Jade opened the door slowly, uncertain of what to expect from Mark. His face showed no noticeable expression.

“Hey,” he greeted her. “Can I come in?”

“Uh, what’s this about?” Jade asked, not letting him enter her apartment.

“I just wanted to talk.”

“About what?”

Mark smiled a little. “About your pierced friend. The one who just left.”

“What about him?” Jade asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“You know what.”

Jade did not meet Mark’s intense stare; instead, she focused her eyes on a crack in a nearby tile and replied slowly, “I just want to lead a normal life, that’s all.”

“And are you leading a normal life by dating him?”

Jade slowly raised her eyes and met his stare. “Graham seems to be a kind and generous man.” Mark merely raised an eyebrow at this, not speaking. Biting the inside of her cheek, she added, “So, is that the only reason why you came today?”

“I just thought I’d catch up with an old friend,” Mark responded, with a genuine smile. “Ever since the accident, we’ve only gotten together about half a dozen times, at the most.”

“I’ve been busy,” Jade replied, averting her gaze again and stepping aside to let Mark in. He stared silently at her for several seconds, and then stepped into the apartment. She closed the door behind him and stood, her back to him.


“Don’t tell me you’re still feeling guilty about what happened to Paul,” Mark remarked.

Jade whipped around, her hair flying out around her face. “I was supposed to be in that car!” she cried out. “He invited me to hang out that day, and I declined because I had a headache. Paul always wore his seatbelt when I was in the car with him. And the one time he didn’t…”

“Do you really think that your presence would have changed things?” Mark asked, grabbing her shoulders firmly. “Pull yourself together, Jade. If you had been in that car that night, you probably would have died in that accident, too! That headache was a God-send. You were meant to live for a reason, and instead, you’ve been moping about it, thinking of all the ‘would have, could have, should haves.’ For all you know, it wasn’t an accident. It might have--”

“Don’t say that!” Jade yelled. “Don’t you dare think that! He was taking care of himself. He stopped drinking and all. He wouldn’t have!”

“And you had a pretty nice life, and even then, you considered the same thing when you were younger. Didn’t you tell me that once?”

“T-that’s different. You don’t know what I dealt with.”

“Look, all I know about your past is what you’ve told me. Maybe you told Paul more. I mean, you were dating him, sort of.”

Jade rolled her eyes a little. “Funny you say that,” she remarked. “He was convinced that he and I actually were in a relationship. Never mind that ‘relationship’ or ‘commitment’ or ‘love’ ever came up. I figured I was just a FWB to him.”

“Are you serious?” Mark asked. “He never said anything about that to me.”

“Well, guys don’t talk about that kind of thing, from what I hear. And he probably wouldn’t have told you anyway.”

“Why’s that?”

“He figured out what was going on between you and me and accused me of cheating on him. Actually, that’s how the whole relationship argument started.”

“Well, of course it was obvious!” Mark exclaimed. “As much chemistry as we have, how could he not notice? Hell, an outsider could probably tell that we were into each other.”


Jade looked away and muttered, “Sometimes I think we have too much chemistry.”

“Why’s that? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“No, it’s not,” Jade said sharply. “Do you realize this is one of the few times where we’ve actually talked to each other for more than a couple of minutes? Our relationship, or whatever you want to call it, is based on physical attraction. Heavy on the passion, rather lacking in commitment. You had your chance at a committed relationship with me, and you remember what you said? You said you weren’t ready for that. I don’t know why I still deal with you. Things could have been good, if you’d have actually let a real relationship happen, rather than… than this. At the risk of sounding totally cliché right now, I seriously wish I knew how to quit you.”

Mark chuckled and replied, “Movie references aside, I understand where you’re coming from. But you know that at any time, you could have brought a halt to things. I’m sure we would have moved on, eventually, to some extent. But we both know that somewhere in a corner of your mind, you’d never forget that there’s a guy who can read you like a book, who knows a side of you that you don’t show to many people. You think I don’t care about you? Well, guess what-- sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it.”

“Now who’s making movie references?” Jade muttered.

“That was a movie reference?”

“Yeah. I do appreciate the sentiment, though. So, as you were saying?”

“Right,” Mark said. “Point is, you’re underestimating a lot about me.”

“I think you just can’t find anyone in the area who’s more suited to your tastes.”

“It’s not my fault. And before you say it, it’s not your fault either.”

“I wasn’t going to blame it on myself,” Jade replied. She sighed and said, “When do you think we’ll get over each other?”

“Probably would take a miracle,” Mark facetiously replied.

“Miracles happen every day,” Jade said slowly. “It’s just that people don’t realize it.”


“What’s that supposed to mean?” Valo snapped, glaring at her mother, who grabbed her mid-stride and forced her to turn around.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” her mother said sharply. “Like I just said, you were very rude back there.”

“I was the rude one?” Valo responded. “You heard them in there, insulting everything about me. And you… you just sat there and didn’t say a word! That’s what you’ve always done! That, and give me bad advice. Like, what kind of mother tells her daughter, ‘If you want a boyfriend, you should show more skin’? Some mom you are!”

“Jessica, I’m your mother. You have no right to speak to me like that!”

“You have no right to call yourself a mother,” Valo shot back. “You gave birth to me. That’s about it. Dad and Grandma were the ones who raised me, not you. You made it abundantly clear my whole life that you wanted as little to do with me as possible. Why? Is it because I remind you of how little you’ve accomplished, in comparison with what I have? Is it because I haven’t messed up my life by getting knocked up at a young age and having three kids with three different guys?” Her mother gaped at her, too shocked by her words to speak. “I don’t feel one bit sorry for what I said in there. I’m glad I said something. Were you going to just expect me to sit there and let them say all of that about me?”

“I--”


Valo raised her right arm and pointed to a scar. “You see this? Do you remember how I got this?” she snapped. “Your son decided to use my arm as a scratch post. And when I was freaking out because there was blood and my skin was peeled up, you yelled at me. You said I should know better because I was older. He was old enough to know better. But you’ve always been an incompetent parent. Now, you stuff him full of fast food and let him watch all kinds of trash on television. First kid you’ve actually had to raise, rather than passing them along to whatever family member was available. And you know what? That alone is proof that karma does exist. Donald wasn’t that bad of a kid, and Dad says I was a pretty easy kid to raise. But Andrew… man, you have your work cut out for you with him.” Valo smiled rather frighteningly, a smile that showed that she knew she had the upper hand. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go meet my boyfriend, who’s waiting for me down the street at the bookstore. Have a nice life.”

With that said, she triumphantly strode away from her mother, head held high.


Jade silently watched Mark struggle to pull his shirt back over his head. He gave the shirt a sharp yank, revealing his face. Sensing Jade’s stare, he slowly turned back to her and gave her a puzzled look.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked.

“What do you think eternity is like?” Jade replied slowly.