Page 3 of Not Your Enemy

Jade grabbed my suitcase and wheeled it for me as I followed behind her. She was wearing dark-wash skinny jeans and a black T-shirt. I could see a few tattoos on her right arm that I couldn’t quite make out from this angle. Her hair was a rich, dark brown and seemed heavy against her back. All I could think was that she was the polar opposite of her sister, but she was rather pretty in her own way.

Leading me up the carpeted stairs and down the hallway, the stale, sweet scent of the older home wrapped around me. Large art piecescluttered the cream-colored walls, and dust clung to the crown molding above. Jade opened the bedroom door, flipped on the light, and rolled my suitcase in for me.

“I’m staying down the hall, last room on the left if you need anything. Before you came, I was about to get ready for bed.” She was halfway back out of the room and had turned to face me with a blank expression.

“Of course, yeah, I’m good.” She nodded at me and started heading through the doorway. “Oh, actually, what time do you want to get started in the morning?” I asked. Not that I was an early riser like Jana was, but the sooner we started, the sooner we could finish. She crossed her arms back over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

“I was going to set my alarm for nine, that work for you, princess?” I was so taken aback by what she’d called me that I didn’t complain about how late that seemed. Giving her a nod, she turned and walked away from me.

Chapter 3

Having not been able to sleep for long the night before, I woke up before the sun and organized my new space. The bed had a thick, frilly comforter that made me feel trapped under its weight. Jana’s room looked exactly as I’d remembered it. It was Paris-themed with framed artwork of the Eiffel Tower, and lots of black and pink accessories. I pulled a few outfits out of my suitcase to hang in the walk-in closet. Then, I organized my toiletries in the attached bathroom before jumping in the shower. After washing and drying my hair, because why the hell not, I made my way downstairs.

The kitchen was well stocked and I decided that since it was still another hour before Jade would get up, I could cook us breakfast. I’d started a pot of coffee, made eggs, pancakes, and bacon by the time Jade walked into the room. She was wearing a tattered, oversized band tee that came down to her mid-thigh. Her hair was up in a messy bun, tousled from sleep. All I could think was that even when I lived with Jana, she looked like she was Sleeping Beauty in the mornings and would never leave her room looking like Jade did. But Jade was beingreal, and there was something about her look that made me want to take several glances.

“Morning,” I said chipper and light, basically summoning my inner Jana. “May I fix you a plate?” She grabbed a barstool, pulling it back until she could take a seat.

“Sure, thank you.” Giving her a polite smile and nod, I got to work fixing her meal. Sitting it down in front of her, I grabbed her silverware and the syrup from the fridge.

“Coffee?” I asked in my regular voice. The whole super-cheery one was getting on my own nerves.

“Are you trying to poison me? That was—this is, my sister hired you to take me out?” Unable to help myself, I laughed and just shook my head.

“No, I was just trying to be nice. We have to work together on this project, so we might as well be civil about it.” She had a very intense gaze. I thought maybe it was just because I caught her off guard last night, but here it was again in full force. It brought with it the feeling of being examined.

“I’ll take some coffee then. Since you are being so generous, if you wouldn’t mind handing me the creamer too, that would be great.”

“Of course.”

After I’d got her coffee and made a second cup for myself, I took a seat next to her.

“So, I had a lot of time on the drive down here to think. I have a strategy for how we should go about doing this, if you don’t mind.” Fingers crossed she wouldn’t.

Jade took her time chewing her food and then drinking a sip of coffee before responding. “You have a strategy?” She asked, her tone condescending.

“Yes, I just want us to be efficient so we can wrap up quickly. I’m sure you’d like to finish up here as fast as possible too.” More silence, chewing, and sipping met my response until I thought she might just be waiting for me to leave.

“You’re pretty uptight, huh?” I’m not sure what I expected her to say, but it wasn’t that.

“Oh, I’m just trying to help.” What is with her? Maybe because I’m friends with Jana, I’m just another enemy in her eyes.

“I wasn’t trying to be rude. You seem keyed up. Just trying to understand if I’m bringing that out of you or if you’re just like that.” If she’s bringing that out of me? What is her problem? Of course I'm frazzled; this situation is weird as hell. This conversation needed to end on a positive note though, since this was literally day one of us being here together.

“Look, I’m sorry if I seemed off. Would you like to hear my plan?” I asked, hiding my true feelings.

“Why are you apologizing? Your cooking is great, by the way.” I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but since she was eating it, I took it as truth.

“Thank you! And I apologized because it seemed I made you uncomfortable, which wasn’t my intention.”

“You didn’t,” she replied, finishing her last few bites of food. “Let’s hear your plan.”

We made our way to the garage to grab supplies.

“I brought a lot of boxes with me when I made the trip from Riley the other day. We can set up a few and designate which is which as we work.” Sounded good to me, and I was happythat despite her directness, she didn’t seem all that unpleasant. Even when we’d spoken in the kitchen, she’d said everything calmly.

We started in her dad’s office since she’d explained it was the most organized spot in the house, and we might as well knock it out. There were two large filing cabinets I let her look through alone. I assumed there might be private documents that I didn’t have any business looking at. The high ceilings in the room matched the rest of the house, and on the other side of the room, there were a few built-in bookshelves, which I assumed contributed to the dusty, vanilla scent. Making my way over, I started taking the books down and putting them in boxes. I doubted Jana cared about them, and if Jade did, surely she’d tell me.

I came across an old photo album. Unable to help myself, I opened it, hoping to see pictures of a younger Jana and Jade. There were professional family photos on the first couple of pages. Then there were school photos of both Jana and Jade from high school and middle school. Toward the back there were photos from when they were just kids, some of them embracing or playing together, and some of them with who I assumed were various family members. It was odd to see, since in my mind they had spent their entire lives hating each other. It made sense, though, that it wasn’t always like that.