FADED (book I)

V

"Just like his father," Mom shook her head. "No filter between his brain and mouth, never cares about anyone but himself, and always running away from his responsibilities."

Noah and I shared a look and I knew we were thinking the same thing - only he was the one who decided to say it out loud.

"Sounds more like you, mom."

I felt her fingers freeze on my hair and wondered what was going through her head. I couldn't see her face but I guessed she was biting her bottom lip in thought, I did that too when something was on my mind or bothered me.

"Huh. Maybe we are more alike than we thought," she eventually said, going back to my hair.

Jordan came back in, ready to leave. He clapped his hands like a drill sergeant and motioned for us to hurry it up. "Noah, you have practice after school, right? Do you think you can catch a ride?"

"Yeah, Jason's dad is gonna drive us home."

"Okay, good." Jordan then addressed me. "Lauren's mom still gonna take you girls to the mall?"

I nodded. "Yup! She's gonna drop me off later, too."

"Don't forget to thank her and tell her I appreciate wanting to take you."

I nodded again.

Mom suddenly gasped. "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't I take the girls - "

"No."

She scowled at Jordan. "Are you being serious right now? If I didn't know any better I'd think you didn't trust me."

"That's because I don't." He ushered me out of the kitchen to put my shoes on and jacket.

"We can still pick another day to do something together, mom," I told her.

"You're so sweet, Jade," she smiled and twirled a curl around her finger before smoothing it down behind my ear. "I should've called you Dulce."

I wrinkled my nose. "Uh I think Jade's just fine."

"Let's go you two." Jordan grabbed Noah and I and pushed us out of the door.

"Bye!" Mom waved at us. "Have a good day my babies. You too Jordan!"

He shot her a tight lipped smile. "Just don't break down the house please. And don't invite anyone over. Go check out that local grocery store, they're still hiring."

"Yeah, yeah. Leave that to me. Bye!"

I waved back at her as I got in the car, returning her smile. I don't know, maybe this time she will change for good.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I heard Jordan mumble under his breath.

FADED

"Your hair looks really nice today," Lauren complimented as she tugged at my braid.

"My mom did it."

Her chocolate eyes widened for a second. "Oh, she's back? For real this time or is she gonna leave again?"

I put my books on my desk with a huff. "No idea."

She grabbed her own stuff for our first class and asked, "Do you want her to stay?"

"I don't know really. If she's gonna stay for good, then I do want her to change first. Last night she embarrassed me in front of my brothers, I was so mortified that I wanted to die."

Lauren was about to say something when something caught her eye. I followed her gaze and felt dread wash over me when Angela walked over to us.

"Good morning, girls."