Cara and Connor

Chapter 19

“Hello, Courtney. I wasn’t aware I invited you,” Sky said with a teacher like tone.

I pretended to turn around to cough, but I burst out laughing.

Connor walked in behind her.

“Well.. Um. Connor!” Courtney retorted.

Connor said nothing.

“Sorry, Courtney. No sophomores are allowed at my party, please leave.” Sky said.

“Shooo... out  now,” Sky said, pushing her out the door.

She really was the meanest person I knew, but her meanness came into play sometimes.  

“THIS has YOUR name written all over it,” she yelled back at me as she was pushed out.

Connor took this chance to pull me aside into a private alcove.

“Sorry,” I said to him.

“We’re not dating, Cara. Don’t worry about it,” he said flashing THE  smile. That smile that originally drew my attention to him.

“Connor, one question,” I said.

“Shoot.”

“Why in the world would you ever associate with her after what she did in the lunch room awhile ago?” I said blatantly.

He seemed to be searching his mind for a response.

“She won’t leave me alone,” he said frankly.

I laughed.

“What’s funny, Evans?” he asked.

“Connor, you have to be the nicest person ever because I could never put up with her,” I said.

“Cara, that’s so mean!” he laughed.

“She poured water on me,” I stated.

“Let’s go outside,”  I said as I  looked outside to see Luke, Blake, Eli, and Annie sitting by the fire.

Thank goodness Annie was here.

“Cara and Connor together again. Interesting,” Eli said as we walked down the stairs.

“You can’t blame me for talking with the prettiest girl in the room, Eli,” he said.

“Cara!” Annie said running towards me. “You look stunning.  Really!”

“Thank goodness you came, Annie.” I said.

I sat down beside her around the roaring fire. I looked to see each of my friends’ faces lit up from the fire. The party was crazy inside, but  it was comfortable here with all my friends.  Comfortable and peaceful.

“I can’t believe junior year is almost over. Before we know it, we’ll all be going away to college,” Luke said wistfully.

We all sat in silence to ponder his observation.

“I know. It’s weird, isn’t it?” I said.

Blake looked over at me.

“We’ve been through a lot this year,” he said.

“I’ll never forget when I first met Cara,” Connor said with a smile.

“That was the most embarrassing first day  ever. I thought you were going to make fun of me,” I said, remembering the moment.

“I remember he came up to me and said you were the girl he wanted to date. He was so smitten for you, Cara. And he still is for that matter,” Luke confessed.

Connor’s face turned a bright shade of red.

“That’s so cute,” Annie said.

“Cara, I’ve never fully apologized to you and to show my sincerity I am going to do it now in front of everybody.  I’m sorry for stealing your first kiss.  It should have been Connor’s, but most importantly it was yours to give.  I had no right to take it,”  Blake said.

No one knew about that except for Blake, Connor, and Luke.

“What?” Annie said.

“It’s okay Blake, thanks for the apology.” I said. I widened my eyes towards Annie signalling we would talk about it later.

After the party, Connor insisted on driving me home. I knew he wanted to talk.

“Cara, I’ve really missed having you around. I’m sorry for breaking up with you because I was fearful. I just want to tell you I can’t get my mind off of you,” he said as he cut on his black BMW. The engine purred as I looked him into the eyes.

“I’ve missed you too, Connor. I’ve missed you more than you could know. I trust you,” I said.

He pulled me into a hug, which turned into a kiss.

“Will you be mine?” he said in a higher voice to imitate some cheesy Valentine’s day line.

“Yes!” I said.

He kissed me again, and we drove off into the night.

THE END!