turning page - nm

X. don't be a stranger

february 6, 2021
milwaukee, wisconsin

when jayden woke up, the room was empty.

the previous night when she went to sleep, she was curled into the side of nika, and now she was alone. her hands pressed into the sheets below her as she pushed herself up and off the bed.

a t-shirt hung off her shoulder and a pair off shorts were tied loosely on her waist. she pressed her hands into her face when she looked in the mirror, her hair an absolute mess.

jayden groaned and walked over to her bag, digging through it for an elastic. she tied her hair back and started to gather her stuff.

she pulled her top off and replaced it with a grey uconn shirt. the pajama shorts were now a pair of black sweatpants and she slipped on her nike sneakers aswell.

once all of her bags were packed up, she left a five-dollar-bill on the desk for housekeeping and left for the lobby. while she walked down the hallway, a certain door caught her eyes and she decided to make a pitstop.

she knocked on the door lightly, nika appearing on the other side. the taller girl breath instantly retracted at the sight of jayden, her hand grabbing the handle so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

jayden shuffled on her heels, "can we talk? please."

"we don't need to talk about it," her harsh tone shocked the girl slightly, a light flinch coming from her.

just as nika went to close the door, jayden stuck her foot through the opening, "please, nika."

"theres nothing to talk about. it was a mistake, so we can forget about it," slight glossiness covered the taller girls eyes as she kicked out jaydens foot, slamming the door in her face. a scoff escaped her lips at what just happened.

how does somebody go from calling her "baby" and "pretty girl" to hating her in one night?

jayden took a step backwards, disbelief covering her face. she looked at her hands, trying to stop them from shaking. a voice pulled her out of her thoughts, "jayden, you good?" they shouted, walking closer.

she looked up from her hands, instantly relaxing at the sight of the blonde girl. a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

paige jogged over and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back. "what happened?"

she rested her head against her chest, sniffling lightly. "nothing, i'm fine."

paige pulled out of the hug, grabbing her shoulders softly. "your not fine, jayds. i can tell."

she shook slightly, trying to hold in her tears. when paige grabbed her face, she finally broke down. "i'm so mad at her right now."

"let's go to my room, okay? we can talk in there."

jayden nodded her head in response and started down the hallway. paige had her arm wrapped around her shoulder, rubbing it to calm her down.

they got into the room and the blonde fiddled around with the keycard, "shit! hold on."

paige knocked on the door. the light turned green and the door clicked open, aaliyah standing on the other side. paige hushed her inside while jayden cried quietly.