Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
Kenya's POV 
                          
" What's going on?" I asked my dad when he walked in to my bedroom. 
I heard Caleb raising his voice several times and I knew he was crying by the way his voice cracked every now and then. 
I never heard my dad raise his voice though.
I was laying in bed, cuddling my pillow so it felt like my head was in a fluffy cloud. 
He came over and sat on the corner of my bed, pulling my hair away from my face. 
" You know I love you right? And that I'm trying to protect you from things you are too young to understand right now." he said slowly. 
I nodded. 
" And you remember how Caleb had broke your heat right? And I'm sure you two have talked about Jasmine Hones." he said slowly again. 
I nodded and made a mental note to ask about Jasmine Hones to Caleb or Sarah.
If my dad even knows how do I not know?
" What are you trying to say dad?" I asked. 
" You are not allowed to see Caleb until your birthday. You can call it being grounded because you aren't allowed to leave the house to see anybody. Sarah can come over of you want to see her." he said. 
I looked at him and waited for him to laugh and say that he was just kidding. 
When he didn't laugh I got mad. 
" Why not?! Is that why Caleb left? Why he was crying?" I exclaimed. 
" Yes and because I don't want you to be hurt again. I don't want you to end up like Jasmine. And I don't want you to be dumb in love right now and be hit by reality later." he said softly. 
" I'll never be like Jasmine. And he will never hurt me again. But I love him dad. I love him. You can't keep me away from him." I said, tears forming in my eyes. 
I really need to find out who Jasmine is.
" I'm sorry honey. It's for the best." he said, trying to hug me. 
I rolled away from him and looked at him in astonishment. 
" He told me he loved me for the first time tonight. And I said I love you back." I said, my voice breaking. 
" Thats good. But it's only a short break" 
" A short break?! This isn't how I wanted to remember this night. The first time a guy wet telling me he loved me. Caleb telling me he loved me for the first time." I exclaimed angrily.
Tears flowed from my eyes to my chin, where they dropped onto my blanket. 
" I'm sorry." he simply said. 
I turned on my side. 
" I hate you." I whispered. 
" He didn't say anything for a whole but I felt him get up. 
" You don't mean that." he said. 
" I hate you." I whispered again, closing my eyes and letting the tears continue flowing. I grabbed a tissue from my table and wiped my nose before throwing the used tissue on the floor. 
" I need your phone. You can have it back on your birthday. Sarah can call the house phone." he said, taking my phone. 
Great. My phone too. 
I heard him close my door and I wept into my pillow. I screamed and hollered and yelled curse words for the first time in my life. 
After letting out all my anger and frustration out into my pillow, I ran a hand through my hair an walked downstairs. My dad was sitting on the couch and I ignored him as I called Sarah. 
" Come over to my house now." I said before she could speak. 
" I'm on my way." was all she said before hanging up. 
I went back up to my room and lied down in my bed. I wrapped myself in my blankets and sat upright with my pillow supporting my neck. My door opened and Steve and Sarah walked in. 
" Hey." they both said. 
I frowned at Steve and he sat down on the corner of my bed. 
" Sorry. He was driving me home but then you called and, well yeah." she said. 
" Did I interrupt a date?" I asked. 
" Don't worry about it. What's up?" she asked, sitting down next to me. 
" Caleb. He told me he loved me. Then we made out and I told him I loved him too. Our parents walked in and they were all happy except for my dad. His parents went home and my mom went into her bedroom. My dad said he needed to talk to Caleb. I went upstairs. Heard yelling and Caleb crying. Door slammed. Dad walked upstairs in my room. Told me I can't see him until my birthday. I'm grounded. I can't see him or leave the house. My phone got taken away. I hate my dad. And I need to know who Jasmine Hones is." I made the sentences short because I was starting to cry and wanted to make the story short. 
She pulled me into her and I cried into her shoulder. 
" I'm sorry baby. But hey. He loves you. And you love him. That's good. And the way you described that kiss on the phone, that sounded delicious." I laughed and heard Steve snort. 
I laughed harder and Steve leaned over to wipe my tears away. 
" Hey, fuck your dad. He's an asshole. And Caleb. Don't worry. He's pissed. I'm sure he'll call me later when he gets himself together. I'll take messages from him and you and pass them on if you want." he said. 
I smiled. 
" Thanks." I said and sniffled. 
" But Jasmine Hones." Sarah said. 
We all looked at each other and Steve began. 
" Jasmine Hones. He was one of Caleb's girlfriends before. Well not a girlfriend. More like another chick. But she was just like you. The quiet type but had a lot of friends but didn't interact with the popular kids, like me and Caleb. One day Caleb somehow got her to be his and they went out for a couple of days. One day he had sex with her-" he took a break and took a deep breath. 
" Can you not tell me he had sex with this girl. He still won't let me have sex with him and it bothers me that he can fuck other girls and not me." I said quietly. 
" You cussed!" Sarah exclaimed. 
" It's been a long night." 
" Alright well back to Jasmine. Jasmine and Caleb, uh, screwed around one night like he usually would. Then he dumped her the next day. Everybody didn't know that she was, uh, mentally sick. Apparently she really liked him and thought he was serious about the relationship. Well she killed herself two days later. Wrote suicide notes to a couple of her friends, her parents, and Caleb, of course. He still looks at it now and then. I know he hurts everyday and it haunts him every night. He didn't screw another girl since then." Steve said, his voice breaking a couple times. 
I sat there in silence and looked at both of them. 
" Was their a funeral?" I asked. 
" Yeah. Almost the whole town went. Even Caleb. You went to." Sarah said. 
" I don't remember going. Or any of this." I said confused. 
" Concussion." they both said at the same time.
I nodded slowly. 
" My dad really thinks I would kill myself? I mean I'd be depressed. But I wouldn't kill myself. I'd probably just move to a different country or something." I said. 
" He's not leaving you. Trust me." Steve said with a grin. 
I blushed and looked down. 
Steve is really good looking. Can't compare to Caleb though. 
" I need to talk to him." I whispered to myself. 
I leaned onto Sarah an she wrapped her arms around me. 
" You want to call him?" Steve asked. 
" I can't.  I don't have my phone and our home phone is downstairs where my dad is." I said sadly. 
He laughed. 
" I meant from my phone." he said smiling. 
I blushed at my stupidity. 
" Yeah. Thanks." I said. 
He handed me his phone and I looked for Caleb in his contacts. 
" Oh I forgot. His contact name is fuckhole." he said with a. Grin. 
I could help but to laugh and I found it. 
" Put it on speaker." Sarah said. 
" My dad will hear." I said. 
It rang then went to voicemail. I called again and got voicemail again. 
" Third time is the charm." Steve said. 
I sighed and called again but this time he answered. 
" What the fuck do you want?" he asked annoyed. 
I flinched and remembered he thought it was Steve. 
" Hey." I said softly. 
" You at Steve's house?" he asked. 
" No. I called Sarah to come over and she brought Steve with her." I explained. 
" Oh. Well I guess your dad told you." he said, his voice softening.
" Yeah. He's an asshole for that." I said quietly. 
I heard him chuckle. 
" My girl curses now?" I could hear his smile through the phone. 
" Shut up." I said with a smile. 
He laughed and sighed. 
" I'm sorry. Like about me being an ass to your dad. And for who I used to be." he said softly. 
" I don't care about who you used to be. Or what you used to do. You don't ever have to talk about your past if you don't want to." I said. 
" Thanks. But you don't know everything." he said. 
" Jasmine Hones. I know." 
He didn't say anything and I saw Steve making a motion for me not to talk about it. 
" But don't worry about it. Those days are over. And you won't make the same mistake twice. Just don't take it so hard on yourself. You don't have to talk about it." I said quickly. 
" Thanks baby." he said quietly. 
I could hear his mom talking in the background and he said something to her quickly. I heard a door close and him lying down on his bed. 
" I wish you were with me." he said. 
" I wish I was with you too." I said with tears in my eyes. 
" Awwww!" Sarah exclaimed. 
Caleb laughed. 
" Tell Sarah I say hi." he said. 
I smiled and told Sarah. 
" I love your laugh." I said. 
" I love your laugh too. Very cute. It makes me smile." 
" So you going to see me on my birthday right?" I asked. 
" Duh." 
" Hey. Don't get smart with me." I said with a smile. 
" And what will you do if I do get smart." I could picture him with a smirk on his face. 
" I'll just have to show you when I see you." I said playfully. 
" Can't wait." 
I laughed and he did too. 
" I love you. And call me whenever you can. Let me talk to Steve." he said. 
" I love you too. And I will. Here he is." I said and reluctantly handed the phone over to Steve. 
" You two are too cute! Maybe Steve should be like that some time"  Sarah exclaimed and looked over at Steve with a smile. 
He winked at her and she blushed and rolled her eyes. 
" So two weeks. I guess imma be over here a lot huh?" she said. 
I nodded. 
" Sleep over time!" she said.  
" For two weeks? Won't you get tired of me?" I asked. 
" Of course I'll get tired of you. But your like my sister. We supposed to not get along all the time. Plus I'm not going to leave you here moping." she said. 
She got up and got her pajamas from my closet and began to get undressed. 
Steve watched her with a grin and Sarah threw her shirt at his face and put on her pajamas on quickly. 
" Don't act like I've never seen you naked." he said with a grin. 
" Oh no not you Caleb. I was talking about Sarah." he laughed and I could hear Caleb laughing too 
Sarah blushes and threw a pillow at him. 
" Bastard." she mumbled. 
" Details another time?" I asked. 
She smiled and nodded. 
Steve got off the phone and tossed it onto a chair in the corner of the room. 
" Well I'm spending the night too." he said, sprawling out on my bed. 
I laughed. 
" Alright. Let me tell my mom." 
                  ***
" Go to sleep." Steve whispered. 
I was laying down in my bed with Sarah next to me. She was already sound asleep and I thought I was the only one awake. 
" Why are you still up?" I whispered back. 
" Can't sleep. Stop thinking about Caleb and go to sleep." he said. 
I rolled my eyes. As if that was possible. 
" So you love Sarah?" I asked. 
He thought for a while.  
" Yeah. I haven't said I love you to her yet but I do. Just not ready to tell her I guess." he said. 
" How come you love her? Like what is it like when a guy realizes he loves a girl?" I asked. 
He thought. 
" It feels like you've been missing out your whole life. That you've been waiting for this girl your whole life and you can picture a future with her. Can see all the way to when your old. You feel like a new man." he said, practically talking to himself. 
After a while he chuckled softly. 
" And makes you soft too." he said. 
I sat up and looked at him. With the sliver of moonlight coming into my room made me be babble to see him somewhat. 
" You should tell her. She isn't that patient. Plus I know she loves you." I said. 
I saw his lips turn up into a smile and looked at me. 
" You think so?" 
" I know so." 
" You know. You are pretty chill." he said. 
I smiled. 
" Thanks." 
" Whatever. Now go to sleep." he said softly, laying back down. 
I lied down and closed my eyes. 
" Goodnight." I said. 
" Night."