SHADES of GREEN ↬ m. wheeler

XII. LOVELY

CHAPTER TWELVE
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❝LOVELY❞

　
　

JADE HAD NEVER felt more on edge for absolutely no reason. The Righteous Brothers' soothing voices could not calm Jade's nerves.

　As she sat on her bed, drumming the end of her pen on her Chemistry textbook, she stared at her bedroom door. The heavy thrum of her heart and the painful churning in her stomach spoke of imminent arrival: Something was coming. Something big.

　She had not seen her father for days. Jade tried not to worry, but it was hard. She did not understand death or afterlife. Her father would not speak of it. Jade was clueless. The only thing she knew was that, somehow, she had the ability to see her father, despite the fact that he had died years ago. Could speak to him and feel him.

　Maybe she was crazy. Maybe it was Jade's way of coping. No matter the case, she felt an eternal sense of comfort in the man's presence. Now, Jade feared that she would never see him again. She had plenty of free time to herself—maybe not as much as before, but there were still several opportunities for him to show himself.

　For once, Jade felt as though her father was really dead. He had never felt so far away.

　But that was not the thing that worried Jade the most. Granted, she could not put a name on what did worry her so, but whatever it was, it felt cold and evil and sly. Like the man she had seen on the street after the movies, when Jade experienced whatever it was she had experienced.

　Of course, Jade could not quite communicate these issues. She would be titled insane.

　She found her mind constantly turning back to Esme. Of the undesired kiss. Jade still felt a bit sick at the thought of it. She hated being touched or grabbed; Jade never thought that the thing she would hate more than being touched was being kissed, at least by someone she was not even attracted to.

　As she bit into her lip and drifted away into her thoughts, a knock sounded at Jade's door. Assuming it was her mother, she called, "Come in!"—and froze.

　There stood Mike, ebony curls dusted with snow. He wore a dark coat, which contrasted starkly with his pale skin. His cheeks were pink, however, flushed with the cold. He was beautiful. An angel.

　Gazing upon the boy, Jade felt the pen slip from her fingers, felt her lower lip escape from her teeth. Mike seemed to notice the surprise; before closing the door, he asked, "Not a good time?"

　Jade collected herself as best she could, retrieved her pen, and waved him off. She tried to ignore the skipping of her heart. "It's fine," she said. "I just didn't think you would come over tonight, with exams starting tomorrow and all."

　Mike closed the door, and as he pulled off his coat, he smiled and said, "Got all my studying done. What about you?"

　The girl closed her fist around the pen, only to realize that her hand was shaking. With a sigh, she closed the Chemistry textbook, and moved it to rest beside her. Mike watched as she reached over to her nightstand and pulled It into her hands.

　"Want to read?" she inquired, eyes flickering upward to meet Mike's.

　"You know I do."