I slammed on the brakes with so much force that the wheels of my car squealed against the damp pavement. Thankfully, there weren't very many cars out on the road since it was so late at night. I pulled my car to the side of the bridge, and almost ran onto the sidewalk as I parked sloppily. Looking up, I could see Jade climbing up the suspenders of the bridge; clear as day. Her pale, porcelain fingers gripped each suspender and hoisted her body farther and farther up. The dress that had caught my attention blew out in the wind. Everything about her seemed to glow in the dark. From her pale skin, highlighter-pink dress, all the way to that strip of pink in her almost white hair.
I hesitated before I got out of the car. This was the same girl who had told Drew to let me die. Why shouldn't I let her?
It didn't take me long to answer my own question. There were three reasons why I wasn't going to let her jump off that bridge. First of all, I do have a heart. I may have hurt a lot of people in my life, but I did have a heart. Second, I already had too many regrets. I couldn't handle anymore. I never wanted to see myself climbing up this bridge to let it all go. I didn't want to be Jade. Lastly, this girl knew things that I needed to know. She knew things that might change my whole outlook on a lot of people.
Those were the three things that pushed me out of the car, and placed me on the sidewalk of that bridge.
"Jade!" I cupped my hands over my mouth, and screamed her name. The name of a girl I barely knew.
Her head snapped back, and for a moment I thought she might fall or just jump right there in front of me. Instead, she held tight to the cables and turned her head to look down at me. I could just barely make out her features, but that same chilling smirk was easily detectable.
"What the heck are you doing up there?" I already knew what she was doing up there, but I didn't know what else to say.
The chuckle that escaped her seemed to echo off the water below and encase me in cold chill. Everything about her was cold. The way she looked, the sounds she made.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I pressed my lips together tight, and clenched my fists. Even when she was supposed to be at a weak point she could make me look like an idiot.
"You need to get down from there now, Jade," I "commanded." It was supposed to be demanding, but it came out like a squeaky mouse.
She stayed there for a minute, and then climbed down. She climbed down too quickly. Something about the bright clothing and the way she so easily gave in made me think that she wanted to be noticed. She wanted to someone to see her. No, I think she wanted me to see her.
Her combat boots made a thump! as she landed on the pavement. I flinched and stepped back. Being too close to Jade made me feel weird. Everything about Jade made feel weird.
She crossed her bare arms over her chest. All she wore was the sleeveless, pink dress and the combat boots. It was way below freezing at this point.
"Why aren't you wearing a jacket?" I asked dumbly.
She rolled her eyes. "You really don't know anything about suicide, do you? Let me explain. When you're dead, you don't know if you're cold or not." She said it all so nonchalantly. A way that I could never say the words "suicide" or "death."
I shook my head and sighed. "C'mon, I'm taking you home," I informed her and once again she obeyed me too fast. In fact, she was already buckled in before I could move from the spot where I was standing. I raised my eyebrows as she sat in my passenger seat, staring straight ahead.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to move into the driver's seat of my car. As I got inside and started it up she still stayed in the same position. Arms folded, staring straight in front of her.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to speak. "Where do you live?"
The only parts of her that moved were her lips. "I live on the street right before yours."
My eyebrows knitted together. How did she know where I live? "How do you know-" The way she pursed her lips made me stop talking. She was kind of like Drew in the way that she had that wierd control over you. Except Drew just made me believe him, Jade scared me into doing what she said.
I nodded my head and swallowed hard as I pulled my car back out on the dark road and started toward her home. The silence loomed over us like a thick fog, making it hard for me to breath. I squirmed in my seat and drummed my fingers on the wheel, but Jade stayed completely still. Finally, the silence made its way down my throat and pulled words out that I didn't want to say. Words that I probably shouldn't have said.
"Why were you going to do that?" My eyes widened after the words came out. The silence thinned out and laughed in my face as it subsided.
Jade flicked her eyes over to me for a second, but quickly moved them back to where they were before. Not enough time to read what she thought about my question. I was surprised, though, when she answered.
"I have too many secrets. Once you have too many, they start to weigh you down. I was scared that if I accumualted any more, I might just burst. I'd burst and disappear into thin air. No one would know what happened to me. I would just be gone. And you know what that would make me?," she stopped to look at me again, "I would just be one more secret."
Her words seemed to float in the air. It was like they stuck onto everything, and you could still hear her voice all around you. Whispering, screaming, yelling. It made my head hurt.
What were her secrets? Did they involve things that I would want to know? Would they be important to me? I wanted to scream and beg her to tell me all her secrets, so I could know if they were something that would benefit me. Selfish, really.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I pulled into Jade's driveway with a foggy mind. Just sitting in the car with her made me feel all disoriented.
She took her precious time getting out of my car. I've never seen anyone open a door so slowly. She swung her legs over the seat in what seemed like slow motion, and then she hovered in that spot for a moment. It was like she was stalling, waiting for me to ask her something.
Just when I thought she would never get out of my car she finally stood up. Then, the question that she was waiting for seemed to pop right into my head.
"Wait!" I called out as she started to walk towards her house. She spun around on her heel and bent over a little to see inside the car.
"Do any of those secrets you have have anything to do with Lauren?"
The corners of her mouth turned up just the slightest bit and she narrowed her eyes at me. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out. Have fun." And with that she slammed the door.
A pitiful gasp escaped me and I fell back into my seat. Those words said it all. She definitley knew more than she was saying.
That eerie feeling that was starting to feel so familiar washed over me. And just to make everything even more creepy, I could hear the faint humming of Jade on the porch. It was the most disturbing tune I think I've ever heard.
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