Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been seven days since Jada had been released from the hospital. Zora had taken her home in near silence, hugging her arm tightly. She'd spoken to her father and Lucas on the phone; Lucas was a crybaby, so happy his sister was okay. She'd gone home, and stared at herself in the mirror, running a slim hand over the contours of her face. The wardrobe she'd just bought a few days ago- to her- no longer fit her the way they were supposed to. Her jeans were baggy instead of clinging to curves; the curves weren't there the way they had been.

It had been six days since Michael and Lucas has flown in from New York on the family jet overnight to see Zora and her, waking the two of them up at 2 A.M. when they got in. They hadn't gone back to bed, Michael instead updating Jada on the divorce proceedings and other legal details of her life, now that she was legally 18.

It had been five days since Szelem had called and awkwardly commanded Jada to come overseas with her. It had been five days since Jada had confidently refused the older woman's command directly; the first time in her life. It had been five days since Jada had breathed for the first time, staring at the phone in shock as her mother hung up without another word.

Four days ago Zora had enrolled for the next semester at Crystal Academy. Jada had told her not to stay here. To go to New York with their father. "And leave you here in this coma trap?" Zora, vivacious and Jada's stalwart ally. "I'll leave the day you do, and not a moment sooner." What could Jada say? I can't leave, not yet.

Three days ago, Jada had sat back and done nothing. She hadn't read, she hadn't spoken to anyone. Lucas and Zora had gone out with the nanny and Michael was out on business; Jada simply stared out a window, and listened to the silence of her home. She could run away from this town. She had places to go now. She had part of her inheritance. She had no reason to stay. Three days ago, Jada went to the hospital and stared over the people still in comas, and wondered what she had to stay for.

Two days ago, Michael had presented his oldest daughter with two sets of keys. They had taken the car to a nice neighborhood, and inside that neighborhood. Each of the homes had a completely fenced in back yard, many of them stone and not one under eight feet high. Each had a long driveway and an ample, manicured lawn. They had pulled up to an almost colonial home that was dazzlingly white, with plenty of windows and a wrap-around porch. There was a garage, and a wrap-around driveway in the front, with two gates for the front yard. There was a cherry red 1972 Corvette in the front, and a slim blonde woman just getting out of it. Jada's father pointed at the first set of keys, and at the house; “They just finished it.” he told her. “Brand new. Do you like it?” Did she like it? It was huge; not the palace she was used to, but surely nothing in this room was as small as at Crystal. Did she like it? Here, nothing was stained by the smell of blood she swore she could smell in her room at her ancestral home, under the bleach and the fresh carpeting and the new bed. Every room, open to let in sunlight; the bathrooms were tiled, the floors were hardwood. There was no furniture yet, but the blonde- the interior decorator her father had hired- had assured her things were coming in that night. The backyard was spacious, with a small pool, heated. There were trees, and the home was only a few minutes drive from the stable where Lady Luck was kept. There were five bedrooms, a library, a formal dining room...

It was fantastic.

Two days ago, Jada had opened the door connecting her new home to the garage to see a new car. 15 miles on it, according to the odometer. It was a convertible, a lovely shade of silver-gray; a BMW. An M6, Daddy told her. Whatever that meant.

Happy eighteenth birthday, Jada. So sorry you missed it. Let us make up for lost time the Chamberlyn way; the money way. What happened to money can't buy you happiness, like when she was two and they didn't have as much? What happened to there are more important things, like before Grandfather died, and they were rich? Money can't buy happiness, perhaps, but it sure can make you feel good.

The furniture had arrived that night.

Yesterday Jada had contacted the movers. They had come over promptly and started packing things for her to move. Clothing was sorted through, bad memories being thrown out with the trash; books were packed up carefully and each clearly marked for her room full of bookshelves. Jewelry was left in the safe, to be moved to a deposit box at the bank. Her new house wasn't secure enough for the wealth of diamonds and gems. The staff would be remaining in employ at the main house, though no one lived there for now; the housekeeper, the cook, two of the maids. The maids, Jada set up, would come by her home three days a week and clean up after her. Laundry was terribly inconvenient, and she had no idea how to take care of hardwood floors. Or bathtubs. Or toilets. Bleach was a foreign substance, and with luck it always would be. Yesterday Jada had called Audrey, Elke, and other people she knew to come help her move. A few were busy. Dylan's cell phone was answered by his father, who told her the wrenching news. “Bring people.” She'd told Audrey. “Whoever.” The bluenette had been bribed with pizza and the promise of getting to drive Jada's new car.

Today Jada was moving. She was standing on the balcony of her bedroom, looking out over the lawn as strangers carried things out of the bedroom she'd had since she was old enough to remember, dragging her piece by piece off to a new life. The furniture remained, the bedsheets. The plush chair, the almost-ratty copy of Inferno laying on top of it. The hope chest at the foot of the massive bed, emptied of its treasures.

Her feet were small, bare, and her jeans hung about her skinny legs and hips, held up with a stylish belt cinched as tight as it could go. She was wearing a shirt that looked like something that she had bought for herself, before the Nightmare, but it was now a mockery of Jada, one that wore her clothing. Black hair was carefully brushed, and she at least smelled like herself- Vanilla and Sandalwood.

People would be arriving soon, here. Friends, for moral support, here for the 'pizza and beer' as it were. Not that there was any beer to be had. Pizza, pizza would be there in abundance. A cake. Ice cream. Zora was at Jada's new house, in fact, having laid claim to one of the five bedrooms as her own personal den for her weekends away from school. The second kitchen near the garage had been appealing enough for her to trade out a private bathroom for privacy.

Hands clenched around the railing, and she turned her head to look over the pool. Then she turned back, entering her bedroom and closing the balcony door firmly behind her, turning the lock. Out the bedroom door, into the hallway. This door would need to be left open. Other movers were moving other things; Lucas' toys, her father's items. Her mother's clothing that was being shipped to France, along with Kayley's objects being stored at the New York house.

It was eerie, watching her home come apart like a puzzle. It was odd to think that all this home would be for would be parties and presentations; no one wanted to live here, but it was too beautiful to dispose of.

A familiar voice calling from out front dragged Jada from her mild self-pity party, and a smile crossed her face. Audrey.

What would the bluenette think of Jada's new... what had she called them? Digs? Diggs? Diggz... she paused herself before she went too far into consideration of the potential spelling of a simple word. Home.

A slender hand ran over the hard banister and she moved down the marble steps in bare feet. The floor was warm as she moved into the sunlight of the open double doors; she slipped her feet into a pair of heeled sandals set aside for the purpose of going outside. Next to a still unpacked vase was her purse; Jada reached out and grabbed the small clutch, pulling out her car keys and one of the spare sets of house keys. The look on her face was nervous, excited. Anxious and relieved, just like the emotions in her knotted belly.

Familiar blue hair was by the car outside. Jada took a deep breath, and her mixed expressions still on her face stepped out the door and took her bounding little leaps down the old steps for the last time. As she hit the last step, she started to fall, but caught herself. Her body was still not responding the way she was accustomed to. Odd, because she felt the same... Three months in a coma could do that, she supposed. Make you feel oddly... discombobulated. Life changes could make you feel equally so. "You wouldn't dare toss me in the pool." she sniffed it at Audrey, her best impression of aristocratic snottiness. (It was a very good impression, one clearly bred into her. Maybe it was the curve of her nose?) "You get to pick." she teased her friend, face relaxing, and held out her hands, each clenched around one of the two sets of keys she'd pulled from her bag. "There is a key in each hand. You pull the house key, you get to pick out a room when you get there, but I drive. You pick the car key, you get to drive there too."

Jada didn't much want to drive her new car right now, to be honest. She had already done so (and goodness, she loved it!), but the enthusiasm for fast things was being taken over by more important worries. Like the curtains, and where she'd be putting her antique coffee table. And if she had enough closet space for all the clothing she wanted to buy. She had, after all, dumped a lot of her wardrobe before she went comatose, and now so much of it didn't fit or was three months out of date...

Any excuse for Jada Chamberlyn to shop was a good excuse.

The young heiress- now in partial control of her inheritance- looked her friend over, pleased to see that Audrey was looking healthy. She'd been so distracted when the bluenette first arrived that she hadn't looked her over. There was something satisfied about her, and a level of energy Jada hadn't expected when she'd first heard the elder Collins had been in a coma. Jada hadn't been by their house yet to see them, but she'd made Audrey hand over her cell phone so she could say hello. They'd sounded healthy, at least.

She waggled her hands at the slightly shorter girl. It was only because of the heels. Jada still got a kick out of being able to call her friend short. "Come on, Princess Leia. Trust in the Force."

An arch look was all that Jada got before the sunglasses came down across Audrey's face with what could only be termed a diabolical smirk slowly bleeding across her features. Anyone that had ever met General Linarite or any of her weaker forms would have known that look immediately and been terrified of it, but on the much more 'innocent' young woman it was simply amusing and out of place. Nobody ever really figured Audrey for a diabolical mastermind, and that was truly unfortunate. "Trust in the Force? That means I'll just Force Push you into the pool, Master Jada (oh hey you probably get a kick outta that one don't you, kinky fox) hmm..." Like a bird her head tilted right, then left.

Picking a room would be the outcome of either choice so the house key was decidedly a loss. It didn't take a math whiz of her standing to realize that there was easily a fifty percent chance of failure unless it was a trick and neither side had a car key. Maybe both had car keys! Either way, there had been some probability statement Audrey had read once that stated that usually when trying to fool someone, they picked the hand that was not their dominant. Since usually, you put important things in the hand that was most sure-feeling to you. Uncertainty was a shiny car to Jada Chamberlyn, and time was ticking. No doubt the Jeopardy theme was beeping in both of their heads with its jingle and they had to beat the movers; never mind the rest of the crew that the popular lady had invited!

So reaching out, Princess Audrey of Meadowview reached out and tapped the finely-manicured left hand offered out to her. "That one. Hit me with your best shot, Vader."

Elke sat tensely in the seat, her legs pressed together and arms at her sides. This was really her first outing with friends since she'd woken up; she'd seen the Princess and Tony, but those weren't outings, those were more serious. And now this was going to be okay, she'd have fun and forget about the whole stupid world.

When the text arrived, she nodded and slapped her phone closed against the top of her thigh. "It's here," she confirmed to Van; and then she wave-waved, hand going back and forth like tick-tock. She clambered out of the car, glanced over her shoulder with her fingernails arrayed along her collarbone. "Okay," she said, picking up her bag from the floor of Pop's car; she waved once more, cute pink cell phone in hand. The charms clinked against the single ring she wore on her ring finger, and then she turned to approach the house.