Dare || m.c.

➵ 2.5 - jade

Jade stopped breathing. She literally stopped breathing for at least four seconds.

"Luke and Calum dared me to get your number. That's why I talked to you."

What the fuck was this? Jade recoiled away from Michael, feeling betrayed and disgusted. And stupid. More than anything, she felt stupid. This was the exact reason she hadn't wanted to trust Michael. This fear of having her trust broken yet again was the reason she had put up so many walls. She knew what it felt like to trust someone and she knew what it felt like when those people took that trust for granted.

"Why?" That was the first thing that came out of Jade's mouth.

"I'm sorry," Michael said. "I know I shouldn't have done it, but I'm an idiot and I did it anyway. I'm sorry."

That wasn't a reason and it didn't answer Jade's question. She didn't even know what she was asking an explanation for. For treating her like a conquest? For tricking her into trusting him? For breaking her even more when she was far too broken to begin with? For making a fool out of her? She didn't know.

"Don't be sorry, Michael," Jade said, her voice dripping with malicious sarcasm. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You did exactly what I had assumed from day one you would do. I was nothing more than a fucking gamble for you. I'm the one who needs to be sorry. I knew what you would do and I let myself be fooled. I'm the fucking idiot who opened up to you, shared the biggest truth of my life with you. I'm the one who got blinded by the idea of maybe having another friend." Jade felt her eyes get wet, but she wouldn't cry. She would not shed a single fucking tear over this prick. She just wouldn't.

"I can't having any fucking friends. Do you see that now?" she said, keeping her voice low. She wouldn't yell, either. He wasn't worth it. He didn't deserve to see how much he had hurt her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "All they do is make you trust them and then they stab you. That's why I didn't want to trust you. Because I know what trust is, Michael. It's when you rely on someone else, when you count on someone else, and hope that they won't hurt you. But they do. They always fucking hurt you. I hope you're happy now, Michael. I hope Luke and Calum give you whatever they promised to give you. Because congratulations, you got my number."

"I'm sorry, Little Mermaid," Michael said, running his bandaged hand through his hair, pissing Jade off even more. "I-"

"Don't ever call me that again," Jade hissed, gritting her teeth.

"Jade," Michael tried again. "Look, I know you're angry and you have every right to be, but please listen to me."

"No." She wouldn't make that mistake again. Ever. She still had enough working brain cells to know how disastrous that would be. And how incredibly idiotic. "I never should've listened to anything you had to say. Look at me now, Michael."

Jade gestured down to herself. She was wearing dark jeans and one of Ashton's shirt. But that wasn't what she was referring to. She was pointing out her tired and exhausted appearance. She knew she looked like shit before she came here and now she probably looked worse. "This is what happens when you trust people, when you think you mean something to them. My parents? The ones who raised me? Yeah, they loved me. At this point I don't understand why they did. Because the parents responsible for my birth? They didn't give a shit about me. My birth mother emailed me today and I know she knows who I am, but you know what? She didn't even acknowledge it. Her email sounded formal and robotic, like she couldn't care less about me. But why am I telling you this? Why do I want to share my life with you? Oh, wait, you said you were my friend."

"Jade-"

"Fuck you, Michael," Jade cut him off. She turned around and walked away from him, stalking out of the woods. They didn't feel inviting anymore. She felt trapped, like she couldn't get far enough away from Michael. She could feel her throat tightening, the tears making their way to her eyes, but she couldn't cry yet. That was another thing she hated Michael for. He was the one to make her think that it was okay to cry and now she wanted to cry because of him. How messed up was that? Jade walked into Ashton's house and went straight to her room, ignoring Ashton as he asked her why she looked pissed off. She carefully locked the door,