When I'm with you

Chapter 15

"Gosh, Anne! You look pale. Did I make you wait that long? Hurry, come inside."

Luckily, Jane thought I was shaking because of the weather. She immediately went to the kitchen to get something hot to drink. She came back holding two mugs of hot chocolate filled with whipped cream and marshmallows. The hot chocolate made me stop from shivering and completely calmed me down to the point that I forgot the reason why I came here.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I almost choked on my drink, finally remembering the whole purpose of me coming over. Jane rubbed my back as I coughed continuously.

After I regained my composure, Jane excused herself to put the mugs in the kitchen. I scanned the house: everything looked the same, not much had changed. After Jane got back, she told me to follow her into her room.

"Are your parents around?" I asked.

"Nah, they're probably busy." Jane said."Sometimes it makes me wonder if they still remember that they have a child, a minor for crying out loud, that's waiting for them to come home."

Jane must've felt lonely. The fact that her Dad was a doctor and her Mom a nurse was really difficult for her. Since they were always busy, they rarely got home early. And everytime there was an emergency at the hospital, they would drop Jane off at our house. That's why she considered it her second home.

It was also the reason why Jane was easily fooled by boys, because she always looked for attention that her parents couldn't give to her. As a matter of fact, I had never seen them watch any of Jane's races. They always said that patients were a priority. Jane would never admit it,  but I knew that she was hurting. That was why I always tried my best to make her feel welcome.

Her room was a bit bigger than mine. The walls were painted pink, the curtains in her room light pink and her bed cover and her pillows were also pink. Jane must've really liked pink. It was a piece of cake guessing who her favorite singer was.

I sat on the edge of her pinkish bed, while she sat on the chair.

"So, tell me." I gulped nervously as she said that; the moment of truth was about to start. "What do you need to talk with me about?"

"Jane, um, earlier I--"

"But FIRST: how was shopping with Gab?" 

Just as I had gathered up all my courage, Jane had to interrupt me. Great. I didn't really want to answer, but I didn't have much of a choice. Well, it was better to start the talk like that.

"It was fine. Gab and I bought a lot of stuff." Jane flashed her famous smile, which she only appeared everytime I mentioned Gab's name. I went on with my story, telling her about the stores we visited, the things we bought.. until finally all that was left was my little encounter with Paul.

I stopped for a moment before speaking again. I couldn't stop from fidgeting; Jane held my hand to calm me down, but that just made it worse.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Well, um, you know, I, um--"

"Anne, what is it?" Jane yelped.

"Jane, I'm sorry. I know you told me not to do it but I still did." I said. "I met Paul at the mall," I saw a flash of intuition in Jane's eyes, but I continued, "and I saw a girl clinging to his arm. I noticed that the girl was the same girl you showed me in the picture. I swear I tried to, you know, stay calm, but my anger took over me and.. so I came up to him and um, I-I, um.. slapped him in the face."

Jane's eyes widened soon as I said the word 'slap'. It took all the courage I had to look up and see her expression to see if she was mad or not: apart from the shock in her eyes, her face betrayed no other emotion.