/Jade/
Jade didn't like spending time with her family. Especially since she felt like there was a mundane aura of secrecy swirling around them.
She hated Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving, and Easter too, because that would be the only times her favorite older cousin Jenna would be able to come over. Jenna was Jade's favorite cousin on her father's side from the south that was never aloud to come over. Jade could never see her on her birthday, even when she made it her one birthday request from when she was seven to nine. No one would ever explain why she could never see Jenna either, and for a long time that irked Jade.
Until one birthday though, her fourteenth, her father finally gave in. She was finally allowed to see Jenna on her birthday. Jade remembered the summer day perfectly. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining. The heat was stifling, and the breeze was comforting.
Jade and Jenna were laid out on the front porch, feet dangling from the front step. Jenna was two years older than Jade and a little bit taller too. Jade liked that about her. She had someone closer to her age to look up to. "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Jade asked her, as they soaked in some sun.
Jade never sat out in the sun because her skin never tanned. She didn't like it either, and never really understood it. But because Jenna did it, she did. Jenna pulled her Ray-Bans off her face and tucked them in her tank top. "Have you ever wondered why you're never aloud to see me a lot?" She asked, gazing at the younger cousin with questioning eyes.
"Well, yeah. I've wondered that since I was little. Why are you never around?" Jade asked her, playing with the tall grass blades growing in between the cracks in the porch. She stopped when she finished her sentence staring back at her.
Jenna huffed and stretched her arms. "You'll learn when you're older. In about mhmm, two years." She responded before ruffling her hair.
Jade frowned. Everyone kept telling her she'd learn when she was older. Everyone kept saying she'll find out later. She wanted to know now. "Tell me now? Please?" She begged.
Jenna shook her head. "As much as Ah'd like to sugar cube, Ah can't. It ain't time yet." She deadpanned, her southern twang slipping out.
"But Jen-" Jade whined.
"Don't you 'But Jenna' me. You heard what Ah said. And that's final." Jenna tipped her cowgirl hat downwards over her golden blonde hair to block out the now setting sun.
Jade hadn't realized how much time past until she saw Jenna touch her hat. "At least tell me what this is all about." She requested, folding her arms.
Jenna smiled and punched her shoulder. "Alright, Ah'll tell ya. Consider it a birthday present."
Jade immediately brightened up and sat up straight giving the other girl her full attention. "Go ahead. You can start now."
Jenna chuckled. "Alright, it all started with one man in our family. Your great grandpa Cornelius. He was a-"
"Jade!" A voice rung out from inside the house, her fathers.
"Yeah, Dad?" She answered annoyed. She wanted to hear what Jenna had to say.
"Jenna has to go home now."
Jade's smile fell and her face twisted into the familiar snarl she still used today. "Why? She was just about to tell me a story." She grit through her teeth to keep her temper from rising. Everytime. Every damn time Jenna is about to tell Jade that same story she 'miraculously' has to go home.
That more than irked Jade.
It angered her.
"Her mom wants her back home, Jade." The voice was closer now, and Jade looked up to see her father wringing his hands in a dish towel standing in the front doorway.
