"Lead the way." Jade says nudging one of the boys in the direction of the stairs. The kid nods frantically and hurries to the staircase. The group follows with Jade and Alex at the back with weapons in hand.
No matter how weak they seemed Jade knew better than to let her guard down.
Arriving on the top floor Jade was a little surprised.
There were makeshift beds in one corner and a pile of boxes in another. Most of the floor was empty otherwise.
One of the rooms had a faint light that could be seen from the gap under the door.
Voices could be heard inside and it seemed as though anyone on this floor was gathered there.
"Sister!" One of the boys says loudly, not daring to yell probably out of fear of the zombies.
"Oliver?" A girl says as she emurges from the room.
Seeing the people standing behind her brother and his friends Olivia narrowed her eyes and moved her hand to her belt where a knife was attached to her waist.
She doesn't draw the weapon however her hand doesn't leave the knife and she doesn't let her guard down.
"Livy?" Jade asks, surprised.
"JP?" Olivia asks in shock.
She hadn't recognized her friend as she was disguised as a boy but upon closer inspection she realized who she was.
"Why are you..." Olivia was about to ask why her friend was dressed like a guy but she saw Jade shake her head and realized that there was probably a reason.
"JP?" Alex asks, turning his head to look at the teenager beside him. He was honestly surprised. Jade didn't seem like the type to have many friends close enough to use nicknames.
"Yeah, that's what everyone called me in middle school. It's just the first letter of both my first and middle names." Jade explained. She was the queen of that school and everyone feared her. Being a childish middle schooler she thought she needed a 'cool' nickname and JP was Olivia's suggestion. Of course looking back she really didn't seem nearly as cool as she thought she did. Especially to those who know her full name.
Jadeite Penelope Lilliana Winters.
Of course her mother picked her name. The woman was a genius but her naming ability leaves much to be desired. Her brother's name is proof of that.
Supernova Dominic Taylor Winters.
Of course she didn't go around telling people so only a select few knew it. To others she has always been 'Jade Winters' and her brother was 'Nova Winters'. Mostly because she's too lazy to use her full name when introducing herself. Oliva just happened to be one of the few who knew. Nova on the other hand found his name embarrassing so he refused to tell anyone what it was even as a child.
"What's your middle name then?" Alex asks after thinking for a minute. Probably trying to guess what it was.
"I'll give you 5 guesses. If you get it wrong all 5 times I'll make sure you never know it." Jade says, wanting to mess with Alex.
"What happenes if I guess right?" Alex asks challengingly as he looks at Jade.
"I'll..." Jade pauses for a moment. "Grant you one wish. Within reason." She says with a small smile. She was sure he wouldn't be able to guess.
Being disguised as a boy made it hard for people to associate her with the name Penelope.
"Alright. If I lose I'll grant you the same. Any, one request. Within reason." Alex replys looking at Jade with confidence. He was sure he would figure it out. If he couldn't get it on his own he would fish for clues from Nova and Olivia.
"Sis, do you know them?" Oliver asks in surprise.
His sister knew such scary people?
"JP, and I were deskmates from elementary to highschool. If only he liked women I would have long asked him out." Olivia sighs dramatically, smoothly adapting to the new pronouns. Although she didn't know why her friend was pretending to be a boy she would go along with almost anything if it was Jades request.
"Livy!" Jade exclaims in exasperation. She had been prepared to act as though they were dating but with Olivia having announced her as gay that plan was ruined.
To everyone else however this shout was a confirmation of her sexuality. Clearly this young man was trying to hide his attraction to men and his friend had let slip his secret.
The two boys subtly shifted their bodies away as if afraid Jade would suddenly jump them.
"Sorry." Olivia apoligizes sheepishly. Though she couldn't help but notice that Alex hadn't moved. He was still standing incredibly close to Jade.
There were 3 possibilities.
One, he knows her real gender.
Two, Jade already told him she was gay.
Three, he's attracted to her so he doesn't mind.
She immediately ruled out the first option.
If he really knew her gender she wouldn't have stopped Olivia from asking why she was disguised as a boy.
The second option was equally as impossible. Jade wouldn't have been so flustered when Oliva revealed that she was gay.
That only leaves the third one. A hint of surprise flashes in her eyes as Olivia looks at Alex.
She knew who he was. She worked for his company before the apocalypse started.
Although he had rarely gone to the office she had seen him a few times and knew he was the chairman.
There had been rumers that he liked men but it was never confirmed. Now seeing him gaze so affectionate at Jade who was pretending to be a man, Olivia was almost convinced that rumor was true.
Then she remembered their school days. Even she had fallen for Jade, knowing she was a girl.
Jade could be said to have a special kind of beauty that could charm both men and women.
No matter how straight a woman claimed to be she would almost certainly fall for Jade given a few minutes alone with her.
It wasn't surprising that Jade could turn a straight man gay while disguised as a man.
Olivia was sure he would only fall harder when he saw Jade's original looks.
"Whatever. How many people are on this floor?" Jade asks, changing the topic and refocusing on their original intention, knowing her brother would be getting impatient by now.
"If you include me then there are three. The other two people are my uncle and Kiara." Olivia replys. Kiara had been the head of Jades fan club during middle and high school.
Upon hearing this Jades body visibly stiffened. She didn't hate Kiara, but the girl was just too enthusiastic towards her.
Kiara was the first girl to admit she was gay for Jade when they were in school. She was far from being the only one but she was the only girl with enough courage to say so confidently.
Jade struggled to understand the girls thoughts. She wasn't sure if Kiara was a genius or an idiot.
Somehow she always managed to come up with the strangest things but she had never once failed when she tried to do something.
She once sold paper masks of Jades face and both Jade and Olivia were sure the business idea would fail. Mostly because the masks were of a drawing of Jade rather than a printed photo. If has to be mentioned that Kiara wasn't very good at drawing and the face on the mask looked almost nothing like Jade but somehow she managed to get every person in their grade to buy one from her.
It didn't stop there. Kiara started the Jade fan club and convinced almost all of Jades admirers to join despite the sign up fee of $50.
It probably had something to do with Jades popularity but the girl earned a couple thousand dollars just from sign up fees.
It's as if everyone forgot they could set up their own club for free.
Jade always kept her distance from the girl but no matter what Jade tried Kiara always found a way to get close to her. Physically close that is.
They were paired for almost every project, they were deskmates in 3 classes, and she showed up everywhere Jade went.
Kiara was obsessed with Jade. She wore a shirt with her face on it every day and carried around a photo album filled with sneakily taken pictures of her.
Jade even considered calling the cops at the time but she ultimately decided it wasn't worth it.
"Is she... Still the same as before?" Jade asks slowly. She didn't want to have to deal with that crazy girl again.