Blandview High Musical

31. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)

James was asleep in Jade's bed. He was sleeping on his stomach, his face buried in the pink satin sheets. The bed was depressed from where Jade had been lying, but she was awake and going through his things. She was sitting on the chair by the door, where his jacket was hanging. Her fingers surfed through the pockets, finding his wallet. If there was anything that would give away who he was, it would be in his wallet. Some form of identification, almost anything was suffice. This game she was playing was aged. A more technical term is "sleeping with the enemy". It's a horrible sexist position that agencies will put female agents into at times. Never mind that, the position Jade had put herself in was a dangerous one still. She had told Shayne about James and had told him she thought he was working for Stone Ind. Shayne had warned her to stay away from him, but as usual...she didn't listen.

Finally, her eyes went wide on finding what she had been looking for. Not only his wallet, but his passport was stuck inside the pocket as well. James groaned softly as he shifted around in bed. Jade pulled the wallet out and started flipping through it. He had several credit cards, but no debit card. No bank cards. She pulled the identification card from the pocket, lifting it up to reveal the photo of James. Behind the ID was a card from Stone Industries, embossed just like all the others. It had his name on it. She hurried to put everything back, not even bothering to look at the passport. She shoved the card into her dresser drawer, under the lacy undergarments. Just as she was shutting the drawer, she looked up and James was standing behind her. She turned around as he stepped forward, pinning her between himself and the dresser.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Just going through my things, trying to figure out what I'll wear tonight." She said. He leaned forward, sinking against her. "You wouldn't lie to me, right?" He asked. He lifted his head, his dark eyes rolling over her features. She reached up, placing her hand on his cheek. "Of course not." She said, tugging him close to her. "Come back to bed with me." He urged.

Javier walked through the nearly empty airport terminal with his bag. He looked over his shoulder back towards the exit. Inside the briefcase was a month's worth of clothes and ten thousand dollars. The money had come with a threatening message to leave Los Angeles and return to Texas, or a drastic action would be taken. It was accompanied by a photo of Jade. Javier shouldn't have cared that much. He shouldn't have felt pushed out over someone who meant nothing. The light reflected over his yellow aviators as he turned back towards the terminal, his feet scoring against the tile as he walked. There was no guarantee that she'd be safe even with him gone.

Javier had not been completely honest about who he had been in a previous life. Back in 1999, Javier had been subject to working with the police force to uncover some tax criminals. Only one person had been caught but had managed to bargain his way out escaping with only 6 months of community service. The dark swirling pools the man had for eyes still haunted Javier even after nearly 30 years. It had nearly destroyed all that was good in him and had caused him to turn towards drinking as a crutch. His own alcoholism had led him down a dark path, one that egged on suicide at every whim and turn. Now, things were no different. He wasn't strong enough to stand up against whatever was going to happen...so he was choosing to run. Choosing to not say anything and just leave.

Back home, I was sitting in my room. My parents could be heard downstairs...arguing. I hadn't wanted to be in the middle of it. I wanted to be left alone. It seemed like every time my father would push, my mother would push back tenfold. I felt stupid, stuck in the middle like this. Of course, what did I expect? For my father to just pop back in our lives and everything would be a fairy tale ending? Get real...no one's life is like that unless someone else is doing the writing or directing. Instead, I tried to draw my attention away from the bickering and shouting of obscenities to bury myself in schoolwork. Mr. Bannon had been so impressed with my performance that he had asked me to help some of the other students, however...it was taking a toll on me. I hadn't been able to accomplish any other work thus far.