Fooled

One

"Lies require commitment." -Veronica Roth

"I think I won this one," Jade says. 

Quinn and I both know Jade won this round of fools the second she approached us April first with a Cheshire smile spread across her mischievous face. Although we didn't know what to expect, neither of us thought Jade would have went with the I'm-moving-schools prank. She was so serious about it; we found it hard to think of it as a joke. She even started sobbing due to her not wanting to move and leave us behind. This prank let Quinn and I know that Jade's the one to look out for in actually sticking with a lie.

Quinn and I both laugh in response, but it's Quinn who says, "That was not cool though. We thought you were actually leaving us."

Jade plops on her stomach on my bed and rests her chin on the back of her hands. Her gaze is fixated in the space between Quinn and me, obviously preoccupied by thinking of something. She finally returns to Earth with Quinn and I. "I would never leave you guys, you know that." She says.

"That's what you said when we went to homecoming as a group," I say, remembering the night pretty well. The teal mermaid dress I bought from the local bridal shop that I had my eye on for years finally became mine. I paired it with silver heels that had jewels bedazzling it, so whenever I walked in a certain light, they glistened, making me feel like a true princess. Quinn and I drove to the hall together while Jade met us there after her mom dropped her off since Jade requested to be there early for some reason we don't know to this day. We nicknamed ourselves the power puff girls because Quinn rocked a pastel pink halter dress while Jade fancied a green waterfall one. We looked absolutely, powerful and stunning together as a trio. Until Jade left Quinn and I to be Bubbles and Blossom alone. "Then you left us for Jimmy Olden."

"Oh, please," Jade whines as she rolls her eyes. "If it was Eric or Hector, you both would have done the same thing." 

Eric has been Quinn's crush since freshman year, and Hector is a guy I've been crushing on for a long while now. And by a long while, I mean since sixth grade.

I don't say anything in response to Jade, because I know she's right. If Hector ever approached me and asked for a dance that night, I wouldn't have hesitated. But he didn't, so Quinn and I were left alone while Jade went off doing whatever crazy shenanigans it was she did.

Jade, short for Jayden, Young fits her name perfectly. She is not trying one bit to act anywhere near her current age. All she's doing is acting... young. We first met in elementary school. Back then, we were mortal enemies, and we let each other know we hated each other. Funnily enough, there was no real reason to why we despised each other so much. We barely said a single word to one another.

Jayden was not the good girl at ten years old, and she never became that person. It was in sixth grade when she changed her name from Jayden to Jade, claiming Jade is mature and rebellious sounding. Those two words in a single sentence is a contradiction on itself. After sixth grade, Jade stopped using the word mature and began calling herself "young"; it became her excuse for when she got in trouble doing things she wasn't supposed to be doing. The infamous words would almost always inevitably come out: "But I'm young, I'm supposed to make mistakes."

That really bothered me.

In middle school, we got in a fight. No one expected me to actually throw a punch, but I did, and it knocked Jade to the ground. She was so furious at me, so embarrassed that I knocked her down, she jumped back up, pulled my hair, then punched me square in the nose.

We were both sent to the principal's office that day, and according to him, we needed to start talking and sort everything out which led to us eventually becoming friends. Neither of us were on board with the idea in the beginning, so we served detention and our parents were contacted. Turns out, Jade's mom and my mom are best friends. They wanted us to be friends as well, so Jade's mom came over occasionally, and we were forced to hang out and share things like typical friends would do.

It wasn't until eighth grade we finally grew on each other. I remember I had a crush on this guy, whose name is completely irrelevant right now, and he said something rude to me about my outfit choice, and Jade stepped in, defending me. When I thanked her, she said, "Don't sweat it. It's what friends do, right?"

As if fate was testing us, we were then partners in life science that same week. From that day on, we became friends and had each other's back. We were overprotective of each other over everything, and when Quinn came along freshman year, our friendship only grew stronger.

Out of us three, Quinn is the angel child. She's still adventurous like Jade and I, and she spoke nonstop, but she's the one who usually tells us that some things are not meant to be done. Like smoking weed in the girl's bathroom sophomore year because Jade stole it from her step-dad, or ditching class because we were bored and didn't feel like dealing with boring lectures.

Jade and I met Quinn Phillip during freshman year orientation. Since things went in alphabetical order by last name, I fit with the "Lo-R" students in which Quinn was waiting at too. Quinn and I were alone together, so I began the conversation. I remember her telling me she was new to the school district. She came from Oklahoma. She was so pale and her dark hair complemented it. She easily laughed at my jokes. I thought she would be a great addition to Jade and I, so I introduced her to Jade, and pretty soon, we were the group of friends.

Jade, Quinn, and April.

April, Quinn, and Jade.

The group that formed and everyone knew not to separate them because we wouldn't ever leave each other. We were also the group who took things to the extreme in order to have a good time.