After a few weeks of me shunning Blake, and Connor glaring at him, it was simply too hard to handle the emotional stress. My parents told me the insurance payment had arrived so we could begin shopping for our new home. The insurance company had determined our house fire was caused by an electrical short, so it was covered by our policy. This helped me to be distracted. However, Blake stayed in his room and played loud music. Just reminding me he was near. It was extremely annoying to hear Eminem blasting from his room at the late hours of the night. No one really knew what went down on that Saturday afternoon, but I knew it would never be the same.
Tonight was a Friday night, and Brooklyn, Bridget, Connor, Luke, Eli, and I were going to the fair. I had never really been to one before, so I was really excited. To tell you the truth, I was really excited to spend time with Connor outside of school. We were just friends, but he was the only one who really knows what’s going on in my life. I had to hide the secrets behind my emotional wall, so the others wouldn’t dig up some treasure of gossip about Cara. After all, it seemed like the whole school knew about everything about everyone.
I heard the familiar ring of the horn on Bridget’s car. I walked outside to see her beautiful red Porsche convertible parked in front of Blake’s house.
“Cara!” Brooklyn shouted.
I jumped in the back, and the back of her car was literally perfect. She looked like a Barbie doll. We arrived at the fair around six. Connor, Eli, and Luke met us at the ticket booth.
“Hey Cara,” Connor said.
“Hey!” I said.
After we rode many roller coasters and crazy rides, I was officially burnt out.
“Want to go with us on the Spaceship?” Bridget asked.
I shook my head no. The ride was some kind of crazy thing that spun them around, and there was huge line.
“Connor?” she asked.
“No, I’m fine. I’ll stay here with Cara,” he said.
“Want to walk?” I asked him.
He walked closely beside me, so closely we kept bumping into each other.
“So you’re not into those kinds of rides, huh?” he asked.
“No, not anything that will make me dizzy,” I said.
He smiled at me.
“Me either,” he said.
Connor seemed very happy, and it definitely rubbed off on me. He was always happy though. It was nice to spend time with a happy person. His smile was like a hug.
“Oh my gosh,” he laughed, pointing at our friends running towards us.
I couldn’t help but laugh, too. They all looked extremely out of it and dizzy as they made their way towards us.
“Cara? Connor?” Bridget said, reaching her arms out towards me.
“Are you okay?” I giggled at her.
“No,” she moaned.
Connor’s hair was tussled by the wind, and his brown eyes were just so happy and content. He looked extremely cute, and I couldn’t help but smile at the friends I had made. Our friends desperately wanted to leave because they felt kind of sick after riding one too many rides. Connor and I waved goodbye as they all made their way to Bridget’s car.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said.
I looked up at the familiar sight of his black BMW. We got inside and Connor looked towards me.
“Tonight was really fun, Cara,” he said, placing his hand on top of mine.
“It was,” I said.
“Cara, can I kiss you?” he asked with a nervous look on his face.
I slowly nodded.
He pulled me a bit closer, and I could feel his breath on my face.
THEN... HE KISSED ME!
Not like Blake’s forced horrible kiss, but Connor’s was sweet. He was sweet. I kissed him back, and he put his hands around my face to pull us even closer. He then kissed my cheek, and like a gentleman, pulled away.
“Man, I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” he said.
I laughed at his cuteness.
Me too!
He pulled out of the parking lot, and I suddenly felt really happy. After all the pain with Blake, Connor’s kindness and cuteness just took me over.
What do you do to me, Connor Andrews?
------------------------------------------------------
We pulled up to Blake’s mansion, and Connor looked in my direction. I could tell he was thinking about another kiss, but my mom suddenly ran down the stairs towards his car.
“Oh, hello Connor. We were just about to eat some dessert. We’d love if you could stay?” she said.
She absolutely adored Connor.
“Yeah, come on Connor,” I added to her request.
“Okay,” he said as he cut off the car.
“Connor, how’s football been going?” Mom asked.
“Great,” he said.
She thought Connor was different, and frankly, I did too. She trusted him with me, and anytime I said Connor was going she let me go.
“Oh, that’s fantastic,” she said.
We walked inside the huge home. My eyes immediately darted to Blake.
Oh no.
It had been weeks since he kissed me, but Connor still hated him. He’s too nice of a guy to say it, but Connor dislikes Blake more than anyone else at our school. Even more than Sky.
“Connor,” Blake said.
They acknowledged each other, and I knew this was going to be one long night. We sat down around the big round table. Connor tried to give me reassuring glances. However, Blake didn’t stop looking at us.
“Connor, I’ve heard the big college scouts are tossing your name around,” Mr. Winstead said.
“Hopefully,” Connor said.
“I personally think you’ll get a full scholarship somewhere. You’re smart and athletic. Blake, you should try and be more like Connor,” he said.
I knew Connor was perfect, but this humiliated Blake and Connor knew it.
“Blake Winstead is also a name they are probably throwing around,” Connor said, trying to make Blake feel better.
“Nah. His GPA isn’t good enough,” his dad said.
“Dad, stop” Blake begged.
Blake’s dad noticed the awkwardness, and then he decided to interrogate me.
“So Cara and Connor, are you guys dating or something?”
I was too mortified to speak, so Connor answered for the both of us. “Yes sir.”
“He’s taking pretty good care of my daughter so far,” my dad chimed in.
“Thank you, sir,” Connor said.
“Blake you should try and find a girl like her,” his mom said.
Poor Blake.
Blake’s hurt and angry eyes met mine.
“I think I should get going. Thanks for the dessert,” Connor said.
I followed behind him towards the door.
“Thank you, Connor,” I said, shutting the mansion’s door behind me.
“Hopefully Blake won’t kill me after that,” he said.
“He won’t. It’s not your fault anyway,” I said.
“I guess you’re right,” he said, stepping closer to me.
He was so close I could feel his breath blow across my cheek . He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face closer to his. He kissed me so tenderly in the moonlight before leaving for home.
I walked back inside to see the parents still sitting around the table, but Blake was no where to be seen. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Blake?” I said.
“Be quiet,” he whispered.
“Blake, please don’t kiss me again. Connor will kill you,” I said.
“I’m not going to do that,” he sneered.
“Why did you want to talk to me?” I asked.
“Don’t bring Connor around my house anymore,” he said.
“Why? You can’t tell me what to do,” I said harshly.
“My dad always compares me to him,” he said.
“Excuse me,” I said, walking back towards the room where our parents were sitting.