The Descendants Series Vol. 2

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 “Kade,” Peyton said, looking at him, her eyebrows pushed together.  “Is it true?”

“Yeah,” he said, running a hand through his hair.  “I’m going to go upstairs.  It’s been a long day and I need to get changed.”

Everyone watched as he walked through a doorway the lead to a set of stairs.  I was the only one who wasn’t.  I just held onto Lyric, running my hand through her hair.

“Well,” Peyton said, turning back to me.  “I’m sure you’re hungry.  Do you want something to eat?”

“Sure,” I said, and sat down in the chair Lyric had been sitting in.  She let go of my neck and turned around in my lap so she could continue eating. 

Peyton went over to the wood burning stove to the side of the room where a big pot sat on top.  She picked up a bowl and filled it with some of the soup.  She grabbed a piece of bread and brought the bowl to me.

“Here you go,” she said, taking the seat beside me. 

I started eating, but then felt self-conscious when I realized everyone was staring at me.  Well, besides Lyric, who was slurping up her last bit of soup.

“What?” I asked, looking around at everyone. 

“Rayney,” Grandma warned.  “Please don’t speak like that.”

“I just want to know why everyone’s looking at me,” I said. 

“Did you know?” Peyton asked.

“Did I know what?” I asked, sipping another spoonful of the vegetable soup. 

“That he was Kade,” she said.  Everyone looked at me, waiting for my answer.

“He didn’t tell me until this morning,” I said, looking down at my bowl.  I didn’t see it, though.  “And after a lot of other things happened.  It probably wasn’t the best timing.”

“What happened?” Xander asked, startling me when he spoke.

“Um, he saved me from those Guards that were surrounding my house.  If he didn’t, they would have probably shot me.  And then later that day we…”  The memory of Kade kissing me flooded back.  Every part of me was tingling just remembering the way he held me.  “I told him who I was.”

“He didn’t know your name?” Peyton asked. 

“I gave him a false name,” I said.  “I didn’t want to give him my real name when I knew I couldn’t trust him yet.  But then I did, so I told him.”

“And he didn’t tell you who he was then?” Grandma asked.  “I would have thought he would have.”

“No,” I said, eating another spoonful of soup.  “Then the day before, we…”  I stopped, remembering what happened that day.  It was my birthday, of course, but that wasn’t the only thing that happened that day.  It was the day when Kade kissed me, when I still thought his name was Zak.  I tried not to think about the kiss, but it was kind of hard to when I could feel the way he held me, the way his lips felt on mine, his hands on my bare skin...  “Nothing really happened.”

“Oh, Rayney,” Grandma said, covering her mouth with her hand.  “I totally forgot it was your birthday yesterday!”

“It’s okay,” I said, shrugging.  “It’s not that important.”

“Well, happy birthday anyway,” Peyton said. 

“Like I said, it doesn’t even really matter.  I forgot about it at first,” I said.  “Anyway, today’s probably been the worst day.  When we woke up, Guards were surrounding us.  I’m glad I saw them when I did.  If not, we wouldn’t have made it.  We outran them, though, and they gave up on trying to find us.”