The Trouble with Love

❝ so much more to say ❞

(unedited)

So much more to say,
Suspended in the air.
Between the truth,
And rights in place,
Spilling over everything.

"The Story Left Untold" -Every Avenue

"Hey." I jumped and closed my laptop, accidentally slamming it shut due to my surprise.

I looked up to see Kallie in the doorway, looking amused. "You scared me," I said.

She walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. "What'cha doin'?" The smile she gave me was bright, albeit a little tired. She had probably just gotten Alisa, her and Brett's hyperactive four year old daughter- into bed.

"Just looking at universities." I gestures to the pamphlets around me.

It wasn't a lie. I was looking at universities.

Or, at least, I had been.

I had gotten curious about Freya- my biological mother- so I had Googled her. She was married to Xavier Scott, which I already knew. I found out they had a five year old son named Jackson, which I wasn't sure how I felt about. It was stupid, since, you know, kids were what typically followed marriage. And it had been over seven years after she left me with Jared -my biological father- that she had him.

She was thirty-four, which meant she would've been seventeen when she had me. The same age as I was now. I couldn't blame her, she had probably been scared- I would've been.

"Know what you want to major in?" Kallie asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

I shrugged. "I'm thinking Law, like Kaden, or criminal justice, like Blake."

"Oh."

Her tone made me look up. "You don't approve?"

"No, they're find jobs to have," she replied quickly. "Just... Why?"

I shrugged again. "Mystery and human behavior interest me." And being a lawyer or a detective was the only way I could put what Devon taught me to use. Call me sadistic, but I liked guessing people's secrets, knowing when they were lying. It made me feel... In control, like I wasn't clueless about everything.

I hated feeling clueless.

"What about psychology, like Devon?" Kallie suggested.

"I don't know if I would be okay with metaphorically digging around people's brains." I didn't want to go that deep. Plus, I was horrible at giving advice. I glanced at her. "Are they bad majors?"

She shook her head. "No, they're just... Hard."

I raised an eyebrow. "So you don't think I could do it?" Ouch.

She shook her head again, quicker this time. "It's not that."

"Then... Why?" I asked slowly.

"It's... Dangerous," she said.

"I know that." I glanced at the pamphlets. I have gotten way too many warnings lately. About everything.

"No, Lena, I'm serious," she continued. "There's a reason Kaden took over the firm and not me."

I looked up. "I thought it was just because you weren't interested in Law."

"It's wasn't just that. He didn't want me to." She paused. "A good lawyer, like Kaden is, like I'm sure you would be, can do a lot of damage."

"Okay...?" I wasn't sure what she meant by that. I knew that being a good lawyer meant you had a fair amount power and coverage from the news. Kaden did, though I guess him owning one of the biggest law firms in the world helped.