Heartstrings - Forbidden Hearts Series Prequel

73| Everything Was Here

"Sorry, dad. I was deep in thought for a second there." Dropping the dice on the board, I smiled. "That's ten and that means I'll be landing on Park Place. Now I have both of the blues and I'm going to start putting some property on it."

My mom chuckled as my dad groaned and said, "Great. Now we're going to keep landing on her spaces and we're going to go bankrupt. Might as well call the game right now."

"Aw, don't be a spoil sport, Dad. Who knows, maybe you'll finally win this game."

"Not likely," he muttered before handing me the two hotels I purchased.

The game went on for another forty-five minutes after that. And just like always, I beat the pants off my parents. Once we put the game away and cleaned up the kitchen, the next part of our family night tradition was to watch a movie. We took turns with who got to pick, and tonight it was my turn. I went with Liar Liar. Given my depressed mood the past few weeks, I thought a comedy would do me some good.

And once the movie was over, I excused myself to go shower and get ready for bed. Standing in front of my mirror in my flannel pajamas, I ran my brush through my hair to get all the knots and tangles out when there was a knock at my door.

"Come in," I said, putting the brush down on the dresser. My mom came in with a tense expression on her face and shut the door behind her. "Is something wrong?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm worried about you, Karma. You made me a promise." Oh, God. "I know you and Nate love each other. It's clear as day. Are you honestly telling me you will keep your promise to break up with him if you get into USF?"

"Yes," I answered immediately. "A promise is a promise. I told you if I got into USF that I would go. And I will."

"I'm finding it really hard to believe you, Karma."

Mirroring my mom, I crossed my own arms and shrugged one shoulder. "Guess we'll have to wait and see when that letter comes."

My mom dropped her arms and turned towards my door. She reached for it with her left hand but paused before opening it. She looked over her shoulder at me and said, "I hope you keep your promise, Karma. I'm not going to let you throw away your future."

As soon as my mom left my room and shut my door behind her, I started pacing. I was angry, hurt, and scared all at the same time. All I wanted was to live my life the way I wanted. But as much as my parents stressed me out with being the daughter they dreamed up, I still loved them and wanted to make them happy.

But not at the expense of losing what I had with Nathan. We might be young, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that what we felt for each other was real. It wasn't some puppy love that was going to fizzle out in a year or two. It was forever.

Walking over to my bed, I sat down and tried to take a few deep breaths. This was really starting to be too much for me to deal with. Normally I would call Mike to vent or ask for advice, but I already knew what he was going to say so that was out of the question. My two best friends were also a no-go considering they had no idea what was going on either.

And then there was Nathan...The one person I felt like I could tell anything to, and the one person who comforted me and knew me, was absolutely not an option. God, how I wished he was here right now. He used to sneak into my room almost every night to sleep beside me, but ever since his mom started doing random checks of his room at night, it's been nearly impossible. That was one reason we've been spending more and more time at the treehouse.

Suddenly my phone chimed to let me know I had a new text message.

Nathan: hey baby. Just wanted to tell you I was thinking about you. I miss holding you while you sleep. I love you.

Unable to hold them back any longer, the tears fell when I read that text. Even when he wasn't here with me he always knew what to say to make me feel better. Only this time it caused nothing but pain.

I miss you, I replied back to him.

I debated with myself as to whether or not I should text him what I really wanted. But I knew what he was going to say and the last thing I wanted was for him to get in trouble. But love won out and I ended up typing what I wanted more than anything at this very moment.

Any way you can come to me tonight? I need you. I just need you to hold me tonight. Its cold in my bed without you.

His reply was instantaneous. And even though I knew what it said, I opened it anyway.

Your wish, my command, gorgeous. I'll be there soon.

Getting up from my bed, I walked over to my window and opened it for him. Then I locked my door and laid down while I waited for him to get here.