Coat (Jerrie AU)

Chapter One

"Jade," Jesy repeats until the brunette lifts her head from the menu. "Have you decided what you're ordering?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jade replies hesitantly. She puts her finger on what she'd like from the menu, marking it to herself: Tea.

"I'm thinking about ordering waffles. Is it weird to have waffles for dinner?" Leigh Anne asks. As Jesy and Leigh, Jade's best friends, discuss this question, Jade remains silent. She would love to have some waffles right now. In fact, she would gladly accept any type of food. The only reason why she orders tea is the fact that she can't afford anything else on the menu.

Whenever Jade is reminded of her financial struggles - which happens every Thursday night at the least - she finds comfort in reminding herself she never goes to bed hungry. She's struggling, but she manages to push through somehow.

Things haven't always been that way for her. Her parents had just enough money to buy a nice house, which they've spent all of their savings on; what means they're not stable enough to support their daughter right now. Jade was brought up learning the importance of two powerful values: independence and happiness. Six years ago, at her eighteenth birthday, she moved out of her parents' house. She was heading towards the life she always wished for, which included a small apartment she rented just for herself, her dream job as a Disney princess and a loving boyfriend.

Unfortunately, a lot has changed in the past six years. The small, cozy apartment which she used to adore now seems like an old, tiny box made of bricks. At twenty four, Jade's position at Dinseyland is on the rocks. Most princesses quit by this age, and she won't be surprised if she will be fired soon. And as for the boyfriend - well, she broke up with him in order to date a really cute girl she has had a crush on since forever. This girl turning out to be a complete bitch made Jade realize her best friends are the best thing in her life. Leigh Anne and Jesy were by her side since high school, and Jade is extremely thankful to have them. They won't ever do anything to purposely make her sad or uncomfortable in any way.

"Ma'am?" The waiter says to Jade as he carries a small notebook and a pen in his hands. The brunette realizes she's the last one to order out of the three women at the table, and quickly says 'tea, please', feeling a bit embarrassed due to her lack of attention to everything around her. While the waiter walks away, two pairs of familiar eyes are set on Jade.

"Aren't you ever hungry at this hour?" Leigh asks with an unimpressed tone. "You order the same thing every time we go out for dinner." Jade sighs in response, and closes her eyes in an attempt to stay calm. She will never be able to tell Jesy and Leigh about her financial troubles. At first, she hid it because she didn't want any help, but now it's because they won't understand why she has been lying all this time. The reason for Jade's lies seems obvious in her mind: she's the kind of person who will never admit they're having a hard time with anything. Tough times pass, you just have to survive until it gets better - that's how she was raised.

Every Thursday night the three women go out to do something fun together, like going to a restaurant or a bar, a tradition which begun in senior year of high school. The story behind it always makes Jade smile; after Leigh had broken up with her boyfriend, whom she dated for a year and a half, Jade and Jesy decided to take her out somewhere nice to cheer her up. Just one week later, Jesy went through a break up, too. The result was another Thursday night out, in which the three were laughing at the irony of the situation. The next week, Jade was anxious about her future with a girl she had just started seeing. She was almost sure someone had put some kind of evil curse on Jesy, Leigh and her, what caused her to be extremely worried her then girlfriend would end their relationship.

So Jade did the best thing she could think of; she broke up with her girlfriend. That way, she wasn't going to get dumped. That's how Jesy, Leigh-Anne and her ended up eating out three Thursday nights in a row.