Chapter 4

KACE reached her apartment at around seven in the evening. She stopped by the bookstore earlier to buy some supplements she needed and she roamed around the streets just to get her mind off of the embarrassment she was still feeling.

Setting her bag on the couch, her stomach suddenly grumbled. She remembered she still hadn’t eaten dinner yet so she proceeded to the kitchen.

As she turned the lights on, a cold face of a guy welcomed her on the counter. “Where have you been, Kassandra? It’s late.” Her brother told her off.

Sighing, she flicked the lights on and rummaged on the fridge. “How did you stand sitting here with the lights off?”

“That’s not important. So? Where did you go?” Kris asked, still waiting for her answer.

“I just went in the bookstore dad,” she emphasized that last part. She always liked to call him that, especially when he was acting like this.

Kris chuckled. “Fine. Here. I heard your stomach when you entered.” He pushed the box of pizza on the table.

She quickly snatched it away and stuffed a slice of pizza in her mouth.

“Woah! Slow down. You might kill yourself.” Her brother warned her, but she didn’t care. “And could you eat properly without getting those around your mouth?”

“Whap?” Kace asked him with mouth full of pizza.

“Kassandra, that’s not how a girl eats.” Kris threw a napkin towards her direction and motioned her to wipe her mouth.

The sound of the intercom broke the conversation off. Kris stood up from his seat and volunteered to get the door.

Kace continued to eat and tried to suppress her worry. She didn’t want her brother to know about what happened. It was a relief that he wasn’t there in the cafeteria earlier.

Just as she was about to get a drink, she heard a familiar voice making its way towards the kitchen.

“What’s for dinner?”

She sighed as she pulled the water jug from the fridge. She knew then that her night would be ruined yet again by their visitor.

“Why did you come here? You know we don’t have anything for dinner.” She heard her brother say, as they finally reached the kitchen.

“That’s why I brought food. I kinda expected this already,” their visitor answered.

Kace was still facing the fridge not wanting to show her face. She put back the water jug inside and slowly turned around without looking at their visitor. She knew that he saw everything that happened in the cafeteria and that he would just laugh at her again for it. She feared that he might blurt it out and Kris would eventually find out.

“Oh, hey Larson!” The deep voice of their visitor sent an irritation inside her.

Kace didn’t respond. He was calling her by her last name again which annoyed her most of the time. It was obviously rude to call people by their last names.

“Hey! Larson!” The guy continued to call her attention, but she just stared down at her pizza. “Dude, what happened to your sister? Did she become mute?”

Kris wasn’t happy at his friend’s crazy antic so he hit him on the back of his head.

“Ugh! What was that for?” The other guy complained at him.

Kris pushed him to take a seat. “Chandler, stop teasing my sister. What brings you here, anyway?”

Chandler took the seat across Kace. Then, he spoke, “I called you but you’re not answering your phone.”

“Maybe I was driving,” Kris answered as he opened the box that his friend brought.

“Yeah. I figured that out so I just came here.” Chandler grabbed a slice of pizza and filled his mouth with it.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Kace said without intending to let the other person know, but it was unfortunate for her that the guy had sharp ears that could catch any word even from afar.

“What did you say?” Chandler made her repeat her words.

“Nothing, Parker,” she muttered calling him by his last name and continued to eat.

Chandler knew about Kris and Kace being half-siblings since primary school. The three of them were schoolmates. Despite Kris’s denial, he managed to let him spill out the truth about Kace being his sister. That’s how they became best of friends.

***

AFTER eating dinner, Chandler still stayed at the apartment which Kace totally dreaded. She excused herself from the two and dragged her feet towards her room.

Just then, a hand stopped her from moving forward. Turning around, she was surprised to see Chandler. “What now?”

“I saw everything at the cafeteria earlier, Larson,” Chandler said in a low voice, his neck bending down just to face her.

Kace arched a brow at him. “And your point being?”

“Don’t tell Kris about it,” the tall guy demanded.

She let out a small laugh. “Why? You’re scared that he’d beat the crap out of your girlfriend?”

Chandler placed a hand over her mouth. “Ssshh… he might hear you… You see, I don’t want him to know ‘cause he’ll just tell me to break up with her again.”

“Wow! You just love Jules that much, huh?” Kace shook her head in disbelief.

“Damn! You’re talking too much. Just don’t tell him. Got it, Larson?” He warned her.

“Hmph. Whatever.” She stomped away and lay on her bed, hoping she’d forget everything that happened earlier.

***

AT the Hansen’s mansion, Lance was sitting on the couch watching television, when his younger brother, Luke arrived from school. He watched his brother drop his bag on the couch beside him and headed towards the kitchen.

“Luke, how’s your first day?” Lance called out.

Luke came back with a glass of water in his hand. “Good. You?”

“Same. I met some good friends… they even convinced me to join the dance club…” Lance turned to him, but his brother seemed not to be too interested so he decided not to tell him about them anymore.

Lance knew that his brother was still coping up from everything that happened back in London which was the main reason why he agreed to go to Florida with him.

“I see,” Luke answered, sitting next to his brother and grabbed his bag again. Suddenly, something fell from the inside when he tossed it upside down.

Lance picked it up. “What’s this? Why do you have it?” He studied it without giving it back.

“I… forgot to give it back to the owner.” Luke grabbed it from Lance’s hand. “I’ll just… return this tomorrow.”

Lance nodded. “By the way…” he paused and turned to him. “Dad called.”

Luke looked at him. “What did he say?”

“That… we should… tell him if anything goes wrong or if we need anything,” Lance continued.

Luke sighed. “I’ll just go to my room.” He stood up and walked towards the stairs.

Lance suddenly spoke. “Try not to think about her too much. Okay?”

Luke stopped walking at that time trying to process his brother’s advice. But no matter what he did, he just couldn’t seem to forget about her. He turned to him and faked a smile. Then, he proceeded to his room. He saw her face yet again as he entered. The photo on his desk was his last memory of her.

They were going so strong but he couldn’t decipher why they suddenly broke up. He just couldn’t understand why. He was really tormented. He thought that going to Florida would help him get over her but it was the same. The pain that he was feeling still remained.

He jumped on his bed with eyes closed, wishing that someday he’d move on from the past and just forget everything so he could finally start all over.

***