Gold is Rare But Jade is Priceless

Part 7

After school today I watched Jade leave the classroom not giving me time to catch up to her because I was held back by the teacher wanting to have a conversation with me. I internally cursed her since I had planned to walk Jade to the cafe or take the bus ride with her but of course, nothing went according to plan.

"Andie your attendance has been lacking and so have your assignments. I will give you one week to turn in any late work and make sure you turn in the final essay on time." She started lecturing me on good study habits for the future if I wanted to be a senior next year. All throughout her lecture, I was staring out the window to see if I could catch a glimpse of Jade.

"Do you hear me, Andie? I do see potential in you I just think you have to try" she snapped me back to reality.

"Right, of course, I will do my best" giving her a nod, and scampering out the door looking towards the bus stop and seeing that they had already left. I decided I could not wait for the next bus and ran home stopping at a small mini-mart to pick up some last-minute items. I made sure everything was cleaned as I set up the island table for two and placed a small bouquet of flowers in the middle.

I debated on going to pick her up but before I had thoroughly thought through my decision I was already out the door with a rose in hand. The cafe was a bit further than one's usual average walk but I had enough time to spare as I got there in time to still see Jade working behind the register.

"I will take one of you" when it was my turn to order. She looked up from the cashier screen startled.

"Oh it is just you, I thought it was some stranger flirting with me" she held her hand against her chest where her heart resided. I handed her the rose wanting to lean in for a kiss but I knew better than to display public affection in front of her colleagues. I moved out of the line and took a seat where I could see her work as she called someone over to take her spot. I was overjoyed when she came back out, standing next to my table as I spotted the rose sticking out of her front apron pocket.

"You couldn't wait could you?" She teased me running her hands across my shoulder.

"I wanted to escort you home but I did not know what time your shift ended" lying through my teeth as I definitely knew what time her shift ended but I had been held back by the teacher and did not want her to know that I had her whole schedule memorized.

"I still have another two hours, you can leave if you want," she gave me a sweet smile looking around the cafe. I shook my head rejecting the option.

No, when given the chance to watch someone you love, you show them how much you love them by staring at them. Plus  I had waited for so long that waiting two hours was nothing. My stare must have implemented pressure on her as she accidentally dropped a cup of tea. I immediately ran towards her pushing her hand away that was reaching for the broken glass.

"Don't touch it!" Pushing her hand away as I  grabbed the nearest napkin off of someone's table. The other staff immediately began running over to clean it up while Jade seemed hesitant about what to do as she mumbled apologies until I pulled her down the hallway. Her hands were trembling as I looked them over making sure she did not get cut.

"Are you okay?" I touched her cheek so that we were staring eye to eye. She blinked a couple of times before nodding as I held her trembling cold hands in mine.

"It's okay take deep breaths." I took a deep breath in and back out as she followed what I did. I turned around hearing footsteps come down the hall and saw another staff that was an older woman walking towards us. Jade immediately dropped her hands from mine taking a few steps away from me.

"Jade you can have the rest of the day off but that will be coming out of your paycheck" the woman scolded her. I stood in front of Jade connecting our hands not carrying about what this woman thought.