-Better

05- i n t h e k n o w

Barcelona, Spain- 17 years old

When Jade woke up in the morning, she felt the worst she has ever felt in a very long time, which was saying something. Her head hurt, her stomach felt tight, and her limbs were pretty much falling off. It was horrible.

She looked to her left to see her best friend still sound asleep, snoring quietly and mumbling something about cookies. Only you, Kila, she thought.

Her fingers, numb from sleeping with them between her thighs, rubbed at her tired eyes as she got up and slugged towards the restroom. When she looked in the mirror, she was almost surprised when she didn't look nearly as bad as she felt. Her ponytail was messy and her eyes and cheeks were red, but she didn't look that bad.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Jade went out to the kitchen to find something to eat that wasn't too hard to make. She's sure her future husband would be delighted to know she couldn't cook to save her life. If he couldn't either, she just hoped they would be financially successful enough for a full-time caterer.

Coming across some eggs as her eyes scanned the fridge, she grinned and pulled them out, along with some milk and salt and pepper from the cabinets. There weren't many things she could do with eggs, or any food for that matter, but she did know how to make omelets.

After the first, initially burnt, omelet, she finally timed the flipping process just right and ended up making 5 omelets, two of them she had burned and threw away. Grabbing one and sprinkling on a bit of cheese, she went into the living room to relax and wait for Kila to wake up.

Every once in a while, Jade would get bored of mindlessly scrolling through her phone, so she just sat back and closed her eyes, letting her mind wander. Too bad her wandering mind always seems to go places she didn't want it to.

She thought about Leo and how she felt when she finally saw him again after two years, even if only through a tv screen. She thought about the kiss they shared that eventually led to something else. She thought about what he might currently be doing. And, unlike last night, the thoughts comforted her. She felt safe and grounded for just a little bit in this stressful world.

Her nostalgia, though, was quickly interrupted as she heard Kila's strong voice from next to her. Slowly sitting up and opening her eyes, Jade's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What? I'm sorry I didn't hear you."

"I asked what you were making, but I guess I already have the answer to that question," she said as she pointed to her plate with her half-eaten omelet, "So what do you want to do today?" Kila asked her best friend.

"I really don't know." Jade stroked her chin as she thought, "We could go work-out?" though it always seemed to be a last resort for Kila, Jade found working out to be stress and anger-relieving. It made her too tired to make bad decisions.

"You know I hate doing that. How about we go shopping?" But just like with Kila's hatred for exercise, Jade hated shopping equally as much, which left them at a draw when Jade groaned.

"We could stay here and have a movie marathon?" Kila had a hopeful look in her eyes and Jade sighed and nodded.

"Fine."

And not long after, it was decided they were watching the Harry Potter movies because neither of them were in the mood for romance. Kila went to go grab the DVD's while Jade made some popcorn and put it in a large bowl.

Because there were so many movies in the series, their binge watching session continued for a various number of hours, resulting in the whole family coming out to watch the last few.

Alonso and Martín were on opposite ends of the couch, squishing Jade and Kila together in the middle and Jade's mother was relaxing on the side chair. Throughout the first and part of the second movie,— she had already seen these a few dozen times— the only thing Jade could think about was her reaction to what she saw last night and what Kila would end up doing to try and help her fix it.

"Mamá?" Jade asked her mother during a particularly boring part of the movie.

"Sí, mija?"

"Did you know that Leo was playing for FC Barcelona?" it was a seemingly harmless question but it was one her mother couldn't seem to answer. After a few seconds of silence, Jade glanced over at her mom to see panic written all over her face.

"Mom...?" She now knew why she couldn't answer the question but she still needed to hear it.

"You knew? What else have you been keeping from me, mother?!" Her mom flinched as she raised her voice, knowing this was bound to happen sooner or later. She just hoped it would be later.

"Yes, baby, I knew. But it was only to keep you from going insane trying to get in contact with him." She answered quickly, but it wasn't good enough for Jade.

"You didn't answer my question. What else have you been hiding from me?" She gritted her teeth harder with each word, making her mother sigh and look down.

"Leo's been keeping in contact. Every once in a while he texts me where he's been staying or asking if you're okay. He never wanted me to tell you." After hearing those words, the only thing Jade could do was nod as she stood up, forcing her legs back to her room, Kila hot on her trail.

When she made it through the door, Kila stopped short as Jade had closed the door before she could enter, leaving Kila banging on the outside.

"C'mon, Jade! If you don't open the door, I'm not going to speak to you for a week..." Then she heard a click and the door was open. As much as Jade wanted to be alone right now, she knew she wouldn't want to be alone the whole week. And she also knew Kila wasn't bluffing.

Kila didn't say anything when she was let in, she just slipped into the bed next to Jade, stroking her hair, as Jade's back was facing her. They didn't say anything for a few minutes until Jade had stopped being upset and was ready to talk.

"I wanna go talk to him, I do, but he doesn't want to talk to me and I still have no idea what to do." Jade whispered without turning around.

"You will. Trust me, you're a smart girl, I know you'll know what to do."