Love on the Brain

A week had gone by since the incident over at Michelle’s home, leaving the two of them apart for days, as Michelle still refused to talk to Jade. By now she was convinced that Val had been informed about her relationship with Brian, as no one but Brian would talk to her after what had happened.

A sigh fell from her lips, as the brunette stabbed her taco salad with her fork, looking nonchalantly down at the plate in front of her, meanwhile laughter filled the table around her.

“Cheer up, J,” Olivia said from next to her, as her cousin was still upset about what happened with Michelle, which she still hadn’t told her cousin about.

A fake smile twisted Jade’s glossy lips. “Happy?” she said ironically.

“Oh, please,” her cousin all but rolled her eyes. “You need to go to a party,” she stated, taking a swig from her juice.

“We’re going out this weekend, you should join,” Tracey suggested, a cheek smirk playing on her lips.

“She can’t!” Olivia said before her cousin got to answer. “It’s Jade’s birthday, so I bet she’s very busy,” she admitted.

“What? Seriously?” Sierra asked, her eyes growing big.

“Yeah, but I don’t really have many plans,” Jade confessed, her eyes glancing over at the tables where Val and Michelle sat, companied with the guys, including Brian.

“J, you’re not gonna be sad by yourself on your freakin’ birthday!” Olivia said, rolling her eyes at the idea. “And especially not because of Michelle DiBenedetto,” she added.

“Michelle? What happened?” Lauren asked, her hand holding unto a fork with a fry.

“Nothing,” Jade said under her breath, before she grabbed a hold of her plate and slung her bag over her shoulder. “I’m gonna go,” she told her cousin, as she couldn’t handle another minute with Olivia’s friends, wondering whether Michelle hated her or not.

The brunette walked down the hall that seemed awfully quiet now. Her fingers soon went to unlock her locker, leaving a couple of books inside, as she found this activity way more satisfying than what she had done earlier this day.

“Hello, you,” a deep voice stated, as a pair of arms soon laced around her waist, pulling her into his embrace.

The smell of fresh cigarettes darted into her mouth, before Jade turned around and saw Brian, who had a cheek smirk on his lips.

“Hi,” she smiled, her fingers digging through his dark hair.

“You look a little sad,” he pointed out, caressing her hipbones through the fabric of her dress.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed.

“Don’t be,” he responded. “How are you holding up, babe?” he placed his index finger under her chin, tilting her head until her dark eyes locked with his.

“Well, Michelle won’t speak to me so I have to sit with this pretty annoying guy in chemistry,” Jade trailed off, meanwhile Brian narrowed his eyes at her.

“I’m not that bad,” he argued, moving closer to her.

“Oh, really, now?” Jade giggled, as Brian stole a quick kiss from her.

“I’ll show you one time,” he insured her, before he pecked her lips again, his goatee soon tickling her skin as he buried his face into the crook of her neck, sucking up the scent of her perfume.

“I’ll hold you to it,” Jade chuckled, lacing her hand into his hair.

Michelle soon walked out of the cafeteria, companied by Val, as she noticed Brian and Jade in the cafeteria, the two of them giggling at something.

“Michelle,” Val said lowly, as she saw the instant reaction that rolled over her twin’s face. “You can’t be mad at her forever. You need to hear her out,” she told her twin.

“I already did,” Michelle half-snapped. “I can’t believe she lied this entire time,” she mumbled.

“I bet she didn’t,” Val argued. “She genuinely hated Brian when they first met, and he was not a fan of her either,”

“Why are you defending her?” the blonde whined.

“I’m not defending anyone! I just don’t wanna see you throw away a great friendship because of Brian Elwin Haner Jr. I mean, I love the guy, but you guys can’t avoid each other because of him. That’s nonsense!” Val blurted.

“We’re not avoiding each other,” Michelle claimed, meanwhile her sister rolled her eyes.

“Michy, that’s bullshit, and you know that. Just talk to her and hear her out, I’m tired of this unnecessary drama,” the raven-haired girl announced, before she was greeted by her boyfriend, who she laced her fingers with and took off with.

Michelle sighed.

Brian pecked her lips one last time, noticing how nervous Jade was getting, as she knew people would emerge into the hall in a matter of minutes.

“Look, what are you doing this weekend?” he asked, taking her hand in his and lacing their fingers together for a short time.

“I’m celebrating,” she said, closing her locker and gripping the strap of her bag.

“Oh, what?” he sounded curious, as the two of them paddled down the hall.

“My birthday,” Jade muffled, avoiding looking on his face.

“What? You haven’t told me anything about it!” Brian announced. “I’m gonna clear my schedule,” he promised.

“Bri, don’t do that,” Jade sighed. “I’m not really stoked about it, and if you have other things to do, I’m not gonna stop you,” she told him.

“Jade, I don’t,” he insured her. “And those things would never be as important as making sure you get a fucked up birthday,” he added, a cheek smirk twisting his thin lips.

Jade only rolled her eyes, nudging her boyfriend, as the two of them walked into the chemistry class.

“You’re such a jerk,” she said to him, before she dumped her books unto the table, and glanced over at him.

“A hot jerk, at least,” Brian corrected her, once again making her roll her eyes.

***

Michelle was standing by her locker, trying to sort out which books to bring home, meanwhile she enjoyed the sound of Guns’N Roses.

“Ah, Michelle DiBenedetto! Just the person I hate to admit that I was looking for,” Olivia announced, as she was standing next to the blonde girl, who couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“What do you want?” Michelle frowned, pausing her music and closing her locker before she glanced over at the dark-haired girl.

“I quite frankly don’t care what happened between you and Jade, but I do care about my cousin. As you perhaps know, her birthday is coming up by the end of the week, and I would hate for her to spend it depressed over whatever lame fight you guys had,”

Michelle cocked her eyebrows at the girl. She knew it was Jade’s birthday coming up, but she had no idea how Jade had reacted to their fight. Every time she had seen her with Brian she had looked okay, but perhaps she didn’t want to show Brian how worried she actually was.

“You don’t know why I won’t talk to her?” Michelle blurted, not quite believing that Jade hadn’t even told her cousin, who Michelle had considered to be Jade’s closest friend.

“Nope, and I don’t care either,” Olivia said, shrugging. “I just care about Jade and her birthday, which is why I need your help,”

Did Olivia know that Jade was together with Brian? Would she want to give her cousin the best birthday ever if she knew? Michelle thought to herself.

“Perhaps you should ask Brian instead,” she responded.

“Brian Haner? Are you trying to get me killed, DiBenedetto?” Olivia half-snapped.

“By talking to Jade’s boyfriend?” Michelle asked, as her words all but slapped Olivia’s face.

“Her what?” Olivia blurted out. “I think there’s been a mistake here, sweetie. There’s no way in hell Jade would want to be together with him,”

“There’s no mistake. They’re together. You can ask her yourself,” Michelle shrugged. “I have to go. Hopefully we won’t be seeing each other around,” the blonde added, leaving the dark-haired girl in utter confusion as she walked down the hall.

Michelle walked out of the school, soon noticing her twin, who was standing on the parking lot, flicking her cigarette with the guys. She soon went to join them, as she noticed how excited her twin was.

“What’s up?” Michelle asked, her gaze shifting between Jimmy, Brian and Val.

“It’s Jade’s birthday this week!” Jimmy shrieked, looking oddly happy.

“Okay?” the blonde stated, looking as though she literally couldn’t care less.

“Come on, ‘Chelle. You love birthdays and you don’t get to act like a whiny bitch on her birthday,” Val told her twin.

Michelle sighed, knowing that her sister was somewhat right. She had given Jade the silent treatment for quite some time now, and she had even revealed her secret to her cousin, who hated Brian more than Jade had when they first met.

“Okay, I have an idea,” Michelle muffled, a clever smirk twisting her lips.