You're A Mess, Tangled With Your Confidence

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I could hear him covering a laugh once he answered my call. I knew it. 

"Uh, hey Jake. What-*scoff*-What's going on?" I raised an eyebrow. 

"Strider, I know what you did." I could hear another scoff covered by a fake cough. 

"What are you implying English?" I could see the smile on his face he was probably doing. 

"Don't play coy with me. You do know what this means right?" I could tell I captured his interest. 

"Oh?" 

"This means war." Before he could protest I hung up. 

I walked back down stairs and rolled my eyes to myself, already thinking of ways to get him back. So many opportunities. I broke into a smile and slid my phone into the front pocket of my pajama shirt. I walked in and found Jade putting her dishes away in the sink. Beck expectantly wagged his tail, wanting to play. Jade leaned down and petted him while his glossed over green eyes inspected her. We didn't know exactly why his eyes were the way they were, but they didn't seem to bother him. He could see perfectly fine. He was a pretty big dog when I thought about it. We didn't even know what breed he was. He was just sort of showed up on our doorstep. For a dog he sure was mysterious. But seriously, everyone I knew was mysterious. 

"So Jade, are you feeling better?" I inquired as she stood and stretched. She turned to me, smiling. 

"Yeah, I might just need some fresh air. Want to take Beck on a walk with me?" She asked hopefully. I chuckled a bit seeing how much it excited her. 

"Of course." She beamed then went upstairs to probably clean up. Speaking of, I had to do the same. 

*Time Skip* 

I held Beck's leash as we walked down a slightly beaten up sidewalk with rows of shrubs and flowers flanking the sides. I looked at Jade who seemed happy with herself at the moment. I was relieved she felt better, and figured I could go back to school now. The sun shone and created rays throughout the trees. I remembered Jane and what she had done. I blushed in spite of myself. We stopped before crossing the sidewalk. I held Jade's hand as we walked for obvious reasons. I remembered when we didn't have to worry about small things like crossing the street or  being cautious of strangers. We did have Beck with us which was always a big plus. I would think of carrying my guns around but figured that was making it too troublesome. Our entire family owned guns and knew a lot about artillery. It wasn't exactly normal seeing a middle schooler taking a rifle with her everywhere she went. And I with my pistols. Especially with the school system around here and their rules and regulations. I huffed and Jade lifted an eyebrow at me. 

"What are you sulking about?" she asked in a familiar tone. I glanced over at her and she was inspecting me intentively. She was surprisingly good when it came to reading people's' emotions and different social cues. She observed a person's movements and she just sort of knew. Unlike me. I was completely hopeless when it came to social stuff in general. 

"Sulking? Me? No, no, I was just thinking of how things are different here than from home." I could tell she didn't buy it and she punched me in the arm with her free hand. 

"Ow, what the hell?!" She laughed and I rubbed where she had hit my arm. I wasn't exactly lying. 

"I'm not blind Jake I know you better than anyone. So maybe tell the truth this time?" I sighed and tugged her hand slightly while we turned a corner. Beck was panting and smelling the air, as if searching for something. 

"It's just I miss home. Things here are too upfront and strange. I liked it when we were on the island we didn't have to worry about laws or other things. Sometimes I regret being here but since I've made friends here it's been better. You know I get homesick easily." I explained and she nodded. 

"Yeah, no I get it. It's hard. I miss home too." She said softly. I could tell her mind was in another place from here. As was mine, most of the time in the thick forestry I had come to know and love. I could feel the ghost of my depression creeping up on me, and I frowned slightly. 

"What about you Jade? Have you made any friends here?" I tried changing the subject. I could tell I bummed her out. I felt a small wave of guilt. I didn't want her to deal with my baggage. It was hers too but she was handling it better than me. 

"Yes, actually. Three of them." I looked at her and she brightened up. 

"Oh?" she was full on smiling now and I smirked. 

"Their names are Dave, Rose, and John." she explained and that peaked my interest. Especially since I recognized one of those names. 

"Dave Strider?" I asked and she gave me a surprised look. I didn't know if it was just me but I saw her hide a blush. Better keep an eye on Dirk's little brother. 

"Yep, that's the one. Wait... isn't Dirk his brother?" she caught on fast and a small look of dread crossed her face. She knew. 

"Indeed." She heard the tone in my voice and cringed. 

"Jake, you better not do anything rash! He's just.. a friend..." I knew she liked him and I didn't know how to feel about that. I decided to pretend to play it off. 

"I didn't say he wasn't Jade. Someone's a little defensive." She was still blushing and she scoffed. 

"I wasn't- *small groan* you're doing this just to annoy me aren't you?" I laughed and she glared at me. 

*Time Skip* 

It was the next day, the same day I decided to go back to school. I felt stares weighing on my face and I tried not to notice. I heard lots of whispering and pulled my headphones out per usual to ignore the attention. I played what song I was listening to last. It was Crown The Empire. I headed in the direction of my locker as the music played. 

"This is your time, Your life's flashing before your eyes. And soon enough you will realize that this is goodbye, but what if I gave you a chance? You just have to sell your soul. Look around, what do you see? The choices you never had the guts to make? I'm sorry you never could be the man that you wanted, but regret is wasted on me. I can feel air inside my lungs again. All because of you. I can rebuild my life and start again. All because of you."

I was suddenly jolted out of my calmness when I felt a hand pulling me forcefully backwards, trying to throw me to the ground.