Jaded Eyes (Jori)

17: Old Habits

The three girls talked for hours, sitting on that ledge and finished up the food. Cat packed more than the other two thought. Apples, crackers, and some candy were tucked under a bunch of napkins, so they spent a while eating the rest of the lunch. Once they where all done, the trio packed up the garbage, and threw it in a trash bin on the way back to the car.

Jade climbed into Cat's car, and Tori jumped in hers. Tori followed the two until she took a different turn and she disappeared out of Jade's sight. Jade felt her heart drop a little as Tori went her own way.

Cat then drove Jade home. It was 19:58 when she walked through the door, so she was two minutes early.

Jade walked to her room, and that's when she heard a ruffling sound. As she opened the door, the sound got louder and louder, and it was like someone was ripping apart an entire library. When Jade finally got to see what was going on, her mother was standing him the middle of her room, with the notebook in hand. Hundreds of pages were torn out, and scattered across the floor.

Jade couldn't move.

Her mom knew everything.

The hatred she felt for her, the ditching school, the boyfriend, the desperate attempt to get her own apartment, the first kiss shared between Beck and her, the dream... everything.

She knew her mom was screaming at her. She knew that fists were being thrown.

But all she could do was fall to the floor and start organizing the papers. Straightening out the wrinkled ones, making sure all of the tops alined, sorting out the dates at the top.

Everything but the papers was not important.

The screams, the bruises, the kicks. They all just left her mind.

The even crazier thing was that Jade wasn't crying. She was completely calm. She knew this meant she was inevitably going to break down later, but she didn't mind that.

She grabbed each paper that she could, maybe 30 or so, and left her room. Her mom was chasing after her, but Jade's legs were longer, and she was better in shape than her mom.

She ran. Right through the front door, out of the neighborhood. Completely still. Her heart rate wasn't elevated, and her palms were dry. She ran maybe ten blocks before she recognized Beck's neighborhood.

She approached the driveway and knocked on the trailer door. Beck appeared and that's when Jade lost it. She let go of all of the bottled up emotions.

The paper's fell to the ground, and Jade collapsed into his arms.

"Baby..." Beck sighed. "What happened?"

"...mom..." Jade breathed in between sobs.

Beck's face dropped and he held Jade closer and brought her inside. Jade laid down on the bed, trying to stop the tears. Beck picked up the papers, and stacked them next to the bed. He didn't care about stupid papers, so he paid them no attention. Beck laid down behind Jade and just hugged her.

Jade rolled over to face him, and snuggled her face into his chest. Jade head was nuzzled underneath his chin and he was playing with her hair.

Once Jade was more calm, she backed her face out of his neck and looked at his face. She saw him smile a little, which made her smile. She kissed him, and the sparks did not fly. There was no cold electricity.

But right now, emotions didn't matter. She needed him. Now.

Jade quickened the kiss and Beck caught on. He turned her on her back and lowered her slowly to the bed. Their lips never left each other's and Jade tugged on the bottom of his shirt.

Beck pulled back from the kiss just long enough to lift his shirt above his head and throw it down. Meanwhile, Jade's hands roamed his abdomen. Beck engaged the kiss again, and this time he was pulling at the hem of her skirt. Jade lifted her hips and Beck pulled down the fabric. Jade was left in just her black underwear.

Once Beck started to tug at the laces, something in Jade's mind changed. She pushed Beck off of her.

"No, baby, don't do this. You did this last time." Beck pleaded, pushing himself back onto her.

Jade wasn't having it. "Beck! No! Stop, get off!" She pushed him so hard, he fell backwards, off the bed, and hit his tailbone on the floor.

"Babe, what the fuck! Why can't we just have sex?! You act like this is some big ass deal!" Beck screamed from the floor.

"We're done." Jade spat.

"No more dating, no more us, and we are NOT going to homecoming together." Jade said with a hint of I could murder you right now behind her tongue.

Jade picked up her skirt, pulled it up, and snatched the stack of evenly placed papers from the table. She stepped off the trailer, and slammed the door behind her.

Jade walked down to the end of the street, reached for her phone in her jacket pocket, and called Tori.

It felt like it rang for minutes.

"Jade?"

"Can I come over?"