Jerrie Short Stories

The Fake Girlfriend - 2

The steady hum of the plane is soothing but Jade can't fall asleep.

It's, like, eleven pm (or something – they're crossing a few time zones right now) and Perrie is curled up with her head resting against Jade's shoulder, breathing steadily.

Jade's Mum bought the tickets for the flight, which was really good because Jade had, like, four pounds in her account, so she was short a little. They've been flying for about an hour and they have hours left to go but Jade's got nerves fluttering in her stomach so fiercely that she can't even think about dozing off.

She's aware of why, though. When she and Perrie boarded over an hour ago, Jade pulled out her phone and told Perrie to smile, snapping a quick selfie of the two. Perrie had pouted and complained that she wasn't ready and Jade ignored her because Perrie looked like a damn model in the picture anyway (who looks good in candids? Perrie, apparently).

Jade sent the picture to her mother with a text that said 'me and date are excited and on our way!!!'

Then she immediately shut her phone off.

Perrie sighs in her sleep and Jade smiles a little at the noise. Regardless of the whole fake-girlfriend thing, it'll be really nice to have Perrie around for the weekend. Leigh-Anne has been Jade's best friend since she was ten, but she and Perrie just... connect. There's something special between the two of them that she can't deny (not that she wants to), and it's incredibly comforting as Jade's about to have to brave lots of awkward extended family nosing into her business.

She's nervous, of course. She did just come out to her mother via text message, which may not have been the most brilliant idea, but. Still.

"You're thinking too loudly."

Jade jumps a little when Perrie's voice floats up to her ear. Perrie still has her eyes closed, but she definitely just spoke.

"Sorry," Jade says.

Perrie stretches lazily as much as she can in the small space and slowly blinks her eyes open. She's like a cat when she's sleepy, Jade notes fondly.

"'S okay," Perrie yawns. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Jade turns away from Perrie's eyes, which are boring into her with alarming intensity for someone who just woke up.

"Just – you know, all the family that's going to be there and. You know how I get with talking to people," Jade replies.

Perrie's laughter rumbles in the back of her throat. "Pretty odd, considering you want to be a shrink."

"Talking about other people's problems, I can handle," Jade says, her reply practiced. This is a conversation they've had several times. "Talking about myself to people who are ready to pounce on everything I do wrong – not so much."

Perrie hums noncommittally. "What're you really worried about?"

It would be annoying, sometimes, how Perrie always seems to know what Jade's thinking, but Perrie's always been good at knowing when to push and when to let off. Even when Jade's not sure which one she needs.

"I just texted my Mum about my date," Jade says. Perrie frowns.

"My female date," Jade emphasises.

"You..." Perrie blinks slowly, looking like she's been caught off guard. Jade takes a moment to appreciate it; she very rarely catches Perrie off guard. "You came out of the closet to your Mum by texting her?"

"Well what was I supposed to do?" Jade says defensively, struggling to keep her voice down. A lot of other passengers are still sleeping. "Just show up?"