Miss you, not.

XII

Jade smelled something fishy. And not just because they were at the beach. But there was something they weren't telling them and she was determined to find out what.

Eddy was drinking a soda can, taking a breather from swimming and just enjoying the sea breeze. Brett was somewhere in the distance within his viewing. He could be seen building sandcastles with Sara and Ryan. They were laughing and fooling around, having a good time.

He noticed Eddy was looking in his direction. Brett jumped up and waved excitedly at him. He waved a hand back. The blue sea was sparkling under the afternoon sun. But none paralleled the brightness of Brett's breathtaking smile.

Brett enjoyed swimming in his free time. Eddy accompanying him for a few laps at the campus swimming pool had been their weekly activity as of late. He was glad he agreed to come along on the trip. If Brett was happy, then so was he.

"Hey. You enjoying yourself?" Jade greeted as she sat beside Eddy under the cool shade of the parasol.

It was a little odd of her to approach him given her attitude this entire trip but he decided to roll with it.

"Yep. It's nice to unwind after a tiring week." If given a choice, he would rather spend time at home catching up to some Netflix shows with Brett cuddling up against him. But a change of pace seemed nice.

"On that weekend Brett went to hangout with you. Did you guys have fun?" She smiled as she tried to strike up a conversation with him.

The smile was the plastic kind. Eddy can tell that much. She was a sharp one. 'Gotta be careful,' he thought.

"We went to the bookstore and then get coffee later on. It was great." Eddy answered short and confidently. The least he talked, the lower the chances of her finding out.

"Good! Love that for you guys. Is that it? Nothing else after that?"

"Yep. Straight home."

Jade let out a hum. A very skeptical hum. 'He's tight lipped huh?'

"What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing. It's just weird that Brett didn't post anything on his Insta that day. I thought there would be pictures of you guys. Also oddly enough, he came in with a cold during the quartet rehearsal on Monday that week. That was weird considering he should've been indoors with you during the thunderstorm. It was as if he was rained on.."

'Oh, so now she decided to talk and she's talking a lot.' Eddy stayed silent. It was downright terrifying how perceptive this woman was.

"Probably allergies. Maybe it was the pollens." He tried to sway the path this conversation was heading.

"Maybe. Anyway, he was late, and his hair was all messed up. He was wearing an outfit I've never seen before, it was too baggy on him."

Eddy broke out in cold sweat but he tried to keep smiling as Jade rambled on. He wished she would stop talking, and seriously considered stuffing her face with one of the sandwich on the plate in front of him in order to do so.

"Y'know what else was weird? His violin. It wasn't his, I can tell. He was using a violin that looked so strikingly similar to-" She stopped talking when she noticed that Eddy was looking at her with wide worried eyes. Suddenly, everything started to piece together in Jade's head.

"..yours."

They stared at each other in silence. Jade pointed at Eddy with her mouth in awe. Like they were having a telepathic moment, Eddy pointed at himself and nodded back in response.

Jade's mouth gaped so wide, Eddy was concerned it was going to get dislocated, and this entire getaway would've ended tragically with a trip to the hospital.

He quietly whispered an apology to Brett in advance. 'I'll explain it to him later. But first I gotta find a way to keep Jade's mouth shut.'

"So, if my hunches were right, you guys are.. dating?"

"Wait, you had suspicions? Since when?"

"Since you guys started exchanging looks between yourselves. It looked like you were just waiting to pounce at each other. Maybe it was just me, but god, get a room."

Eddy groaned, face in his hands. "Was it that obvious?"

"I've got a pretty good sense," she laughed.

"Jade, you can't tell anyone. At least not yet. Brett and I agreed to keep it between ourselves for now."

"Oh. I see. Well, okay. I'll respect his decision."

"Thank you," he breathed a sigh of relief. 'That wasn't so hard,' Eddy thought.

A while went by in silence between them. She looked as if she was deep in thoughts.

"You see, he was so distraught when you started distancing yourself from him. It was kinda stressing him out but he couldn't do anything about it. No offence, but we lowkey hated you for a bit. But it's all good now, I'm glad you guys settled that."

"None taken," he brushed it off.

"Sorry if I was being wary of you. We care about him. Brett's a good guy. I know you've known him for a long time. We just want him to be happy. And he is, with you. I can see that. I'm really happy for you and him."

Eddy was taken aback by the sudden honesty. The wariness he felt for her dissipated almost immediately. 'So Jade was only looking out for her friend.'

Sara shouted and waved from the distance, "Hey guys! We're gonna get on the banana boat! Wanna come?"

"Coming!" Jade shouted back, finding her excitement once again for the beach trip.

"So, we're cool?" Eddy asked.

"Yep, we're cool," she said as she got up. "But if you hurt him in any way, we won't forgive you." Jade said in a quiet and menacing whisper.

Like the flip of a switch, she was back to her usual cheerful self again. "Cmon. Let's go!" She ran towards their group of friends with Eddy following behind her.

He made a mental note to not piss her off in anyway possible.