Chapter 5
Jade and I ordered our food, and we both seemed caught up in our phones for a bit.
I’d texted Jana again, asking if she was alive and well since I still had not heard from her.
When we got back home, I’d be calling her since she’d been leaving me on read for days now.
Maybe she didn’t want to hear what I’m sure she thought would be complaints about her sister.
“Jade?” I heard a feminine voice speak and looked up to see a pretty, blonde-haired girl walking over to us.
“Hey, Crissy, how have you been?” Jade said, smiling warmly at her.
“I’ve been fine; how have you been? I haven’t seen you in years, girl. What are you doing back in town?”
“Oh well, I’ve been okay. Um, my dad passed away actually, so my friend and I have been cleaning out his place.” Jade gestured in my direction. Noticing me for the first time, Crissy looked over and smiled at me.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Jade. If you two need any help, just let me know. My husband can help too. He’s a contractor, so if there are renovations needed to sell the place, I promise he’ll give you a good deal.”
“Thanks, Crissy; that’s so generous of you.”
“Of course, anything for you, girl. I still consider you a good friend of mine, you know. Call me sometime.”
Being here with Jade and away from Jana felt confusing.
On one hand, she seemed to be super nice at times, which was odd considering Jana had described her as the antichrist. But beyond that, it didn’t seem like a show she was putting on.
Maybe she had changed since the last time Jana had been around her. It had been years, after all.
Once Crissy was gone and we’d both taken a few bites of food, I inquired.
“So, Crissy had a lot of nice things to say about you,” I stated, sounding saltier than I’d intended. Jade looked up at me with a curious smirk.
“You jealous or something?” I’m sure my skin looked bright red.
“No, I just found it interesting. To be completely transparent, I’ve heard that you can be…not the nicest person. So, I guess it was just surprising.” She held that intense gaze on my face while she took another bite of her dinner.
“I wasn’t always the nicest person to Jana, that’s true. That being said, there are two sides to every story, you know.” I’m sure there was, and maybe Jana was dramatic in her retellings, which honestly wouldn’t be surprising.
“I can believe that.” I nodded, accepting the information.
“Crissy was just a good high school friend of mine, princess. No reason to be jealous.” I ground my teeth because she would not let that go.
“I never said I was jealous!” I stated a little too loudly, which led to her smirk turning into a full-grown grin.
“Bestie! I’m so sorry things have been nuts here!” Jana shouts into the phone as soon as she answers.
“I was starting to think you forgot about me,” I teased her, smiling at her familiar voice.
I lay back on Jana's bed, releasing a heavy breath from finally talking to her. Putting the phone on speaker, I went back to my knitting. I'd been working on a pink and white striped blanket for the past few months. Doing something so repetitive with my hands often calmed my overactive brain.
“Never! They’ve been working me to the bone lately, everyday it’s a new contract, a new client, a new expectation.
But you know me, I get it done, which is why I keep my job.
” I laughed at her exuberant confidence.
She always held a swagger to her that she was the best, and when it came to her job as a talent agent, she was.
“Uh, anyway, tell me how things are going there. Has Jade tried to kill you yet or anything?” I snickered at her question.
“No, no. She’s been okay actually, most of the time.” Except for that pet name, but I would not be sharing that tidbit with Jana considering it seemed flirtatious at this point. I rolled onto my side, almost in a fetal position, as an uncomfortable feeling sank in.
“Really? Well, I guess that’s good. I’d be careful though; she just can’t be trusted, so just try to keep your distance.
Do you remember what she did to my car junior year?
Uh, I never heard the end of it from Mom and Dad.
Anyway, I need to run. I have a client who needs a new contract by the morning.
Love ya!” She hung up before I could even respond.
She'd told me before that Jade had lied to their parents about Jana sneaking out and partying when they were in high school.
Even went as far as putting empty beer bottles and cigarette butts in Jana's car to sell it.
When Jade presented the staged evidence to their parents, they believed her and made Jana's life a nightmare for a while.
But that was high school, and while I could understand why she'd been hurt at the time, was it truly so heinous that Jade was untrustworthy after all these years?
I should be hurt that Jana was too busy to talk to me when I was literally doing her a huge solid.
But I was more upset because I didn’t care for how harshly she talked about Jade.
It bothered me that I felt somewhat fond of Jade, and that alone may make my friendship with Jana nonexistent.
I needed to remember that I was neutral in all this.
Well, I guess I was more on Jana’s side, but considering the proximity I was currently dealing with, neutral was the best option.
Besides, I’m sure as soon as this whole thing wrapped up, I’d never see Jade again, anyway.
It took us another day to finish sorting through the guest room and organizing things to my liking, something that seemed to entertain Jade.
By the end of the day, I was swamped and ready to crash on Jana’s very comfy queen bed, heavy comforter and all.
We still had leftovers from Mexican last night, and after my shower, I stomped my way to the kitchen to heat mine up.
Jade was standing by the fridge, her wet hair hanging down her back again, in gray shorts and a red cropped tee.
Her skin was so smooth all over. She looked my way and gave me a small smile.
“I was about to watch a movie. Want to join me?” she asked, grabbing a soda and popping the top.
“There’s a chance I may fall asleep while it’s on, but sure.”
I ate my dinner and threw away my trash before we even picked out what to watch.
Jade eventually landed on a horror movie that I’d never seen before.
Personally, I was more in the mood for a comedy, but I was so tired that I didn’t feel like debating it.
The living room, like the rest of the house, was rather large.
There was a huge mounted flat screen on one wall, surrounded by a sectional and two recliners on either side.
I’d been sitting in one of the leather recliners, and now that I was no longer eating, I reclined the seat and snuggled into the wool blanket I’d grabbed.
“You won’t be able to see everything from over there,” Jade called from the couch. “You should come sit by me in the middle. It’s the best spot to see the screen, and I promise I won’t bite.”
She looked over at me with a cheeky expression that looked like she might in fact bite. It was obvious she just wanted me to be closer to her, and while part of me thought that was a terrible idea, the other part felt like it was the best idea ever.
Besides, I didn’t want to be rude, right?
Wasn’t that part one of my strategy? Befriend Jade?
Okay, clearly I was looking for a reason to say yes, but I got up anyhow, blanket in hand, and moved to sit by Jade. I sat down at least a foot away from her, but still in the center of the couch. There, I thought, nothing too risky but still appeasing her, and myself to be honest.
The movie started, and although the storyline was interesting, I could barely keep my eyes open. In fact, after a few minutes, my head had fallen back at least three times. I heard light giggling and looked over to see Jade laughing at me.
“In my defense, I warned you I might fall asleep.” I’d wanted to be annoyed that she was laughing, but if anything, it made me want to laugh too.
Jade stood up from her seat and grabbed a pillow from the end of the couch.
Returning, she placed it on her lap and then patted it while looking over at me.
I bit my lip, knowing that as innocent as it was, it might lead to more than just friendly touching in the future.
The thought excited me, when I knew it shouldn’t.
I mean, as alluring as she was, she was still my best friend’s enemy. I should totally say no, right?
Knowing it was a mistake; I laid my head down on the soft pillow in Jade’s lap.
I covered myself with the blanket and turned to face the TV screen.
Within moments I was almost asleep when I felt a gentle hand run down the length of my hair.
She was petting it, running her fingers through it.
It felt nice and made me feel those butterflies again.
I just pretended to be asleep, but I couldn’t help but savor the moment.
It was just so sweet and caring, and it made me wish I could snuggle into her further, smell her woodsy amber scent and warmth around me.
“Libby.”
I heard my name and felt a gentle hand on my cheek.
After a moment, I fluttered my eyes open.
Looking up, I saw Jade’s green eyes and pretty grin staring down at me.
I realized two things. One, despite my earlier savoring, I did in fact fall asleep and stayed that way through the whole movie, and two, at some point I’d flipped over and wrapped my arm around Jade’s waist. Sitting up quickly, I tried to fix my disheveled hair and clothing.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize I was doing…all that.” Blushing, I waited for her response.
“You are always so quick to apologize,” she said, reaching over and placing a loose piece of hair behind my ear. “I enjoyed it, actually. I only woke you because I need to pee.” Grabbing my phone, I saw it was almost one in the morning.
“Oh, fuck, I need to head up to bed. I hope you enjoyed the movie at least,” I stated with an awkward grin. She nodded and gave me that condescending look she was so good at, one brow slightly higher than the other.
We both got up from the couch and started walking up the stairs. When we got to the top, she stopped and looked back at me.
“You’re free to join me in my room if you want to keep cuddling. It seemed like you were sleeping so well.” My cheeks were on fire, as was the rest of my body. The small, flirtatious moments we’d had seemed to intensify 1,000 times today.
“I, uh…” It was hard to get any words out. For one, I was floored, and I was also exhausted and a little out of it.
“It’s okay. Maybe another time.”