Her Imaginary Friend: Liam Payne & Jade Thirlwall (AU)

iv

Jade Amelia Thirlwall age: 18

                Jade sits in art class and sighs deeply. The art class provided at her school is too remedial, so most of the time Jade does elaborate sketches while the instructor teaches the other students about the basics. Jade is on her fourth and final sketch, a girl leans over and takes a look at Jade’s sketches.

                “Wow, that’s amazing! Who’s that? Is that your boyfriend—he’s cute.” The girl says nicely. Jade shakes her head, “No, he’s my best friend Liam—he is amazing…he was amazing.” Jade corrects herself. It’s been eight years since Liam left her, and of course she missed him dearly for a very long time, but Jade had to catch up with life.

                Jade has begun to think of Liam less and less. She soon made new friends, who also care so much about her, but from time to time Liam pops up at the back of her mind. It’s kind of hard to forget Liam, sometimes Jade would see him in her dreams, back when they were kids. The one thing Jade tries to forget is the song Liam sang to her, it will always bring up the memory of the day Liam left her. When she happens to hear the song, she would change the radio station, TV channel or excuse herself from the room.  Hearing it makes Jade feel nostalgic, but in a negative way.

                “What happened to him, if you don’t mind me asking?” The girl asks. Jade shakes her head, “I don’t mind. When I turned ten, Liam left…he didn’t leave me a trace on where he was going, and he never came back.” Jade says, not revealing that he was an imaginary friend.

                “Oh, that must’ve been hard, huh? Well at least you could remember the fun times…but wait, how did you draw him, if you haven’t seen him in…eight years?” The girl questions.

                “He was my best friend, I know how he’d look…” Jade smiles at the sketch she has drawn. Although Jade has not seen Liam in eight years, she knows exactly how he’d look. From the kind of hair he would have at the age, to his style, to the crinkles by his eyes when he smiles, all the way down to his cute little birthmark on his neck.

                “That’s sweet. I’m Leigh-Anne.” The girl says holding out her hand. Jade shakes her hand, “Nice to meet you Leigh, if I can call you that, I’m Jade.” Jade smiles.

                “Yeah you can call me that, and it’s nice to meet you too!” Leigh-Anne says.

                “So I’m guessing you’re new here, huh? Do you wanna meet my friends and sit with us at lunch?” Jade asks. Leigh nods, “Yeah, I’d like that!”

                As the bell rings, the two girls go to the lunchroom. Jade scans the café, and looks for her friends. She soon spots the table and leads Leigh-Anne to them.

                “Hey everyone, sorry I’m late. This is Leigh-Anne, she just moved her, and she’s in my art class.” Jade introduces Leigh-Anne.

                “Hi.” Leigh-Anne says sweetly. The group all in unison smile, “Hey Leigh-Anne.”