" You know all the rules, and you know you can only use my card for an emergency.... um, they should already have food there, Lady was there last week. I love you both very much." my mom was saying as we were about to get in line to get on the plane.
My Dad was at work so he called before we ever got there. He told us," Have fun, be safe, and that if he found out about any boys, he would come down and shoot them." "DADDY," i shouted in the phone, "I think Kara would be more likely than me to do anything with a boy." "Ha. Watch, now that you've said that you are going to find a 'summer love', just make sure he's not from Texas. Or even remotely close." "I love you, daddy." "Love you too, baby."
And off we were to Cape Cod. Since Kara had already been there before she knew her away around a little bit. My Lady and Papa lived about 3 miles out of town and down a lot of back roads. Kara couldn't remember if she turned right or left on the road with the signs all faded. Most of the signs on the other roads had brand new paint, but these looked really old. She guess that we were supposed to turn right. Turns out, she was wrong, but i was super glad, cause i had met my 1st set of friends.
A yellow jeep was coming down the narrow road and it scared me so bad I almost peed my pants. A girl stepped outta the drivers side of the jeep and walked towards us. She was tall. Long, curly, brown hair. freshly waxed eyebrows and she wore cut-off jean shorts and a deep blue spaghetti strap. My sister hand rolled the old rentals window down as the girl came towards us.
"You know your trespassing? she asked in a nice, but very high-pitched voice. " I am so so sorry," Kara said, " We couldn't remember to turn left or right so we just picked. I guess it was wrong, sorry." "No problem, I guess your new here." As Kara and the other girl chatted it up, a boy with shaggy brown hair came out from the passenger side and was walking towards us when he stopped half way between the two cars and shouted, "Lizzie, come on! We got places to be! "Haiden shut up and come here." the girl, obviously named Lizzie shouted back. "Haiden, this is Kara and Katie. Kara, Katie, this is my little brother Haiden." " Hi." we said in unison.
He was tall, muscular, and when he came closer i noticed he had the purest blue eyes. The way he was built reminded me of a soccer player. Which was good cause i could use a little challenge this year if i was planning on being on the varsity team. The way he looked at me made me feel comfortable, like we had known each other forever. Haiden and Lizzie turned around and got back in their car. They moved off the road so we could get by and turn around. They waited for us and led us back to where we had turned off.

Kara didn't say another word until we got to the house and we started to unpack. I got the big room on the second floor, and Kara got the master room on the third floor. I loved the room i had, Lady had it arranged perfect and the theme was Texas. I started feeling home sick. As i was unpacking, I noticed how hungry and sleepy I was.
I went downstairs to the kitchen and opened the fridge door, nothing. I opened the freezer, Nothing. I open the pantry, nothing. I walked up to Kara's room where she was still unpacking. "We gotta go to the store, we have nothing to eat and I'm starving." "Okay, I'm almost done, I'll go to the store and I need you to dust the living room and clean the kitchen up. This place is so dusty. I will do the rest tonight." "Okay, where are the cleaning supplies at?" "Under the sink, i think. I'm about to leave, any special request?" " Anything?" " Yeah." " Pickles." " Pickles?" "yeah, remember when after my soccer games at the concession stand daddy always used to tell us that pickles made us have pretty legs ?" "Oh, yeah." Well, I want pretty legs this summer, like yours." she smiled and went outside to get in the rental so she could go get me some pickles.
I looked under the sink and got out some furniture polish and a duster. I didn't notice earlier how dusty everything was. It didn't seem like very long before I was done with the living room. I headed to the kitchen. First i swept and mopped the floors. Lady and Papa's hardwood floors were gorgeous when they were clean. Then I wiped down the stove an the refrigerator. After I was done with the kitchen I took a shower. It felt good after the 72 hour trip. When I got out of the shower Kara was back and the fresh aroma of shrimp filled the air. I slipped on my Tigger sleep pants and dried my long, sometimes too curly, blonde hair, and headed down to the kitchen. Kara, Lizzie, and Haiden were all down in the kitchen. " Hey Katie!" Lizzie was the first person to greet me. " Hey, Kay Kay." that was what Kara called me all the time, I kinda liked it, but it seemed a little childish since Haiden was there. "I ran into Haiden and Lizzie at the store and I invited them over for dinner. Hope you don't mind." "Of course not. Just let me go change. I'll be right back." I ran up the stairs and slipped on my cut-off-at-the-knee jeans with the holes and slipped on my Aggie shirt. I came downstairs to lots of laughter between Lizzie and Kara, with Haiden trying to figure out how to work the stereo system. I giggled too, although it wasn't as funny as they thought it was. Kara had some shrimp boiling, potatoes baking and corn-on-the-cob cooking. I loved shrimp so i figured this would be a great meal. My tummy growled. I went over to Haiden and showed him how to work the stereo.
" This shrimp is delicious Kara. You need to show Lizzie how to cook cause all she can make is mac-n-cheese and ramen noodles, and she still messes that up every once in a while." "Haiden James you are so ungrateful!" Lizzie said in a teasing tone. The shrimp really was good, but I was ready for my queen size bed upstairs. I could practically hear it calling my name.

"So, what are you two doing here this summer? I wanna know all about your trip. Where are you two from?" Lizzie said without taking a breath. " Well," I started to explain. " We are from a small town outside of Austin, Texas. We had a very tiring trip, and...." I stopped right in the middle of my sentence and Kara just looked at me. "Do you want me to tell them what we are here for?" I stared a hole in my plate wishing i was in my room asleep. "Its okay, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Haiden said. " I felt a lump in my throat as i tried to hold back the tears. I just couldn't.
I ran out the door and down the hill towards the bay. I couldn't remember the last time i just ran to be running. I ran and ran. About a mile down I tripped over a rock. "Are you okay?" I heard a voice ask. A guys voice. I turned around to see Haiden panting. I cried, like a little baby I cried as hard as I could ever remember. He pulled me close into his chest and I felt relaxed with him. "Whenever you are ready to talk, I'm ready to listen." I just sat there for a moment taking it all in. "Do you really want to know why we are here?" I asked him. "Of course I do." His voice sounded so comforting. " My parents sent us here cause they are going through a 'rough spot' and so we are spending the summer in Cape Cod at my grandparents' summer house," I paused for a moment, took a deep breath so I wouldn't cry, and continued, " We never heard them fight or argue. It was just so sudden." " Well my parents are divorced and I remember what it was like. I'm sorry that you have to go through it, but I want you to know that I'm going to be here all summer and if you ever need anything, I'll be here." We just stood there in the silence. I got a chill, and he offered me his jacket in which he had tied around his waist. “No, I'll pass.” “I insist.” “I refuse.” “I can't just let you freeze out here.” “Fine, whatever helps you sleep at night.” He smiled. He had decent teeth. Straight, but could be whiter. But I liked it. He helped me put it on. Over my shoulders, zipped it up. Then, pulled my chin up so that I was looking into his eyes, like he was trying to hypnotize me with his pure blue eyes. He leaned in to kiss me, I hesitated a little, but then I realized that I actually wanted to kiss him. I went for it. I wished it could have lasted forever.

I smiled. He smiled. “Think we should be getting back?” He asked still smiling. “Yeah. Kara will be worried.” “Listen, what just happened... I don't think.... We really don't know each other that well. I'm not saying that it will be like that forever, and I really hope its not, but if Lizzie found out....” “I get it... I know how older sisters are.” We smiled at each other. He wound his fingers in between mine and walked me back home. About half way there he told me he was from New York. “Oh, a city boy, huh? Naw, I'm just messin. I really do think we are going to be seeing a lot of each other this summer.” “I hope so.” And we were back at the bottom of the hill. He kissed me on the cheek and we headed up to the house. Lizzie and Kara were at the sink rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. As soon as Lizzie saw me she immediately said “Hey, I'm sorry that I asked that. Are you okay?” “It's okay, you didn't know, I'm going to bed, I'll see you guys later.”
Just as I was falling asleep, Haiden comes knocking at my door. “ Hey, just going to tell you goodnight. How are you feeling?” “My toe is sore from the whole trip over a rock thing, but other than that im good.” “Well, I guess that’s good. My friends and I rented a field at the club, we have a co-ed team made up if you wanna come join.” “I'd love too.” “Great, I'll be here tomorrow at ten. Be ready to kick some butt. We got major challenge.” I laughed. He, again, kissed me on the cheek and left. “Goodnight” I called after him. I guess he didn't hear me cause he didn't reply. Or if he did hear me, I didn't hear him respond.

The next morning I woke up refreshed and amped. I couldn't wait to go play some ball. I wished I had time to take a shower so I would be refreshed, but time wouldn't allow it. I washed my face and put on my old soccer shorts and a t-shirt. I put a change of clothes in my bag and headed downstairs to get a water bottle and a snack. I decided not to get a snack, it would give us an excuse to stop to get something and spend more time together. It was almost 10 so I just grabbed a granola bar and a swig of OJ.
I heard a knock at the door. “Anybody up?” It was Haiden. “Come in.” “Its locked.” Boy did I feel dumb. I unlocked the door and welcomed him in. “Right on time,” I said smiling, “I just gotta grab something then I'll be right down.” I ran upstairs, put my hair up and brushed my teeth. When I came back down he was sitting on the couch waiting. “Ready?” “Yeah.” When we got into the yellow jeep I saw them in yesterday, the radio was on my kinda station. Country. We went down lots of bumpy roads, and I think they have, like, extra hydraulics or something cause it seemed a lot more bumpier than yesterday. We pulled up to a park lookin thing. There were already teams on the fields playing. I realized that they didn't have that many people on the field. I tried to count but I couldn't because they kept moving around. I laughed at how dumb I was being. “What are you laughing at?” “Nothing, so which team are we going to be on?” “I've got two more friends that play with us then we will get started for real.” “Sounds good to me.”
He took me out to the field and introduced me. I'm not good with names, but I think there was Sarah, Jake, Austin, Dallas, Haleigh, and Rick. Then, after his friends, Alex and Jessica, We started up. The 5 on 5 game was awesome. I had 3 guys on my team. Although they were ball hogs, it was really fun and challenging. I'm going to be a beast by the end of the summer if I keep on having a challenge like this. I thought as I ran the ball down the field and scored the winning goal. “We are headed to go get ice cream down at Billy's, wanna come?” Sarah asked. Right as she said that my cell phone rang. It was Kara. “Excuse me, I gotta take this.”

I fast-walked to the other side of the jeep and answered. “Hello?” “Hey. I'm going to the mall with Lizzie and her mom. Be back before 7, thats when I'm making dinner.” “Alright.” I slapped my phone shut and went back to join the group. “So, are you coming?” Austin asked. “It's up to Haiden, I'm riding with him.” “Well?” asked Dallas. “I guess so.” Haiden said. Then we all got into our cars and left. “Billy's ice cream parlor” read the sign right off the main road. Right before we got out, Haiden put his hand on my leg and said, “I'm apologizing ahead of time, my friends will probably ask you the same things Lizzie asked last night. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to.” “I need to get used to talking about it.” “You don't need to unless your comfortable with it.” “Okay.”
We were the first people there. We took the booth in the very back corner. The inside looked like it would have in the 50's. I thought it was cool that they still had an old parlor like this. My phone rang again, I asked Haiden where the bathrooms were and he pointed to a door that I hadn't seen before. It was my dad. “Hey daddy!” “Hey baby, you busy?” “Um, kinda, I'm about to have ice cream with some friends. Why?” “I was just going to ask how you were and how it was going down there.” “It's goin great! But I have to go now, my friends are waiting for me. Love you daddy!” “I'm glad you are having fun. Love you too.” I shut my phone and came out of the bathroom to find nobody at the table. I looked to my left and felt relieved to see everyone that I played soccer with in line getting ice cream. I went to the table I was sitting at earlier and pulled a crinkled 5 dollar bill out of my bag. Haiden walked up behind me. “No need for that. I already got you a cone. Home-made vanilla.” “How did you know my favorite was vanilla?” “You just seem like a vanilla kind of girl.” I giggled and asked' “Is that good or bad?” “Oh. Thats VERY good. It's my favorite too.” I just stood there smiling. I heard a voice ask, “Do you two plan on sitting down?” it was Rick. “Maybe.” Haiden said. “So where are you from?” Sarah asked. “A small town in Texas.” “You sounded real enthused about that, haha.” Austin added.

After everyone got done eating their ice cream cones, Sarah, Jake, Austin, Dallas, Haleigh, Rick, Alex, and Jessica left. Me and Haiden stayed.
“So how are you settling in here at Cape Cod?” He asked me. The sun was already setting and I knew Kara would be calling in a few minutes. “So far so good.” I told him. “That's good, where do you wanna go now?” “I don't know this town, you pick. Kara told me I had to be home by 7. ” He didn't say anything, just stared into my eyes as if he was trying to communicate with me. “Let's go.” he said. “Where?” “ Just drive.”
When we got in his car, he didn't turn the radio. We just sat there in the parking lot. “I talked to my sister about us last night.” “Oh.” “What did you tell her?” I told her what happened last night after you ran out, and how much I struggled to keep up with you.” “you were right behind me the whole time?” “No. not till the very end when you slowed up. It was like you knew I was there and you wanted me to catch up.” “Oh.” I could feel myself blushing, so I turned and looked out the window. He started the Jeep, and we got on the highway. “She thinks we should go for it.” he told me. I turned to him with a side grin trying to tell him that I was hoping he would say something like that. He put hand on top of mine and took his eyes off the road long enough to smile at me then his eyes were looking out the windshield.
We pulled onto a narrow road. It was covered by trees and I could no longer see how starry a night that it was. I got a message from Kara saying that she wouldn't be home until after 10 and that I could have leftovers. Haiden stepped on the peddle a little bit harder quickening our pace. When we came out of the trees, I saw the sun just setting on the water. “Perfect” He said, and looked at me. My mouth dropped. “Its beautiful,” I said, my eyes wide and eyebrows raised. “How did you find this?” “I come down here to think a lot.” He pointed towards a little log cabin type house about a mile down the beach. “Thats where I go. I like to write songs and I practice guitar down there. Wanna go check it out?” “Yeah.” When we got there and he finally figured out which key was his, we went inside. I saw lots of Dr. Pepper cans everywhere. “I guess Lizzie and her friends were here last night. Sorry about the mess.” He started picking up all the cans. I started at the other end of the one room cabin and met him about halfway with about 25 cans. “So you blame the sister for the mess, huh?” I asked. He got the memo that I was teasing cause he said, “Always.” We just smiled

There was a bed at the one end with a mini fridge and a guitar on its stand. I guessed it was Haiden's side. The opposite side had a big bed with a pink comforter with big brown polka dots on it. It had a mini fridge too, but Haiden's was way better. In the middle of the room there was a bar with four barstools on one side. On the other side of it there was a kitchen sink and a bigger version of Haiden's refrigerator with some plastic forks and paper plates on the counter.
“Want something to drink?” he asked me. “Sure,” I didn't realize it before but I was super thirsty. “I'll take a water.” “Sounds good. Think I might have one too.”
“So do you come here a lot?” I asked him. “Just about everyday that I'm in Cape Cod.” “Oh, do you ever come when your sister is here?” “Not really. She always brings a lot of her friends over and they sleep over.” Just then headlights flashed through the cabin. “Speak of the devil.” he said in an annoyed tone. Then we heard three car doors slam. Kara, Lizzie and another woman I had never seen before walked through the door. She was older, maybe in her 40's. I guessed it was Haiden and Lizzie's mom. “Oh, hey Haiden ” the older lady said. “I didn't know you were coming out here. Who is your friend?” “Mom, this is Katie. Kara's sister. We played some soccer this mornin' then we went to Billy's for some ice cream. We were driving around and I wanted Katie to see the sunset on the water. We just came to get something to drink. We were about to go get something to eat.” “Alright,” she said. “It was nice meeting you.” I guess s Either Kara didn't care that I was here or she would be mad when we got home cause she didn't even make eye contact with me.

We went out of the cabin and went for a really long walk on the beach. “Tell me what your thinking about.” Haiden said unexpectedly. “Um... My parents actually.” I said in a mumble.
“Yeah? I always walk along the beach to clear my head. So, if its okay with you, could I know more about them? Your parents, I mean.”
“My mom, Amanda. My dad, Scott. There's really not that much to it. They just all of a sudden want to get a divorce. But I have faith that the good lord will help to get them back together.”
“So, do you want to go home or do you just wanna chill?”
“As long as I'm not at home, I don't care where you take me.”
“How about some food?” I nodded my head yes. “Last one to the car is a rotten egg.” He said. We took off running.

Judging by what I had saw on the field today, I knew he had let me win. “Guess who is a rotten egg.” I said. “Hey!” he said in a manly tone. I giggled at that. “So, what are you in the mood for?” he asked me. “Hm-mm, I honestly don't know. Just surprise me.” “Alrighty!” He put the Jeep into reverse and almost backed into a tree. “Oh. Now that takes skill.” He said with a grin. I guess he saw how scared I was cause he pulled me close to him and just hugged me as he whispered, “Hey, Don't be scared. I did that on purpose, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry.” “I'm fine.” I lied to him. He came inches from that tree, do you know how bad that would have been? My mom and dad more than likely would have smacked him with a law suit the very next morning. Haiden put the car into drive and we were off. I got a text from my mom. I flipped my phone open, Hope you are getting settled in well, everything is going well here. I love you girls. call you in the morning. I pressed the reply button and wrote getting along good, had to go grocery shopping though. Met some friends and played soccer this morning. A guy, Haiden, is showing me around. His older sister, Lizzie, is Kara's age. They have been hanging out. Call you soon. Love you. Tell Dad I love him. “Do you need a ride home?” Haiden asked me. “I guess so since Kara is here.” I replied. “Alrighty, I guess I can arrange my schedule and fit you in.” he said with a playful grin. “But, I need to get the house keys if I plan on getting in through the door,” I told him. “There's no telling how late she will get home, or if she's even coming home tonight, and im pretty sure breaking in through the window would not be very great.” He laughed. Maybe he was picturing me breaking into the house. Hmm.

When I walked through the front door of the cabin, I was in for the shock of my life. Kara and Lizzie each had a beer in their hands. They were laughing and joking around. They stopped as soon as they heard the door close behind Haiden and I. Obviously they were surprised cause they stopped giggling and Kara hid her alcohol behind her back while Lizzie put hers on the counter and threw a hand towel over it. I narrowed my eyes at Kara. “Don't even try to hide it, Kara.” I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Did she not understand that that she was going to turn into Dad? Did she just suddenly forget all the nights she held me in her arms as Mom and Dad fought in the kitchen downstairs? Or did she forget waiting up for Dad to get home just so we would know that he was Okay? I couldn't keep the tears back. I had to cry, I couldn't believe she was doing this. “I can't believe you Kara. How could you do this to yourself? What are you thinking?” I said. She was speechless. “How could you? Have you already forgotten? We've only been here two days and you have already forgotten?” I spotted the keys on the counter and snatched them up. I turned around and walked to the door, but stopped and turned around. “I'll come get you tomorrow. I can't even stand to look at you right now.” I said, tears streaming down my face. And with that me and Haiden left.

As soon as I heard his car drive away I sprinted upstairs, plopped headfirst into my pillows and screamed. Oh. My. God. I. Had. A. BOYFRIEND! I cranked up the radio and got into the shower. I took a very long shower. I thought about calling Kara back, but decided not to end my perfect night with a fight with her. Me and Kara hardly ever fought, but when we did, it was big, and bad. I put on my Eeyore pajama shorts and my coca-cola t-shirt. My stomach growled so I headed downstairs to eat some leftover shrimp. It wasn't as good the second time around, but it would do. As I layed in my bed I thought through what I needed to do tomorrow. I made a mental list. I needed to, finish unpacking, hangup my clothes, clean the bathroom, wash my blankets and sheets, wash mine and Kara’s dirty- I stopped thinking about what I needed to do tomorrow. Kara. I guess I will go get Kara first thing in the morning. I didn't remember falling asleep. I just remember waking up at two to my phone. I didn't even bother to see who it was. Next thing I knew, I was in the rental car trying to remember which road Haiden had turned on last night. The only reason I remembered I. was the trees. I didn't remember the roads being so bumpy, or so long. I tried to drive slow so I could think of what to say to her. Should I be mean? Should I act like I am pissed, in which I am? Should I just not talk to her at all? I slowly got out of the car. I wondered why Haiden's mom didn't stop them from drinking, but I remembered that the car wasn't there when me and Haiden had gotten back from the walk. I was mad at her but then wasn't again cause it was her life and her fault that they had made bad choices, but then I was again cause I didn't want my sister to turn into the monster my dad did when he drank. I knocked on the door. After a while Lizzie answered the door. Just like me, she had on her P.J.'s still. “Were you asleep?” I asked her. “Yeah, Kara is in the bathroom, she'll be out in a few. I need to talk to you about last night. It's my fault that Kara was drinking. I am the one that coaxed her into it.”she told me. “Whatever, she needs to learn how to be a little bit more responsible than that. She shouldn't have caved into peer pressure.” Thankfully Kara came out of the bathroom. Her eyes were bloodshot and I knew that she had continued drinking after I left. I let out a sigh. “Just... just get in the car.” I told her. I didn't look at her or speak to her the whole way home. “You can't ignore me forever.” She said as we were getting out of the car. “Well I am for now, so deal with it.” “Listen Katie,” she tried to tell me, nut I cut her off. “If you think for one second that im going to believe a word your about to say, you've got it all wrong. I can't believe that after everything dad put us through you would even think about putting that crap into your body.” I was shouting now. “I think that you need to be responsible enough to not give into peer pressure like you did last night. Ya know, up until last night I looked up to you, I wanted to be like you. But once again you have let me down. ” “Oh my God! SHUTUP KATIE! You sound like your my mother.” I wanted to tackle her and beat her face in. I was so mad at her. How could she talk to me like that. I had a right to be mad. She didn't have the right to yell at me, I didn't do anything wrong. I went to my room and slammed the door. I layed on my unmade bed and cried for what seemed like forever. I was only there for maybe an hour. I heard Kara get into the shower and I got up and started to hang up my clothes. I knew I needed to call my mom, but I didn't want to call her at work and get her in trouble. My mom worked at a house insurance place and her boss is a total buzz-kill so she has, like, no slack. My dad, however, is his own boss. He is a lawyer, but he goes and spends all his money on booze. I would have to wait until 12:30 to call my mom. I text my dad to see if he was busy, and of course, he was. I text Haiden and told him that me and Kara had a fight and I said that I would tell him about it tonight. I told him to have a good day and I would see him tonight. Honestly, I couldn't wait until I could be with him tonight. Its like when im with him everything just seems to be okay. I’m always so comfortable when we are together. I went outside and found an old net in the garage. I nailed together these four boards to make a soccer goal. I got my ball out of the back of the car and practiced for a really long time. I decided that I wanted to go for a run on the Bay. I ran and got my iPod off the nightstand on my room. I was glad me and Kara had rooms on totally different floors. My run was very refreshing. I turned around when I got to the patch of trees. I couldn't even see the hill anymore. I had to of ran at least two miles. It was another two miles back home, but I didn't mind. I loved the fresh air and the view. It was beautiful. When I got home I collapsed on my bed. I was tired cause I didn't get that much sleep last night. I took a nap. When I woke up it was three. I needed to call my mom. The phone rang five times before she picked up.
“Hey, Kay Kay. What are you doing my sunshine?” she said into the phone.
“Hey mom. I just woke up from a nap, actually. What about you?”
“Just going to meet your dad for a late lunch, we are going to talk about some things.” she said.
“Mom, is it happening?” tears welled in my eyes as I spoke. “The divorce?”
“Honey, things are tough. With your dad, and him spending his whole paycheck at the Office club, we can't afford to live off my paycheck. We wouldn't be able to keep the house and the things we need.” I was silently crying. I knew what was happening and I didn't like it one bit. “We would have to move, and your dad refuses to leave that house that his grandfather built. And I can't take the way he stays up all weekend at his friends house and doesn't come home. I'm sorry that it is happening like this sweetie. Just... I have to go. Enjoy yourself while your there.” I hated when she did this. She would try to explain something, then when she ran out of excuses she just hung up or ignored the subject. I hung up on her. No goodbye, no I love you. I couldn't believe this. My whole summer was going to turn out a bad dream, a nightmare. I couldn't just stand bye and let it go down like that. I knew I needed to enjoy myself while it lasted. I hopped in the shower and rinsed off from my run. I had just gotten done drying my hair when my phone rang. It was my dad texting me to tell me he was at home now and I could call him. He told me how much he loved me and that he was sorry for everything. My throat got a lump in it and it got bigger with every word that I read. I put my phone in my pocket. Downstairs Kara was cooking something. I went down there and she was just boiling some tea. I grabbed a water, and after struggling to get it open, a pickle. I wrapped it up in a paper towel and went back to my room. As I was munching on my pickle, I read the twilight series I got for Christmas. So far, it was pretty good. It was a little past five when Haiden said that he was going to be late. He told me to have my bathing suit on and to be ready to go swimming. I smiled to myself. I went up to Kara's room to tell her that I was going out with Haiden. She wasn't there, so I went down to the kitchen, she wasn't there either, nor was she in the living room. I didn't hear the water going so I guessed she wasn't anywhere.
“Kara!” I screamed.
No answer. I looked out the window. The car was gone.

I ran up the stairs and grabbed my phone off my bed, where I was reading. I had a voice-mail. I picked it up and pressed the speed- dial 1.
“ Hey, I know your mad, but im sorry, and I just want you to know that I am at the country club with Lizzie and some of her friends. I promise I will never do that to you again. I love you and I will see you when I get home.” I pressed the call back button and it went straight to her voice-mail.
“Hey Kara, I got your message. I just wanted to tell you that Haiden is coming to pick me up and we are going somewhere. I am still mad, but I guess as time goes by I will learn to accept the fact that people make mistakes. I am just not ready to do that yet. I still love you and always will.”
Not even two minutes after I hung up, the doorbell rang. I sprinted downstairs and checked myself in the mirror by the door. You could see my orange bikini strings sticking out of my tank-top, but It was okay, I opened the door to see Haiden in his black and green swimming trunks and flip-flops, SHIRTLESS!!
“Hey,” he said. “You ready?”
“Yeah, just let me grab a towel.”
He had perfectly outlined abs and his tan was to die for
I went into the laundry room and grabbed the pink and orange beach towel with the flip-flop on it and met him on the front steps.
“Let's go!” I told him.
I got in the passenger side as he got in the drivers side. We down the road we met him and Lizzie and I asked him,
“Isn't this your property?”
“Yeah, we own a lake down here and my parents have gone out so we have it all to our self to do whatever we want.” He told me with a smile on his face. I grinned as I thought about all the possibilities he had in store for tonight.
He parked the car in the driveway and we walked the worn down pathway to the shore. I could not stop grinning. There was an old dock. You could tell that the wood had been worn down from all the years, and at the end of it there was a ladder to get in and out of the lake.
“You first!” I said, giving him a shove. He almost fell, but regained his balance with a smile.
“Not before you!” at that moment, he lunged towards me grabbing me up, and before I knew it, we were sailing through the air. It seemed like forever before we hit the water and by the time I got back up for air, my head was spinning. I took my breath way to early.
Haiden was already up, and he was laughing as he climbed the ladder to the dock.
“where you going?” I asked. The humid air clawed at my face while the rest of my body was still frozen underneath the water.
He just smiled and, PLOP! He was back in the water, nowhere to be seen.
I felt something grab at my ankle, then a rush of bubbles, and I knew it was Haiden. I screamed to make him think he scared me.
“Gotcha.” he said as he came back up.
“Yeah.” I told him with a half grin.
You wanna catch some sun before it goes down?” he asked me.
“Oh, yeah. Of course.”
I felt his eyes on me as I went up the ladder. First step. Second step. Third- oops. I slipped and Haiden's hand was right on my butt.
Oh my, it was AWKWARD!
He pushed me upward towards the dock but I couldn't grab the rail. Haiden just pushed me all the way up.
After basking in the last few rays of sun, we didn't get up. We just layed there dazing at the sunset.
“I can't believe this is reality. I don't think this is real. Please pinch me and wake my from this sweet, sweet dream.” I thought aloud. He took one hand from behind his head and reached down and pinched my thigh.
“Haiden, not literally. I just.... I just never pictured myself like this.”
“Like what?” he asked. There he goes with his voice, so comfortable, but on edge telling me he was waiting for an answer.
After a few minutes of waiting I replied, “Like this. I.... I just don't know how to explain it.” I sat up and looked at him. His eyes were halfway closed and he looked as if he were a child in a battle between staying up, and going to sleep.
“I get what your saying. I feel the same way.” He sat and looked me straight in the eyes. His pure blue eyes pierced my dull brown eyes as he said, “I think this is the part where we kiss and the camera pans out and then cuts to the next scene.” He gently put his hand across my left cheek and leaned in to kiss me. His breath tasted of sweet peppermint. It was exactly the right length kiss. Not uncomfortably long, or short, but just right.

Later on that evening, we decided we were too tired to swim any longer. We went back to his car so I could get my towel and started for a long walk to his house. With our fingers laced together he talked about how when he was little, he and his dad used to go on a three day fishing trip each summer to the middle of the ocean. “ We always had so much fun,” he told me. “Every night we would stay up in our little boat and look at the stars. He would always tell me a story that went along with one of the constellations he had pointed out.” We were at his house now. He was trying to find his key. Did I mention he has, like, a billion keys?
“Why do you have so many keys?” I asked him as we were walking through his doorway.
“I don't know. My dad always had a lot of keys so I guess its just a way of reminding me what my dad was like.”
“Oh. I hope you don't mind my asking, but why did your parents get a divorce?” I asked him.
“Well, for starters, they hated eachother. If my mom wanted to do something, my dad wanted to do something totally opposite. If my mom wanted to eat somewhere my dad picked something different. Finally,” he stopped. The look in his eyes told me he was remembering something. “ I told them that they were tearing our family apart. It devastated my parents. They didn't realize how foolish they were being, that there own kids noticed they were being like that before they did.” He paused for a long moment, still remembering something.
“For the next three days my dad stayed in a hotel. He would call every night to tell us how sorry he was and how he had messed up. Then, one day, the calls just stopped. Little by little his stuff started disappearing until all of it was gone.” he looked up from staring at his knees.
We were sitting on his couch now. His living room had a HUGE entertainment center and beautiful white furniture. There was an old, polished cedar coffee table in the middle of the room. It smelled like rain.

“My mom would always tell me and Lizzie that he was coming to pick us up. We would pack our bags on Thursday and as soon as we got home from school on Friday we would get our bags and wait by the front door for him, but he would never show.”
“That must have been terrible.” I said, trying to sound sincere.
He perked up a little bit.
“ I don't wanna talk about that anymore.” He looked at the back of my hand at the scar.
“Whats that from?”
“Its from when I was little. I was in an accident. So, my grandparents used to own a horse ranch. There was this one horse I loved to death. His name was shadow. Most beautiful thing you have ever seen. Black, with a white speckled chest and a white nose. He was the only horse I would ride. We had this special connection that I don't think anyone would understand. He knew exactly what I wanted to do, exactly where I wanted to go.” I looked up from the empty fireplace to see a wide eyed boy staring back at me in anticipation.
“But one day I was riding Shadow down by the creek. Neither Shadow nor I knew what was about to happen. There was a Black Panther hiding in the trees. As Shadow was bending down to get a drink, the panther dropped from the tree with a loud scream and latched onto Shadows hind legs. Shadow dropped to the ground with a loud thud. I went tumbling down with him. My head landed in a rock and I was knocked unconscious. I layed there for 18 hours and when I gained conscience again, I had blood all over my hand and I was laying in the creek. Shadow's back was all torn up and his blood was everywhere.” I didn't know it, but I was crying. The tears were coming uncontrollably. Haiden wrapped his arms around me and we sat there until we both fell asleep.