New Hope High School || Blake Richardson

Chapter Four

*Blake's P.O.V.*
I sat there for 20 minutes with her in my arms. We could've sat there for hours, but her friends ending up coming to pick her up when she didn't meet them at the corner. Something is really upsetting her, and I need to figure out what it is.

Without even asking, I lead McKenzie to my car, and gesture for her friends to come with. They looked confused, as if they don't know why she was upset either.

Her beautiful long hair is damp and frizzy by the time we get into the car, and I know she can tell because she begins to run her hair through it, trying to stop the tears. Her eyes are red from rubbing them, and her cheeks are stained with tears. I still think she looks beautiful. I keep my hand on her thigh the whole way to the school to show comfort.

We get to the school, and before I can get out. Kenzie leans over and gives me one last hug. I loved the feeling of her hugs. You could tell she actually meant them, and it had to be one of the best feelings. Before letting go, she whispered into my ear, "thank you, blake."

We get out of the car and I walk with her and her friends, because our 1st periods are all in the same building. I can tell she doesn't want to be here, her eyes are still puffy and red from crying. As we drop her off in the office, her phone went off, and she tried really hard to ignore it, like she knew who it was.

The day goes by and when the last bell rings, the hall floods with kids trying to escape this school. I keep thinking about that message McKenzie got and how upset she looked. I'm going against the traffic to try to get to the girls' last class. I'm not going to let them walk home when it's raining outside, so might as well meet up with them now.

I find Hannah and Tina, noticing McKenzie is no where near. "Where is Kenzie?" I ask still looking around. We start moving along with traffic, I'm hoping that she is just waiting out there for us.

"She never came to class. She went to the bathroom while we were walking to 6th, but she never came back. She shot us a text tho," Tina handed me her phone, the text read, "Hey, just needed some time to myself, don't wait up for me,"

I hand her phone back and make them go check the bathroom. She wasn't there. She wasn't waiting outside of the school either. I really hope she's okay. We get closer to my car as I see a girl, sitting against the front tire in a ball, crying. I don't notice who it is until we get a bit closer.

"KENZ!!" I yell, now running towards the vehicle. I reach her and pull her into my arms, as Tina and Hannah stand around us, asking if she's okay. She can't answer because she's crying so hard. She's shaking. Bad. I wonder how long she's been out here in the rain. "Let's not do this here, let's go back to her house," Hannah suggested. I put her in the backseat, after giving her my coat, once again, where Hannah can sit with her and make sure she's doing alright.

Tina sits in the front with me. I break the silence as we start driving, "What's happened to her. She seemed fine until I came along.. did I do something? Is this because of me?" I make sure I'm quiet enough so they can't here me In the back.

Tina just sighs. "No blake. This isn't your fault. She's been through a lot, and I think you should know, but she should be the one to tell you." I just nod, I understand. But what could have possibly happened?

We get to her house and Reece runs out to grab her from my car. I texted him before left the school, letting him know what's going on. She's still shaking, and we don't know if it's because she's so cold, or because she's crying so hard.

She sits on the couch in the living room while Reece holds onto her, while Tina, Hannah, and I sit around them. After she has somewhat calmed down, she whispers something to Reece. "Hey, B, she wants to talk to you, and only you." Reece says quietly in my direction. I help her up the stairs where we leave them 3 alone downstairs.

We make our way to her bed and she just sits down, her face almost emotionless. I don't want to force her to talk, but I need to know what's going on. I gently grab her hands, holding them in mine. "Hey, Kenz, you can talk to me," I whisper, not wanting to startle her. She looks at me with her sad, but beautiful, blue eyes.

"Parties..." she sighs as the tears stop for a moment. "The last party I went to, I went with my boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend, Jackson. He promised me it would be fun, knowing it was my first REAL party. I hardly knew anyone, but he knew everyone, considering he was the captain of the football team." How did I already know where this was going.

She continues, "We we're together for 2 years, and it was a fun relationship, I'm not going to lie. But I shouldn't of trusted him." You can tell with the sound of her voice that she started choking up. "After we had been there for 30 minutes, he went to go get us drinks, so I thought, but he never came back, I just wondered until I got completely lost and didn't recognize anyone at all. Everyone was drunk, including Jackson. I only had one drink, I wasn't even tipsy." A tear rolled down her cheek. I couldn't look away from her.

"I wanted fresh air, so I took a step outside where everyone was playing beer pong. I joined them, why not? My boyfriend had left me anyways." I could tell that she was trying to stall, but I didn't want to rush her, but I think she got the hint, "okay, well basically, I got done with beer pong, and went upstairs to get away from all the people,"

I could tell she didn't want to continue, but she did, even though I already knew what happened next, "I walked in the room to find Jackson fucking some random girl. Turns out, she was the host of the party and they had been fuck buddies for the last year of our relationship. Who the hell knows why he wanted me to come, maybe he wanted me to see that so I would leave him, I really don't know."

At this point, her face is buried into her hands, as she cries. I pull her into my arms, feeling her grab ahold of the front of my shirt as she cries into it. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the bedroom door followed by Reece and the girls. The girls take over my position, and take her out of my arms as Reece drags me into the hallway.

"This is why I never wanted to introduce you guys.." he said simply. "Look Blake, you're one of my best buds and not only is she my sister, but I knew you two would fall for each other. And it's too soon for her. It's only been about a month since all that happened, and as you can see she's still a wreck. I love her, and she's just hurt right now, and I don't think you're helping," I hear the sympathy in his voice, as he tried to convince me to leave her alone.

"Look mate, I haven't had much luck in relationships either..." I stop and actually think about what he just said, "Wait. What do you mean fall for each other? Just because I was there to hold her when she needed it doesn't mean I fell for her, and obviously she's not over that Jackson guy. We are just friends, nothing more."

I think about it as I leave their house to go pull my car into my own driveway. I get inside and hear my mom yell at me from upstairs, "Blake, honey, where have you been?" I just sigh and ignore her as I walk up the stairs to my room. I lay on my bed, thinking. I can't believe I lied to Reece. She is amazing and it hurts me to see her like this. Why can't he just understand.