A Bad Boy's Worst Nightmare (Book 1)

25. One

This is the first chapter of the next story, which I'm still on the fence about writing. Again, if anyone wants to read further, I'll write the next one.

I stirred my ice cream lightly, looking down at Sky. It was unusually warm for September this year, and it was incredibly uneventful without school. Kelsey was pulling a very Kelsey move and trying to throw me a birthday party for my nineteenth birthday, and I was still ignoring the possibility. "Do you want to go for a walk, baby girl?" I asked the fluffy one year old dog.

 My intention had been to get rid of her after Corey left, but I just couldn't part with the adorable little fluff ball. There was no point; she hadn't done anything wrong.

Life had been difficult once Corey left, but in the past two months or so I had finally been able to get over him a little bit. I kept telling myself that high school relationships didn't last and that there was no chance that him and I would have gone anywhere, but it wasn't comforting enough for me to know that. I had spent the next week at Kelsey's house after he left, and her father hadn't said anything about it. Kelsey and Jason refused to leave me alone for long periods of time, even though I kept assuring them that I was okay. They were right in believing I was lying, but it was still kind of annoying to have absolutely no privacy in my own life when I needed to be alone.

I had continued babysitting Emily when it was needed, and she was almost eight now. She was a great kid and I just couldn't bring myself to stop being around her after her brother had left so abruptly; I knew as well as anyone that a little girl losing her big brother--or any sibling for that matter--was a horrible experience. So, I kind of substituted in for Corey and stepped in as her older sister, often helping her with her homework and going over to their house to watch her or play with her dolls with her while her parents were out.

The twins had gotten very quiet when Corey had left, and they mumbled apologies to me needlessly sometimes when they thought I looked sad. I did my best to assure them that they hadn't done anything wrong, but they simply wouldn't believe me. It had been about a month before I could drag myself to their house again, but it got easier after I saw how badly Emily needed me there and how much the twins were hurting. Corey's parents were kind, and thankful that I hadn't just dropped out of Emily's life without a warning like Corey had. Even though Corey and I weren't together anymore, they still said that they thought of me as their daughter. It meant a lot to feel like I might have found a set of parents for myself again, even if they happened to be the parents of the boy that had hurt me beyond what I had felt before.

"Walk?" I repeated down to the dog in a higher pitched tone to let her know I was ready to go.

Her ears pricked and she looked up at me.

"Alright. Go get your leash, Sky."

She jumped up, running over to where I kept her leash, and returned with it in her mouth. Sky couldn't do many tricks, but she knew how to sit, stay, and fetch specific items. Almost ten months of training and she was pretty well behaved, but she couldn't do all of the pointless other things like roll over or shake.

I hooked the leash in her collar, scratching behind her ear gently. "Alright. Let's go."

It hadn't been long after Corey left that I had gotten in to jogging. Jogging let me clear my mind and it gave me slight satisfaction to feel the burning sensation in my legs when I was doing well. Sky liked it as well, mostly because she enjoyed running so much, and it had become part of our afternoon ritual. We ran for about twenty minutes before we stopped, panting, and looked around. I spotted a water fountain, stopped to drink from it, then stood up straight, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I was near a playground of sorts, and I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only one there.

A blonde girl with long curls was sitting with her back to me next to a much taller person in a hoodie.

I recognized the girl as Kelsey and started walking toward her. "Hey, Kelsey!" I called, waving.

She turned around a few times, looking for who had called her, and the hooded figure that I assumed was Jason turned slightly. "Ryder!" Kelsey began running to meet me half way. She didn't need to do that, I was walking over to her anyway. "Ryder! Hi! Um...would you mind...not being here, right now? Please? There's just something happening a little bit and I don't really want to introduce you to that person, and...yeah."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was Jason."

"I...um..."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. Please just keep jogging or something."

"What're you hiding, Kelsey?"

Her eyes searched mine, then very slowly she gave in. "Um...if I tell you...can you promise that you won't be angry? And that you won't freak out and punch the poor guy?"

"Why would I...are you cheating on Jason?"

"What?"

"Is that guy the person you're cheating on Jason with?" I demanded angrily. "He has been nothing but good to you, Kelsey, how could you just cheat on him? He's a good guy!"

"No! Ryder, that's not what this is!"

For whatever reason, I believed her. "Fine," I said eventually. "I swear not to punch the guy if you tell me what's going on."

"Um...it'd be kind of easier to show you than to tell you."

I walked with Kelsey around the bench, and the guy stood up, looking down at me with very familiar eyes.

Corey.

I was looking up at Corey.

Sorry Kelsey.

I punched him.