Changing Tune

14. Our song

Chapter 14: Our song

Ellie's POV

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I could never be able to understand what Blake was going through, and I could also not comprehend what could have possibly made him feel like he had to hide Kyla from his friends. Nonetheless, I couldn't blame him for wanting to protect her. When I returned home that night, I couldn't stop dwelling on everything he told me about her past. 

There was no way people could be so cruel as to push somebody away because of a condition they have no control over. Kyla was really sweet, and in no way would I have ever been able to imagine that she had any form of condition if Blake hadn't told me himself. I felt my heart aching for her when Blake told me that she used to be picked on a lot at school, and that she had come home in tears one day begging her mom to let her switch schools. That was why Kyla had to go and live with their dad who lived about three hours away, only so she would be able to go to a school especially for people with such learning disorders. 

Tears welled in my eyes as Blake told me about how his heart broke seeing his beautiful sister as broken as she was. He promised her and himself that he would never let anybody hurt her that way, even if he didn't necessarily do that in the best way. Blake felt as if the best way he could do that was to keep Kyla as far away from other people as possible, fearing that she would get attached and then end up getting hurt just like she had in the past. I found it impossible to believe that some people had pretended to be her friends just so that they could break her heart, and anger bubbled up inside me as he was telling me. 

I couldn't help but feel hurt that Blake would think that I could ever be cruel to somebody like Kyla, but at the end of the day, he kept her away from all of his friends, and not just me. I smiled as soon as Blake told me that Kyla seemed to have instantly liked me, and that I was the first person he was actually opening up to about her. The friendship between Blake and I seemed to have strengthened after that entire day together, and I was glad that I had asked him to hang out with me. Not only that, but I had also acquired a new friend, one who I promised I would never want to hurt. 

All of those events and all that information was hard to forget, even as I was on the way to school the next day. Blake tried to avoid my gaze, still seemingly guilty of how harsh he was to me the day before. No matter how many times I had told him that it was okay and that I understood where he was coming from, he still kept on apologising. 

"Are you going to keep avoiding eye contact with me forever?" I chuckled as I quickened my pace to keep up with him as soon as the bell rang, signalling the start of our last class. I was tired of him acting so strange for the entire day. "I don't like you being weird with me."

Blake looked at me and sighed, his gaze softening as his eyes landed on the small smile I was sending him. "I don't like it either, but I also hate that I was harsh with you out of all people. I also feel weird with you knowing about Kyla, and after my talk with you I started feeling guilty about not telling the guys. They all knew there was something I didn't want to talk about with regards to my family, but they had always thought it was about my parents' divorce."

I frowned as I saw the sad look on his face, as if he felt as if he was culpable for everything. I wanted to tell him that it was okay, and that none of that was his fault. Blake was a great brother, anyone would be able to see that, and I was sure that Kyla could see that as well. If it were up to my older brother Ethan, I would have also been kept away from any kind of human interaction. He was protective of me, and even if he annoyed me with all of his questioning at times, I was still happy that my brother loved me as much as he did.