looking for forever

chapter no.11

forgiveness and fireworks

Kelly ran far from the seats and collapsed on the cold sand, listening to the waves crashing on the shore. She couldn't bring herself to cry, she laid down near a campfire and stared at the stars, wondering why she ever thought that Andrew and her could be something. He's so out of her class, the type that dated beautiful cheerleaders and skinny athletes, not people like Kelly. Somehow, Kelly had managed to dream up a scenario where she and Andrew could be a couple. On top of all of that, Andrew had chosen Crystal over her, just like Ben did. Crystal was an unstoppable guy-magnet. Kelly heard footsteps running towards her and she curled up into a ball on the sand.

"Kel? Is that you?" Sierra asked, Kelly choked out a yes and Sierra knelt beside her. "I heard the whole thing, K. He's an idiot for choosing her. As soon as you left, I ran after you. Do you want to talk about it?" Sierra asked, pulling Kelly so her head rested on Sierra's lap.

"We've been friends forever, S. I just thought that our history, even just as friends, would make him choose to stay my friend. He even told me that we could still be friends before the reception. I just thought maybe I would beat Crystal at something, because I really care about Andrew. And I thought he felt the same. Not that I like him. But we've been friends since first grade, remember back then? When you simply had to ask to be friends and you were besties. Well now you can't be friends without hanging out a minimum of 6 times and for more than three hours a piece and there's just so many rules now. Sometimes I just really want to go back to first grade again, you know?" Kelly finished, breathing heavily as she struggled not to sob.

"I get it, Kel. I personally thought that he was going to choose you and not her. He shocked me, Kel, and I'm his sister. There's no way that you could've predicted his stupidity. Don't beat yourself up when it's my idiot brothers fault." Sierra soothed, rubbing Kelly's shoulders in a way that's only nice when best friends do it.

"Thanks, S." Kelly said, clutching her knees to her chest. For the second time that night, Kelly heard footsteps running towards them.

Who could it possibly be, Kelly thought. Everyone else is still in the tent.

"Kelly!" A guy called.

Crap

Andrew ran over and instantly, Sierra was standing protectively in front of Kelly.

"Sis, relax. I just want to talk to her." Andrew explained, trying to side-step his sister.

"I thought you weren't supposed to talk to her." Sierra growled at him. Andrew looked shocked.

"What are you talking about?" Andrew asked, trying again to sidestep Sierra. "I chose Kelly." Kelly froze, along with Sierra.

"You – what?" Sierra asked, unable to regain her composure.

"I picked you." Andrew repeated, looking at the ground. "Why would you think I would ever pick Crystal over my best friend?" He asked, looking at Kelly who had poked her head out from behind Sierra's legs.

"You were starting to say 'You'" Kelly explained, wondering what he could've said after that.

"I was saying 'You can't make me choose between Kelly and you.'" Andrew explained, "Which led to her challenging me and I left–" He stopped, smiling, teary eyed. "I chose you." Kelly stood up and went over to him. Sierra silently slunk back to the party and left the two alone to work things out.

"You – you did?" Kelly asked, stunned. Never in a million years would Kelly think that anyone would ever choose her over a skinny, blonde cheerleader like Crystal. Crystal was the definition of stereotypical beauty, while Kelly was nondescript.

"I chose you, Kelly. Because you are my best friend, maybe even more." Andrew said, inching towards her.

"More – like what?" Kelly asked, though she kind of hoped she already knew the answer.

"Like this." Andrew took one step forward and pressed his lips against hers. Kelly was stunned, but she quickly went with it. This was the moment she had been subconsciously dreaming of. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss. The fireworks going off in the background were nothing in comparison to the fireworks that the two teenagers were feeling. They loved the feeling of each other on their lips. They finally separated and stared at each other, forehead-to-forehead.

"You –"

"I did."

"And I –"

"Yup."

"But how –"

"Look I don't know anything else, but I do know that I'm really into you, Kelly. You're my best friend and, you know something? I want you to be my girlfriend." Andrew said, staring at her with his shimmering blue eyes.

"You want me to be your– your –" Kelly stopped, staring at him, then a huge grin appeared on her face, "Of course!"

"Thank goodness, I'm hopelessly into you, Kel. I hope you know that." Andrew said, pulling her into a hug, a romantic hug this time.

"I'm really into you too, A." Kelly blushed, resting her head against his firm chest. "You know? Never in a million years would I have ever thought that we'd be dating. I always assumed you were into the super skinny, super pretty, super adorable girls like the cheerleaders. I didn't think that you'd like me, let alone date me. I always thought you thought of me as a sister and nothing else. I would've been fine with that, of course, but I really yearned for a relationship with you. I like you so much, it's not even funny." Kelly said, grabbing his cheeks and pulling them back into the touching-forehead-position.

"I thought the same thing but you-to-me. I thought you were only into smart guys, the ones that read and ace their classes and graduate Valedictorian. I thought you only thought of me as a friend. I'm so glad you think of me as more." Andrew said, causing Kelly to blush again.

"You know the most unrealistic thing isn't that you said you wanted me to be your girlfriend. It's that you kissed me. Wow." Kelly sighed, her blue–ish–green eyes staring into his blue ones.

"Guess what." Andrew smirked. "I'm about to do it again." Making Kelly blush as he kissed her on the lips again, pulling her hips closer to his. They couldn't get enough of each other, and they loved that better than anything else.