The Difference Between You and Me

Chapter 27

"My mom is inviting you and Josh to dinner this Friday"

Jade raised an eyebrow in question

"I don't know why, I guess it's a mom thing"

Jade placed a fry in her mouth. "Have you asked Josh yet?"

"No, I haven't gotten a chance, he's been pretty distracted and scarce lately. Not answering my calls, barely responding to my messages, running off in the middle of our conversations...Jade?... Jade?!

"What?"

"Are you even listening to me?" Ammie asked. But before Jade had a chance to respond, a drink suddenly landed on her lap.

Jade jumped up to see a girl staring at her in complete horror. Apparently she had bumped into someone else on her way to her seat and all her food went scattered.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry Jade, I'm so sorry," the girl apologized

"Yeah that's what your mother should've said to the world when she gave birth to you," Jade spat and grabbed a bunch of napkins from a nearby table to wipe her shirt before sitting down. And the girl walked away frowning.

"That was uncalled for Jade. It was an accident and she didn't deserve that," Ammie said frowning

"A lot of things are accidents Ammie. That doesn't stop life from shoving it in our faces and give us this overwhelming guilt to walk around with.

Ammie looked at Jade for a while thinking hard about what she just said. "I'm just saying you were being unnecessarily mean," Ammie spoke up earning a deep sigh from Jade

"Since you've known me, have I ever given you the slightest clue that I was ever anything else besides mean?" Jade asked getting frustrated but Ammie remained quiet.

"What's really wrong with you Jade?" she finally asked

"There's nothing wrong with me Ammie. I'm fine," Jade said forcing a laugh and repeated, "I'm fine"

---

Jade walked over to Ammie who was busily shoving things into her locker. Today was Friday which means the night of the dinner and she still had not seen Josh to even tell him. And that definitely did not make her happy.

"Hey", Jade greeted causing Ammie to jump in surprise

"You okay?" Jade questioned taking note of Ammie's frown

"Just fine. What's up?"

"Did you get to talk to Josh about tonight?"

"Nope"

"Do you think this has something to do with you going to New York and him having to stay here?" Jade asked

"I don't think so. He was bummed at first but then he seemed pretty cool with it afterwards," Ammie shrugged

"Well I saw Luke earlier today and asked him to relay the message to Josh. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, at least he's getting the message," Ammie sighed and braced her back against the lockers.

"Hungry?" Jade asked changing the subject

"Let's go," Ammie pushed herself off the lockers and both made their way to the cafeteria.

---

Josh stood in the parking lot, chatting with Todd, Luke, Melody and the twins. Melody was standing way too close to him but Josh didn't seem to mind, nor did he mind her hand which rested on his shoulder a little too long when she thought he said something funny. They talked about how much fun Melody's party was and Josh was glad he went. He'd been, as Todd and Luke had pointed out, hanging out with Ammie and Jade a lot and neglecting his friends. In addition he was going through so much crap that Ammie didn't know about and that he didn't want to burden her with. Spending time with his friends allowed him to forget those problems for a little while. But he had a feeling this abrupt diversion of his attention would have its repercussion, and the news Luke had given him earlier seemed like a great opportunity to smooth everything out.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Josh suddenly sees Ammie storming over to him and he stepped away from Melody and straightened himself up.

"What's going on here?" Ammie asked as soon as she came up to the group. Her question directed to Josh

Josh quipped a brow, Todd muttered a 'woah' and Melody smirked in amusement, everyone waiting to see what's gonna happen next. But silence settled until Amber spoke up

"Listen Ammie-" But Ammie's hand shot up immediately, silencing her

"Shush, I'm talking to my boyfriend." Todd and Luke both started chuckling at this

"I'm talking to my friends Ammie," Josh sighed not in the mood for the drama that is currently unfolding.

"They your friends?" Ammie quipped a brow and pointed to Amber and Ashley. But she did not give him a chance to respond

"Okay Josh, when you are finish talking to your friends, if you'd be so kind to not forget that my mom is bursting her ass off to prepare an elaborate dinner that you are supposed to attend this evening," she gave Amber and Ashley a onceover before finishing, "have fun," and walked off

"Dang," Luke commented. But Josh was focused on Ammie's retreating figure. He knew he had screwed up very badly and needed to correct his mistake. Because he needed her.

"I have to go guys," He quickly said, hopped in his car and drove away.