Love on the Brain

Jade found herself in the middle of a giant party, hosted by a guy at her school that she had never seen before. The giant mansion was currently filled with drunken teenagers; some who were splashing around in the pool in the backyard, others sweeping over the dance floor in the living room and others doing a different kind of dancing in a more private place.

The brunette was dressed in a pink mini skirt, a mauve collared button-down blouse and a pair of dark leather loafers. She had her messenger bag draped over her shoulders and her favourite pair of golden earrings.

“Are you seriously not gonna drink tonight?” Olivia asked, her hand bringing a stray of hair behind her earlobe, before she allowed herself to take a sip from the breezer she had poured into her plastic cup.

“Are you even surprised?” Jade answered, with an eyebrow arched.

Olivia blew out a sigh between her lips. She was dressed in a button up denim skirt and a white tank top that didn’t exactly meet the waistband of her skirt. Her wrists had been decorated by lots of bracelets and she was also carrying a pair of golden earrings.

“I wanna join Sierra at the dancefloor,” Olivia said, looking over at her friends who seemed to have the time of their life.

“Go ahead,” Jade insisted. “I wanna grab some fresh air,” she told her cousin.

“I’ll meet you in a bit!” the dark-haired girl announced, before she emptied her cup and placed it on top of the marvel kitchen counter as she went to join her friends.

Jade listened to the silent drumming from her heels as she emerged into the patio, her fingers lightly touching the barrel, meanwhile her dark eyes glanced up at the nearly empty streets. She had told her parents that she was going out with Olivia, and therefore her parents believed intellectual peers currently surrounded their beloved daughter.

It had nearly been a week since she’d hung out with Brian, which had given her a lot to think about. She’d noticed that he had acted oddly during the last days. The smutty jokes and the mocking sound had sort of crumbled, leaving him more bold and serious. Brian had proven to her before that he was not easy to read, and he could also change drastically, just like he had done when she first met him.

Needless to say he had occupied her head a lot lately. She had no idea what it was, but she could sense that something was wrong, and hopefully he would come forward with his problem soon enough.

The sound of drunken laughter caught her attention, as a sight managed to drag Jade out of her own thoughts. The brunette’s jaw soon tightened as she could see two teenagers making out on the street.

The guy had just managed to lift the girl on top of his trunk, her skirt falling backwards and exposing her satin underwear for the whole world to see.

Jade’s eyes widened as she noticed how drunk the girl seemed to be. Her entire body had collapsed on top of the hood of the car, meanwhile the guy was bending over her and making sure their lips didn’t disconnect, as his hand moved under her skirt.

The brunette could feel panic rush into her veins, and before she managed to rethink what she was doing, the petite girl rushed down the garden, her shoes drumming against the pavement.

“Ey! Leave her alone!” she bellowed in her loudest voice, taking the couple by surprise, as the guy almost jumped at the sudden sound.

Jade could soon hear the sound of chuckling, as well as tongues uniting when she stepped forward. Her eyes widened even more when she saw the girl on top of the hood.

Oh my God. It's Maddie.

“Dear God,” Jade whimpered. “Leave her alone! She has a boyfriend!” the brunette hissed.

The boy that was bending over the drunken blonde girl didn’t seem to care, as he kept rubbing his crotch against her body, meanwhile her laughter echoed through the neighbourhood.

“You heard me!” Jade practically shrieked, not caring if she drew attention to what she was doing, as the brunette stepped closer to the guy and all but pushed him away from her.

“You fucking bitch! Mind your own business!” the boy snarled back, obviously too drunk to understand what he was doing.

“She’s drunk and obviously in no position to reject you! Leave her alone,” Jade argued back, not understanding what had fallen over her that made her stand up to this guy who could so easily take her down if he wanted to.

“Jade!” a voice reached out for her, but the brunette was too busy trying to chase the guy away from Maddie.

Olivia looked at her cousin, wondering if she had gone completely mad, as she saw how the petite brunette was trying to scare off a guy that had played rugby most of his life.

“You don’t get to tell me who I can hook up with!” the boy spat back, his eyes so shallow that he looked as though he was ready to take a swing at her.

“In this case I do!” Jade argued back, the anger inside of her only growing, before she turned her attention to Madde, who seemed as though she was about to pass out.

“Jesus,” the brunette muffled, obviously overwhelmed by the entire situation, as she circled her arms around the drunken, almost passed-out, girl and lifted her up from the car, instantly regretting this move as Jade stumbled into the grass with the cheerleader on top of her.

“Are you conscious?” she asked right away, with Maddie’s head in her lap.

Jade allowed her fingers to gently slap the cheerleader’s cheek, trying to see if it was possible to communicate with her. Maddie only responded by giggling hysterically, before she started mouthing something Jade wasn’t able to understand.

“Come again?” the brunette repeated.

The blonde girl soon rolled over, her stomach twisting as an unpleasant view emerged from her once glossy lips. Jade immediately grabbed Maddie’s body and held her in place, as the blonde puked up everything she had in her stomach.

“You’ll feel so much better afterwards,” Jade promised, knowing how awful it felt, as the cheerleader just continued to vomit in the middle of the host’s garden. “A little more,” she encouraged.

“Jade, is she okay?” Olivia asked, who looked as though she had managed to sober up within seconds.

“Just grab some water for me,” her cousin demanded, meanwhile she kept holding unto Maddie’s body.

“I’ll be right back!” Olivia looked as though she had just seen a ghost as she practically ran towards the house again.

She came back seconds later, carrying a huge glass of cold water, which Jade instantly tried to force down Maddie’s throat.

“Is she passing out?” the dark-haired girl asked, not quite sure if she wanted to step closer to the girl.

“I think so,” Jade mumbled, her arms still clutching the girl’s waist and shoulders.

“Maddie?” a girl called, as someone Jade recognized as Amanda stepped forward. The girl had just emerged from inside the house, her hair soaked and her body wrapped around a towel.

“Oh my God!” she blurted, before the girl ran towards her best friend, her sandals hitting the grass, as she reached out for her friend.

“Maddie? Are you awake?” without even looking over at Jade, the other brunette took her best friend and started slapping her face with her hand, trying to make her open her eyes.

Jade felt terrified as her heart kept slamming brutally against her chest. She watched as Amanda kept shaking her friend, acting as though the blonde cheerleader recently had had a heart attack or something.

Maddie soon opened her eyes, both looking and feeling like hell, while her friend tried to help her stand up.

“I-I can’t feel my legs!” she slurred, before she bent down again and allowed her body to throw up even more.

“This is a disaster,” Olivia mumbled, surprised that such a skinny girl was capable of throwing up that much at once.

Maddie soon glanced up at Amanda, still beyond wasted, as the cheerleader glanced over at Jade who had still not moved from her earlier spot.

“You!” the blonde pointed a slender finger at the brunette who minutes ago had held her body in place.

“Are you okay?” Jade asked, her thoughts racing as she was at the verge of making Olivia call 911.

“You ruined my relationship!” Maddie all but shrieked, as Amanda had to hold her friend back in order to prevent her from jumping at Jade.

“You fucking whore!” she yelled at Jade, anger reeking from her ice-blue eyes.

“Maddie? What the fuck is going on?” a deep familiar voice said, as Jade looked over and realized that Brian and the guys had turned up.

Brian looked mildly confused as he glanced at his girlfriend, who he noticed had had too much to drink, before he looked over at Jade, who looked as though she’d seen a ghost.

What the fuck is this?

“This bitch ruined our relationship!” Maddie continued to scream, still pointing at Jade.

“Babe, calm down,” Brian sighed, not quite sure what situation he had just stumbled into.

“No!” Maddie snapped. “This fucking slut is ruining us!” she insisted.

“Stop talking to my cousin like that!” Olivia sneered, just as Jimmy’s eyes fell upon her, which made Zacky poke his ribcage.

“Dude, not now,” he pleaded.

“Look, I don’t know you,” Jade started of, but just as she was about to open her mouth and continue, Maddie started shrieking again.

“But you know damned well who he is!” she screamed, this time pointing at her boyfriend. “You fucking slut!” Maddie continued to yell, meanwhile her friend had a hard time preventing her body from collapsing on the pavement.

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” the brunette stated calmly, drawing her hands up in surrender. “I think there’s been a misunder-” just as she was about to finish off her sentence, a great punch was thrown straight into her jaw, causing Jade to nearly trip into the grass.

Ouch.

The stinging pain occurred immediately, as her hands cupped her jaw, her entire body in shock after what had just happened.

Jade felt the hissing pain coming from her face, and in one minute she was almost convinced that Maddie had just broken her jaw.

“Oh my God!” Olivia yelled.

Brian felt his head spinning. He had no idea what he had just witnessed, and it all felt as though his world was crashing down or something. The force Maddie had added to the punch was breathtaking, and he could feel panic rise inside of him as he saw how Jade stumbled backwards, the pain obviously settling upon her face.

Is this a fucking dream?

“That’s a fucking firecracker right there,” Jimmy said in a low voice to Zacky, who only cocked his eyebrows at his friend.

Jade was in too much pain to say anything, as she could feel the heavy tears that prickled her eyes. She soon glanced up at Brian who looked as though he had just turned into a statue. He was in no position to neither talk nor react to the situation he had just stumbled into.

Her vision soon turned blurry, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up the next day with a big bruise decorating parts of her face.

“Jade, come on,” Olivia instantly wrapped her arm around her shoulders, as it looked as though she had just managed to collect herself enough to take care of her cousin.

“Jade!” she could hear the sound of Brian’s voice, as it looked as though he too had managed to get himself together.

“Leave it, Haner! You and your psycho-girlfriend have done more than enough!” Olivia sneered back.