Adore

Chapter 3

Tuesday was a pretty hum drum day. I didn't have any classes so all I did was sit in my room and relax drifting in and out of sleep before having to go coach the volleyball team that evening. Wednesday wasn't much different from Tuesday, except I actually had classes. Now here I am, lying in my small room on a Thursday night and I can't sleep. It's almost 3:30 in the morning and I'm wide awake. I have to be up in no more than five hours so I can get ready to go to the beach with everyone but at this rate, I'll be lucky to get two hours.

My ceiling illuminates as my phone goes off letting me know I have received a text message.

Niall:
You still up?

Why on earth would he think I'm still awake at this time? Besides the fact that I am.

Me:
Yeah, I am. What's up?

Niall:
I didn't wake you did I?

Me:
Don't be silly, I can't sleep.

Niall:
Come outside.

Without much of a second thought, I threw off my sheets and snuck my way down the stairs. One of the rules here is to respect curfew and not sneak out because we need to be mindful of the others in the house. I never pay attention to them. The door creaks open a bit as I open it but no one seems to wake up and see what's going on. I look ahead of me after closing the door to see the boy standing outside his car. "What are you doing here?" I say to him trying  to keep my voice down.

He just shrugged at me. "I didn't know what else to do and I'm just like you," he smiles at me, leaving me confused. "I can't sleep."

I nod to him with a laugh. "What do you expect me to do?"

"I just want to hang out with someone. Is that such a crime?" I shook my head at him. "Let's go back to the park we were at on Monday."

"Don't you think that's not very safe?" I fold my arms across my abdomen.

He throws his arm over my shoulders. "I'll protect you," he shows me a smug smile.

"I don't need you to protect me. I'm just saying parks usually aren't too safe at this time," I try not to laugh at the idea of him protecting me. I could defend myself on my own but he doesn't know me too well yet.

I sit in the passenger seat of his car as he starts it. The drive was rather quiet except for the radio playing. When he parked the car, he told me to not get out yet as he rushed around to open my door. I accepted his kind gesture but it bothered me. "You didn't need to do that," I say as I get out of the car.

"I wanted to," he closes the door.

"Well, don't. I can do things on my own too."

"Okay, okay," he puts his hands up as if he's surrendering to me.

We eventually decide to lay in the grass on the field and just talk for a bit. He tells me all about how his parents were divorced and as much as he loves his mom, he doesn't think he'll ever forgive her for what happened. When I asked him about it, he didn't really say too much just that he hasn't seen her in awhile and doesn't plan on it. After he's spun his story to me, he asks about mine. Thinking about how I grew up compared to him made me realize how different the two of us were but we were also had similarities.

"We seem like almost exact opposites," he tells me after I finish.

"Yeah," I chuckle a bit. "But if you think about it, I'm not sure how different we are." We both sat up to face each other and I met Niall's confused face. "I mean, we both grew up to be independent, right? Sure, a lot was handed to me that you didn't have but I learned how to work for things on my own, like you."