brother's best friend || joey birlem

chapter one

I'm Kaylee Holder, and I've been living with my dad in Texas for about a year now. My parents are divorced and my mom lives in California with my brother, Tayler, but I chose to live with my dad. I'm about to move out to California with my mom because my dad has to go to Tokyo for a job opportunity, and I can't go because I'm only fourteen and he doesn't want me to have to move that far away from everyone. My dad chose to let me move now, since school just got out and I wouldn't have to leave in the middle of the school year.
My best friend's name is Blake and he's fifteen. He's a famous YouNow star, and we met at the mall when I first moved here. He's basically the only real friend I have besides my best friend from Cali, Sarah.
She moved to Arizona around the time I moved here, and we haven't seen each other since. I mean we FaceTime, text, and other things all the time, but we never see each other in person. She's the one I go to sigh my girl problems, since I can't really do that with Blake.

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"Kaylee, we're leaving in half an hour! Make sure you're all ready!" My dad yelled from downstairs as I finished straightening my dirty blonde hair.

"I'll be ready!" I yelled back. I turned off my straughtener and threw it in one of my bags. I walked down the stairs wearing a gray pocket shirt, ripped jeans, and white converse. I walked into the kitchen where my dad was.

"You look pretty, sweetie." My dad smiled.

"Thanks, dad. Can I go to Blake's house until we leave? I want to say bye." I asked.

"Yes, be back in twenty minutes." My dad said. I nodded and started to walk to down the block to Blake's house. He only lived three houses down, so it didn't take long to get there. Once I arrived, I didn't even have to knock. The door opened and I was immediately pulled into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you." Blake said into the hug. I tried my best not to cry, but I felt the tears form in my eyes.

"Blake, I'm gonna miss you too." I said, tears starting to run down my cheeks. He pulled out of the hug, and wiped the tears off of my face.

"You're gonna ruin your mascara." Blake smiled, tears in his eyes.

"I don't care right now. I don't have anyone to impress." I laughed, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"You don't have to look good to impress anyone, Kaylee. You impress me everyday all the time." Blake smiled.

"Blake, stop. You're gonna make me cry even more." I smiled. He pulled me inside and into his room. I sat down on the bed as he dug around in a bag.

"I have something for you." Blake said. He pulled a small box out of the bag and handed it to me.

"Blake." I said, lost for words. I opened the box to see a necklace. It had a sliver chain, and on the chain there was a little heart charm. "I love this. Thank you."

He pulled me into a hug, then put the necklace on me. It wasn't quite a choker, but it was a small chain. I loved it more than anything.

"Now, you won't forget me." Blake smiled.

"Blake, I could never forget you." I laughed, tears still in my eyes. He sat down next to me on his bed.

"Good, because I know I could never forget about you." Blake told me. I looked down and smiled. He put his hand over my hand, that was resting on my leg. I looked at our hands.
I looked up at Blake, and our eyes met. Next thing I know, I found myself leaning in. Then our lips met, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, his arms holding my side. He pulled me onto his lap and we kissed a bit more. Then I pulled away and looked at Blake.

"What was that?" I asked. At this point I was confused. I didn't have feelings for Blake like that. But yet, it felt right.

"I don't know, all I know is that I've been wanting to do that since I met you." Blake said. I climbed off of his lap and sat next to him. I looked at his desk clock and I saw that I had to be on my way back home.

"Blake, I-I have to go." I told him. He looked at me and I got up.

"Kaylee, please don't go." Blake said, tears in his eyes. I walked into his arms and hugged him. I cried into his chest and he silently cried into my shoulder.

"I don't want to. But I have to go." I whispered. He pulled away from the hug and so did I.

"Bye. I love you. I'll come visit I promise." Blake said.

"I love you too, Blake. Thank you for being my best friend through all of this. I'm gonna miss you like hell." I said. I saw a slight smile come across his face. I smiled and turned around, walking out of his room, then out the door.

When I reached my house, my dad already had all of my bags loaded into the car. I walked to the car and started to get inside.

"Ready?" My dad asked. I nodded and wiped the tears off of my face. "You okay, honey?" He asked.

"I will be." I half smiled. He nodded and started the car, then started to drive to the airport. I reached up and held onto my necklace as I watched the trees blur as the car moved. I'm gonna miss Texas, but most of all, I'm gonna miss Blake.