Just A Stage Kiss

Chapter 12

"DON'T STOP BELIEVING!"

"Oh God, Trina, SHUT UP!" I yelled over my sisters so-called-singing. Not that it worked, she just continued to scream the words at the top of her lungs as we flew through the roads like there was no tomorrow.

We went to the mall after school because Trina was 'in desperate need of new clothes' and, as she was my ride home, I was forced to tag along and help her. Normally, I love shopping, trying on all sorts of wacky fun outfits, most of which I wouldn't actually wear out ever, but, with Trina, it was just a nightmare minus the sleep. For three hours I was pulled from store to store in search of the 'perfect' pair of jeans, not even getting to try on a single sock for myself. The only redeeming part was going out for dinner afterward, but, as Trina had managed to spend every dime of her allowance on her new clothes, I had to pay, so it wasn't all great.

On our way home I was sat leaning against the door, my cheek pressed up against the cool window as I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on anything but the pounding headache I had, which was why Trina's noise pollution was bothering me so much. When she ignored my pleas for silence, I just went back to staring out of the window. As we rounded a corner, Trina slowed the car down a little; thankfully, she really is a reckless driver. I gave a small sigh of relief when the song came to an end too and was about to turn to ask her to shut the radio off for a bit when something outside caught my eye. We were travelling down a street very close to home and against a wall lay a ball of what looked very much like human, a very familiar human.

"Trina, stop the car!" I called, fumbling hurriedly for my seatbelt.

"Why?" She asked, glancing in my direction briefly then turning back to the mirror she was admiring herself in.

"Just stop the car!" I panicked.

She'd barely put her foot on the brake before I flung the door open and tumbled out of the car as it slowed. Another car honked its horn loudly and swerved as I stumbled to my feet, ignoring Trina's yells of 'wanting to kill myself' and staggered towards the sobbing form that was Jade West, lying on the concrete, looking a wreck.

"Jade?" I said softly, nervously. She didn't respond. "Jade?"

I tentatively closed the distance between us and my left hand found her right, lacing our fingers together in what I hoped was a comforting gesture, while my other hand brought her to me, holding her closer as her dry sobs wracked her body.

"Shush, Jade, it's okay." I murmured. "It'll be okay." I didn't know what it was, or if it would really be okay, but it seemed to be calming her down a bit, so I kept it up, just whispering hushed words of comfort in her ear.

"Can you get up?" I asked after a short while. She jerked her head a little in reply, so I managed to scoop her up and help her towards the car that was parked at an angle on the curb. Trina was stood up at the drivers side, gaping at us as I helped Jade into the back, where she curled up in a ball again, resting her head on my lap as I stroked her hair.

"What's-?" My sister began, but I shook my head both to tell her to stop and because I didn't actually know what was wrong and wasn't prepared to ask just yet; Jade looked like she was in no fit state to talk about it.

Trina raised an eyebrow but said no more as she climbed back into the car and drove off again at a much slower speed than before. The radio was off now and Jade's cries had calmed. She fidgeted slightly in my lap, turning to look up at me, to which I gave a small smile, before her eyes fluttered shut and she drifted off into an exhausted sleep. I continued to play with her hair as I watched her, trying to think of what could possibly happen to make Jade like this. I'd seen her cry before, but nothing this bad; it was weird to see her so vulnerable and not her usual headstrong self. And why had I jumped out of the car to her? It was instinct, to see a friend crying and want to stop to help, I guess, but, as Trina had called after me, I had almost gotten myself killed in the process.