Seeing All or Nothing
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Chapter 2: Lost Matters
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"I can't believe I agreed to this," I muttered angrily, pulling my jacket's hood up and over my head.
"All we're doing is walking to the park." Kado said nonchalantly, a smile lighting his features.
"To play soccer." I finished, "Why? I suck at soccer."
"You wanted to know what sport I played the other day, remember?" he questioned, repositioning the duffel bag's strap over his shoulder.
We had dropped by his house only a few blocks away to grab a few of his things, and now we were headed to Lincoln Park located very conveniently near the beach. The House of Oren, I had thought wryly, thinking that the beautiful, Spanish-styled house could have even looked like a castle in the midst of all the small condos and whitewashed houses surrounding it.
"And you're thinking a whole lot of sweat and blood is going to get me where?"
He tugged on my scarf playfully, "Warmed up, Mon Cherie."
"Pero tu eres muy molesto, mi amor." I said, fixing my scarf.
He laughed, "Lighten up, Jade."
I glared at him, "I've tried, you know? But every time I see you- all I can think about is my eaten Reese's cup." He laughed again. It was carefree, perfectly like I remembered it. I was addicted to the laughter, to his smile so easily. It felt wrong to join in and ruin it. Although, as much as I was addicted to it, I wanted it to stop. I knew it was wrong to think I could be with him, still. So, I ruined it from intoxicating me. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"
He stopped, his eyes boring into me with an inexplicable expression, as his smile faded. "You like to ruin good moments, don't you?"
"It's just a question." I shrugged, trying to sound innocent. He began to walk faster, his hands once again shoved into his pockets. I paced after him to keep to his side. "Answer me. What's so wrong with that?"
"We broke up a few months ago." He said quietly.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "I'm sorry."
He turned and glared at me, "No, you aren't."
I narrowed my eyes at him, "Don't…you…I…ugh…" All right, so I was at a loss for words. I supposed he was, too, since we continued the walk in silence.
Once Lincoln Park was in view, I scuffled past the small groups of people walking by, avoiding the tennis courts in the meanwhile, and across the street toward the wide, grassy space. The ocean breeze blew against my face as I listened to the waves break against the rocky shore.
"Do you like the ocean?" I asked him, sitting down on the grass and taking off my jacket. I was cold, but I didn't really care anymore. It was a shame to miss so much freedom.
He set the duffel bag on the ground a few feet away from me before unzipping it, "Yeah, I do." I watched as he took out a soccer ball and tossed it toward me. I caught it before it could hit me in the face.
"That's all you had in there?" I said, as he zipped the duffel back up.
He glanced at me, "No, but I wasn't going to carry a soccer ball in my hand for ten blocks."
I rolled my eyes at the exaggeration and stood up, "Let's play, then, amigo." He walked over to me, a small smile on his features before snatching the soccer ball from my numb fingers. I yelped, and he laughed as he dropped the ball to the ground and began to dribble it away from me.
"That's not fair." I said, running after him and trying to steal the soccer ball back. He blocked me from behind and I grumbled, stopping.
"Come on, Jade." He said as he went to a good distance and turned to face me.
"I suck, loser." I retorted, folding my arms across my chest. But in fact, I was the loser.
"I doubt that. You probably have never tried. You're just afraid to get down and dirty." He said, kicking the ball up in the air and grabbing it.
"I…um…" I hesitated and he tossed me the soccer ball.
"You start." He said as I caught it.
"But…" I dropped it to ground, "Um, I… ugh… You better not go easy on me."
He smirked, "I won't." So I began dribbling away from him, constantly looking up then down at the soccer ball. I was gaining good distance away from him as he followed warily. I was growing confident, too, but that was until he slid his foot past me, kicking the ball away from the both of us. I had to skip over him as I nearly collided with him.
"Grass stains come off in the washer, love." He said, running after the soccer ball. I glared at him before coming from the side and bringing the ball towards me and sliding it so that I had to turn around and resume dribbling.
"You know, this one girl kneed me in the gut in elementary during a scrimmage." I said, trying to block him as he came from behind me.
"You must have pissed her off." He remarked as he reached with his foot to kick the ball. I moved it away from him before he could reach it.
"I had already kicked it to a different player." I continued as he ended up running backward in front of me.
"Maybe she just hated you." He smiled and I stumbled, falling forward. He caught me just in time, unfortunately. I had really hoped to fall rather than to drag him along with me. We fell with a thud as my hands grabbed onto his shirt. I yelped and he grunted as his head made contact with the soft ground underneath.
"I'm sorry," I said over and over again, trying to get off of him as I felt my face flush from embarrassment. I stumbled, however, making it harder to stand up. He had shut his eyes for a mere few seconds before opening them up once again to see me sitting above him, my hands still on his chest.
"You're cold." He said. I gazed at him nervously, my hands shaking as I tried to think up a reasonable excuse.
"I'm, I… I told you I sucked…um…" I climbed off of him before reaching out my hand despite what he had said. He took it and I lifted him up with ease since he had hardly pressured his weight on me.
He didn't let go of me, however, but rather covered my hand with both of his own. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Of course," I said awkwardly, reluctantly removing my hand from his warm grip.
"Maybe you should get checked by a doctor." He continued. I shook my head, turning away to stare off at the set of trees that lined the border between the park and the sloped shore where the water flowed beyond it. I squinted, noticing a figure leaning against the trees. In a moment, it disappeared. I widened my eyes, feeling my heart race.
I turned around suddenly, startling Kado and knocking him back slightly. I apologized. "It's nothing, Kado. Honestly, stop worrying."
"Are you sweating at all?" he asked, feeling my forehead. I pushed his hand away. He knew it as well as I did- I wasn't anywhere near perspiring, and I still felt the coldness biting against my skin.
"Just," I stuttered, walking away from, "Leave me alone."
"Jade," he called after me, taking a hold of my arm and turning me around to face him, "Who was that?" I furrowed my eyebrows in bewilderment, but he ignored my irritation and continued, "I know you saw him- by the trees. He just disappeared."
I sighed, "It has nothing to do with you."
"Then whom does it have to do with?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.
"No one." I exclaimed angrily, finally tired of his questions.
"You knew who I was, didn't you?" he remarked. I looked away; "You knew my name when you ran into me in the theatre."
"It was a coincidence." I muttered.
He watched me suspiciously, his hazel eyes clouding over, "Don't lie to me."
I jerked away from his grip on my arm, "What does it have to do with you?" My jacket lay there helplessly on the grass and I swatted it up and shrugged it on.
"It has everything to do with me, now." He retorted, "Apparently… You knew who I was, so then, why don't I know you as well?"
"It's because…you… It wasn't about you." I said, walking away from him.
"I've seen you before," he called. I could hear his footsteps behind me, "Not in the theatre or in the street." I stopped suddenly, then around to face him. "I've seen you…" he ran a hand through his hair.
"Seen me where?" I urged, stepping towards him.
He sighed, "In my dreams."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "When?" He glanced up at me. Before, he had been staring toward the ocean, probably embarrassed. The twinge of pink flushed on his face told me.
"For months, now..." He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. I rubbed my eyes, feeling lost.
I finally looked up at him, "We need to talk."
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I told him nearly everything about what I had gone through: the coma, the "dream", Kenny, Link, the entire Legend of Zelda cast, his character, Isabella, the rest of them, and me. It was hard to explain to him, to tell him what I had been bottling up for so many months. Some reactions I had expected, and others I hadn't. I couldn't imagine how he would react if I told him we had been something in the "dream". I left that part out, and the part about me even giving out a twinge of jealousy when I spoke of Liyanne and Isabella and me in the sidelines. He smiled when he thought of hating Isabella. I knew he still wanted her. There was no doubt about it. I could see it so clearly, so well through his expressions, his small habits.
"You expect me to believe all this?" he said in amazement, running a hand through his hair.
I shrugged, "You wanted to know."
"So, now what?" he snapped, "You're going to wait for this Kenny guy to come and kill you?"
I bit my lip and thought for a moment, "Well, if he gets to me, then what else is there to do? I'm done, Kado. I've been done. I've been living my life fine for seven-straight months. I feel like I've done all I can do. If he comes, he comes."
His eyes narrowed, anger evident in his expression, "You're giving up?"
I flinched from his aggravation, "What does it matter to you?" I lay back on my bed; my legs still crossed Indian-style. Kado appeared in my vision again and I rolled my eyes, trying to look away.
"It matters." He retorted sternly, glaring at me.
I watched him from the corner of my eyes, "You sure are determined."
"I'm not going to let him kill you." He continued, leaning forward so that he was about a foot away from my face.
"Yeah, and get yourself killed in the process. I don't have much time so you should just go. I don't want you in the way." He furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief, shaking his head as he did so.
Maybe I'd said it wrong.
He was quiet for few minutes, as we stared each other down in quiet pleading on my part and stubborn defiance on his. Finally, he stood up. The bed creaked slightly under the loss of weight. I breathed a sigh of relief, as he walked to my bedroom doorway to linger there a few seconds longer, his hand resting on the doorframe.
He turned to me. "You left one thing out in your story, Jade."
"And what was that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
With his voice distant, he answered quietly, "You loved me."
My eyes widened in shock as he turned around and disappeared down the corridor, leaving me alone once again.
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I know, it's short, but I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. The next chapter will dive into the point of the story. Sorry for it being so slow at the moment. And thank you guys once again for all the great reviews! You guys really keep me writing this.
P.S You guys can check my profile for links to the sketches I did for Jade and Kado at zeldalegends and deviantart. Enjoy the crappy art while it lasts. :D
