perfect.

Chapter 7

        The next day at school, Jade was grabbing her books when she suddenly noticed Colby next to her as she closed and locked her locker. "Jeez, you scared me... why are you here so early?" she asked him. He smiled mischievously at her. "I wanted to see you," he said as he leaned in. She smiled and pecked his lips. "We can't tell my dad. He'd freak out if he finds out I have a boyfriend" Jade said as Colby took her hand and walked her to class. "Ahhh so I'm your boyfriend?" he said. Jade glared at him and he laughed. "I'm joking! I'm glad we're with each other now" he said. She smiled and nodded in agreement. As they turned the corner, they ran into Mia and Jake. Mia seemed upset with him. "Look, I said I was sorry!" Jake said to her. She slammed her locker shut and glared at him. "What if it had been me??? What if it hadn't been Jasmine or Colby??" Mia said to him. Before he could answer, she stormed away and went to class. Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He turned to walk away and ended up running into both Jade and Colby. "Oh... hey... sorry about the party," he said to Jade. "It's fine... I should get to class" Jade said as she released Colby's hand and walked the rest of the way alone.

          The rest of Jade's school day felt pretty weird. Word got around soon that she and Colby had become a couple. "Isn't she like... strictly christian?" Jade heard some of her classmates said. "I didn't know Colby was into innocent girls. She has good grades, has never missed a day of school and her parents are THE Jess and Gabriel Conte" she heard others say. "Maybe it's because she's adopted?" someone suddenly said. Jade felt overwhelmed. As soon as school ended, she went straight to her locker to put away her books and then walked out as quickly as possible to get picked up by her mother. On the car ride home, her mom kept looking over at her. Her parenting sense was telling her something was wrong. "You okay sweetie?" Jade's mother asked. She sighed and shook her head. "How'd you know that dad was THE one? Were you ever judged for being with him?" Jade asked. Her mom laughed a bit at the question. "I actually was judged a lot. Your dad wasn't a christian, he used to be a bit reckless until he met me" she explained to Jade. Jade paid close attention. "People also thought I was using him to get my citizenship in the U.S. but I hadn't even thought of that when I met your father, otherwise we wouldn't have been in a long distance relationship for so long to begin with," she said. "How'd you deal with it?... with all of the judgements being made towards you?" Jade asked. Her mom looked over at her for a moment, trying to read her. "Why are you asking all these questions??" her mother asked. Jade looked out of the side window. "Well... if I tell you, you can't tell dad..." Jade told her. "Ok. It'll be our secret, you can trust me" her mother said. Jade sighed and explained her situation. "Colby and I confessed our feelings to each other yesterday. Word got out at school that we had officially become a couple and there were A LOT of things said about me behind my back, including the fact that I'm adopted..." Jade told her mom. They finally got home. They didn't immediately get out her mom's car as soon as they parked though. "Colby is definitely not my first choice of guys I'd see you going out with but... if you like him and you feel good about him then why should others judgements matter? That's what I used to think to myself when I first began dating your dad" Jade's mother advised her. Jade smiled and hugged her. "Thanks mom. It's just... I really do like him but... I had never noticed how different we are" Jade said as she pulled away. "I get it... we should get in now. I need your help to make dinner, we have company coming over" her mom said as they finally got out of her car. "Really? Who?" Jade asked. "Saffron and her British friends! They don't know a lot of people here in LA at the moment and since you met them at the Halloween party, Saffron thought it would be nice for all of us to have dinner together" Jade's mom explained. "Oh. Cool. So what are we making?" she asked as she helped her mom prepare dinner.

         At around 5pm, her father finally came home. He had brought a cake for dessert. "Hello to the two most beautiful girls in the world," he said to Jade and her mother. Jade made a disgusted face while her mother laughed and went to greet him. Jade continued cooking until the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" she told her parents as she ran to open the door. Sure enough, Saffron was standing there with the 4 members of The Vamps. Jade greeted them and welcomed them to her house as she let them in. She locked eyes with Bradley. He seemed to get lost in her eyes... Milo suddenly attacked him a bit, asking for attention as she closed the front door and followed them into the living room. While Jade's parents greeted them, Jade went to set up the dining table. "We're happy to have you guys here! I'm sure you've already met our daughter, Jade" her dad said to them. Bradley was the only one to look over. In fact, he was the only one that seemed to show great infatuation with her... "Yes, she is a lovely girl" Bradley said, making Jade's father feel proud. She rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen to serve plates. She heard footsteps and expected to see her mom coming to help her but instead it was Saffron. "Hey! Need any help?" she asked. "Yeah, can you take these to the table?" Jade instructed her. She did as Jade told her and in no time, they had set up the table and were ready for dinner.