Three is a crowd

Chapter 6

Jade was back to her senses, she was lying on the floor being cradled by someone. The moment she heard voices, she kept her eyes closed, she wanted to know what the situation was like first.

"Is she alive?" Celia whispered staring at Jade worriedly and Nigel nodded.

"She's breathing," Lara pointed out the obvious and Celia almost glared at her.

"This is my entire fault," Celia whispered and Nevaeh agreed with her.

"It is your entire fault Celia; the stress you put on Jade was just too much. I mean you put her on loudspeaker at a house party with almost all the cool people on campus, as if that wasn't enough you went on to drag her to the club where you almost just committed a homicide!" Nevaeh yelled and Celia flinched.

Nevaeh was the peace keeper in their friend group and when she lost her temper, it was usually with good reason. Celia however was not one to be left speechless, so she turned on Lara and Nigel.

"Nigel here played a part in Jade's panic attack too. I mean you disappear for a year then suddenly you show up. Obviously, Jade was going to have a panic attack with that kind of pressure. Don't even get me started on Lara, you spiteful little brat –" Celia stopped talking when Nevaeh rolled her eyes.

"– Oh gosh Celia!" Nevaeh shouted.

Jade stirred stopping another fight from cropping up and everyone stopped talking.

"Jade are you okay?" Nigel whispered and she knew he was the one supporting her.

She wanted to flutter her eyes open slowly like she hadn't been listening in the whole time but instead her eyes flew open. Nigel was hovering above her and he looked worried which warmed Jade's heart in a way it shouldn't have.

"Thank God you're alive," Lara said and Jade smiled.

With Nigel's help she sat up slowly not wanting to seem too well, she still wanted Nigel's warmth. Something about him in close proximity made her feel warm.

"Are you okay?" Nigel asked Jade who nodded. "What happened back there?"

Jade looked at her friends before answering and she could see the relief on their faces.

"It's nothing," Jade lied and she saw Lara snort.

"You know what, it's been a long day and we should all go," Nevaeh said grabbing Lara and Celia. She winked at Jade leaving her alone with Nigel.

Jade finally took in her surroundings. She was in the parking lot of Midnight Sun. There were a lot of cars parked around and she could also hear the music faintly. Jade inched away from Nigel who then completely let her go before helping her up.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she repeated and they both smiled staring into each other's eyes.

An awkward silence came over them. What did you say to an ex you hadn't seen in a year? It would have been better if they had parted on bad terms, she would just flip him off and walk away but she and Nigel had walked away friends. Of course staying in contact wasn't easy but still, they weren't enemies.

"I hear you've become quite the famous girl," Nigel joked and Jade laughed brushing him off.

She did not want to relive her experiences especially in front of Nigel.

"It's nothing, just a whole lot of misunderstandings," Jade mumbled and Nigel chuckled, the way he always did when he was amused.

She noticed the small smile that lingered, something that Nigel did before and still did. Jade's heart melted at his smile and she dropped her gaze. He had a perfect smile, his teeth were a little crooked but that just made his smile better. Nigel was taller; more toned, he even had muscles that were peeking from his white t-shirt. Jade almost swooned at the sight of him. Not to mention the stubble he was spotting, he looked drop dead gorgeous.

"So how have you been?" Nigel asked staring at Jade intensely with his brown eyes.

Jade looked back into his eyes and almost felt her legs give out. They felt gooey all of a sudden and her heart seemed like it wanted to beat right out of her chest.

"I've been great. I got a boyfriend," Jade blurted and Nigel's eyes widened.

He wasn't expecting her to say that. Jade was also not expecting to blurt that out. What was she thinking?

"Good for you," Nigel finally said and Jade wanted to die out of embarrassment.

"We broke up though," she blurted again and she saw Nigel try to hide a smile. His lips had curled up though which made Jade's stomach flutter.

"Can't say I'm not happy to hear that," he mumbled and Jade smiled.

"I have to go," Jade said and Nigel nodded.

"I could give you a ride?" he suggested and Jade shook her head.

"No need. I'm going to call an uber or something," Jade said and Nigel shot her a look.

She didn't want to call an Uber and her ride, Celia had already gone home but she couldn't spend another minute with Nigel.

"Thank you for the offer though," Jade smiled and Nigel smiled back, his eyes twinkling.

"You wanted to call an Uber with what exactly?" he asked rocking on his feet and Jade realized she had left her bag and phone in Celia's car and Celia was gone.

Jade nodded dumbly while Nigel smirked. "The offer for a ride is still open you know."

Jade looked down to hide her humiliation but she was smiling.

"I would love to take you on that offer if you swear you will not mock me," Jade replied eyeing Nigel fiercely and Nigel smirked with a nod.

"Cross my heart and hope to die Jade," he whispered, the wicked twinkle in his eye again.

Together they walked side by side to Nigel's car and Jade almost gasped when she noticed it was a Ferrari. Could Nigel get any better? Nigel opened the door for Jade with a dramatic bow and Jade rolled her eyes playfully but her heart fluttered. He had developed a sense of humor and Jade liked that.

The leather seat seemed to cling to Jade and she could imagine herself travelling everywhere in style. Jade was in love with the car and it hadn't even moved yet. She snapped out of her reverie when Nigel slipped into the seat beside her and the car seemed to be filled by his masculine cologne. Jade liked the way it smelled, like elegance.

"Tell me everything I missed while I was gone," Nigel asked igniting the engine to life.

It started with a purr and Jade had to bite her lip to stop herself from swooning. Nigel pulled out quickly and sped away into the night occasionally glancing at Jade as she told him what had happened in the space of a year. Nigel listened, really listened and he would laugh where appropriate, sympathize where necessary and he thought Jack was an absolute jerk. She couldn't help the words tumbling out of her mouth like she had no filter. Nigel was a good listener and he had a way of making you spill all your secrets even when you didn't want to.

Jade didn't realize that they had arrived on campus, walked out of the car and were right in front of her dorm room door. She had been so consumed in her conversation with Nigel and the realization of what had happened made her blush.

"So, this is goodnight then," she said wistfully and Nigel nodded putting his hands into his jean pockets.

"Goodnight and sweet dreams Jade," he whispered before kissing her forehead.

His kiss lingered before he walked away. Jade was glad he didn't look back because she was grinning like an idiot. With a spring in her step she opened her dorm room and squealed till her voice gave up on her.

She almost thankedJack for breaking up with her but it was too soon, way too soon. 

Thank you for reading! 

Question of the day: Would you rather have all your shirts be 2 sizes too big or have all of them be 1 size too small?

I would rather have all my shirts 2 sizes too big. I like baggy clothes lol. 

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