DaveJade

Jade Chp. 6

     Time passes quickly and before I know it, it's Thursday. I told John and Rose that me and Dave we're going to be going to hang out, just us today. John told us to have fun, while Rose nodded while smiling, the same smile that showed she knew more than you'd think.

"Hey Jade." I close my locker and find Dave behind the door, casually leaning on locker 131. I smile, the cool kid has arrived.

I greet him and we walk out of school together, just talking. He mostly asks about me, he always finds a way to change the subject when we talk about him. He seems slightly awkward under his cool shades, but I kinda like that.

He asks where I came from, why I'm here, and simple things like my favorite color. I don't find out much about him, only his favorite color (red), where he lives (an apartment with his big brother), and how he became friends with John (over the Internet, like me!).

I wonder what else he's hiding, but I don't press him on it, once we're closer, maybe then he'll say more.

We reach a coffee shop and asks what I want, I settle for a hot chocolate, he asks for some coffee. We take the warm drinks and go.

"So where are we going now?" I ask as I sip the hot chocolate, it warms me up from the slightly frosty fall air.

"You'll see." He smiles slightly. I look around curiously, and look over at him. His blond hair is being blown back slightly from the chilly breeze and he's facing straight forward. I wonder why he wears his sunglasses so much, maybe some weird condition where light hurts his eyes. Is that a thing?

He leads us off the sidewalk and into a small park with a little pond. Ducks are swimming across it, and leaves are floating around in it. Lots of trees all turned red, orange, and yellow surround us. There's stone benches here and there along the dirt paths, and Dave leads us to one facing the pond.

"Wow, it's really beautiful here!" I smile and look around, taking in the beautiful park.

"Yeah. I like to come here sometimes." I look over at Dave, his cheeks are slightly red, probably from the slightly frosty air.

"Why do you wear those sunglasses so much?" I ask, too curious to keep it in anymore. His right hand rises up to his glasses lightly touching the side.

"My sunglasses? Oh, well they're sorta, uh, ironic. Yeah, you know. Sorta a joke, but they're a cool joke." Dave replies.

"Ironic?"

"John got them for my birthday, and so now I never take them off."

"You should though."

"What?"

"Take them off."

"Oh, uh, I can't."

"Ok then, you should sometime though. The world is prettier when it's not full and dark." I look away from him and look around again and enjoy the view and my hot chocolate.

I tilt the cup up to get the last few drops then throw the cup away in a trash can nearby me. Dave does the same then stands. I put my hands in my pockets to warm them up a little then glance over at him, wondering if he has anything else planned.

He looks very conflicted. I wonder what he's thinking about, whatever it is he seems bothered by it.

"Are you ok?" I ask.

"Oh, yeah. Wanna walk around a little before leaving?" He asks, he seems a little nervous.

"Sure!" I reply happily. He smiles a little, but it leaves quickly.

We begin to walk on a path, there's lots of leaves on the sides, there's a small family and one couple off in the distance, on the other side of the pond.

I look over at Dave again, he seems to be lost in thought. I look at the ground, thinking. There's got to be a way to break this awkward silence, and get through to Dave. He's the cool kid, but he's more than that underneath his ironic shades.

"Hey, Jade?" Dave talks suddenly.

"Yeah?" I say curiously.

"I, uh, just wanted to say sorry for being sorta weird." He says, to my surprise.

"Weird?"

"Yeah, I just, I've been a little awkward around you." He stops walking and then turns to face me. When he looks down at me I realize how tall he is compared to me, I feel like one of my garden gnomes compared to him. It's not that I'm super short, he's just incredibly tall.

"I don't think so, but thanks anyways, I've had a great time!" I smile, and he smiles back a little.

"I'm glad. I can walk you home if you want." He offers.

"Sure!" We start heading to John's house.

"So, how's it been at John's?" Dave asks.

"Good!" I say. "How's your apartment?"

"It's nice." There it happens again, he seems to tense slightly.

"What's your room like?"

"It's got a great view of the town." Is all he says, not really answering my question. "We're here!"

"Yep! Thanks again Dave, I had a great time." I say, slightly disappointed to be home.

"Yeah, bye Jade. See you tomorrow." Dave walks away with his hands in his pockets.

So I'm back! I'll be updating my other story real quick here, I'm hoping to make it sorta long to make up for the long wait. I know I hate waiting myself, so I've finally updated. I have lots of plans for this story, but this chapter wasn't filled with a whole lot, mostly just them bonding. Have a fantastic day!