I eye Elliot from across the reception hall, he still looked handsome as ever, and he still had that playful twinkle in his eyes. I guess by some miracle he’s still single? The handsy blond girl striding over to him answers my question and I quickly look away. I was here for Tiffany and that’s all that mattered, not silly high school exes. “Jade!” Tiffany’s mother calls me over to her table for small talk and I happily rush over to her. After introductions we launch into the topic of how our lives ended up. “Did you end up becoming a lawyer like your mother wanted you to be?” Ms. Noble says while asking the waiters for another glass of wine. “I’m uh- I’m a veterinarian now actually.” I say while training my eyes on the bows on my shoes. “Oh that’s very…interesting to say the least.” I plaster a fake smile on my face and excuse myself from the conversation and make my way over to the bar.

As I wait for my drink I hear a familiar voice. Loud, proud, deep, mysterious, and gentle all at the same time. “Jade! I knew I saw you from across the hall!” My eyes widen and I freeze a little until I muster the courage to turn around, and when I do I almost drop. He looked even better up close. “E-Elliot.” I say, instantly hating how squeaky my voice comes out as. “It’s nice to see you again!” He pulls me into a hug and his cologne makes me take a deep breath in, while my heart dances in my chest. “It’s nice to see you too.” I take a chance to look away from his face and at his suit. It’s jade green. “I see you still like jade?” I say while collecting my Coca-Cola and taking a sip of it. “I love jade with everything I’ve got. It’s my favorite color.” I almost choke on my Coca-Cola when he says that. I look up and his creepy girlfriend is suddenly at his side. Her arm in his, her eyes shooting daggers at me. You know what they say, “if looks could kill,” well I’d be dead. “Hi I’m Jade.” I stick out my mildly sweaty hand to shake, but she doesn’t shake. “I’m Amanda. Elliot’s girlfriend.” She bites out at me bitterly. “Very nice to meet you. Well I must be going, I’ve got someone waiting for me at my table.” Elliot’s eyes light up, “You’ve got a boyfriend?” I turn around as I walk backwards, “A hot commodity like this? Of course I do.” I tease with a wink as I turn forwards. I may have played it cool and lied on the spot, but my head was still hanging on to when he said he loved Jade. He surely wasn’t talking about me, was he? No, he wasn’t.