Jade

Mason

This chick- I mean Jade- is really cool, man. Hey, you should ask your brother if he's met her!" it was more of a demand then a suggestion, so Lewis puts the phone down and goes to ask his younger brother, Clark, my question. Are you seeing this? Lewis and Clark? Yeah, his parents are serious history freaks. I'm kind of surprised they don't keep Lewis more restrained. Let's just say that when someone needs some "stuff", he's got it, especially for minors. Now, I'm not saying this because I've had an encounter with the "stuff" he deals because he sold it to me.

I've been this guys friend since, like, kindergarten or somewhere around that time. I can hear his footsteps returning and I break away from my reverie and listen to him say, "He says he hasn't really met her, no one has, but everyone knows her." As I slowly start to lose interest, thinking she's one of those annoying conformists that think they're the center of everyone's universe, he says, "Yo man, she's not popular, not even close. She's apparently lived here her whole life, and her mom died when she was in 6th grade.

"So she got held back twice in 6th because she neglected everything and and stopped talking and listening to everyone, even her teachers and especially her friends. When she got her report card at the end of the year, it was all F's. Her dad didn't care.

"When she got to 7th, no one really talked to her because she wouldn't talk to anyone, she was a lost cause. And she got her studies back together, even though she was always daydreaming in class. My brother always got seated next to her in, like, every class. Actually, she more than got her studies back together, she was the top student in 7th, 8th, and 12th. She didn't go to 9th, 10th, or 11th grade, got to skip right through them.

"But she still, according to Clark, never talked to anyone but her dad and her sister. She's 17, and her birthdays September 1st, in like two weeks. That enough info for you?" he said the last sentence sarcastically of course.

"Well, shit."

"I know, man."

"I gotta go, my wonderful brother reminded my amazing father that I still have a lot left to pack."

"Alright, man, bye."

But my brother didn't remind my dad that I have more to pack. I just had to process that Jade was crying like she'd lost her only love when she broke that snowglobe, and realize that it must have been her mom's.