(written by Lacy)
"Ow!" Jade yelled, falling to the floor beside the couch she had just stubbed her toe on. "Damn furniture... they just jump out and bite ya!" she mumbled, standing up slowly and maneuvering around the dangerous couch. "You okay?" came a sleepy voice from the bottom of the stairs. Jade jumped and looked up to see Brian standing there with a blanket wraped around himself. "Uh, yeah... just a broken toe, that's all," she said, wondering to herself what he was doing there. He smirked and walked over to her. "You gonna live?" he asked. "No," she mumbled, giving him the evil eye.
"What did I do?" he asked, taken aback. "What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting down in the chair that was farthest away from the couch. He smiled and walked back towards the stairs. "Oh... nothing," he said, bounding up the stairs and leaving her completely confused. "Alright, Jess, you'd better tell me what's going on before the night's over," she mumbled to herself, getting up and heading into the kitchen for a midnight glass of water.
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"Why are you still here?" Nick asked, standing above Kevin with his arms crossed. He had been about to go to bed when he just happened to look out his window and see Kevin outside by the pool. He had "left" Nick's house over an hour ago. Now Nick stood out there beside him, staring down at him as he gazed fixedly over at Nick's neighbor's house... Jade's house, to be exact. "Kevin?" Nick said aggitatedly, kicking him lightly.
"Can't a guy just sit by his friend's pool enjoying the night air?" Kevin asked, his gaze never wavering. "Enjoying his friend's view of the neighbor's house is more like it," Nick said, glancing over at Jade's house to see the kithen light on and someone standing beside the sink... someone with long blonde hair. Nick smiled sllightly. "She doesn't bite, ya know," he said, directing his gaze back to Kevin. "What do you know about it?" Kevin asked, a slight hint of aggitation in his voice. Only now did he let his eyes leave the white, two-story condo and fall on Nick. Nick flinched when he saw the anger and sadness that were stored there.
"Kevin, what's up with you? Everyone can see how much you love her. What the hell's keeping you from running over there and making her see it too?" Nick asked, feeling like a mediator. He hated saying those words... Jade meant more to him than just the average friend... but he could see how miserable she was, even if she didn't admit it to herself, and he couldn't stand seeing her like that. Kevin's jaw tensed. "It's your damn pride, isn't it?" Nick asked. "You just can't stand the fact that SHE left YOU. Well damn it, Kevin, she loves you! And if you can't see that then you have to be the dumbest man on this whole damn planet!"
Kevin stood up and Nick thought for sure he was going to fly through the air any second and end up in the pool. Instead, all he felt was the quick breeze as Kevin ran past him... and went straight towards Jade's back door.
Jade let out a deep sigh as she finished downing her third glass of water in under five minutes. She didn't know why, but she had been unusually thirsty lately. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she sat the glass gently down in the sink and headed towards the stairs, ready to finish her much-needed night of beauty sleep. But she stopped suddenly when she saw a set of piercing gray eyes staring at her from the other side of the sliding glass doors leading out into the back yard. Without even realizing she was doing it, she opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream.
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