Jade

Jade 25

Jade Chapter 25, a romance fiction |

"Ryan Parker." Kayla walked up to him and smiled. "I'm Kayla, Jade's cousin." She introduced herself, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Ryan gave her a small smile and shook her hand. Her resemblance to Jade was uncanny. The Wilson's definitely had a strong gene pool.

"So you like my cousin?" Kayla suddenly asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Excuse me?" Ryan sputtered, his eyes widening.

Kayla busted out laughing. "Oh, you definitely do, it's obvious. And your friend snitched on you already," Kayla pointed toward Peter who was throwing nervous glances in their direction.

Ryan inwardly groaned and shook his head.

"So why haven't you told her yet?" Kayla asked.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude but-,"

"It's none of my business, I know." Kayla shrugged. "But I still want to know and I won't leave you alone until you fess up. So why?"

Ryan just stared at her for awhile and concluded that stubbornness was also a Wilson's trait. Hopefully Joyce was the exception. "I know she doesn't like me." He simply said.

Kayla frowned. "What gave you that idea?"

"I just know, I mean, she's with Byron right now and I know I'm not the kind of guy she's into. I'm just her friend."

Kayla tilted her head to the side, wondering why this guy wasn't giving himself enough credit. He had no idea what Jade thought of him. "You're not just her friend, Ryan. Jade cares about you, a lot. I don't know what the whole story is between you two but it doesn't take a genius to see how smitten she is with you. She might not know it yet, but she is,"

Ryan considered her words for a moment. Could it be possible? Could Jade's feelings for him be more than just platonic? He hated that he had to wonder. It made him nervous, and he felt sick to his stomach, especially after lying to her about liking Amanda. What would happen once she found out? He never should have lied but at the same time, he feared revealing his true feelings.

It broke him when Elle rejected him. He couldn't go through that again. Even though a part him kept telling him that Jade wasn't anything like Elle, another part of his mind kept rejecting the idea of letting her know.

And then there was the part where she was with another guy.

If that wasn't enough indication that she wasn't interested in him, he didn't know what else was.

"Just because she's with someone it doesn't mean she can't develop feelings for another guy," Kayla suddenly spoke as if reading his mind. "It's possible to like two guys at the same time. Especially if-,"

Kayla suddenly cut off when Jade swiftly walked back inside the Indulgence Room, passing them both and going straight toward Byron. Everyone stared as she walked up to him, grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the opposite corner of the room, right to the door where no one had yet to enter. She opened it, pulled Byron inside and closed it after them.

Kayla looked up at Ryan, noticing his expression. "It might not be what you think-,"

"It doesn't matter," Ryan said in a bland tone. "I know where I stand."

With nothing left to say, Kayla quietly watched as he walked away, his shoulders slumped, and dejection pouring out through his posture.

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The uncensored room was really just a small walk in closet dimly lit with a small love seat in the middle. Jade knew what everyone was probably thinking but she didn't care. She needed to talk to Byron, privately and this was the only place she thought of.