X. Home
Dedicated to a faithful reader, voter, and commenter - Gladys. She's an amazing writer as well, check her book out!
➳ Kaylee's POV
You could say I've had better days. You know, days when I actually got to see my boyfriend and days when I didn't just get in a fight with my former best friend. The drive home from Dylan's house seemed longer than ever and the silence was deafening. I tried turning on the radio, but it only aggravated my thoughts with those stupid overly poppy songs. I immediately turned it off with a simple slam of my hand on the little button.
Everything was pissing me off tonight because:
A. I hadn't seen Ryan all day after school and he hadn't even shot me a text message or phone call.
B. I was getting hit with a huge red wave if you know what I mean. Let's just say I had a lot in common with Japan's flag.
C. One word. Dylan.
Oh, Dylan. What'd you do to us now? Scratch that. Damn you, Dylan. You screwed everything up now ugh. Things were going so well too! Things were almost back to the way they were before, other than the slight tension between us. But that was inevitable. All Dylan did was piss me off and increase that tension between us by a hundred times. Not to mention the fact that I almost cheated on Ryan. How could I even put myself in that situation? He was such a sweet, loyal boyfriend. I was a terrrible girlfriend.
Sighing, I pulled into my driveway and walked into a slump to my room. No one was home, once again. I missed the days when my sister was still in the house. My parents were always workaholics, but I at least had her. But now, I was all on my own.
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***** Two Weeks Later *****
They say that the name Kaylee can either be related to the words "pure" or "torture". My thoughts were definitely leaning towards the latter.
I am tired. I am hungry. I am angry. I just wanted to strangle someone. It didn't help that I had to go to school. Stupid Dylan and Ryan had consumed my thoughts lately. Ryan had barely talked to me for the past two weeks and don't even get me started on Dylan. I've been avoiding him as much as possible nowadays. Boys suck. And yet, I always went back to them. Stupid girl.
When I saw that Ryan was waiting for me by my locker, I put on the best fake smile I could muster and pretended like everything was fine. When in reality, I was pissed.
"Hey, babe! Haven't talked to you all weekend!!" he greeted.
"Yeah, I've noticed," I muttered under my breath.
He, apparently, didn't hear me and went on smiling like a bumbling fool, as if nothing was messed up about him only contacting me a grand total of two times in a little over fourteen days.
"So how was your -"
I was cut off by his lips on mine. Kill me now, I thought. Can't he carry a simple conversation? Lately, it seemed like he was only into the physical aspects of our relationships and I was getting annoyed. I let him kiss me though, but I refused to kiss back. Things just didn't feel the same anymore. It's funny how everything can change in a matter of a few weeks.
"Ryan, can I talk to you later today please?"
"Yeah, sure babe, you can talk to me when you come over to my place later tonight," he winked.
"But -" I started to protest, but thought better of it. "Fine."
"Atta girl."
"I gotta get to class, see you later!" I rushed as I started to walk away. I didn't even bother kissing his cheek.
I began to take my long trek to English class. Why was our school campus so freaking huge? And don't even get me started on how English was on the third floor. I could practically feel my thighs burning already. As I started up the dreaded stairs, I tripped over my own feet like the genius I was. I flailed my arms in circular motions like a maniac, trying to keep my balance. Of course, that never worked and our school's brilliant architect didn't bother making a handrail in the middle of the wide staircase. So I just kept falling from tripping over my own feet. Great.
But, as it occurred so often in romance novels, a pair of strong arms caught me from my underarms and a familiar scent wafted through my nose. God, how I missed him.
No, no, no! Snap out of it, Kaylee. He crossed boundaries and you can't put myself in that situation again. You are not a cheater.
I pushed myself from him rather roughly, releasing myself from his grasp. Murmuring a brief "thanks", I quickly rushed up the stairs. I knew he wasn't going to let me go that easily though, since I heard his heavy footsteps behind me. He grabbed my wrist in attempt to stop me from running away. Hurt flashed across his face as I flinched at his touch. I ripped my arm out of his tight grip a bit wildly, almost losing my balance in the process.
"Whoa, easy there tiger," he chuckled.
"Screw off Dylan," I hissed. I didn't want to be near him and put myself into that kind of temptation.
"Look, Kay, will you just hear me out please?" he continued without my consent. "I'm sorry for trying that on you. It was wrong and I was just caught up in the spur of the moment. I miss you and I miss hanging out with you. I don't want years of friendship to be thrown away just because I was a bonehead, okay?"
I couldn't help but chuckle at the last part, but I quickly composed myself. He wasn't gonna be let off the hook that easily.
"Look, Dylan. It's not just that you tried something, it's that you thought I'd give into it - that shows exactly how highly you think of me, which clearly is really low," I spat. "I don't want to hang out with you anymore and I can't. I don't know how I can get you to stop trying, but seriously, leave me alone."
I turned on my heel and walked to English class, which I was now ten minutes late for. I wasn't concerned about that, though. The only things on my mind when I walked in were Dylan's last words as he yelled for me down the hallway.
"You can't get me to stop trying because I never will," he said. "I'm not the kind of guy or friend that's just here for a few years. I'm with you till the end and I will fix things with us. You'll see."
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Before driving to Ryan's house, I decided that I should confront him about our relationship and his behavior lately. Things didn't feel right and I wanted to fix that. It was time to salvage this crumbling relationship.
When I knocked on one of his two french doors that evening, he readily greeted me with a smile on his face, green eyes twinkling with happiness. Dang, he was so charming and attractive.
Focus, Kaylee. You can't think like this when you talk to him about his behavior lately. Focus!
We made our way to his room, walking through his huge house. I don't even think "huge house" is the correct term to convey the size of his home. I'd say it's a freaking mansion. It was kind of unnerving to me, seeing that I've grown up my whole life in a modest, suburban home - I could never really feel comfortable here. Everything seemed so fragile and precious, like I'd destroy it if I touched it.
Ryan turned on his TV and game station once we situated in his room. I played his favorite Xbox game, Call of Duty, with him for about an hour before we ate dinner together. Chinese takeout, yum. But enough with all the fun and games. It was time to talk to him and get serious if I wanted to fix our relationship.
"Hey, um, Ryan can I talk to you about something?" I said as I watched him rummage through his closet.
"Yeah, sure. Let me just take a quick shower first. Gotta let this perfect hair dry before I sleep," he chuckled.
Before I could try and convince him otherwise, he slammed the bathroom door and I heard the showerhead turn on. Time to wait another half an hour for my pretty boy.
Ugh, Kaylee why'd you wait so long to bring it up? You should've done it earlier and quick, like ripping off a bandage!
I tried to ignore my annoying inner thoughts and just fiddled with my fingers as I waited on Ryan's bed. How long has he been in there so far? 9:46 p.m., my phone read. He's only been in the shower for about ten minutes. That meant I'd be out here alone for at least another twenty minutes, if not more. Great, I thought. After another five minutes of waiting, I shivered. I guess a fancy house didn't come with a very good heating system. Where did I put my jacket? I eventually found it crumpled in a heap on top of one of Ryan's many dressers. As I yanked it off, I heard a loud clatter on the floor and looked down to see Ryan's phone lying on the floor. Oops, my bad. When I picked it up to place it back on the dresser, I saw that the screen had lit up from impact. Then, I saw something that caught my eye.
Text message from Talia ;)
Who the hell was Talia and why did she have a winky face next to her contact name?
A tiny portion of the text was visible on the lock screen before the words were cut off. The text read, "Babe, you down for the locker room again? I miss your lips..." The rest of the text wasn't present on the screen but I didn't even want to see more. I felt sick to my stomach and I couldn't move when the revelation dawned on me. Ryan's cheating on me. My Ryan is cheating on me. With some icky chick named Talia. I had to repeat it over and over to myself because I couldn't believe it. Yeah, we were going through a rough patch now, but he was always such a good boyfriend. A lump formed in my throat and emotion surged through me. It wasn't sadness, though. It was rage. Pure and utter rage. How DARE he. If there's anything I hate more in the world, it's a cheater. And he freaking knows that. I stared at the screen for another however many minutes until I finally heard the bathroom door creak open. My head whipped up and I glared at the shirtless Ryan stepping out.
"Okay, babe, I'm back," he said as he shook out his wet hair. It was only when he looked up at me that he saw I had his phone in my hand. His face visibly paled. "What're you -"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, RYAN?" I screamed. I could feel my eyes blazing with fury and I didn't care. If looks could kill, he'd be a dead man by now.
"Look, Kaylee, I-I can explain. It's just -"
"Save it," I snapped. "I don't want to hear whatever comes out of that disgusting mouth of yours. I can't even look at you right now without wanting to rip your head off of your body. You dirty, filthy liar."
Anger was now present in his eyes and any sign of remorse vanished.
"Well, what're you doing with my phone anyways?! Do you even know how much of an invasion of privacy that is?" he retorted.
"No. Don't you dare try to turn this on me. You're a smug little cheater who thinks he can get away with it. Well, not on my watch. You knew perfectly well what you got yourself into when you began doing God knows what with this Talia girl. It was so obvious that you were going to get caught at some point so just SHUT UP. Don't try to defend yourself because it won't work with me. You were stupid for cheating and I was stupid for believing that you were actually a good guy. Here I was, hoping to fix things in our relationship tonight. But clearly, things don't need to be salvaged because you've destroyed everything to a point of no return. I'm done and we're over. Goodbye forever, Ryan Gray. Have a freaking great life getting an STD from that slut!" I yelled, chucking his cell phone as hard as I could at him. It hit him square on the face. Feeling pleased with myself, I stormed out of his room and house before he could say another word.
I was so angry that it was dangerous. I didn't even think that I should've been driving, but I needed to get home somehow and obviously Ryan wasn't an option anymore. But, as I kept driving, the road just seemed to be getting longer and longer. My phase of anger died down and I entered the most painful phase of heartbreak - the hurt. My vision blurred as my eyes brimmed with tears. I continually tried to wipe them away with my sleeve, but they continued to stream down my face in never-ending waterfalls. Six months with him - gone, wasted. My heart physically ached and I just wanted to scream. I needed someone desperately, but I knew Hanna and my parents would be out when I got home. I, as always, was all on my own.
But as I neared my house, I saw that I really wasn't all alone. There, sitting on the steps with his head resting on his hands, was Dylan. He was accompanied by a bouquet of my favorite flowers and a box set of Friends, a show which he knew I loved. This only made me cry harder because I realized how terribly I had treated Dylan because of stupid Ryan and guilt washed over me.
Dylan's head raised when my headlights shined on the garage as I pulled into my driveway. Concern and worry were etched on his face and blue eyes as I climbed out of the car, walking towards him with damp eyelids. When he saw my tear-stained face, he didn't say anything but simply held out his arms. I ran to him, burying my head in his chest as his arms engulfed me in a wave of heat and comfort. I clutched the front of his shirt in my hands and my chest heaved as I sobbed. Not once did Dylan complain. He just stood there, hugging me and stroking my hair.
And that was when I realized that although I did care about Ryan before, I was always still in love with Dylan. There was always that tie, that connection, which we shared. He was the one person who was there for me whenever I really needed him.
So, as we stood there on my front porch, I melted into his embrace and released all grudges I had on him. I couldn't stay angry with Dylan. Because when he put his arms around me, I knew I was home.
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Yayyy another update! I'm trying to update more often now so I can complete this book faster and move on to my next project! Not my favorite chapter, but it's really important.
Questions:
- Isn't Ryan such a sleazy manwhore? Hahahaha.
- Thoughts on the breakup and the way Kaylee threw a phone at Ryan? (yessssss)
- Thoughts on Dylan's little surprise for Kaylee at the end?
Note: We're nearing the end of this short story! There will only be a few more chapters after this (not sure how many yet, but probably around five, if not a little less or a little more).
Goal/Motivation: to get at least 5 votes on this chapter. It probably won't happen, but if it did it would motivate me to write the next chapter so much more heh.
Alright, hope you enjoyed this chappy! Don't forget to vote, comment, fan, or add this story to your reading list if you did :)
lots of love, rhi.