POV: Jade
My phone keeps blowing up with notifications and calls.
"Turn it off," Andrea complains, rolling over and covering her head with a pillow to block out the sun and help her hangover.
I grumble and reach for it, squinting in the dimly lit room to see what the hell is going on.
Lots of social media dm's, many texts from friends and family, lots of missed calls.
"What the hell?" I force myself to sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes.
I click open my Twitter and I've been tagged over 500 times in an article, I click it open.
The headline reads, US Olympian tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge.
Everything in me goes cold.
"No, no, no..." I quickly click open my text.
Darleen: Call me as soon as you get this.
Kenzie: Jade pick up the phone, it's an emergency. Call me.
Aunty: She's okay, call us!!!!
Aphrodite: Pick up the damn phone!
Skylar's mom: She's okay, please call us back.
Mika: Don't look at the news, call me.
Callen: Are you okay?
Greg: Are you okay? Call us.
"Holy shit," I'm shaking.
"What?" Andrea sits up.
I call Skylar first.
Straight to voicemail.
So then I call Kenzie.
"Jade!"
"What the hell happened!?" I demand.
"Don't freak out, she's okay."
"Is she in the hospital, is she hurt!?" I quickly start getting dressed.
"She had a mental breakdown. She's okay, they were able to catch her when she jumped." Kenzie says.
"I'm gonna be sick," I set the phone down and run to the bathroom to puke.
"Hey Mackenzie, this is Andrea, what's going on?" I hear Andrea pick up the phone.
There is a pause.
"She what!?"
I force myself off the floor and wash out my mouth before washing my face.
"Is she alright?"
I take a deep calming breath and dry my face before grabbing the phone and putting it on speaker.
"Okay, I'm back," I say.
"Her mom texted everyone she's okay. She's currently being held for observation in a mental hospital. They have labeled her a risk to herself and others." I hear Darleen speak up.
"What the hell happened!? Why did she do this?" I demand.
"Don't you know? She called you like a billion times according to her mom."
"What..." I look at my missed calls, scrolling down a ways before I see all the missed calls from the unlabeled number.
"Jesus Jade didn't you pick up at least once!?" Kenzie says.
"We were kind of busy," Andrea says.
"All that matters is that she's okay. There is a video out, I'd advise you not to watch it if you haven't seen it already. Someone filmed Skylar... it's not pretty. Aphrodite is working to get it taken down." Darleen says.
"Where is she, I want to see her," I say.
"No!" they shout in unison.
"What!? Why?" I demand.
"We have to tell her," Kenzie says.
"It's not her fault," Darleen says.
"She's gonna find out anyway."
"But—"
"Tell me what!?" I cut them both off.
There is a long pause in silence.
"Tell me what!"
"The reason Skylar did this... Is because of you." Kenzie says.
I think I stop breathing for a second.
What did they just say?
"It's not your fault, no one blames you." Darleen quickly adds.
"Skylar is just having a hard time getting over everything that's all," Kenzie says.
"She's not well Jade, and you contacting her again...would only make it worse," Darleen says.
I set the phone down and shake my head covering my eyes as tears begin to form.
"I'll make sure she stays away, just keep us posted on her recovery please," Andrea says.
"We will. Don't take it too hard Jade, no one blames you. It's not your fault. Skylar just has things she needs to work through." Kenzie says.
"Call us, visit us, please. Don't be a stranger, no one wants you to go through this alone." Darleen says.
"Okay," I take a shaky breath as more tears fall.
I hear Kenzie sigh as I hang up.
Andrea pulls me into her arms.
I just sob.
How could this happen?
Skylar has always been the strong one, the brave one, the resilient one. The Good, nice, sweet one. The one bad things aren't supposed to happen to. She's supposed to be happy now, this is what she wanted, isn't it? Why is this happening?
"I have to see her," I snap out of it and quickly start getting dressed.
"Jade, no." Andrea stops me.
"Let go of me!" I yank my arm free.
"Jade stop!" she shouts. "When does it end!? You do something she comes running, she does something you start flying. When are you two going to end this game? Enough is enough, you have to let her go. Let her heal in her own way. They said she's okay, so we just need to let the doctors do their thing and hope for the best."
"This isn't a game! I love her! And She loves me. That's why this happened. I hurt her and I have to fix it. I can't just let her think I don't care about her, she tried to kill herself!"
"Letting her think that, even if it isn't true, is what's best for her right now." Andrea grabs me by the shoulders.
"I was going to spend the rest of my life with this girl, I at least owe her an apology." I look her dead in the eyes.
"How many times are going to have to apologize for something that isn't even your fault? Sorry Skylar I have to live my life, sorry Skylar I'm famous now, sorry Skylar I have important time commitments and obligations. Sorry Skylar my career comes first, sorry I can't wait hand and foot on you, sorry you cheated on me, sorry you are tired of waiting on me, sorry you feel the need to kill yourself to get my attention. Don't you see! You never did anything wrong! She's the one who can't adapt to change, she's the one asking too much of you, and she's the one who needs help. Not you."
"How dare you," I growl.
Andrea takes a few steps back.
"You don't know the first thing about Skylar so why don't you shut your goddamn mouth; I owe that girl everything! You have no idea what she had to go through for me. Maybe It's not all my fault, but I know I sure as hell didn't make any of this any easier for her. If anything, we practically rubbed it in her face with that stupid video! I don't care what I'm doing, what time it is, or where I am. If Skylar needs me, I'm there. She is my best goddamn friend in the whole fucking world and I will not stand by and watch her destroy herself because of me!"
Andrea sighs and shakes her head.
"When is enough, enough Jade?" she asks me.
"I have to," I say.
"But you don't. You're out, you're free from Skylar. Let it be. She's okay, so let it be. Please, I'm not asking for me. I'm asking for you, because I know if you go back now... you'll end up just like her."
"You're wrong!"
"Jade."
I shake my head no.
"Jade look at me, you know I'm right."
I sit down on the bed and bury my face in my hands.
"Maybe going to see her isn't the right thing right now, but you can still help her in other ways."
"How?" I sob.
She grabs my phone and hands it to me.
I look at her before unlocking it.
Then she scrolls into my social media feed and finds the post before deleting it. The one with the stupid video of us kissing.
I do feel a little better.
"Now, delete the others off your other accounts and temporarily suspend your account. Just say you are taking a break from social media, and I'll do the same."
I nod and sniffle before doing what she said.
It's not long before I stumble upon the video Darleen was talking about.
"I hate Jade! I hate her! She never loved me! She destroyed me! Fuck Jade Tate! I wish I never met her! Ahh!" Skylar screams. She's a sobbing mess in the video. It breaks my heart.
"Come down, it will be okay!" I can hear the police officer call.
"No! I don't want to do this anymore; I can't do this anymore." Skylar cries.
The video pans to the police inflating a blowup cube, similar to the one we use on set when we have to fall back.
"Jade," Skylar sobs.
The video pans up just as Skylar jumps, even knowing how it ends I still feel my heart leap into my throat. The crowd in the video gasped. Cops rush to push the cube in place and she lands unscathed.
Everyone claps and cheers.
Skylar is quickly put in handcuffs as she sobs.
The video ends.
Comments are turned off.
I stare at the screen before I decide to wipe my entire social media presence wiping all my accounts clean. Deleting everything. Then I post a single post, I am taking a break. With comments turned off. I turn off my DM's too.
Andrea comes up behind me and rubs my shoulders before kissing the back of my neck.
"It will be okay." She assures me.
I stare at my phone, my eyes glazed over.
Did I make the right choice that day, walking out on Skylar?
"Come on, let's just stay in and rest today. I'm canceling the interviews for the week. I already texted Mika and Greg, and Callen. Let them know what's going on. They are giving you as much time as you need. So just... take it all in. And go one day at a time." She comforts me.
"I still want to see her," I say softly.
"When she's ready, she'll contact you."
Will she?
I sigh and lay back down.
Andrea lays next to me, wrapping her arms around me. I open a new text and text Skylar's number from memory. A simple text.
'I'm sorry.'