... not in love with Kale Eddison

by Joanne McClean

  Izzie couldn’t deny that that was true, “Fine Gran, what do you wanna know?” She knew her grandmother wouldn’t give up easily.

  Her grandmother gave her a satisfied smile, “Ok, why was he quite distraught looking when I told him where you were? He looked very concerned when I told him you had collapsed and he seemed to be under the impression that it was his fault.”

  Izzie sighed, “Well, we met up on Saturday, we got caught in that heavy fall of rain … that’s probably why he thinks it’s his fault that I’m sick. As for him looking distraught, I have no idea.” Not strictly true but her grandmother didn’t need to know it was probably because he was feeling guilty about the way they had left things on Saturday.

  Her grandmother raised an eyebrow, “Uh-huh, I believe you though thousands wouldn’t.” She eyed Izzie sceptically and waited for Izzie to say something more.

  “What?” Izzie asked, trying to act innocent. “I’m telling you the truth so don’t give me that look.”

  “What look?” her grandmother shot back, “Two can play at this game you know. There’s something going on; he came by to see you for pity sake. Just ‘cause I’m old, it doesn’t mean I’m a fool.”

  Izzie gasped, “Who told you?” She thought that Kale had sworn the nursing staff to secrecy about his little late night visit.

  Her grandmother perked up instantly, “What do you mean? I told you that he came by the house … wait, what do you mean?” Izzie watched as her grandmother looked excited.

  Izzie slapped a hand to her forehead, “Oh man, I thought … never mind, it’s not important, forget I said anything.”

  “Whoa, wait a minute,” Izzie watched as comprehension slowed dawned on her grandmother’s face, “Kale came by here, didn’t he? When? Was it last night? Well, what happened?”

  Izzie sighed, knowing her grandmother was not likely to give up on her mission to find out the gossip. “Ok, yeah, he came by last night. He bribed a nurse so he could stay all night.”

  Her grandmother gasped, “Oh my, isn’t that so sweet? Well, what happened? Did you talk?”

  Izzie lowered her voice incase somebody came in unexpectedly. “I woke up to find him here; he near gave me heart failure in the process. Anyway, he asked how I was and wanted to stay all day but I told him to go and get some rest.”

  Her grandmother looked satisfied at this, “So, is he coming back again?”

  Izzie sighed, “Gran, why are you so interested in all of this? It’s not like we’re dating; we’re friends – quite grudgingly on my part – but friends nonetheless and that is it.”

  Her grandmother nodded, “Keep telling yourself that but you didn’t see him yesterday. He looked like he wanted to be more than just your friend … and keeping a bedside vigil? Well that definitely screams more than friends.”

  Izzie sighed, “Gran, you just want to see something that isn’t there. I’m afraid to burst your bubble but he definitely knows that I don’t want to be anything more than friends.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Izzie saw her grandmother scrutinise her expression.

  “Yes,” Izzie told her grandmother with as much conviction as she could muster but she knew, deep down, she thought she felt something more for Kale but she still didn’t understand why.

  “Hm,” her grandmother said knowingly, “I think you protest too much. Are you sure you’re not in love with him? It’s not a bad thing if you are, you know. These things happen so fast and unexpectedly; I knew within the first week of knowing your grandfather that I’d marry him. When you know, you know … you can’t help who you fall in love with … even if they are a famous film star.”

  Izzie tried not to answer too quickly since it would only give her grandmother more ammunition to support her theory, “Gran, I can honestly tell you … I am not in love with Kale Eddison.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Izzie was glad to be able to leave the hospital on Thursday; she was sick of sitting around but Dr Albright was adamant that she wasn’t to be discharged until her temperature returned to normal. Izzie happily let her parents fuss over her when they finally arrived home; she was just relieved to be home again. However, as soon as her parents were satisfied that she was alright, she gratefully found solitude in her bedroom. Izzie rummaged about for her school bag; once she had extracted it from under her bed, she dug out her iPod and flopped onto her bed. She tried to concentrate on the lyrics to the songs but found her thoughts drifted elsewhere … somewhere where they shouldn’t be! Izzie just couldn’t stop thinking about what her Gran had said at the hospital and now all she could think about was Kale and if she felt that way about him. She really didn’t know, she really despised him at times but at the same time, he could be really sweet. Izzie sighed; frustrated with her train of thought, she got up, keeping her headphones in and made her way over to her desk and turned on her laptop. When her homepage had popped up, she decided to check her emails and found one from Kale that had been sent earlier today.

  From: Kale Eddison

  Subject: The Halloween Dance

  To: “Izzie Frank”

  Date: Thursday, 28 October 2010, 08.34

  ‘Izzie,

  Once again, I am sorry about everything, anyway, I heard you were getting home today and I just wanted to talk to you about the Dance on Saturday; I didn’t want to text or phone you because I’m sure you still feel quite weak and want to rest. Anyway, since I haven’t really seen you from Monday, I thought I’d send you a quick email to check if you are still up for going to the Dance. I totally understand if you don’t want to go but I rather hoped you’d still be able to make it. Please don’t leave to attend my first High School Dance alone; I really don’t think I could handle trying to avoid certain people all night! I know I’m being totally selfish but if you still agree to it … I will be the happiest guy alive. Anyway, text or email to let me know … it doesn’t matter what time.

  Speak soon hopefully,

  Kale

  P.S. Hope you are feeling better and have forgotten my idiotic rambling at the hospital!’

  Izzie chuckled to herself; he really didn’t want to go to this dance alone; it was evident that he was way past desperation now. Izzie shook her head to herself and sent him a text message; knowing that he would most likely want to know right away.

  ‘Got email, will go but u owe me. Iz’

  A few seconds later and her phone bleeped, ‘Thanks, c u tomorrow. K’

  Izzie smiled in spite of herself and continued to check her emails and found one from Maddie; this was a bit of a shock since Izzie hadn’t spoken to her in a while. Nevertheless, Izzie clicked it open.

  From: Maddie Herring

  Subject: Sorry

  To: “Izzie Frank”

  Date: Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 15.04

  ‘Hey Iz,

  I heard about you being sick. Sorry I haven’t visited … or even spoke to you in a while. I was acting childish, so can we just forget all the crap that happened? I also wanted to warn you that Jake is dating Stacey now … sorry if you’re gutted. Anyway, can we be friends again?

  Talk to you later,

  Mads’

  Izzie felt very suspicious of Maddie’s email; there was just something she couldn’t put her finger on. It seemed very convenient that she wanted to be friends again after Tuesday’s article in the paper. Izzie had been shocked to see that she had made a headline once again. Kale had called her to the hospital to apologise; he was mad he couldn’t do it in person but he couldn’t leave his house as the reporters had set up camp outside it. He was furious that his visit to Izzie had been leaked and he was still trying to uncover who had squealed but Izzie wasn’t too mad this time; the hospital had managed to keep reporters from invading and at least the paper had the decency not to paint her as too much of a villain this time:

  ‘‘Kale’s Bedside Vigil’

  Kale Eddiso
n fans … it is with great pleasure that our reporter can disclose more juicy gossip regarding our favourite Hollywood Golden Boy. We can exclusively reveal that Kale has been exposed as a real sweetheart! Our insider recently uncovered some vital information that paints our Golden Boy as The Perfect Male. Mushy romantics out there; this information is especially for you.

  As our readers know, our reporter was the first to publicly reveal that our Kale was smitten with a local girl, Izzie Frank. Now, we have the great pleasure in informing you – our readers – that one Mr Kale Eddison paid a secret, late-night visit to his sweetie pie at the local hospital. Our reporter uncovered this juicy gossip when contacted by our source.

  We were informed that Kale had bribed a nurse to let him in – past visiting hours! – so that he could keep a bedside vigil with Ms Frank. After further prying, we managed to discover that Ms Frank was suffering, from what was believed to be, “a nasty case of tonsillitis”. Now, all of us know that we feel lousy when we’re sick but we certainly aren’t that lucky to have Kale Eddison staying the night with us! Our source also reported that Mr Eddison went to great lengths to avoid any photographers; he was overheard on the phone to his assistant, telling her that he wanted to “keep the press out of it”. Naturally, our Golden Boy has underestimated us once again and it is with relish, that we can bring you this report. Our insider also revealed that, despite Kale staying the night, he left rather early the following morning; making one wonder why … Did our Golden Boy get scolded by the nursing staff? Or perhaps, was it because Ms Frank forced him to leave when she awoke to find him there instead of her other boy toy; Jake Greenberg? We can only guess at this point but surely, the question on everyone’s lips is; “Can Kale Eddison possibly get any cuter?”’

  Izzie had given Kale a break when the article had surfaced, after all, he had tried his best to keep it a secret; he hadn’t known somebody would blab. Anyway, Izzie was still suspicious of Maddie’s motive; she had been wary to trust her after the first article had appeared. To receive this email now, well Izzie was even more wary; she was strongly beginning to suspect that Maddie had been the ‘close, personal friend’ mentioned in the first article. Izzie knew Maddie was envious of her friendship with Kale and Maddie could be devious enough when she wanted to be. Izzie didn’t know what to do; she read the email again and actually laughed out loud; Maddie had even the nerve to bring up Jake again! Izzie definitely knew something was up; Maddie had always been the first one to tell Izzie to stop lusting after Jake but then when Kale came along – BAM! – Maddie was all gung-ho for Izzie chasing Jake, leaving Maddie free to go after Kale; how pathetic. Izzie shook her head; she was well and truly over Jake and really couldn’t care less who he was dating.

  Izzie sighed, she decided to ignore the email but if Maddie kept pestering her; she’d have to tell that their friendship was definitely over. Izzie felt quite sad; Maddie had been her friend for seven years but her recent behaviour was evident that she was not a true friend. Izzie then realised she had a dilemma concerning Kale; on one hand, should she blame him for destroying the friendship, or should Izzie be grateful that he helped her to realise Maddie’s true colours? Izzie decided to go with the latter for the time being; she was too tired to dwell on it too much.

  The next day, Izzie found reporters outside her house again. She sighed as she opened her front door and they all came running. She really didn’t want to have to deal with this … but, at the same time, she couldn’t help but think that this was her chance to put the record straight. She took a deep breath, smiled at the first reporter who was close to her and said, “What do you wanna know?”

  There was a fight to see who could get their microphone out quick enough. A local reporter was the first to thrust hers in Izzie’s face. Izzie eyed the manic look on the woman’s face and began to really regret her decision; nonetheless, she smiled and waited for the woman to speak.

  “So, Ms Frank, is it true that Kale Eddison visited you in the hospital when you were ‘supposedly’ sick with tonsillitis?”

  Izzie bit back her scathing reply and forced herself to smile sweetly, “Yes, it’s true he visited me when I was genuinely suffering from a nasty bout of tonsillitis.” Izzie deliberately put heavy emphasis on the ‘genuinely’ and smiled innocently.

  The woman raised an eyebrow; sceptical, “Uh huh, and tell us Ms Frank, are you playing with Mr Eddison’s heart for fun? Is this all a big game to you or do you genuinely have feelings for him?”

  Izzie sighed and refrained from slapping the woman, “Look, I know there has been a lot of speculation about myself and Kale but I want to put the record straight, right now.”

  All the reporters inched closer and the woman raised an eyebrow again, “Ok then Ms Frank, enlighten us.”

  Izzie forced another smile, “First, it is Izzie and I want you all to know the truth; I have been portrayed as some sort of evil vixen in this but I can assure you that I am not. The truth is, there is nothing going on between Kale and I or any other male for that matter – yes, by that I mean I have no interest in Jake Greenberg either. Anyway, all I’m saying is that I’m not playing with anyone’s heart; I am not chasing Jake or Kale. All I want is to be left alone because I am not involved in the juicy love triangle that you all seem to believe I am a part of. Kale is merely a friend – and I use that term loosely as it is more on his part than on mine; due to the fact that I can barely stand him. And as for Jake; I’m not involved with him romantically either because I barely know the guy. Now, do you have anything else you want me to clear up?”

  The reporters talked amongst themselves for a few minutes and then a man from the back move closer.

  “Ms Frank – I mean Izzie – do you really expect us all to believe that when the evidence declares otherwise? Kale visited you in hospital and stayed the entire night! Now what does that look like to you?”

  Izzie sighed, “It may look like something but it doesn’t mean that it is; he was just being a concerned friend. Now, if you don’t have any questions that don’t accuse me of being some sort of temptress, I need to get to school.”

  They all muttered and Izzie made to walk away but Julie Falls piped up with one last question, “I’m s-sorry Izzie b-but I c-couldn’t help b-but n-notice that y-you s-said that y-you can b-barely st-stand Kale and I w-was w-wondering if y-you w-were the g-girl he m-mentioned at the p-press co-conference last w-week?”

  Izzie laughed, “Yeah, he probably was referring to me since all the other girls seem to worship him!”

  The reporters laughed but Julie wasn’t finished yet.

  “Ok b-but the w-way he sp-spoke of y-you, it s-sounded like he m-might have f-feelings for you. D-do you n-not think this is g-gonna be a p-problem?”

  “No!” Izzie exclaimed adamantly but she couldn’t help but blush; if only this reporter knew how much of a problem Kale’s feelings were! Izzie shook her head, “No,” she said more calmly, “Kale knows where I stand on this – regardless if he has feelings for me or not – because I am definitely not interested in him that way and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.”

  Izzie watched Julie eye her shrewdly and squirmed when the woman spoke again.

  “You s-sure a-about that?”

  “Yes!” Izzie retaliated, a little too quickly. Luckily, most of the reporters didn’t pick up on this. However, Izzie was sure Julie had and sure enough, Julie gave Izzie a knowing look, “I think y-you p-protest too m-much.” was all Julie said (exactly what her grandmother had told her, Izzie couldn’t help but notice).

  Izzie found she had nothing to say to that and remained silent while all the reporters – sensing that they would not get any more juicy gossip today – started to make their way back to their cars or vans and drive off.

  Izzie made it to school without being followed by the reporters and was thankful that they didn’t seem to be lurking at the school either. She pulled into a parking space and noticed that everyone appeared to be already in the building, ap
art from Kale; he had just pulled into the space next to her. She glanced at her watch, 8.40; at least she had five minutes to spare before the first bell rang. Izzie grabbed her bag, got out and locked the door just as Kale did the same.

  “Hey,” Kale flashed her a mega-watt grin and Izzie felt herself blush stupidly but he didn’t appear to notice, “how you feeling? You look a hell of a lot better … the last time I saw you, a ghost had better colour!”

  Izzie pretended to frown at him, “Ha ha, you’re such a comedian. So, managed to break out then, did you?”

  Kale smirked, “Yeah, all the reporters eventually left and I decided to make a break for freedom.”

  Izzie smiled, “Yeah, well it looks like they’d somewhere else to be since they were at my place again; I only just got away.”

  Kale frowned, looking very annoyed, “I’m sorry Izzie, they just never know when to quit. They didn’t bug you too much, did they?”

  Izzie shook her head, “Nah, I just set the record straight when they asked about your hospital visit and I tried to get them to listen my side of the whole ‘love triangle’ story. Dunno if they’ll listen but at least I tried.” She laughed a little and Kale smiled but didn’t say anything.

  “So,” Izzie began, changing the subject, “do you think Ms Belson will be pissed that two of her main characters have missed the first rehearsal for the play?”

  Kale laughed, “I totally forgot about that … it was Tuesday, right? Well I think she’ll let you off since you’ve got a legit excuse.”