Jade's Slip Up

The first time that Bradley Kane met Jade Greenwood, he wasn't quite sure what to think of her. While she tended to walk through life as if someone had perpetually tied her shoelaces together, no Sim would dare do anything of the like to her: she may've been clumsy, but she was obscenely lucky with everything else. Her talent at sports led to easy popularity, and even if she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, she was certainly a lot smarter than Bradley ever considered his brother to be.

But he'd never really considered who Jade was -- or why Travis liked her -- until things between them had gone sour. She may've looked like Emerald, but she was a polar opposite in all other ways; opposite in ways he'd never thought to consider...

... and Bradley Kane was about to get a taste of how his trusting nature could get him in serious trouble.

---

It was a horrible week.

The sun even seemed to forget to shine, teasing the Sims of Twinbrook with sporadic sunlight between hours of overcast gloom that sent everyone in town into grouch mode. The few times anyone felt like doing anything, it never seemed to go right. Bad luck had settled like a dark cloud over Twinbrook, and Meredith Kane was absolutely determined to fix it.

And, of course, nothing fixes a bad mood like presents!



"Well, kids," Meredith said as she lead her teen boys out into the yard towards the driveway. "I know it's not much, but your father and I decided, what with us getting out of debt lately and of my new job, it was time to get you two a car of your own. You'll have to share, but..."

And, there it was: their car. While it was yet another thing for Brad and Travis to fight over, the fact that they no longer had to steal their parents' cars to get anywhere anymore was a wonderful prospect -- who cares if it wasn't the best car in the world... it was theirs.



Both boys were absolutely ecstatic. Travis instantly jumped onto his mom to give her a hug, and Bradley was doing a little dance of excitement.

"It's perfect, mom," Travis said as he squeezed her tight. "We'll take good care of it, I promise."



"This is so great!" Bradley exclaimed, still excited. "I'm finally gonna be able to drive out to Puddle Pond to collect some samples for my--"

"Hey, Brad, we have to share, ya know... You can't just take it whenever you want."



When Travis ran off inside to call his friends and tell them, Brad finally got a chance to give his mom a hug of his own.

"I'm sorry we couldn't get you each one, three cars is enough as-is anyways. Besides, it'd be good for you boys to learn to settle your differences..."

"I know, mom," Brad said with a smile as he looked up into Meredith's eyes. "I know how hard you guys had to work just to get us this. It really means a lot."

---

The next day, once Travis got off his shift at the grocery store, he got a call he didn't expect -- at least, from a person he didn't expect.



"Hey Jade," he answered, not even having to look at his caller-ID to see who it was from; she still had that special ringtone of hers on his phone. "What's goin' on?"



"Yeah, I'm free tonight, why?" After a pause, his face fell. "I don't know, Jade, I'm still not sure I... well, I-- That'll work, I guess."

Hearing her voice again, after so much avoiding in the halls at school, at sports practice, even the movies, was like grinding sandpaper against his heart... but he couldn't deny how wonderful it was at the same time.



"I... I've missed you too, Jade. It's great to hear your voice. I'll see you there."

---

When Jade and Travis met at the Red Rendezvous, things were a lot more packed than they had expected. So, it was a bit awkward to actually talk about much of anything.



"Look, I just want to explain what happened," Jade said in a quiet tone. "You never really gave me a chance, and even though I don't really have a good excuse, I just need you to hear me out. Not talking to you anymore is killing me..."

Travis nodded, but he didn't respond until he had a good look-around of how many people were in the building, a few of which eavesdropping -- what is Twinbrook without it's gossipmongers?



"We can talk, but I'd rather not do it here. Let's go somewhere more private, and then I promise to hear you out."



As they left the building, one particular patron that happened to be eavesdropping watched out of the corner of his eye... and disappeared from the side of the foosball table once the love-torn pair was out the door.



Bradley followed Travis and Jade down the street, keeping back a good distance to make sure they didn't notice him, but he was still within earshot. Considering he had sent Jade out onto this task, he wanted to know the outcome as soon as possible -- and he had to admit, spying on his brother was actually kind of entertaining.



He watched as Jade began to cry, breaking down into Travis' arms: "Good, good, get the pity going... Travis falls for that every time," was Brad's inner monologue.



"I was s-s-so s-stupid, Travis," Jade stuttered between sniffles. "I didn't even like Thomas, I just wanted him to stop bothering me about how abruptly I ended things with him, and I just... I don't really know why I did it, I just know I'd never do it again..."



"I'd been hearing rumors about you still having feelings for him for weeks, though, Jade," Travis said with a stern voice. "Why didn't you tell me? Why'd you just... run off into his arms?"

"I-I-I thought if you found out I was having mixed feelings, that you'd just end things anyways. You broke up with Lolly so fast just because she grew up, I thought something like that would instantly set you off me..."



"Jade, of course not. Breaking up with Lolly had nothing to do with our age difference, that was just an excuse I gave to make her feel better. You and I, we were different. If that hadn't happened, with Thomas, you and I, we would've..."

"Can't we, still?" Jade asked, still sniffling. "If I gave you my word, I'd never do anything like that again, if I promised to be open about everything... would you give me another chance?"



As Bradley watched, he saw Travis swoop her into his arms, as if those were the words he'd been dying to hear for years. "Of course I would, Jade. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, I'd do anything for you."

"Would you end things with Emerald so we could be together again?" she asked.

"Of course. She and I aren't that close, anyways... It was just a fling. You and I, we're the real deal."



"Yeah, I suppose we are," Jade said with a laugh as they took each other in their arms, and began to kiss.

As they did so, and hearing how loosely Travis thought of his relationship with Emerald, Bradley became furious -- how could he say that? And why wasn't Jade stopping him? Emerald was still his girlfriend... why were they making out?!



In between kisses, Brad's expression only soured, when their conversation finally continued.

"So, you're going to break up with her, right?"

"Yeah, I will. It'll take some time, she's pretty into me I guess, but I'll do my best to avoid confrontation. I'll just give her the cold shoulder for a couple of weeks, she'll get the picture."

"Then what about us, until then?" Jade asked.



"Hey," Travis said into her ear, just barely loud enough for Brad to hear. "Doesn't mean it has to stop us from being together, if you know what I mean... She doesn't have to know a thing."

Jade giggled. "Sounds good to me."



Once Bradley, infuriated, had slammed the door to his room, he walked up to their dresser, where a picture of Emerald stood.

He was so conflicted; he wanted Travis and Emerald to break up, but not like this. Travis was her first boyfriend, and he was planning to spend weeks giving her cold treatment, instead of just telling her the truth -- typical Travis, avoiding responsibility. And there was Jade, right by his side, saying it was okay... And it was all Brad's fault.

Looking into Emerald's smiling face, Bradley decided that it had come to his decision: watch Emerald suffer, or tell her the truth himself. It was his fault... He'd let Emerald fall into Travis' lap, he'd pushed Jade to break them up, he'd not gone to Emerald about his feelings in the first place like he should've... And only he could fix it.

There was really only one choice... A hard one, but it had to be done: for her.