V.O.I.C.E

.Chapter Four.

Chapter Four                           Carter

I watched Evalyn as she walked away with Owen. The feeling of anticipation grew as I watched him walk further away with Evalyn following. Everybody knew that Owen was head over heels in love with her and had been for years, yet he never acted on his feelings for her by asking her out. I didn’t think that today would be today he would suddenly change his mind, yet I couldn’t shake this off feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I turned and walked in the opposite direction of Evalyn and Owen, heading towards the door nearest the student parking lot. When I got to the car, Isabella was already there leaning against it, as if it were her own she was leaning against.

“Hey, there handsome,” she called when I was within hearing range.

“Hi,” I greeted unenthusiastically, my mind was more focused on what Evalyn was talking to Owen about rather than Isabella who stood in front of me. Deep in thought I leaned against my car.

“Is Owen talking to your sister?” She asked after a minute of silence where I just stared at the doors waiting for Evalyn to come through, when she said that though it pulled me out of my trance.

I whipped my head so I was looking at Isabella instead of the doors. “How did you know?” I demanded.

“Owen mentioned wanting to talk to her at some point today,” she explained as she ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it back into a messy bun.

My anticipation was growing every second. “Did you happen to hear what he wanted to talk to her about?” I questioned.

Isabella walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck and she whispered in my ear, “Why do you care? Forget about her Carter, I’m much better for you. At least I’m not your family.”

“What are you going on about?” I denied, trying to act cool.

Isabella sighed and let her arms fall from my neck, but she didn’t step back any. “Please Carter, I know you’re in love with Evalyn. It’s obvious,” she hissed.

I started to panic. She wasn’t kidding around or guessing. I didn’t let my panic show on the outside as I smirked at her and said, “What are you talking about Isabella? There’s no way I am in with love my sister.”

“Then there's nothing to keep you from asking me out. Come on Carter, I can help you forget all about her,” she dared.

This could be my chance to try to forget all about Evalyn! But is it right for me to use Isabella to forget about Eva? I hesitated for a second before I closed the small distance between myself and Isabella. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close to me, trying not to compare her to Evalyn who was short and just the right height for hugging. Isabella was almost the same height as me and it just felt weird to have her in my arms instead of Evalyn. I shook my head mentally as I tipped my head down and my lips touched hers softly at first then Isabella ran her hands through the back of my hair, deepening the kissing as she bit on the bottom of my lip. I had to admit it was kind of hot.

I just happened to look up a few seconds later and saw Eva crossing the parking lot, head bowed. I stepped back from Isabella, breaking the kiss. Her eyes fluttered open, confused she glanced around until her eyes rest on Evalyn, who is almost at the car now. Isabella looked back and forth between me and Eva. She knew why I had pulled away. I had just proved her point. I loved Evalyn.

“Hey, you’re late. It’s been more than five minutes,” I said, moving further away from Isabella.

“Sorry, that lasted longer than I thought it would,” Eva apologized. I looked at her closely and noticed that even though she was smiling it was forced and her eyes were red. She had been crying.

“What did Owen want to talk to you about?” I demanded, what had he said to her, and why had she been crying. I wanted to know what had happened!

“Nothing Carter, he just wanted to see if I wanted to hang out this weekend,” she explained shortly, and my heartbeat felt like it leapt right out of my chest. He had asked her out. No maybe not, maybe they were just going to hang out at our place or something. Maybe he had asked Eva first and was going to ask the rest of us later. Yeah, that was it.

“You mean like a date?” I said to be sure. There was no way they would go on a date, right?

Eva rolled her eyes at me and snapped, “Yes, like a date.”

I dropped the subject, not wanting to make her mad or upset her. I got in the driver’s seat and started the car, Evalyn following suit and getting in beside me. The ride home was silent. I could feel Isabella glaring a hole in the back of my head but I ignored her and continued driving without talking to either of the girls. We dropped Isabella off and when we got home I watched as Evalyn grabbed a cordless phone and made a dash upstairs and shut herself in her bedroom. I went up to my own room, shutting my door quietly. I sat down at my desk and turned on my laptop, pulling up my chat program. After signing in, I saw that nobody I really wanted to talk to was online mindlessly surfed the internet.

The sound of somebody talking to me on chat pulled me out of the article I was reading and I glanced at the time in the corner of my computer screen. I noticed that I had been sitting around for nearly three hours. I hadn’t heard my dad or Joyce come home because I was sure they would be home by now, it was well past six.  I clicked on the flashing orange icon to find that it was Isabella.

'When are you going to take me out on our date?” the message read.

I thought for a minute before typing back, “When I think of something amazing to surprise you with.”

Joyce called me down to dinner a few minutes later. I slowly made my way to the dining room and we all sat in our normal seats, passing around the steaming hot plates filled with potatoes and steak. I couldn't look up from my plate; I didn't want to see Eva. I quickly ate before I stood up and excused myself saying I needed to go study. I rinsed my plate and silverware before I took off for the steps.

I grabbed a pair of boxers and a tee shirt from my room and crossed the hall to the bathroom. Striping off all my clothes I turned on the water and hopped in, feeling the burn as my skin got used to the warm temperature I liked to take my showers in.

When I was done I crawled into bed and laid there staring at the ceiling. I had been able to block my thoughts out and relax while I was in the shower, with the water pouring over my body and relaxing my muscles, but now that I was laying down I just couldn't seem to turn my them off. I was in love with Eva, who had a date with Owen. Isabella found out I liked Eva and now I was dating Isabella. Holy crow… high school just sucks… no scratch that… being in love SUCKS!