Three is a crowd

Chapter 7

Jade's week had been going on well, it seemed everyone had forgotten about her drama and finally everything was normal again. That was all until her afternoon class. Her professor was handing out their assignment sheets with their scores scribbled at the top.

As usual the professor offered constructive criticism to each student when necessary, that afternoon was no different.

"Well done Mathew but try not to generalize in your arguments," the professor said and Mathew nodded.

"Great job Jade," she said. "That was a dangerous 99.9%."

The professor winked and Jade sunk into her seat with embarrassment while the class snickered. Even the professor knew about Jade blowing up at Jack. Needless to say, Jade couldn't wait for the class to be dismissed so that she could flee the whispers.

When the class finally ended thirty years later which was in actual fact thirty minutes later, Jade headed straight for Celia's apartment where all her friends were hanging out.

"You won't believe what happened to me," Jade said as soon as she walked in the front door.

"What?" Nevaeh asked looking up from the TV.

Jade narrated her ordeal which had her friends in stitches by the time she was done.

"That was bad," Celia laughed even harder.

Lara's hands gripped the kitchen counter as she gasped for air dramatically from laughing too hard. Three minutes later, her friends finally sobered up and were ready to hear about Nigel. At the mention of his name Jade beamed before telling them what had happened the last time they were together.

"He's different," Jade finished with a wistful smile.

"So, you two haven't talked since then?" Celia asked and Jade nodded feigning sadness.

"I hope you're not thinking about going back to that clown," Nevaeh said narrowing her eyes and Jade raised an eyebrow in question.

"I thought you approved, I mean you left us alone in the parking lot," Jade stated and Nevaeh shrugged returning her gaze to the television.

"Well I don't. What happens when he graduates and he leaves you again?" Nevaeh asked but Jade didn't reply.

Her phone had buzzed and it was a message from Nigel.

"Speak of the devil and he will send a text," Jade muttered opening the text but there was a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

Want to have dinner Friday night? It's a date

It's Nigel

Jade smiled and looked up to see her friends staring at her expectantly.

"What?" Jade asked self consciously and her friends motioned towards her phone. "Oh, you guys want to know what the text says?"

They all nodded simultaneously.

"Nigel wants to take me out to dinner Friday night," Jade said with a bright smile and Nevaeh snorted.

"You should say yes," Lara told Jade who beamed at the answer.

"Totally," Celia agreed making Nevaeh glower at her.

"So I should say yes?" Jade questioned wanting more reassurance.

"Definitely," Celia and Lara said while Nevaeh screamed, "No!"

"It's only been a few days since she broke up with Jack, she needs to heal," Nevaeh reasoned and Lara snorted.

"What Jade needs to do is to get back in the dating game. Relationships are like hangovers, the only way to cure a hangover is to get drunk again. Same thing with relationships, she needs to get back in the game, keep herself distracted," Lara argued and Nevaeh seemed at a loss of words.

"You are the most stupid person I've met my whole life," Nevaeh told Lara before going back to her show.

Lara shrugged and gave Jade two thumbs up.

"So, it's settled, Friday night I'm having dinner with Nigel," Jade announced.

"You're making a mistake," Nevaeh mumbled and Jade ignored her.

"Our job isn't to judge her; we're here to support her no matter how stupid her decisions are okay?" Celia said and Nevaeh ignored her.

The room was a bit tense but Jade didn't care. She felt like she deserved it after the Jack saga.

Later that night when Jade was in the comfort of her room and bed she finally did it. She went through Jack's posts and held back the urge to call him and ask him why he had dumped her. She desperately wanted to know if she was really the one who held him back or the whole thing was just some big inconvenience. Her eyes stung with tears as she scrolled through his post, her fingers tracing his features on the screen. Where had they gone wrong?

While Jade contemplated calling Jack, Nigel called and Jade's heart seemed to summersault.

"Hey," he said as soon as she picked up.

"Hey," she replied sounding over enthused.

Her attempt at covering her shaky voice was seeming like it wasn't going well.

"How was your day?" Nigel asked and Jade went on to tell him what had happened leaving out stalking Jack.

"How was your day?" she asked when she was done and Nigel laughed.

Jade's heart constricted as she heard him laugh. It was a rich, husky sounds that she loved to hear before, she wasn't sure about now. Was Nigel's laugh still everything or Jack's deep laugh was everything now. Jade blinked back her tears when she realized Jack wasn't hers anymore and Nigel was a part of her past.

"My day was okay, I didn't get dangerous 99.9 percent," he teased and Jade laughed softly.

A silence descended on them before Jade broke it.

"I should go to bed," Jade whispered and Nigel seemed to hum in response. "Good night."

"Jade wait. You didn't reply to my message about the date Friday night. You down?" Nigel asked and Jade's heart seemed to tighten.

"I don't know," Jade began but Nigel rushed to stop her.

"It won't be a date, that is if you don't want it to be a date. Just think of it as two old friends catching up. It doesn't have to make you uncomfortable," Nigel said and Jade felt butterflies.

"Old friends huh?" Jade teased and Nigel laughed again.

"I missed you. Let's just do dinner as friends of course. It might be fun," Nigel almost pleaded.

"As friends," Jade conceded and she could almost see Nigel's grin.

"Sweet dreams Jade," Nigel whispered and Jade hung up.

Lying in the darkness, curled up on her bed Jade realized that maybe Nevaeh was right. She needed time to heal but at the same time Nigel was back. They could pick off from where they left off but Jade wasn't sure she wanted to. The pain of him leaving felt fresh the more she thought about it. She wasn't ready. 

Thank you for reading! 

Question of the day: What Is The Most Embarrassing Thing That Happened To You In School?

 I was caught sleeping in class 

Don't forget to Vote, Comment and Share