-Better

03- c o m m u n i c a t i o n

Rosario, Argentina- 15 years old

Jade woke up in the middle of the night alone, not realizing she had fallen asleep in the first place. I guess all that work tired me out, she thought. Her blankets were wrapped tightly around her and she was now wearing pajama shorts and a t-shirt she recognized as Leo's. She sighed as she laid back and thought about everything that had happened this week.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a growl from her stomach, before she realized that she hadn't eaten dinner at all last night. It couldn't hurt to get a midnight snack.

Sneaking out of her room and into the kitchen, she opened her fridge and light spread throughout the room. After searching for a while, she finally settled on some yogurt and she grabbed a spoon and tip-toed back to her room.

Her hunger quickly subsided after she finished off the container of yogurt and placed it on her bedside. Yawning, she looked at the time on her alarm clock, noting that it was 00:08 and she had a few more hours of sleep left before school in the morning.

As soon as she placed her head on the pillow, she was out like a light.

When Jade woke up again, her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she looked at the time. She was really late. She was supposed to be at school by 07:30, but it was already 07:27 and she still had to get ready and walk, which would take he about 15 minutes.

Sighing, she slipped out of bed, brushed her teeth and quickly got dressed in an outfit she had thrown together in about five seconds. Her backpack was on her back and she had a piece of toast in her hand by 7:33 and she was on her way to school.

As she walked past Lionel's house, she didn't see him waiting outside so she assumed he had just left without her, seeing as he didn't want to be late most of the time. Walking a little bit faster had saved her a few minutes and she quickly ran to her first period class, hoping that they weren't too far into the lesson.

In record time, she was in front of the door and she pulled it open, only to be met with the dozens of curious faces of the students she shared the class with. She quietly walked forward and sat down in the nearest available seat, earning her a glare from the teacher, but he quickly turned back to his teaching.

She blew out a puff of air when he did so and immersed herself into her work, unknowingly feeling a whole lot happier than yesterday.

All throughout her classes, her work was actually being done and she even answered a few questions voluntarily, which she had never done before. Last night's events had her feeling as confident as she could possibly be.

But that was soon dulled as she sat alone during lunch again, finding that Leo had ditched her for the second time. Or at least she thought. When he didn't show up to their shared class that day, she second-guessed herself. Maybe he really did have an emergency today, she wondered.

Once again, the day was boring without her rock— her love. She reverted back to her normal self, not answering questions, doing the minimal amount of work, and not talking to anyone unless she needed.

As she walked home, she noticed a unfamiliar car in Leo's driveway, so she knocked on the door to see if she could find him. After a few seconds of sitting and waiting, Jade was about to turn around an keep walking when a man, probably in his 40's opened the door and glared at her.

"I don't want any of your girl scout cookies, now scram!" He yelled in her face and she winced.

"I'm not a girl scout. I-I'm looking or my friend, his name is Lionel. Do you know where he is?" She said, her voice sounding way too nice in the presence of this man.

"Sorry kid, I don't know anyone by the name of Lionel. I just moved in, now get out of here!" He yelled before slamming the door in her face.

Jade's face held a scared expression. Maybe this is a joke, she thought, just another moment to laugh at, but she knew it wasn't anything funny. What did he mean, "he just moved in"?

With her head down, she ran down the road to her apartment building and right into her house. Her mom was there, she knew because she saw her car in the parking space. What did her mom know about this?

"Mamá!" She yelled as soon as he walked through the door, on the verge of tears.

"Yes, mija?" Her mom turned the corner to see her daughter, tears streaming down her face and a sad glint in her eyes.

"Oh, baby. I know its hard, I know. He was your best friend, and his mother was mine, too." She tried to reach out and comfort her daughter, but she flinched out of the way of her hands.

"You knew?!" She exclaimed, the crack in her voice extremely evident.

"Did—Did Leo not tell you?" Jade's mother spoke quietly, as if the slightest sound would scare her away.

"No, mamá! Why wouldn't he tell me something like this?! Why wouldn't you tell me?!" She pointed her shaky finger at her mom and squinted.

"I thought you knew, baby. I thought he had told you already." She whispered and led her unstable child to the couch to sit and calm down.

"W-Why did they leave, mom? What happened?" She asked after a few minute of silence.

"Leo had an hormone-deficiency emergency during the middle of the night last night. He was taken to the hospital and his father searched desperately for a way to pay for treatments for him. He went to every single football club, begging they take his son in exchange for the treatments being paid," the adult sighed, "after a while, one did accept him, but he needed to be flown out to Spain today during school. His parents had packed up what little they had and moved away to be closer to him. They were so sad, mija. It was a sad time for all of us." She said, not realizing her face was now stained with tears also.

"Why did you let me go to school today? You should've known I would've wanted to see him off." Jade whispered with her head in her hands.

"It would've prolonged the process and Leo was in the hospital when you went. Lo siento, mija. Él te ama," she patted her weeping child's back and stood up,

"C'mon, chica, let's get you to your room." Jade stood up and followed her mother into her bedroom, the atmosphere reminding her of her friend and previous moments together.

"Buenas noches, mamá." She said as she closed the door and went to go lay down. Her clock read 18:49, but she was as tired as ever and fell right asleep, thankful for the weekend ahead, but angry that she would have more time to think about it.