Toni places the rose on the cake, then pats my back. “Ally told you this, Eden?”
I shake my head. “She doesn’t have to. I can see inside her mind now, since she’s been enlightened. I have the majority of her heart and all of her soul. He only has a small piece of her heart.”
Mother dabs at the cake with a knife to remove a messy line of piping. “Perhaps you're wrong, son. Perhaps you’re seeing something which is not there. I can’t see her having love for anyone but you. You two glow with the connection you have. There’s just no room for anyone else.”
“I’m not wrong and its fine. I can deal with it. I can also see she will never hurt me. Whatever their relationship is will not threaten ours,” I say as I place the last pearl on the side of the cake. “There, how does that look?”
Toni peers at my handy work. “Perfect. Is there nothing you can’t do, Eden?”
I laugh. “You know what I cannot manage to accomplish?”
“No,” she says.
“To beat your son at a video game,” I say, and she laughs.
The day marches on and Alyssa is not back yet. It’s been several hours. Though I’m not worried yet, I will soon be if she doesn’t return. I’ve sent out thoughts to her, but I suppose we’re too far away from each other to hear them. I hope that gets better after we change.
The home phone rings and David answers it. “Hello, Devlin residence. Ally, where are you?” he asks. “No, ma’am. Come home, we’re all going together," he says. “I think that’s a bad idea,” he says, then turns towards me, holding the phone out. “She wants to talk to you.”
I take the phone. “Alyssa?”
“Hey, Eden. I want to go with my friends to get our gowns on for the graduation. We’re hanging out, talking about our pasts and our futures, and I want to go talk to the rest of my class too. I’m going to miss them, you know,” she says.
“Of course, princess. You do that. Have fun and we’ll be there for the graduation. I’m glad you made peace with them, Alyssa. I’ll see you when it’s over,” I say.
“Okay, I love you, Eden.”
“I love you too, Alyssa,” I say, then hang the phone up.
Her father stares at me. “You didn’t have to let her do that. You know you can make her come home and go with us,” he says.
I look into David’s eyes, because I know he’s raised her under strict conditions for my sake. I can’t blame him for being so over-protective, but I do need him to see the difference in being protective and being unreasonable.
“David, I fear you have never found the line between protection and unreasonable fears about her. She’s safe and with friends she trusts. This is an important day for her to share with those whom she’s grown up with. We have to allow her the space to have outside relationships and interests.”
“You know, I heard Kyle’s voice in the background, Eden. She’s with him,” David says.
“I know exactly who she’s with. We have no secrets between us. It’s impossible. She’s grown up with him and Laura and a lot more people she’d like to spend time with before it’s all over. Only I can stop her and I won’t,” I say as I pat him on the back. “Now, let’s get on that pit you have in the backyard. I’m dying to taste this barbecue your family raves about. Our Creator only knows how many people your daughter will invite back here to her graduation party.”
He lets out a laugh, then says, “You are something else, son. So secure. I wish I could feel like you do.”
I wish he could too. I wish everyone could.
CHAPTER 29
KYLE
Holy Shit! Would you look at her?
I’m outside my house, in the driveway, washing my truck, and Ally just passed by, driving that guy’s jag. The top’s down and her hair blows around her slightly. She looks so gorgeous I think I forgot to breathe.
Pulling the car into Laura’s driveway, three houses down from mine, she finds no cars there. Laura had to run to Alamogordo to get a dress for graduation and she won’t be home for a couple of hours.
Ally pulls back out and I’m sure she’ll pass right back by me, ignoring me.
I have to admit, I was a complete jackass.
She most likely hates me and I don’t blame her. My head has been messed up about what she’s done to me, but she didn’t deserve what I said to her. What Laura and I did was no one’s business but our own. I know now that I did it out of spite.
To my surprise, Ally rolls up and stops, waving me over. She calls out, “Wanna go for a ride, Kyle?”
I saunter up to her and lean on the door. “Why, so you can go drop me off a cliff?”
The touch of her finger as she tweaks my nose sends warmth right through me. I take her hand and hold it to my cheek.
My God, how I’ve missed her!
She smiles at me and my insides melt. “I’m not going to drop you off anything, Kyle. Come on, let’s go to Trixie’s and get something to drink. I’m buying.”
Though hesitant about this, I decide to go with her. There’s something very different about her. A certain look in her eyes.
Sure, I’m still afraid she wants to get even with me. Maybe she’s going to poison my drink to try to give me the runs so I can’t go to graduation, but I find her very intriguing, so I’ll risk it.
“Okay, Al, I’ll go with you,” I say and let her hand go. I walk around the car to the passenger seat and slide in. “Damn, this is the softest leather I’ve ever felt.”
She looks over at me as she slides her Ray-Bans back on. “I know, right?”
My God, she’s gorgeous! How did I never see her in this way?
She takes off, making me lean all the way back into the seat with the force. “This thing has a lot of get up and go, girl. You sure you can handle it?” I ask. I think I want to tell her I’m sorry for telling her about me and Laura like I did.
She laughs and something in my heart pinches. I find I’ve missed hearing it. “I made it this far so I think I can handle it. So, tell me, Kyle.”
I look at her and wait for her to finish her obviously unfinished sentence, but she doesn’t. “Do you want to finish what you want me to tell you, Al?”
Giving me a quick glance, she looks back at the road. “I was finished. I want you to tell me.”
My hair must be messed up because she runs her hand through it, then leaves her hand on the headrest next to my head. I can smell the lavender scent lingering on her skin.
“I’m sorry, Ally. I should never have told you what I did. I know I can’t take the words or the hurt back, but if I could, I would.”
Her knuckles graze my face lightly as she smiles at me. “I forgive you, Kyle. So you really care for Laura. I can see it. She has issues with men, you know. You may get hurt.”
She can see it? I didn’t realize I was wearing an, ‘I’m falling for Laura,’ expression!
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. She’s great, Ally. You know that already. I knew a version of Laura, the person she is in front of others. I’m getting to know the real Laura, the one with insecurities about love and faithfulness,” I say as we drive down main street and people openly point at us as if we’re from somewhere else. “This car gets a lot of attention. Do you see how people point and stare?”
“The car is beautiful and should be appreciated. I’m sure the handsome young man in the passenger seat is also a bit intriguing to people as well,” she says with a wicked grin on her angelic face.
What has happened to her? She seems almost like a different person. So confident, and she was anything but that.
I have to laugh. “Who are you, girl?”
“Still just me, Kyle. Anyway, I wanted you to know I’m cool with you both. I’m not mad. I was at first, but not anymore. Now that I know you didn’t use her to hurt me, I feel even better about you two.”
Damn! She’s taking this a lot better than I thought she would. Maybe she didn’t really love me after all.
She pulls into the parking lo
t of Trixie’s and parks, then looks over at me, and runs her hand through my hair. “I still love you, Kyle. I always will. My heart will hold you in it forever. I must have you in my life in some capacity. You and whoever comes along with you will always have a place in my life, no matter what.”
Pushing a curl off her face, I fight the urge to kiss her. “Ally, what do you mean?”
She pulls her sunglasses off and places them on top of her head. “I mean, I never want us to stop being friends. Just because we can’t be together in a romantic way doesn’t mean we can’t be close.”
“Does your guy know you’re with me?”
“Of course he does,” she says as she opens her door to get out. “You should text Laura to meet us here. We can all hang out like we used to.”
Only this time Laura will be on my arm! Awkward!
I get out of the car and follow Ally. “I don’t know about that, Al. Don’t you think it’ll be awkward?”
She looks over her shoulder at me. “I know you do, but we need to get past that. Tell her to come, Kyle, please.”
I walk a little more quickly to get to the door before she does, opening it for her to go through first. I resist the urge to drape my arm around her like I’ve done for what seems like forever.
“Let’s get a booth,” she says as she moves fluidly through the dark bar.
Ally slides in and I take the seat across from her. Sitting next to her would be too hard. “There’s something different about you, Al. I can’t pinpoint it yet, but there’s definitely something.”
Bonnie comes to take our order and she’s wearing a smile as she looks back and forth between Ally and me. “Well looky here, if it ain’t the perfect couple back together,” she says.
Ally reaches across the table and takes my hand as she looks up at the red-headed waitress. “Not like that we’re not. But nothing can ever break us apart, completely. Isn’t that right, Kyle?”
Intertwining our fingers, I smile at her. “Guess not.”
Bonnie looks confused and I have to say I am too. “Okay then, what can I get you guys?”
“The usual will be fine,” Alyssa says, then smiles a little. “And bring Kyle a beer. He’ll need to take the edge off. It won’t be easy on him once Laura joins us.”
“Sure thing, Ally,” Bonnie says then leaves the table.
My jaw drops. “How the hell did you get her to do that?”
Ally giggles and leans in to whisper. “Eden and I came here a few days ago. She was all flirty with him and offered him one, even though he told her he was only eighteen, but she said she wouldn’t tell.”
“So, Prince Valiant drinks beer?”
“No! He turned it down of course. You know if you can put all the jealousy behind you, we can all be friends. It would mean a lot to me if you could,” she says as she wiggles her fingers, which are tangled with mine.
Can I really do that? I’m fine with her now, but to see her with him, I just don’t know.
“I’m not over you,” I say as I lean in, our faces so close we could kiss. The sweet smell of citrus and flowers wells up around her. “Is that a new perfume I smell?”
Ally pulls back a little. “I would love to have my cake and eat it too, but I can’t, nor can you.”
“Rhyming now, Al?”
“I guess. I know you want to kiss me, but those days are over. We need to make a new and very different relationship,” she says as she sits back, unjoining our hands. “I suppose the physical contact needs to stop as well, since it gives you a problem.”
Problem? It’s no problem. I love it.
“So do I,” she mumbles.
“What did you say, Al?” I ask, because I’ve just realized she has commented on several of my thoughts. We were close, but never so close we could finish each other’s sentences or know what the other was thinking.
She averts her eyes as the waitress comes back with her chocolate shake and my beer.
Christ! I can’t believe she really brought me one!
Placing a bowl of chips and salsa between us, Bonnie says, “This is on the house. A graduation present from me.”
“Thank you. How nice of you,” Ally says as she looks Bonnie right in the eye.
Another thing so different about her. She was chronically shy. Suddenly that’s gone.
“Thanks, Bonnie,” I add.
Ally pops a dipped chip in her mouth and I do the same. “You have to come see me in New Orleans. We have a chef who cooks like he came straight from heaven,” she says.
“Oh, yeah? So tell me about your new home, Al,” I sa,y but I’m not sure if I’m ready to know.
“There’s better things to talk about. Like the small graduation party my family’s throwing at our house tonight. Wanna come?” she asks.
“He’s going to be there, isn’t he?”
She nods and eats another chip.
Can I do this? Can I put jealousy out of my min, and do this?
I take my cell out and text Laura. (Meet me at Trixie’s when you get back to town. I have a surprise for you.)
“You finally asking Laura to join us?” Al asks.
“Yeah. If she says she’ll go to your party, then I will too.” A smile breaks across Ally’s face and it makes me so damn happy in an instant. “Damn girl, I missed that smile. It’s crazy how much I missed it.”
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed seeing your face every day, Kyle. I can’t give you up completely. Try to look at me in a new way. I’m someone you’ve grown up with. Can’t you look at me like you look at any of the other girls in our class?” she asks, then places the straw in between her red, plump lips, unaware of how beautiful she is.
I lean in and pull the straw from her mouth. “Can you look at me like you look at all the rest of the boys in our class, Ally?” I ask, then pull the tall glass of chocolate liquid to my mouth as she still holds it in her hand. Placing the straw between my lips, I take a sip.
Her eyes go to my lips and she licks hers. “Guess not.” Her eyes travel back to mine and she says, “We have a lot to work through, don’t we?”
That we do!
CHAPTER 30
ALYSSA
How can it be possible to love two completely different people at once and to know it will be this way forever?
What was Our Creator thinking to let this happen?
I sit across from Kyle and Laura at Trixie’s café. They hold hands and every so often share a private whisper and giggle with each other. Cody has joined us and he sits next to me. Never have I felt more comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.
I’ve known these people for as long as I can remember. They’re my closest friends, yet they seem almost like strangers as I sit and watch my Kyle look at and touch my best friend.
“How ya doing, Al?” Cody whispers in my ear as Kyle and Laura whisper to each other about something they’re leaving us out of.
I pat Cody’s knee under the table. “I’m fine.” I whisper back, but I’m not fine.
Who could be fine knowing they can never have someone they love the way they want to? Who can be fine watching the one they love fall in love with another?
Kyle is falling for Laura. I can read his thoughts as well as I can read Eden’s. When Laura had not joined us yet he thought little of her. But what he did think about her was nice.
I could see he’s really coming to care for her. Then, when she walked in, he lit up like a Christmas tree and he thought about how sexy and hot she looked in her new green dress. He thought about how perky her boobs were and how he wanted to suck them later on tonight.
Yeah, it made me sick too!
As she hesitantly came towards us, he worried about her and how she was feeling seeing me and him together. When she and I hugged, he felt relief. When she hugged him, he got a boner.
It was gross!
It’s obvious to me, at least for now, that their relationship is highly sexual, something I assume is natural in some relationships. I wor
ry for them both though, as I know Laura.
I can’t read her yet. Perhaps after I change I’ll be able to. For now, it’s just Eden and Kyle, I assume because they each have a solid place in my heart.
Bonnie brings us a round of beers as a graduation gift, something my parents would have never tolerated.
After being enlightened about what I really am, I trust my own judgement. One beer will not hurt me. I’m not even all human.
I could smoke if I wanted to and it would never hurt me or give me cancer. I don’t like the smell though, so I doubt I’ll ever even pick one up.
Cancer will never be a battle I’ll have to fight. Sickness of any kind will not take me from this world. Very few things can kill this body. One of the oddest things I was shown by Grace and Rodney was that milk in large amounts can kill us.
How crazy, right?
I suppose that’s why my parents always told me I was lactose intolerant. I never remember drinking milk and having a reaction to it. It seems odd now, though, as we had milk in the house. Scotty drinks it, as do mom and dad.
Kyle reaches across the table and takes my hand, which I’ve absentmindedly been tracing patterns on the table with. “Ally, Laura said we can go to your party after graduation.”
I look up at him, then over to Laura, who’s smiling. “Good! I’m glad you decided to join me,” I say, then turn to Cody. “You’re invited too, Cody.”
Cody slips his arm around my shoulders. “You gonna be my date, Al?”
I laugh. “No, but you can bring one. If you can find one.”
Kyle still has my hand in his. He threads his fingers through mine. Both of us are on the inside part of the booth. Our hands, up against the wall, are in plain view, but it still feels secretive to me. Something like that is never good.
I pull my hand away and Kyle looks over at me with a frown. “You and I have more to discuss later, Ally.”
I nod and look away. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with. The knowledge that Kyle will always be in my life does battle with the knowledge that he and I will never be anything more than friends.
I look at Laura and try hard to get into her mind to see how she feels about him. She may be my best friend, but if she hurts him it will destroy our friendship forever.
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