Sapphire Eyes ~ 10 Chapter Challenge

Bonus Chapter ~ Berkeley High School ~ Logan

"She's really letting us go in alone?" Kaden asks, watching the car disappear around the corner.

"I convinced her that she can trust me," I say.

Kaden scoffs just a little.

"Come on. Let's get this over with." I go for the door, but Kaden hesitates to follow me.

"Hey Logan . . . ?"

"Hmm?" I turn back to face him.

He rolls the forms up into a tub. ". . . Promise to hear me out?" He stares down.

"Sure."

He looks me right in the eye. "Let's not turn in the medical forms."

"What? That's a bad idea, Kade. Mom would kill us."

"You said you'd hear me out." Kaden points at me with the tube of paper.

Oh come on. Where's the logic behind this? We'd get in so much trouble, and for what? So you can play pretend?

Kaden stares at me. "I wanna start over. No more labels. No more . . ." His shoulders sag. "No more rumors."

"Right, and not turning in the medical forms would keep it a secret," I say sarcastically.

He stares at me. "I just . . . I wanna feel normal again."

"But you're not normal anymore, Kade."

He squeezes the paper tube in both hands and glares down at it. It's true though, so I won't take it back. Living a lie won't make it go away, but I don't know how to tell him that.

"Look," I say. "Everyone would seriously flip out on me—"

Kaden glares at me. "This isn't about you, Logan. You don't know what it's like. Everyone looks at me like . . . Like I'm a ticking time bomb. Nobody sees me. All they see is a disaster waiting to happen. Even you and Mom look at me like that, and don't you dare try to tell me you don't."

I hang my head. He's right, but it doesn't make this a good idea. "You can't lie about something like this, Kade. It's just not fair."

His mouth pops open. "You wanna talk about fair?"

I bite my lip. He's right. It's not fair. I get to be normal, and he has to have epilepsy. After what I did to him, the least I can do is let him go through with this seriously foolish idea.

"I just want people to look at me and see me, not this," he says, holding up the forms. "Even if it only lasts a week, it'll be worth it."

A week? He'll be lucky to last a day, and he knows it.

"Please?" He frowns at me.

I realize he isn't going to give up on this crazy idea. "Are you sure about this?" I ask.

Kaden actually smiles. "Thanks, Logan," he says like I already said yes.

Wow, I haven't seen him look this happy in weeks. Months, even. It's good to look into those dark brown eyes and see a spark for a change. It doesn't guarantee he's going to be okay, but still, it's something.

I give in to him just like that. "Alright Mister Mystery, you realize this means you owe me," I say jokingly.

"Promise to never call me that again and you can have whatever you want." Kaden hands the forms to me, still rolled up.

"Okay . . ." I point at him with the paper tube. "You're explaining this to everyone."

"That's fair enough." Kaden nods.

"And when Mom finds out about this, you take the blame."

Kaden sighs and drops his gaze.

"It was your idea," I push.

"Fine, okay?" He shrugs and takes the forms back from me.

This is such a bad idea. Even if Kaden tells Mom that this was his idea, she'll still blame me for letting him go through with it. Especially after I just convinced her that she can trust me. But there's no way I'm going back on my word now, not when it made him this happy. I know Mom wouldn't understand, but to me, this feels like another way to keep my brother safe. Like mentally safe instead of physically safe, which is just as important, right?

I grab Kaden's shoulder and nudge him through the door. We head down the hallway, following the signs to the main office.

The school secretary looks us up on her computer and prints out our transcripts for us to sign. Freshman and sophomore year: all straight A's. The next page has all the classes I was taking this year—AP English, AP History, Trig, Chemistry, Drama, Spanish III, and PE. Mostly C's, with one D and one B. I got a B in PE. Freaking PE, the easiest class on the planet! And for once, Dad isn't drilling me for not being perfect. Probably because he didn't even notice. I sign the transcript, unable to decide if I'm relieved or disappointed.

Kaden steps behind me and whispers, "These grades aren't right." I glance at his form, which lists three C's and three D's. "I was failing everything," he whispers.

"So they were a little soft on you," I whisper back. "You're going through hell, Kade. It's nice of them."

"If you say so." He signs his transcript.

"Now let me just look up your user information so you can sign up for classes." The lady types our names into her computer. "Here you are . . . My goodness, you're twins?" she asks. She must be able to see our birthdays on her computer records. "Uh oh. Two cute new transfers. Twins. The girls will go wild." She hands me another printout and winks at us. "You two are gonna be the topic of quad gossip for weeks."

I force a smile. You have no idea.

~*~

Author Note: This chapter is only 1464 words, and it also appears in my book In My Head. Since it is not an original scene, I'm not counting it for the contest. But it's still important to introduce Kaden and Logan and their conflict. If you are intrigued by this chapter, I invite you to read In My Head to see more of Kaden and Logan's story.