Friendship, Love or Nothing ➸ j.t

i

~ Jade ~

"Hello, Debbie speaking?" came a voice through the telephone once the dial tone ended.

"Guess who?" I replied. "I'll give you a clue. She used to be your next-door neighbour."

"Jade?" Debbie guessed, the sound of a smile in her voice.

"Yes! Yay!" I exclaimed, jumping a little in excitement although she couldn't see me.

"Jade! Hi!" Debbie said, surprise laced through her voice. "Wow! It's been ages since you've called. How are you?"

"Good thanks, and you?"

"Great!" The sound of her voice brought back so many memories from my childhood. Debbie was my neighbour growing up, mother of my childhood best friend, Perrie. We were like sisters growing up, never apart from each other for too long, otherwise we'd experience withdrawal symptoms. With her perfectly blonde hair and my brunette curls, we were the stereotypical best friends, doing everything together. However, as we got older, we both wanted different things from life. I wanted to go to college in America, and she wanted to become some major pop-star. We argued and haven't spoken since.

"Hey, Debbie? I was thinking of coming over in a few weeks," I said.

"Fantastic! What's the date?"

"Um, the first week of October."

"Oh good! That's the week Perrie's home."

The colour drained from my face. I wasn't really ready to see her . . . "I-I d-don't really m-mind if Perrie's there or not, I . . ." I stuttered.

"But she has to! She would love to see her best friend. She misses you a lot," Debbie said.

I hesitated. "Look, Debbie. I don't know if you knew what happened between us but-"

Debbie cut me off. "I do know. But I also know that she wants to make it up to you. She misses you, Jade. You two were inseparable."

"But why doesn't she call me? If she wants to make it up to me so bad you'd think she'd have the brains to at least email me or something."

"Well, she's very busy and there's always a time difference," Debbie said, trying to stick up for her daughter. "Every time I see her, she asks if you have called. When I say no, her face falls."

I would like to admit that I felt guilty, but I didn't. She was the selfish one. She was the one that started the argument.

"I tell her to call you but she's afraid you might not forgive her," Debbie continued.

I bit my lip. I love Perrie, she's my best friend, but she needs to apologise first. I was sticking my ground. "Okay," I said. "As long as she apologises first."

I could hear Debbie smiling. "Cool. I'll talk to her. In the meantime, you wanna talk to Jonnie?"

"Sure!" I said, my smile appearing on my face again.

"Okay, I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Goodbye now, Jade!"

"Buh-bye Debbie!" I said as the phone got handed over.

"Hiya, Poopey!" Jonnie's deep voice rang through the telephone. I chuckled when he used my childhood nickname.

"Hey Jon! Long time no see!"

Jonnie laughed. "More like long time no call! What's with that, hm?"

"Sorry! I keep forgetting. College is keeping me busy!" I apologised.

"It's okay. Hey, I hear you're coming home."

"Yep. Just for a visit though."

"I know. I wish you could stay. We all miss you." I could hear the sadness in his voice. "So, who are you mainly coming to visit? Mum and me, or blondie over there in London?"

"You of course!" I mock exclaimed, sucking up to him.

Jonnie laughed. "You're such a suck up. I guess we have a lot to catch up on."

"We do indeed but not right now. I have a class which starts in fifteen minutes so I have to go. C-ya later!"

"Bye Poopey! See you soon!" Jonnie said. He made kissy noises down the phone before the call disconnected, signalling he hung up. I laughed and picked up my bag, walking out the door. It was a lovely, spring morning in California. I put my earphones in and made the short five minute walk across the campus to my classroom. I was pretty lucky to get offered a scholarship to go to Stanford University in California. I really wanted to go, but I didn't want to leave Perrie. But then we argued and in retaliation, I went anyway. And Perrie auditioned for X-Factor in retaliation as well. She's now is one of the biggest pop stars in the world. She tours the world for her day job, gets pampered and sings her incredible voice. I was surprised when Debbie said she missed me. I was sure she would have forgotten me. Especially after the fight.

I arrived on campus and made my way towards my lecture room. I walked into the room and sat down beside my friends.

"Hey Jadey!" Emily, my new best friend said. "Whatcha doing this spring break?"

"Uh, nothing interesting. Just going back home," I said in a bored tone. She looked at me like I was from another planet. "What?" I asked.

"Home is very interesting, Jade," she said. "Especially your home."

I shrugged. "Mmm, whatever," I said, getting my notepad and pen out of my bag and placing them on the desk. She rolled her eyes.

"So what are you gonna do there?" Emily asked.

"Oh, just visit some family and friends. Maybe do some touristy stuff."

"Well, take photos!" she exclaimed.

"Duh!" I said as the professor walked in and began writing on the board. Emily winked at me and the lecture began.