Heart Key (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 2: Flashlight

Song: Pitch Perfect 2 Flashlight

"Hey I smelt something good in there, is your aunt here again?" Chloe asks worriedly as I run out of the house and dive into her truck without a backward glance. "Yeah, I think it was." I tell her as I breath in and out quickly, trying to catch my breath.

I need to exercise more. I think as a cramp overtakes my side and I lean back against the seat. Chloe frowns over at me before starting up the truck and pulling away from my house. "Maybe, she really is here for just a visit this time." Chloe suggests but I shake my head.

I doubt that would ever happen in all my years of existence. I can tell Chloe thinks the same as she offers me a sympathetic smile before turning her attention back to the road. "How's the design going?" I ask after a minute or so of awkward silence.

Her face immediately lights up and I can't help but smile at her enthusiasm. Chloe has this talent for designing ads that really grab your attention. She's already been contacted by many major companies that want to work with her as soon as she gets out of high school, but Chloe wants to learn more about her art in college so she won't be accepting any of the offers until she completely finishes her education.

"It's great! The school let me design the webpage and it has never looked better!" She continues to talk about the complexities of the page while my mind starts to drift into la-la land and I stare out the window, pushing Chloe's voice into the background.

I know this may seem rude, but come on, tell me you haven't done that before. I'm jolted out of my thoughts when Chloe stops abruptly in the middle of the road. I look at her in surprise as she stares at the road calmly. "What are you doing?!" I shout as I rub the back of my head from where it had slammed against the back of my seat.

"A turtle is crossing." She says and I stare at her in astonishment before craning my neck to look in front of the truck. I let out a sigh before I lean back in my seat and give her an exasperated look before saying, "You need glasses. That's a rock!" She looks at me for a minute before craning her neck again to look once more.

She stares at the spot and, although her face doesn't change, red spreads across her neck and cheeks as she starts to drive once again. I watch as she attempts to play it off before laughing, clutching my stomach as I do.

Her face reddens even more and my laughter only grows at her expense. "Would you stop?! You are so immature!" She shouts and I slowly shake my head as I force myself to quiet down. "You really do need glasses though. It's getting bad." I tell her as I wipe my eyes and take in a few breaths of air.

"Whatever, I don't need anything to help me." She mutters and I roll my eyes. Yeah, Chloe has this thing where she doesn't like others to help her. She even tried to rip out her own wisdom tooth. I know, insane, that's what I keep telling her.

She pulls into the school parking lot before quickly shutting it off and jumping out. She waits impatiently for me to get out before locking the doors and rushing away. She hates being embarrassed that's for sure. It's a good thing I know how to get her mind off of it.

"Hey! I thought you had a surprise for me!" I shout as she almost walks into the school. She immediately stops in her tracks before turning to look at me with a wide smile. She then runs at me before grabbing my wrist and dragging me into the school and to the direction of her locker.

We get there with both of us panting as her eyes gleam in excitement. I lean against the lockers near hers as she fumbles with the her lock and I run a hand through my messy hair. She swings the locker open, slamming it against the others with a loud bang, gaining some looks from the other students around us.

I stare at her as she pulls a small, thin box out of her locker before looking around sneakily. She then grabs my wrist again before pulling me down the hallway and into one of the empty classrooms. She looks around again and I feel myself grow impatient.

"Just get on with it." I snap as I hold out my hand with an expectant look. She doesn't even seem fazed by my rudeness as she slips off the cover of the box. "Here it is!" She announces cheerfully.

A heart key? I stare at it as it swings in front of my face while my friend Chloe continues to smile at me. "What am I supposed to do with this?" I ask with a sigh as I cross my arms over my chest and stare at her in amusement.

"You put it somewhere where it will travel far away and if it is returned to you that's who you're meant to be with. I nearly laugh out loud at this. "I doubt it'd ever be returned but I'll do it." I'm about to reach up and grab it but she abruptly pulls it back.

"You have to promise me that if it's a male around your age, that you'll give him a chance." She orders and I look at her in surprise before letting out a sigh and nodding. She smiles victoriously before finally handing it over.

I take it in my hand before letting out a sigh. I should have never had told her about my personal pact to myself. I had promised myself that I'd never fall in love. Love just brings pain and tries to kill you from the inside out.

I've never been in love, but I've loved. I loved my brother, and he died out of his own drunkenness. I loved my mother, and she left before dying. Finally, I loved my father, but he lost all of his love for anyone when his guilt lead him to an endless line of wives and beer.

Love is useless and a waste of time. I haven't even felt what they consider, "true" love and I've already been broken by the remains of my parent's love and my brother who wasn't loved enough to care. I don't see how I could ever trust, let alone, love someone again.

Though, this little heart key might be my ticket to get out of Chloe's constant persistence to get me a boyfriend. Even Chloe's boyfriend (Logan) is trying to set me up with some of his jock/nerd friends. Yeah, Logan's friends consist of smart athletes. He's pretty much the leader of a group role model students.

They're all nice boys, but I'm not looking for anyone to love. I look down at the key before smiling to myself. This doesn't mean that I can't entertain Chloe a little longer.