Hey you guys! It's StylishFashionista, and I am here with a new chapter! Miss Miami ended. ;( But on the bright side, that means I have more time for this story! I really wanted to update this before I have to leave for camp tomorrow, so I'm sorry if it was super late. Anyways, that's all I have to say right now, so let's just go straight to reviews!

Junatina-Thank you so much! Honestly, I would've been fine with both teams winning, and I'm happy with both performances. :)

Bonjour10-Germany has been great and Neuer is one of my favorite goalies ever. I hope the US will win in 2018 (even though I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen... :/). I know soccer still exists. I watch major league soccer religiously, and like I told you, I'm planning to go to the Women's World Cup in Canada. Well Jarrett is just that adorable! ;) Too bad Jasmine can't break it... I hate Garrett's mom as well. She's sinister, but you're right. Her clothes are quite useful. ;) Thanks so much!

StoryToBeToldAsOne-I see you're excited. ;) I honestly have no clue where it would be. We need to do some research. XD Thanks so much! Hahaha yes it does have something to do with the Skype conversation. I may add a love interest since you deserve one. ;) And yes, an almost kiss. ;)

LoveYouForeverAndMore-Thank you so much!

ABC-Writer-Thank you so much! I know whether they will come in the story or not but I don't want to say!

JarrettorForever-Thank you so much!

TheMisteryGirl007-Thank you so much!

Guest-Thank you so much!

Guest-I am updating noooooooooooooooooow! Thanks!

*insert disclaimer here*

Garrett's dad thought that we did a great job in trading that day, so he basically designated us to go to trade every single Friday. Garrett didn't bother to tell him about how he saw his mother, and our lips were definitely sealed about the almost kiss. I asked Garrett why he didn't want to tell his father about his mother, and he looked at me as if it was obvious.

"Are you kidding me?" he whispered harshly. "I can't tell him! He'd freak out!"

"But he's your dad!" I whispered harshly back. "He deserves to know! I mean, it's his ex-wife for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, and that's the problem," Garrett told me, surprisingly calm. He sighed. "Look, whatever you do, do not tell my dad about anything that happened today. He may be nice, but if he figured out about my mom or the fact that," he leaned in and whispered into my ear, "we almost kissed," he then leaned back, "he will turn into a monster."

I didn't question it after that. Garrett's dad was very nice; I didn't want to see his mean side yet. I just relented and sighed, making sure to not mention it at all.

A month later, while we were trading at the post office for some paper, ink, and feathers, a teenage boy working there asked for my name. He was very cute. He wasn't as cute as Garrett, but he was still very cute. He had brown hair just like mine and big brown eyes. I smiled at him.

"I'm Jasmine," I said, trying to act cute and nonchalant. "How about you?"

His eyes widened. "You're Jasmine?"

I nodded, narrowing my eyes in confusion. "Yes. Why?"

"I've been looking for you for quite a while now," he told me, passing me some letters. I took them. There were about five of them, and all of them were addressed to me.

"Thank you," I said politely. "Is this the only reason why you were looking for me?"

He tilted his head. "Kind of, since I saw your house burned down while I was delivering letters. Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. I'm living with Garrett and his dad."

I motioned to Garrett who was looking at the different types of paper, and the boy nodded. I then smiled at him and waved goodbye, before flipping through the letters. Most of them were actually for my parents: catalogs for furniture and clothes, grocery coupons, and other things that were irrelevant to me. However, one came from Washington DC, and my eyes widened as I read who it was from. The Union army. I immediately placed it on the bottom of the pile as Garrett approached me.

"You got some letters?" he asked me. I nodded, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Are there any important ones?"

My mind automatically thought of the one from the Union army, but I shook my head impulsively. I didn't know why I didn't want to tell him; Garrett trusted me when he told me about his mother, so shouldn't I have returned the favor? But he didn't know why I was staying with him; he wouldn't understand. So I just smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, Garrett. They're just a bunch of coupons and catalogs."

"Any clothes catalogs?" Garrett raised his eyebrows teasingly. "I know you want them."

I rolled my eyes jokingly and said, "I'm going to give them to your dad, okay?"

He scoffed jokingly and wrapped his arm around me. "Sounds good to me. Come on though. We're out of shoes because my dad wasted all of his paper, so we should go home."

I nodded in agreement as we started walking back home. No matter how much I would've rather had thought of how Garrett's arm was wrapped around me with ease, my mind kept thinking about the letter. I knew the letter was most likely about my mom and dad dying, but if I already knew that, why did they have to remind me? I was doing decent with Garrett and his dad, but of course my previous life had to catch up to me. It wasn't that I didn't miss my mom and dad though - I thought about them everyday - but I didn't want to deal with this right now. My heart was in my stomach right now, beating harder than I had ever felt before. Was it out of fear? Out of sadness?

I was pretty sure that Garrett caught my uneasiness, because he asked, "Jasmine, are you okay?"

I hastily nodded. "Of course I'm okay!" I exclaimed. "Why would you think I'm not?"

"Because you seem pretty dazed," Garrett explained, chuckling slightly. "I asked you a question three times and you didn't answer. Plus, you were just staring out into space."

"Oh," my mouth formed into an o; I found myself blushing with embarrassment. "Sorry about that. What did you want to ask me?"

"Do you need any shoes?" he asked me. "My dad sometimes makes girls shoes, and today was one of those days. That, and your shoes are a muddy mess."

I looked down; he was right. I didn't need new ones, but a new pair of leather flats would be nice to have. I shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. He can sell them if he wants."

"You sure?" Garrett asked, stopping and looking into my brown eyes. I felt myself get lost in his sapphire blue eyes, but then I shook my head and blinked.

"Seriously," I smiled reassuringly again. "I'm fine with my shoes." I looked down, and I tried to stop my face from scrunching up with disgust. Okay, yes, I really wanted new shoes. But that would cut out of my time to read that letter. Quickly, I slipped it subtly in my bodice so then I wouldn't have to give it to Garrett's father as we approached the shoe store. Once we walked in, Garrett's dad's face lit up. I looked next to him to see a customer. Oh, now I get it.

Quickly changing into saleswoman-mode (practice really helped that), I beamed at the customer and said, "Hi there. Is there anything specific you're looking for?"

He growled at me, and I almost felt like snapping at him, but I refrained myself from doing it. No one growls at me like that!

"He claims that we don't sell the kind of shoes that he wants," Garrett's dad explained; I could tell he was internally rolling his eyes.

"Well, what kind of shoe do you want?" Garrett asked, stepping forward. "I'm sure that we can find something for you that suits your liking."

"No you cannot!" he exclaimed. He then announced that he was going to leave and buy the shoes he wanted somewhere else, huffing and then storming out of the store. We looked after him strangely.

"Well," Garrett started, pressing his lips together, "that was interesting."

"Definitely a special person," I added, pretending to be hesitant.

"Well, kids, that's what you call a cranky teacher," Garrett's dad said, and we all laughed slightly and nodded at that. I then looked down and remembered the letters in my hands (and the one still in my bodice). I handed them to his dad and told them that they were catalogs and coupons. He thanked me before closing the store (apparently that cranky customer was too much), and then I rushed to our house and up to my bedroom afterwards to read the last letter. I was so anxious. A letter from the Union army? I was so scared to open it, even though I knew I had to.

Finally, I impulsively ripped through the envelope, my breath hitching as I did. I set the envelope aside as I grabbed the letter inside. I took a deep breath before folding the letter open and starting to read it.

To whom it may concern,

I am sorry to inform you that two of your relatives recently died at the Battle of Gettysburg fighting for the Union. They put up a hard fight, but sadly they had to leave us. I am sure that they are living in heaven looking down upon you. There is a funeral scheduled for them on July 17 at 5:00 PM at the Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC. You are welcome to attend and speak. I am sorry for your lost, and I wish you and your loved ones the best.

Sincerely,

Ulysses S. Grant

I let out a breath that I wasn't even aware I was holding until then. A funeral for my parents. That sounded very tempting, but that would mean that I would have to tell both Garrett and his dad about what happened to my parents. But the funeral was in a few days. I really wanted to go. Maybe I could've convinced them?

No. I had to tell them if I wanted to go. And I wanted to go a whole lot.

I ran downstairs to see both Garrett and Garrett's dad there. I took another deep breath. How was I supposed to tell them? They both greeted me happily, and that only made me feel guiltier. I have to tell them, I kept repeating to myself.

And eventually, I did.

"Hey, you guys, you want to know the reason I was homeless?"

Okay, maybe I should've thought that out a bit more.

Garrett was the first to respond, exclaiming with shock, "Wait, you were homeless?" However, Garrett's dad just nodded, motioning me to continue. I felt super bad for not telling Garrett, but I continued anyway.

"Well, my parents died in the Battle of Gettysburg, so..."

"YOUR PARENTS DIED?!" Garrett exclaimed, and at that moment, I wanted to shrivel up into a raisin. Well, not in that way, since raisins were super wrinkly and disgusting, but I just wanted to disappear.

"And I kind of wanted to go to their funeral at DC?" I ended, making it sound like I question at the end. Truth was, I was super scared, and I felt super bad about everything. Why didn't I tell them everything in the beginning? I mentally scolded myself at that.

Garrett's dad smiled, to my shock. "Sure. Why not? It's not like any of us have anything better to do."

I smiled better at that. I didn't know whether it was forced or not. However, I felt absolutely horrible as I watched Garrett storm off, walking upstairs and slamming the door behind him.

I sighed. Garrett's dad tried to give me a reassuring smile and to apologize about Garrett, but I cut him off, putting a hand up and saying, "It's okay. It's not his fault; it's mine. Don't apologized."

I sighed once more, combing through my long, brown hair. Okay, maybe this was really bad timing.

Thank you guys so much for reading the chapter. I really hoped you guys enjoyed it; I really wanted to have a good chapter up before I left! Anyways, if you guys liked it, make sure to leave a review! Can we please hit 50 reviews? Thank you all so much, and I will see you next time!