a dark and stormy night {Jade}

[Jade Parrish]

"Besides, someone's gotta hear your beautiful voice," Jade told him, sure this would be the moment where she squeezed his cheeks if she was that kind of a person. "You don't talk enough to others, but you do to me. And I'm okay with that." She shrugged. "And exactly. You like that I'm not polite." It just worked for them.

"Yeah...I mean I said you could," Jade told him, suddenly aware of the mistake she'd made. She had invited him to stay over. "But honestly, I prefer listening to you talk. You have that adorable southern accent I just can't get enough of." She was joking of course, but only to draw attention away from herself. She treated Erik like a younger brother and she was the older sister who listened but never wanted to divulge anything about herself.

She walked out of her room, having completely changed.

[Erik Stewart]

Erik made a face. He didn’t hear about his “adorable southern accent” from many people. At the very best, it was amusing; at the worst, he had a feeling most people considered it dumb. Even the teachers. Especially the teachers, in fact. They had all but given up on him. Erik didn’t protest Jade, exactly, but he silently wrote it off as some friendly flattery.

“I do talk t’others,” he said. “I have a counselor.”

[Jade Parrish]

"Your accent is just a part of who you are," Jade said with a shrug as she'd left her bedroom clothed. "And if people are going to act like it is the only thing that defines you or make fun of you for it, then whatever. I like it." She grinned at him, in response to the face he'd made.

"Who?" she asked. "Dr. Neville? He's like everyone's counselor at Hammel." She even remembered seeing him on multiple occasions. Of course she'd simply stopped going, thinking she could handle it on her own. That she could quit smoking, that she could get over what had happened back home in Texas, that she could heal all on her own. And she was still working on it.