"Hey Jade" I said when I finally reached the top of the giant rock Jade was sat on
She turned around to look at me, apparently surprised to see someone
"Tori you scared me!"
"Sorry" I mumbled, sitting next to her
"Why are you all wet and breathless?" she asked turning her head toward me
"Well see that lake right under you? I happened to go in it but then I decided to climb that giant rock to go and check on my wonderful girlfriend" I explained with a big smile plastered on my face
"Well that's really sweet of you but I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong about your oh so lucky girlfriend" she sighed looking at the lake under us
"Jade" I whispered, placing my right arm around her waist and pulling her to me "You don't seem to be okay"
"I am" she shouted back defensively
"Liar!" I exclaimed "You know, if you don't wanna talk about it it's fine but don't pretend you are fine when it's obvious that there's something bugging you" I said calmly
"I know" she sighed "I just can't"
"What can't you do?" I enquired softly, taking her hand in mine
"Well when I was little, we were in vacation with my family"
I nod, motioning for her to continue with her story
"And my little brother wanted to go to the ocean but my parents thought it was dangerous and wouldn't let us go so one morning, while my parents were still asleep, I woke up my brother and took him to the ocean but then..."
That's just then that I saw that there were tears running down her cheek and she began sobbing
"Shhh Jade I'm here" I whispered in her hear, placing my left arm around her as well and pulling her on my lap
She placed her head in the crook of my neck and hold onto me for dear life, sobbing even more than before
I resumed whispering in her hear to calm her down, rubbing her back and kissing her cheek
"I'm sorry" she chocked between sobs
"Don't" I reassured her "I'm here for you no matter what"
"Thanks" she whispered kissing my neck
After another five minutes, she finally calmed down but didn't let go of me (which I wasn't complaining at all)
"So I took my brother to the ocean-" she resumed her story
"It's okay Jade you don't need to do that" I reassured her
She straightened up to look at me, still sitting on my lap
"I really want you to know Tori" she whispered
"Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to pressure her in saying things she might regret
"Yeah" she nodded "I've kept this for me way too long"
I smiled, quite proud that I would be the first one to know about the story which seems to mean so much to Jade.
"So" she resumed, placing her head on my shoulder and taking my hands into hers to play with my fingers "I took my brother to the ocean and it was really cool because we were alone on the beach. We went into the water and began playing. There was a lot of waves and it was really fun cause we could jump into the waves while they were rolling so that we were able to go very far into them. We decided to do a little competition with my brother and threw ourselves in the same wave to see who could go the furthest but when I looked around me, I wasn't able to see my brother anymore..."
She began crying again so I placed my arms back around her to let her know that I'm here for her
"Take your time Jade" I whispered "I'm not going anywhere"
"I went ... back to where we were ... and found him ... under the water" she continued between her sobs "So I dragged him toward ... the beach but ... he wasn't breathing anymore..."
I found myself pulling her into me even more
"I cried for help and ... tried to resuscitate him ... but it was ... too late ... and ... and he ..." she tried to explain
"That's okay Jade you don't have to say it, I'm here" I said to her, rubbing her back again
"He's dead" she whispered, more to herself than to me "He's dead because of me..." she burst into tears
"Don't say that! Don't even think about it" I reassured her "Nothing of this was your fault"
"I was the one to take him to the ocean when my parents told us we can't because it was too dangerous! I was the one who did that to him!" she shouted, jumping onto her feet and wiping angrily the tears streaming down her face
"It was an accident!" I answered, getting up as well
"You weren't there! How do you know?"
"You just told me" I said calmly, taking her hands in mine "You wanted to make your brother happy and you did it against your parents will, knowing that they'll be angry but you did it anyway because your brother was more important to you than your parents decision. There was an accident and I'm really sorry for you but I will not let you blame yourself for that! I just can't..."
I felt Jade really close to me and saw her bring her hands to my cheek and begin to wipe the tears rolling down my cheeks. I didn't noticed I was crying nor why I was crying, she was the one who lost her brother, I shouldn't be the one crying right now!
"I'm sorry" I sobbed, wrapping my arms around her neck
"Don't" she whispered "I'm sorry for my little outburst, it's just that... well you know..."
"Yeah..."
"And I hate being in such a state, you know feeling weak and everything" she explained, looking down to her feet
I bring my hand up under her chin so that she can look at me
"You're not weak Jade" I said, looking straight into her blue green eyes "You're the strongest person I know! Don't ever think that you're weak..." I finished in a whisper
She didn't answer but squeezed me one last time before letting me go
"Maybe we should head back to the dumb squad" she suggested
"Don't say that!" I shouted on a faux angry ton, punching her playfully in the arm "They're not all that dumb" I winked at her before turning around to make my way down the giant rock
"Whoa Vega!" she exclaimed, following me "I never thought I'd see the day when you would say such a bad word!" she said with a smirk
"Guess you're rubbing on me" I replied
"Finally..." she sighed, sounding relieved
We climbed the rest of the way down and headed toward the lake where we left the rest of the group but when we get here, they weren't there anymore
"Where are they?" Jade asked behind me
"I don't know, I was up there with you" I said, turning toward her
"Cat!" she shouted "if you get out of here right night I'll buy you that big stuff unicorn you saw at the mall last week!"
"Do you really think they are hiding?"
"No but I wanted to check anyway" she answered
"Okay, so... What do we do now?" I asked "Do you know how to get back to the camp?"
"No" she mumbled, looking at the floor "I assume you don't either?"
"Well no, I didn't think we would have to come back on our own..." I sighed
"Come on it shouldn't be that hard to find our way there" she exclaimed, grabbing on my wrist and dragging me into the forest
"Jade are you sure of what you're doing?" I asked, getting worried
"Do you trust me?" she asked, stopping and turning around to face me
"Of course I do!' I exclaimed "It's just that I don't wanna spend the night out here it's really cold and I didn't bring any sweater or anything"
"Neither do I! Come on, get your ass here so that we can get back to them before it's dark!" she shouted, resuming her walk through the forest
"Jade wait for me" I cried, running to catch up on her
"What are you afraid of Vega it's not even dark yet" she teased
"I'm not afraid" I mumbled
"If you say so" she sighed, apparently not believing a word of what I said "Come on then" she said, taking my hand firmly
I gripped on her for dear life, even if I doubt she would have let me go. She was right, I'm really freaked out right now!