How We Began

by Sandra Corton

  "Mitch!" She squeaked out her brother’s name happily, as she flung herself at him.

  "Hello gorgeous, Mum called me; she said you hit your head. Are you okay?" He asked with concern, as he pulled her into a hug, before noticing Isaac in the hallway. "I guess my dress fixing worked, or was that you swooning in his arms after hitting your head?" He whispered excitedly in her ear. and she blushed.

  "Oh, God, how do I explain this?" Kayla asked, as the blush only deepened at her brothers amused face.

  "Isaac Thornton, if you've hurt her in any way them I will make your life a living hell!" Hayley's voice screamed out, probably waking half the neighbourhood, as she marched up the driveway. "Hey what? Mitch is here?"

  "Hayley, will you hush!" Kayla demanded of her friend. "Yes, Mitchell is here. Your brother slept on the couch, because he was concerned that I might have a concussion, and yes my Mum allowed it," Kayla sent out a little white lie, but refused to look at Isaac, hoping that he would play along. Hayley would never stop badgering her if she had even an inkling of Isaac being in her bed.

  "Hello Hayley, it's good to see that you haven't changed any," Mitchell said wryly. "It seems that we have a lot to talk about," he glanced to his sister, who appeared extremely worried.

  "Hey, Mitch," Hayley waved a bit strangely.

  "An introduction would be handy." Mitchell eyed Isaac who stood there looking shocked.

  "Sorry, I'm Isaac Thornton, brother of that crazy person," Isaac gestured to Hayley, who screwed her face up, as though ready to argue.

  "Great to meet you," Mitchell offered his hand, which Isaac shook. "I'm Mitch McCrae, and this is my sister, are you two dating?"

  Kayla let out a groan of mortification at Mitchell's very mischievous look. She watched, as they shook hands, and made polite gestures to each other. Mitchell grinned openly, while Isaac still looked a little cautious. Kayla sighed and unconsciously rubbed the bump on her head. This morning looked like it was getting a whole lot more complicated.

  Chapter 15 - Schools back in

  It was Monday morning, and Isaac still didn't have a grip on everything that had happened since Saturday night. Meeting Kayla's brother had been something unexpected, but he was glad that he had now. He was a great guy, just as Kayla had said.

  Isaac had left them to have a family reunion once their Mum had come back from work. Hayley hadn't been keen on leaving, but Isaac had insisted. He needed to think over the crazy, but fantastic day he had just had. Secretly, he still felt intimidated by the full meeting the family moment, and he wanted to put that off for as long as possible.

  He had sent Kayla a text in the afternoon to make sure she was feeling better. That was when he realised that he was in this deep. Meeting her mother, and then her brother should have been enough to send him scurrying for cover, but he hadn't. Knowing more about her only made him greedy for even more time with her.

  When she hit her head, and been knocked unconscious, he had panicked. He didn't want to leave her alone that whole night. He had told nobody that he hadn't really slept on the couch. He had slouched by her bedside instead, listening to every movement she made. Every time she sounded pained, he had almost called her mother with worry that she was worse than he thought.

  She woke up enough to ask him to stay, and originally he had refused. He had known that he should have left her mother to take care of her, but he couldn't help himself. The last thing he wanted was to ruin Kayla's reputation; he just knew that he had to make sure that she was fine, before he could leave.

  When she asked him to get into her bed with him, nothing had shocked him more. His mind went through how much he wanted to agree with her, until he finally protested; he knew that she would be upset with herself in the morning.

  Once she persisted to the point where she grabbed his arm, and forced him onto the bed with her, he knew he'd lost. That was the last moment he refused her.

  The sheer intimacy of her curling her body around his, had kept him awake for much longer than he wanted. He hadn't dared touch her, as he tried to control his bodies more basic instincts.

  She was so soft, warm, and adorable, as he watched her sleep. She would scrunch up her nose sometimes, or mumble quietly in her sleep. She snuggled against him, and he knew that he would be happy to watch her sleep for a long time.

  Waking up to her panic was nowhere near as much fun. Admitting the truth to her had been unexpected, but somehow he felt relieved by her knowing. She was the only girl who knew the truth about his so-called reputation. He knew that she still didn't believe him about it, and he couldn't really blame her.

  "Isaac, come on!" Hayley's voice snapped him back to reality.

  "Yeah, alright." He sucked in a deep breath, and tried to get his body under control. Just thinking about Kayla was messing with both his mind and his body.

  He picked up his phone and sent a quick text to Kayla, "Hey, do you want me to pick you up today?" He sent the message knowing that he wanted to see her as soon as possible. His phone beeped, and he quickly snatched it up, only to fumble and drop it on the floor. He cursed before picking it up again.

  "Sure." She replied, and he felt elated.

  "Let's go, Hayles," Isaac grabbed his bag, and rushed from the room. He sent Kayla a confirmation text, as he stormed down the hallway.

  "Now, you choose to rush?" Hayley stood at her bedroom door with a smirk filling her face.

  "Yeah, we are picking Kayla up on the way." He told her, and her grin became infuriatingly smug.

  "Oh, are we?" She asked with a raised brow.

  "Just get down the stairs, Hayles." Isaac gave her a little push.

  The drive to Kayla's seemed endless, especially with Hayley's constant looks and clicks of the tongue. When they finally arrived, Isaac was sure he would have to scrape his jaw off the floor. She was often in pants or even a baggy uniform, but this was something else again.

  She was back to wearing a hat, but now her body was showing off its perfection. Last time she had worn this tight version of her uniform, he had been flabbergasted. He didn’t have a chance to take it all in, before she had thrown her cardigan over it. This time his mind went straight to where it shouldn't.

  He was reminded once again of Saturday night. Watching her roll around in her pyjamas, which occasionally had shown him a flash of skin that had been mesmerising and torture all at once. This felt much the same. His mouth went dry, his body overreacted, and he couldn't think straight. He forced himself to jump out of the car and greet her.

  "Hey, Kayla," he called out, before wincing at how stupidly eager he sounded.

  "Hey, Isaac," she said his name in that soft way she always did, and his heart did this weird dance.

  "Ready for school?" He wanted to smack himself in the head for how lame his words were this morning. Where was smooth, charming Isaac when he needed him?

  "Looks like it." She told him with a soft laugh, as she picked her bag up, and moved towards the car.

  She opened the back door, and tossed her bag in, before hopping in, and doing up her seatbelt. Isaac's eyes seemed to move along every curve, as she moved, and he gulped in some air. She smiled at him once she sat comfortably, and he had to force himself into motion.

  "How's your head?" He thought to ask, when he could finally spit out some words.

  "Better, the swelling has gone down." She reached under her hat to rub at her head.

  "That's good." Isaac murmured, while next to him Hayley snorted.

  "Hand it over, Kayla. I meant what I said the other day," Hayley turned in her seat, and gave her friend a deadly stare.

  "Not even a good morning! You're as bad as Mitchell." Kayla grouched.

  "Oh, sorry, let me try that again," Hayley said in a sickly sweet voice. "Good morning, Kayla. I'm glad your brothers at home, so you wear more than a sack. Now, hand me over that hat." Hayley wiggled her fingers determinedly.

  "Rhyming, Hayles, really?" Isaac rolled his eyes.

  "That didn't even r
hyme." Kayla added in, trying to ignore her friend.

  "Give it here!" Hayley turned in her seat, and frowned at her friend. "Do it or I'll tell him why you always wear a hat."

  "What a great friend you are." Kayla grumbled, as she reluctantly handed her hat over.

  "You look great. This is no longer necessary," Hayley waved the hat in her friend's face, before cramming it into her bag. "Now, put your contacts in as well, and you will look perfect." Hayley stared her friend down, until she complied with a put upon sigh.

  "If Kayla wants to wear a hat she can." Isaac argued with his sister, as Kayla tried straightening her hair out, before shoving it into a bun and securing it. She glanced to Isaac at his comment, and felt her chest warm, with those butterflies returning in her chest.

  "Thanks, Isaac."

  "You just want to keep her hidden, so none of the other guys notice her." Hayley told him sharply, and Isaac shut his mouth with a click.

  Their arrival at school could have included a fanfare with everyone that seemed to gape at them getting out of the car. Eyes focused on Isaac mostly, which gave Kayla a momentary sense of relief. That was until they noticed her.

  "So, you somehow got the new chick, before any of us had a chance." A guy from Isaac's football team that Kayla didn't really know stared at her hard. She felt somewhere between furious and shocked at this guy’s rudeness.

  "I'm not new, nor a chick." Kayla said, as she grabbed her bag and stormed off towards her locker.

  "Kayla, wait!" Isaac's voice had her slowing down, but she kept her face averted from him. "I'm sorry about Fraser."

  "It's not your job to apologise for another person's rudeness," she told him abruptly. "I need to get to my locker."

  She knew that she had a spare hat in her locker, and she needed its protection right about now. She wanted to go back to being invisible. The attention she continued receiving was beyond her coping skills.

  Isaac's fingers slid against hers, and she stopped. She finally faced him, as he fully clasped his hand in hers. The smile he gave her filled with shyness, but was as wonderful as ever. His words from the previous day washed over her once again, and she pondered whether it was the truth or not.

  It was with gestures like this, where he showed a much less confident side that she could believe him. The fact that he had never had a girl in his room before made sense now too. She wanted more details to make up her mind, but she had no idea how to ask him without humiliating herself.

  "You don't need to cover up, you know. They aren't all going to be jerks to you," he assured her, and she felt startled at his observations.

  "That's... uh... how did you know?" She looked down at the ground, but he simply tilted her chin up so she had to face him.

  "I guessed," he said with a grin. "Plus, that always seems to be your back up plan."

  "I really don't get you, Isaac Thornton," she told him with a puzzled frown, as he squeezed her fingers, setting her heart to racing once more.

  "What's to get?" He asked, looking at her rather nervously.

  "Would you... um, after dance class... would you mind having dinner with me and Mitch?" She stumbled over the words, as she once again tried to look at the ground.

  "Meet the family time, hey?" He cleared his throat, and she bit down on her lip.

  She knew that she shouldn't have asked him! It was only that Mitchell had hinted at it this morning that the thought was even still on her mind. She dared a glance at him to see a thoughtful rather than panicked look on his face, so she let out a breath.

  "Look, I know you've never done it before, so you can say no. It's just Mitch keeps going on and on about me now having a boyfriend, and... Oh God, I just said that!" She slapped her free hand over her mouth, before looking at him aghast. "I... I didn't mean that you’re my boyfriend. I just..." She stopped talking abruptly, and wished that she had left her hair down, so she could use it to cover her mortified face.

  "Of course, I'm your boyfriend, Kayla." Isaac said confidently, immensely glad that she thought of him that way.

  "No, you’re not!" Kayla slipped her hand from his, which shocked Isaac. "If I'm your girlfriend, then my week starts counting down. I'm not your girlfriend." She started pushing a firm finger against his chest.

  "Okay, you have totally confused me," Isaac said with a shake of his head. "How about this: I'm your boyfriend, and yes I'll come to dinner at your house tonight." He grabbed hold of her hand again, and she felt her mouth drop open

  The bell rang and for the first time, Kayla wasn't rushing quickly off to class. Instead, she stared at Isaac. She wanted to be excited about being his girlfriend, but he had given that label to so many girls that she simply felt like the next one in line. There was nothing at all special about it when she knew that she probably only had a week left with him.

  "You're going to come to dinner willingly, even though you've never done a meet the family thing before?" She asked, needing his confirmation. She saw him gulp, before he nodded in the affirmative. "Alight." She felt better about his response, but he still looked anxious and uncertain.

  "Class, you two!" A loud voice shouted out to them, and Kayla finally realised where she was.

  With a small squeak, she turned and ran for her first class. Isaac watched her go with a feeling of dread swelling in his chest. Why oh why had he just agreed to a meet the family dinner? Feeling perturbed, he followed Kayla to their classroom.

  She stood at the closed doorway to the room fidgeting with her hand on the doorknob, but unable to turn it. She had never been late to class, and she wasn't looking forward to everyone gawking or sniggering at her.

  "Come on, Kayla, or we'll end up in detention," Isaac's voice had her jumping away from the door. "This is how it's done for the next time you're late." He leaned down to whisper in her ear.

  He knocked confidently on the door, and the teacher opened it. Isaac gave some excuse that Kayla didn't hear. All she saw were the many eyes staring at her. They were all curious and interested, rather than the way they normal looked at her, as a weird being that they could never understand.

  "Just don't be late again." The teacher scolded, to which Isaac appeared suitably contrite.

  He tugged her over to the front seat where she normally sat. Kayla couldn't concentrate on anything; because of all the eyes, she sensed watching her. It wasn't until the teacher mentioned that they would be working in pairs that she realised she was even in English class.

  This must have been the pairing up that Isaac had mentioned weeks ago. He sent her a cheeky smile, as he gestured to himself. An answering smile appeared on her own face, as she replied with a simple nod.

  "Hey, new girl, do you want to pair with me?" A rambunctious voice called out, and Kayla felt exasperated that nobody knew her.

  "I'm not new." She told the room, who all seemed amazed at her three simple words.

  "We know, Kayla, now sit down. Being late to class was bad enough; let's not cause a disturbance as well." The teacher told her grumpily. Kayla hadn't even realised that she had stood up and shouted at the guy.

  "She's pairing up with me." Isaac turned a look to the guy that came across rather menacing.

  "Yes, I am." Kayla replied, as she turned back to the front of the class.

  The teacher outlined the project, and Kayla frowned at the amount of work involved, but she still took copious notes. She wondered whether it was a good idea to pair with Isaac. He might decide that she was just as bad as the other girl's he had dated, and where would that leave her? It would be incredibly awkward to be finishing the project if he didn't want anything to do with her.

  She glanced over at him, and tried to keep her heart from fluttering. She had never noticed before, but when he concentrated, he had a habit of poking the tip of his tongue out of the side of his mouth. He looked unbelievably cute.

  As though sensing her eyes on him, he turned her way. His grin had her bursting with melting goodness. Which of course made her feel guilty over
her earlier negative thoughts about him.

  The bell rang, and she quickly gathered all her things into her bag. Just like last week, Isaac picked up her bag as well as his. She tried not to feel enthused by such a nice gesture, but she knew it only made her fall for him even harder.

  The intensity of gazes that she received seemed to increase when she entered her next class by herself. Taking a deep breath, she went straight to her normal desk. Her insecurities swelled, as she sat down. She missed the safety and anonymity that her hat and glasses normally gave her.

  "Hey, Kayla, do you mind if I sit here?" She glanced up to see Steve pointing to the chair next to her.

  She had no idea how to answer him. She still didn't trust him, and found herself glaring at him. Yet, he was a familiar and friendlier face in a sea of gaping faces that were becoming threatening to her.

  "Sit wherever you like, Steve," she replied coolly.

  "Look, I'm sorry about what I said okay. I was a jerk, and you know I'm not like that," Steve tried to explain with a smile that she found quite creepy.

  "I don't really know you at all." She informed him, as she went back to organising her work.

  "That's not true. I thought we got to know each other pretty well last year." His voice turned suggestive, and Kayla found her mouth dropping open in shock.

  "Go away, Steve." She snapped at him abruptly.

  "What? Why?"

  "Just move." Her words were icy cold.

  "You won't give me the time of day, but precious Isaac gets to walk you to class." Steve's voice rose, attracting the class’s attention.

  "Why are you acting like this? You didn't want to know me outside of when I tutored you last year." Kayla exclaimed in confusion.

  "Take your seats, and let's get this lesson started." The teacher told the room firmly.

  Steve dropped into the seat next to her, and she bristled at his insistence. She moved her chair as far from him as she could. She reached into her bag for a spare pen only to find her glass case in her hands.