Becoming Jade

Jade fiddled with the house key in her skin-tight jeans pocket. She didn’t really want to face two hours of boredom.1

Her mom had left her a text message on her Razr that she would be a couple hours late coming home. Jade’s mother worked at the Lillyville Mall- in fact, she owned it.2

Giving in, Jade yanked the house-key out. Her mom didn’t need to leave her the key before she went to work because Jade already had one. She had one of almost everything.3

Jade’s parents were rich -they owned the mall. 4

She stuck the key in the lock and turned. A few minutes later, Jade was in her shiny gold and white themed room. Stretched out on the silk comforter, she was battling the urge to grab her cell phone to text a friend, or turn on her Wii and play a game. Nevertheless, she wasn’t allowed. 5

Although her parents were extremely rich, and nice, and not embarrassing, and all that, they were very strict -No having fun until you finish your homework, was their favorite rule. Therefore, Jade complied. She knew if she didn’t her parents would somehow find out and that would be the end of ever having fun.6

So Jade unpacked her sparkly gold backpack and grabbed her planner. Let’s see... Thursday the -the 8th of March, she thought She scanned the list of classes and the homework that was noted in clear, neat, and precise handwriting next to them.7

Science was old Mr. Webber’s class. Jade thought he was probably about 100 years old. He also seemed to live in his time, as he was always going off telling stories about, “When I was a boy...” So, there was no homework from him. He probably just forgot to tell us! Jade thought with a little smile, The old geezer.8

Next to “Health,” the words read: ??? Ask Marilynn. Jade rolled her eyes. She had had to show a girl who was considering joining Lillyville Middle School around, so she had missed the end of Health.9

But she couldn’t call and ask Marilynn what the homework was, because she wasn’t allowed to call friends before she was done with her homework! How ironic. 10

Marilynn was Jade’s best friend.11

Marilynn had long straw-blonde hair and almond shaped blue eyes, which made Jade feel somewhat unglamorous sometimes- she had shoulder-length dark glossy black hair and clear green eyes.12

Of course her mother and father said she was beautiful, and Marilynn said that Jade was much prettier than she would ever be, but somehow Jade doubted that.13

Well, she had to be at least a little good looking, or she wouldn’t have gotten this high on the ladder of Lillyville Middle School. 14

All of a sudden, Jade was blown out of thought by the phone’s ringing in her father’s room. She knew she couldn’t answer it -a big no-no, so she waited until the answering machine came on so she could write down the message.15

Her parents always had her write down messages when they weren’t there. Jade grabbed a pen and a pad of pink notepaper, and sat by the edge of the door, listening.16

“Hello, this is Principal Kent Jefferson calling from Lillyville Middle School about your daughter, Jade Sterling.”17

Jade tensed. Why would the principal of her school be calling?18

“Miss Sterling is doing a fantastic job in school, and I was wondering if I could schedule a meeting with you and Mrs. Sterling tomorrow at 6:00 o’clock to discuss finding a more challenging school for your daughter. Please call me back at 392-0643 between the hours of 7:00 to 8:00 on weekdays. Thank you.”19

The machine clicked off, and the new message button started blinking. So did Jade’s eyes, except in disbelief. 20

She couldn’t leave Lillyville! What about her friends- her social status, what would she do about that? No, she had to stop being frantic. Mr. Jefferson had said discuss not plan. Jade tried to calm herself.21

She decided that finishing the little homework she had been assigned would help to calm her nerves. 22

*23

“Sleepy head wake up!” Jade’s alarm clock had her mother’s voice programmed into it.24

6:00 o’clock, that’s just great, I only have an hour to get ready.25

That was Jade’s first thought that morning. Jade like to look wonderful wherever she went, and that was hard to do in an hour. It was a hint of consolation though, that it was Friday.26

No school tomorrow! Jade thought as she yawned.27

She glanced into her mirror on her bedside table. Her hair was all puffed up around her head as if she’d been electrocuted. She got up quickly, shed her pajamas, and pulled on light green tights and a bright green minidress. All the magazines agreed that green was this year’s spring rage.28

She grabbed her hairbrush and yanked it through her unruly, almost unmanageable hair. Her mom’s alarm went of the same time as her dad’s. That meant 6:10. She packed her planner away along with her multitude of ten-pound textbooks. 29

Jade’s eyes scanned her array of shoe choices and finally snatched a pair of green yarn and hemp cord boat shoes.30

She was down stairs eating cereal when at 6:30 her mom and dad came down, ready for work.31

“Hello Hun.” Jade’s dad greeted her as he walked to the cereal cupboard with his authouritive, brisk stride. 32

“Darling, I forgot to tell you during dinner last night, but,” Her mother sat down, pausing her sentence. “But we are going to talk to your principal today about possibly transferring you to a more challenging school! Oh, darling! You are that smart!” Mrs. Sterling started munching her expensive organic granola. A “proud mother” smile was pasted all over her face. 33

Jade’s father nodded, and spoke in a teasingly grave voice, “I was thinking Harvard”.34

Mrs. Sterling’s eyes shot wide open. “John, John, she’s only 14, not old enough to go to college! Though I’m sure she’s smart enough.” Jade squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She was glad nobody but her and her parent’s were listening. Of course, the new Mexican maid, Margarita, was standing in the kitchen doorway, her soft brown eyes distant. All Jade knew about her was that she had a daughter and son and she was from Southern California. But she didn’t count –she was a live-in maid. She didn’t count one bit.35

*36

“And how are you all doing on your essay about George Washington Carver?” Mr. Holmes inquired of his English class. 37

A few kids groaned and muttered things like, “I’m almost done with the first sentence.” and, “My dog ate the first chapter”.38

“I don’t expect any of you to have written more than a few paragraphs. After all, you got the assignment yesterday. Anybody who was written more than two paragraphs, please raise your hand.”39

Mr. Holmes’s English accent was obvious whenever he talked for more than a few sentences at a time.40

A few kids raised their hands. Lee Marcus, as short tubby boy with bright blonde hair that was obviously dyed, and not by a professional, Tanya Stacy, the smartest girl in the school, a rather cute, pleasant, but very shy boy named Joe Montez who had come last month from California, and finally, Jade. She had written three paragraphs. Jade raised her hand slowly, because she noticed that none of her friends had raised their hands.41

She was about to put it down before anybody noticed, but then Mr. Holmes asked in his infuriating British accent, “ What did you write, Jade?” Jade knew she had to think of a way to regain her cool. She flipped her hair out of her eyes, pouted her lips, crossed her arms, and replied in her best I’m-rich-and-you-aren’t voice, “Figure it out, Sherlock.”42

Mr. Holmes’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down before he finally said, “Robert, Miss Sterling, my name is Robert.” A few kids snickered and every kid had a little proud smile on their face. Every kid except Joe Montez.43

*44

During lunch that day, Joe came up to the table that Jade was sitting at, along with Marilynn, Pamela, and Belle. “Could I speak to Jade please, um alone?” The other girls snorted. They knew Jade would say no.45

“No.” she said in a cool voice. At the same time, she was wondering why he wanted to talk to her. Was it about English class? She did that kind of thing everyday. “If you want to say something to me, you can tell all of us.46

“Ummm.... Okay...” Joe’s brown eyes flitted from rich girl to rich girl. “Yeah... Ummm... Uh...” Marilynn rolled her eyes. 47

“Yeah? What did you want to say?” She said, and then whispered something to the rest of the group. Joe caught the words “Dork” and “Accident”. They all burst out giggling.48

Belle said in a fake, sweet, voice, “Actually, you can talk to her.” Jade nodded and stood up.49

“Where do you want to talk?” She asked as she picked up her vitamin water and took a sip. 50

“Ummm.” Joe gulped. “Over there.” He pointed a tanned finger to an empty table in the corner. When they got there, he said in a timid voice, “Ummm... You -uh- need to -uh- stop...”51

Jade tilted her head. “You need to -um- stop being so –um- uncaring... I don’t know...” He trailed off.52

Jade bit her lip, eyes wide. “You mean what I do and say during class isn’t cool?”53

“No! I mean -uh- yeah...”54

“That’s all you wanted to say?”55

Joe wished she wouldn’t talk so loudly. “Uh... Yeah... Well, no...” 56

“What else?” She leaned closer to him, as if he were going to tell her a secret.57

“Ummm... Can I like -uh- call you later about it?”58

“Oh, yes...” Jade said as she leaned even closer.59

“What’s your phone number?”60

“I have it in my hand.” She lifted her hand to his face, but instead of a number on it, it held her vitamin water. She smiled a really unbelievably snotty smile, and poured it all over Joe’s head.61

“Oh no.” She said in a monotonous tone. “Oh my. Look what happened.”62

Joe hadn’t noticed that everyone in the cafeteria had been watching them. People usually watched Jade’s every move. Kids started laughing, and it drowned him. He was trying not to slap Jade- he wanted to swear, he wanted to cry. When the laughter died down, a deep silence draped over the room.63

Suddenly, a piercing but watery voice broke the tense silence. “Miss Sterling, report to the office at once!” Mrs. Donna, aka ‘The Toad’, the meanest lunch woman of them all, had her little beady eyes fixed on Jade.64

In her entire time at Lillyville Middle school, Jade had never been sent to the office. Probably because her parents -and her- were so rich.65

“Goodbye, Joe.” she said in the nicest voice she could fake. “Have a nice life!” What she didn’t realize until she had finished her status saving come-back, was that bright red water was not the only thing dripping down Joe’s contorted face, mixed with the vitamin water, there were tears.66

*67

“Miss Sterling, I do not understand.” Principal Jefferson said, his eyes grave with disappointment. “You were -are- a star student! You were -are- top of every list! You never had to come see me... And...” He let out a sigh through his nose and closed his eyes as if thinking.68

“When your parents come later today I will have no choice but to-”69

“Shouldn’t the meeting just be canceled then? If I am too unruly or whatever for a normal school, let alone a new one for super smart kids- why don’t you just call off the meeting?” Jade tried to sound like she didn’t care, but she was sure the hope in her eyes had spilled into her question.70

The office was very average- small, books on shelves, a desk that’s too big for the room, and pictures of family scattered around the room. The principal seemed made for the office. He was small, and he had a large nose that was too big for his face.71

“The meeting will not be canceled. Perhaps we can plan for you to go to a stricter school than I originally was thinking.”72

Plan- he said plan this time, not discuss! Jade thought, her impish smile that had been carved into her face at age five melting away. A strict school – would it be stricter than The Toad would have if she were principal?73

“You may go, Miss Sterling.” Jade could detect the sadness in his voice.74

She stood up and grabbed her handbag stuffed with magazines and homework. She turned to go. “Just a minute.” Mr. Jefferson interrupted her escape. “Why did you ruin that poor boy’s life? Why?” 75

Jade shut her eyes as the image of Joe’s tears seeped into her mind. Tears... A tear rolled down her cheek. It was warm against her face, but not at all pleasant. Jade couldn’t remember the last time she had cried.76

Soon tears were rolling down her face, too -multitudes of them, a whole waterfall. She stood there, back facing the principal, silently crying for what seemed like an hour, but was actually only a few seconds.77

Then, she left.78

*79

“Hun, what’s wrong?” Her mother was quick to notice that her daughter was not feeling very happy when she got home.80

“Nothing mom.” Jade’s voice was flat. The note she was supposed to give to her parents was held in Jade’s sweaty fist, all ripped up.81

“All right...” She exchanged glances with her husband.82

It was 5:30, and Jade had just gotten home. Of course, her parents didn’t know she had been in detention. They thought she had been studying with Marilynn, Pamela, and Belle. 83

Dinner was on the table, but it was cooling down rapidly. “We better eat.” Jade said in a melancholy voice, even though she was not hungry –not one bit.84

*85

That night, Jade dreamed that she was in her limousine, and her chauffeur was driving her to school. It started raining bright red vitamin water. As she got out of the car, the great huge cumulus clouds in the sky turned into Joe’s grieved face. Jade’s clothes turned into old pink hand-me-downs, and the limo turned into an ancient battered SUV. The water turned to tears, salty tears.86

She woke up with seat on her face that was salty, too. It was 3:02, according to her bedside clock. Jade grabbed her white pillow with the gold edges, and rolled over, the pillow on top of her head. 87

In 13 minutes, she finally realized she was not going to fall asleep.88

She had gone to her room after dinner and had not come out when her dad yelled up the stairs to say they were leaving for the meeting. She hadn’t come out when her mother called to say they were back. She hadn’t let Margarita in to change her sheets, vacuum, and do her laundry, either.89

Jade had just sat in her room, listening to sad songs on her iPod. Sometimes crying, sometimes not. It seemed as if while she cried, she cried out her past. She cried out her spite, she cried out her haughtiness, she cried out her parent’s riches. She cried out her life, all her memories –and everything was laying there on her pillow.90

She wondered if tears left stains, but it did not matter anymore, because her whole life was a wreck.91

It was dark outside, the moon had set already, and a thick layer of rain clouds covered the stars. Jade rolled over again, so now she was facing the ceiling.92

Jade wished the glow in the dark stars were still stuck up there. However, they were not, as Pamela, Belle, and Marilynn –they had all said the stars were ‘totally stupid and dorky’, so they didn’t last a minute. That was 4th grade, 4 years ago, already!93

Jade cried until that memory was far, far away94

*95

Saturday morning, Jade slept late because her alarm didn’t go off on weekends. She wished it did- sometimes she missed breakfast, as she usually woke up at 9:00 or 10:00.96

Today she slept until 11:00. Her parents never knew how late she slept, because they had to supervise the mall every day of the week, so on weekends Jade had the entire mansion of a house to herself until about 2:00 or 3:00.97

Jade pulled herself out of bed and was almost done brushing her teeth before she remembered the events of the previous day. She accidentally swallowed her toothpaste at the painful memory, which gave her a stomachache, which made her feel relatively crummy the rest of the day. The Sterling family was out of Tums.98

The new message button blinked on the answering machine. Jade grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and played the message.99

“Hi Hun, this is dad here. I was calling to tell what happened at the meeting. Well, next month you are going to go to a boarding school in London -, I forget the name; they are all the same to me.100

Principal Jefferson told me what happened yesterday, and I just want you to know that it’s okay, and we still love you. Mom says that she would have done the same thing in your place. Well, I guess that’s all Hun, bye!101

Wait, were you in your room all day because of what happened? You should have known we wouldn’t have gotten that mad.”102

Questions ran through Jade’s mind. What should she do? She was rich, had a ‘popular girl’ reputation, was going to moving to a ‘strict’ school in LONDON, and had ruined a nice, average boy’s life by embarrassing him in front of the whole school. What should she do! 103

For breakfast, she had Margarita make her a quiche. When it came, steaming and moist, Jade was so crabby that she called Margarita to tell her it tasted overcooked.104

“Did you overcook the quiche, Margarita?”105

“No sé, Senorita.”106

“What? I don’t speak Spanish.”107

Margarita scrunched her eyebrows in concentration. “No think quiche burned.” She said finally, and Jade could tell she wasn’t just a little embarrassed about not knowing English very well.108

Jade felt sorry for her in a great cascade of feeling. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I just have a stomachache, and I’m not in the best mood. You see, a lot happened yesterday.” The words just slipped out of her mouth. Instead of leaving the glorified bitterness that insulting usually did, the apology left Jade feeling lighter, almost refreshed, as if the words ‘I’m sorry’ were lying in piles in the pit of her heart and she had to get them out one by one.109

“¿Qué sucedió ayer?110

“Huh?”111

Margarita blushed. She was actually rather pretty, tanned skin, soft brown eyes and hair. She was young, too, maybe in her mid thirties.112

“I sorry also. Español native to me.” Her words were labored and slow. “I want to say -ask- what yesterday... Was...”113

“You mean you want to know what happened yesterday.”114

The live-in maid shrugged, then nodded slowly, as if she wasn’t sure if she were allowed to ask such questions.115

“Okay, well, I guess I can tell you. I mean, you’re not going to tell my parents –right. They don’t know, and I’d rather they didn’t, you understand.”116

Margarita smiled a bit. “Sí. I mean, yes.” She corrected herself hastily.117

“It’s okay. Well, there was this boy, and, well, he’s kind of dorky, but cute, you know? So my friends and me, when he comes over to our table during lunch, we all plan this little trick kind of, well it’s Marilynn’s idea and –yeah. He says he wants to talk to me alone, so we go to this empty table and he says I, well, I should stop being, you know, like, snobbish? Then he says there’s something else he wants to tell me, something else except by phone, and I say I have my phone number on my hand, and then I- I dump my vitamin water all over him and- and- he starts crying –and-and-and...”118

Margarita reached over slowly and stroked Jade’s hair. Jade’s eyes filled up with tears, but she could not cry. She had cried everything out the day before. It was an odd scene – a thirty-five year old Spanish maid petting the hair of designer-clothes clad fourteen year old who was ultra American.119

“El sueño, niño, sueño, las estrellas está hacia fuera, sueño del niño del sueño, la luna está brillando.” Margarita sang softly as Jade whimpered. What a sad child, Margarita thought, It is a pity her parents aren’t around more.120

Jade squeezed her eyes shut tightly, and then opened them. She muttered in a low, cracked voice, “I think I’ll eat my quiche now.”121

Margarita stepped away and said, “Not overcooked?” Jade nodded. “I go then.” Jade’s eyes widened.122

“No, stay. I’d like to talk more and help you with your English.” 123

“Okay, I stay. Maybe I can help you with Spanish.”124

“I will stay.”125

“I will stay.”126

Jade grinned. Margarita did count, and much, much more than one little bit.127

*128

As Mrs. Sterling dropped her armadillo purse onto the bench in the mudroom, she heard giggling in the kitchen. She had just gotten home from the mall, and her husband had told her he needed to stay late. Nancy Sterling was not in a good mood. Her daughter had been sent to the Principal’s office for something she herself would have done, her coffee had been decaffeinated, when she had ordered caffeinated at the café, so she was tired, too. Her secretary had been fifteen minutes late, her favorite mall store refused her the special discount she demanded- life was just not great for Jade’s mother.129

She was irritated by the laughter that came from the kitchen. Did Jade even listen to her when she said that friends are NOT allowed to come over when a parent isn’t there? She took off her raccoon jacket and traipsed into the kitchen. “What is going on here?! Jade, I told you, no-”130

She stopped short. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Dressed in aprons and chef’s hats, and standing over a pan of sizzling something, were Jade and Margarita. Her own daughter, palling up with maid! It was despicable! 131

“Mom... You don’t understand...” 132

“We dinner made for you!” Margarita interrupted hopefully.133

Mrs. Sterling’s temple pulsed quicker than usual. “Jade. Go to your room. Margarita, you are fired.” 134

Margarita opened her mouth to speak, but was cut of by Jade’s frustrated yell. “I- I hate you! Mom, I hate you!!!” Jade pulled off her apron and hugged a surprised Margarita. Then she stormed out of the room.135

Nancy Sterling said in the calmest voice she could manage, “You may pack your things, Margarita. Now.”136

Margarita nodded and mumbled something.137

“What did you say, Margarita?”138

Margarita took of her apron too and hung it gently in the kitchen pantry, then she turned to face Jade’s mother. “What am I to do with son? Daughter? They live with Tío Roberto in near city because money small. Daughter doesn’t even have school because of money. Now what do I do, I ask! What?”139

Mrs. Sterling clenched her teeth. “Go. You may have 10,000 dollars to enroll your daughter in a school and to find an apartment in this city. Now LEAVE!”140

“Thank you Señora.” Margarita walked to the kitchen door, past Jade’s mother. then she paused, as if a thought had come to her. “Your daughter a nice girl, Mrs. Sterling.”141

Then she was gone.142

*143

It was a week later, and Jade had been grounded for two months. Most parents rather forget about groundings, but not the Sterling parents. Jade wasn’t allowed to call anyone, go to any parties, hang out, or stay after school to study- nothing.144

On Tuesday, she had handed in the beginning of her story. She hadn’t written anymore on Sunday or Monday, so Mr. Holmes had warned her to write as much as she could, because the essay was due next Friday. She could tell he was still smarting from her offensive remark. So on Tuesday –she didn’t have English on Mondays- she smiled a non-rich-girl smile and said with an excited voice –this was new to her- “I’m sorry!”145

“Excuse me, Miss Sterling?” Her friends glanced her way, sure she had said another cool thing, they didn’t here her sorry. Mr. Holmes’s brow was furrowed, he didn’t understand.146

“I said I’m sorry! I am, I am, I am!” Mr. Holmes raised his eyebrows in disbelief but saw the truthful, hopeful smile on Jade’s face. 147

A smile broke out on his, too. “You mean, you’re sorry –for what you said?” Jade nodded her head, not noticing that her friends were exchanging appalled glances. “I –I don’t know what to say. It is very surprising; I thought you were like Belle –Pamela, and Marilynn! But an apology! Well, thank you, Jade.”148

Jade grinned, showing all her bright-whitened teeth. “You are quite welcome, Robert.”149

Marilynn rolled her eyes and ripped off a piece of her story’s page. She scribbled something on it, and then handed it to Belle, who sat right next to her, along with Pamela and Jade. Belle smiled an arrogant smile and wrote something else on it, and then passed it on to Pamela. Pamela’s light brown eyes widened. She grimaced and then added to the note, then passed it to Jade, who read it cautiously, wondering what they could want to tell her.150

*151

What is wrong with you, Jade? Apologizing to a TEACHER! C’mon, gal! Don’t sit with us at lunch! Too embarrassing. (Write your thoughts then pass to Pamela)152

Marilynn153

Jade! Why would you do this to us? I mean, we are your friends! You cannot apologize to a teacher for an awesome remark! 154

PS. What’s up with the no-reading-the-story-to-anybody-except-the-teacher policy? (Add to, and then pass to Jade.)155

Belle156

Sorry Jade! I don’t think you’re like that. I was surprised when you apologized, but really, it was a nice thing to do. Sorry you were grounded for the vitamin water thing- it really is too bad. Joe is kind of cute, don’t you think? Maybe you should apologize to him too.157

La158

*159

Jade smiled at Pamela, but had a hurt face when she looked at the two other girls. She hadn’t really thought about what would happen when she apologized. She turned over the paper and added her answer to the remarks.160

*161

People, I won’t sit with you at lunch if you don’t want me to. Maybe I’ll sit with Joe Montez. I’m going to apologize to him too. If you have a problem with that, then sorry, but maybe we can’t be friends anymore.162

Jade sterling163

PS. All exceptions are made to La.164

*165

Pamela nodded to Jade as she read the back, and then handed the note to Belle, whose face turned sour, but she passed it to Marilynn.166

Jade watched as Marilynn’s expression turned dark. What have I done? Jade thought; thinking that maybe answering back wasn’t the greatest idea. Marilynn turned to her, and Jade was surprised to see tears in her eyes.167

Marilynn ripped up the note and stuck it in her pocket. Then she put her head down on her desk, resting on crossed arms, with her face facing away from Jade. 168

What have I done? Oh what have I done?169

*170

“Hi Joe... Ummm... Could I sit here?” Jade lowered her eyes as she asked. She was actually a little embarrassed. 171

Joe Montez pretended not to hear her. He kept staring at the lunch line, and not touching his food.172

Pamela was standing by Jade, shuffling her feet. She seemed more embarrassed than Jade, maybe even shy. 173

“Please Joe,” Pamela said, “Jade has something to say...” Pamela blushed. Joe tried to ignore her, too, but it didn’t work. 174

“Whatever. Fine.” The girls sat down. There was no shortage of room, as Joe’s table was empty. No one would sit next to him after the previous week’s episode. He picked at his mystery meat burger.175

“So, um, I guess I, uh, need to tell you something...” Jade had never felt this shy and embarrassed before. 176

“Hmmm.” Joe was pretending not to listen.177

“Joe, c’mon. Jade really does want to tell you something!” Pamela nodded encouragingly in Jade’s direction. 178

“Yeah, well... Ermsuey.” Jade mumbled the I’m sorry. Pamela rolled her eyes.179

“Jade means to say-” Pamela was cut off by Jade’s burst of bravery.180

“I’m sorry! Joe, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have been so mean, and –I’m just sorry!” The whole cafeteria erupted in whispers. Pamela dropped her head onto the table.181

“Jade, you have just ruined two other lives. Mine and yours.” She groaned. 182

Jade smiled sheepishly, but she didn’t really care that much any more. “Sorry La, but I’m sure we’ll survive.” She smiled a big inviting smile. 183

“All right. Whatever you say, master.” The two girls started to giggle. Joe looked on silently. It was as if he had not heard the I’m sorry.184

Then Joe tapped Pamela on the back. He pointed over to the lunch table at the other end of the room where Marilynn and Belle were sitting. They had stood up and were walking towards the table were the rejects sat. 185

Jade bit her lip. “La, just act normal. Act cool... Okay? C’mon, we can do this...” She was talking more to herself then to Pamela. She knew she couldn’t act too normal, her friends –or were they?- would know she was acting.186

“Hey. What’s up?” It was Belle talking in a cool voice. She dumped her tray of food next to Pamela’s and plopped herself down. Marilynn did the same, but next to Jade. She was quiet, but in a meek way. Her eyes were a little puffy and red. Had Jade made her cry?187

“Not much.” Pamela replied in a neutral voice. Belle smirked. Marilynn tried, but it came out more of a grimace.188

“Joe! Nice to meet you again. Hope your weekend wasn’t too sticky and sweet.” Belle laughed and ran her fingers through her white-blond hair. “Oh? Cat got your tongues? I’m sorry; I didn’t know you were such rats.” Marilynn nodded, but it was a weak nod.189

Joe was staring at the lunch line again. Pamela clenched her teeth. How could her friends be so mean to perfectly normal people like Joe? How could they be so mean to their own best friends?190

Jade realized that she could never be friends with such jerks. And she herself had done that kind of stuff! She would try to make up for it all in years to come. Then she remembered. There would not be any years to come. Or maybe years, but not this year! She was going to London. To a creepy strict school. Well, she didn’t know if it was creepy or not- but still. 191

Jade tried to ignore what Belle had said, and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. “Guys, I have some really bad news!” Marilynn and Belle’s heads instantly turned to Jade. “You know umm what I did to Joe?” They nodded. Pamela looked at her confused. Joe did nothing. “And how I’m doing well in school? Like really well? Well my parents were going to send me to a school for smarter kids, but then I did the Joe thing, and now my parents have a ‘strict boarding school in London’ all picked out! I’m going next month!”192

Marilynn bit her lip and muttered the first thing since the notes. “I’ll miss you...” Belle and the others didn’t hear her. 193

“Good riddance.” Belle replied disdainfully. Pamela just stared at Jade. Joe did nothing. Belle stood up, grabbed Marilynn’s bright green shirt collar, and dragged her back to their table where they started talking and joking, just as if nothing had ever happened. Except Marilynn’s laughter sounded empty, like she was somewhere else, somewhere that was not funny.194

“Oh my gosh, Jade! Was that just to get them away, or was that like the truth!” Pamela squealed. She looked at Jade with a look of disbelief. Joe did nothing.195

“Well... Yes and no...” 196

“What’s that supposed to mean? C’mon Jade!”197

“Yeah, it was true! Okay, I’m going to be leaving! I’ll miss you guys, but I’m really leaving!” 198

“You guys? You mean you’ll miss those freaks?”199

“Of course I’ll miss Marilynn! Even if she’s not really acting very nice now, she’s still my best friend!”200

“What about me?”201

“You know you’re not my best friend!”202

“Do you know how mean that was?”203

The girls were now standing, face to face with hurt and mistrust raditiating off them. Joe broke in.204

“Hey -cool it down there girls. Cool it.” They sat down again. “Truce, okay? Look, Jade obviously doesn’t want to go to the boarding school, and she’ll miss all of you!”205

“Not Belle.” Jade interrupted.206

“Okay, not Belle. Pamela, you should understand that Marilynn is currently Jade’s best friend. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be also. Jade, that was a mean thing to say to Pamela. You have to understand that she is feeling hurt-“207

“So am I!” 208

“You don’t need to interrupt, Jade. She knows that. Anyway, as I was saying, Pamela’s feeling hurt because she did a very nice thing, coming over here to sit with you and help you to ap-” He pursed his lips and continued. “So truce, gals, okay?209

Jade and Pamela glared at each other, but they nodded. Then Jade’s eyes popped open wider. She looked at Joe, as if she was realizing something. “Where did you get such great comforting skills Joe Montez?” Joe looked at Jade confusedly. 210

“I don’t know, my mom I guess?” 211

“What’s your mom’s name?” Jade had a little knowing smile on her face.212

“Margarita. Why?” 213

“Oh nothing.” Then the smile disappeared. “Actually, yeah, I do have a reason, but I can’t tell you.” Joe tilted his head in even more confusion.214

“Huh?”215

“I’m sorry.” Jade said it again, but for a different reason this time- getting Joe’s mom fired.216

“Huh? Oh!” Joe came to the realization. “Yeah, umm, it’s okay... She got another job... Your mom was nice, though... Not the firing part... But the money part... You know...” Joe flushed a deep crimson. 217

Pamela raised her eyebrows. “I’m not even going to ask what happened here.”218

Jade nodded, and Joe nodded. At that moment, something happened between them. No, it wasn’t love; it was a powerful kind of friendship, a bond.219

*220

Lillian smiled at Ralph and he smiled back. At the same moment, they fell in love deeply. It was love at second sight. Ralph grabbed Lillian’s hand and kissed it gently. He looked up at her and said in his rich handsome voice, “Will you marry me, fair Lillian?” 221

“Oh yes my love! I would do anything for you!” They kissed passionately and rode off into the sunset on Ralph’s white horse.222

*223

Jade slammed the book shut. It was probably the worst end of a story ever written on the planet Earth. Her life was probably the worst on planet Earth. 224

She looked out the window and wished she could throw the book out of it. It was so cheesy and crummy. She was never going to read cheep airplane lobby romances ever again. Another part of my transformation, she thought flatly. She had realized that she had changed from the Jade at the time of the Message of Doom –that was what she called the message her principal had left.225

Suddenly Jade felt a sharp pain in her back. She turned around and crabbily glared at the frustrated looking women behind her. She looked as if she was in her early thirties, and she was repeatedly trying to stop a little boy from kicking Jade’s seat.226

“I’m sorry, but Timothy- stop it! - It’s his first time on a plane, you see- STOP! - and he’s very restless- ouch!” The boy had bit her finger. “He likes to bite- please Timmy!” The boy gurgled and giggled happily as he poked his mother, who had slumped into her seat on the airplane, defeated.227

Jade softened her look and nodded. “It’s okay.” The women smiled gratefully and shut her eyes, ignoring her son.228

The book was called Love at Second Sight and it was by Lola Foster. Then Jade had an idea. She leaned over and picked up the book from under the seat. She turned around and said, “Do you like romances?”229

The mother nodded slowly as she tried to tighten the belt buckle on Timothy as he had slipped out of it ten times, or so it seemed. “Here. I picked this up in the lobby and I thought it was kind of boring so do you want it?” 230

“Oh sure, thank you-”231

“Jade.”232

‘Thank you Jade.” She took the book and started reading with wide, excited eyes. 233

At least she likes it, Jade thought with a smile as she settled back into her chair. She imagined the boarding school. Her parents had told her it was named West Cheshire or something like that. It was co-educational, so there would be boys. That’ll be weird, Jade thought. She had always imagined boarding schools as all girls. Hmmm... There will be turrets... It’ll be made of brick... The grounds will be full of luscious trees and bright happy flowers... The kids will all talk in British accents... Maybe when I come back I will too...234

Jade drifted off to sleep.235

*236

She woke up to the harsh sound of a nasal voice. It was the captain over the speaker. “We are landing. Please fasten your seatbelts and put your tray into an upright position.” It was 6:00 pm in London time but only noon for Jade. There was a six-hour difference between LillyVille and London. Dinnertime for them, lunch for me. Jade rolled her eyes. How was she going to fall asleep? It would be only 3:00 in the afternoon!237

She’d get used to it, she decided. The plane taxied down the runway and Jade watched the heavy mist consume the tops of ornate buildings. Everything was brick and the air was warm. The afternoon sky was thick with clouds. Bright flowers seemed to shrink away from the looming fog cover. I wonder if this is how it always is in spring, Jade thought.238

The aircraft pulled up next to the walkway and the overhead lights turned on. People started unbuckling and standing up, fighting to be the first in line. Because Jade was in first class, she went off fourth. As she lugged her carry on backpack through the hall, the mother ran up to her. 239

“Here’s your book back! Isn’t the end marvelous?” She looked at Jade happily, Timothy in one arm, and the book in the other’s ring-clad hand.240

“Yeah, actually, you can have it. I don’t need it. It only cost a few bucks.” That wasn’t true. It had cost $34.99, it was supposed to be a ‘bestseller’, or something like that.241

“Oh! Are you sure? Well, thank you Jade! That’s just wonderful! I’m sure Whitney will love it. Whitney is my daughter. She’s about your age.” The women sat down in one of the tiny airplane waiting seats and patted the one next to her as she sat sleeping Timothy into the other one next to her. Jade sat down in the chair at her beckoning.242

“If you don’t mind, Jade, I’d like to talk! You seem nice. I hope you don’t have somewhere to go. A flight to catch?” Jade shook her head. The limousine came in two hours. She was glad to have someone to talk to.243

“Well, Whitney is my daughter. She’s thirteen. How old are you?” 244

“I’m fourteen.”245

“Oh! Well, than you are very close in age. You see, I live in Connecticut, but my husband lives here in London. We split up very recently, and I wanted to stay in the US, but Charles decided to move back to his hometown of London. Charles is a bit... Odd... Well, so I wanted to keep Timothy. But Whitney has always loved her father, so she chose to say with him. It was hard with the custody stuff but it worked out. Then Charles called me up and said that Whitney was skipping school and hanging out with fifteen and sixteen year olds who weren’t very... Law abiding... You get the idea... So I told him she should come home and live with me.” 246

She paused to take a breath. Timothy stuck his thumb in his mouth and sucked on it as he slept. Jade shifted uncomfortably in her seat –she didn’t like it when people talked about personal matters.247

“But Charles always disagrees with me. He wanted to send her to some ‘correctional boarding school’, so that’s what he did! I came here to have Timothy visit his father, and I do have some relatives here. I’ll go and see Whitney too as soon as I can! Where are you going?’248

Jade thought that maybe Whitney had been sent to West Cheshire... She sort of hoped not, though. Whitney didn’t sound very... Nice...249

“My story is that I acted out at school in Lillyville and my parents are very strict so they decided I should go to a correctional school here too. How many are there?”250

“A few. My daughter goes to West Cheshire. Where are you going?” Jade groaned silently.251

“The same.”252

“Oh! Perhaps you’ll meet her there. She’s in 8th grade. She’s very smart you know. That’s why she’s thirteen in 8th grade! Are you in 8th grade?”253

“Yeah. Do you know what house she’s assigned?”254

“Oxford. All six are named after cities in the UK. But you knew that! The boys get London, Manchester, and Nottingham. Not fair is it that the boys get Nottingham where Robin Hood is from? Timothy loves Robin Hood.”255

“Ummm... Yeah. I’m actually in York.” Jade sighed with relief that the ominous Whitney wasn’t in her house.256

“Oh! That’s too bad. You’ll still have her in some classes though, and at the balls and all that you’ll be together!” Jade’s eyes shot wide open. Balls? Do they wear fancy dresses, waltz, and all that? Oh my gosh! I don’t know how to waltz! I don’t even know how to dance anything except what I make up!257

“Yeah that’s cool. Well I better go catch my taxi!” Even though Jade had an hour and a half left to talk, she didn’t feel comfortable talking with Whitney’s mother. She was too personal somehow.258

‘Oh well. And by the way, my name’s Martha! Maybe I’ll see you again!” Martha scooped up Timothy who was starting to whimper, and grabbed Love at Second Sight then walked away.259

Jade trudged down the red and gray-carpeted hallway slowly, taking in all the stores and sights. It looked almost exactly like an American airport, except that on the walls instead of signs proclaiming “Disney World,” they said things like “Buckingham Palace,” and “The National Gallery”.260

Jade turned at the sign that said, “Turn for Parking Lot” but was confronted by a huge array of magazine, book, and CD stores. She had to stop. Jade still had a long time to wait, so she went into the first one and grabbed a gossip magazine. Uma Therman? Victoria Beckham? Who were these people! She set to work reading. Then she bought three more magazines with popular hairstyles and clothing styles. After about thirty minutes, she went into a bookstore and scanned the bestseller shelf, trying to memorize the bestselling author’s names. She then got a few of the bestselling books. Then came the CD store, where she purchased some popular CDs. There were no clothing shops in the airport, though. She’d have to wait for that.261

Jade was trying to make a strong foundation for her arrival at the school. She didn’t exactly want to be popular, because she knew the trouble that came with that, she just wanted to fit in and be normal. She still had an hour in the airport. 262

So she sat down on a plastic gray bench and flipped through a hair magazine. Most of the girls had blonde and brown hair. Even in American magazines, there was hardly ever a model with black hair. Not that Jade wanted to be a model –she just felt a little bothered. 263

Jade decided she should go and brush her teeth and hair, and wash her face. She had been on the airplane for a long time, and she felt a little dirty. She looked around for a sign to the bathrooms, but she couldn’t find one. So Jade ran up to a dark blue clad Airport Official. 264

“Where are the bathrooms, sir?” The man furrowed his bushy gray eyebrows.265

“What do you mean, young miss?”266

“The bathrooms! Where are they?” 267

“Didn’t you see the signs? That way!” He pointed around a corner. 268

“Ummm... Thank you... But where are the signs? I can’t see them.” She had seen no signs to the bathrooms, even around that corner.269

“Miss!” The man looked exasperated. Then he seemed to come to a realization. “Ah! You Americans. You’ll have to study up on London’s language, missy!”270

“I thought you guys spoke English! You do.”271

“Miss, don’t you know that loo means bathroom in British speak! Now I would get out that UK dictionary child.”272

“Loo? Oh yeah! Sorry sir...” Loo? Who ever thought of that word for a bathroom? Jade was irritable as she tramped after the signs that clearly marked where the “Loo” was.273

*274

The taxi-limousine drove up to the curb. It was black and shiny, and looked very important. The driver came out and snatched the luggage out of Jade’s hands as she moved to put them in the trunk of the car.275

“That! Is! My! Job!” He declared it in a thick British accent, and he spoke each word separated and with perfect diction. He was bald and had a little moustache that curved up at the edges. The man was wearing a suit with the buttons buttoned unevenly. He looked rather silly, actually. 276

“Thank you sir.” Jade said, trying not to giggle at the character. It wasn’t that hard though, because of the austere limousine behind him. 277

“Monsieur! Jacques! I! Am! A! Monsieur! I! Am! French!” 278

Jade nodded meekly. That explained the oddness. “Yes, Monsieur. Sorry.”279

He looked at her irately and snapped that she should get in the limo. She obeyed and let him help her into the car. That seemed like a British tradition, too. 280

The limo was older than hers was. It smelled musty, in a comforting way. The seats were leather, and usually Jade didn’t like leather seats, but these were worn and silky-smooth. Monsieur Jacques dropped into his seat and started the engine. It sounded like a waterfall in the distance. The entire experience was extremely relaxing.281

“So, Demoiselle Jade Sterling. You are going to West Cheshire! I heard that only delinquents go there. What deed you do, ah?” His exclamations were gone. It seemed that when he was in his beloved car, he was less excitable, jumpy, or agitated.282

“Well, ummm, my parents said it was just a strict school that was like... Correctional... Not like a delinquent jail.”283

“Yah, I guess, but you’re avoiding thee question. What deed you do?”284

“Well, my parents are super strict. They sent me here because I dumped my vitamin water all over this boy... And I got his mom fired... She was our maid... But she didn’t do anything! My mom –she’s so... Just she’s...”285

“Ah, Demoiselle! I see what your parents were thinking. Do you think that that was nice? Would you want water on your head? Vitamin water? I understand. I know how it is to be richer than most. It might not seem so, but I have more money than you do, or most people. I’ve learned to deal with it. And for me it was harder, I had to deal with my money, and a new country.”286

Jade was silent. Then she asked quietly, “What does Demoiselle mean?”287

“Young lady, een French! Ah, France. Oh do I miss eet! La beauté de la France appels me chaque fois - la beauté des femmes aussi. Non, je n'ai pas voulu dire cela.”288

“Huh?”289

“Nothing, Demoiselle. Just reminiscing of France.290

Jade thought of Joe, and his carefree, boyish face that had tolerated so much. She thought of Margarita, who was so extremely nice, even though she had endured enough for a lifetime. Jade thought of Marilynn, and her puffy red eyes, and of Pamela, of Belle. She thought of her parents –their money. She thought of school, The Toad. She thought of Martha, Timothy. She thought of Whitney and her daunting father. She thought of the future.291

As she did, as Jade thought and thought in that gorgeous old limousine, Jade realized something. She realized that life was an adventure; life was an adventure that was meant to be enjoyed. Life was meant to be filled with surprises, valleys and mountains, joy of her, and the joy of others. Life would be full of sadness, happiness, spite, love, and it would all mesh together to become the greatest journey a human being would ever embark upon.292

Jade accepted where she was, she accepted her life, and she accepted that she was Jade –Jade Sterling. And boy was she proud of it.293