~Kaylee

Do I ever regret sneaking out of the house every night?

Going against my parent’s rules?

Listening to my heart?

No.

And I would do it thousand times.

Just so I could get to fall in love with him all over again.

I finally found my Prince charming.

Now we can live in out happily ever after.

Fairy tales really do come true.

I smiled as I read the last line, a picture of my mom and dad in their early years glued to the page of my mom’s book.

They looked so carefree, happy and in love. Perfect, like they were made for each other. Reading her diary, I learnt a lot of things I never knew about her.

Who knew my mom was a rebel? Fighting for what she wanted or rather who she wanted. She was such a fiery and free spirited person and it made me admire her all the more.

But the more I thought about it, the more the smile wiped off my face.

Happily ever after? Fairytales?

She got what she wanted yeah, had a family with who she loved but at the end, where was it? He was gone and she was gone. Soon, I’d be gone too.

Where’s the happy ending in that? Will I even get to have my own happy ending?

“Probably not.” I mumbled out closing the book.

I sat up on my bed and took the identical journal which was mine. Grabbing my pen, I opened it up and stared at the blank pages.

What to write? Where to even begin?

After five minutes of staring blankly at the pages, I eventually gave up and fell back on my bed. My mind automatically drifting off to a certain person I’ve been avoiding.

Christian. We haven’t talked since he brought me back. I’ve been avoiding his calls and ignoring his messages.

I was sick so you can’t blame me really. I admit, it was partly because I didn’t know what to tell him.

Should I continue lying to him? Make up some excuse and hope he would wave it off? Or should I tell him the truth?

Before I wouldn’t care less if he knew or not, but now I feel like he deserves to know especially since we were actually dating. Then why was I so afraid?

Was it because I knew I might lose him. I mean I was going to die, so what was the point of him wasting his time on me when I’d be gone at the end.

So why I did I let any of this get to this extent if I expected it? Deep down I knew the answer but I didn’t want to admit it out.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and cleared the thoughts out of my mind.

“No overthinking this.” I said to myself.

I jumped in shock as I heard a knock on my door.

“Coming.” I said getting up to open the door.

As soon as I opened my door and saw who it was, I immediately slammed it back. I didn’t expect anyone but Rick to be the one knocking instead, its Christian standing behind the door right now!

“Really?” I heard him ask from behind the door.

Mustering up some courage, I slowly opened the door with a big fake smile plastered on my face. So fake, he rose his eyebrows at me in disbelief.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“To find you.” He replied dryly.

“OK, you found me. Guess you can go now.” I said trying to close the door but he put his hand on the door stopping the movement.

There’s no getting out of this one now Kaylee, I thought as the smile vanished from my face.

“You haven’t answered my calls, replied my texts or been in school since that day.”

“Sorry, I was a little sick.”

“A little? That didn’t look like you were a little bit sick. I just thought the days you passed out or looked so exhausted was because you didn’t get enough sleep but I have a feeling there’s more to that.” He stepped closer to me, the look in his eyes serious. “Tell me the truth Kaylee, what’s going on?”

“So um funny story, the doctor said I was…uh…allergic to the…ice cream we had during our date that day.” I lied. “I’m lactose intolerant….and yeah, I just need more sleep so that’s why I passed out.”

He didn’t say anything as he stared at me and I eventually gave up and sighed. That was probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever said but I mean he didn’t give me enough time to come up with a lie.

Regardless, I was done with the lies. I guess it’s now or never.

“Let’s take a walk.” I suggested and he nodded.

Strolling down the streets, we eventually reached the park in ten minutes. Taking a seat on one of the benches, I gestured for him to sit next to me which he did.

It was almost evening, the sun was already setting and the sky was a beautiful painting of orange and red splashes. My lips curved up in a smile as I stared at it.

“I read in a book once that, ‘there’s no sadness in sunset.” I said softly. “It was then I really started appreciating the sunset. Anytime I happened to watch a sunset, I believed in it. How could there be any sadness in such a beautiful sight. It always made me feel better.”

He stared up at the sky too. “Yeah.”

We stayed quiet for a while taking in the view.

“Why do you love reading so much?” He asked breaking the silence.

I turned to face him, slightly blushing as I realized he had been staring at me.

“Reading takes me to a whole new world” I beamed gazing at the sky again. “A whole new world where I could be anything I want, anywhere I wanted to go and I could do whatever I want. In mystery, I could pretend to be a detective trying to solve a crime and bring justice to a family grieving their only child that was coldly murdered. In adventure, I could be in the strangest and wildest place you could ever imagine and have a hell of a good time learning lots of new stuff and meeting all sorts of people 

In romance, I may not seem like it but I can be a hard simp sometimes. I could be the prettiest girl in the room. I could turn the heads of all the guys in the room, all the girls would turn green with envy. I could be wearing the prettiest gown and the most expensive jewels. But I wouldn’t care. In that room, all that mattered were the pair of eyes glued to mine with so much love in his eyes. He would be my Romeo and I, his Juliet. He would tell me he loved me and wanted nothing more than me in the entire world, I would believe him and we would live happily ever after.”

I laughed slightly as I realized I got carried away. Books were really my happy place.

“When did you get so poetic?” Christian teased and I laughed even more.

 “I surprised myself honestly.”

“How about.” His voice suddenly changed to a more serious tone. “How about if I told you I could make it real and I could bring your book dreams to life.”

I slowly turned so I was looking at him.

“Kaylee…” He said moving closer to me so his lips were a few inches away from my ear as his next words came out in a soft and low tone.

“What if I told you I loved you and I want to live happily ever after with you?”

I felt my heart skip a beat as he uttered those words. Mere little words but big enough to crash down my whole world.

“C-Christian…” My heart pounded in my chest and my voice was shaky.

 “I should go.” I pushing him away I got up and left him there.

I couldn’t stay there, I couldn’t even think straight. I felt bad for leaving just like that but my head was spinning. They were just words so why did I feel my heart breaking with every step I took back home.

Love? He loved me? Did I feel the same way?

Yes, I answered to myself in a heartbeat without a thought.

And that was the problem.