Settle Down // Irwin

55

"You look nice." Calum says behind Jade. She was still trying to get her hair right in the mirror so didn't see him come in. It didn't matter what her hair looked like. It was about to be covered with a graduation cap. But she still needed it to look perfect.

"Thanks," Jade turns away from her vanity table in her bedroom, her old bedroom. "So do you."

Calum did. He had his best suit on. His hair was just recently cut and it made him look completely different. He seemed older, and more ready for college. Jade hadn't changed much though. She had thought about dying her hair lighter, Calum was not on board with that at all.

"Thanks," Calum smiles, taking a seat on Jade's bed as she continued to work at his hair. "Are you almost done?" He said to Jade selection in the mirror.

"Give me a moment," she said to him.

Calum rolled his eyes and flopped down on the bed. He immediately say up again and began fixing his hair, which he didn't mess up, at all.

Jade slips in one last bobby pin before shaking her head to see if the up do will hold. She probably should've left it down since she would have the graduation cap on for almost all of the ceremony.

"Ready?" Calum asks eagerly.

"Yes." Jade says, standing and straightening out her knee length dress. Again it shouldn't really matter, she is going to have the robe hiding it.

"Lets go," Calum holds his arm out for Jade and wraps hers around his, walking out of her bedroom in her parent's house with him.

She hasn't been here in three weeks. She left the morning after her and Ashton's break up. Was it even a break up? Jade just kind of left. Does that count as a break up? She only replied to Ashton once after she left. On the Tuesday night when she felt like she had made a mistake and wanted to come home. He had texted her again that day. She finally was going to break her silence.

Ashton: I still have your 1975 cd

Jade: I'm sorry Ash, I shouldn't be here. I'm so sorry I never told you. Oh god I hate myself! Please, can I call you? I want to explain why I was so selfish. Please Ashton, please

Ashton: I don't care

Jade reread the message ten times before she put her phone down and began to cry. She deserved it. She knew she deserved it and that's what made it worse. Knowing that because she did this to herself there was no way she could put the blame on anyone else. It was all her fault, and she couldn't do anything about it.

That was the last conversation Ashton and Jade ever had together. It might not be depending on how today goes. But Jade has a secret desire for Ashton to completely ignore her and pretend she doesn't exist. He's good at that. There shouldn't be a problem.

"So we survived." Calum says as the begin to walk down the stair.

"Barely." Jade rolls her eyes at him.

"Come on!" Calum says happily. "We made it! We lived through all of high school and we're living in Boston together, going to go to Harvard. We're getting everything we wanted." Calum's smile falters slightly. "Right?"

"Right." Jade nods unconvincingly but Calum does say anything. He keeps quiet, not wanting to ruin what should be a happy day. Truth is he was nervous too, and Jade could feel it radiating off him. It was because of Charlie.

The living room door opens when Calum and Jade are heard coming down the stairs.

"Aw!" Joy, Calum's mom, claps her hands together. "Look at you Jade!" She says excitedly, pulling Jade away from Calum and into a hug. "You look so beautiful!"