Deepest Shade of Jaded

Chapter Six: Painful nights

Deepest Shade of Jaded

Chapter Six

                                As I walked over to my car, I noticed that Alex and the crowd of neighbors had disappeared. It was just as well, I didn’t need to have a repeat with Alex. I shook my head and turned over the engine, turning up the volume on the stereo which was playing ‘The Death of Me’ by Asking Alexandria. The lyrics were good and Danny’s voice was amazingly soothing. I hammered out the beat on the steering wheel singing along as I drove through town to the high school. The clock on the dashboard said it was 4:30 PM. I was early to practice before the game but that was fine. Instead of heading to the football field, I turned and went into the school to the weight room. After running a mile in six minutes flat I felt great. I was calm and ready for tonight. I was ready for whatever came with Alex. I thought I was prepared for the rest of my life, but I was wrong.

                After going through several different routines, the rest of the squad showed up. Well, everyone but Britanny. A twinge of guilt hit me as I thought of that. Pulling Delia aside I sat down on the bleachers and took a deep breath. “Britanny isn’t going to be here tonight.” “Um, why not? I called her earlier today and she said she was excited because not only were we going to do well tonight but she had a date with some mysterious guy.” I grunted. “Yeah, that guy happened to be my boy- my ex boyfriend.” It was hard to call him my ex. After all, we had been together for two years. Delia’s eyes widened and I could tell she was curious as to what happened. “I got in a fight with Alex this morning over something stupid. After I cooled off, I went back to his house to apologize. I found him and Britanny intimately occupied. So I did what any other girl would. I beat the crap out of her. Broke her nose and busted up her face a bit. She’ll be fine, and her nose will set straight I saw to that, but she isn’t coming tonight.” I said calmly. Delia gave me a sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry to hear about that. If I had known she was going to be sleeping with your boyfriend I would have knocked some sense into her. I may be a bitch sometimes, but I’m not so low as to sleep with someone else’s man. And as for tonight, Shelby can fill her spot. She knows all the routines.” I nodded and we practiced for the next forty-five minutes then got all prettied up for the game. We were playing against our biggest rivals, the Titans. This was our field, we were going to own it. And that’s exactly what we did. For the next few hours all you heard were screams from the crowd and “Go Tigers!” from my squad. You couldn’t even hear the Titans’ cheerleaders. Normally I would attend the mandatory after party, but I didn’t feel like it tonight. That was always something Alex and I went to together. Without him, it just didn’t feel right. So I walked to my car while everyone debated about who would bring what. I needed to go talk to Alex. The drive was quiet, and I was lost in thought. As I pulled up to his house, I suddenly became afraid. What if he told everyone I was crazy? “Get a hold of yourself!” I murmured to myself. With resolve, I stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door. Unable to bring myself to just walk in, I rang the doorbell and waited.

                Just when I thought that no one was coming, the door cracked open and Alex’s face peered out at me. “What the hell do you want Jade?” “I wanted to talk.” “Well I’m not interested.” He started to shut the door but I stopped him. “Hey, I’m not the one who messed up here, you are. So stop acting like I’m the devil incarnate and let me in.” Glaring at me, he opened the door just wide enough to let me in before shutting it.  I sat down on the couch while he sat in the chair across from me. “Look I shouldn’t have hurt Britanny, I know that. I already apologized to her. You on the other hand, I should have hurt you worse than a bruised elbow. I should have castrated you mid orgasm.” He flinched and moved his hands over his crotch instinctively. I couldn’t help but laugh at the male gesture. He glared at me, “Is that all you wanted to say?” I shook my head. “You hurt me Alex. You took two years of trust and broke it. Is that what you wanted? Or did you plan on leaving me anyways? You always were ambitious when it came to women. Either way, obviously it’s over. I’m not going to give you the ‘let’s be friends’ spiel, because you don’t deserve to even speak to me after what happened. But I’m a nice person, and I’m not going to do anything to you. I’m just disappointed because I thought you were better than that, and had more self worth. I guess I was wrong, about that and more. Goodbye Alex.” I said bitterly, and left without another word. When I climbed up the stairs to my room I found Maxx sitting on my bed. I was too tired to deal with him after everything. “Yes Maxwell?” I asked rather grumpily. I just wanted to sleep and he was on my bed. “Woah, I take it the talk didn’t go over so well with McKinney?” I shrugged. “What was there to say besides that it was over. Oh, I told him I should have castrated him mid orgasm, but it was whatever. Are you okay?” When I mentioned castration Maxx whimpered and crossed his legs bending over slightly. “That’s not right. Even if he deserves to be hurt, that is just cruelty. It hurts just thinking about it. And the thought wasn’t even pointed at me.” I laughed at his childishness and asked him what he was doing here. “I thought you might want someone here with you tonight. Plus now I have to make sure you don’t go sneaking off to kill jerk face.” I nodded and grabbed some pajamas. Making him turn around, I quickly pulled off my cheer uniform. Replacing it with a baggy t-shirt that had been Maxx’s before I stole it. “Isn’t that my shirt?” he said, looking amused. “Was. It was your shirt. Now it’s mine.” I said smugly. He just laughed and pulled the covers back so I could crawl into bed beside him. “Thanks for being here Maxx, but please don’t think that because Alex and I are over, that I’m going to immediately jump into bed with you and give you my heart.” Maxx looked at me and burst into sudden laughter. I didn’t know what was funny, so I mentally scrolled over what I had just said. Realizing my mistake I slapped his arm. “You know what I meant, meany!” The childish name just brought tears to his eyes as he clutched his stomach. I blinked, waiting for him to come to his senses. When his giggles subsided he smiled at me and hugged me tightly. “I know Jayybear. I’ll wait. For however long you need, that’s how long I will wait for you.”