Chapter 20

(written by Lacy)

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What's wrong with me? Kevin, it had to be Kevin... it was his shadow! Jade thought to herself as she stopped running and reached the edge of the water. I'm going crazy... she sat down on the sand beneath her and continued to stare out into the blackness. Why did I think it was Kevin? She shook of the thought with another one... what Jess had said. "I'm a slut," Jade whispered to herself as a tear made its way down her cheek. "I'm a slut..." her words trailed off and were washed up with the sound of the waves coming toward her. Not caring about how cold it was, Jess took off her shoes and dove head-first into the black hills of water. As she surfaced, she could physically feel the effects the coldness was having on her; but mentally, she didn't feel a thing.

After swimming back-and-forth along the coast line for quite some time, she slowly made her way out of the ocean. After slipping her shoes back on, she gave one last look at the black dwelling that had in one night become her haven and started walking toward the road. It's so cold, was the last thing that crossed her mind before she collapsed at the edge of the highway. So cold...

She looked up as the brightness from a set of headlights came upon her. It's gonna hit me, she thought to herself, as if she didn't even care. But her inner thoughts were denied as the car came to a screeching hault about 10 ft. from her. "Jade, oh-my-God!" someone yelled as two tall dark figures got out of the car and started running toward her. "Oh shit," she heard one of them whisper as he they crouched down beside her. "Come on," the other one said as he picked her up in his arms and carried her back to the car.

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Brian looked in his rearview mirror for the hundredth time as he drove as fast as he could down the highway. And for the hundredth time, he saw the same picture: Jade with her eyes closed, leaning her head against Kevin's chest while he held her tightly and stared down at her. Turning his eyes back to the road, he couldn't help but think about what had happened in the past 3-and-a-half hours.

After he had ran over to Nick's house to see if Jade was there and finding out she wasn't, he had gotten in his car and went out to look for Jade. He had to find her so that Jess could explain. But just as he had turned down the street leading to his house, there she was walking down the middle of the road. He had gotten out to talk to her, when she took him by surprise by calling him Kevin and running to his arms. By telling her he wasn't Kevin was like telling her that she was nuts... and that's what she thought, he had read it in her eyes. After she had ran away from him, he had climbed back into his car and headed straight to Kevin's house. Jade had a special trust in Kevin; Brian didn't know why, they had barely even met each other. But she did, even if she didn't know it, and Brian knew that he could help her. The look that Brian had received from Kevin when he told him about what happened had shook Brian to the soul. First he looked mad, then he looked scared and demanded that they look for her until they find her. And now here they were.

Noise from the backseat brought Brian back from his thoughts. "What did she say?" he asked when he heard Jade mumble something in her sleep. When he didn't receive an answer, he turned around to be met with Kevin's stare. "What?" Brian asked when he saw the look in Kevin's eyes. "Go to her house," Kevin said, receiving a strange look from Brian. "Kevin, I don't think--" he started. "Just go," Kevin said, looking away from Brian and back down at Jade's sleeping face.

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Jess walked back into the kitchen to refill her glass of water for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Fuck this," she muttered, dumping it back out and throwing the glass in the sink. Running her hands through her hair, she walked back into the living room and sat on the couch. Thoughts of Jade running down a dark alley only to be mugged and rapped by some hermit hiding under a slab of cardboard ran quickly through her head. "Stop it, just stop it!" she yelled at herself, burrowing her head under a pillow. "Jade's fine, she just needs some space, that's all," she tried to reassure herself. But she knew that wasn't all that Jade needed.

"Jess!" she heard from the hallway as the front door swung open and Brian ran into the living room. "What?" Jess yelled, jumping up and expecting the worst. "There you are, we found Jade," he said, giving her a hug to reassure her. "You-you did?" she asked, confused. She thought he had went home.

"Where's her room?" Kevin asked, entering the living room with Jade in his arms. "I'll show you," Jess said, running up the stairs. Kevin took Jade into her room as Brian grabbed Jess' arm and made her stay in the hallway with him. "Brian, what have I done?" she sobbed into his chest as he held her close to him. "It's not your fault," he kept repeating, trying to make her believe it.

They were interrupted when Kevin opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. "She keeps on saying your name, Jess," he said, stepping back. Jess took the hint and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind her. But she couldn't face Jade, not after what she had said. "Jess, Jess!" Jade mumbled, throwing the covers off her. "I'm here," Jess said, running to the side of the bed. But Jade didn't even realize what she was saying; she was still asleep.

"Oh, Jade," Jess sobbed, covering her face with a corner of the blanket, "I'm so sorry. I never ment it, I swear! I don't know what got into me, I'm so sorry," she cried, shaking uncontrolably. "Jess?" she heard from the bed. "Jade?" she asked, turning her tear-streaked face toward her best friend. "There you are," Jade said, giving her a tired smile. Jess smiled and started crying even harder. "What's wrong?" Jade asked, sitting up and trying to comfort her crying friend. "What?" Jess asked, looking up at Jade with wide eyes. Jade just gave her a weird look. "What I said was so horrible, Jade. I can't even understand why you're sitting here and not kicking me out of the house."

"Jess, you're my best friend. You're always gonna be my best friend, no matter what. I know you didn't mean what you said... we say things we don't mean to each other all the time. I just needed a little time to realize that, that's all," Jade said, yawning. Jess couldn't say anything; all she could do was sit there. "Are you gonna be okay?" Jade asked. Jess just nodded. "How did I get up here?" Jade asked, realizing where she was. "Kevin carried you up," Jess said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Jade blushed. "Kevin?" she asked, looking around. "Yeah, Kevin," Jess said, looking at Jade's red face. "Jade?" she continued, "You have a crush on him, don't you?!"

"No!" Jade said quickly, avoiding Jess' gaze and staring down at her hands. "Jade, you're the worst liar in the world! You do, you like him!" Jade looked at Jess as a smile started to creep up on her face. "Yeah, so? Maybe I do," she said. "I knew it!" Jess yelled, jumping up on the bed and bouncing like a little kid. "Ssshhh... he isn't still here, is he?" Jade asked. "Yes. He and Brian are sitting outside your door as we speak. But you have to stay in bed; look at you, you're all wet. Go get a shower and then get back into bed," Jess said, giving her best friend a hug and standing up. "Okay," Jade said without argument, getting up out of bed and heading towards the bathroom. "See you in the morning," Jess said, throwing Jade a smile and walking out of the room.

Jade heard Jess tell Kevin and Brian that she had fallen asleep and they walked downstairs. Thank-you, Jess! Jade silently thought to herself. She really didn't want to see them after what happened. Yawning, she glanced at her calender and saw something that woke her up immediantely. Tomorrow was the day her and Jess were to spend the entire time shopping for Jess' new makeover! Walking over to her nightstand, she opened the drawer and picked up the dull white bottle. Just enough to keep me awake for tomorrow, Jade thought to herself, putting the bottle back into the drawer. Humming herself a Backstreet Boys tune, she grabbed the bubble bath from her Soothing Beauty basket and closed the bathroom door behind her.

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