I don't think that Jade particularly hates me anymore.
Well, at the very least I don't annoy her as much. I can tell she's biting her tounge occasionally (she opens her mouth to speak, makes a face, then closes her mouth like nothing happened) but the very fact that she is trying makes my heart soar.
She's been helping me transition to life in hell (her words, not mine) and I don't think I would be alive without her at this point. She's saved me from countless awkward and potentially dangerous situations, including grabbing me by the shirt to stop me from accidentally cutting in line for food. The girl who I almost cut also happened to be the one who wanted to beat me up earlier which would have almost certainly ended in some sort of altercation and that's the last thing I need. I've also figured out that Jade is actually pretty intelligent. Not that I ever thought she was particularly stupid, but based solely on the reason she's here in the first place, I didn't think she had the highest of IQ's. As soon as she started opening up a little bit to me, I realized that she teeters on the edge of doing things that are okay and not okay. She gets as close to that barrier as she can without crossing the line and it's kind of impressive. For example we're only allowed to have one bar of soap at the same time, but she's somehow managed to get her hands on two different types of soap that smell slightly different. When I asked her what she would do with the extra one if our room was ever searched, she showed me how she was able to mold them together into one medium sized bar that at first glance didn't seem out of the ordinary. Not particularly malicious or evil, but also not technically allowed.
"I've been able to fly under the radar," Jade shrugged, putting the soap back with her hygiene supplies, "I do everything they tell me to do so all the CO's just see me as a good kid but then that leads to more leeway with things I can do. Just nothing too serious, I don't want to stay here longer than I have to,"
She's also a master at hoarding snacks. Well, not hoarding, but technically we aren't supposed to take the provided evening snack back to our rooms, but once the door closes behind us, she pulls a bag of chips or an apple or whatever out of nowhere. She flushes anything left behind like a wrapper or the core, and just like that it's like there was never anything there. I haven't quite figured out how she does it but nearly every night she has a snack before she actually goes to bed.
Jade Thirlwall is incredibly interesting that way. I've never met anyone quite like her, and that's not a bad thing in the slightest. She won't completely open up to me on a personal level but I'm working on it. Anytime I ask her about her parents or any potential siblings she completely shuts me down. So, when she was given mail one day and her face lit up, it was only natural that my curiosity peaked.
My curiosity got even worse when she was called for therapy and instead of carefully putting her letter back with the rest of her stuff, she threw it on her desk and was out of the room in record time.
Honestly, I really didn't want to stick my nose into Jade's things. And I tried not to. For the better part of an hour I was catching up on school work. Unfortunately, Jade's desk is right next to mine. And the letter was practically calling my name.
I cracked after I finished a math worksheet. I picked up the letter and carefully unfolded it, glancing over the message.
Dear Jade,
Hi! I miss you so much and Karl says he does too. I also really liked the picture you sent me last week. Can you draw me next time? I want to show my friends.
Daddy and Karl were arguing about you yesterday. I tried to listen but Karl made me go back to our room before I could really hear what it was about. I tried listening at the door but it wasn't the same.
