Chapter 26—Jade

Life is going great. I'm loving school. Spending time there with Raine is amazing. I learn more about him every day. He has really opened up. He tells me stories about the kids he considered his siblings. Some stories are even nice. I'm glad he had a few things that brought him joy in a life that was full of pain. He says he wants to save them. I hope that one day he can. We enjoy our classes together. We are getting closer by the day. I think Dad plans on asking Hope to marry him soon. They spend all of his free time together which is awesome because that means Raine, and I get to spend time together. I really don’t think our parents have any idea that we are in love with each other. They know that we are best friends, that we care about each other. But they don’t realize just how much. They don’t even look twice if we have our arms around each other. But I think if they saw us kiss, they would have a heart attack. I hate keeping this from my Dad. I use Skye as my confidant when I need to talk about love and feelings. She wants the best for Raine and I.

We have been in school for a couple of weeks now. Skye and I have an art project to do together, so she is at my house working on it. “So Jade, some of the girls have been talking about Raine,” she tells me. I immediately feel defensive. Or maybe its jealous. “What does that mean?” I ask. “Don’t worry, they know he’s yours. They do think he’s totally hot and everything. But what I wanted to tell you is that they think he is a really good musician. We all think he should just get over his fear and put himself out there. Let people hear his music you know?” she says. I know Skye, and we have talked about this before. Just let it go. It’s not happening.” I tell her. “But what if he didn’t have to do anything to promote himself? I mean, what if it just happened that a ton of people saw him perform and they thought he was amazing? Wouldn’t he be in the least bit interested to know that thousands of people want to hear more?” Why is she still pushing this? “No Skye, he would not want to know that thousands of people want to hear him perform. It’s never happening!” I’m getting irritated now.

“Well, it’s kind of too late already because a few days ago I put a video of him singing up on YouTube and its had thousands of hits and positive comments. People asking for more.” No, no, no, this can’t be happening. My skin is on fire, and I want to throttle my best friend. I need to calm down before I explode. “What did you just say Skye? Did you seriously put up a video of him without his permission? You have no idea what you just did.” I am totally going to lose it. “When did you do this Skye?” I ask franticly. “Two days ago.” I am just beside myself with rage and fear. “Take it down right now. Hurry up. Get on YouTube right now and take it down!” I yell. “All right, all right. Chill out. It’s just a video.” She says defensively. “No Skye, it’s not just a video, this is his life!” I screech as I grab my laptop and shove it at her. “When did you take a video of him Skye?” I ask. “Well, I actually took that video off your phone. The one you took here in your studio. I emailed it to myself that day. I thought it was great.” She tells me sheepishly as she logs into her account. She immediately removes it. A shiver of fear and regret hit me. This is my fault. I did this. I have to tell him. “Skye, did you say anything in the comments about his name or what city we live in?” I ask. “I did put his name on it. That’s all, I promise Jade.” She practically pleads.

I grab my phone and head out my front door for my Jeep. I am skidding out of the driveway with rocks flying behind me. I have to tell them. They are going to hate me. I know Raine’s at home because I just dropped him off. I call my Dad and ask him to meet me over there. He is working in town, and he says he will be there soon. I pull up out front and turn the engine off. I sit there with my head on my steering wheel. I'm panting and sweating. I don’t know what to do. My heart is beating a million miles a minute. I'm shaking and terrified. I think I’m hyperventilating.

Raine must have noticed me sitting out here because he is now picking me up and carrying me inside. “Breath baby.” He tells me. He lays me down on the couch and gets me some water. “Tell me what’s going on Jade.” He says calmly. I can’t talk. I'm still trying to catch my breath. I shake my head. My eyes are wide and frantic. Hope comes out into the living room and sits down beside me. She puts her hand on my forehead. “Calm down Jade, what’s wrong sweetie?” she asks. Then my Dad knocks on the door. She lets him in, and he kneels in front of me. He takes my hands. “Jade, talk to me.” He implores.

“Dad, I ruined everything!” I say with tears running down my cheeks. “Jade, you need to calm down and tell me what is going on.” I take a few deep breaths. The guilt is overwhelming. “About a month ago, Raine was playing this new song he’s been working on. I took a video of him. This was before I knew anything about your past.” I said looking at Raine. He nods for me to continue. “Well, Skye saw it on my phone. I didn’t even remember it was on there. But she emailed it to herself. Then she posted it on YouTube.” I lower my head and let out an agonizing cry. The tears are coming hard and fast now.

Dad hugs my head for a moment. Then he asks, “did she take it down?” I nod and tell them, “She just told me about half an hour ago. I made her take it down. She didn’t know any better. But I wanted to kill her. She must think I hate her. She put his name in the comments but nothing about where we live.” Hope has her hand covering her mouth and her eyes are closed. Raine is pale. I feel horrible. I can’t believe I let this happen. They may have to run again all because of me. “She put it up two days ago. This is so bad. I don’t know how to fix this. I’m so sorry Raine. I never meant to hurt you. I love you guys. I had no idea this would happen.” I say pleading as though I’m trying to convince them. Dad now has his arms around Hope. She is crying too. Raine is just staring. He looks at me with betrayal in his eyes. I can’t stand to see that. I look away and he walks out the front door. Oh God, what have I done?

Hope gets her laptop and starts searching. I pray there is nothing. I hope Ezekiel didn’t seen it. This can’t really be happening. She finds the latest chat where Ezekiel is looking for them. She reads through all the posts. There are a few new ones she tells us. One in particular from yesterday. It says “I saw a video of a guy playing guitar with the name Raine. Don’t know if he’s the guy you are looking for that may have taken your wife. Here is the link.” Then we see the link and try to click on it. The link takes you to a page that states, “This video has been removed by the owner.” Well, that’s it. I just signed their death sentences.