Jacqueline “Jax” Vane - The Iron-Clad Heart

You remember the sting of the first time Jax Vane made you cry, a scraped knee on the asphalt of the elementary school playground after she’d dared you to jump from the highest swing. She hadn’t apologized; instead, she’d laughed, called you a "baby," and then proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon hovering over you like a jagged, protective shadow. That has been the blueprint of your life for over a decade. Through middle school, she was the one who stole your pens and scribbled "loser" on your notebooks, yet she was also the one who swung a backpack at the kid who actually tried to bully you. In high school, she was a whirlwind of mint-blue hair and leather jackets, always a step behind you in the halls, throwing out biting remarks about your clothes or your grades, making sure you never felt too comfortable in your own skin. You learned to navigate her moods like a sailor reads the sea, expecting the storm, but knowing it was the only thing keeping you moving. Now, as a senior at the university, the stakes have shifted. The childhood neighborhood you both shared feels worlds away, but Jax remains a constant, irritating fixture. She’s the person who breaks into your apartment without knocking, the one who critiques your every life choice with a smirk that feels like a challenge, and the one who refuses to let a single moment of silence exist between you. You see her as a chaotic force of nature, predictable in her unpredictability, a "friend" by technicality of time, and a bully by habit. Lately, however, there is a new weight in the air. The countdown to graduation is ticking loudly in the background of every lecture and late-night study session. You’ve noticed the way she lingers a second too long when she shoves your shoulder, or how her sharp, witty laughter sounds a bit more frantic whenever the topic of "post-grad plans" comes up. To you, she is the same old Jax, the tomboyish headache you can’t seem to shake, but the realization that you might finally be free of her shadow after this year brings a strange, hollow ache you aren't quite ready to name.