Dare || m.c.

➵ 4.0 - michael (I)

Jade died four days after she kissed me. Thirteen days before her eighteenth birthday.

It was anything dramatic. She didn't have a heart attack, she wasn't in a car crash, she didn't get shot.

It was all very quiet. She was asleep.

I saw her that morning when she came to school with Ashton. She was wearing a Metallica T-shirt and black pants, her red hair parted down the middle. It fell almost down to her waist and the barely noticeable waves in them bounced with every step she took that brought her closer to me. I watched her give Ashton a quick hug before he turned the corner and went to his class. Then she kept walking towards me.

"Hi," she said in a hushed voice and kissed my cheek, giving me a hug that lasted a lot longer than the one she had given Ashton. I could feel the crazy beat of her heart against my chest and I wondered if she could feel mine.

"Morning, Princess," I whispered into the crook of her neck, kissing the soft skin there. I was so lost in everything about her that I barely noticed the hallways emptying before she pulled back, her grip tight on my hand. She still wasn't too touchy. After she kissed me, she would need her space before she came back. She would hold my hand, but things never got farther than that.

I walked her to her first class and tipped her head up with my finger, placing a kiss on her lips, savoring the taste of oranges still on her breath, probably from breakfast. "I'll see you later," I told her and watched her disappear into the classroom.

After that I saw her during art class. I was still working on my drawing of her and she said she loved it. I was nearly finished with the actual drawing aspect of it, except for the detail in the trees surround the edge of the paper.

"I feel weird," she said suddenly and her face was etched into a frown. She was still sketching her piece but her mind didn't seem into it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, not liking the way her voice wavered or her hand shook.

"I don't know," she replied, putting down her pencil. There were about ten minutes left of class and she'd already stopped working. I should've known something was wrong. I didn't know what I could do to help. I told her she should go to the nurse, but she declined, saying the nurse was a bitch.

I walked her to Ashton's car after school. She seemed better and even laughed at a joke I made, which was a nice change than her usual stoic face. Ashton wasn't there yet, so I leaned her back against the side of the car and kissed her, slowly at first. She didn't push me back or resist my touch. Instead, she pulled me even closer, our bodies flush against each other. I loved it. I loved how the stud in her nose felt cool against my skin when our noses brushed. I loved the way her hands teased my hair because she knew it drove me out of my mind. I loved the way she nipped my lips and then made a noise that flipped my stomach when I did it back to her. I loved the way her eyes would always be closed after we both pulled away, desperate for breath. I loved the way her lips would always be slightly patted and I would kiss them again, just barely, and she would sigh in my arms.

I loved everything about her.

The way she kissed me, the way she laughed, the way she talked about her parents, the way she fiddled with the rings on her fingers or the rings on the chain around her neck, the way she sat with her legs curled, the way she didn't let me get away with anything stupid, the way she stood up for herself, the way she cared about other people selflessly, the way she kept a stash of candy in her room, the way she texted without emojis and threatened to kill me if I used the one with the colon and a capital D.

"You two are in serious need for a room," Ashton's obnoxious voice said from near us and I pulled away from Jade so that we were at a respectable distance. Ashton somehow didn't hate me. He picked at me sometimes, but it was never anything serious.