The Unpredictability of You and Me

eighteen - for us

"He needs a lawyer," I call out, following my mom around the kitchen counter.

"We know, Jade," she reassures.

The apartment is now decked out in Christmas decorations for next week. It's the last day of school before winter break, but I can't focus on school right now.

Carter comes stumbling out of the hallway. Dad told him what happened yesterday morning, and he had a whole breakdown. He seems a little more. . . normal now.

"Hey, Carter," I offer as cheerfully as I can. Mom and Dad have been under a lot of stress talking to the lawyers about Adrian since he got arrested two days ago, and this was clearly really hard on Carter, so I'm trying to lighten the mood as much as possible.

"Good morning, Jade." He gives me a smile but looks worn out. He turns to my mom. "Hi, Nicole."

She places a kiss on his forehead and gives him a hug. "Good morning, sunshine. How did you sleep?"

"Good. Can I go see Adrian today?"

Mom raises her eyebrows, surprised, before lifting her arms from around him. "Not today. Maybe next week."

"But that's after Christmas."

"I know, hon."

I frown deeply. He's going to be spending Christmas inside juvie. I know Carter understands that too because he spins on his heel and disappears back into his room.

I turn to my mom. "Maybe we could go and see him tomorrow on Christmas Eve. Just so he's not all alone."

She gives me a sad look. "I wish we could. Your dad and I really wanted to. But Adrian asked not to see any of us right now."

What? I look at her with a crazy expression. "You're lying."

She doesn't seem to think it's a big deal, and to her that's what it should be like. She doesn't know that I literally fell in love with him over the last few months. She obviously loves him and wants to see him, but she thinks he's just another foster kid or a friend to me. Not anything more.

"I promise we will go see him soon. His sentencing is next week and you and Carter can see him before that," she reassures. "Maybe next weekend if he agrees, okay?"

✘✘✘

"Jade," Lesly calls out after me. "We're going to be in so much trouble!"

"You can go home. I didn't ask you to come with me," I snap, losing my temper.

She almost runs behind me. She's a few inches shorter than me, so she's always hurrying after everyone, but my fast walking isn't helping her. "I didn't want you to come here alone."

Here is the Manhattan Juvenile Correctional Facility. I need to see Adrian. I don't care if he doesn't want to see me, I need to see him. I couldn't wait until after school, so I decided to leave after third period and call a taxi to drive me to the juvie that Adrian is being held at. Unfortunately, Lesly saw me leaving and hurried after me.

"Your parents are going to kill you when they see you skipped school to come see him."

I take out my phone, type a quick text to my parents telling them that I'm at the juvie, and show Lesly. "Here. If they even try to come and get me, I'll already be done talking to him. I only need a few minutes."

She still tries to stop me, even as we're getting patted down by the guards. I turn to her and say, "You wait out here. I'll only take a few minutes."

"Follow me this way," a guard instructs.

He takes me into a room similar to the one we met Carter's dad in, but this one is smaller with one-on-one tables. I sit down at the one closest to the door and wait. There is a younger boy in a jumpsuit sitting across from a lady who seems to be his mom. They're both laughing at something he's saying.

The door opens and a guard comes out with someone who looks like Adrian. I can't be too sure, because his face is completely busted from a few nights ago. One eye is swollen and the other one shows how sleep-deprived he is. His lower lip is dark red and split open and there are small cuts and bruises all over his face.

The guard brings him over, handcuffs him to the table, and stalks off. We both stare at each other for a moment, and I speak first. "Orange isn't really your color," I try to joke.

He doesn't laugh. "What are you doing here?"

I frown. "I wanted to see you before Christmas."

Adrian's expression softens a little. "You shouldn't have come."

"You were going to be all alone on Christmas. I had to see you."

"I don't even celebrate Christmas," he deadpans.

I put on a smile. "Well, next year, when you're out-"

"Jade," he tries to cut off, but I ignore him.

"We can celebrate properly. All of us. We can go see the tree in Times-"

"Jade," he says again, sharper this time. "You should go."

I ignore him yet again. "My parents are getting you a lawyer."

He frowns a little and then buries his head in his hands. "I don't deserve you. I don't deserve any of you."

He lifts his head up. "My grandma called me this morning. She's coming up to your place for Christmas. She said she would come visit me. She sounded so disappointed."

I let out a sigh. "I think she was just sad."

"I keep messing up."

"That's why we're here to help you."

"How many chances are you going to give me?"

"As many as it takes."

"Why?"

I sigh. "Because this isn't you. You need help and I wish you would just accept it. These crazy things you keep doing, it's an illness and we're going to help you get better."

Adrian looks at me intensely. "If they let me out of here, I'm going to be better for you, Jade. For your parents, Carter, my grandma, and friends, too. You all deserve it."

"We're going to get you out of here soon. I promise. I called a lawyer on the way here and she said maybe you could get off with a final warning and some community service. They don't want a bunch of teenagers with mental illnesses locked up." I smile at the thought, relieved, almost tearing up. "I love you a lot, you know?"

"I love you, too." He looks back at the guard over his shoulder. "I would kiss you if he wasn't here."

I lean forward quickly and give him a quick kiss before falling back into my seat. Luckily, the guard didn't notice. Adrian raises his eyebrows and says, "Look at you. Breaking the rules."

"Sometimes I like to be a little unpredictable." I playfully punch his shoulder. "Learned from the best."