Be My Soldier

Chapter Two

After band practice, we go to Starbucks. What a surprise.

We all sit down outside, and somebody speaks again.

"Hey Kendall," I hear somebody say. I look up, and Nick is standing there with his friends. They're all wearing their basketball jerseys. Huh, there must be a game tonight.

"Hi," I say.

"How are things?" he asks.

Terrible. "They're fine," I say.

"That's good. I hear about what happened a few days ago on tour," he says. I feel Thomas stiffen up next to me.

"I wanted to apologize for what Caroline and I did. I shouldn't have done what I did, and I feel terrible. I started to regret what I did as soon as we did it, and now I feel worse after what happened that night," he says. I stand up and hug him.

"I forgive you. Just please don't do it again," I say. He nods, and he and his friends walk inside.

"That was nice of him," Connor says sarcastically.

"Hey, he's actually a really nice guy. He's just a kid that made mistakes, but we've all made mistakes," I say. Riley snorts.

"Riley, must I remind you about how you pushed me down a couple of years ago at my birthday party, and I fell into a puddle of mud?" I ask. He stops and hangs his head. Everybody else keeps making comments. I stand up.

"Alright, I'm going home," I say.

"Why?" Toby asks.

"If you keep talking about Nick like that, I'm not going to stay," I say.

"Alright, we'll stop," Braiden says.

"I have to go home anyways. Laundry awaits me," I say. They all hug me goodbye, and I start to walk away.

"Wait! Are we still on for the beach tomorrow?" Thomas shouts. I give him a thumbs up and continue walking.

"Ready to finally see Tank and Captain?" Connor asks. I nod.

"They were freaking out all night because you weren't home. They were scratching at your closed door all night," Riley says. I laugh.

We open the door, and I fall down because Captain jumped on me. He and Tank lick my face, and I pet them.

"Hi sweetie," my mom says.

"Hi Mom. Is it alright if we go to the beach tomorrow?" I ask. She nods her head and walks away with a laundry basket. I walk to my room and collapse on my bed. Even though I got plenty of sleep at Kendall's, I'm still really tired from tour.

I'm about to fall asleep when I get a text.

Natalie: Hey, have you talked to Kendall?

Me: Yeah, why?

Natalie: I tried texting her, but she wouldn't answer, so I tried calling her, but she declined. When did you last see her?

Me: We saw her about twenty minutes ago when she went home.

Natalie: Are her parents home yet?

Me: No.

Me: I'm leaving now. Meet me on her front steps.

I jump off my bed, change into a t-shirt, shorts, and my running sneakers, grab my phone, and I run out of the house.

"Where are you going?!" Riley asks.

"Kendall's house!" I shout, and I hear the door slam behind me. Riley and Connor are also running.

We reach her house, and Natalie's already there.