Tori|
"Smile, frowney face!"
I flinch, covering the ear Cat had just pierced straight to the eardrum. Turning toward her, I flash a quick and very unconvincing smile. "Happy?"
"No." Her mood pops like a balloon. She slumps forward, stabbing a thick piece of lettuce with her fork. The sun makes her red hair look as if it was set aflame. She frowns and makes a sullen face at me. "Grumpy?"
I stop. The ice in my veins isn't so much anger as it is hurt. It's lunchtime and Jade still hasn't so much as looked at me. I hovered by the doors that lead outside before I came out to the courtyard, but I was plagued with the feeling that she wasn't going to show. That, and Cat practically dragged me outside. Taking a deep breath, I reach out and touch Cat's shoulder. "I'm sorry." My hand slips to my lap again, the other rubbing at my forehead. "Jade's been avoiding me all day."
Cat waves my concern away. "It's Jade. She's moody."
I frown at the sandwich I haven't touched. I don't tell Cat she's wrong because, in a way, she isn't. Jade is moody and testy and standoffish, but only with them. She hasn't with me, not for a month. We've talked every day, hung out, been together more often than not, and been best friends. I wedge my thumb between my teeth. Jade has become my best friend so effortlessly, and everything with her is so easy and smooth that her pulling away all at once with the only explanation being 'Mom' puts me on edge. I know her relationship with her mother is virtually nonexistent, so what could she have done since Jade texted me a smiley face this morning that could have ruined her whole day?
Others have noticed our budding friendship, too. People stare as we stand at her locker and whisper and laugh, the memory of her treating me lower than dirt still very fresh in those halls. Some classmates have even directly questioned me about it, wondering what could have happened that would cause us to be friends. I don't really know how to explain it in simple enough terms, so I just shrug and tell them I'm not really sure.
As for Beck, our conversations have been pretty limited. He's given up on trying to approach Jade during school, and since I'm with her so often, we don't have a lot of time to converse. When he does get the chance, his concerns are with how Jade is doing, if she's getting better, how she looks happier every day. One time he thanked me for taking care of her when he couldn't and I couldn't help but muffle angry words in my throat; it's his fault she broke in the first place, but then I remember – if he hadn't, Jade and I would have never been anything but maybe frenemies, and even that is generous.
"There she is."
I immediately perk up, turning to see that, sure enough, Jade is emerging from the doors. Even over the chatter, the clicking of her black boots on the pavements is loud enough for me to hear. Her head is down, arms jabbed across her chest and squeezing on either side of her ribs. She looks like she's trying to keep herself together. I frown, starting to stand, an instinct that I have developed specifically for Jade – to protect her, to keep my promises – drives me forward. I'm only able to take one step toward her, though, when her green eyes slice toward me and root me to the ground. It's not a look she's given me in a month. It's one she reserves for someone she dislikes – someone she hates.
I falter. Jade rounds the table that Cat and I occupy and sits on the opposite side. I stare with my mouth hanging open as she shifts her blazing eyes to the tabletop. Slowly, and with my brain not entirely in control, I find my way back to my seat. I feel more than see Cat's eyes shifting slowly between us, her mouth trying to find the right words. My attention is on Jade, who apparently is insisting on saying nothing, doing nothing, but sit there.
"Uhm." I don't plan to say anything, but it comes out before I can stop it. With Jade's eyes once more cutting toward me, I feel the words building up. "Where've you been?"
