Unrequited Love [Niall Horan]

[1] "Goodbye"

I laid flat on my stomach as I flipped through the channels on flat screen television that stood upon the dresser in my room. This process repeated until my eyes were greeted with the big yellow letters of the Full House logo. The show wasn't my favorite, but it was a classic. As the theme song "Everywhere You Look" played through my ears, I couldn't help but hum along to it. I knew that the song would probably pester me for the rest of the night because it was too catchy to be ignored. However, it would take more than a classic show and a catchy tune to shake certain things off of my mind.

Earlier that day, I walked across a stage on the football field in a cap and gown to receive my high school diploma. It was then that I said goodbye to my teachers, friends, and people that I had always wished would leave my life forever. Now that I wasn't going to see any of my rivals or enemies ever again, I felt rather empty. To have enemies makes you want to push harder and grow stronger. Now that they were gone, who did I have to compare myself to? What's the point in trying to be the best if there's no one left to beat? Perhaps I'd replace my old enemies with new ones once I headed off to college at the end of the summer.

Goodbye was such a terrible word, and there really was no good in it. Whoever said that there was a good in goodbye was a terrible liar. What good was there in saying goodbye to your friends that you've known since you were a kid? My life was fine until I had to leave. I supposed that this was life telling me to reset myself. To find new friends, new loves, and new enemies. But that's not what I wanted. Not at all. My thoughts were disturbed by a loud knocking on my closed door. It was my dad. 

"Come in!" I shouted in response.

My dad swung the white, wooden door open, revealing the sign on the other side of the door that said my name in glittery lettering. I had made it when I was six years old, but I never took it down because my dad said that it was cute. My dad was wearing a tuxedo with a red bow tie that was slightly crooked. His dark, brown hair was combed nicely so that it didn't fan out like it usually did. He was also smiling brightly, revealing his pearly white teeth. This look made my jaw drop. Was he going to try dating again?

"Hey Claire bear," he greeted me. As usual, he called me by the nickname that I've had since the day that I was born.

I smiled back at him politely. "Hi dad. What's with the getup?"

His look morphed from cheery to nervous as I asked him the question. He usually got this way when he was going out on a date, so I had a feeling that's what he was going to answer. Much to my expectation, I was right. "I'm going to try dating again, Claire bear. It's been a long time since I've tried to move on from your mother, so I think that this is long overdue."

"Who's the lucky lady, then? Is she someone that I'm supposed to know?" I questioned.

He shook his head. "No, no. She is new at the company. Her name is Angela Welsh, and she's another game designer in my department. She has brought a lot of new ideas to the table, and it really has been catching my eye. Little did I know, she was intrigued by how I did things as well. If things start to go well with Angie, I'll bring her over and introduce you."

My dad was a game designer at Electronic Arts, Inc. which is most commonly known as EA. Whoever Angie was, she must have had a knack for video games like my dad did. It's pretty cool to have a dad who designs video games, since he always brought new games home for me to play. He has helped develop the popular games out there such as FIFA, The Sims, and Need for Speed. I was never really into video games, but I still played them from time to time. It was nice that my dad finally found someone that had a similar taste to his own.

I rolled off of my bed, then embraced my dad in a tight hug. It wasn't every day that he liked someone else, so this was big. "I'm so happy for you dad. I really hope that this works out. You've been alone for far too long."