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But it did.
Because it was actually so stupid.
So fucking stupid.
“Why the fuck wouldn’t you just say that?” I exclaimed, waving the phone in the air. “Why the hell didn’t you chase after her and show her she was wrong?”
She plucked the phone from my hands and tossed it onto the bed. “Because, at first, I was hurt!” The way her voice caught like she was fighting back tears took me back for a moment, and then, out of nowhere, she began to laugh. It was a little manic and reminded me for a moment of Gabe. The way he used to laugh and make jokes even though he was hurting like hell because it made the pain easier to take.
“I was so hurt.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I said softly, finally feeling like the mask was gone.
It was clear.
It was like her whole body changed, and the way she held herself changed. The walls were coming down, and with them, her shoulders fell as she curled in on herself.
“Straight after, I was so angry that she would even think I would do something like that to her. I know I do stupid shit sometimes, but I didn’t think I came across as the friend who would steal your boyfriend.” She swiped at the tears on her face and licked her lips before she finally met my gaze again. “Everyone just stood around, saying how they couldn’t believe Valen would treat me and Chad that way. How she was selfish and how I should just let her live in that pain and heartache for a while before I told her the truth and demanded an apology. And I listened to them.”
It made sense, and I actually understood how she must have been feeling at that moment. Emotions running high, people telling you how you should feel, how you should act, what you should want.
Hurt people, hurt people.
And Valen and Jade had both done it.
Valen mentioned her and Jade’s friendship was never perfect. They were two very different people, which meant a lot of ups and downs. Jade was usually outgoing, opinionated, and honestly, a little hard to swallow with how confident and unafraid of speaking her mind she usually was. It had confused me for a long time as to why Valen and she would be friends, considering Valen’s sweet and thoughtful nature. But the more I learned about Valen, the more I understood. It was all about balance.
Like a see-saw—too much one way, and one person falls on their ass. Too much of something else, and the same thing happens. Jade, Maddie, and Valen had been the perfect balance of each other. While Valen lived in a world that was built on uncertainty and usually ran at the sign of anything unstructured or unknown, Jade was the friend who pushed her toward taking chances, living life, and being free.
You could see their love for each other was strong but needed to be handled carefully, and up until a few years ago, they had a mediator who was always helping them navigate their fights and their differences—Maddie.
Maddie was the see-saw.
She was the one who held the scales and made sure the balance was equal.
Now, things were harder.
This meant if they were going to work things out, they were going to have to figure out a new way to balance their relationship.
“Is that why you’re hiding out here in this dirty ass motel?”
She glanced around as if she’d managed to blank out where she was for a moment. “Yeah. There was too much noise. Mom was furious about the scene that’d been made. Chad kept calling and texting, trying to get me to go around and see him.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“He was ranting about how Valen made him look bad. How his buddies were laughing at him because she’d walked out on him and hooked up with you.” A visible shudder moved through her, and she wrapped her arms around herself as if chilled to the bone. “He’s not taken it well.”
His buddies.
He was more concerned about how he looked to them than how he felt or how his family saw things. That told me a little more about exactly who I was dealing with.
“When Valen went to get her things, he told her that the two of you were in love.”
Her eyes shot open. “What? No.” She shook her head hard. “No. I texted him once and told him I was going to go and meet Valen at that event you had. That I was going to set things straight. But then, when I showed up, and he was already there, things were chaos.”
The puzzle pieces were settling into place.
“We’re going to sort this, and we’re going to do it today,” I said sternly. “Get your shit, and let’s go.”
