Page 34 of Not Your Enemy

Chapter 21

Deciding to give Jade the space she requested, it wasn't until I woke up the next morning that I saw her again. She was in our bed, holding me flush against her when my work alarm went off. The sight brought fresh tears to my eyes, the eyes that were still sore from last night's crying spell. I wanted to wake her up with kisses and assure her that everything was gonna be fine. Forget the world and all its problems and stay here in this house forever. But that wasn't reality. Someone was going to get hurt.

“You think it will be another week?” Jana asked after listening to me explain the state of the storage building. I was sitting on the sectional in the living room, having just walked inside for a break.

“Yep, we’ve worked on it for the past two days and barely made a dent.” I leaned my head back, fanning my free hand across my face to help cool down.

“Geez, I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

“Yeah, neither did Jade, but it’s all good. We will get it cleaned out.” I tried to sound somewhat stoic as I told her the news.

“God, Lib, you are amazing! I miss you so much, though; I can’t wait for you to be back.”

“I miss you too!” I didn’t respond to the second part of her statement, considering all I felt about returning was dread. Well, it would be nice to be home, and I did miss Jana, but I would miss Jade so much. Should I test the waters? It wouldn’t be the first time I’d tried to, but I didn’t want to overdo it. Still, I shouldn’t make assumptions without giving her a proper chance.

“I need to tell you something,” I said, trying to buy myself time.

“You’re scaring me,” she snickered.

“I…Jade and I are friends.” Silence hung between us for a moment. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I felt like you should know that.” My bottom lip was sore from how hard I had been chewing on it.

“I don’t know what to say.” She didn’t sound angry, just confused. “I mean, I guess that’s good considering you have to live with her for the time being. But I’d still be wary of her, Lib.” I rolled my eyes because it always came back to this: her warning me away from Jade as if she were some monster.

“You are my best friend, Jana, but I really feel like she is not the person she used to be. I think you should consider giving her another chance.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Libby?” Jana said venomously. “You may know what I’ve told you, but you didn’t experience it. The things I told you were in confidence. I didn’t think you’d end up blabbing them to my sister. I’m sure she had a lot to say about how terrible I was, and I guess my word means nothing.”

“Jana, no! That’s not it at all!” Standing, I paced the medallion rug, placing my free arm across my stomach. "I haven't told her anything you shared with me in confidence."

“Then what are you trying to say, Lib, because you are telling me you are friends with the person who made my life a living nightmare and trying to convince me to forgive and forget with her. Like hell no! And it hurts that you’ve known me for years and you seem ready to turn on me within a couple of weeks of meeting Jade. Like, what the actual fuck?” She yelled through the phone, causing me to flinch.

“I’m not turning on you, and she has said nothing negative about you. You think I would listen to that? Hell no, I’m not turning against you in any way! I love you, Jana!”

Silence met me as we both tried to calm down.

Jana sighed deeply. “It’s just that it was one of her things, Lib. Growing up, whether it was the doll I got for my birthday or, when we were older, the guy I wanted to date, Jade always took them from me. She loved being victorious, only wanted what I had or wanted. Honestly, when you were headed there, Lib, I couldn’t help but think about Jade snatching you away from me. Making you think poorly of me or something. But I told myself, Libby is my best friend and that would never happen. I’m glad you guys are friendly, but I hope that’s all it is. I can’t lose anything else to her, Lib. Especially not you; you are the one real, consistent thing in my life.”

Tears ran down my cheeks at Jana’s words. This was exactly what I was afraid of. Hurting my best friend by falling for the enemy, her enemy. The one person in the world that I should have stayed away from. It was breaking my heart.

“Jana, don’t even think like that!” I wanted to reassure her she'd never lose me. But I couldn't do that when I wasso conflicted about what the future held. Of course, I'd still want her as a friend, but would she want me as one if she knew I was dating her sister?

“We’ll talk later, okay? I need to go.” With that, Jana ended the call, and I dropped my phone on the couch cushion before cradling my head in my hands.

I let out a deep sigh as silent tears streamed down my face. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything about the situation. The whole “give her another chance thing” was bullshit and not my place to bring up. I just couldn’t help myself since I feel like if she would, everything in my life would be so much easier. But that’s not fair to Jana.

Arms wrapped around me from behind my back, and knowing it was Jade, I turned around and wrapped my arms around her neck, burying my face there.

“My sweet princess,” she said, voice gentle. “What is it?”

Collecting myself, I leaned back to wipe my eyes and look up at her face. “It’s nothing, I just…” I had no clue what to say. I didn’t want to tell her about my fight with Jana or how I’d overstepped. I didn’t want to say anything, just hold her close and pretend I wasn’t hurting my best friend.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jade said while tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Just breathe. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

Her expression was so genuine and raw. It made me feel like I could trust her, and no matter what I had to say, she would truly accept it. It only made me feel worse because why did she have to be so kind? Why was I the one who kept making things worse?

“I was talking to Jana, and I may have asked her to give you a chance. I told her we were friends, not that I’m going to hide that we are more than that; I just wanted to see how she’d react to that part. She got upset, but I can’t blame her. I should have just said the friends part and not the rest. It wasn’t my place. I’m sorry I’m making this worse.”

“Libby, it’s okay. You have such a big heart, and you just want to help. She knows that. Don’t be so hard on yourself, okay?” I nodded in response and did my best to find comfort in her words. Her thumbs wiped the tears away from under my eyes.