Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 70

Isla

I've messed up.

I've never felt this bad in my life.

I finally get myself out of bed after my alarm has been ringing for the last thirty minutes. I just couldn't seem to get out of bed after the fact that I had gone over to Julian's house yesterday and it had gone horrible. All of his words are stuck in my head, and it hurts knowing that there is some truth to them.

Not that I didn't tell anyone about him. I was humiliated, but I wanted to keep him a secret. I didn't want my family or friends to know about my relationship with Julian because it was my first one ever. It was going so well, and I liked the flow of our relationship. I liked that we hung out every day and had small moments that no one else would even understand.

But I had messed up.

In keeping my relationship private from my family and friends, it caused so many other things to go wrong.

Julian felt that I was embarrassed by him. I was not embarrassed by him. But it's hard to mention him in front of my friends because they don't know him. They don't know anything about him, and telling my friends is scary to me. I'm scared of their opinions of him because they don't know him like I do. They don't know the sweet boy who put my feelings above anything else this summer.

But I should tell people.

I loved him so much, and maybe that was stronger than my fear. It is. I believe it is.

I walk downstairs thirty minutes later, ready for school. I find my mom in the kitchen, and when I go to grab a fruit, my eyes linger on her. I could feel myself growing nervous at the thoughts that I was having.

I could tell her.

Right here, right now.

Hi, mom. I'm in love with a boy, and I'd love for you to meet him.

I linger by the counter, repeating the sentence over and over in my mind. Just do it. Just say it. What's the worst that could happen?

I open my mouth. "Mom?"

My mom's eyes don't look up from where she was studying a file, but she responds, "Yes, sweetie?"

I place my hand on the counter so I don't fidget with it any longer. Swallowing, I say, "I want to talk to you."

"A little busy right now," she says absentmindedly. "But go ahead."

"I uh," I start, my eyes pinned on her as I will tell her to look at me. Then I realized why it had been so hard for me to tell my parents about the boy who occupies my mind. They never have the time to speak to me, and whenever the subject comes up, it's at a chaotic time. Then I don't feel like dropping the bomb, not knowing what they will say or how they will react. I didn't want them to react rashly, but it could be a possibility that they would. I've lived with them long enough to know how they react to situations unprepared. The thing about my pageants was that law school had drilled it into them that they had to practice a routine to perfection before taking on a situation.

That's why I need to find a good time. This didn't seem like one, but then I think about the boy I love and how he feels humiliated, and I know that I have gone through it. Who cares what my parents thought of him? I just wanted them to know. As Julian had doubted, he is impotent to me. My parents need to know the people I hang out with and how this guy is far more special than the others.

"You know how I've been hanging out with a boy all summer?" I start off on a good note. Moving closer to the counter, I say, "Yeah, well, we have been seeing each other a lot. And—"