Love on the Brain

Jade could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she stood in front of the school, her heart pounding like crazy, meanwhile the brunette held her phone tightly in her hands. She had tried to cover up most of the ugly bruise with makeup without much luck. The left side of her face was now bruised pretty ugly, leaving a violet, almost blue mark on her face that ached pretty badly every time her fingers brushed passed it.

Note to self: Ask mom if I can get home-schooled from now on.

“Are you ready?” Olivia asked, her cousin by her side, just like she had been ever since it happened.

“No,” Jade muffled, not wanting to face another day in this school.

“It’s not that bad,” the other girl comforted, causing Jade to cock her eyes at her.

“Oli,” she sighed, not wanting her cousin to lie to her about the bruise on her face. “I look like hell. I certainly feel like it,” she whimpered.

“If that cheap ass bitch comes near you again, I will snap her neck,” Olivia promised. “When your mother is a surgeon you get access to a lot of funny instruments, and I will not hesitate to use them in order to damage that twat’s face,”

“Violence is not going to help,” Jade pointed out. “Because of that, I now look like the girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,"

“Oh, honey, please,” her cousin announced. “It’s not that bad,” she insured her. “Come on, you can’t hide forever,” the dark-haired girl linked her arm with Jade’s and all but dragged her towards the stairs, listening to the sound of her heels scratching the ground as she pulled her along with her.

As they walked up the stairs Jade could feel the looks people gave her when they walked by. The whole school was aware of the little catfight Maddie had created, and not only had she made sure to let them know who won, she’d also talked loudly about how Jade had tried to steal her boyfriend.

“There’s nothing to see here! Mind your own business!” Olivia sneered to the people who glared at her cousin, knowing how uncomfortable and humiliated Jade felt.

“I’m seriously considering being home-schooled now,” Jade admitted, watching as Olivia grabbed her books from her locker.

“That’s rubbish,” Olivia rolled her eyes. “This isn’t the end of the world. Give it a week and then it’s totally forgotten,” she said.

“Jade?” a high-pitched voice reached the girls’ ears, as Jade looked over her shoulder and noticed Michelle.

The blonde girl looked as though she had been worried sick, as she glanced over at her friend, her eyes instantly looking at her bruised skin.

“Jesus, it is true,” she muffled, almost like she’d wanted it all to be a bad rumour.

“What do you want? Haven’t you guys done enough damage now?” Olivia half-snapped, as she was not a fan of Michelle or any of the guys in particular.

“Olivia,” Jade sighed.

“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there,” Michelle mumbled. “Val is too!” she added.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t anything you guys could do anyway,” the brunette shrugged.

“But it isn’t okay! And the fact that Brian just stood there? What the hell!”

“Did you seriously expect that jerk to do something anyway?” Olivia had her eyebrows cocked.

“Don’t speak poorly of him just because his girlfriend is mean!” Michelle protested.

“Jade wouldn’t be all beaten up if it wasn’t for him!” the dark-haired girl sneered back.

“Guys!” Jade sighed, obviously not in the mood to put up with this.

“Sorry,” Michelle whimpered. “I think Brian feels terrible,” she said.

“I didn’t actually know the guy was capable of such feelings,” Olivia said in a low voice.

“I bet he wants to talk to you about this,” the blonde continued, making Jade slightly uncomfortable.

Brian had left her a dozen of messages after the party, and he’d been calling non-stop. At some point the she had just turned off her phone and told Olivia to e-mail her if she had something she needed to tell her. Right now speaking to Brian was not an option, and she would rather have him as far away from her as possible.

“I don’t really wanna talk to him,” Jade admitted, watching as the disappointment stroke Michelle’s face.

“I can understand that,” she muffled.

“Okay, is that it? Come on, J. We gotta get to class,” Olivia expressed, obviously tired of watching Michelle try to say something comforting without any success.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Jade told the blonde girl, who only nodded in response, before she went to follow her dark-haired cousin.

As the two of them made their way down the hall, Jade could feel the buzzing from her denim shorts, as a sigh was pushed out of her lips. She didn’t really have to pick up the phone in order to know who it was.

“Is he still calling?” Olivia asked, looking somewhat surprised.

“Yeah,”

“Jesus, no wonders Maddie went all apeshit on you,” she mumbled.

“Don’t,” Jade warned her cousin. “I don’t wanna talk or think about Brian,”

“Is that so?” a deep voice said, as Jade could feel a shiver creep down her spine. The brunette soon clenched her fists, feeling how her chest was moving heavily.

She soon turned around and saw Brian standing there, his body leaning against the locker and his eyebrows cocked.

“Yes,” Olivia answered for her cousin, her hand already grasping Jade’s arm, ready to escape.

“Jade, can we talk?” Brian asked, concern resting in his hazel brown eyes and emptiness filling his face.

“I gotta get to class,” Jade said, ignoring his request, as he nodded slowly, his lips turning into one thin line, meanwhile he dragged a hand through his hair.

“Good girl,” Olivia whispered to her as she grabbed her cousin and led her towards physics.

***

The entire day had crawled away too slowly, as Jade was too exhausted by her own thoughts to pay attention in biology class. The brunette had her eyes fixed upon the book, feeling as though every time she tried to read something, the information just slipped out of her head.

“Does it hurt much?” Michelle asked carefully, as she too had given up on paying attention to their last class of the day.

“A bit,” Jade admitted, which was a great understatement. She’d popped about four painkillers before she got in the car this morning, and when she came home she was convinced her mother would make her take more.

“What did you tell your parents?” her friend suddenly asked, unsure if Jade had admitted that she’d been attacked by Brian’s crazy girlfriend.

“Olivia came up with this ridiculous story,” Jade chuckled. “She told my mom that I was gonna get her lipgloss from her bedroom and accidentally tripped on my way downstairs, landing on my face as I fell,”

“And she believed that?” Michelle asked.

“She would believe anything coming from Oli’s lips,” the brunette told her.

“But you’re not gonna come clean and tell them what really happened?”

“Unless I want my parents to sue Maddie, no, I’m not,” Jade confirmed.

“Look, I’m really sorry about this,” Michelle placed her hand on top of Jade’s arm. “It’s totally unfair. Val practically screamed at Brian when Jimmy told her that he didn’t do anything,”

“She’s great,” Jade mumbled. “But don’t feel bad. It’s not like you planned this,”

Michelle pulled her lips into a sincere smile, still feeling ridiculously bad for the bruise that decorated the left side of Jade’s face. Jade had been the sweetest and most considerate girl Michelle had ever come across, and knowing that someone could do that to her made a shiver run down her back.

The bell soon rang, as Jade got up from her seat in a matter of seconds, looking as though she had been waiting for this moment the entire day.

“Are you going home now?” Michelle asked as she followed her friend to her locker, knowing that Jade had gotten a little scared of Maddie ever since the incident.

“Yeah, my mom would literally contact SWAT if I don’t come straight home,” Jade said, making Michelle laugh.

“She’s adorable,” the blonde mumbled, as she watched her friend shove her book into her locker.

“I gotta go and catch up with Val. It was nice to see you!” Michelle announced, suddenly acting as though she was in a hurry, as the blonde girl walked off, leaving Jade all by herself.

Or at least she thought so.

“Jade, we gotta talk,” Brian urged, his fingers wrapped around the door of her locker, refusing to let go before she would look at him.

“Now it’s not a good time,” Jade responded, as she waited for him to let go.

“You can’t just distance yourself like this,” he insisted.

“Brian, look,” a sigh left her lips. She didn’t want to say this. She’d grown to enjoy his company. Brian made everything seem so easy. He made it all feel so right with his killer smirks and stupid jokes. The last thing she wanted was letting go.

Letting go of Brian.

“I don’t think we should be friends anymore,” she said.

“What?”

“You heard me. Maddie obviously doesn’t approve of that, and I don’t wanna come between the two of you,”

“Jade, you gotta be kidding,” Brian sighed. “Screw her opinion! She had no right to attack you like that!” he hissed.

“Just leave it,” Jade begged. “You’re a great guy, and she really likes you. Just go with it,” she muttered, before she threw one quick glance at him.

Brian could feel anger boil in his veins as he saw the ugly bruise on her jaw. The urge to lightly brush his fingers passed her skin drifted into his mind, meanwhile he also wanted to humiliate Maddie for doing that to Jade.

“Don’t do this,” Brian wrapped his fingers around her wrist, feeling the warmth from her skin, as he was nearly convinced that his entire inside was turning into lava.

“You have to leave me alone,” Jade said, her dark eyes not even glancing up at him, as she freed her wrist from his grasp and went to join Olivia and her friends.