Fifty

Rick's POV

We were back at school but without Zach. Blake, Elektra and Faith's form were curious as to what had happened. Most of us had been asked at least once where he was. Our answer. To ignore them and not actually answer. Zach had asked us not to tell anyone at school where he was. Poor Jade was finding it hard to not answer or lash out. We are currently in maths and Jade is just drawing moodily on her exercise book. Jessie looked up from her sums and looked at me. I could see the concern in her eyes for Jade. She wasn't taking it as well as we had first thought. Jessie leaned towards me.

"Should one of us take her out and talk to her?" she whispered to me. I glanced up at her again. I nodded and put my hand up. Our teacher came over to us and I whispered about Jade and Zach. They looked at Jade, tapped Jessie on the shoulder and told the pair of us to take her. We nodded and tugged at Jade's arm to get her to come with us. We walked out the classroom and sat on the floor in the corridor.

"Jade," Jessie started. "I know you are not alright so I'm not going to ask a stupid question but please. Tell us how you feel and scream and shout and let the tension go. We're worried about you." Jade looked up at us and I saw for the first time the tears that were streaming down her face.

"I can't really shout in the school building," she said quietly. Me and Jessie smiled gently. Jade took a pause. "He's going to die and I can't do anything for him. We've been together for a year. He got me through all the time in the warehouse. I love him and I can do nothing for him." Jade held her wrist and twisted the skin on her wrist. I saw Jessie's eyes light up.

"Jade. You, me and Rick are going to go outside onto the field for a bit," Jessie said carefully. She helped Jade up and I led the way to the field. We stumbled out the school and sat down on the field.

Very suddenly, Jessie grabbed Jade's arm and pulled her jumper up. I saw red marks on her arms. Now I understood why Jessie had looked scared when she had seen Jade twisting her skin. She was self-harming. "Jade. You need to answer me truthfully. How long have you been self-harming?" Jessie said going straight into medical mode. As I have told her before she should become and nurse or doctor but every time she tells me that she is going to be a teacher.

"Since the Monday Zach went to hospital and we found out he was dying," Jade said quietly.

"A week," Jessie said sighing. "Jade, there is no need for self-harm."

"Zach's right. It is addictive, like a drug, and it really does make you feel better," Jade murmured quietly, hoping we wouldn't hear it.

This time I was the one who picked up on what she said. "Wait. Zach does this as well," I asked shocked. Jade looked suitably embarrassed. She nodded. "We're going to have to ask him about this later," I mumbled to Jessie. She nodded. "Look Jade. Self-harm won't solve anything. It can't make Zach better." I appealed to her.

"I know. But it's the first step to suicide," Jade said. At this both me and Jessie reacted.

"Jade Casey. You are not going to commit suicide when Zach dies. You are not. It's wrong. So many people value life or wish that somebody could be alive but you are going to throw it all away just because you feel like you can't cope with Zach being ill," Jessie practically shouted at her. She was livid. I placed my hand on Jessie's wrist to stop her leaping on Jade. It calmed her down and I finished off.

"Life is precious and lots of people get through the death of someone they love. You can too," I said carefully. She glared up at us.

"No, I can't. Zach is my life. Without him I have no life," she explained.

"Yes you do. You had a life before him and you can continue to have one without him," I told her. She looked up at me tears streaming down her face. She shook her head slowly and burst into uncontrollable tears. Jessie looked a bit shocked but pulled her in for a hug. I mouthed that I would go get our school bags while she comforted Jade. She nodded and just let Jade cry. I ran into the school building and to our maths class. I grabbed all three school bags, chucking our books in our bags and quickly gave a hurried explanation to the teacher as to why we weren't coming back in. She nodded and I ran back outside to see Jessie talking quietly to Jade and Jade more calm and controlled. I went and sat back down. I realised as I sat down that Jade was explaining what she had meant.

"Rick you said that I had a life before him. Well I didn't not really. I never felt whole and I hated life. It's why I ran away," Jade started explaining. She paused and neither Jessie or I even breathed. Jade was about to open up to us, something she hadn't even done to Holly, Lily or Charlie when she was in the warehouse with them. "My parents died in a car crash when I was thirteen. I got placed in my Aunt's care. People at my new school started bullying me. My Aunt was a bit strange and nobody liked her. They thought I was strange for living with her. They bullied me because I didn't have the latest games or gadgets or nice clothes. The fact I didn't have any of this stuff didn't bother me, it was the fact that I got teased for it that hurt. The teacher knew about the bullying but she never did anything about it. And then, like lots of us, my Aunt would hit me and hurt me. She'd physically abuse me. So I ran away after just a year and a half of living with her. I then lived with Charlie, Lily and Mariella for a bit and then they left as we started to attract attention, a group of four of us. That's when I found Holly and Lily. We then wandered around for a bit before I saw Mariella on the streets, scrounging for food one day. She told us about the shelter and led us there. It was out the way, nobody ever came there. We were safe. And then that's where we met Zach and Holly and Lily met Charlie and Lily for the first time."

I noticed Jessie had tears in her eyes at the mention of Mariella and Lily. She so obviously loved her cousins. I turned back to Jade. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise. But death is still not something to consider when some people wish they could have even an hour with their loved ones." We both glanced at Jessie who was staring stony faced at the grass, trying not to let the tears slip out. Jade looked at Jessie and nodded.

"I can see that now. Plus I've got lots of friends to be with. I'm never going to be alone again," Jade added. I nodded as Jessie stood up and ran off. She was upset but at that moment. Jade needed my help more than Jessie.

A/N: So I've finally managed to do Jade's story and revealed something about Zach. Can I just say thank you to my friend Courtney who created Jade and gave me all the back-story for her? Zach was created by another friend called Tom who gave me all the information about Zach. Thank you all so much for your reviews they mean a lot. Please review this story even if you tell me it's absolute rubbish. I want to know what you think. Indigo :)