A Note of Appreciation: Thank you all for supporting my work, be it only this story or every book I’ve uploaded. You have no idea how grateful I am for each read, vote, follow and when you add my stories to your reading lists or how my heart makes a little jump every time I see a new comment.
Thank you, my amazing readers, followers, voters and commenters; I wouldn’t be the same writer without you!
Love,
CatMint5
A/N: Some of you might wonder why I started this chapter with “A Note of Appreciation”, especially one that I’d sent as a message the week before. Well, that is because I know many of you don’t read those messages and I wanted to show all of you how much I appreciate everything you’ve given me.
*****
Alice’s POV
Caden was stroking my back. Maybe he thought I was asleep. Or maybe he didn’t realize he was doing it; it seemed to be a habit he had formed to reassure me.
If that was the case, he’d figured out that I was upset.
Had Galya told him anything?
He walked her to the door so she’d had an opportunity to do so.
Galya.
What a strange name. I think it was Russian; I do believe she’d mentioned her mother being Russian. That was one of the few things she’d said about her; one of the few things I knew about the redhead. Well, except for being extremely beautiful, smart, playful, talented… pretty much everything I was not.
I’d been playful once upon a time, before I got shot. I wondered if my friends thought I was boring now.
The first month or two, at the time when I cried myself to sleep and barely had the desire or energy to do anything but wrap myself tightly in a blanket and stay in bed, at that time, they didn’t think of me as dull simply because they were worried about me.
But what about now?
Now that I acted better (and felt it too) they’d expect me to be “the old Alice”, right?
I’d heard them make that division when they thought I wasn’t listening. “The old one” was the sweet and cheerful me; “the new Alice” was the depressed and boring girl that I currently was.
Such self-pitying thoughts I had tonight and all that because of a half an hour nap and a bad dream.
Or was that all there was to it?
When I first met the Russian girl as now I sometimes referred to Galya in my thoughts, I’d really liked her. I liked her open and cocky attitude, I liked that she was constantly smiling, I liked that Caden finally had someone as obsessed with art as he was, someone he could talk to.
But then he’d showed her his studio.
On her very first visit to our apartment, Galya had earned herself the privilege for a private tour in that tiny room my boyfriend called his atelier; the very same room that he very rarely let anyone else in. I had to admit: I’d gotten a bit jealous then. But later Galya had been so charming that I’d quickly gotten over that.
Bur why did Caden keep inviting her to spend time with us?
Yes, she was fun to be around – I really enjoyed the food fight at Alfredo’s – but they saw each other every day at school. Couldn’t he spend some time alone with me when we were at the apartment?
He wanted to spend time with me, right?
Even though I wasn’t the same Alice as the one he fell in love with…
I gripped the blanket tighter.
I didn’t want to spend time with me now so why would he?
Maybe Caden didn’t love me anymore; maybe he was with me out of pity… Out of pity and out of fear that I’d snap completely if he left me.
God, I hated nights like this!
I hated feeling so insecure not only in me but in us.
I really couldn’t imagine my life without Cade now that he had such a major part in it. But if he was unhappy with me, was I ready to let him go?
If he had a chance to be happy with someone else, would I try to keep him by my side, knowing someone better waited for him?
Someone who could support him?
Someone with the same interests as him?
Someone like Galya.
I didn’t mind them sharing a passion for art before but now… Now it seemed they had so much in common whereas the two of us had so little.
Maybe Caden no longer loved me…
Maybe he’d be happier with her…
My boyfriend moved and his lips found my forehead. He kissed it softly, breathing deeply as if my scent was the sweetest aroma for him. His touch on my back was still light but reassuring and that’s when I knew it; I knew that my he wasn’t with me out of pity and fear; he still loved me.
That thought was like a cure for me. I felt my tense muscles relax, my face lost the frown and I stifled a yawn.
I was finally able to fall into sleep simply because of the way Caden had kissed me.
*****
Skyler’s POV
“What is that in your mount?” Kee asked with a frown.
“A tongue ring,” I explained and opened my mouth wider, giving my roommate a chance to examine the tiny metallic ball.
“And why would you want that there?” He went on, his scowl bordering on disgust.
“Alice has one and you don’t mind,” I commented, surprised by his reaction. What was the big deal?
“Alice is a girl; you are not,” he murmured then added: “Even though you sometimes act like one.”
It was my turn to glower.
“Well, I like it and I’m keeping it,” I announced although I’d originally planned to keep the accessory for just a couple of days. That was out of the question now. Keegan had the tendency to boss me around so the tongue ring was staying as a sign of my opposition.
“When did you have your tongue pierced anyway?”
“When I was fifteen. Alice and I got our piercings together. We tried to convince Beth to join us but she said…”
I shut up, seeing his expression.
It’s been a week since my sister had instructed us to watch Alice closely. Caden had told us that she’d indeed been upset that night but she was feeling better the day after that. I had to agree with him: the brunette was smiling, laughing, joking, eating and doing the things she avoided when she was depressed. I think at some point she got suspicious of us as we made sure to never leave her on her own, but even if she did, she’d said nothing about it.
All in all, everything was well when it came to Alice.
Keegan on the other hand…
For some reason, he had taken the news of our friend’s troubles more at heart than the rest of us.
Or at least he made it seem that way.
The first couple of days, he was barely letting Alice out of his sight and he was extremely grumping and snapping at people, even at work; Asher had informed me of that. It had gotten to a point where Caden had to actually threaten Kee to stay away from his girlfriend but as they saw Alice was alright, they both relaxed and patched things up.
Wait, could that be it?
Could Keegan still have feelings for my childhood friend?
That would explain his behavior.
I remembered the time I took him to that Aberville café where they made hazelnut coffee. He’d gotten upset the moment I’d mentioned that it was Alice who had told me that was his favorite beverage. It had reminded him of the time he had taken the brunette out, the time when he attempted to get to know her and make her like him.
But he’d told me it was better now; he’d told me he was getting over her.
Some time had passed since then so he ought to feel even less for her, right?
But then why had he panicked like that?
We were all worried about Alice - she was like another sister to me, yet no one, not even Caden, had lost his nerve the way my roommate had.
While I contemplated on this, the boy in question had sat down to do some homework.
“Need help with that?” I offered. I wanted to get him to talk. Maybe that was stupid; it wasn’t like I could help him calculate some math problems then casually say: “Oh, by the way, Kee, do you still have the hots for Alice and does Caden know about it?”
“Nope,” he said with a puff. “Damn all these numbers,” he muttered.
“Well, that’s what we chose to study.” I was trying to figure out the best way to ask him about his feelings without him ripping my head off for it. I started rolling the tongue ring in my mouth, the metal producing a slight thud as it connected with my teeth.
“Would you stop that?” My roommate growled. “It’s annoying.”
“You are just saying that because you don’t like the tongue ring,” I countered.
“It makes you look like a fag,” he replied, his eyes still on his homework.
“How does it make me look like a fag?”
“People put tongue rings to give better bj-s; you are a guy with a tongue ring therefore…”
“I must be gay?”
“Exactly.”
“You don’t really mean that,” I stated after a brief contemplation. “You are only saying that to mess with me.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Sky.”
“Hey, if you really think I’m gay, then you’d be the one having trouble sleeping in the same bedroom as me.”
Kee finally looked at me only to glare. I chuckled at his reaction and blew him an air kiss on the way out of our apartment.
Even though he’d made me laugh, I was still worried over how he felt about Alice. But I had to put that at the back of my mind for the time being. Now, I was off to meet my childhood friend and to show her I’d put my tongue ring back on.
I bet that would cheer her up.
That and a Disney marathon complete with salty popcorn and large quantities of soda.
*****
A/N: A shorty, I know, but it’s been a busy week. I’ll try to have the next chapter posted by midweek next week.
So what do you think?
Is Kee still into Alice?
If so, will he stand between her and Cade?
I wonder how many of you are going to comment “I bet Galya would just love that”. ;)
PS: I disagree with Kee that people only put on tongue rings to give better bj-s. I myself have one and just like Sky, I like rolling it in my mouth; it’s fun. Also, boys (if any of you readers are), it doesn’t make you look like fags.