THE LETTER

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

KADENCE PETROV

It felt odd having a boyfriend. I’d only had one before Carter. His name was Sam Daniel's and he asked me out in the ninth grade. He wasn’t the best looking kid, but that didn’t really matter to me at the time. Sam was short and a bit chubby. He wore glasses and had brownish-blond hair. He was a late bloomer and went through puberty a bit later then the rest of us. I did have a bit of a crush on him, so I said yes when he asked me out. I was young and it was fun to have someone to kiss and laugh with. Sam was my first time, too. I don’t regret it, since we were best friends. It seemed like we loved each other, but we were so young. We didn’t know what love was; honestly, I still don’t know what it is. We broke up seven months later when he had to move to California because his mom had to take care of her sick mother. I still talk to Sam now and then. When Sam left and we broke up, I was relieved. I realized I didn’t really want a boyfriend. I was just coming into high school and I changed my mind about things every five minutes. Ever since, I just never saw the need to have a boyfriend unless you really, really liked someone. Otherwise, was it worth all the trouble of commitment? 

The week went by fairly quickly. Everyone, especially Lily, freaked out that Carter and I were together. Alan and Chris expected it of course. Alan and Carter became really close friends since they were both on the soccer team now. I was happy, honestly. Carter kept all the boys at bay, since we had a lot of new kids coming in this year from schools that closed down in the New York area. Today was Carter’s first game and he had to leave early in the morning to practice. 

- - -

I looked at the clock on the wall. Seven fifteen. The game started in forty-five minutes. I left my hair down and put on a pair of black leggings, a thin white sweater that came up mid thigh and my brown, leather cowboy boots. I slipped my bag over my shoulder and headed out the door. The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was stained orange. I stopped outside Lily’s house and honked my horn. She got in and gave me a smile before turning up the radio. She looked adorable as usual. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a cropped tank top; no wonder Alan couldn’t keep his hands off her. We were going to meet Alan and Carter there. I parked outside the soccer field and we headed towards the bleachers. They were already almost full and we had trouble finding two seats next to each other. Finally, after looking for about ten minutes, we got two seats in the back center in between two guys. I didn’t pay much attention to them because I was looking for Carter out on the field. 

“So how’s Carter?” Lily asked with a wink while she chewed on her popcorn. 

“Good,” I said honestly. Everything was going really well. Carter would drive me to school, we’d hang out at lunch and then we’d either go out to eat, go to a party, or I’d cook dinner at his place. Everything was, for a lack of better word, perfect. 

“How’s Alan?” I asked stealing a little bit of her popcorn. I hand’t eaten yet and I was saving my appetite for after the game. Lily and I planned to take the boys to Hooters after the game. Hot waitresses and buffalo wings; what’s not to like? 

“Really, really good,” Lily’s said with a smile. “We’re actually planning to apply to the same college since we both want to go into the medical field”

“That’s great!” I said smiling. Now, for Carter and I to talk about something like that would have been crazy, but Lily and Alan had been together for two years; they were in love. I wasn’t sure if Carter and I were in the same situation. The game started and Lily and I cheered Alan and Carter on. They were doing amazing. During the break Lily asked me if I wanted to go shopping on tomorrow and I promised her I would. We hand’t hung out in a while and I felt bad that I’d been spending all my time with Carter. It was time for a girls day out, anyways. During the game, the guy I was sitting next to leaned closer to me.