My Guardian Angel (On Hold)

Chapter 3

I walk back into the school and the hallways are all clear. I'm late. I run up two flights of stairs and down the hall until I reach the classroom. The teacher is facing away from the door. Maybe I could sneak in. I walk in quietly and head over to a seat in the back. unfortunately she turns around. I freeze.

"Jade, you're late." Mrs. Duncan says. Her lips covered with way to much red lipstick.

Really? I didn't notice. "I'm sorry," I say and continue my journey to the back of the room. 

"Not so fast," She says. "Why don't you come share with the class what you've been doing instead of being here."

I slowly walk back to the front where she's standing. 

"Turn and face the class Jade." 

I do. I look around at them, and I see him, the jock. There sitting in the middle row laughing with his friends. He knows why I'm late. Why doesn't he tell the class what he did?

"Well go on."

"I uh. I. I was at the nurse. I slipped on the ice outside and hit my head on a pot." Yeah, that'll do. 

The jock laughs louder than the rest of the class. It's annoying. 

"Ethan calm down," Mrs. Duncan says and heads back to her desk. "Go sit down child. Chapter 9."

I rush over to my seat and watch the clock until it is time to go. A few more classes past by then it was time to go home. 

I stand on the steps by the main entrance and wait for Alice who is my ride home. I wait, and I wait. The school yard starts clearing up after a while and still no sign of Alice. I walk to the parking lot to see if maybe she would be waiting in her car but the parking lot is empty. 

"Damn you Alice," I say under my breath. I begin to walk home when I notice Ethan and his friends walking in my direction. They haven't seen me yet. I walk into the nearest place which is a coffee shop. I just hope they don't come in here. 

I walk over to a table and see Alice with Jenna and her clique. Of course. 

"Alice! You left me!" I say walking over to their table.

"You never said anything about a ride home," She says not looking at me. 

"W-what? You know I ride with you everyday!"

"Oops, I forgot." She looks at me then at Jenna and laughs.

I storm out the shop forgetting why I went in there in the first place. Thankfully the jocks are no where to be seen. I rush home and shake off the snow from my coat and hair when I finally get there.

"Hey Jade, how was school?" My mom says from the kitchen. I walk in slowly and drop my bag beside the table. 

"It was alright." It was horrible.

"That's great honey. Are you hungry?" She asks stirring soup in a red pot.

"Uh, no. I'm just gonna go take a nap. I'm tired." 

"Okay dear. I'll be down here if you need me."

I head upstairs and close the door to my room. I sit on my bed and my phone rings. It's Alice.

"Hello?" I say.

"Jade, I'm sorry," I hear Alice say on the other side.

I don't say anything. I don't know what to say, and really, I just don't want to talk to her. 

"Jade. I should never had ditched you. It's just that... well I promised Jenna we'd go there after school. You understand right?" 

"Yeah, listen I got to go," I say and hang up the phone. If she wanted to hang out with her instead, then fine. I'm completely okay with it. 

I crawl under the covers in my bed and turn to face the window. All the memories suddenly flashing through my head. Going to Jenna's small party while her parents where out, running out when they got there. Her father drunk and her mom a mess of tears. Then out of nowhere I was pulled into an alley. 

I quickly shook the thoughts from my head. I looked at the clock and saw that it was only five thirty, too early to go to bed. I headed down stairs to the living room and plopped down in the couch. A few minutes after my mom walked in. 

"Jade dear. I'm sorry to bother you but can you run to the store for me? I forgot to stop by earlier and your father won't be home until later," She said wiping her hands on her apron. 

"Sure thing." I put my coat back on and headed out the door. The snow was not coming down as hard as earlier but it was still extremely cold. I tightened the scarf around my neck and walked down towards the market. 

"Jade?" I heard someone say from behind me. I turned around and saw Oliver walking over my way. 

"Oh hey." I say stopping to wait for him. 

"Where are you headed?" 

"Uh, just to the grocery store for my mom." 

"Mind if I walk with you? I was on my way over there too," He says. 

"Sure," I say and we continue walking. "So Oliver," I say in attempt to make conversation. "Where do you live?" 

"I live all the way across town, It's around the college that I go to." 

"Then what brings you way over here?" I ask.

"I like this part of town better. Sometimes I just need to get away," He says and coughs. 

"I see you still have that cold. You should really stay home."

"I tried, but I get bored," He laughs. 

"You'll regret it later." 

"Don't worry about me," He says. 

We arrive at the store but he stops at the entrance. "Is something wrong?" I ask.

"Look!" He says pointing at the candy shop across the street, reminding me of a child. "Let's go there!"

"Why are you so surprised?" I ask now walking toward the shop with him. 

"I just really love sweets, and since I still get lost easily I don't come here much." 

We enter the store and the old woman behind the counter greets us. Oliver walks around the store and pauses at one of the counters. 

"Hey Jade, remember these?" He asks holding up cotton candy. Remember? What?

"Uh, cotton candy?" I say confused. He ignores me and buys a pink and a blue one. He gives me the blue one and begins to eat the pink one. We head out the shop and continue eating outside. 

"Here, lets switch," He says holding out his. 

"Um, okay?" I say and take it. 

He gives off a small laugh. "What?" I ask now really confused. 

"It just reminds me of the good old days. The first day we both tried this," He says holding up his cotton candy. 

What was he talking about? I just met him earlier today. Right?