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It was morning, classes had just started, and she could rest easy knowing her friends were there. She walked with a firm step, her gaze lost in thought as usual. She entered her classroom, but there was no sign of her friends, only a few classmates she hadn't interacted with in her right mind. She sighed resignedly, put her things away, and sat down to clear her head while she waited for them to arrive. Then she spotted them. A small smile formed on her lips, and her face flushed slightly as she approached the group. Ruby, Sunny, and...Bella, the one who captivated her with every word and whom she always defended when they criticized her. She approached the group, greeting them enthusiastically, while they looked at her with a puzzled expression, surprised by her constant assertiveness, which wasn't her usual style.
"Hey girls... What's up B!" was very obvious as she changed her tone of voice, which made the aforementioned girl only let out a short laugh.
"You're too awake today, Jade. Is there anything in particular?" Ruby asked, and before she could answer, she was already gone, leaving her alone with Bella, as Sunny had gone to another part of the classroom to talk to Poppy, who had also arrived on her way.
He just looked at her again with a smile, before managing to say anything Bella spoke.
"Jade, how about we swap, your jacket for my coat?" The green-haired girl's face lit up at that phrase; the only thing she had of Bella's was a set design drawing that had turned out perfectly, and she decided to give it to her, and now she could wear one of her clothes.
She took it off and handed it over; her counterpart did the same, which pleased her. Now that she noticed, Bella's jacket was almost the same size as her, even though the pink-haired girl was taller, which she found strange, but she decided not to say anything else. Instead, she asked one last thing.
"B..." her voice sounded nervous as she walked away.
"What's wrong, Jade?" she answered calmly as she organized her desk for class.
"Could I give you a rose?" she said slowly and calmly. The silence lasted a few seconds as her counterpart turned to look at her.
"No problem," this relieved her, and she went straight to her backpack to find it.
She found it: a perfect red rose that she herself had made after several failed attempts. Now she had one to give to her crush. She gave it to her with the same genuine smile. There was no thank you, but her acceptance was all she needed.
Classes were about to start, so she went to her seat. After this class, she had another one she shared only with Ruby and Violet. Later, she would tell her how well her plan had worked out, giving that gift to her not-so-platonic crush (in her words).
Her thoughts were lost, barely paying attention to the class. Most of her classmates were chatting amongst themselves while the teacher was out, leaving the others free to do all sorts of silly things. She chuckled softly as she thought until some words pulled her from her reverie.
"Jade, I think she figured you out," the girl said, looking at her, confused.
"What do you mean, Ruby?" she asked, clearly taken aback by those words.
"Bella knows she likes you." Her expression turned serious, and she paled. Had Ruby said something?
"No, no, no, no... ha. I don't understand what you're talking about," she tried to deny it, her face seeming to go numb as she lowered her gaze in deep fear.
"Uh, I don't know, I just... forget it." She turned to look ahead, leaving her even more confused and terrified than before.
Her breathing quickened, and she chuckled softly as she glanced back at Bella, who sat with a serious expression. She remained silent. How would she see her now? Did she even want to talk to her? It seemed she might have a major anxiety attack, but she tried to relax to avoid that. She leaned back on the desk, crossing her arms and burying her face in them. She was devastated. Her feelings were going to cost her a friendship she cherished. Her stupid feelings were to blame for everything. She hit the side where her heart was. Her head was spinning, and her fear and panic wouldn't stop.
"Shit..." she whispered inaudibly as she felt a touch on her right side.
"Are you alright, Jade?" It was Violet. She wouldn't have paid any attention if she weren't going through a difficult time.
"Why wouldn't I be, Vi?" she asked, deflecting the question.
This only confused the purple-haired girl more, so she didn't ask anything else and turned to look straight ahead again.
She was lost; she wouldn't have her best friend anymore because of an unfortunate love that had blossomed from a kind gesture by her. Their friendship was going to end, she was sure of it.
...
It was her first break, and how she hated it. She had to escape from two of her friends: first, Ruby. She thought Ruby was the reason Bella found out about her crush, since she was the only one who knew, so she would pay for it by disappearing from her life. And second, of course, was Bella, who spent the entire break with Amaya.
Running around was annoying, but not enough to make her talk to Bella or let her guard down with Ruby. But she would have to talk to Ruby eventually. The school bell rang, and she could finally go back to class and put an end to this disastrous suffering she'd been carrying around.
What was strange was that for a few seconds Bella tried to talk to her, and of course she avoided it with the great excuse of having to go to her next class. She could avoid her, sure, but not forever, because she would end up hating her, and she didn't want that. She just wanted to get rid of her feelings once and for all and go back to normal moments between friends.
I spoke with Ruby, and ended up finding out that she wasn't responsible for Bella finding out about this. In other words, she connected the dots and found evidence that would make her question how she expressed herself in relationships from that moment on.
At least they were okay, and their group was functioning again, well, sort of.
...
It was lunchtime, and they all gathered to talk about their classes. Jade was the one who talked the most and livened things up until, at one point, Bella decided to greet her. Of course, she was going to respond with a smile, as she always did, but now, remembering what had happened and knowing that this might make her uncomfortable, she decided to stop watching her friends and look away to avoid her. She thought this through carefully; she didn't want to make her more uncomfortable than she already was, so she would ignore her until they resolved their issues.
"Jade—" was her voice. She had to avoid her at all costs.
"Do you want dessert? I do, I'll be right back." She moved quickly to avoid this, although she left them with confused looks. The only ones who would understand her situation would be Ruby and Violet (who didn't know much).
...
Returning from lunch, there was a class activity that would take place on campus. They'd never done anything like this before, so it felt strange, but it didn't matter; getting some fresh air would do her good. It was a group activity, and her group consisted of River, Aidan, Violet, Ruby, and herself (a privilege, to be honest). Again, the pink-haired girl tried to talk to her. She went up a few steps so she wouldn't have to see her and give the impression that she was ignoring her, which was already obvious. The activity itself made her run off, since they were calling her again, and answering wasn't an option.
...
Finally, the last class of the day was over, and she could go back to her room to try and take her anxiety medication. She could also go out without the risk of running into Bella near her room, much less her dorm. Unfortunately, their classes overlapped again. Jade tried to concentrate on her work, but the remorse she felt for ignoring the love of her life slowly gnawed at her. She truly would love Bella if she gave her a chance, which wasn't going to happen since Bella liked boys, and she had to find this out herself. She cried that night; of course she would after such news.
There wasn't much in that class, nothing important at all, just filler. She got ready earlier than planned since she had to leave first and would be caught by the others.
"This is a terrible idea," Ruby questioned her when, before leaving, she mentioned that she would ignore Bella for a short time.
"I don't want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already is, besides, I have no reason to worry about her," were the last words she uttered before running out of the room unnoticed. She paused for a moment, shook her head, and stopped in front of her bedroom.
Perhaps she could go talk to the pink-haired girl, try to win her over, but she remembered that wouldn't happen and that she would never accept her as anything more than a friend. She went inside, set her backpack aside, and headed to her bedroom until she remembered she would return her jacket tomorrow with Skyler's help. Looking her in the eye wasn't an option. She lay down on her bed to rest a bit. She needed to think about her actions; what she had done today was wrong, far too wrong for her to have done it. Little by little, she drifted off to sleep with that remorse gnawing at her heart as tears streamed down her face.