Most of the people in Jada Chamberlyn's life didn't get the opportunity to be assaulted by her love as often as Jada would like. The heiress was, it seemed, a clingier person than she had ever thought she would turn out to be. She wanted to spend time with the people that she cared for, and that was human enough, especially for a child who had gone from adored and loved to cosseted and spoiled, but not touched. It didn't bother Zora and Kayley as much, because they'd never known Szelem's love, and Lucas had always had his big sisters to hold him and show him the physical touch that their mother had denied them later in life. So, Jada valued her people, and what with being Jada and being Scylla, trying to balance her two lives-- she resented it.
Most mornings, even on Saturdays, Jada rose at 6 in the morning. She drank a few glasses of water, popping her vitamin and grabbing a piece of string cheese from the fridge before she left the house in sweatpants and a tank top, clean sneakers on her feet. She took a jacket if it was cold, but only if it was freezing to the point of ice did she do her morning jog indoors. Most mornings were still dark and damp from the evenings dew that early- she was out of the house by 6:15. In the 45 minutes that she allotted herself to her jog, she could variably do anything from 5-8 miles depending on all sorts of factors. She liked jogging. Liked leaving all of her stress behind, all the strain, all her nightmares. Jogging let her outrun her fears, so that she could face each morning with a positive attitude. Some people confused her with a morning person- she considered it being a driven one. By 7am she was home, kicking her siblings out of their beds if they had stayed over on a school night. Lucas would get her last-minute help on his math homework, Zora would log in and check her email, and then they would be out of the house, poptarts in hand. Once they were gone she went upstairs to cean off the sweat from her run and to start her day with the right foot- luxury. Her bathroom was large and inviting, so it was no hardship for her to light a candle and spend half an hour soaking away the bruises and any soreness in her muscles that lingered from her jog or patrol the night before.
By 8:00 she was blowing her hair dry, dragging something out of her closet to wear. Some days it was a dress, others it was pants. Most days, lately, she didn't care. She always looked classy, after all. It was hard not to when you had her taste in clothes. (That was her ego speaking.) By 9 her hair and makeup would be done and the taxi would be out front. She would grab her bag and a quick breakfast- typically a piece of fruit and some kind of drinkable yogurt, and lock the door behind her, neither bothering to set her alarm, or lock the windows. Castor, her Toyger kitten, would normally cry after her if she'd forgotten to kiss him goodbye (or feed him) which usually prompted her to remember some piece of furniture or another that would need replacing- he had a thing for chewing on wood, or her cushions, or whatever he thought she'd notice and disregard. The remembered was usually forgotten by the time she got to DCU.
This semester she had six courses. One was a comparison on the effects of religion as a fantasy, then there was her statistics, business management, business ethics, a Humanities, and the Japanese course her father had encouraged her to take, so she could eavesdrop on some of their foreign partners. Her homework time was suffering by her Scylla activities, however, so for the first time, it looked like Jada might being home a B. (Ironically it was in her management course. They had just discussed time management last week.) Her classes were formatted for maximum free time; she went from 10-3 Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she had a class from 10-12 and another from 3-5. Noon to three, between classes, had therefore become most of her shopping time. For a girl who had once gone shopping daily, the cutback was painful-- though Audrey didn't mind the lack of receipts turned in at the end of the week.
From 4 to 5 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday Jada had a kickboxing class, followed by a yoga class on Mondays. On Wednesday and Friday after her kickboxing class, she would do free exercise. By 5:30 she would be leaving the gym, freshly showered and ready for dinner. And by 8:00 she was home, finishing homework and being ready to 'go to bed' by 10:00-- which actually meant she was on her way to do her patrol from 10-1am, falling into bed for her five hours of sleep. The only real differences in this schedule was that on Tuesdays and Thursdays she would instead go home after class and jog for half an hour while catching up on something for class. The heiress had been considering adding a fencing class to her list, or going back to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes she had taken back in High School, but thus far she hadn't found the time. It was there, but only if she gave up on a social life altogether. On Fridays and Saturdays she would sometimes stay out later, until midnight, but really... it was mostly to keep up the socialite appearance. As she pointed out to Ares once, she wouldn't be as useful to the Court if she wasn't bothering to at least try to keep up appearances, now would she? People would pry too much.
Saturdays during the day were the best time to catch up with her homework, and was also the day she was most often found actively attending the BMC meetings. Sometimes it was scary, Jada had decided, watching Fallon, the girl she had come to love as a friend, turning into someone else. Then again, Audrey was changing too. She and Elzo were together so much, and Jada always felt like a third wheel as soon as they saw each other. Was that what love was? (She would have to consult her cheesy romance novels.) Sometimes it was easier being around the battle-dazed Fallon than the love-dazed Audrey. War was easier to understand. Then there was the much-neglected Johnny-- he didn't seem to miss her much, or mind not seeing her outside of meetings, though, seemingly content with text messages. There, too, Jada was relieved of guilt. Elke... Elke was a traitorous... Jada hadn't spoken to her, or texted her, since the day that the senshi of Innocence had saved the Negaverse agent from Scylla. To be fair, though, Elke had hardly tried to contact her either. There had just been nothing.
Sundays were the day that Jada rested. She would wake up anywhere from 8 to 9 in the morning (only rarely later) and take a shower before anything else. She would slip into a bathing suit, slide on a pair of jeans, a tank top, a jacket, and thick socks. It was a half-hour drive out to the stables where she boarded Lady Luck, but until 1:00, she was Lady's, often slipping Fallon's horse Taillevent (or Talon) an apple or sugar.
It was in retrospective moments that Jada realized that maybe the fault wasn't on Scylla, or having no time, but on herself as well. One person by one person, she had closed herself off to the outside world. Little by little she had closed her mind to new people, filled up her day with useless things to keep her mind and body busy. Did she want more people to love? More people to watch get hurt, or watch die because she was powerless, in the end, to do anything to stop the madness? No, Jada had enough chinks in her armor, and she wasn't looking to let them grow or get bigger.
Still, she loved all of her 'chinks.' There was just so little time (by her own design) to tell any of them, except via text message. All of her friends, plus Zora and her father, would get anywhere from 8-10 scheduled texts daily. At 9:30, they were woken by her “Good morning! The word of the day is ___” Then there was the noontime, “Mmm, lunch. I'm having ___. What about you?” At three, there was either a “Yay, I am free!” or a “Boo, class!” There would be status updates while she trained (“I think I bruised my butt. Ow.”) followed by an “I'm hungry. Thinking about dinner.” Rarely, she would ask them to join her, but they almost never seemed to make it, much less all at once. Before 'bed' was the “Sweet dreams.” Really, that was why Jada loved her phone. It was her connection to anyone she wanted to talk to, during any hour that she could be herself.
It was interesting. When Jada was younger, she didn't think as much about being alone. Now she did, and sometimes it bothered her. Did it mean she'd regressed? Weren't you supposed to need people less as you got older? Not that Jada Needed anyone at all, she corrected herself. She had several other people that she saw commonly after all= people in her own social circle who might not be among her list of closest friends but were still acquaintances. She went to dinner every Wednesday with a small group from school, and on Tuesdays she would go and flirt with the waiter at a bakery downtown. She had social contact, and the polite physical contact of high society.
It wasn't High Society that had been there for her when she was hurt. That had seen her through her crazy stalker, her debut ball, her parents divorce. It had been her friends, her little siblings, even her damn cat. It had been their love and their strength.
So once a week, before bed, she sent out a simple text. Fallon, Audrey, Zora, Johnny, Elzo, Marlo... and Elke's name would sit there for a moment before it was deleted, reluctantly.
“I love you. Thank you for being there for me.”
Most mornings, even on Saturdays, Jada rose at 6 in the morning. She drank a few glasses of water, popping her vitamin and grabbing a piece of string cheese from the fridge before she left the house in sweatpants and a tank top, clean sneakers on her feet. She took a jacket if it was cold, but only if it was freezing to the point of ice did she do her morning jog indoors. Most mornings were still dark and damp from the evenings dew that early- she was out of the house by 6:15. In the 45 minutes that she allotted herself to her jog, she could variably do anything from 5-8 miles depending on all sorts of factors. She liked jogging. Liked leaving all of her stress behind, all the strain, all her nightmares. Jogging let her outrun her fears, so that she could face each morning with a positive attitude. Some people confused her with a morning person- she considered it being a driven one. By 7am she was home, kicking her siblings out of their beds if they had stayed over on a school night. Lucas would get her last-minute help on his math homework, Zora would log in and check her email, and then they would be out of the house, poptarts in hand. Once they were gone she went upstairs to cean off the sweat from her run and to start her day with the right foot- luxury. Her bathroom was large and inviting, so it was no hardship for her to light a candle and spend half an hour soaking away the bruises and any soreness in her muscles that lingered from her jog or patrol the night before.
By 8:00 she was blowing her hair dry, dragging something out of her closet to wear. Some days it was a dress, others it was pants. Most days, lately, she didn't care. She always looked classy, after all. It was hard not to when you had her taste in clothes. (That was her ego speaking.) By 9 her hair and makeup would be done and the taxi would be out front. She would grab her bag and a quick breakfast- typically a piece of fruit and some kind of drinkable yogurt, and lock the door behind her, neither bothering to set her alarm, or lock the windows. Castor, her Toyger kitten, would normally cry after her if she'd forgotten to kiss him goodbye (or feed him) which usually prompted her to remember some piece of furniture or another that would need replacing- he had a thing for chewing on wood, or her cushions, or whatever he thought she'd notice and disregard. The remembered was usually forgotten by the time she got to DCU.
This semester she had six courses. One was a comparison on the effects of religion as a fantasy, then there was her statistics, business management, business ethics, a Humanities, and the Japanese course her father had encouraged her to take, so she could eavesdrop on some of their foreign partners. Her homework time was suffering by her Scylla activities, however, so for the first time, it looked like Jada might being home a B. (Ironically it was in her management course. They had just discussed time management last week.) Her classes were formatted for maximum free time; she went from 10-3 Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she had a class from 10-12 and another from 3-5. Noon to three, between classes, had therefore become most of her shopping time. For a girl who had once gone shopping daily, the cutback was painful-- though Audrey didn't mind the lack of receipts turned in at the end of the week.
From 4 to 5 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday Jada had a kickboxing class, followed by a yoga class on Mondays. On Wednesday and Friday after her kickboxing class, she would do free exercise. By 5:30 she would be leaving the gym, freshly showered and ready for dinner. And by 8:00 she was home, finishing homework and being ready to 'go to bed' by 10:00-- which actually meant she was on her way to do her patrol from 10-1am, falling into bed for her five hours of sleep. The only real differences in this schedule was that on Tuesdays and Thursdays she would instead go home after class and jog for half an hour while catching up on something for class. The heiress had been considering adding a fencing class to her list, or going back to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes she had taken back in High School, but thus far she hadn't found the time. It was there, but only if she gave up on a social life altogether. On Fridays and Saturdays she would sometimes stay out later, until midnight, but really... it was mostly to keep up the socialite appearance. As she pointed out to Ares once, she wouldn't be as useful to the Court if she wasn't bothering to at least try to keep up appearances, now would she? People would pry too much.
Saturdays during the day were the best time to catch up with her homework, and was also the day she was most often found actively attending the BMC meetings. Sometimes it was scary, Jada had decided, watching Fallon, the girl she had come to love as a friend, turning into someone else. Then again, Audrey was changing too. She and Elzo were together so much, and Jada always felt like a third wheel as soon as they saw each other. Was that what love was? (She would have to consult her cheesy romance novels.) Sometimes it was easier being around the battle-dazed Fallon than the love-dazed Audrey. War was easier to understand. Then there was the much-neglected Johnny-- he didn't seem to miss her much, or mind not seeing her outside of meetings, though, seemingly content with text messages. There, too, Jada was relieved of guilt. Elke... Elke was a traitorous... Jada hadn't spoken to her, or texted her, since the day that the senshi of Innocence had saved the Negaverse agent from Scylla. To be fair, though, Elke had hardly tried to contact her either. There had just been nothing.
Sundays were the day that Jada rested. She would wake up anywhere from 8 to 9 in the morning (only rarely later) and take a shower before anything else. She would slip into a bathing suit, slide on a pair of jeans, a tank top, a jacket, and thick socks. It was a half-hour drive out to the stables where she boarded Lady Luck, but until 1:00, she was Lady's, often slipping Fallon's horse Taillevent (or Talon) an apple or sugar.
It was in retrospective moments that Jada realized that maybe the fault wasn't on Scylla, or having no time, but on herself as well. One person by one person, she had closed herself off to the outside world. Little by little she had closed her mind to new people, filled up her day with useless things to keep her mind and body busy. Did she want more people to love? More people to watch get hurt, or watch die because she was powerless, in the end, to do anything to stop the madness? No, Jada had enough chinks in her armor, and she wasn't looking to let them grow or get bigger.
Still, she loved all of her 'chinks.' There was just so little time (by her own design) to tell any of them, except via text message. All of her friends, plus Zora and her father, would get anywhere from 8-10 scheduled texts daily. At 9:30, they were woken by her “Good morning! The word of the day is ___” Then there was the noontime, “Mmm, lunch. I'm having ___. What about you?” At three, there was either a “Yay, I am free!” or a “Boo, class!” There would be status updates while she trained (“I think I bruised my butt. Ow.”) followed by an “I'm hungry. Thinking about dinner.” Rarely, she would ask them to join her, but they almost never seemed to make it, much less all at once. Before 'bed' was the “Sweet dreams.” Really, that was why Jada loved her phone. It was her connection to anyone she wanted to talk to, during any hour that she could be herself.
It was interesting. When Jada was younger, she didn't think as much about being alone. Now she did, and sometimes it bothered her. Did it mean she'd regressed? Weren't you supposed to need people less as you got older? Not that Jada Needed anyone at all, she corrected herself. She had several other people that she saw commonly after all= people in her own social circle who might not be among her list of closest friends but were still acquaintances. She went to dinner every Wednesday with a small group from school, and on Tuesdays she would go and flirt with the waiter at a bakery downtown. She had social contact, and the polite physical contact of high society.
It wasn't High Society that had been there for her when she was hurt. That had seen her through her crazy stalker, her debut ball, her parents divorce. It had been her friends, her little siblings, even her damn cat. It had been their love and their strength.
So once a week, before bed, she sent out a simple text. Fallon, Audrey, Zora, Johnny, Elzo, Marlo... and Elke's name would sit there for a moment before it was deleted, reluctantly.
“I love you. Thank you for being there for me.”
