13 13: The Day I Realized His Big Bro Side

JADE

"The office," she gasped, sucking air in her lungs. "It's calling you 'cause your sister got into a fight or something."

"What?!" Jackson's voice rose in pitch and he disentangled himself from Jett, immediately taking off toward the school office.

Jade blinked. She was left to stare at Jett, who shrugged and began to follow after his best friend. Jade stood there, breathing finally stabilized.

The halls were empty and she was pretty sure she was late to class. She should really head to her next class. She had done her job in telling Jackson the important news. Logically, she knew she had to leave it at that. She had no business in his family affairs.

Still, curiosity nagged at her and she ended up cursing before sprinting toward the office, following after Jett who had followed after Jackson. Ah, the irony. She had to laugh.

"What do you mean she broke his nose?" she heard Jackson yell inside as soon as she was in the vicinity. Jade stumbled forward in surprise at the loudness and aggressiveness in his tone, forehead smacking against someone's back.

He grunted and turned, Jade realizing she had bumped into Jett!

"Ahh sorry." She rubbed her forehead, smiling apologetically.

Jett only grinned and waved a hand. "No worries." He frowned then. "But what are you doing here? Did the teacher tell you to say something else?"

"And what about you?" she returned, jerking her chin toward him. "This doesn't concern you."

"Haha yeah you've got a point but I'm more curious as to why you're here." Jett smirked, mirth dancing in his eyes. "Didn't think you were one to skip classes, Miss Alderson."

Jade could feel her face grow hot with shame but she tamped it down to pin Jett down with an unimpressed look.

"Didn't think you were one to poke your nose in anyone's business." She snootily regarded him from head to toe. "And yet here we are."

Jett could only grin, showing no signs of being affected. Well, Jade tried to get under his skin but the fact of the matter was they didn't know each other very well. Why did she even try to stoop lower?

The door slammed open, both Jade and Jett jumping in surprise.

Jackson's anger melted off for a moment at seeing them both but continued stalking away, Jett sharing a look with Jade.

The female teacher whom Jade approached earlier poked her head outside, an exasperated look on her face.

"Mister Arden! Class hours aren't over!"

"Oh yeah?" Jackson snarled back, Jade squeaking. This must be the first time she had seen him so feral and aggressive. "Well, if you refuse to let me talk to my sister, then I'm going there myself!" He paused and Jade unconsciously held her breath to see what he'd do next. "Don't even try contacting my mother."

He began walking again without another word. The female teacher groaned.

"Mister Levisay, Miss Alderson, please get back to class." Her features crumpled when she glanced at Jackson's retreating figure. "Well, detention for one Mister Arden."

Jade, undecided on what to do, turned to Jett for help. He shrugged helplessly.

"Guess it's time to head back to class."

"But what about..." she trailed off, gesturing uselessly to Jackson's retreating figure.

Jett swallowed and took another glance at his best friend. His attention went back to her.

"Sometimes, even friends need to lay off their friends' personal lives. That's clearly something he wants to deal with on his own."

Jade pouted. Well, he did have a point. But... it didn't seem right for Jackson to just... leave and stomp off while being so hotheaded. What if he kicked a trash bin? What if he stopped on the street? Unlikely, but Jade couldn't help but think of the worst case scenarios. Point was, it didn't sit well with her he was doing this while alone, angry, and unfocused.

She pursed her lips.

Gosh, she was so going to have consequences for her last-minute decisions.

As she ran forward she called out, "Hey wait! Wait up, I said!"

She ignored the female teacher's strangled voice calling her name, telling her to expect severe punishment for skipping class. Jett's loud laugh could be heard mingling with the teacher's angry words and for once since losing her guitar, Jade's chest and whole body was lighter. She could breathe again.

She coughed as soon as she and Jackson were out of school premises, having inhaled a lungful of smoke from a passing truck. Oh, her lungs definitely don't appreciate the dirty air as she sputtered and waved a hand in front of her nose.

"Hey, what exactly are you doing?" she asked. "You—are you listening to me?"

Jackson's eyes weren't on her. Instead, it was on his phone as he tapped away and swiped occasionally.

He spared her a glance before looking back at his phone.

Jade rolled her eyes.

"What the heck are you doing here?" he asked, voice monotonous and slightly judgmental. "Get back to class. This is something I have to do on my own."

"Well, I'm just here making sure you're not gonna kill yourself or do anything stupid." He snorted sardonically. Jade sniffed. "I know it's none of my business—"

"Good."

She glared at him. It wasn't successful since he still wasn't looking at her. Seriously, why wasn't he looking at her? She knew she wasn't that ugly.

"But curiosity got the best of me," she finished with flair and confidence.

This time, he held eye contact with her longer.

"What, so you're willing to drop your studies in favor of seeing what's gonna happen to me?" She was made painfully aware of how she still had her books for her afternoon classes. Her smile became frigid. She swallowed. He sighed. "Don't blame me for any suspension or detension, all right? You did this to yourself. I tried to stop you—"

"You did not." She couldn't help but be petty.

"I so did and you're the stubborn one who didn't listen." Jackson pocketed his phone and began walking. Jade followed though had a hard time because he had longer legs and he made no sign to slow down or help carry her books.

"Okay so now that that's settled," she panted, trying to catch up, "what's the next phase of action?"

He chuckled, which took her by surprise.

Jackson turned to her briefly before facing front again.

"We're going to my sister's school. She got suspended for punching a boy who lifted up her skirt."

Jade's eyes bugged out.

"WHAT? That's unacceptable!"

He laughed. "That's why I'm heading there right now."

"But... what about your parents?" she couldn't help but ask, finally beside him since he took slower steps.

She saw how his eyes darkened. Silence reigned between them before he said in a hard voice which left no room for argument, "That's for me to deal with and for you to know nothing about." His eyes lit up again and his smile was saccharine for it to be genuine. "Let's keep it at that, huh?"

Jade could only nod.