Dare || m.c.

➵ 2.7 - jade

This was such an awkward chapter to write omg it took me weeks jfc enjoy feel free to cringe I apologize in advance this is so bad
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Nothing, absolutely nothing, could prepare Jade for her first meeting with the woman who gave birth to her. It was a surreal thing to think about. She had always believed Elizabeth to be her mother; she had no reason to think otherwise, but now she knew better. Even though she would always think of Elizabeth as her mom, there was no denying that she wasn't Jade's actual mother.

The closer Sheila's house got, the more nervous Jade became. Blink was playing quietly in the car, but unlike any other time, Jade was hardly paying any attention to the words. She kept imagining different scenarios in her head- what would Sheila say, how would she greet Jade, what would Jade say. She didn't know what to expect. She didn't even know what her mother looked like.

Now that she thought about it, she should've noticed it earlier. Of course, she never had any reason to doubt her relationship to her parents, but now their physical traits seemed a bit of an enigma. Sure, genetics can play tricks and there's a lot of bullshit with dominant and recessive genes and which one gets expressed and whatnot, but still. Neither Chris nor Elizabeth had red hair; Elizabeth had just the tiniest bit of auburn in her hair and maybe that could be held accountable for Jade's bright red. Neither of them had green eyes; they both had blue. Both of them were pretty tall, while Jade was a mere 5'5", but that wasn't anything outrageous. Lots of tall people had short kids, and vice versa.

"Ready?" Ashton asked, jolting Jade out of her brooding thoughts. The car was slowing down to a stop in front of a cheery looking house. The outside was painted white and red, with little flower pots lining the walkway. The front lawn was gorgeous and lively, giving the whole place a welcoming vibe.

"No," Jade said, absently running her fingers through her somewhat angled hair. "What am I even supposed to say to her?" She really should've thought this through and planned out what would happen. She didn't want to seem like a lost teenager, even though she was. She wanted Sheila to see that just because she didn't want Jade, that didn't mean that no one wanted her. She wanted her to know that Jade had two amazing people she called Mom and Dad.

"Just-" Ashton stopped, also at a loss for words. "Fuck, I don't know. You don't have to do this now if you're not ready."

"I know, but I'll never be ready, Ash. I just want to meet her once so I can say I didn't disregard something my mom wanted me to do. I'd rather never do this, but I have to."

Truth was, as much as Jade didn't want to meet her mother, she was insanely curious. For many things. The most important of them being why Sheila and her biological father hadn't kept her. What was so awful and horrendous about Jade that they felt the need to give her away? Jade really wanted to know, because the life she had lived with Chris and Elizabeth was filled with love and affection. If two strangers could take her in and love her like their own flesh and blood, then couldn't her birth parents do the same?

Ashton parked the car outside what was supposed to be Sheila's house and looked at Jade, his eyes burning a hole through hers. Jade could see he was preparing to give a long, sentimental speech that she didn't need to hear, well she did but she didn't want to, so she interrupted him before he could even say something.

"I know what you're going to say, so you don't have to, Ash," she said. "I don't care what she has to say. I'm not going to think of myself as worthless or some shit like that just because she didn't love me enough to keep me. Mom and Dad loved me and now because of some twist of fate, you're technically my brother." Jade smiled at Ashton. "If anything, I should thank this woman."

"I've told you I love you, right?" Ashton said, a tiny smile on his lips.

"Yeah," answered Jade. She opened the passenger side door and stepped out of the car. "Let's do this."