True Love Waits

Chapter Eight

      "Finally, you're home." Chandler greeted Maleena as soon as she walked in the house.

      "Good morning to you too, Chan, geez." She smiled, placing a hand on the wall to balance herself as she slipped off her boots. 

       Chandler walked into the foyer, stopping Maleena. "Don't take off your boots yet. We have places to go and things to do." He took a sip from his water bottle, smiling at his little sister.

       "Oh? Like what?" Maleena inquired, slipping her boot back on.

       "I dunno exactly. I just thought it would be fun to go exploring and such. We need to stop by the feed store regardless to get some bedding and other stuff for the horses, but after that, who knows where we will end up." Chandler said, overly excited to go and drive around, one of his favorite things to do.

      "Didn't you just go to the feed store earlier today?" Maleena grabbed her cowboy hat off the peg in the foyer, placing it on her head before following her brother out the door.

       "Maybe I just want to spend time with my lil sis?" Chandler chuckled, hopping into the driver seat of his truck.

        Pursing her lips, Maleena responded, "Fair enough." She closed the door behind her, buckling her seat belt as Chandler started the truck, driving down their driveway. 

        The drive into town was beginning to become engraved into Maleena's head; the turns, the roads, the bumps in the street even, were all seeming familiar to her. It could have been because she was just driving down here to go see Dillon, but Maleena let out a sigh when she realized it had hit her that her family moved. This town was her new home, and she would have to come to grips with it at one time or the other, no matter how much she disliked change. 

          "What's wrong, squirt? You're usually talkin' my ear off whenever we go on a drive." Chandler looked away from the road to glance at his sister. Shaking her knee in his hand, he asked, "Come on, smile. We are goin' to have fun together today." 

          "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just thinking about some stuff if all." Maleena faked a smile.

          "Somethin' you wanna get off your mind?" Her older brother asked, putting his hand back on the steering wheel.

          Maleena opened her mouth to spill about the whole "Dillon/Boyfriend" situation, but she kept her thoughts to herself. It just didn't feel right being in a relationship with Dillon, and she wasn't sure if that was because he was the first guy to take an interest in her, or if it's because they were moving so fast, or if because deep down she knew the relationship was not right. 

         Whatever was causing her to feel this way, Maleena prayed she would figure it out before she told her family that Dillon and her are boyfriend/girlfriend now. Either way, she knew that she would have to tell her brother what was going on with her and Dillon at some point. Chandler had always been a confidant and a best friend to his little sister, but Maleena knew that he didn't like Dillon, only one of the reasons she had refrained from telling him anything. 

          "No, I think I'm good. Thank you, though." Maleena replied to her brother's question. She smiled at him so he wouldn't get more suspicious about what was really going on. 

          "Alright. So, I was thinkin' that we go to the feed store first, get the bedding, and then drive around some. How does that sound to you?" 

          "That sounds fine." Maleena replied simply, looking out the window. When they got closer to town, her phone began making sounds and buzzing like crazy. Pulling it up to see what was going on, Maleena saw a hefty amount of notifications coming in.