Anna drove Jade to the police station and she didn't understand why, but she assumed something new had come up with her case and that maybe she'd go back to prison. "What are we doing here?" Jade asked.
"Come on, some people want to see you" Anna said and they walked inside only to see the West family, so Jade looked at them and sighed.
"What now? You regretted dropping the charges?" Jade asked, but they only smiled when they saw her.
"You found her" Evelyn said to Anna gladly.
"Jade!" Beck immediately said when he saw her, he and the gang were there too, so she got even more confused.
"What are you all doing here?" Jade asked and looked at Anna "Why did you bring me here?"
"Jade, why were you with that man?" Anna asked curiously.
"Is it illegal to talk to people now?" She asked back annoyed "As far as I know, I can talk to anyone I want"
"He is not just anyone, he is a known pimp and you know it" Anna said and Jade stared at her coldly, while her friends looked at each other surprised and sadly.
"What?" Beck asked shocked.
"Is this the surprise? You wanna add prostitution to my record?" Jade asked upset.
"Should I? Were you with him all this time?" Anna questioned and Jade looked at her friends and family nervously, that was so humiliating.
"Would it matter?" Jade asked in resignation and shrugged "Please spare me the walk of shame, the trial was enough, if you are gonna arrest me, just do it" she said as she extended her arms for the handcuffs.
"Is that a yes? How long have you been with him?" Anna questioned, but Jade stayed silent, she hadn't been with him, but it didn't make much of a difference, she'd end up with him anyway.
"That's none of your business, the charge is the same, isn't it? Prostitution one day, one week, one month…it doesn't make any difference" Jade said and her friends looked at each other mortified, she seemed so different and they hated to know she'd been pushed to that situation.
"I take that as a yes" Anna said and sighed "Open your arms" She ordered
"Why?" Jade asked.
"You know why, open arms" Anna ordered and Jade exhaled annoyed, but she did it and Anna started touching her all over looking for the drugs she knew Jade had and she quickly found them in her pocket "Bingo!" She exclaimed as she showed her the little bag of pills.
"What's that?" Evelyn asked.
"All of Rogers' girls are into this stuff, heaven in a pill he calls it" Anna said and Jade rolled her eyes "They all love it and they worship him for providing it for them, in exchange for their full cooperation when a customer comes by, of course…and the longer they take it, the harder it is to leave it, neat business strategy" Anna commented with irony and Beck closed his eyes in frustration.
"Jesus…" Mr. West said and Jade simply stood there staring into space upset, they all immediately assumed she was one of those girls and she was about to become one, so there was no point in denying it.
"It makes you feel happy and calm, doesn't it?" Anna asked Jade "Did he start you on the needle already or is it too soon? Cause that's the next step, honey" she added and Jade rolled her eyes.
"Do you expect me to say I'm sorry or something?" She asked.
"Come here" Anna said and grabbed her face to check her eyes, but she didn't see anything weird about them "Sleeves up now"
"Why?" Jade asked coldly "Am I under arrest?"
"Just do it" Anna demanded and Jade rolled her sleeves up annoyed, so Anna checked her arms for injection marks while her parents and friends looked at them worriedly, they hadn't expected Jade to fall so deep so fast.
"No needle yet, at least that's good news…" She commented.
"If you say so" Jade said sarcastically and her friends shook their heads in disapproval, she didn't care and it was obvious.
"Are you high now? When was the last time you took the drug?" Anna asked suspiciously and Jade laughed a little.
"What's so funny?" Beck questioned upset.
"This, all of it" She responded.
"Really? A pimp and drugs are funny to you?" Beck asked disappointedly and she stared at him emotionlessly "So, you're a prostitute now?" He asked sadly and she chuckled again, she was so done with everything and everyone.
"Not yet" Jade said coldly and turned back to Anna "I met that man tonight, I didn't even know his name and I'm not high, unfortunately I have NEVER been high, he gave these to me as a gift but I didn't have time to take any because you showed up, happy now?" she informed.
"Why should we believe you?" Anna questioned and Jade shrugged.
"Honestly, I don't care if you do, you can test me or whatever, it makes no difference to me…" She responded "But it's the truth, I'm not a junkie and I'm not a prostitute" Jade said as she glared at Beck coldly and he looked at her ashamedly, he'd jumped to conclusions just like everyone else "At least, not yet…" she added trying to be cynical, but it was obvious she only felt resignation at that point.
"Alright, I'm gonna take your word for it" Anna said.
"Great, can I have the pills back now? They sound good" Jade commented cynically as she opened her hand and Anna sighed.
"Very funny" She replied and Jade smiled sarcastically.
"If you weren't with him, then where have you been all this time? Where did you sleep?" Tori asked confused.
"Where do you think? I slept on the street, I'm homeless, Tori, that's what homeless people do" Jade said emotionlessly and they looked at her sadly "The man I was with tonight offered me a place to stay and gave me the pills as a gift, that's all" She said to Anna, so she looked at Jade's parents and they looked down sadly, that was exactly what they'd been told would happen.
"Yeah, I know the kind of offers he makes" Anna commented.
"And you said yes?" Tori asked Jade and she shrugged in resignation, she was terrified of it and she wanted to cry, but she didn't want them to know that, so she looked down to avoid looking at them directly.
"Well, it's not like I enjoy sleeping on park benches and walking around the city all day starving, because I have no money to eat or do anything" Jade responded "He made a good offer and I'm not in position to reject it, so if I'm not under arrest, I would like to go now…You can come and arrest me after I actually commit a crime, why don't you give me a couple of days to settle in my new life and come pick me up then?" she said upset, she was being really hostile and they couldn't even blame her, she looked terrible and it was clear she'd been through a lot on the street.
"Why are you angry with us?" Cat asked confused.
"I'm not angry with you" Jade said coldly "But I don't have time for all the judgement, I haven't eaten in days, my head is killing me and I just want to go, so again, if I'm not under arrest, I'm leaving" She said upset and they couldn't even respond, she was clearly angry, but not with them, with life.
"So, you'll go to him and become one of his girls? The girls he 'protects' but beats up when they don't bring him enough money? I'm sure he seems nice now, but all his girls have to cover their quota if they want the drugs and the housing, that usually means five or six customers each night, five nights a week, I'm not making this up, we've interviewed some of his girls at the ER, after he gave them a beating for being lazy" Anna commented upset, while Jade stared at her even more scared.
"Why don't you arrest him then?" Andre asked confused.
"They don't press charges and the ones who did ended up going back to him, so the cases were dropped" Anna commented "Still, he is a manipulative piece of garbage, do you have any idea of what kind of life you'd be signing up for if you go to him?" Anna asked Jade and she stayed quiet for a few seconds as she thought about it, but then she took a breath to speak.
"I'm not stupid…You think I want this?" Jade asked sadly, finally showing how she truly felt "But I've been on the street for ten days and believe me, it can't get any worse than this, at least he offered me a place to stay, the other assholes weren't so generous" she added upset.
"Who?" Tori asked worriedly and Jade sighed.
"Let's just say…the streets are not exactly safe" Jade said as she pulled her turtle neck down a little and they saw she had strangling marks on her neck, so their eyes wide opened "And it's not nice to wake up to some asshole trying to take your pants off in the middle of night in a lonely park" she added.
"You were attacked?" Anna asked worriedly and her parents looked each other feeling even worse.
"I got away…both times, self-defense classes finally paid off…so thanks for that" Jade said to her parents, but they didn't even know what to say.
"Oh my god" Tori said sadly.
"Still, it wasn't easy to escape and I even considered going back to my dad, but I don't know where he is, so if I have to take drugs and be nice to that man in order to have food, a bed and a roof over my head, I'll do it, it's not like my future looks any brighter than this anyway…I might as well just accept it now" she added sincerely and her parents closed their eyes sadly, they felt so guilty for having put her through that.
"I don't understand, why didn't you come to me?" Beck asked confused, he felt so frustrated just hearing her story, he only ever wanted to protect her "I would've helped you, what were you thinking?"
"Because there is no point, we are over, Jade was a lie and you have to face it" Jade said "And I do too, I have to face the fact my life as a normal girl is over, going to you would've meant prolonging a fantasy, it's selfish and you need to move on" she added sadly.
"You have no right to make that decision for me" Beck affirmed coldly "I choose to be here for you because I love you and it's not a fantasy" He added and she sighed.
"I'm sorry" Jade said sincerely "But we can't be together now"
"Why not?" Beck asked confused.
"I'm nobody, Beck, do you understand that?" Jade asked "Things can't be like before, I won't see you at school or go to the movies or hang out at Nozu…because I'm homeless, can you please take a moment and really understand what that means?" She questioned sadly "I have nothing and no one" she added as a couple of tears streamed down her cheeks.
"That's not true, you are not homeless" Evelyn said but Jade didn't understand, so she looked at her confused and then turned to Ana.
"Why did you bring me here?" She asked Anna and she smiled.
"I got a call" Anna said.
"Evelyn and I talked a lot about this and…we are sorry, we shouldn't have reacted the way we did" Mr. West said.
"Are you serious? You don't have to apologize, I lied to you" Jade said disconcertedly "I deserved to go to prison" She added and Evelyn shook her head.
"No, darling, you didn't deserve prison, you didn't deserve any of the things that happened to you" Evelyn said as her voice cracked and her eyes filled with tears.
"What?" Jade asked confused and Evelyn hugged her, so she stood there not knowing what to do.
"It's time to come home" Mr. West said and Evelyn broke the hug to look at her face.
"What are you talking about?" Jade asked, she didn't understand anything.
"We want you back" Evelyn responded.
"I don't understand, you have your real daughter now" Jade said "Why would you want me?"
"Because we took care of you for three wonderful years and you brought the light back into our lives when we needed it the most, we can't just forget that" Evelyn said.
"It was a lie, I don't belong here, I don't belong anywhere" Jade said sincerely, with sadness and resignation dripping from her voice.
"That's not true" Beck said and she sighed.
"No, it is..." Jade responded "I shouldn't have left my dad, I belonged there and I should've known lying wouldn't get me far, it was a mistake"
"Honey, you can't think that way, you escaped and it was the right thing to do" Anna affirmed.
"That's right, you never belonged with that man, you belong with us" Evelyn affirmed and Jade stared at her disconcertedly "After the trial, we came home and I had my husband, I had my daughter but I couldn't feel at peace, I couldn't live with myself knowing you were out there alone, because you are our daughter too"
"What?" Jade asked surprised and Evelyn hugged her again.
"You are not alone in the world and I don't want you to ever feel that way again" She responded "I'm so sorry for the way I treated you, I was in shock but it's all in the past now, we can start fresh, as a whole family"
"What about the real Jade?" Jade asked.
"My name hasn't been Jade for years, I respond better to Diana…that's what my other family called me, you can keep Jade for all I care" The girl said and sighed "Listen, I'm sorry I was so aggressive to you, I had no idea what your life had been like…I'm glad my parents could protect you from that man, let them keep protecting you now"
"Is this really happening right now?" Jade asked Anna and she smiled happily.
"I was just as surprised when they called me, but it's true, you do have a family and you have a name, they've offered to officially adopt you as Jade West once Diana changes her name" She responded and Jade looked at her parents shocked.
"Really?" She asked disconcertedly and they nodded smiling, but that felt so strange that she couldn't really process it.
"You're home now and you're safe because we are your family" Mr. West said and everyone smiled, but she was just overwhelmed, she felt she was dreaming.
"I guess that makes us sisters, uh?" Diana said and Jade felt awkward, so she stared at her a little confused.
"I uh…?" She mumbled and Diana hugged her as well, so Jade loosely hugged her back. The truth was she felt uncomfortable because they knew the truth, but it was nice to have a home again and she was not about to reject it and go back to the street.
"See? Isn't it a nice surprise?" Anna asked her excitedly and Jade smiled at her awkwardly.
"Yeah…" She said still confused.
"I was so worried about you" Beck said and held her hands "But now everything can be like it was before" He added gladly and she looked down.
"I'm not so sure about that, now you know the truth…" Jade said ashamedly.
"Jade, why didn't you tell us?" Tori asked. "You know, about the others…"
"It's not something you want people to know, but my lawyer insisted that I had to tell the jury everything so that they could understand" Jade admitted "But I was not expecting that other man to suggest I was planning to kill you, that was…" she added and shook her head "You know that's not true, right?" She asked her parents worriedly.
"Of course, don't worry about it" Mr. West said.
"You shouldn't have even been in trial, we should've listened to you instead of calling the police" Evelyn said regretfully "I'm so sorry, honey, you went through all of this because of us" She added.
"It's fine" Jade said emotionlessly.
"No, it's not" Evelyn said "I need you to know I would take it all back if I could, I love you and I never stopped, I was just blinded by anger, but it was wrong"
"I know and I get it" Jade responded sincerely.
"But that's behind us, this is a fresh start for everyone" Mr. West said.
"Thank you, really" Jade said and they smiled at her "What do I call you now?" She asked.
"Honey, let's just pretend the whole lie thing never happened, we are your parents, so call us mom and dad, we don't want things to change" Evelyn said and she sighed.
"Are you sure about this?" Jade asked still confused "You don't have to do it only because you feel bad for me, I know you have reasons to pity me, but you don't have to do this"
"Jade, you lied to us but the time we spent together wasn't a lie and we love you, we are not lying about that" Mr. West said.
"You love your daughter, but I'm not her" Jade responded.
"You're not our biological daughter, but you are ours because we want you to be" He commented and Evelyn smiled at her "As Anna said, we want to formally adopt you, it's not a joke"
"Are you sure?" She asked again and Evelyn laughed a little.
"Honey, this is not gonna go away, you don't have to be afraid anymore" Evelyn said and held her hands "We are absolutely sure, I know it feels odd for you after what happened but we are not going anywhere"
"That's right, we are a family now…a bigger one" Mr. West said and Jade sighed as she finally allowed herself to believe them, she wanted to, so badly "You're home now and that's all that matters"
Yay
Some happiness at last...but this story ain't over yet ;)
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