Chapter 24

God knew how long I’d been waiting for this day; to get ready for my first date with Kayden Jacob Taylors. He was taking me to Mugs, the coffee shop we used to hang out at all the time for a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino.

He knew I always admired the warmth and coziness that the fall season provided as well as the seasonal foods that came out this time of year.

It was the same coffee place I met Gray and Kayden asked to make sure I would be okay going there after all these years. He was gone and every time I drove by on my way to the store at night, his friends weren’t lingering outside the entrance anymore.

Besides, it brought up good memories when we would meet up there after football games, homecoming dances and going to the beach in middle school.

I stood in front of my bathroom mirror in my white, oversized and knitted sweater that I paired with leggings and brown boots, my fuzzy brown socks peeking out. After washing my face, I was prepared to apply makeup when mom knocked on the door.

She looked relieved to see that I was still here. She was already ready in her pink scrubs, her hair in her usual messy bun and her nurse shoes. Mom clapped her hands and a bright smile touched her face in approval at my outfit when she surveyed me up and down. 

“I’m so glad I didn’t miss you.” Without being asked, she dumped all the contents of my makeup bag onto the counter.

She briefly vacated the room to grab the chair from my desk and slammed it on the floor. She commanded me to sit like one would their dog. My eyes were downcast while she applied foundation to my skin and a small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

Out of everything I missed the most before she and dad became full-time nurses, it was sharing moments like this. Putting makeup on and her doing my hair in french braid ponytails before she would drive me to school. This being my first date with Kayden made it ten times more special.

My fingers found the charm bracelet Garrett bought me that I never bothered to take off. I kept wearing it just in case I ran into him at school, but I hadn’t had the chance since school closed for the rest of the week.

This bracelet was now tainted by the fact that I broke his heart and there was no way of repairing it. 

“Who gave you that cute charm bracelet? Kayden?”

“No, it was um… Garrett. For my birthday.” I unclasped the golden chain and played with it in my hands. 

“You know, from the getgo, daddy didn’t like Garrett when he found out you were going out with him.” She moved on to the blush and swiped it up my cheekbones to add a tinge of pink to my cheeks. “He was raised to do things the traditonal way. You know, he asked my daddy for his blessing to ask me out and to marry me.”

“But Garrett had never met dad. And also, it’s not like Garrett didn’t ask Zach for his blessing. Dad should trust Zach’s judge of character.”

“And that was very thoughtful that he reached out to Zach, but daddy would’ve preferred if he asked him for his blessing as well.” Once mom was done with the blush, she grabbed the mascara to sweep up my lashes. “At least, Kayden asked dad and I for our blessings.”

It didn’t surprise me one bit that Kayden came over to ask for dad’s blessing. When we were little, he would be the most polite kid on the planet.

Every time he and I went over to Zach’s for a playdate, he would hold his own hands behind his back and ask Zach’s parents if he could help with lunch or dinner. His parents raised him right. “When?”

“The day after the Halloween party you all went to. Remember when you heard the doorbell ring and we told you it was a work friend coming over?”

“That was Kayden?”

“Yes.” Mom turned me around to face the mirror. I didn’t like going too crazy with makeup and knowing this, she only applied a minimal amount. Enough to show the effort I put into making myself look presentable.

Mom wrapped her arms around my neck and left a kiss on the top of my head, staring at my reflection. “I’m so happy that you found a really nice guy that was raised to be as traditional as your daddy and I. You’re leaving your heart in good hands. I just know.”

-

“There is not a doubt in my soul that Olive would’ve whipped her ass after that,” I spoke in between laughs. Asking if any of his friends on Instagram had been talking about the party somehow led to us chuckling as we recalled the events that transpired.

Images of Olive’s fuming red face and her pulling her fist back flashed in my head, making me laugh harder. “I could see her beating her to the point where Angela had to be rushed to the hospital.”

“Olive was mad? When I noticed that guy three feet away filming us, not even bothering trying to contain his laughter, I would’ve put him in a full body cast if you weren’t there. He was literally…” He cut himself off by bursting into laughter. “three feet away from us with his camera in our faces. It’s like he had a death wish or something.”

Eventually, our chuckles slowed down. "Hey, what did you and Angela talk about during the shooting? She unblocked me and texted to apologize for what she did at the party."

I shrugged. "At first, nothing. Then, she apologized for how she reacted. She admitted that she was just jealous that... you and I have a connection with each other that she could never have with you."

Silence fell over us with me picking at a broken nail. Stealing glances at him, I noticed guilt on his face as he stared off into space. Suddenly, he shook his head and leaned over the table.

"Enough about her. Wanna play a game?"

I sat back against the chair and crossed my arms, the corners of my mouth tilting upward into a smirk. "What kind of game?"

"A game of This or That. Fall edition. I give you two options and you have to pick which one you prefer."

"Got it."

"Halloween or Thanksgiving?"

"Halloween. Duh."

"Apple cider or hot chocolate?"

"Definitely hot chocolate."

"Jumping in a pile of leaves or taking a trip to the pumpkin patch?"

My smile grew as I remembered when we were little kids and our third grade teacher took us to a pumpkin patch for a field trip. Mine and Zach's parents were chaperoning and taking pictures of the three of us sitting on top of a huge pumpkin.

Our hands accidentally touched each other's and my heart was vibrating, feeling his warm hand against my fingers. My face was blushing and my hands flew to cover it, but you could easily see the red between my dainty fingers. That picture remained framed by my bed to this day. "The pumpkin patch."

"Apple pie or pumpkin pie?"

Why he didn't know was a mystery seeing as I ordered a slice of pumpkin pie and took slow bites every five minutes to make it last longer. The crumbs and half the crust were evidence.

"Pumpkin pie? Are you kidding me? I thought you only ordered that to learn why people with functioning taste buds hate that shit."

"What? Excuse me but it is, in my opinion, pumpkin pie that dominates... apple pie." The words tasted like poison on my tongue as I imagined the flavor of apple in my mouth. 

"False. Apple pie dominates pumpkin. When I was little, I was obsessed with apple pie. Every time we would go to the market and they started putting those pies out for the holidays, I would beg my mom to buy one for me. Along with vanilla ice cream to top it with."

"Oh my—"

"And every Thanksgiving, my grammy would bake a separate apple pie for me that I would finish in two days. Tops."

"Well, your grandmother is a nutcase."

Instead of acting offended, his lips twitched into a smile. A dimple accentuated his cheeks as his eyes were trained on mine. "Fine. Thankfully, my grammy taught me the recipe last year and you know what we're gonna do?"

"Make you forget everything your grammy taught you and bake a pumpkin pie instead?"

He chuckled, but in an instant, his smile fell into a thin, straight line. "Yeah right. No. We're going to the store and getting all the ingredients for my grammy's famous homemade apple pie."

"But you planned this romantic coffee date for me. I wouldn't want to ruin your plans."

Kayden put on his most charming smile as he took my my hands in his and left every knuckle a kiss. Once he was done, a smirk found its way across his face. "Every second I spend with you is good enough of a date for me."

I disregarded the kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttering around my stomach and allowed my lips to curl into a smile. That smile didn't last long before I groaned and dropped my head on the table. 

-

I felt like a kid, flying through the store with the breezes whispering through my hair. Uncontrollable giggles broke out of my lips and I held onto the sides for dear life as Kayden drove the cart speedily around the aisles.

My heart was rapidly beating with each sharp turn he’d take. Kids around us were tugging on their parents’ clothing to point us out to them and the elderly customers were shaking their heads at us.

He was pushing the cart so fast, I could've sworn I saw a blurry image of an elderly lady with the corners of her lips tilting upward. The five-year-old kid in me was bouncing up and down because mom would never let me ride in the cart. "You have perfectly working legs. Use them before you grow old and have to cross the street with a cane" was what she would always say. By the time we stopped to pick up more ingredients, I was panting like a dog in a hot car.

"How are you so sure I'd convert to an apple pie-loving loser? This could be all for nothing."

"First of all, those who love apple pie are not losers. And second, I am determined to convert you to apple pie-... ism?"

"Okay, fine. Let's say I was determined to make you a pumpkin pie fan. Would you be willing to help me bake one?"

Kayden froze. His arm was frozen mid-air while it reached for the apples and his eyes never moved from the pile of fruits. He spun on his heel and hesitated to speak. “Well… no. That would be disgusting.”

“Then how do you expect me to–”

Kayden cut me off with a groan. “Okay, fine. I would.” He pointed at me. “But only for you.” He lightly took my chin with his fingers and left a lingering kiss on my forehead. If his lips were against my skin for one more second, I would’ve had a heart attack.

My own hand flew to my cheek where I just knew a dark blush was taking over. Kayden continued to collect the rest of the ingredients when my phone pinged with a text message from Olive. I hadn’t seen or heard from her since the shooting and it was the longest we’d gone without contact. 

Olive:

Have you seen this? Someone tagged you in this post.

No one ever tagged me in anything so it threw me for a loop that someone we didn't know that well tagged me on a post. I clicked the link and instead of seeing a picture of the person whose account this was, it was just a blank, black screen with a short caption.

@Bella-Price is the reason we could’ve died that day. The shooter kept yelling her name and he didn’t sound the least bit happy with her. Whatever she did, she made them mad enough to kill us all. #BellaTheKiller

“What the f–” I whispered to myself. I looked through the comments to read that most people were agreeing.

True. Who else is there to blame?

Are you kidding me? What the hell did she do that was that bad?

My parents blew up my phone that day. They were going nuts and mom was in tears because she was afraid something would happen to me. This could’ve been prevented if Bella hadn’t broken this man’s heart. #BellaTheKiller

“What is it?” Kayden looked over my shoulder and eventually took my phone from my hand. I tried to deny it, but it was written all over those comments. 

“Everyone blames me for the shooting.”

-

AUTHOR'S NOTE-

Question: What's YOUR favorite thing about fall?

Also, if you'd been reading these new chapters up until now, I changed Keith's name to Kayden.