The World Through Various Eyes

[29]- Empathy (Jade's POV)

It was Christopher. Well, Leslie's body, but Christopher technically. He wore Leslie's wig, with a green hat on top of it, complete with a matching scarf and gloves. It seemed like quite a Christopher choice-- well, if he was a girl. Which, in this case, he was. If the shoe fits, no?

In the doorway, he looked almost inpatient. No surprise from the same boy who rang my doorbell three times. What was the rush?

The wind blew in from behind him with harsh gusts, and he removed his pale, chapped hands from his pockets. One of them, the right, held a box. Alex's box. Christopher continue to assess my reaction as I processed this. He was oddly silent, and it was slightly unnerving for me.

"W-what's the deal? What are you here for?" I tried, but he just pushed past me.

Forget even trying to invite him in.

"Jade, I realize you've had your fair share of problems lately. From life. From recent occurences. I, may have a solution."

He said this as he removed his coat and hat, hanging them up on the mirror in the entrance hall. Chris took tentative strides down the halls, passing the guest bedroom, the bathroom, the office and the kitchen. As he noticed a framed photo hanging askew, he took quick measures to readjust it. Something about him was unnecessarily tense, as if he was stalling from what he actually came here to do.

"I need food," he said as he opened the pantry.

"Ah, nevermind. I think I've lost my appetite. Just as quickly as it came, it's gone. How odd."

My childhood friend rubbed at the back of his neck nervously, biting his lip.

I eyed him questionably, but he just averted his gaze. Odd indeed.

"Chris, what is this all about? You've got me so confused, and I've known you almost for forever. Explain something! At least make something make what remotely approximates sense."

As I said this, my tone was a little higher than I intended for it to be, contributing to me sounding desperate. I, was not desperate. I mean, I kind of was, considering I was hoping his visit here would solve some of the questions I had, but who wouldn't have been in such a situation?

By now, he was unzipping Leslie's snow boots and putting them neatly by the front door, where they unintentionally drop a lot of snow from their treads. Setting them aside like that was the first semi-considerate thing he had done upon entering, but it still created quite the mess. Chris noticed I was looking up at him still, and motioned for me to follow him.

We ended up in the living room, where he sat down on the dark leather couch. I sat across from him on the ottoman.

One look at him was enough to tell me that he was ready to share whatever he had to say.

"It better be good" I thought.

"You know, Jade, you're brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Have I ever told you that?"

What was he getting at?

"You're one of the few people all my life that I've simultaneously looked up to and considered a threat."

I screwed up my face, confused as to what relevance that held.

"T-that's a compliment by the way. Yeah, a compliment. Don't make me regret admitting it. As if you didn't already know all of this. You know a lot more than you probably admit. Like I said, you're brilliant. And brilliant people know when to disclose information and when to hold onto it."

"Chris, you're rambling." I said curtly, cutting him off.

He got somewhat flustered at me shutting him down, which looked sort of cute honestly. This forced me to remember how my feelings for him had evolved over the course of the last month and a half. First, there was the library, where we basically rediscovered each other from our pasts, and lit a whole new flame. Something, I think, that was a bit more than friendship.