Superheroes Play Soccer

Chapter 10: No Lies About Stupid Guys

.: Kelley :.
I sat on the back porch of the Silverado family condo, right on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. We got on the flight, landed in Los Angeles, then took a taxi to Long Beach California. We got to her house around 2 in the morning, her mom had left a note saying she'd be gone until Sunday, her sister was helping with funeral preparations. It was now around 10:30 on a nice Friday morning, I had been awake for maybe 20 minutes. I had my freshly brewed cup of coffee, and I sat in the lounge chair on the wooden deck with my feet kicked up on the table, looking over the wooden railing to the bright sandy beach with crashing waves. I had checked in the room I guessed was Jade's, she was still sound asleep. Quite surprising to be honest. Suddenly, bare feet hit against the smooth wooden floor of the kitchen, and the screen door opened. I looked up at the tall midfielder that stood gazing out through thick black lenses with her beautiful crystal blue eyes. Her wavy black hair lay wavily over her dark orange tank top, that lay over her black, gray and orange plaid pajama pants. "Morning sunshine." I said, doing my best to act cute as I batted my eyes up at her. She looked down at me, then back at the sky. "Really? I thought it was suppose to storm later." She replied, acting dumb. I dropped my mouth, both of us simply laughing.

Later That Day

Jade had driven us downtown to go shopping for some clothes while we stay. We had decided that we'd stay until Monday and catch a flight back to Seattle that night. Tomorrow was the funeral, and we wanted to spend some time with her mom before the next set of training happened. We had a game against South Africa on Wednesday night, and we had to get to Texas by Tuesday afternoon. Now we were heading back to her place, where we'd bake some frozen pizzas we picked up and just hang out.

.: Jade :.
I changed from my jean shorts and maroon sleeveless shirt to a pair of gray active shorts, and a dark red loose fit tee. I then ran downstairs bare foot, kinda sliding on the smooth wooden steps. "You good there?" Kelley giggled from the couch, she had put in The Little Mermaid. "Dude I can't tell you how many times Axel and I pushed eachother down those steps." I chuckled, looking down at her from about the 7th step. She was wearing a pair of black shorts that sort of had he sweat pant look. Then she wore a pink graphic tee with the phrase "Keep calm and Keep Scoring" which was one of the outfits she bought. She looked up at me, and offered a sympathetic smile, which I guessed was because I mentioned Axel. To be honest, I hadn't really had time to really take this in. My dad.... and brother. Both gone. I gave her a smile, then pushed the lenses closer to my tanned face as I walked down the rest of the steps. I rubbed one of my tattoo'd hands against the tattoos that ran on my left arm. At the doorway that lead to the hall where the bathroom, game room, and my brother's bedroom lay, there was a metal pole connecting the walls. My dad had installed it to help us with pull ups, but honestly he used it to punish Axe. "What are you doing?" Kelley asked, folding her legs under her as she followed me with her eyes. I shrugged, then jumped up, grabbing the pole with both hands. "Whenever I or my brother did something bad, my dad would make us do pull ups as a punishment." I explained, then began pulling myself up to do chin ups. "What did you do to punish yourself?" Kelley asked, smiling at me. I looked at her, simply continued to do what I was doing. I thought for a moment, then simply spoke what was on my mind. "The start of my punishment for not being here to stop Axel from going to that stupid bar... If I would have been here, none of this would have happened." It was silent for a moment, so I jumped down and shook out my arms as I walked over, sitting on the other end of the couch. "Jade... You were all the way on the other side of the States. You were living out your dream of being an International Soccer player. There's no way you could have known this would have happened." Kelley explained, looking into my eyes with a saddened gaze. I sat there silently, staring down at my hands that slowly began to shake. "I-I don't....." I began, but was interrupted by my phone ringing on the table. I quietly thanked God to see it was my Mom. I scrambled to answer it as quickly as possible. "Hey Mom." I say with the best happy tone I could push up. I got up and walked into the kitchen so we could talk. We talked for a bit, about the funeral and everything. As I was reaching for a glass cup for water, the words that were said made me freeze. "I sent Ryder over to check in on you. He should be there soon." The glass slid from my grip and shattered on the floor, as I continued to stand there frozen. "I- I'm gonna go mom." I stutter, my voice much deeper as if I had just gotten sick. I quickly hung up and dropped my phone on the counter, backing away slowly. I actually felt like I was going to be sick. "Jade, you okay?" Kelley called from the other room, then appeared. My hands were now shaking horrible, my eyes darted to her then back at my phone. I began to hyperventilate as my mother's words repeated. Him. Why him. I found myself on my knees in the middle of the wooden kitchen floor, Kelley rushed to my side, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "Jade, hey. Hey, I'm here. Talk to me." She soothed, rubbing my upper arm with one of her hands. "He- he can't...... Don't let him......" I struggled to say, my breathing becoming harder and harder to control. "Who? I won't let anyone hurt you Silver-" "Ryder..." I interrupted. My hands gripped her shirt and one of her arms, as I closed my eyes and let my head lean against her shoulder and neck. "Who's Ryder?" Kelley asked softly, not moving. "My ex..... He-....." I took a deep breath before continuing. "He shattered my heart and bruised it over and over again.... Along with my skin." It was silent for a moment, until Kelley spoke again. I explained to her that when I lived here, I had dated him through most of my middle school and highschool years, until one day I caught him making out with one of my best friends. Then, after I confronted him about it and told him he ruined our relationship, he didn't take very nicely to it. Axel was the only one that knew about it, I never told my parents. But now that he was coming, my worst nightmare was coming to life. I had left and expected him to be gone, but nope. As soon as I stood, a knock came from my door. I froze once again, and looked at Kelley. She was about to go answer it, but I figured I needed to be the one. "Stop, I got it..." I said hesitantly, before opening the door. There stood the devil himself. The venomous demon disguised with tall tan and handsome. His stormy grey eyes stared back at me, a small smirk over his features. "Jade." He said, his deep smooth voice and the way his beautiful Italian accent hugged my name almost made me drop. He had grown up since the last time I saw him. He was 6'2 instead of 5'8. His jet black hair was spiked slightly but combed into a peak on top, then shaved at the sides. He had well shaved facial hair on his jawline, chin, and upper lip. He was wearing a black dress shirt over a pair of dark denim jeans and black dress shoes. "Hi Ryder." I said softly, looking away from him as I stepped aside, crossing my arms over my chest. "You look good." He told me, stepping inside. Kelley stood at the doorway of the kitchen, her arms crossed as well as she stood watching. "I know." I said simply, smirking slightly at Kelley before it faded quickly. "Look, Ryder. I appreciate you coming to check on me, it's good to see you, whatever. But you can leave. I don't want you here." I said right off the bat, narrowing my gaze at him as he turned to smirk at me. He walked closer, towering over me as I felt his cold glare stabbing into my eyes. "Your mom asked me to come. She said you.... Needed me." The way he said "Needed me" made me cringe inside, then his hand slipped against my hip. I quickly smacked his hand away before walking quickly over to Kelley. "Don't touch her." She said harshly, standing up straight as I stood next to her. "Alright, fine. I'm sorry. I'll behave myself, I promise... Plus, I'll be honest. I missed you." He said, offering a charming smile that I had fell for so many times. I found myself wanting to fall for it again, and tell him the truth that rose from within me. The truth was, that I had missed him too. I had missed him the moment we parted ways, and not a day had gone by that I hadn't thought about him. "I bet." I said coldly, before turning to walk to the deck.