~ Present Day ~

~ Friday, November 20th - 5:20 PM ~

Honk-Honk!

André Harris was startled awake by the sudden sound of a car horn.

He jumped up from the couch and looked out the window to see his mother waving from her car as she drove away to work.

Waving back, André realized that he had been napping ever since he'd gotten home from school.

"Didn't mean to sleep for that long." he yawned, as he stood up and stretched.

The school that day had been particularly hectic with students getting ready for Thanksgiving break. André, especially, was exhausted from trying to complete all of his schoolwork in time.

Grabbing his phone off of the coffee table, he saw that both Tori and Jade left him some messages.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, André decided that it was time to listen to them.

"Might as well listen to Tori's first," he said, scrolling through his phone.

{You have 6 unheard messages: First message…}

{Umm… whenever you get the chance… call me okay? Bye.}

{Next message…}

{Okay, there's something serious that I need to get off my chest. Only I don't know whether I should tell you over the phone or- Mom, what is it?! Okay, I'm coming… I'll call you later. Bye.}

"Something serious?" André thought aloud, "What could she mean by that?"

{Next message…}

{Meet me at the park at 6:30. I'll be in front of the lotus flowers. *sighs* Bye.}

It was 5:44. So he had plenty of time to get there.

Time to listen to what Jade had to say.

{Next message…}

{… ...}

{End of message.}

It was strange, Jade was saying absolutely nothing and then hanging up.

{Next message…}

{… ... ...}

{End of message.}

Was she going to say anything at all?

{Next message…}

{*sighs* Just come to the park by 6. I'll be by the boathouse. Don't. Be. Late.}

Looking at the time, André quickly dashed out of the house and got into his car.

~ 6:09 PM ~

Once he arrived at the park, André rushed towards the lake.

As he walked along the promenade and headed towards the boathouse, André gazed around for Jade.

Eventually, he spotted the dark-haired girl leaning against a tree.

André found it peculiar that Jade was wearing sunglasses despite the fact that the sun had already set.

"'Bout time you got here." sighed Jade, as she glanced at him, "You know I don't like to be kept waiting."

"Sorry about that. You know how traffic can be around here," André said, as he walked closer to her, "So, what is it that you need to tell me?"

Jade for the first time was at a complete loss for words.

Whenever she would begin to say something, she quickly stopped herself.

It was almost like a bit of role reversal happened between the two.

So André decided to say something first.

"Look, if this is about... our secret, then whatever it is that you have to tell me… it won't change how I feel about you."

Jade stared at André with surprise and then quickly with a look of frustration.

"D-d-don't do that, okay? Just stop." she stammered, walking away from him, "Stop being so nice to me."

Hearing this confused André.

"Jade, is something wrong?" he asked, moving closer.

As André placed his hand on Jade's shoulder, she quickly turned around, "I love you, okay?!"

Shocked by what he was hearing, André was completely silent.

Fighting back tears, Jade continued, "I remember everything, André."

"Remember what?" he questioned, feeling more confused than before.

"Three years ago at Beck's birthday party? You and me in the laundry room?"

The look on André's face said it all. It was slowly coming back to him.

All of the repressed memories and feelings cascaded upon him like a rushing waterfall.

Stunned, he had to sit down on the bench nearby.

"I can't believe this. All of those memories... buried." he chuckled, incredulously.

Finally giving in to her emotions, Jade took off her shades and cried, "Why did this have to happen? W-w-we cannot have these kinds of feelings for each other at all. We just can't."

Glancing toward her, André could see Jade's tear-filled eyes welling up with raw emotion as the tears streaked makeup down her face.

If anything, it kinda explained why she was wearing her shades.

She couldn't bear to look André in his eyes and reveal this clearly vulnerable side of her.

He then got up, walked over to her, and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Jade... I'm scared too. I'm absolutely terrified of these feelings that I have for you... that we have for each other."

Calming down a little, Jade simply looked at him.

"When we were in the laundry room just talking and laughing… I wanted to ask you out so badly. I just hated the thought that you were already taken." André added, feeling relieved that they were both getting things off their chest, "After a while, it just became easier to suppress those feelings, until… until recently when they came back."

"So what exactly do we do? I'm still with Beck... but I wanna be with you too." asked Jade, nervously, "I mean, I'm not fuckin' naive to think that I can have you both, but this is seriously fucked up."

Sighing heavily, a thought came to André's mind.

A thought that he hated, but knew was the right choice.

"Jade... I love you, so much." André started, as some joggers ran past them, "But, from now on, I believe we should keep things strictly friendly."

A couple of tears streaked down Jade's cheek.

"Even though you say you love me, a part of you still loves him." André sighed, "Maybe one day we'll be together, but I don't see it happening any time soon."

"What if that day never comes? What then?"

"Then all I can wish is that Beck makes you very, very happy."

André felt a tear well up in his eye and quickly wiped it away.

"I'd like you to meet someone who is worthy of you, one who will appreciate everything about you," Jade replied as she hugged him.

They both despised feeling this way.

Being so close to the one they love while being so far away from them.

It hurt more than a heart attack.

"I have to go, I have somewhere else to be," Jade said as she stepped away from him.

André could see her crying again as she walked away.

This was honestly one of the worst days he has ever experienced.

But then he remembered that he was also supposed to meet up with Tori.

Looking at his phone, he saw that it was already 6:31.

Leaving the site of pure heartache, André began looking for her.

But unbeknownst to André and Jade, Tori was within earshot of their conversation.

She had arrived at the park earlier and caught sight of the two.

Curious about what they were talking about, she started eavesdropping.

After listening to what the two said, Tori sat quietly on a bench further down the promenade.

She gazed blankly at the fountain lights that danced in the middle of the lake.

Completely unaware of what she was going to do next.