One side of my head aches as hazy memories swirl around me.
Jade’s sister finally relayed the shocking update: a distant cousin, who arrived fashionably late to the burial, witnessed a mysterious figure—the lady who had been mooning over Jade adding something strange to my soup the night before. Just when I thought things couldn’t get weirder, the doctor arrived, assuring me that everything would be fine… except for the curious case of Red Lust found lurking in the remnants of my dinner.

“No wonder” I thought, everything was unnatural last night. What does this girl have against me anyway.

Bringing my hands to my face, I winced, both from making contact with the sore side of my face and remembering how I almost jumped Jade last night. I was a mess.
Talk of the devil, Jade walked in just then looking very sad and pitiful.

He felt my cheek and forehead and said Sorry. I had no idea why he said sorry but he sounded like he meant it. “Wait, did something happen?” I thought crazily. “What will Gabriel think of me?” I continued to mess with myself long after Jade left.

I had taken some bread with Cocoa tea mixed with milk, and boiled eggs, as well as the ibuprofen the doctor left me to relief the pain I felt on the side of my face. Everyone has left, I had just begun to fall asleep when Gabriel walked in. He held my hands, kissing them tenderly. I opened my eyes to see him looking pained and teary.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked him. Apparently he thought it was his fault that anything happened at all, if he hadn’t been working on his system away from me, none of that would have happened.

I made a sigh of relief, that must mean I didn’t jump Jade, or maybe he didn’t mention it.

“Hey, it’s alright, I’m fine.” I reassured him. He narrated that the lady was in police custody and is just a psycho who is obsessed with Jade. “Oh” I said softly. That must be why Jade said sorry.

Gabriel spent the rest of the day with me while Jade made himself scarce.

I didn’t see Jade until the following night.
I was sitting in the garden when he walked close and sat with me. He must have seen me walk here.

“Hi beautiful, how are you doing?” I smiled looking up to his face.

He looked disturbed, I don’t know why he called me that but I responded with “hi”.

He touched the flower nearby and suddenly began talking. “I’m sorry about the Incident. Cassandra has always been like that, we usually met here occasionally during the holidays and eventually attended the same University. I was nice to her because she was a familiar person from my childhood, but she grew attached and wanted to date me. I had rejected firmly and explained that I only saw her as my sister.