True Love:Follow Your Heart

by Melissa Heagerty

  Kelli pursed her lips. Why did she believe this showdown would work in her favor? Her eyes glanced at Travis, who gives her a reassuring nod, she clears her throat to continue. “I came here to apologize—”

  Torrie, who had a dulled expression wrenched heavenward at Kasper, who remained perplexed.

  Kelli tries this again. “I'm s—” Kelli gnash her teeth. Why was this hard to admit? She shook the jitters out of her. You can do this; Kelli took a deep breath …’ “I wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened.” Ugh, that left a bad taste in her mouth.

  Torrie scoffs at as she nor Kasper bought this nice girl act of hers. Intrigued to wonder what she was up to. He folds his arms and tries to figure her out.

  “You expect me to forgive you? Like that?” Torrie was onto her. This little integrity act won't win her over. “You know your boyfriend tried to hit on me, right?”

  Kelli glanced back over at Travis's direction.

  “Yeah, that black eye he had it's because of me. Not Kasper. Whatever you are doing, it isn't going to work.” Torrie told her.

  Kelli knew this was bound to happen. “There is no act or whatever you think I'm trying to do, Torrie. I come to the realization that my brother is a grown man. He can see and date whomever he chooses … even if it's you.” Kelli faked a small smile in her direction as she held back from clawing her eyes out.

  Kasper raised his brow. He was now even suspicious of his sister's mental health. He recalled a confrontation a few weeks back prior, in which she told him to stay away. This one-eighty is a setup of some kind.

  “You can't even say my name with a straight face without some sort of scheme. I'm onto you, Kelli.”

  “Believe whatever you must. I, approve, whatever you are to my brother. I don't have to like it, but I accept it.” She started to get queasy and walked away from them. Kelli tried to be the bigger woman as she sauntered back to Travis.

  《***》

  “You do know they're up to something, right?”

  Torrie was well aware of it.

  Kasper agreed. “Oh, I'm well aware of how my sister works when Travis is nearby things are never good.” Kasper knew for a fact he's bad news for her. Let's assume from a previous encounter. They haven't seen eye to eye since. “She had begged countless times for me to stop hanging out with you. Now out of the blue, she accepts?” He shook his head out of disbelief.

  Torrie racked her brain about this random act of kindness. “You want to scare the crap out of her?” She grinned at him as she came up with a scheme that will rock her words to her core. She whispered to Kasper's as his eyes widened and a seductive, sly smirk appeared on his face.

  《***》

  “I don't know what's going on over there, but whatever it is ...” Travis starts to say.

  Kelli glanced back at her brother, who loved exactly what they had in mind. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I have a bad feeling about it too.” Kelli got goosebumps on her arms all of a sudden.

  Late after school, Kelli got distracted in her own world when a voice snapped her out.

  “Did you hear what we said?” Kasper tried to snap Kelli out of her thoughts.

  A puzzled look remained on Kelli's face. “Kas? Wha?”

  “We wanted to say now that you accept us, we don't have to hide our relationship anymore.”

  Kelli shook her head “no” again. The voices started to fade as she became short of breath.

  “We wanted you to be the first to know. I'm glad you accept us dating sis.” Kasper walks away hands intertwined with Torrie, as they know it's killing her.

  Kelli needed to get out of here. She ran as far as she could go. The one place where she needed to be. To see her boyfriend. She couldn't care less; he had practice today. Kelli storms in the locker room full speed ahead and nearly collided into Travis's naked chest.

  “Whoa! Babe, I'm flattered and all that you want to help before games and all but—”

  She ignored him yet again. He watched Kelli pace back and forth. Now was not the time.

  He walks over towards her and figured she needed this, as they share a hug. “Calm down okay. Kasper is messing with you. You're letting him win.”

  Kelli holds her shirtless boyfriend as she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt safe and centered again. “What should I do then? You should have seen me earlier, I barely held it together." Kelli didn’t want to let go as she buried her face farther in his chest.

  Travis kissed her forehead. “As much as I hate your brother like you do. This is your problem, although, I may have one idea left up to my sleeve.” He thought about something.

  Kelli was desperate she'll take anything at that point. Walking back out of the locker room, regrouping herself in the process.

  You can do this; you can do this. All she had to tell herself over and over. She spotted Torrie and Kasper next to her locker.

  《***》

  From the corner of Torrie's eye, she felt chills. Kasper became confused as he felt Torrie's hand before realizing what she was doing.

  “Kelli, always a pleasure.” Torrie mumbled under her breath.

  Kasper rubbed his thumb on her knuckles.

  Kelli took a few short breaths as she confronted them. “I want to say again how happy I am about you two finally being together.”

  Kasper had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Uh-huh,” Kasper managed to croak out.

  “So, I told mom about Torrie.”

  No no no ... shit!

  A fretted Kasper thought to himself. Torrie’s forehead furrowed staring at Kasper who stood there stunned.

  “So, I thought why not and invite her over for dinner. To make things a bit better I'll even invite Travis to keep the spotlight off you.”

  Torrie bit the inside of her cheeks. The reason for that was because she noticed Kasper squeezed the life out of her hand. She tried to remain nonchalant as she fought through the pain. “I'll be there Kelli. Name the time and place.” Torrie felt Kasper's eyes in the back of her neck.

  Kelli sneered at Torrie's direction. She knew Torrie had no way around this one. She. Had. Him. “How about tomorrow?” Kelli gave her no time to prepare for this dinner.

  A peeved Kasper remained inscrutable at this point. Kelli dug a bigger hole for their graves.

  “Fine, see you then.”

  Kelli tittered away. This would be fun for her, especially since Kasper knew what kind of mother they had.

  《***》

  The moment Kelli was out of earshot, Torrie released the grip from her hand. “Oww, what the hell Kas.” Torrie held her hand in pain.

  Kasper knew this was a bad idea. “Sorry, but you have no idea what my mother is like when it comes to the people we date,” Kasper explained as he ran a hand through his hair. “You will not survive.”

  Torrie scoffs. “We're not going to let Kelli win this war, Kasper. All I have to do is charm her, right?” Torrie assumed it would be that easy.

  Chapter 16

  Once again, after a restless slumber Eileen sighed as she lay in bed. She felt so helpless right now. What could have changed if she didn’t make the deal? Stupid question; there was absolutely nothing to prevent it. Her phone vibrated as she pondered who would text her this time of night? Maybe Torrie forgot her keys again? She grabbed it with her hand and sat up on the bed.

  Ethan: I just wanted to see how you were doing?

  He couldn't sleep either. It was bad enough his mind played tricks on him about how he felt about her.

  Eileen: Can't sleep, I don't know if I can keep this up any longer.

  Her guilty conscience admitted defeat. No matter what she tried, nothing was good enough.

  Ethan: Want to go for a walk?

  Yeah, it was dark, it was late, but he needed to see her. Maybe if he saw her in person, it would ease his anxiety.

  She bit her lower lip. Who was going to catch her? Maybe it's time to be a bad girl for o
nce?

  Eileen: You know what? Why the hell not. See you in ten?

  Eileen climbed out of the bedroom window and left it cracked so she could sneak back in. The cool October air breezed around her. Halloween was coming up shortly around the corner. Let's just say she's done with tricks in her life.

  A shadowy figure that wore a football jersey jacket caught her eye as they embraced in a small hug. A grin appeared on his face after Ethan pulled away.

  “What's so funny?” Eileen asked curiously.

  Ethan laughed and gave her a once over glare. “Are those Torrie’s clothes?”

  She flushed with embarrassment. Her sisters' fashion statement is vaguely different from hers. “Maybe? It was a last-minute discussion. Not to mention it was dark ... are we going to get out of here before Torrie comes back?”

  Ethan knew this was a risk, but he was glad it was with her. So; where do two teenage rebels go in the middle of the night? A bar? A club? None of the above. They arrived at the playground.

  “This is where you take me?” Eileen laughed. To her surprise—it was a park.

  Ethan snorts. “What—thought we were going to start a bar fight or rob a bank?” He teased her lightly.

  She guided her feet to the swing and sat down as he pushed her lightly. “Sometimes, a kid is better than being an adult. You have a carefree world. You never have to wonder about your future.” She pumped her legs as Ethan listened before he sat down to the empty swing next to her.

  “Wish I could say I believe you, but in my case, it wouldn’t be that way. If I had a do-over, my life would remain the same. Or I wouldn’t even be here if nobody took me in.”

  Eileen lowered her head. She hated the way he brought himself down like this.

  Ethan glanced over her side. “I know what you're going to say, it's nothing I haven't heard already.” He already felt the gaze in the back of his head. “I'm grateful for my foster family who took me in, but if I knew this was my happy ending. Sometimes I'd be happier on my own.”

  “Have you tried—” Eileen’s voice echoed out of his rambled thoughts.

  He walked over towards the picnic table. “They never wanted me from the start Eileen, I've been in foster care since I was a baby, my parents had plenty of time to come to get me out of that hell hole. I've come to the conclusion that they never wanted me. Honestly, I think that's good. Because part of me won't know what to say if they did come from out of the blue.” He’s thought about the ‘what if’s’ inside his head. However, he’d yet to act it out in person.

  Eileen sat there in silence.

  “How are you doing?” Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets as he wanted the focus off him for a change. He watched her fidgeted. This was one of the rare moments alone without Avery nearby.

  She shrugged her shoulders and walked over to sit beside him on the table. The chilly air was getting to her body now. “Maybe everybody was right. Coming back was a bit too soon.” The gossip around the school started with her.

  He heard the rumors about what she went through last year. Ethan tried to pinpoint the start of it, which must’ve been around the tutoring session, and he felt stupid not to see it.

  “I wanted to leave because it made me uncomfortable. No matter which way I went, something blocked my path.”

  Ethan hated when she talked herself down. Her life has been chaos since she returned. Part of her has wondered if she left would things be different. “This isn't your fault Eileen.” Ethan reminded her. “Yeah, it may have been a rough few months, but whatever’s going on, isn't your fault.” Ethan fought his feelings about her from afar too long now.

  Eileen didn't realize how close the two of them were. Both lost in their own world. Everything around them disappeared. He cupped her cheek gently and kissed her passionately on the lips.

  This became his one shot. In a blink of an eye, Eileen didn't realize what was going on once he pulled apart. “I don't know what's going on between you and Michael, but I just had to do something. I've wanted to do that since we broke up, actually.” Addressed Ethan. It was a risk to pour his heart and soul out on the line, but it was a chance he was willing to take. His optimistic eyes beamed. “It's okay if you don't feel the same way back. Nothing will change between us unless you want them too. I just wanted you to know before it's too late.”

  Her head was spun right now with different emotions. Eileen remained speechless after that unexpected kiss.

  “Come on, I'll take you back.”

  Eileen had tried to say something; however, nothing came out.

  “D-don't worry about it,” Ethan knew he jinxed the relationship.

  “It's just ...” She finally talked for the first time since the kiss. “It’s just I know you think you blame yourself for what happened.” She noticed the look in Ethan’s eyes as he lowered them on the ground.

  “There was a slight chance I thought it could’ve been me. I knew I should’ve done something back then to help.”

  She caressed his cheek. “None of this was your fault, Ethan. I did it to fit in. It became my failed attempt. Our breakup, I knew it was coming. After all, this relationship was a scam to begin with, right?” She stopped walking once they reached her house again.

  He remained quiet and nodded his head. Was it only a scam? Or is being with Heagertigh making him rethink his choices? Does he want to re-try the relationship again with Eileen? He was going to say something but noticed she already climbed back up. He walked back contemplating what to do.

  《***》

  Eileen assumed the coast was clear. When she stumbled back inside, the light turned on ... crap! Her heart beat faster as a familiar voice caught her.

  “Well, Well, Well,”

  Eileen's eyes twinkled in the moonlight.

  “And here I thought your Ms. Goody-two shoes?” Eileen's outfit caught Torrie’s eye as Torrie gave her a once-over inspection. “Wait a minute, those my clothes!”

  Eileen blushed in embarrassment. “So? What if they are? Are you going to tattle on me?” She mocked her back.

  Torrie grinned at her banter as she folded her arms across her chest. “Depends on if you tell me what you did, and don't say sleepwalk.” Obviously, Torrie wasn’t going to let her sleep unless she knew the story.

  “Ethan helped me escape alright. After everything that's going on between Ryder and Christian, I—I just needed,” a disheartened Eileen rambled on.

  Torrie hated that she couldn't be there for her as of late. “Sorry, I’ve let you down. Just keep your phone next time alright?”

  Eileen must’ve forgotten it and nodded with a yawn. She knew Torrie was never a disappointment. Eileen just didn't want to burden her with her problems.

  “I know you may think you got things sorted out now. You’ll end up breaking one of their hearts.” Torrie added as she referred to Ethan or Michael.

  Eileen had time to change for school as it was almost time by the time she returned home. Eileen had a question of her own while she looked for something to wear. “By the way, what's the deal with you and Kasper?” Searching through outfits.

  Torrie felt the wind knocked out of her chest. Why did she bring that up all of a sudden? “Nothing's going on between us.” Torrie lied through her teeth.

  “You honestly expect me to believe that?”

  Torrie chuckles after a thump was heard. “You alright back there?”

  Eileen rubbed the side of her head.

  “Welcome back.” Torrie was satisfied to have her back. Two Torrie’s would be a handful.

  “Seems like everybody's up early.”

  The girls cheerfully arrived downstairs as they entered the kitchen and heard Flynn and Caden behind them.

  “Hey, how's your paper coming around?” Caden asked Eileen who remained stunned as she blanked on what to say.

  “To think you were the smart one.” Flynn replied with a sarcastic tone.

  “Crap, with everything
going on lately ...”

  Flynn turned his head around. Dumbfound at her reply. “Since when do you swear?”

  “When's it due?” Eileen asked Caden as she hoped the teacher could extend it for her. Either way she needed to concentrate. “I know it's for half our grade. I gotta go.” Eileen hightailed out the door moments after.

  《***》