1
Jade slumped against the lockers. The day thus far, she had resisted the urge to sleep, but her will had now been broken. She slid down the lockers and sat on the floor.
Upon seeing her, Cat approached.
“Hey, Jade,” she said happily.
“What, Cat?”
“Nothing. How come you're on the floor?”
“It's more comfortable than standing.”
“Huh.”
Cat sat down beside Jade. She tilted her head back and rested against the lockers.
“You're right.”
“Uh-huh.”
Jade closed her eyes. Cat looked over at her before abruptly standing up.
“I have to go now. I'll see you later.”
Jade responded with a monosyllabic affirmative.
Students walked by, amazed at the sight that beheld them in the corridors. One of these students would attempt to enter his locker. The locker where Jade rested. However, upon nearing Jade and hearing her stir, he quickly turned back and instead decided to leave. After all, he didn't need his books that badly.
Tori and André walked upon her in the middle of her repose.
“I can't believe how peaceful she looks,” Tori commented.
André shushed her.
“Not so loud. You don't want her to hear you.”
Tori chuckled.
“André, look at her. She's practically drooling.”
Tori crouched down and leaned closer to her.
“Girl, you're playing with fire,” André whispered before taking a step back.
Tori's smile widened. Others looked on with a grave anticipation. Any minute now, she would wake up, and a chase would ensue. Whenever dealing with Jade, tread carefully. Otherwise, she will chase you down: the students of Hollywood Arts knew this fact well.
“Oh, Tori,” Jade whispered under her breath.
The sound was extremely quiet. It was inaudible to anybody standing even a minute distance away. Tori wasn't one of the lucky ones. Immediately, she backed away from the sleeping figure.
Upon seeing her face, André noticed her smiling disposition had turned into a furrowed confusion and discreet worry.
“What's wrong?”
“She's awake,” Tori whispered, panicked.
André looked at her with confusion. He began to approach Jade. Tori grabbed him by the arm to pull him back. He fought off her grip and continued his approach. He inspected Jade. He turned around and shrugged. Then, he waved a hand in Jade's face. He walked back to Tori.
“Looks asleep to me.”
“Yeah, she does, doesn't she.”
Jade was smiling in her sleep: a sight that previously would have amused Tori, now made her head spin.
Tori and André left Jade alone. After their departure, Sinjin approached her. He held a pair of scissors and a plastic zip-up bag. He stealthily sneaked beside her. Once at an arm's length away, he cut a lock of her hair with the scissors and placed it into the bag. As he fiddled with the bag, Jade's eyes shot open.
“What the hell are you doing!” she yelled.
Sinjin stood up and ran at the fastest speed he could muster up whilst still fiddling with the zupper of the plastic bag. Jade felt her hair with her fingers. She jumped up from her position on the ground and began to run after Sinjin, yelling:
“Get back here!”
News of the chase spread around the school. Jade ran down hallways and harassed anyone she thought might know where Sinjin was, to no avail.
When lunchtime came, Tori, Beck, and André sat at their regular lunch table when Jade approached them. She sat down next to Tori.
“I swear, when I find Sinjin, I'm going to kill him!”
Beck smiled.
“What did he do this time?”
“He cut a piece of hair from my head,” she said furiously.“
André opened his mouth wide in disbelief.
”How did he manage to do that?“ Beck asked.
”Jade fell asleep against the lockers in the hallway,“ answered André.
”You didn't sleep last night?“ asked Beck.
”What do you care?“
”I was just asking.“
Beck's eyes travelled to his lunch.
”How come you're so quiet?“ Jade asked Tori.
”No I'm not.“
”Oh yeah? you haven't said a word all lunch,“ said André.
Tory looked at him sharply. Suddenly, he took greater interest in observing the food he was feeding himself.
”So c'mon, why aren't you saying anything?“ asked Jade.
”Why didn't you sleep last night?“
”None of your business,“ she retorted.
”Then don't ask me about mine.“
”Fine.“
Jade packed her lunch, got up, and left. André and Beck exchanged a look.
”What happened between you and Jade?“ asked Beck.
”Nothing,“ Tori responded quickly. ”It's just—no, never mind, actually.“
”C'mon Tori, you can tell us,“ said André.
”No, really, it's nothing. I have to go apologize to Jade.“
Tori went to Jade's locker: nothing. She saw Cat on the stairs and asked her if she had seen Jade.
”She's probably still chasing Sinjin. I heard he cut off, like, a bunch of her hair.“
Tori walked down the hallway until, suddenly, a scream sounded from the janitor's closet. People walking by shrieked in fear and walked by faster. Tori hurried and opened the door.
Inside, she found Jade holding Sinjin by his shirt collar with a pair of scissors in her hand.
”Tori! You have to stop her, please, I'm begging you; she's going to kill me.“
Sinjin burst into tears. Tori attempted to calm him down.
”Relax, Sinjin, Jade's not going to kill you.“
Tori looked into Jade's eyes.
”At least, I don't think she will.“
”Maybe not, but I will be getting rid of every last hair on that stupid head of yours; all with these scissors.“
Jade had a sadistic grin on her face. She held the scissors up as if it were a murder weapon.
”No, you can't!“ Tori protested.
Jade looked at her defiantly.
”Oh yeah, you think so? Guess we'll see.“
”No, you can't because if you do, I'm gonna report you, and I bet there'll be big consequences for you if I do.“
”Did you not hear about what he did?“
”I did, and couldn't you just punch him or something less cruel.“
Sinjin brightened at Tori's idea.
”Yeah. Why not just punch me?“
”You don't speak!“ Jade yelled.
Sinjin cowered into the corner. Jade had now released her grip on his shirt.
”You're lucky Tori was here to stop me. But, if you ever do anything like that ever again, I won't hesitate.“
Jade cut thin air with the scissors as a means of emphasizing her threat.
”Thank you,“ said Tory, ”you did the right thing.“
”Whatever.“
Jade pushed past her and left the janitor's closet. Tori followed her out.
”Wait, Jade, I wanted to apologize.“
Jade turned around. Her eyebrows were furrowed with confusion.
”For what?“
”I didn't mean to be so—“
”Rude; impolite; ill-mannered,“ Jade finished.
”You weren't an angel either!“
”Oh! There she goes again. How rude must a person be to use such insulting language.“
Jade smiled brightly. Tori's demeanour changed.
”Are you making fun of my apology?“
”There was no need to apologize. You don't have to be so nice all the time, Vega.“
”Right.“
”I do appreciate it, though. I'll see you later, Tori.“
Jade walked away.
”Later? For what?“ Tori asked; however, Jade had either ignored her or been too far away to hear.