I Don't Believe in Love.

“Mikaila!” I sighed as I heard my name being called once again. I mumbled loudly as my response to my mom, and started to make my way down the stairs toward her as she stood impatiently at the doorway, giving me a cautious look. “I know you don’t want to go, but just please… please, be nice. Lay off the bitchy attitude.”
“You’d be acting like a bitch too if you had to be in charge of these kids every day in your only place of sanity.” I replied, raising one brow at my beautiful, young mother.
“They aren’t kids to you, they’re all older. They’re kids to me,” She winked, but then stopped her attempt at humor when she noticed my mood about this evening. “Okay, look. Since I haven’t been working as much lately, how about I try to come help out at the barn too? I know I haven’t been lately, but I can go ahead and start arranging the ferrier and vet appointments, and everything bill wise.”
Woah. Does she even realize how much more free time I’d have if I didn’t have to do that? Bailey and I could be back on schedule within two weeks if she really did this for me. I pondered the thought.
“Schedule the lessons I have to give and pay for my meal tonight, and the bitch attitude will not be seen by anyone I’m not related to for the night.” I smirked, and we shook hands.
The whole reason why I’m so ticked off was because today was my only day I had off, as in no appointments, lessons, and all the bills and paperwork were done. But because it was almost 100 degrees all day, starting at 9am, I decided I’d wait till tonight to ride Bailey, so we’d both be less miserable in this unbearable heat. But do my plans ever work out for me? Mom called and said to come in early and get ready, because tonight Mollie, Mom, my step dad, Chase, Ms. Susan, a few of the boarders’ parents who came often and my mom knew, all three of the Jonas Brothers, and I were all going to go to a nice dinner. I was forced to go.
The place we were going to was actually a very nice restaurant, which is the only reason I obeyed and got into a dress I hardly ever wore. It was actually very beautiful and elegant, but at the same time perfect for a business dinner, which is sort of like this was going to be. It was a spaghetti strap, thin, red flowey dress, which hugged my tiny hips. The only part that I didn’t like about it was that it made it obvious I had no curves or really that much of a figure. I had to look as professional as a 17 year old could look, because my mom was taking everyone out who was involved with our business, which is the barn, as a thank you.

I had only been back in town about two weeks, but everything was back to normal, if you don’t count the three extra boys hanging around all the time. They had improved some, and have been cooperating lately, but they were still a burden to me. They still complained about cleaning stalls, which was the biggest chore I needed to be done. So I split the stalls up among the three of them, and that seemed to help some. The things that took up most of their time was simple chores like cleaning everyone’s tack, cleaning the barn bathroom, my office, and the lounge, and maybe sometimes measuring feed for the horses that didn’t need any supplements. That’s as close to a horse as I’ll let them, there’s no way I’m going to have someone get hurt or have a horse get hurt and have it be on my head. Unless they actually bother to learn about horses, they aren’t allowed to go near one.
Overall, the boys acted the same as each other.
Kevin was the eldest, and therefore I think he acted a bit more mature than the others. He didn’t groan, complain, or act as disgusted with as many things like his brothers. It was obvious he didn’t want to be here, so he was the one I sympathized with the most just because he was legally considered an adult, and didn’t legally have to be here, he just chose to because his parents thought it’d be best for him. I did have respect for him because of that. Therefore, he was pretty much my favorite.
Joe, on the other hand, was different. He was your basic air headed, pop star that didn’t know other people might not like him. He followed Kevin in his role model to be a good player, and obeyed quietly, most of the time. Sometimes he did accidentally slip up and complain, but with the looks I’d shoot him in attempt to shut him up with threats of more work, he stayed quiet. I really did not like being in charge this much, but Susan keeps checking in and making sure I’m making them do work. Otherwise I’d check them off as they did a days work, but let them leave and do what they want. It’s not as if I want them here.
Nick was different. I honestly could not tell what he thought of it here. He’s the one that tries to talk to me the most about things that don’t have to do with this whole situation, but things like where I was this summer and why. He still got on my nerves because he couldn’t stay focused on whatever I assign him to, but overall he was okay. I hate to say it, but I was starting to open up to them. A little bit. Not much, but a little.

My black heels clipped against the hard wood floor as I tapped my feet. My mom copied, and we both looked up the stairs, waiting on Mollie.
Finally I tore out my phone from my small wallet sized purse and shot her a text, asking when she was coming. She replied extremely quickly, and sent something with a thousand spelling errors. I finally managed to get out of it that we were to leave her because Chase was picking her up. Mom and I collected ourselves and went out the door, to meet her husband in the car, waiting on us impatiently.
As I sat in silence, playing with things on my phone, texting different people, and checking things on the internet, we made our way 20 minutes into town to the Italian restaurant. Don’t even ask me how to pronounce the name.
Before I even got out of the car and into the hot sunlight that was still blaring down, even though the sun was already hiding behind the horizon and trees, my phone began to ring. I shoed my mom off and watched her walk into the building before I answered it.
“Hey.” I said, not so happily, and waited to hear Mollie’s answer.
“Hey chick. So, who all’s there now?” She questioned, then mumbled something I couldn’t hear. She was probably talking to Chase in the car, telling him to change the radio station or something along those lines.
“Not sure, we just got here. I’m still sitting in the car, dreading going inside.”
“Seriously? Come on, Mik, be a man!” Mollie grunted into the receiver. A laugh escaped my lips.
“I’ll pass, thanks. But I just don’t want to be here tonight. Especially not all night. It’s a business thing, Mom will be talking all night and she said I’m not allowed to leave until it’s all over.” I shut the door quietly and peered out the window, examining people walking inside. I saw three familiar faces, all dressed in nice coats, but still wearing darn denim to give them a casual look. Their hair was all neatly swept back, except for the one with the curliest hair. His was still in a mess. I really don’t want to have to go in there and sit with those ignorant boys that work for me.
“I know, which is why I got permission from her earlier to leave at 9. We’re going bowling.”
“You’re what?!” I screamed, and my brows pulled together. “That means you’ll only have to stay here one freaking hour! Why’d she let you leave and not me?!”
“Calm down! Gosh, it’s just because I don’t get paid by those boarders, unlike you. You’re an owner of the barn, not me, so… I don’t have to stay to talk to them. They couldn’t care less if I was there, let alone Chase.” This is true, but why would anyone want me there? More than likely they aren’t happy about a girl as young as me running a barn with this many boarders.
“Take me with you.” I begged sincerely.
“No, you have to stay here. I talked to Mom about it, she said she’d be pissed for the next two months if you don’t stay and behave.”
“Then stay with me. I’ll end up ripping people’s heads off if you aren’t here.”
“Chase refuses to come if he has to stay that long.”
“Then he can leave! Just-- please Moll?”
“Nope.” I could hear her grinning; it was that obvious.
“Whatever.” I shrugged, and hung up my phone.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the car door and gently slipped my smooth, slender legs outside the car and onto the concrete. I made my way over towards the front glass door quietly, and smiled as a young man, about my age, held the door open for me. Shyly I hid my face and made my way in, trying not to cause too much attention as I looked for my mom in the dark, large room with many people walking around in it. It didn’t surprise me when I found her sitting at the head of the longest table in the place. Next to her was her husband, on her other side were three empty seats for Mollie, Chase, and I. Slowly, and trying my best not to cause any attention, I walked gracefully towards it and sat down in the cool, wooden, glossy chair.
Mom looked up from her conversation with Ms. Susan, who was sitting next to my step dad, to briefly greet me, then focused back on the nice lady. I forced a smile and attempted to keep it on my face.
Within a few minutes, my mouth staying shut the whole time, a waitress happily skipped over to our table. She stopped by my mother first, and asked for her drink. After she had taken her order, and my step dad‘s, who was also silent this dreadful night, she moved onto me.
“Diet Coke, please,” I smiled and spoke gently. One thing I always try to do is to be a pleasant person to people I don’t know. I try my best to smile, thank, and be as polite as my mood allows me to anyone I don’t know. A way to actually make me seem more pleasant, I’ve noticed, is to talk quietly but happily. Just a stupid thing, but it’s part of my personality, I guess.
The waitress smiled back genuinely, and then moved onto the person sitting next to me. I looked back down into my lap, not focusing anymore, until I heard the voice of who was talking.
“Same thing as her, please.”
Oh goodness. I knew that voice. That masculine, yet soft voice.
Slowly I slanted my eyes to the side, just enough not to be noticeable, but I could see Nick’s dark colored jeans and his large hands, now red with blisters from all the work I had him doing by moving the water buckets each day. His hands were folded in his lap and he twiddled his thumbs. I swallowed.
Why didn’t I chose the seat right by my mom and not two seats away from her? How come I didn’t notice I’d be sitting next to him?
Well, might as well top off this lovely night with a bad seating chart.
All the time I was thinking through this the waitress had taken everyone’s drink order, and I heard a very perky voice behind me.
“We’ll just have waters, please.” It was Mollie. About time she got here!
She was dressed in a very elegant, short black sequined dress that flattered her curvy body. To be honest, I was jealous of how gorgeous she always looked. She had just the right amount of curves to get a guys attention, whereas, I was just a pin with a chest that looked slightly disproportionately too large. I hated my body, and no matter how hard I tried to gain a little bit of weight, it never happened because in order to gain weight I’d have to stop exercising, which means no riding. That’s not going to happen.
“About time you got here.” I spat in her direction, keeping my head down. Whenever I looked up I was sure to have a smile on my face and pretended to look happy. Mollie copied.
“Yell at Chase, not me. He was the one who was insistent on stopping at that gas station to have a little kiss.”
I bit my lip as I nervously looked up to her face. Her hair wasn’t falling down gently like she had planned, it was kind of in different sections, roaming around with no control and many different curls. Just as I thought.
“A little kiss?” I asked, humor in my tone. “You have sex hair, dear.” I whispered the last part. Immediately her hands shot to her head as she felt around to attempt to know what her hair looked like without a mirror. “It’s not that bad, just go to the bathroom before anyone suspects anything. It’s obvious that you guys did more than a little kiss though. While you’re at it,” I said, and she started to stand up and push her chair back in, “fix your lipstick too.”
Mollie groaned and quietly excused herself from the table and shot off in the direction of the bathroom. Chase looked to me with a puzzled expression. I raised my brows, and he scooted closer so he was sitting where Mollie previously was.
“She had sex hair.”
“Oh.” he smiled for a moment, before returning back to reality when he felt my stare still on him. “I swear we didn’t go far though. She just looked too pretty not to play with.”
My eyes rolled.
A silence set in between us, but the whole restaurant still vibrated with small chatter. Beside me, Nick was even talking to someone who was beside him. Probably one of his brothers. Those kids were inseparable.
Eventually, Chase turned to me again. I faced him in small anticipation of what he had to say.
“So, I was talking to Vicky earlier.” He started.
“And?” I questioned, quickly imagining that little spunky redhead. She was the sweetest thing.
“She found a horse in Paulding for sale. It’s a little off the track filly. Good bloodlines, and at an amazing price.”
My lips moved to the side. About once a year Vicky would find an off the track thoroughbred or just a good filly for sale. She would buy it, and together we’d train it to become one of the best horses we’ve ever ridden, and sell it for over anything anyone ever thought it’d be worth before we got a hold of it. If I do say so myself, we make pretty good trainers. One time, about two summers back, we devoted all our time to this Arabian colt we got. By the time we were finished with his dressage training, he was sent to Florida to someone who bought him for over 30 grand. Originally we got him for $700.
All in all, this is a main part of my income and hers too.
“How old?” I questioned, looking at Chase directly now. He had gotten my full attention.
“2.”
“Has she raced yet?” On the inside I was cringing from her young age. Vicky isn’t one to buy a bad horse, or one that’s been worked too hard too young, but you never know with horse people.
“I think about twice. She’ll be 3 in a couple months though, and the races were recent.” Chase shrugged. This wasn’t his deal, in fact, he didn’t like the thought of buying an OTT. He never has, but Vicky probably put him up to this since she couldn’t make it tonight.
“Why is she up for sale?” I questioned.
“I think it was the bankruptcy of a barn. But they didn’t want her to race anymore anyways because she didn’t seem to have that open of a shot.”
“So she’s coming out clean?” Referring to the horse term meaning a horse is coming off the racing track without injuries and could carry on in another discipline without problems, I hoped he would say yes.
“As far as I know. She gets hot, though. That is one thing Vicky said she found out. She really needs a strong hand.”
“Anything else?” I questioned.
“Nope. You’ll have to talk to her about it. That’s all she told me.”
I nodded slowly. “We didn’t get to train one this summer because I was gone. She could be a good fall and winter project, show her some in the spring, then sell before next summer.”
My eyes focused back on Chase, and he had already lost interest. He moved back over towards my mom, and they started a conversation. I didn’t bother trying to listen.
Within a couple more minutes Mollie was back and had herself all fixed up, and we all ordered. We finished our expensive, and delicious, meal, and to my luck Mom wasn’t ready to leave yet.
However, Mollie and Chase were whispering to each other and then nodded their heads after a few minutes.
“Mom, we’re going to head out. We have an early class in the morning and need to get some sleep.” Mollie interrupted my mom politely as she lied, and mom nodded, knowing that was just an excuse to leave. Mollie and Chase began to get up and push their chairs in but I caught her by the wrist.
“You’re seriously leaving me?” I pleaded with my eyes.
The curly blonde headed girl smirked and raised her brows. “Yep. Bowling. Or whatever we find first that’s more interesting than this.”
I groaned silently and looked down. Mollie and Chase made their way outside the dark restaurant, and I was completely envious of their freedom. Did I really want to spend my night here, in this restaurant, with people I didn’t care about? Nope.
A few minutes passed of vibrant chatter among this crowded, long table, before I really got bored. Without words, I took hold of my black clutch and stood, quietly making my way away from the table.
Until I was caught.
“Mikaila! Where are you going?” It was my mom.
Air entered into my lungs and I breathed out slowly. “I’m not leaving. I’m just getting some air.” I spoke without turning, and I figured my mom bought it because she didn’t say anything else.
My feet continued making my way towards the door, and I was thankful when I made it out the glass doors and into the breezy Tennessee air. The sun had set but it was still well lit outside because of the artificial lights hanging above my head. There was a small waiting area that wasn’t at all crowded, and I took a seat on one of the cold, wooden benches. Without thinking, I leaned against the edge railing of the seat and closed my eyes.
I don’t know how long I was almost asleep, but it wasn’t over ten minutes before something awoke me. The noise wasn’t close, so I wasn’t so startled as to open my eyes.
Lazily, I perked my ears to see what the noise was.
Or, music. Not noise.
Now becoming more curious, I forced my eyes to squint open and peered around in the dark. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust, but I finally focused on a dark figure holding a guitar. They began to hum.
The beat was catchy, but slow, and quiet.
The player strummed a few more notes, and then my brain clicked. I loved this song!
It was slowed down and extremely quiet, but I could still clearly make it out. Whoever it was that was strumming played a few extra notes before humming quietly instead of actually singing the words.. I smiled.
Clearing my throat so quietly the person couldn’t hear as they sat ten feet in front of me, I coughed and took a breath, and waited for the right chord to be played.
“Check yes, Juliet. Are you with me? Rain is falling down on the sidewalk. I won’t go, until you come outside.”
Whoever was played was startled by the sudden voice, my voice, that interrupted the song, and they quit playing the guitar before I was even done with that verse.
“I thought you were asleep,” the person, who I could now tell was a man, said in surprise.
I sat up. “Nope.”
There was a moment of silence before the man took a breath and swallowed, as in attempting to give himself a moment to think before he spoke. “So you know that song?”
“Know it? I love it.” I answered simply, letting a smile escape my lips for the first time genuinely tonight.
The man smiled, and I looked intriguingly at him. From what I could tell, as my eyes were still adjusting to that darkness, he was attractive.
His hair was pretty long and dirty blonde, and it was swooped to the left at an angle. His face was structured delicately, yet extremely masculine as his chin and nose were framed nicely. His skin was tan, and his shoulders wide. He was slouching over his tan guitar, with one leg crossed over the other, and he was looking at me through his hair.
“You have a pretty voice.” He smiled at me. I shyly grinned back, and looked down so my long hair fell around my face. I tucked a strand behind my ear before looking back at him.
“Thanks.”
“Care to join me?”
I was confused for a moment before he patted the seat next to him. With caution I debated whether I should join him over there, but his puppy-dog-look that he was shooting me won me over.
As I sat next to him, but not too close, he turned to me.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Mikaila.”
I was caught off guard. “What?” I know him? I swear if I knew that beautiful face I would have recognized him.
“Remember me? My name’s Kendall.” He shook his head to the side and smiled, flashing me a set of perfect teeth.
I bit my lip and slowly started to shake my head no, but I did it hesitantly. C’mon, brain, work! How can I not remember him?
Kendall smiled and laughed slightly. “I graduated two years ago. And if I remember correctly, when you were a sophomore and I was a senior, I asked you to homecoming, but you rejected me, saying you had a horse show to compete in the next day. And I think I do remember correctly. There’s no possible way I’d ever forget those eyes.”
My face began to flush. Don’t you just hate it when you run into someone and they know your name, and start going off about all these memories you two had, and you can’t even remember the person’s name? It’s a sucky time when that happens.
My face was pounding and so heated, it was no wonder if he saw me blushing. “I’m--.. I’m sorry, Kendall, I don’t remember.”
To my surprise, he didn’t get mad or loose interest. He just continued laughing. “I guess it’s a good thing you don’t remember. I was quite the dork back then. Total geek.”
My mouth dropped slightly. “How?”
Chuckling, Kendall looked me in the eyes. “I’ll take that as a compliment. But yeah, I had the whole braces mouth going on, huge glasses, bad, short haircut, my shirt was always tucked in… The whole sha-bam. Oh, and I was in chess club too.”
How?! This kid was… to die for hot. He looked like he was a model. His dark, black jeans, his grey Vans, button up flannel shirt that had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his white tank top underneath that really clung to his toned chest and had just a few chest hairs peeking out… They all made me not believe it even more that he was once a ‘geek’. He was past any girl’s level that I knew. Let alone my level! Why was he talking to me?
“That’s--… Hard to believe.” I mumbled out as he sat, waiting for an answer.
“Um, thanks, I guess.” Kendall laughed. “But that’s in the past now. So you like ‘We the Kings’?”
I smiled, showing him all my teeth. “Duh!”
Without any notice, or movement at all, Kendall started to strum the guitar once more to the beat of the song. The smile that remained on my face grew even more, and I was so happy that I was not still stuck inside being bored to death.
Kendall, surprising me with the momentum of his strong voice, that yet was still very controlled, sang that beautiful song called, “Check Yes, Juliet”. From the persuasive looks he was giving me, I gave in and sang the back up for part of the chorus and the bridge. He settled for that. Too quickly the song ended. I wanted to hear his beautiful voice sing more.
“What other songs do you like?” He questioned, right as the guitar strings were finished echoing, and before any other conversation would get started.
I didn’t even have to think before I threw out a band name into the open. “Know anything from The Academy Is?” Energetically I asked.
Kendall smiled. “You’re my kind of music girl.”
Immediately, he began playing one of my all time favorite songs by The Academy Is, called “Slow Down”. Without notice he slammed down on the strings and silenced the air before he even started the lyrics.
“But, you have to sing with me. The whole thing.”
“Fine!” I giggled to him, sort of flirtatiously. This made him smile gently.
I listened closely, and waited for him to sing the first line.
“Close the door and take the stairs. Up or down? Ups and downs. Don’t pretend you’ve never been there.”
Happily I joined in, and he dropped his voice so only mine was heard. “Kiss me like an overdramatic actor!- That’s starving for work with one last shot to make it happen.”
We switched out roles and he took this line. “You’ve won the role, you’ve played your part; you’ve been cordially invited. But I’m not impressed, and I’m certainly not excited. Cause the film runs a shallow budget, and the writer’s subject script isn’t any deeper. So dive right in…”
Confidently, cheered by Kendall’s naturally energetic and happy voice, I sang loudly by myself. “Hollywood Hills and Suburban thrills, hey you. Who are you kidding? I’m not like them. I won’t buy in. Hollywood hills and suburban thrills hey you, who are you kidding? Don’t quit till’ 47. Cause then we’ll turn it up and we’ll play a little faster!”
Together now. “Take back everything you ever said, you never meant a word of it. You never did. Take back everything you ever said, you never meant a word of it. You never did.”
Kendall, with his voice that keeps blowing me away as he hits these notes like a professional, sang. “She said, ‘Alright, alright, slow down!’ “
I cut in. “Oh no, oh no. We won’t!”
“Cause I regret everything I said to ever make her feel like she was something special. Or that she ever really mattered. Did she ever really matter?”
My turn! “Hollywood hills and suburban thrills. Hey you, who are you kidding? I’m not like them, I won’t buy in. Hollywood hills and suburban thrills just don’t count on this summer! Don’t quit till 47. Then we’ll turn it up and we’ll play a little faster!”
Together, our voices meshed like no other, and with him, just by hearing him sing so confidently, I wasn’t scared to sing either. “Take back everything you ever said, you never meant a word of it. You never did. Take back everything you ever said, you never meant a word of it. You never did.”
Instead of finishing out the song, Kendall finished the last note with a strong strum that the guitar belt out. I sighed happily.
“I didn’t know anyone else liked that song but me.” My own green eyes moved downwards and I inspected his pretty instrument and large hands slowly. I felt Kendall’s eyes on me, too.
“I love it. One of my favorites, actually.” He replied, and gently cocked his head to the side but still kept his dark green eyes locked on my face.
A comfortable silence placed itself between us for a moment while we each sat inspecting the other. I couldn’t help it, but I bit my lip and smiled. It wasn’t like me to be this flirtatious with a guy this quickly, but just the fact we shared the same music interest made me like him. And how he felt so real, and wasn’t afraid to remind me of how I rejected him or how he used to be considered a dork. Plus the fact he was overly adorable helped my attitude.
“So what have you been up to these past couple years, Mikaila?” Kendall breathed out, and scooted closer to me. I grinned and giggled slightly as I scooted closer too, on this cold, metal bench.
“Same old, same old. Finished school this past year, but I’m not going to college yet. I’m taking a break for a year, then going to Perimeter for my core classes, then a University, I just haven’t decided which one yet. This year I’m spending all my time at the barn I run, and going to Nationals if I can qualify in time in the Spring. I already missed two of the shows I was supposed to attend if I wanted to qualify, but I know some people so I might be able to get out of that.” Kendall smiled at me and raised his brows slightly.
“So you’re really that good? I didn’t know that, I thought it was just a hobby for you: the whole horseback riding thing. And I didn’t know you ran your own horse barn, either.”
My head tipped to the side. “What do you know about me, anyway?”
There was some spark… Something I can’t explain, but it was obvious there was some explosion when I asked that and how Kendall looked into my eyes. He squinted, and leaned in closer. I had to remember to breathe when my heart started to pump harder.
“I know,” Kendall began, softly… and slowly, making each word more of his breath than an actual sound. His breath smelt of icey mint… It made me want to kiss him, on his big, light pink lips. “That I had a crazy crush on you since you were a freshman, and you actually turned me down four times. You didn’t know they were dates, you thought we’d be going as friends to the movies, but you still turned me down… I know that every day at lunch I wanted to sit by you, but every other guy in the school did too. Somehow half of them and half of your girlfriends made it to you before I could. I know that you made every guy want you… Just because you never dated anyone, so every guy in the whole high school wanted to take you on one date just so they could brag that they did. I know that many of those pathetic guys lied about going out with you just so they’d be considered cool…”
He shocked me. Was all this true? How could I have been so mean?! I was oblivious to his feelings. I should have at least given him a shot and not just turned him down without thinking about it again.
Kendall grinned as he saw my face, but leaned in closer to me. I licked my lips, but tried to stay focused. “I know that your eyes drive me crazy, and that when I first saw you I thought you just wore green contacts, because I never knew anyone’s eyes could be that electric. I know that I love what you’ve done with your long, gorgeous hair, and how those red streaks really bring out the creativity you posses. I know that I’m jealous of whatever guy you were sitting at the table with earlier, and I’m really going to be jealous if it turns out you’re dating him, because I really want to kiss you right now, but he was giving me a nasty look when he saw me looking at you from across the room about an hour ago.”
Without ever realizing I had closed my eyes, I opened them and looked at him curiously. He was only a few inches from my face, and he licked his lips, but once he saw the confusion on my face he sighed and sat back.
“What guy?” I whispered quietly.
Kendall looked at me and pulled his brows together, curious as to why I didn’t immediately know who he was talking about. “That guy sitting next to you while you were eating. Dark, curly hair, acting really protective whenever I caught a glimpse at you…”
Nick!
I groaned. “No, trust me, I don’t even like him in the slightest. It was rude of him to give you nasty looks though, I’m sorry.”
He registered what I meant: I’m single, and smiled.
“So you aren’t dating him?” Kendall asked hopefully, cocking his head to the side.
“Absolutely not.” I smirked, but decided the moment was ruined. I didn’t want to kiss him right now, especially after just talking about one of my ‘workers’. “So anyways,” I noticed Kendall looked down, as if disappointed I silently cut him off from pressing his lips to mine, “what have you been up after you graduated?”
However, no matter how disappointed he seemed, he bounced back quickly. “Well, I’ve been trying to get my life in order. I’ve been going to a small, private college, and I’ve even gotten my own apartment from the small amount of money I get from working at the hardware store in downtown. This semester I’m taking off though, to try to figure out what I want to major in.”
Nervously, Kendall laughed. I joined in, but happily. “That sounds like a good life. So, no girlfriend?” I hope that didn’t sound pathetic.
“Absolutely not. If I did have a girlfriend, I wouldn’t be sitting here, openly flirting with another beautiful girl.”
Cheesy… but it did make me blush. “Good to know.”
The chilly, dark air started to get to me, and I couldn’t help but shiver. Kendall immediately responded, and set his guitar aside from his lap and on the concrete ground.
“No, it’s okay--.” But his jacket was already off, and he was laying it around my shoulders. I swallowed lightly, and tried again to steady my breathing. “Thanks.”
“No problem, Mikaila.”
I slid my arms through his nice suit jacket, feeling the silk on the inside against my bare arms. His voice replayed itself over and over in my mind, and it made me want to melt. “I like the way you say my name.”
All he did was smile as he continued looking at me. My own eyes flickered back and forth from his, and I let out a soft breath before I made my decision.
Leaning in, I closed my eyes. Kendall reacted softly, moving his large, muscular body closer to my small one. His large, guitar playing, warm hands found their way up to my face and he gently, slowly, placed them on my cheeks.
You know those few seconds before you’re about to kiss a guy, but it’s one of those perfect kisses where your head is slightly tilted downward, and he’s trying to follow your lips so he’s trying his best to gently move your head back up? And your faces linger there… so closely… with only the hot breath from the other person on your face?
Then suddenly the boy presses his lips atop yours… and the feeling is so incredible you want to scream, but instead you wrap your own hands on his as they lay on your cheeks. The fireworks are everywhere, and you can taste his minty, hot breath as you each move your lips around each others, perfectly in synch…
Yeah, well, I only got halfway there before we were interrupted. Kendall was just about to press his beautiful, perfect lips to mine before my whole world felt like it was going to come crashing down.
“Mikaila!” My name was repeated once more, this time with more emotion. I wanted to shoot Nick.
With caution I opened my eyes, but once I found Kendall’s eyes locked with mine, and with how much sorrow in his, I shut mine again. “What.” I replied.
Kendall and I began to untwine, him taking his perfect hands off my face, and me leaning away, recrossing my legs, and I faced the entrance to the restaurant that I had forgotten was there. Nick stood under a lamp, so his emotions on his face were clear. My eyes had to adjust, even though it felt like much too short of a time that they were closed, but I could see Nick’s frustrated face. His thin brows were pulled together and his nostrils were flaring, and his mouth strait, or even pulled down into a frown.
“Your mom wants you. Get back inside.” He shot at me.
Clearing my throat, I stood up and pulled my dress down to where it belonged. I hadn’t realized it had ridden up so much since I sat down.
As I walked over to Nick, I turned halfway to see Kendall giving me a halfhearted smile. I waved slightly, then continued to walk away, having no doubt in my mind I’d see him again.
I made my way past Nick and through the doors, and my heels started clicking louder against the wooden floor. Before walking through the next set of doors, however, I turned to see Nick looking at Kendall like he was about to murder him. Literally.
“Nick.” I spat out.
He turned reluctantly after a moment and made his way with me, not looking me in the eye. Kendall was still sitting on the bench, and one brow of his was up as he watched Nick walk away. I guess he was curious as to why Nick was acting so protective over me…
In fact, I was curious as to why Nick was acting so protective over me!
“Hey!” I called, as we were halfway back to our table.
Nick stopped, and turned to face me. I stood, my hip popped out and arms crossed over my chest, glaring him down. “What was that about?” I asked with a little too much attitude implied than needed.
“Nothing, what was what?” He replied, a dumb tone in his voice.
“You know what! You don’t even know him and you looked like you wanted to kill him!”
“Well he was going to kiss you!” Nick replied so quickly, and just with that comment he caught me off guard. There was a quick silence, but I shook my head and stood my guard.
“What do you care? …And for your information, I was going to kiss him back. It’s none of your business anyway, so lay off!”
And with that I made my way back to the dinner table.

The dinner ended soon enough after that, and my mom had been polite enough to announce to the whole table that I was wearing a boy’s jacket, reminding me I had to give it back. As we were making our way out, I luckily found Kendall in the same spot, strumming his guitar. I asked him why he was still here anyways, and he said for a family dinner, like me. I gave him his coat back, and a kiss on the cheek, before running to my car. Hopefully by tonight he’ll find the note I left in the jacket pocket with my number on it, a winking face, and little detailed words reading, “Call me.”