I suffered through the rest of the day with aches and pains. I must've been the thing most people were talking about because everyone just kept looking at me and whispering. It was kind of making me really insecure about everything. But Jade and Tori were with me for the rest of the day and only left me when they had a different class then I did. The only class I had that they didn't was my Costume Design class and my Special Effects class.
After school, Jade tried to talk me into coming over to her house again.
"Cat, please! I don't want you getting near him again. Not after last night. What if he hurts you again? Well?"
"Jade, trust me, I can protect myself."
Jade obviously didn't believe me, probably because I was lying straight through my teeth. I probably couldn't protect myself against a spider. Jade stared me down until I finally caved in to her. I don't know what it is, but Jade had this way of talking me into doing things without even talking. Weird, right?
The drive to her house was in complete and awkward silence. Every now and then, Jade would look over at me to see what I was doing. Most of the time I would be looking out the window, thinking. Sometimes I would just be looking dead ahead. Other times I would be looking at my bandaged arms.
"Jade?" I said, still looking at my arms.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think, you know, maybe I deserved this?"
"Why would you possibly deserve it? I still can't get over the fact that your dad did it in the first place! You really shouldn't think that way, it's not healthy."
I thought over this for a bit. I didn't understand it that much either. He was angry, I was there, that's all it took apparently.
"Yeah, right…" I responded
We got to Jade's place after about 23 minutes of being in a car. It was a huge apartment building, maybe thirty or more floors, with a lot of windows. It was blue with a clear sliding door entrance. I haven't been to Jade's house a lot of times before. Yet I do know it well enough to tell you the exact contents of the bathroom, living room, and Jade's room. She thought that that was kind of stalkerish though.
Jade brought me inside and up to her apartment; it was just as I had remembered it to be. She lived up on the twenty-seventh floor of the big blue building. Jade had just recently moved into the building. Mr. West, Jade's father, had kicked her out of his house for reasons I have not yet discovered. I really wish I knew though, I just hate not being aware of things. Especially things that have to do with my friends and their life. I hated it. And I'm not even a hateful person.
Like I said, Jade's apartment looked like the devil barfed all over it. Walls were blood red and there was black shag carpeting in all of the little rooms. The only two bedrooms that were there each had a bed, a desk, and a dresser. The bathroom was the only room that had white walls and furniture. Jade showed me to the room she said I could spend the night in. When I looked into it, it was different than the last time I saw it. Now, it had black walls but there were also blue and purple waves. Kind of like if you've ever seen the Northern Lights. It was really breath taking, in a way. Jade told me that she designed and painted the room all herself. Wow, she was super talented; it looked exactly like an aurora. Also, there was now a bedside table with a red lamp on it that you tapped for it to turn on.
"I'm only staying for one night. Ok, Jade. Only one."
She glared at me. It was a very, very uncomfortable one, too. It was almost icy; like I could literally feel icicles slowly, but painfully piercing my face. I felt goose bumps starting to rise on my arms. Her blue eyes felt like they could see right through me; right past all the lies I've told today, all the thoughts in my head, and all the other things that they could possibly see through. It was kind of scary actually. Like, you know how Medusa turned men to stone? Well, as I stood there, that's exactly what I felt like. That's the only other way I know how to explain this sort of feeling, a feeling only a West could give you.
"One night. Maybe two. Or possibly three. I guess we'll see if you change your mind…"