Hawk's Eye

Chapter 10

They drove to Brett's house and walked inside. Mr. Brendall met them at the door.

"Hello Kyndall, nice to meet you," he smiled. Mrs. Brendall appeared from around the corner. She smiled and embraced her in a big hug.

"Kyndall honey, so nice to see you again!" Mrs. Brendall squealed. Kyndall laughed and hugged her back with her one arm.

"Nice to see you too Karen," Kyndall smiled. Karen pulled away and looked her over.

"Oh, you're so big now, so tall and thin too. How's your mother? That sling looks great dear. Who did your mom get to do it?" she asked. Kyndall laughed.

"Thank you. Actually, Ryder had it made for me," Kyndall said softly. "My mom is great. Both of my parents will be down later, but Brett thought it would be fun if we hung out beforehand. It that okay?" Kyndall asked. Both of Brett's parents smiled and nodded.

"Of course dear. You and Brett have fun," Brett's dad said. They both waved before they left the entrance room. Kyndall laughed and looked at Brett.

"I love your parents," Kyndall smiled. Brett laughed and showed her the house. Once they finished, they headed up to Brett's room. Brett lay on her stomach on her bed while Kyndall sat in a chair at her vanity. Brett's room had a purple, blue and zebra theme.  Brett smiled at Kyndall like they were old friends.

"So Austin asked me to the ball today," she said. Kyndall remembered what Ryder told her. She smiled softly at Brett.

"That's great Brett, but... just, be careful with him, okay. Don't let him sway you into doing anything you don't want to," Kyndall said vaguely. Brett looked at her confused.

"Dolly, what are you talking about?" She asked slowly. Kyndall shook her head.

"Just remember what I said," Kyndall said. Brett shrugged before she nodded. The conversation grew light again as Kyndall smiled. "Have you picked out a dress yet?" She asked. Brett smiled and nodded, easily forgetting her questions about Kyndall's vague statement. She walked over to her massive closet and disappeared for a second. She came back with a beautiful light pink colored corset dress and laid it on the window seat before she laid herself back down on her bed.

"I can't wait to wear it. I had it especially made for the ball. Did you know that it's hard to find 1500s styled dresses in the twenty first century?" Brett laughed. Kyndall thought it looked like it came straight from England in the 1500s. The light pink colored fabric was highlighted by a slightly darker shade of pink; the corset part laced in the front. There was a hint of white lace across the top of the strapless dress. The dress bubbled out to the floor. Kyndall smiled and touched the fabric gently.

"It's beautiful Brett," Kyndall sighed. Brett laughed and put it back. Brett smiled and looked at her vanity. "Do you want to meet up before the dance to get ready?" Brett asked. Kyndall smiled and nodded.

"As long as you promise to really try and be a true friend to me, I'll always be here to get ready for events, talk, and goof off, anything really, but I draw the line at robbing a bank," Kyndall joked. Brett laughed and nodded before she settled to a soft smile.

"I really do want us to be friends. I know we didn't really get off on the right foot. I was really jealous of you. You hadn't even walked in the school yet and you were already in a position that took me a few years to stabilize as mine. And then the whole thing with Ryder..." she trailed off. She looked up and sighed. "He said that you two were just friends, but the way he looked at you... he never looked at me that way... ever. It kind of hurt me because he was so eager to include you. The way Ryder's face glowed when you were around; the way his eyes would lit up and he would smile and turn all of his attention, time, and effort on you. I wasn't really thinking that you might get hurt; I honestly thought you would only fall, but at the time all I was thinking was that I had to do something. I was losing him, but now that I look at it, I already lost him. I lost him when he first saw you. I'm trying not to sound like a kicked puppy here, but it kind of hurt watching you two try to hide your relationship. Your attempt was very pathetic by the way; everyone could see it, but you're a really good person Kyndall. I didn't think you were hiding it because of me; it actually never once crossed my mind. But now, all I can think now is that I'm happy for you. Ryder really loves you," she explained softly. Kyndall looked at her shocked.

"I never even knew... I thought you... But you wanted... You think Ryder loves me?" Kyndall stuttered finally picking somewhere to start her many comments and questions. Brett laughed and shook her head.

"You really don't see it, do you?" Brett asked as she tilted her head. Kyndall shook her head. She didn't understand what Brett was trying to get at. Ryder didn't love her... did he? She tried to think everything through in her head but it only caused further confusion. Brett laughed softly. "He is head over heels in love with you Kyndall. He probably always will be. The way he looks at you when he thinks you're not looking. The way his hand always twitches when he wants to touch you. The way he can't help but to smile when he's around you. And from the looks of it, I would say that you love him too." Brett said. Kyndall shook her head.

"He can't," Kyndall replied automatically, her face going serious and her tone filled with regret and hurt. Brett looked at her confused at her sudden change in demeanor.

"What are you talking about?" Brett asked. Surely everyone loved. Brett loved Ryder, and if she was honest with herself, she still did. Kyndall sighed and closed her eyes for a second, memories flooding her thoughts and vision.  Kyndall shook her head softly. She sighed before opening her eyes and putting up a fake front.

"I just think you might be reading too much into this," Kyndall shrugged. Brett didn't buy it. She thought Kyndall was trying to hide something, but she wasn't going to press like she wanted to. Brett shrugged and stood up. Going over to her vanity, she grabbed her favorite baby blue nail polish.

"Nails?" she asked. Kyndall smiled and nodded.

Ryder worried himself silly at his dad's office trying to think of what Brett and Kyndall could be doing or saying. He hoped that they became friends, but he also knew that Brett was unpredictable. He paced, went through paperwork, anything to try and occupy his mind. He finished his homework and even triple checked it. Finally, he saw John heading out for the dinner. Ryder wished him luck before he decided he should go home too. Once home, the feeling of waiting was no better. He couldn't take it anymore. He called Kyndall. She picked up after the third ring.

"Hello?" she giggled. He only then realized that it was Brett. He sighed and paced around his room.

"Hey Brett, how's everything going?" he asked. She giggled and looked at Kyndall. Ryder was growing impatient.

"Aw, you're worried about me? That's so sweet Ryder," she replied giggling. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"Can I talk to Kyndall?" he said finally. Brett looked at Kyndall before she nodded at her.

"Okay, here," she said. She handed the phone to Kyndall.

"Hi Ryder," her bright voice answered him. He felt like sighing in relief. Kyndall threw a pillow at Brett and laughed as she mocked a worried Ryder.

"Oh, hey Kyndall. How's everything going?" he asked. She laughed and looked at Brett who was mocking her by pretending to kiss the pillow. Brett smiled before she mouthed 'he loves you'. Kyndall frowned and shook her head. Brett nodded.

"Ask him," Brett said softly Kyndall shook her head again. Brett rolled her eyes and grabbed the phone from Kyndall.

"Do you love Kyndall?" Brett asked bluntly. Kyndall looked at her shocked and tried to grab the phone back. Ryder froze in his tracks. His eyes widened and he didn't say anything. Brett took that as a yes and smiled. "That's what I thought. Okay, that's all I needed to know," she smiled at Kyndall. Kyndall grabbed the phone back and hung up.

"Brett!" she said shocked. Brett laughed and rolled onto her back.

"But I was right. He does love you," she smiled triumphantly. Kyndall sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I didn't want to know that," Kyndall mumbled. The girls heard the doorbell ring from downstairs. Kyndall's parents were here. Brett smiled and dashed down the stairs. Kyndall sat on the bed for a second. She wasn't going to think about it. She never heard him say it, so it's not true.

Ryder looked at his phone shocked. Did that really just happen? He couldn't be sure. He hoped he was dreaming all of it and any minute he would wake up. But he knew it was real. Brett, of all people, had picked up on him. She knew that he loved Kyndall, and now, possibly Kyndall did too. Sighing, he went downstairs and clicked on the television. He needed something to distract him. It didn't help, but at least he could turn his thoughts off for a little bit.