Somewhere Else [Damien Haas]

1. Homeroom

-/-/-

Packing for a vacation is easily one of the most fun things to do, because sometimes, you get to clean out your apartment in the process. And I haven't cleaned in a while, so it's nice to take this chance to tidy things up. Maybe it's also the reason why Ian wanted me to go on a vacation, this place is almost a mess!

Well, not so much of a mess. I clean a lot, but there are things that I would call disorganized. I moved out almost a year ago, and there are things I just straight up yeeted to a closet because I didn't feel like unpacking. Now, I actually need this stuff. Most of them are pictures of my family that I forgot to put up, so I put them on the mantelpiece as well as the nice areas on my walls.

I notice one frame that isn't a picture of my family though.

"Hey, Freyja, Zelda, look!" I exclaim to my cats, taking the frame off the wall and showing it to them. "It's me in high school. Gosh, look at that young man. I don't think I've met Shayne yet in here, because I met him when I was... 20? 21? I dunno. Now I just feel old and sad."

Of course, the cats don't respond in human speech, so I respond for them, "Um, so... this is a picture of me winning a quiz bee. I was a junior back then, and I think this was around September of... 2006? Yeah, I think so. A long time ago. This was a quiz bee for Chemistry, and I still don't understand how I got to that contest, but..."

I gaze at the picture. I wasn't the only one in it. There was also someone whose face I always see in my dreams, lingering and cheering for me to do better. Looking at her face brings back too many memories. "How's Jade doing these days anyway?"

Jade Natalie Greene. She was what you would call a genius, but the best description I had of Jade was that she was loving. Always a step ahead of everyone, but she would always take a step back for the people and the things she loved. I search for her on Facebook, but it's all private to those who aren't her friends. Facebook became a huge thing when I was already in acting, so I didn't have too many of my high school friends on my account either. But based on her profile picture, she seems happy.

She always looked happy in my eyes though. Just constantly smiling and brightening up everyone's days with that smile of hers.

"I hope she's doing great...," I mumble to myself as Zelda hops up to my lap. "Yeah, so the girl in that picture was my girlfriend back in high school. She was nice, her name's Jade, I dunno what she's doing right now, but she would have loved meeting you guys."

There were reasons why we broke up, but one of them was definitely because of our deviant career choices. Too different, just too far apart to strengthen a relationship that was forged in water. Thinking about how it all went down was a little fuzzy, so I just put the frame back in the closet, gazing at Jade's face for one last time, before fixing my stuff for the trip. Some things, I believe, are best left as memories in the back of your mind, but I do hope that Jade was doing alright. I do hope she's happier than she had ever been back in high school. I'm not too sure if I hope that she's contented with whoever she's dating, though, but... yeah.

I have so much to look forward to in my trip, so I shouldn't be moping around. This was an Ian-prescribed vacation, which meant that it had a good reason for me. I like to think I work hard enough to provide for myself and my two beautiful geese, and I do, but maybe a little too hard now.

When I lie back in my bed on the eve of the big trip to Japan, I think of how Jade was doing. The entire time I was packing, she stayed on my mind. We didn't end on good terms as far as I remember, which makes me even sadder because I didn't want to be on bad terms with anyone.

But hey, life goes on. Maybe she's already happier, while I've just been changing. Constantly changing. I hope she is happy though, and I hope she wishes the same for me too.