Deepest Shade of Jaded

Chapter Seven: Where HAVE YOU BEEN?

Deepest Shade of Jaded

Chapter Seven

                I’m not going to bore you with the details of how the next two weeks went. Maxx and I hung out every day, and most nights he stayed with me to wake me up from the nightmares. A week after the game, he announced that we were going to a concert together to cheer me up. I can’t tell you how excited I was. I had my entire outfit planned and we had backstage passes to meet the band and hang out for a bit. This was going to be amazing. If you didn’t figure it out by my enthusiasm, the aforementioned band was Motionless in White.            

                The day of the concert I was up at 5:30 just so I could get ready. I showered quickly, shaving, and scrubbing down two or three times to make my skin glow. I dried my hair with a blow dryer to give it that extra body, and curled it. The previous night, Maxx had helped me dye it lavender purple with maroon streaks through it. Since it was going to be about 98 degrees outside I wanted a light outfit. I pulled on a pair of light blue skinny jeans that had the British flag on one leg, a tank top that said Fuck Oui on it, and a pair of flip flops. Putting my new iPhone in my pocket and stuffing my bag with concert essentials (backstage passes, water bottles, Tylenol, gum, scraps of paper for new friends, a pen, deodorant, a hairbrush, and some hair ties.) When I was done with that I realized I hadn’t put any makeup on. Sitting down at my vanity I created a winged look with my eyeliner, adding lines flowing down to make me look vampiric. I put blood red eyeshadow on and added black at the edges. I put on dark red lipstick and I was ready. I didn’t want a lot of jewelry so I stuck with my many skull rings and a necklace that said “bite me”. Looking at the clock on my nightstand I saw that it was time for me to go pick Maxx up for the concert. Suddenly I felt very nervous. What if the guys were the opposite of what they seemed? I got into my car and put on my MIW playlist for the ride.

                It took me about twenty minutes to get to Maxx’s house. When I pulled up he was waiting outside. I felt bad that I was running a bit late. He was wearing grey skinny jeans, vans, and a tank top that said “Street dream”. I laughed as he got into the car. “They are going to eat you alive with that shirt on. “ He shrugged and flexed his muscles. “I think I can handle it.” Rolling my eyes, I got us on the road to the venue, which was just across the city, so about an hour long drive. When we got there, it was already filling up. Grabbing a decent parking spot took a while, but we managed to get one. Touching Maxx on the arm I asked uncertainly, “What if they’re total jerks? I think I need to get some air. Let’s go over to the side of the building.” He gently took my hand and guided me to the side of the large building where we sat down and I put my head on his shoulder. I knew that I liked him…I just didn’t know what to do about it. Alex had been my first and only boyfriend, and this was all really new to me. This sounds pretty dumb since I had a hunch that more than a handful of the guys at Watermount liked me. I just didn’t want everything to go wrong and ruin our friendship. I sighed and stared out at the small field in front of us. I heard a bang and looked up in time to see six black clad men run out the door. One of them didn’t see us and tripped over me falling to the ground. Worried that he had gotten hurt I helped him sit up. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry we didn’t realize there was a door, I thought you saw us. Please forgive me, I didn’t trip you on purpose.” He looked at me strangely, and I realized that I was babbling to Devin Sola. My eyes widened and I clapped a hand over my mouth. All six men started laughing loudly. I felt Maxx start to chuckle behind me. I turned around and hid my face in his chest. God that was so embarrassing. The first time I even get within five feet of them and I’ve already made a fool of myself. Maxx wrapped his arms around me, rubbing my back. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there for a few years. I peeked up at Maxx and he looked down at me with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. He made me feel safe. “So can I know the name of the pretty girl I almost flattened?” I turned around but stayed in Maxx’s arms. “My name is Jade Stryker; this is my best friend Maxwell.” “Hey, call me Maxx.” He nodded towards them. “Well hello then Jade. Obviously this idiot has forgotten his manners. I’m Chris Cerulli, that’s Ricky, Josh but you can call him Balz, Ryan, Angelo, and the idiot who fell on you is Devin Sola but we call him Ghost.” The name Sola rang a bell and I tried to figure out where I knew that name from. Devin himself looked familiar, and I was brought back to the day on the playground, watching my parents drag my brother off, leaving me to die. Black started to ring my vision, and I gripped Maxx’s arms to hold myself up. “Maxx, I think I need to sit down.” Hearing the tone in my voice, he quickly sat down and leaned me against his chest. “Calm down sweetie. It’s fine. No one’s going to hurt you. I’m not leaving I promise. I’m staying right here by your side. Just breathe in and out.” He told me softly. I followed his directions ignoring the questioning stares from the band members. The black receded from the edges of my vision and my heart rate returned to normal. I smiled up at Maxx, thanking him. “Uh, is everything okay?” I nodded. “Yeah, everything’s fine now. Devin just really reminds me of my brother. They actually have the same name, and you look a bit like him, well what he looked like when he was ten.” Devin looked at me. “That’s funny. I was just thinking you look a bit like my sister Jaden. I miss her a lot, even so many years later.” I looked at him intently. “What happened?” He looked down with tears in his eyes. “It was a normal Sunday. Our parents wanted to take us to this new park, and I was pushing her on the swings. She loved swinging as high as she could go. My parents told me we had to go, but Jaden had to stay because she had been a bad girl. I didn’t understand I couldn’t just leave my little sister out in the cold. My parents forced me to leave her there at the park. I never saw her again. Whenever I brought her up they said she had run away, and they looked everywhere. I knew that it was a lie, but there was nothing I could do. I was only ten.” Both of us were crying now. Him with grief, me with relief that I had found him. “Devin. Devin it’s me. Oh my god it’s me. I remember everything. I didn’t know why they left me there. I was so scared. I fell asleep and I couldn’t remember anything. But over the years I started remembering everything. I remember you letting me dress you up in my favorite pink dress, and I put lipstick on you and put bows in your hair. You were so nice about it. You even danced for me. When that Eric boy at school pushed me down you shoved him against the fence and slapped him until he swore he would never touch me again. You were always there for me no matter what.” I was suddenly pulled into a bone crushing embrace. I cried as my brother and I clung to each other. I had found him.

A/N: Yes the title is a quote from Molly Weasley when Ron, Fred, and George return with Harry.