"You are riding with me on my motorcycle." Reed says with a smirk.
Reed thinks that I am afraid of motorcycles like some people. You are so wrong, buddy.
I love motorcycles and the feeling you get when you ride on streets with the wind blowing on your face. The scenery is an added bonus. I also know how to ride one, my brother taught me.
Now it is my time to smirk, "No problemo buddy."
He looks a bit taken back but, he quickly covers it up.
"Fine, let's go." Reed says and, I follow him to the garage.
He gets on the bike and hands me a helmet. I take it and take a seat behind him.
"You can hold onto me if you want," he smirks.
God, I wish I could wipe that smirk off his face.
"No problem dude i can handle myself." I smile sweetly and catch the handle on the back of the bike to hold myself.
We take off and, I enjoy the ride and the feel of the wind blowing on my face. I remember Keith used to take me out on long drives on the weekend. I face time him every day, but I still miss him a lot.
We reach the mall and, I get off the bike and hand the helmet to Reed. He has a glum look on his face.
"The ride didn't go the way you wished?" I tease him.
"Shut up." he mumbles and, I laugh.
When I look at him, I find him already staring at me. There are so many emotions behind his brown eyes. I would love to know what is going on in that head of his. I realize that I am also staring at him.
I clear my throat, and we both look away.
"Come on let's go in." I tell him. He nods.
I know what I have to buy for the Scotts family. I straight away walk to the shop where Raven found the blue dress. I go to the billing and meet with the familiar face of Lana.
"Hey, Lana how are you?" I inquire.
"Hey. I am great. How may i help you?" Lana was there that day when Raven and I came to the store.
"Lana, I need the dress that i asked you to keep aside for me." I told Lana that day to keep the dress that Raven wanted and that I will be back two days later to get it.
"Wait here I will be back." she informs and goes to fetch the dress.
"You've been here before?" somebody asks me and, I jump, startled. I look at Reed. I completely forgot that he was here.
"Oh yeah your mom took me here." I answer him.
"This is her favorite store." he tells me. He knows his mom's favourite store. Not all boys pay attention to these types of things.
Lana comes back with the dress, and I instantly smile. This will be an amazing gift for Raven. I pay for the dress, and we both head out.
"So who is this dress for?"
"It is for your mom, Raven and i came here the other day and she loved this dress but unfortunately it was a bit tight for her so I asked Lana to keep the dress aside and that i will buy it later. I am going to give this to her after I alter it to fit her."
He nods with a smile. He looks beautiful when he smiles.
Then I drag Reed to the game store and buy a new Xbox for Ryder since his one is repaired. Reed was against the idea because it was expensive and that Ryder would be on it all day. But I stood my ground since I wanted to thank them for taking me into their house as an exchange student.
Then I buy a G-shock watch and a Gucci belt for Blake and some makeup and other accessories for Raven.
"Reed, um.. can you go and buy me a burger and a milkshake from McDonald's, I will meet you there in 15 minutes."
He nods and goes to the food court. I get a G-shock watch and wireless earphones for Reed. For Kei, a pair of sneakers he always wanted.
I met Reed at the food court with a lot of food in his hands. We sit and, not a second passes before he starts stuffing his face with French fries. I stare at him.
"Wgat i eas ungy. shpig mks me tird ad ungy." he speaks with a mouth full of food. I raise an eyebrow, clearly not understanding what he is saying. He lifts a finger asking me to wait.
"What i was hungry. Shopping makes me tired and hungry." he explains. I roll my eyes and start eating my food.
"Let's play 20 questions." I tell him.
"Why?" he questions.
"Because I want to know you more."
He looks at me and sighs, "Fine ask away."
I do a small victory dance in my head, then I look at Reed, and he is looking at me weirdly. I look around and, the people in the food court are staring at me.
OH, FUDGE. I THINK I DIDN'T DO THE DANCE IN MY HEAD. I DID IT PHYSICALLY.
TALK ABOUT PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT.
I quickly hide my face with my hair as I feel my whole body burning due to embarrassment and shame.
I hear laughing all of a sudden. I see Reed laughing so bad that he falls off the chair. I see a tear escape his eye.
I smile. This Reed is not the one who hates me. After a few seconds, I laugh along with him.
"God, it's been a long time since i laughed this hard." Reed tells me with a genuine smile.
I pat myself mentally for making him laugh.
Now I don't think he is gonna hate me anymore.
"I never hated you Kiara." he tells me
God, did I say that out loud?
"Yes you did." he chuckles.
Great, I need to stop that.
"Nah you shouldn't. Its kind of funny to actually hear your thoughts." he laughs. I glare at him and, he raises his hands in surrender.
"So tell me what is your favorite color?" he asks first.
"I like all sparkling colors. But i also love black."
"Ooh i have a perfect nickname for you." he wiggles his eyebrows.
I raise an eyebrow at his words.
"I am going to call you sparkle from now on." he tells me with a smirk.
I literally gag at his words.
"That is so girly." I tell him with disgust.
"You are actually a girl if you didn't know." he tells me sarcastically.
"Thank you for stating the obvious captain obvious." I answer him with the same sarcasm.
We chat for some time and, I got to know more about him. He likes the colour red, and he loves sweets and that he is a star quarterback at school and his favourite band is one direction, his favourite movie is maze runner. I love that movie too.
Newt, all the way.
We head home and, I see everyone watching tv when we come in.
They stare at Reed and me like we grew two heads. I look at Reed, he looks at me, and we look back at the family.
"Wow, you took Reed shopping?" Ryder suddenly blurts out.
"Yeah. Why?" I question, confused.
"Reed hates shopping. He has never taken a girl before." Raven tells me with a smirk.
"Yeah.. uh ..um sparkle needed someone to take her shopping for christmas since none of you were here i took her." Reed nervously answers them while scratching the back of his neck.
"Sparkle?" They all shout in unison
"No um, Kiara my tongue slipped haha." Reed replies awkwardly.
I mentally facepalm. This guy is an idiot.
"You deserve a Guinness record for taking him shopping and, coming back alive in one piece." Ryder praises me with claps.
"Oh.. um.. okay. I am very tired I am just you know.. gonna go to my roon no i mean room. " I tell them and rush upstairs. Well, that was awkward.
Wow, I didn't expect that. Does Reed actually hate shopping or, was that the 'real' Reed I saw in the mall?
I do my nighttime routine and get ready for bed. I fall asleep with a smile, thinking about my time with Reed.
I wake up and realize that it is Sunday morning, and there is only a week left for Christmas. I always go to church back in India on Sundays. I shower and wear a white knee-length dress and pair it with a blue jean jacket. I leave my hair down and apply some mascara and lip gloss.I go downstairs and see only Raven and Blake in the dining room. I guess the boys are still sleeping because it is only 8:30.I greet them good morning, and raven raises a brow, questioning 'why I am all dressed up?'"So do you guys go to church on Sundays?" I ask Raven."No, we don't. But we do go during Christmas and New Year." Blake answers."Can anyone of you
Finally, it's Christmas Eve. This past week I spent time with the family learning more about them. Reed is not acting cold to me anymore. He makes small talk here and there. I would not call us friends yet but, it is progress. I also spend a lot of time with Ryder. We watch horror movies, I play sports with him, and sometimes Reed joins us.I will meet Andrew again today when I go to church. I can't wait to give him the presents I got for him. But I am also scared. What if he doesn't accept? What if he thinks that I am doing it out of pity? I am doing it because I have been through what he is going through. But, I at least had Keith, but he has a stepfather who hates him.I take a shower and straighten my hair. I wear a hoodie and legging.I go downstairs, and a beautiful aroma fills my senses pancakes. Yum. I greet everyone and take a seat beside Ryder. I ruffle his hair a bit, he swats my hands and glares at me. I put my hands up in surrender while he fixes hi
"KIARA ...KIARA WAKE UP IT'S CHRISTMAS," Ryder shouts in my ear, effectively waking me up.I get up so fast that I fall out of my bed with a loud thud, and I groan."Ugh, I am up, I am up." I say, rubbing my butt.When my eyes adjust to the bright light, I see Ryder jumping on my bed shouting, "It's Christmas.","I am gonna wake up Reed," he shouts and runs out of my room.I really don't know where he gets his energy from. That kid's hyperactive even without sugar. I glance at my clock and see it's five minutes past seven. That's early.I hear a loud 'It's Christmas', which is followed by a loud thud. Looks like Reed fell out of bed too.I go out to see an energetic Ryder pulling a sleepy Reed, who is rubbing his butt out of the room. I chuckle at the scene. While Ryder wakes everybody up, I quickly brush my teeth and comb my hair.I go downstairs to see Reed and Ryder sitting around the Christmas tree with presents. I look bac
It's New Year's eve, and currently, I am on a facetime call with my friends."So guys, how was your Christmas dinner with Keith?" I ask them with a smirk.Anna's cheeks go pink just like I expected. Anna has had a crush on him forever. She thinks that I don't know. But I found out a couple of years ago when Anna acted all shy and strange in his presence. Whenever they are together, you can see a faint tint of pink on her cheeks.I don't think Div has noticed it yet."Why are you blushing, Anna?" Div asks with a smirk..... okay, she knows."What I... I ..am..not blushing ..you..you are." Anna stutters, and I mentally facepalm. Nice save, Anna.Looks like we are gonna talk about my best friend's crush."You like him, Anna.""But I don'..""Don't even think about lying." I cut her off."Yeah, Anna. We know about your crush on Keith, so spill the beans." Divya tells her.She sighs, "Fine. What do you gu
There is only the weekend left before I start school. The near kiss that happened between Reed and I was never spoken. It was just a spur of the movement thing Reed will never go for a girl like me. I really don't know why he tried to kiss me. I am really thankful that things didn't get awkward between Reed and me. I pet aerial for a while and go downstairs to find only Blake and Raven having breakfast. I greet them morning and make myself cereal."I really wish the boys would wake up early as you do and not wake up at noon to eat breakfast as lunch," Raven complains. On that note, Reed comes down looking hot with his bed hair. Wow, I have gotta get these thoughts out of my head. After the near kiss, I can't stop but find Reed beautiful and handsome."Mom, can you please stop comparing us with Kiara. She wakes up early because she has all those makeup stuff to do before breakfast," Reed grumbles."Honey, if you know Kiara at all, you will know that she doesn't l
Today is my first day of school. I am excited, but I am also very nervous. I take a long shower and wear my outfit for the day. It consists of a white sleeveless shirt and a black skirt that reaches my knee and pair it with a jean jacket and a pair of black sandals and French braid my hair. I take a look at myself in the mirror and feel satisfied. I go downstairs and greet Raven, who is making breakfast. "You look amazing, Kiara. You will have boys at your feet." Raven tells me with a grin. I can't help but blush at her words. "Thanks, Raven." I answer her, and then I see Reed come down the stairs. Calling him hot right now would be an understatement. He is dressed in a tight white t-shirt with skinny black jeans and a black jean jacket. He has that whole bad boy look. He sees me, and his eyes take in my outfit, and he gives me a smirk. I realize that I am openly checking him out. Reed sits beside me, and Raven places a plate full of pancakes in front of him.
Oh no, why do I have such a big mouth? The whole room stares at me like I have grown two heads. I don't really think people in this school talk bad about the bad boy. Well looks like I am screwed. The girl previously sitting on Reed's lap approaches me along with two other girls. She comes to our table and stares right at me. "You know, for being the new girl, you have got some guts to blurt out stuff like that to my baby." She smirks, gesturing to Reed, who looks pretty amused at this situation. I mentally gag at that part. "I like you. Would you like to join my group and become popular? Because you are the only girl who had some guts to talk out loud like that." she offers. Can someone explain what is happening right now? Because this is not at all what I expected. I slowly get up
So you are an exchange student right, who are you living with?" Kate questions me. It's lunch now, and we are all sitting at our usual table. Shoot, not the question I was expecting. What do I do, what do I do? "Um.. uh.. so the thing is...you see.." "Hey, guys, whatcha doing?" Noah interrupts. I have never been more happier for the interruption. I could kiss you right now, Noah. "Oh, we were just simply asking Kiara who she is living with." Ava tells Noah. "Well, forget that. Do you know what happened in English class today?" Noah asks them. I roll my eyes at him. Let's just say that our class was interesting due to the class clown that is Noah. "Don't tell me you did one of your famous pranks on the teacher, and you cancelled English class." Ava says with fake enthusiasm while waving her hands. "Uh, how did you know? Are you stalking me? ohhhh don't tell me that Kiara is actually a spy working for you. Do you
Five years later. Here lies beloved An- "Kiara," I hear my brother's voice. He comes to me and pulls me into a side hug. "He is still alive, Kiara, here." He says, motioning to his heart. It's been five years since that dreadful day. Keith said his last goodbye and left me alone in this world. The doctors were able to keep his heart alive and performed Andrew's surgery. His heart did fail during the surgery, and they replaced Andrew's heart with Keith’s. Here Lies Beloved And Loved Keith Tennyson January 6, 1998- June 15, 2019. He is buried near my parent's graves. He will be at peace with them in heaven now. After the heart monitor went flat. I was frozen in place. Somebody dragged me outside the room while the doctors tried to bring him back to life. He lost a lot of blood, and his brain took a lot of damage. I didn't cry.
Trigger for abuse"What happened?" I ask, trying to act rationally. Ryder suddenly comes and hugs me. I sit down on the chair and take him in my lap, and he is sobbing and sniffling."What happened, buddy?" I stroke his hair, trying to calm him down."A...Andrew w..ent downstairs to.. to make some popc..corn for me and.. I.. and.. I.. suddenly heard a loud noise from the kitchen..I.. I ran downstairs and found him unconscious with a broken bowl near his feet," Ryder informs me, his voice breaking.I try to calm him down while Raven takes care of things with Andrew. Ten minutes later, Raven comes with a water bottle."What happened?""He is awake, and the doctors took him to take a CT scan. He told the doctor that he had chest pains. He also told him about what happened during prom. The doctors will inform us what is wrong with him after taking a look at his scan results," I simply nod. This day has really taken a toll on my mental and physic
"- got into a serious accident, and is admitted to the hospital," my heart stops for a moment, and I drop the phone. Raven rushes towards me, and she picks the phone and answers it."Yes, we will be there as soon as possible,""Come on, Kiara. Everything is going to be fine," she assures, pulling me into a hug. My mind is blank, and my heart is numb. I can't cry.Everything that happened after that is a blur. I remember Raven, Reed, and I drove towards the hospital. Reed had me on his lap, and he was mumbling reassuring words to me."He is currently in the ICU, and the doctors are trying their best. We will know about his condition after the surgery,""How?" I question the nurse."A truck went out of control and came at full speed and hit the passenger side. The driver only sustained a few injuries and nothing major,"Three times I had to hear about people close to me getting into an accident. Finally, the tears start falling. I start
"That is amazing, Reed,” Blake breaks the silence.“Yeah, you will have our full support if that is what you want,” Raven informs, hugging her son."Those love birds need to talk, so come on, everyone," Raven leaves the room, pulling all the others along with her. Keith points his fingers towards Reed to make sure that we know that he is watching us. I roll my eyes."Are you mad, Kiara?" Reed asks me once everyone leaves."No, I am not mad. Not mad. Not mad at all, Nuh-uh. You don't think I am mad, do you? Because I am not. Don't think that I am mad,""So, I will take it that you are mad," Reed concludes."No. Not mad at you. Just at our fates," I sigh and sit down on the couch. He sits beside me and pulls me into a side hug. I lay my head on his chest."If you don't want me to go, I won't sparkle," he tells me, stroking my hair."This is your life, Reed. Don't think about me. Do what you want to. I will accep
“Kia, come on, honey, we are going to be late,” I hear Raven’s voice outside my bedroom.“Coming,” I shout, applying some finishing touches to my outfit. I grab my graduation cap and gown and rush outside.“You look lovely,” Raven compliments my outfit. I am wearing a light blue dress with flower decorations, and I braided my hair into two french braids.I thank her and take a seat beside Keith. He frowns. I raise my eyebrows in a questioning manner."Here, your dress is missing this," he says and pins a brooch."This is moms favourite brooch," I say, trying not to cry."Yeah, I figured you might need it for your special day," he smiles. I hug him and admire the brooch."Everyone here? I need answers from four boys and a girl," Blake shouts from the driver's seat."Here," we all shout, laughing.We soon reach school, and Reed, Andrew and I head towards our assigned seats. We meet
"What the hell are you guys doing here?""What? we are her best friends, so obviously, we will be here to wish her when she becomes an adult,""Mom, it was a big mistake to give them the keys,""Hey, that was rude,""No one asked you,""I wanted it to be only the two of us,""Just because you guys are dating doesn't mean you get special privileges,""Of course I do,""She will choose us over you any day,""You wanna bet?""The loser has to be the winner's slave for a whole day,""SHHHHHHHHHHH, she is waking up,"I cover my ears with my pillow to stop the whispers."Sparkle, wake up," someone whispers near my ear. I throw a pillow at that person to stop the voices."Oof, I forgot she is grumpy w
"ANDREW," I shout over the sound of the music and run to him. Reed follows behind.Noah, Luke, and Reed help carry Andrew outside. We place him on a bench, and I sprinkle water on his face. After three more times, he slowly wakes up."What happened?" he asks groggily. I release a breath I didn't know I had been holding."You fainted," Kate informs, hugging him. I sit down, feeling relieved. Reed comes and hugs me. I hug him back, holding him tight."Andrew, why did you clutch your chest. Do you feel any pain?" I ask him, worried."No, Kiara. I was too excited, so I didn't eat the whole day. I also have a gastric problem. If I don't eat for a long period, I will faint. Nothing new" he smiles sheepishly."Don't ever scare us like that," I hug him."Come on, they are announcing prom king and queen," Andrew says excitedly and goes to leave when Kate stops him."Where do you think you are going? You sit here and get some air.
“Kate, I will cut off your limbs if you take me to another store to look for a dress that I don’t even need,” I warn Kate.“But Kiara. What if you accidentally spill juice on the dress? What if someone steps on your dress, and it rips? What if a crow decides to dirty your dress? What if there is an alien invasion, and you get caught because you cannot run in that dress? What if som-”“What the heck are you even talking about?” I look at my best friend incredulously.“All of that might come true. I can’t lose you to an alien. What if you get eaten?” she cries.“I think you are spending too much time with Noah,” Ava pipes in, taking a bite of her ice cream.“Kate, all that you mentioned is not going to happen. I will be extra careful if that makes you happy, ok?” I assure her.“Come on. We still need to buy you heels,” Ava drags me.
I wake up to bright sunlight entering my room. Why has my alarm not gone off yet? The sleep I am getting is really suspicious. I take a look at my clock and see it’s thirty minutes past six.Ah. I can sleep some more. I doze off again.'Don't you think it’s quite unusual to be this bright at six-thirty in the morning?' I hear winter's sleepy voice.'It's too early to hear your voice. Let me sleep,' I cover my ears with my pillow.'I can say the same about you but, I think the clock is not working because the sun is too bright to be this early in the morning,''Fine, stop nagging. I will check my phone,' I roll over my bed and accidentally fall.I open my phone to see that the time is 8:10. I rub my eyes thoroughly to see if I am mistaken. But the time still shows 8:10. School starts at 8."AHHHHH, I am terribly late," I shriek, trying to stand up. My legs get tangled in my blanket, and I fall again."Could this day