Of Scissors And Scooby Doo

Chapter 7

"Why did you come here?"

After an entire hour of dead silence (aside from the occasional ringing of my phone before I turned it off completely) the quiet voice of the sad girl lying on the bed next to me almost startled me. When I turned to look at her, I found her staring at the ceiling. "What kind of question is that?"

"What kind of answer is that?"

I sighed. "There was no other option for me. I was worried about you. I thought you might... need me."

I suddenly realized what I had said and held my breath as I waited for a reaction. Jade wasn't really good in admitting that she needed someone. It was one of the things I learned about her the past few weeks. Needing someone equaled being weak in Jade's eyes and Jade wasn't weak. My heart flipped but my fear that she would throw me out quickly flew out of the window, when Jade's quiet voice cut through the silence once again. "I do need you."

The rush I felt at those few, simple words was indescribable and it probably shouldn't have made me so happy. Those were just words and while I knew that Jade had meant them (she wouldn't have said them if she didn't) I knew that they weren't making her heart flutter, they weren't causing her to feel on top of the world. But that was what they did to me.

She looked over at me. "Did he say anything after I left?"

Let's play some cards. I bit my lip. I couldn't tell her that. All it would do was add salt to the wound and that was the last thing Jade needed. I shook my head and had to watch deep disappointment flash across her tear-streaked face. "He... I don't think he felt like talking. I'm sure he would have... said something otherwise." Jade nodded – although I was sure she was far from convinced by my words – and looked back up at the ceiling, sighing after another long round of silence. "Hey Tori." I craned my neck toward her. "Tell me a joke."

"A joke?"

"Yeah."

Okay, so a joke... It was quiet for a couple of minutes as I thought of one, and came up with the probably worst and unfunniest joke ever. "Knock Knock."

"Who's there?"

"Knock Knock."

Her eyebrows dug down in confusion. "...Who's there?"

"Britney Spears."

"Britney Spears who?"

"Oops, I did it again!"

I tried to smile as Jade looked at me, her lips parting and corners of her mouth lifting up. Before I could apologize for the crappy joke she burst out laughing. "That was so bad!"

I groaned, my eyes squeezing shut. "I know."

But no matter how bad the joke was it served its purpose. It made her laugh. "Tell me another one," she said after she calmed down and I found myself telling her every joke I could think of – bad ones. But it made Jade laugh, if it was because she really found them funny or she just welcomed the distraction didn't really matter.

"Okay, um... Why did the banana go to the hospital?"

Her fluid blue eyes looked into mine. "Why?"

"It wasn't peeling very well."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "That one isn't so bad." She turned her eyes back to the ceiling before closing them. But I welcomed that as I caught myself smiling dopily at the soft curve Jade's lips formed, the streaks of dry tears on her pale cheeks the only reminder of her sadness. A long sigh escaped those lips. "I can't believe I'm lying here with you, letting you tell me stupid jokes."