× Mercury

It was the last day before winter break and I honestly couldn't be more excited. Christmas was a little over a week away and I could already smell all the goodies Grandma was baking up.

Environmental Science was the last class of the day, and I was currently sitting in the back corner as I tapped my pencil against my lips, staring down at the test in front of me. Because it was the last day before winter break, that meant finals. I had been studying nonstop between soccer practices, my job at The Courtyard Bar, and any routine phone calls back home. I was pretty confident in my classes to keep up my GPA, but the thing was... environmental science was so boring.

"What the hell is chlorofluorocarbon?" I whispered to myself.

I get that climate change, biodiversity management, pollution control, population dynamics, and ecosystems are very important, but I honestly didn't really care. I reduce, reuse and recycle, I turn the lights off when I'm not using it, I wait until I have a full load of laundry, I take short showers... but that didn't mean I had to learn the ecosystem of a pigeon. But I had to because it was either this or biology, and I had dissected one too many animals in my life to go into biology.

Eventually I finished the test (to the best of my knowledge) and turned it in at the desk in the front of the room and left, making my way to the registration office.

After talking to Thomas in the art building, I got to thinking and knew that he was right. I needed a backup in case something was to happen to me in the future, especially with the history of my ankle. So I decided photography. I could have registered online, but I had questions. Like if I needed any other classes to get the degree or not.

Unfortunately, I did, as I expected. However, I already did some of the requirement classes when I was taking my electives, like Art History and 2D Design. I still needed to take 3D Design and Photojournalism as well as the photography class, though. Next semester was going to be packed full; my job at The Courtyard Bar schedule might have to leave my calendar for good.

After I went to the registration office and secured my spots, instead of leaving to my dorm so I could pack, I turned left to the building next door and dug out my camera from my backpack. When I stepped through the door of the dark room, I paused in the doorway.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here," I said and began exiting.

"No, wait, it's just me," Liam said, turning away from his work. "It's my fault anyways; I didn't put the sign up saying it was occupied. Come in if you want."

I was hesitant, but I really wanted to print my work and show Grandma for Christmas. So I stepped inside and plopped my backpack on a table and got started. It wasn't until I was placing the first photograph in the solution did I discover Liam and I weren't the only ones in the room.

"I'm hungry," the little boy said, tugging on Liam's shirt.

From the sound of the new, much higher voice in the small space, I jumped. The kid seemed to be around the age of seven, though it was hard to tell in the dim lighting.

"I'm almost done," Liam assured him. "Then we can go to McDonald's."

The boy huffed with a pout and crossed his arms.

I ignored them the best I could and continued my work. I should have brought earplugs and listened to some music, but this was kind of a spur of a moment and hadn't thought to bring them with. But it didn't seem to matter as time quickly passed and the next thing I knew it had been an hour.

Removing the image from the chemicals, I walked over to the clothesline and pinned the last photograph up to dry. When I turned back around, I nearly tripped on the little boy who was right behind me.

"You're Lynn Mercury," he said, looking at me like I was a real G.I. Joe doll.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I didn't like kids. I didn't know how I was supposed to treat them or what I could say to them. So seeing this little boy look at me like that put me in the worst possible position ever.

"Jonah, stop staring," Liam said. "Sorry, he's kind of a big fan of yours."

"No, it's okay," I said, even if it was a little uncomfortable. "I'm finishing up here and then I'm leaving. I'm going back to California and I've never been happier to not have practice for a whole week."

"You don't like practice?" the little boy pressed.

Liam grabbed Jonah's hand and dragged him away from me. "I'm sure it gets tiring, Joe. Everyone deserves a break."

The boy didn't take the hint to shut up because he had removed his hand from Liam's and walked over to me again. This time his face wasn't full of amazement, but of curiosity. Jonah was clearly pushy and not shy in the least, and I had a strange feeling that he could easily get me to spill any secret with those wide, brown eyes of his.

"I watched your last game on the telly," he said, his voice high with interest. His shaggy brown hair was falling into his eyes and he quickly brushed it away before continuing. "You won, but you seemed really mad..."

"Jonah," Liam warned.

I only smiled at the boy, because he was right. It could have easily been noted because I had gotten a bloody nose and was forced off the field, not to mention the game ended up in a stressful shoot-out, but this little kid seemed to look right through that and see.

"I was angry," I confirmed. "I wasn't scoring any goals and I was fed up with myself."

"You shouldn't play soccer just to win," he said, his brown eyes wide. "You should be playing it because it's your passion. Just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to do it."

Liam walked over to the boy and handed him some money. "How about you go out in the hall and get a snack from the vending machine. I'll meet you out there as soon as I clean up, okay?"

The boy took the money and skipped out the door and down the hall like he didn't just turn my whole world upside down.

This kid I had only talked to for a moment was telling me something I couldn't seem to grasp until that very moment. I enjoyed soccer, really. But lately... I shrugged off the thought, coming to the conclusion that I only felt like that because of the stress I was under.

"Sorry about that," Liam said sheepishly. "My cousin can get pretty nosey."

"Your cousin is pretty wise," I told him. "I probably tarnished the image he had of me because of this. I'm really not all about winning, I've just been under a lot of stress and it's taking a toll on me."

"I don't think it's tarnished. Like you said, he's wise. He'll only think of you as human."

I smiled at that and finished up what I was doing before helping Liam clean up. A few minutes later, we were walking out of the room together, finding Jonah eating a chocolate bar on a bench.

"Oh!" Liam said. "I almost forgot. I have something for you."

I watched as Liam sat his backpack next to Jonah on the bench and dug in the opening. He pulled out a white envelope and handed it to me. Before he could explain, I opened the flap and looked inside. They were my pictures I had developed the last time I was in the darkroom. I had completely forgotten them considering I was in a rush to get out of there for that stupid wedding I had to attend.

"You left them," Liam explained. "I knew it wasn't my responsibility, but I figured you would want them back and I wasn't so sure they would still be here the next day."

I smiled at him. "Thank you."

Liam rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I also... uh, showed them to someone. Her name is Kathleen and-"

"You what?"

The panic in his eyes was unmistakable, clearly knowing this conversation wasn't going to go well. "It wasn't my intention, I swear. But when I was with her, she saw the envelop and took a look thinking they were mine. I never would have shown her without your permission, you have to know that. Please don't be mad."

I didn't answer him, not really sure how to voice how I felt about this. I believed him, he seemed sincere enough, but my photographs were my property. They were like a diary to me. I didn't mind so much when Liam saw them, but this was different somehow...

"I'm not sure if you care," Liam continued. "But Kathleen's a professional photographer. She said your pictures were incredible."

"Really?"

Liam nodded. "Yeah, and Kathleen wants to meet you. She owns a gallery and wants to talk to you about putting some of your work up in her show."

My brows rose in surprise. "What!?"

"It's nothing to decide right now," Liam told me as he dug in his backpack again, taking out a business card and handing it to me. "But I think you should at least talk to her."

The business card was clean and easy to read. The italic white lettering read: Kathleen Morita, gallery owner and photographer with a phone number, address, website, and email. The museum wasn't too far away from here; maybe I could stop by one day and check the place out.

× × ×

I was on my way back to my dorm, walking by the fitness center on campus, when I heard someone calling after me. I turned around to see Coach bundled up in a navy blue coat. From the look on his face, I knew it wasn't good that he was yelling after me.

I stuffed my hands in my jacket pocket and said, "I swear to God, Coach, if there is a surprise practice-"

Coach laughed, interrupting me. "No, no, this isn't for practice," he assured. "I know how much this break means to everyone so I wouldn't do that to you. But I do need to tell you some bad news."

It was a habit of mine to instantly overthink everything when someone says "bad news" to me. So I immediately started thinking the worst: Was I kicked off the team? Was he resigning his coach position? Was I being knocked down to second string? Did he find out about Niall and I?

"It's about the trip to California," Coach explained.

My heartbeat settled down, knowing the bad news had nothing to do with soccer.

Coach's plan was to go to California with me, saying he had some friends over there that he would like to catch up with. He didn't plan on staying the whole break, but we had booked the same flight with seats next to each other nevertheless. If I was being honest, I wasn't really looking forward to an eleven hour flight with the man who screams at me for a living.

"It turns out my plans fell through and I won't be able to go with you," he said as he started digging in his pocket. He handed me a white piece of paper. "Here's my ticket, why don't you invite a friend to go with you."

I stared at the ticket in his hands. "Why don't you just refund it?"

"I tried and it's too late for that. I'd hate to see it go to waste."

Reluctantly, I took the ticket from him. "It's kind of late to invite anyone with me," I told him. "People already have plans for Christmas."

Coach shrugged. "Why don't you ask Jace? He always stays on campus for the break."

I thought about that for a moment. Bringing Jace might be a good thing. It would mean that Jamie could see him and maybe they can fix things after the whole Hazel situation happened. Besides, Jace had always wanted to go to California again...

"Whatever you decide is up to you, Lynn," Coach said before he started walking away. "But invite someone on my behalf."

Once Coach was gone, I stuffed the ticket in my back pocket and took out my phone, calling Jace. Once he answered I asked where he was and that I had a surprise for him.

The place was quiet, even for a library. But it made sense because finals were done so there wasn't any need to study, and mostly everyone had left for the holidays already. There wasn't anyone around aside from the librarian putting books away from a cart in the corner of the room and I wondered if Jace had left. But as I made my way through the room, I saw him at one of the computer stations, leaning back in the chair and legs propped up on the desk beside him.

Jace didn't notice me until I was right beside him, and his bright blue eyes looked up at me. "What's my surprise?" he asked, a wicked grin on his face. "An early Christmas present, perhaps?"

I removed his feet from the desk and took the chair beside him. "Something like that."

Jace looked at me suspiciously. "What is it?"

I pulled out the ticket Coach gave me and slide it across the desk to him. I watched as he took the ticket from the table.

"Lynn, I don't-"

I put my hand up to hush him. "It's already paid for. Free flight there and back, all you have to do is start packing because the flight leaves tomorrow."

The excitement that I had imagined Jace would be feeling didn't seem to show. Either he had a really, really good poker face, or he already had plans. It seemed that the latter was correct.

"I'm sorry, Lynn," Jace started and slid the ticket back to me. "I already have some place to go for Christmas. I leave in a few days."

"Oh," I said, trying my best to hide my disappointment. It was a long shot, but I just figured I would take Coach by his word and assume that Jace didn't have any plans. I should have known better.

Jace leaned forward, his black hair pushed back from his face and his ridiculously piercing blue eyes looked at me. "I don't know how you got ahold of an extra ticket," he started. "But I do know that Niall doesn't have any plans for Christmas. I think you should fancy giving him a visit."

"I don't think that's a very good idea," I confessed.

He shrugged. "Maybe, but he's in his room if you change your mind."

× × ×

Thirty minutes later I was standing outside Niall's room, knocking on the door. It was around seven in the evening and the Newman building was deserted, but I knew Niall was inside from the light shining through the bottom of the door.

I ended up knocking once more, a little pissed off that I walked all over campus today only to end up here and he wouldn't even open the goddamn door.

Not even a moment later, the door opened and Niall appeared. I wasn't really sure what to take in first, so I started with his clothes. He was shirtless, first of all, so there wasn't really much of an outfit. He was wearing black sweat pants that hung dangerously low on his hips, his white Calvin Klein's peeking out above the waistband. My eyes trailed up his torso, slowly passing his slight happy trail, and up to his freckled neck. His blonde hair that was getting rather long and losing its usual blonde was a mess, like he was running his fingers through it nonstop. And then his eyes. I had never seen someone who looked more tired than Niall had then. If four all-nighters in a row had a look, this was it.

I was sure I was being pretty obvious that I was checking him out, but Niall didn't make a narcissistic comment, or asked if I was looking for another round of lust and thrust or some other euphemisms for sex, and that worried me most of all.

"What are you doing here?" His voice didn't have its usual spite, and instead it sounded hoarse like he hadn't spoken to anyone for hours. "Aren't you going home?"

"That's actually why I'm here," I said and pushed myself into his room. He didn't even try to stop me.

His room didn't look much different than the last time I was there; bed was unmade with clothes scattered over the wooden ground. The only difference was the empty beer cans lying on the floor next to the over flowing trash can and a large text book on the nightstand.

"I've got a proposal for you," I said as I spun on my heels to look at him.

A slow smile grew on the corner of his mouth, and I knew I hadn't completely lost him. "A proposal?" he asked as he took a step toward me. "Why don't you get on your knee and try again."

I signed and crossed my arms. I knew this was going to be difficult to ask him to come with me to California, but I haven't even asked the question yet and he was already giving me a hard time.

"That's not what I meant."

"Whatever you say, Princess," he said, his voice light and playful. "What was your proposal since it's not my hand in marriage?"

"Come with me to California."

Niall stood there, staring at me. He was clearly shocked from my request, but he didn't do much to show it. "Okay," he said. "I did not expect that."

"Don't over think it," I said quickly. "Coach was originally going to come with me, but his plans changed and he gave me the ticket to invite someone along. I asked Jace but he already has plans so he mentioned you. I just don't want the ticket to go to waste."

He lulled the information over for a moment. "So, I was your second choice? Jace couldn't go so then you come to me?"

"If you don't want to come, just say so."

"What's the real reason you asked me?" Niall pressed, taking another step to me. "It's not just because you don't want the extra ticket to go to waste."

Niall was only a few feet away, but I didn't let that distract me. Even if his sweat pants were outrageously low on his hips. "No one should spend Christmas at school," I told him. "I know your family in Ireland kind of sucks, so that's why I'm asking you to come with me to LA. Everyone deserves to spend the holidays around people who care."

A grin formed on his lips. "You care?"

"I care that you get the whole Christmas experience." That was a lie, and we both knew it.

"I don't think it's a good idea that I go," he finally answered.

I nodded, even though I hated myself that I was a little disappointed. I started toward the door. "Alright, then I guess I'll see you after break."

When I left, I took the ticket out of my pocket and stared at it. Maybe it was a good thing Niall didn't want to come. If I thought spending eleven hours next to Coach was going to be bad, I couldn't even imagine what it would be like sitting beside Niall for that long.

I wasn't even halfway down the hallway when I heard Niall yell after me. "You're so unpredictable, Lynn, it's actually bloody ridiculous." He was leaning against his doorway, looking me up and down. "I'll go to California with you."

"Really?"

"Why not? I didn't have many complaints when I was there the first time. Well, aside from meeting you, of course," he grinned.

"What made you change your mind?"

"I started a new theory."

There wasn't a doubt that Niall had theories, many, many, theories, but this was probably the one I was most curious about. What kind of theory would make him change his mind from not spending Christmas with me, to spending it with me? And then I wondered how many of his theories revolved around me...

"Plane leaves at eight in the morning," I said before walking away to start my packing.