Finding Love Abroad

Found him

I am on my way to church with Reed driving me. I hope I see Andrew again today.

"Text me when it's over, and I will pick you up," Reed informs.

"Sure, bye," I say with a smile and head inside. I see Andrew sitting in his usual place at the last bench. I smile.

I take my place beside him and say a small word of prayer before smiling at him. He smiles back. Soon the service comes to an end, and I send Reed a text informing him to pick me. I turn to Andrew to talk to him and find him already looking at me.

"Umm, I just... um you know want to say thank you for what you did back there." he thanks me with a shy smile. I raise my eyebrow, clueless on why he is thanking me. Suddenly, everything becomes clear... The backpack. I wonder why it looked familiar. It is the same backpack I got Andrew, for Christmas. So, these people have been bullying Andrew all this time. I feel terrible that I didn't even recognize Andrew.

I dig my nails into my palm to keep myself calm. I don't know how these people can be so heartless. Despite my anger, I give Andrew a kind smile.

"You don't have to thank me, and I am also sorry that I didn't talk to you when I came to school. I didn't recognize it was you," I give an apologetic smile. His smile falters at my words.

"No, Kiara, don't talk to me at school. I think you know that I don't have a good reputation in school. People will bully you too if you come to talk to me, and I can't let that happen to you." he finishes sternly.

I am so happy that he cares about me, but I will not treat him like a stranger in school.

"That's nice of you, Andrew, but do I look like I give a crap about my reputation? Nope. So, there is nothing you can do to keep me from talking to you, and you can't get rid of me that easily too," I tell with a teasing grin. He chuckles at my words.

"No, Kiara. I am sorry, but don't talk to me. If people find out, they will think that I am complaining to you and I will get bullied more, and they will mess with you too, and I don't want that," He tries to persuade me again.

I get a text from Reed saying he is outside, and I smile at Andrew and get up.

"I will see you tomorrow, Andrew," I tell him with a smile and leave the church.

"Hey, sparkling Reed." I greet him with a chuckle. Reed still looks pink, but it's starting to fade. He just frowns and starts driving home.

"You are never going to let that go are you?" he sighs.

"Nope," I grin.

"You saw Andrew didn't you?"

"Yeah, why?" I ask him, confused.

"You are always in a good mood after seeing him. That's all," he tells me with a frown. I raise my eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"Are you by any chance jealous?" I ask him with a smirk.

"Pfft me, and jealous? Nope, you got that wrong sparkle," He laughs.

"Sure, sure" I wave him off.

"I always step in whenever I see people bullying him," he tells me all of a sudden.

"Hmm, but you can completely stop the bullying, you know," I tell him. He looks at me questioningly.

"You are the bad boy Reed, you are at the top of the ladder. So people will obviously listen to you if you haven't noticed," I tell him sarcastically. He chuckles.

"You know, that thought never occurred to me."

"Yeah, because you are dumb," I answer back.

"I am offended, sparkle," he tells me with a hand on his heart.

"Yeah, yeah, you will get over it,"

"But, what you did was cool back there," he tells me with a grin.

"Thank you, I know I am amazing," I tell him, flipping my hair and shaking my invisible collar. We both laugh at my antics, and we soon reach home.

I go to my room and suddenly trip over a ball or, should I say, a lot of balls. I sit up and blow my hair out of my face. I look at my room and see my whole room filled with plastic balls like the one in the ball pit.

"REED JAMES SCOTT," I shout, and Reed pokes his head into my room and laughs at my poor state.

"First of all, Payback sparkle and second of all, my middle name is not even James," he smirks.

"Yeah, whatever, help me clean this," I tell him.

"Did you not hear me say, 'it's payback sparkle'?" he asks me. Before I can respond,

"BALL PIT." Ryder squeals and jumps on my bed, suddenly a ball is thrown at me, and I look at Reed.

"You are it sparkle," he tells me and runs around my room. I laugh, trying to get back and fall face first again, and within the next minute, I am up and, I start chasing Reed and Ryder around the room, throwing balls at them. Reed trips and falls, and Ryder sits on his back and starts tickling him. We play for about another hour before we all collapse on my bed, tired.

"I am still not cleaning this up," Reed says with a chuckle, and I groan.

Laying on my bed, I think back to today's events, and I promised myself that I won't let anyone walk over Andrew again. I silently thank God for giving me this wonderful family.

               ______________________

Hey guys. Here's another chapter. Let me know what you think. Remember God loves you.

Love😍
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