Everything I Never Asked For

Chapter 12

(I'm sorry for the late update, I've been working on summer homework lately. Ty for reading this far, ilub u so much! I'll try to update more, don't forget to VOTE <3 leave ur comments and let me know what u guys are thinking so far :) xoxo)

NIALL'S POV

I strum the cold strings of my guitar with my fingertips and lay my head back on my bed headboard, replaying what happened today in my mind. I can't bear the part where Jade left me and practically said we can't talk to each other anymore no matter how many times I try to convince myself it's not a big deal. Her face was empty of emotion when she looked at me and nobody has ever looked at me that way. It's usually so easy for me to brighten up a person's day but she's a stubborn one. Maybe she is just that. Stubborn. I continue strumming random notes trying to figure out a way to get to her. I feel like I'm planning an evil scheme to rob a bank or something but that situation feels so similar because Jade is just as difficult. My door opens and my dad's head pops in.

"You're playing that silly thing again?" His face squints with disgust and I don't answer, I've argued too much about this topic. He hates when I play the guitar too much because he thinks it's going to get my mind off the real prize, the soccer scholarship and career he's been raising me for. My dad gets scared whenever I find interest in something non soccer related because it's a threat to "our" dream. Even though it's serious to me, "serious" is an understatement to my father's feelings about my soccer career. He doesn't coach me anymore because he knows there are better trainers out there, but he makes sure that I practice every single day for the most part. He has me on one of the best first division gold flight teams in our area and I love it but multiple things can make you happy in life, music being one of them for me.

"So you're going camping with the Walkers tomorrow right?" I nod. "Bring a ball, tell Alex he has to train too! I got out the sleeping bag." He disappears for a moment and comes back throwing a rolled up blue sleeping bag on my bed. "How long will you be gone this time?" He puts his hands on his hips towering over me intimidatingly.

"3 days." I haven't stopped strumming and I can tell it's agitating my father by the way his eyebrows furrow ever now and then. He considered throwing out my guitar before but I told him I would stop playing soccer if he did.

"That's a long time away from the game." He shakes his head and leaves the room. "But have fun son. Tell them I said hi!"

As soon as he leaves I lunge over to grab the sleeping bag. I still have to pack, I almost forgot. I pull out a duffle bag from under my bed that doesn't smell from sweaty socks and dirty cleats. I throw in a few shirts, shorts, socks, and boxers and get the toiletries necessary. I make sure to have sunscreen because I turn into a lobster when I sunburn.

I check to see if my dad is coming before opening my desk's bottom drawer. From under a couple notebooks I pull out Twinkies, candy bars, and chip bags. This is another one of my loves that my father disapproves of. He limits my junk food consumption but the best thing about this trip is that I can eat as much of whatever the hell I want. I look at my stash and find myself wondering if Jade would like anything. Maybe LifeSavors? Who doesn't love LifeSavors? I add a pack to my selection and zip up my bag after stuffing all of my food in. I take out a back of gummy worms before closing my drawer and I rip it open as I collapse onto my bed.

I'm really doing a poor job of trying to figure out Jade. Most people are like open books to me but she's so obscure. One moment I can feel she's at the verge of being friendly but next thing I know she's as solid as a statue telling me not to talk to her anymore. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm just coming towards her too quick. She did just move here and I'm a complete stranger. Maybe she's into that stranger danger sort of thing. Maybe I creep her out. Maybe she just doesn't like me. Maybe it's because I'm Irish. Maybe maybe maybe. I want answers. Suddenly, as I stare at my blank ceiling wondering, I come up with a great yet creepy idea.

Assuming that everyone must have a Facebook (that they've hopefully abandoned) I figure I could find her account (hoping it won't be private) and find pieces of her personality that I can start off with. I could find some of her interests so I can spark a conversation easier or get her to at least be interested in talking to me. I really don't care what Alex has got to say, I'm drawn to her by curiosity and I will talk to her.

I go straight to my Facebook app on my phone, ignoring a message from Kayla, and look for Alex in my friends list. Immediately I search up Jade praying there is only one Jade in his list because I don't even know her last name. Unfortunately, three results come up and my brain begins to hurt. When I'm beginning to decide not to figure out if any of them are her, I recognize a familiar smile. A smile that forms one deep dimple on the right side of her face and curves her beautiful lips into a perfect shape. Her smile is way bigger than I've ever personally seen but from the similar small one I've experienced, it's undoubtedly hers. My Jade's I mean. Well, she's not "my" Jade I mean Jade. In this picture she has a streak of blue in her bangs that doesn't exist anymore so obviously this picture is old. Yet I feel strange when I see a guy in the picture with her smiling as well with one of his arms around her. He has long blonde hair that sweeps over his forehead. I wonder who he is. I tap on "Jade Carmello" and it leads me to her page.

I can see from her last post that she hasn't been active for about two years. My curiosity brings me to her photos where I'm horrified to see more pictures of that one boy and her smiling, making funny faces, having fun. I find out his name is Luke Hemmings from one of the tags and I stop myself from clicking his name to investigate him more. She looks like she was having a blast back then, I wonder if he was her boyfriend and what happened to her to make her become so conserved. How did he make her so happy? I find it difficult to do that and I usually put a smile on everyone's face almost effortlessly. I can't help but envy him and want to make her smile the way he does.

From what I see in her pictures, I can tell she went to the beach a lot and in an effort to get away from her Luke pictures, I find an album of some soccer pictures of her and her old team. The fact that she likes or at least liked soccer puts a smile on my face because now I know we have something in common. She looks younger for sure and I can see her face better when her hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Despite the sweat drizzled on her face, she still looks lovely. After seeing about 13 pictures, I move on to her info section to find she hasn't really updated much. Her birthday is on July 15th which is soon and it also says she likes Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Coldplay, The Script, and Linkin Park. She has pretty awesome taste in music if this is what she still likes.

I approve of her music interest and scroll through her timeline to see things she did before deciding to abandon Facebook. She mostly posted about her soccer games and also had a few things to say about hanging out with her friends in their garage. What catches my eyes is a status mentioning her parents. It states "I'm so fucking done with my parents, why can't they just leave me alone they always have to be on my ass. Someone help me." My wonder for her parents raises again and I really want to know what happened, but I know that will have to be answered later.

I continue to scroll and come across another picture of her and Luke. This time he is giving her a piggyback ride and I start to boil inside. As I try to scroll down the page I accidentally press the like button. My eyes widen and my mind jumps when I realized what the hell I just did. I take back my like but remember that Facebook notifies you when someone likes your photo even if that person takes it back.

My heart begins to race as I slam my phone on my bed and put my hands on my forehead which is burning hot now. Shit that's going to be embarrassing when she finds out, if she finds out. She will seriously think I'm a creeper now. There goes my casual idea to real her in by what she is interested in because now she will know where I got the information from. Gosh why do I always have to mess things up.

I close my eyes and wish I would've just never went on her page in the first place. I can't help but think how weirded out she will be when she sees I was on her Facebook liking her picture from two years ago. She will know I stalked her and then she will hate me even more. Will she confront me about it? Oh gosh what will my excuse be? The scenario turns into a swarm of panic in my mind. I'm just glad I found some answers about Jade to questions that I wouldn't have had the guts to ask her myself. She likes soccer, beaches, Luke, rock music, and was edgy about her parents. We should get along just fine.

Her smile flashes behind my eyelids. A chuckle escapes from my lips. Damn I'm truly an idiot. Even though I'm nervous to see her tomorrow, I still can't wait.