SHADES of GREEN ↬ m. wheeler

XIII. FLAME

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
━━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━━
❝FLAME❞

　
　

JADE'S BRAIN FELT fried. She had finished her extremely long History exam and could not wait to leave.

　The teacher, Ms. Clove, had placed each desk as far apart as possible. Unfortunately, she had taken the liberty of assigning students to certain seats, so Jade could not sit by Mike or Dustin or Lucas. Ironically, Max ended up behind her; she could feel the girl's hard stare at the back of her head.

　Most people were still working; this included Mike. According to the clock, the allotted time would be reached in little over twenty minutes. Jade wanted to read, but her mind had worked its way into a frenzy.

　Mike had worked through the story with crystal detail, and Jade's mind refused to release any of it. Despite the length of the story—it had taken Mike hours to bring the story to its conclusion—and the overload of enlightening knowledge, knowledge that should have driven Jade insane, she could recall every specific detail. Perhaps it was the simple fact that Mike had been the one to tell the story and she had just kissed him and she tended to cling to anything he said, but Jade's senses had peaked and she remembered everything.

　Mike's recollection was not the only thing Jade found herself obsessing over. Every time she blinked, she saw her face—Eleven, pale and cold and pretty. Jade was confused, though. The scene had played in her mind, but it felt so real. Jade could still feel Eleven's cold fingers, tracing the veins of gold beneath her skin. Could still hear her voice, soft and shy, yet full of purpose.

　The warning. It bounced around the walls of Jade's brain, unrelenting, because it was real—Jade knew it in her heart that there was a threat at play. Especially after hearing Mike's story, about alternate dimensions and the monsters within, it was extremely easy to believe.

　Still, Jade was lost. Some part of her knew that the threat was supernatural, but she had no idea what to expect. The Upside Down, as Mike and Lucas and Dustin had nicknamed it, had been destroyed.

　The realization that she had somehow made immediate friends with these peculiar survivors of supernatural forces was sort of mind blowing. Almost as if fate had drawn her to them. Jade had been the one to move from Indianapolis to a small town she had never known existed, and for what reason? She had never had any family here, as far as she was concerned, and her mother never could provide a proper explanation, except that the town seemed remote enough to lead a quieter life.

　Jade's eyes flickered between the boys. Her eyes first landed on Mike, who was in the row to her right, seated at the very front. Ms. Clove wanted to keep a better eye on him, apparently, although his attitude was the biggest problem she could have experienced with him. He was hunched over his desk, eyes guarded with his open fingers.

　Two rows to the left and a couple of seats ahead of Jade sat Lucas. He was done with the test, too, head now cradled in his arms. Considering he had expressed to Jade how exhausted he was before testing, this did not come as a surprise.

　Dustin was placed at the back right corner. His pencil drummed restlessly against the thick packet before him. As if sensing Jade's brief stare, he glanced up, met her eyes, and flashed a handsome smile. With the smile and the pretty eyes and the golden curls, it was no wonder Esme liked him.

　Esme. Jade crossed her arms, hugged them tight over her chest, trying to rid herself of a sudden, overwhelming sense of discomfort. In spite of Esme's lack of acknowledgement that the kiss had ever happened, nothing felt right around her anymore.