Jade.
It's cold when me and Maisy get home, Calum's car is now freezed by the poolside meaning he's been home for a while, explaining why he never turned up to Maths. I had wanted to sleep over Carmen's, even though she said her and Calum are going to the gym late night. I begged her for it even, but now i just want to be in my bed. With only a slight hesitation i dive in right through our front door behind Maisy and let my limbs do the thinking for me. Maisy's competition medals clutter the corridor and my parents boast about it to everyone, at every oppurtunity
I can hear a conversation between Dad and Calum already - "Sacrifice, blah, blah. You ditched half a day? At home? blah, blah. Scholarship, blah, blah." I walk to my room and hear the voices in the kitchen getting louder. "i needed to sort some stuff out" dad interrupts him. "That was a dumb reason..." I gulp loudly, remembering my day at the beach. I hear the conversation downstairs trail to silence. Then Calum speaks. "You barely talk to me at any time of the day, and now you bother to lecture me about things?" I throw my bag at the door, slamming it shut. My eyes fall to my linen curtains and then the window, the world outside teases me with its silence; everyone and everything sleeps. I notice the light left my bedroom and I'm just sat in darkness, breathing in the demons of being lonely. I see the light creeping back in as a result of the lamps outside. I think of Connor, and how school went for him. I can only hope that in the meantime I am not aware of every second of every minute. My mind is constantly regurgitating the worries of the day, the worries of tomorrow, the worries of the night of the party. Yet I have no new or brilliant solutions to offer, I can only do what I have always done - mind my own business until it goes horribly wrong. In this case it's the investigation of rape, that took place in my house. Things will never be the same. Ever since i got to know what happened I get goose bumps just walking around the house. I can feel Connor's presence, his ghost from the past, I can almost imagine how scared he must've been.
Maisy hardly ever shows emotion beyond the fatigue and perfect doll mask. She shows a polite interest in the lives of our family, of her friends, and otherwise keeps herself to herself. At all times. But today at school was different, everything Maisy said was wrong, when she voiced the frustrations about her classes, about Connor , she exploded in the way she does every now and then, which is very rarely. It's like her hormones suddenly re-arranged, like they've been attacked by something evil. I can hear her stomp up the stairs, i take a quick peek into the hallway and watch her knuckles insert her mouth, she's nervous about something. Five seconds and she'll be in my room. Her sneakers are flooded with rain as she stands by my door. "Hey, Jade, You okay?"
"Sure, great! I have so much homework to do, We're going to watch Netflix later okay?" She stops biting her knuckles to look me in the eye. She knows I'm lying.
"What subjects?"
"Biology mostly." I bite the inside of my lip. "I'm just gonna put a few of my favourite tracks on, so don't complain if it's too loud, okay? I learn better that way. You won't need me for anything, right?" Maisy nods, the keenness for homework is surprising but I'll doubt that she'll question it further. In a moment or so I head to the kitchen to grab food and then,I'm back on my bed. I examine the snowy Turkish Delight and pop it into my mouth. As i flick through my social media i find that Zayn is online, and frankly he saw that I'm online,too. Perfect.
"What about another trip? Tomorrow..."
I think my text through carefully before hitting send.
"That would be nice. My dad will be a bit mad, don't know how to deal..."
Instantly, the typing bubble pops up.
"Don't want dad to know huh? Don't worry, I can keep a secret."
"You're very secretive, huh? I thought it as just a rumor"
I find myself waiting for his reply, my fingers pressed against the key board.
"Not funny, see you at school, grab warm clothes."
Very secretive.
