Calling For Summer [GirlxGirl]

Chapter Twenty-Two

| Winter Alexander |

"Do you think they're done yet?" Jade asked as we approached the door to our apartment.

"God, I hope so." I groaned, unlocking and opening the door. I listened carefully as we entered. It was quiet. "Oh thank god!"

"You don't hear anything?"

"No, I think we're good."

"God bless."

We walked in to see Autumn sitting at the kitchen table, and I was now able to hear the distinct sound of the shower going. As soon as she saw us, Autumn stood up.

"Oh, you guys are back! So um," she looked down, a slight smile forming on her face, "Matt and I are engaged obviously, I may seem like I'm not excited but I'm actually crying from happiness on the inside so."

Jade and I laughed. "Well congrats, sis!"

Jade was about to say something as well, but was interrupted by the sound of her phone. She made a 'one minute' motion with her finger and answered the call.

"Hello?" she spoke.

"Why are you calling me?"

At first I assumed the person on the other line was Jade's dad again, but then the following words came out of her mouth: "I thought you told me never to come back? That you would call the police if my presence were to ever grace your doorstep again?"

Why is her mom calling her?

"Don't yell at me. I'll be there soon, but I'm bringing my girlfriend and you're going to deal with it."

Jade sighed and hung up the phone. "Come on Winnie, we're going to my mom's house."

"Why?" I asked as she grabbed my hand.

"I don't know. My mom just called me saying it's urgent, and as much as I would like to ignore her, if my mom says it's urgent, it's urgent, you know? She doesn't exaggerate a lot so for her to say it's urgent . . . that means some serious shit is going down." At this point I could tell she was just mumbling, most likely out of anxiousness, but I let her continue as we made our way to Autumn's car. "Maybe a family member died. Maybe it was crazy Shelly? I wouldn't completely mind that," her words were tumbling over each other and I could barely make out what she was saying. Barely. "Maybe dad died, wouldn't completely mind that either, maybe dad's back in-" Jade stopped in her loosely guided tracks right as she was about to get into the driver's seat.

"What's wrong?"

"My dad. He's back in town."

"Do you want to go back?"

"No. No, I need to see him. I want to tell him how low I think of him in person."

"Well, alright."

The car ride to Jade's old house was silent. Not the comfortable silence, maybe not even the uncomfortable silence either. It was a silence filled with our individual thoughts hanging in the air above us, and though the taciturnity was strong - I'm sure we could both sense it - our mouths remained closed and our minds remained expectant.

"Jade," I said, as we started walking to the front door. Half of me regretted calling her attention because now she expected me to say something great, while the other half of me was glad to have said something. The noiselessness was of the unbearable nature to me.

Her face looked at me expectantly, and we both slowed our paces considerably. "Jade," I repeated, and went on, "I know this is incredibly nerve wracking for you, as it is for me. But whatever happens in there," I sighed. I know I shouldn't be the scared one. "I need you to understand that I will stick by you, and that I . . ." I looked down, and then directly into her eyes, as I spoke the words, "I love you."