaning it up and seeing one of the seeds starting to sprout. What began as curiosity and seeing if it grew like any other seed, became adding it to your other pride and joy: the garden. You wonder if anyone is taking care of it. Maybe Karkat or Kanaya or Nepeta or even Aradia found it and started to take care of it. Aradia's only twelve earth years old, but she's smart and can figure out how to do it. You'd rather have her do it than Vriska or Sollux or the other kids. You wish you can take Dave to the island. He and Karkat probably won't get along though. They'd probably fight over the dumbest things. Geez, you're thinking about this like Dave's going to meet your dad or something! He's your patron, so he's kind of like a dad, you guess, which would make Kanaya your mom. You'll have to ask John after the sh—
The audience applauds, the curtains close, the lights go up. You look down to see that you have successfully made confetti out of a poor playbill. Is it the end of the first act already? John and Dave stand up at the same time on either side of you. You look up at them, petrified.
"Showtime," John says, offering his hand.
You take it and stand shakily, letting all of the ripped pieces fall to the floor and flutter down like snow. Your pulse races wildly.
"We'll be behind you all the way, Jade." Dave enunciates her borrowed name, offering his hand as well.
You take a deep breath and follow them, clutching their hands as best as you can in your slick gloves. You make your way through the crowd of people on the second floor, nearly getting separated quite a few times, keeping your head down. They slow down when you fall behind. The area clears up when the three of you approach the private box areas. Finally, you see the room number and take a deep breath.
"Relax, we have this whole thing under control," John reassures you. He lets go of your hand, clears his throat, and knocks on the door. You grip Dave's hand tightly. He squeezes back in response.
Loudly from the inside, Rose calls out, "Who is it?"
"I come to present a very special guest to meet with your gracious ruler!" He turns back and winks. The door unlocks shortly after.
It cracks open, revealing a lavender eye with copious amounts of makeup, a.k.a., Rose. She opens it all the way and waves in the two boys, putting a finger over her lips to you. John sallies forth.
"Remember, when I say your name, you let yourself in, okay?" Dave whispers, slipping out of your fingertips. You hand feels empty already.
You nod. Rose leads them in and leaves the door open a crack. You can hear them talking from the outside.
Jade: Eavesdrop.
-Be the Rose girl-
Rose: Present the boys to your employer.
That is a very difficult notion. You still have not told her that they were coming. You've been trying the entire first act to no avail, and for all she knows, these two humans are assassins. Even knowing the script backwards and forwards, you are still nervous. She has been in an ornery mood all night: the long, fuchsia gown that she wears every year is get tighter from sampling new recipes, and before the show she complained that her ride was late because of a "four-wheeled device accident". She is also sweating because of the hot theatre. When the locals found out she was going to go to this show, they filled the seats to the brim, thus creating a lot of body heat. Mrs. Crocker does not do heat. She flees from it every chance gets. It is making her hair frizzy and nappy, and you can tell it is already a pain to keep it as long as she does. She now refuses to leave her seat, using the playbill as a makeshift fan.
"Good evening, gentlemen," you say, loud enough for her to hear from her seat. "What brings you to our humble box?" They are positioned in the middle of the small annex connecting the hallways and their private box. It greatly reduces noise, and there is even a miniature bar fully stocked with filtered water and vodka, which she never touches. You are still too young to drink, which is unfortunate, but the year-long age gap does not stop you from taking the occasional experimental sip now and again.
"We have a special guest, who has come many miles to meet the one and only Betty Crocker," Dave replies robotically. You narrow your eyes at him, unamused. He shrugs. You hope that John is a better actor.
"From Seattle!" John adds. You can't fully sigh with relief, but at least he is better than Dave.
You pause for effect. The pause goes unnoticed as the conversation takes a turn for the worse.
"You take yourself, and your promises, and leave, before I kill you both where you stand," your boss responds out from behind you. "This is my private time and I would appreciate it if you would leave me in peace. Besides, I'd hate to get blood all over my dress. It's a classic from my home."
You were afraid of this. You put up your hands and make a quick motion across your neck with your hand. "Now is not a good time," you mutter. "You had better go. She is not afraid to go through with her threats." You take them both by the arm and rush them out. Before you get to the door, Dave escapes from your grip. Looking around, you find he is completely gone, like a ninja of some sort. You sigh. You can't help him if he goes rogue like this. On the way out, you tell Jade to go back to her seat when Dave comes out. She says okay and waits. If he comes out.
"Well that sucks, I guess," John laments. You follow him downstairs to the main floor concessions and decide that now will be as good a night as ever to tell him.
"John," you say, tugging at his sleeve. All you can see is the reflective tile floor and his feet turn towards you.
"Yeah, Rose? What is it?" he asks, putting a comforting hand on your bare shoulder. His touch gives you goose bumps across your back.
"I have been turning it over in my mind for a long time now, and I have figured that this is the best time to tell you about it." You find it hard to swallow.
"Are you okay?"
"I… Your mother is dead."
"I know," he responds without hesitation. You look up to see his face and wish you hadn't. There's a dark look in his eyes that sends chills to your very core.
-Let's be the Condesce.-
Betty Crocker: Try not to cull everyone.
And oh, is it difficult. You ready your double headed trident, willing to cabob whoever comes through those curtains.
You look out over the audience with disdain. All have come to catch a glimpse of the famed Betty Crocker. No one here knows what you're actually like. You'll outlive them all, and quite possibly rule over them forever. You have been for a while, but they don't realize it yet. The papers say that if you were still alive, you'd be the oldest woman on earth. But they're wrong. The real Betty Crocker is dead. You have simply taken her place. You've fought too hard for their silly rumors and tall fish-tales.
You go to this show every earth year. It is the only solace you have, since the hall is usually empty. Your Jade always wanted you to read it to her and her obnoxious genetic sibling. In the sweep after you woke up from your coma, you began to pick up the pieces of your old life. You were inconsolable. You needed something, but you weren't shore what. Jane would always explain it to you, but she had already taken John and escaped somewhere beyond your view (you had found them two weeks later and kept tabs on them, just in case they were keeping Jade from you, and when the evidence was inconclusive, you hired a mercenary); it was the only thing she was good for besides dying. You eventually found the solution in the ruins of the hive you created for your first wards
You submersed yourself in the story and decided to produce a public performance around it. You hired the best of the best in an effort to perhaps attract her to one of the shows. It obviously didn't work, since she never attended, not once. The distance between your home now and then aren't that far apart. You are merely attending out of habit, for tonight's show will be your last.
The curtain rustles behind you. The footfalls are too heavy to belong to Rose. You deploy you trident without turning. The intruder did not fall to the floor. The trident simply rips the curtain and embeds itself in the floor. You twitch and turn in your chair towards the intruder. You never miss, and you are not rusty.
"Careful," a manly voice said. "You could kill someone with that thing."
"Explain yourself, human!" you demand, sauntering. You easily tower over him by two heads. Six heads if your horns were at full-length.
"You have quite the arm there," the young, golden-haired, shades-wearing pink-skin commented. What a prick, you observe.
"You gravely underestimate me," you warn.
"All I need is some time to freestyle," he says.
"You have thirteen seconds before I kill you where you stand."
"Can you multiply that times four?"
"Ten seconds."
"Shit well I'll get to the point then. Jade is standing right outside."
"You lie."
"Nope." You recognize his smug expression, you just can't place it.
"You're too late, I have called off the search. You can take your silly little imposter with you willingly, or I can call my human guards and have you forced out." You cross your arms.
"What if I can prove it?" He raises an eyebrow.
That eyebrow gave it away. You bend at your waist slightly, peering into his shaded eyewear and point your long second finger at his blood-pusher. "I know you from somewhere."
He clears his throat. "Do you?"
"Yes… Yes, I remember it now. You were there. You and your obnoxiously angled eye-covering-wearing nookhole of a genetic sibling." You continue to prod his chest, and his story.
"What," he deadpans, somewhat amused.
"I won't bother explaining because you already know. We're both aware of that night, but I am not the easily forgiving type. I know your kind. You use your female counterparts and you throw them away. Your 'brother'? More like your father who had patronal issues himself."
His lip curl into a snarl, amusement gone. "You take that ba—"
You laugh, returning to full stature. "And don't even get me started on what you are doing to that innocent wiggler outside, assuming there even is one. You will probably forget all about her once you deliver her to me, take my money and be on your way, which to me, is just pocket change. As if I'd give my entire fortune to my heiress, much less a stranger! And if she isn't my granddaughter, there will be no chance that she will live to see another second, let alone use my resources to help her find her real family, if that was your little back-up plan. She will be treated like the traitorous little witch she is. Her blood will be on your hands, not mine. You don't even care, so you don't come in here and preach to me about truth when you are lying to her every day."
"If you'd just fucking listen!" He's desperate now. Tch.
"I am done listening. You are going to leave my sight with only your life." You point to the door.
"But I'm telling you she's the real thing!"
You snap your fingers, and two robotic security guards take him by his limbs, dragging him out. "Consider yourself lucky, human." You yank your trident out of the floor with a loud crack and some of the carpeting along with it. Pity. You just shined the thing this morning.
The human's protests fade away to muffling and you sit back down into your seat. Where is Rose when you need her with your refreshments? This foolish human emotion called love. It is unnecessary. You are a Troll. An Empress. You do not develop human feelings. You prop up your trident on the floor like you're back on your throne and look down your nose at the audience below. The show will begin again soon and you can go home sooner.
-Let's go back to someone who is relevant.-
Jade: Listen to every word.
sorry, Jaya Vantas is not available at the moment. please leave a message after the RAAARARRAAUUUAAAAUUAGHGHGGHGGGGHHGH!
No, you can't freak out like this in public, no matter what thoughts are going through your head at a million miles an hour. You can't breathe, your hands shake, and for some reason, you can't stop staring at the dark brown stain on the carpet by the door.
The sound of Dave's protests signal you to move away from the door. Your spaced-out stare shifts to a knot-shaped design in the carpet. The door opens, Dave is thrown at your feet, covering the spot on the ground, and the doors slam shut. He immediately gets up and yells indistinctively, pounding on the door and demanding them to open it, a slew of curses coming out. You furrow your brow. He turns around. You clench your jaw. He approaches you. Your fists ball up.
"Jade, I—" he starts. You interrupt.
"Don't." You uncurl your fingers and hold your hands up to your head, fighting off another headache. Something wants to come through, since you're a little emotionally charged right now, but even worse, Dave has…
"I'm sorry, Jade, I promise I'll—"
"Just stop."
"What?" he asks in a clueless tone.
"My name isn't Jade. It's Jaya, okay?" You can feel your eyes watering.
"Yes it is. I have proof. You know who you were talking about in the story you told Rose? I know who it was. That was—"
"Just shut up! Don't talk to me!" you say, raising your voice. A few people turn, but you really don't give a flying rodentbeast's ass about them. If you could care any less, you would, but you can't. You literally cannot. You turn on your heel and to find Rose to go home. "Don't fucking talk to me! I'm going home!"
"Wait!" He grips your wrist.
That triggers it. You stop and turn your torso towards him, glaring. Without hesitation, you slap his face as hard as you can with your free hand. He lets go and you storm off, tears finally spilling out. The flats you're wearing are rubbing against your feet uncomfortably. You only pause to rip them off one-by-one and carry them in your hand.
You charge down the stairs, hiking up your dress and not caring that your face is a huge mess. You don't give a fuck. You push past people left and right on the ground floor, ignoring their remarks. You don't care about them either. You are going to wait until you get somewhere private to let your emotions go batshit. You eye the women's restroom and go in. The lights flicker on and off, letting the people know that the intermission is about to end. There are a few women in there, but they clear out when they see you enter. You have about two more seconds until you completely lose it. At least the coolness of the over-shined smooth tile feels good against your feet. Finally, the last stranger leaves.
You lose all control, sobbing loudly. You try to lean on the marble counter that matched the tile, but your arms are weaker than you thought, and fold under your weight as your legs buckle. You bury your face in your arms on the counter and release the kraken.
How could this all happen?
How could he go and betray you like that?! Just hand you over to such a maniacal and tyrannical woman! He was going to take her money and never see you again! And after everything you have been through! You've been on a burning train that exploded, travelled the country in a very confusing turn of events, almost died by sleepwalking, and apparently, that means jack shit to him!
You thought… you thought that he… and you…
And how could he just stand there and take it?! You can't imagine what life would be like when you're alone with her! You would only have Rose, who you barely even know, and maybe then, probably not! You hate being lonely. You've always had the Trolls, and despite there being so many of them and never having a private moment, there's nothing you want more right now than to go back to them. Maybe you'd even go work at that stupid factory they told you to in the first place. You miss Karkat and Kanaya, you miss Nepeta and Sollux and Aradia and all of the other grubs you grew up with. You even fucking miss Vriska bullying and Eridan's condescension.
But if you could keep up with the charade of not actually being the real Jade, then you are only postponing the inevitable. This was such a stupid idea. It might get you killed.
You could still go with her and find that you're not the real Jade and die, or go and find out that you are and live richly for the rest of your life, but you'll be alone. Either way, you probably won't ever see your friends again. Not on the island, not your friends who are of your same species, not…
"Dave, you fuckass…"
You hadn't realized it until you said it out loud that you were muttering some of those other things out loud. You throw the shoes randomly behind you, hitting one of the stall doors.
"Jade?" a voice said, meek and equally bruised as your own. You turn to see Rose peeking out of the largest stall at the end of the room. It sounds right when she says it.
"Rose," you sniffle. "Were you there the whole time?" You wipe your eyes carefully with your fingertips, careful not to get makeup in your eye.
"Yes. I apologize, I should have made myself known sooner." Her eyes are red. She must've been crying, too. She opens the door wider and pads over to the stall wall opposite you, leaning against it and sliding down to sit on the ground. She hands you your shoes back.
"Are you okay?" you ask, joining her.
"I… I had to tell John some bad news. He didn't… take it very well, to say the least." She shakes her head. "I doubt that it was any more traumatizing for you, though. I have never heard anyone sob that way unless their heart has been shattered and scattered."
You choke back tears and bump your head against the wall on purpose. "You hit the nail on the head," you half-laugh. "I just feel so betrayed, Rose."
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"No. I don't know." You sigh. "I just thought maybe we would be friends forever, you know? And now with my headaches, I think I'm just afraid that I will be the real Jade and I will remember things and never see you or Bec or John or Dave ever again!" She doesn't respond. "Well, I heard what Betty said to Dave, and she let him live or something, and then I just kind of… exploded? On him?" It's your turn to shake your head, still against the plastic wall. "So what did you need to tell John?"
"Before we get to that, I want to say that I completely believed the story you told me during your interview, and I do believe you are the real Jade Crocker, the heiress of Crocker Corps." She clears her throat. "And that disturbs me because what I told John might concern you, too."
"What is it?" Did you really want to know the answer to that?
She retrieved a wad of toilet paper before she continued. "I told him that I knew who killed his mother. But he knew already." She rips off a portion of the wad and blew her nose. It doesn't seem like she cares about her makeup anymore. "I told him how I found out, who I think did it and why, and I would rather have John tell you himself. It is not my place to meddle in family matters. I've learned that the hard way. All my lousy, stupid meddling," she laughs.
You don't know what to say.
"Anyway, let's go home," she offers. "Let's get all of this shit off our faces and watch terrible movies."
"Yes," you reply without hesitation. You help each other up and she leads the way out of the bathroom and theatre, and hails a taxi. You don't really like taxis, but it beats walking.
All the way back, you and Rose talk and annoy the driver with your raucous laughter. She pays him and you both go inside, helping each other out of your ridiculous dresses. Neither of you bother to take a shower and just wash your faces, getting right into pajamas instead and curling up next to each other on Rose's bed watching pirated movies online on her laptop. You're in the middle of the second movie when the doorbell rings. Rose gets up, but you stop her.
"I'll get it," you say, putting an obnoxiously-sized bowl of popcorn down where she was sitting before. You get close to the door and yell, "Go away, Dave!" The ringing persists and you finally throw open the door angrily. "I said go away!"
You freeze. It's not Dave.
