Letters To Shay||✓

chapter thirteen.

I cried myself to sleep for reasons I didn't understand. Did I like Duke? I was sure I didn't. But this amount of guilt wasn't normal for someone who claimed she didn't like someone else. I told Keira what happened the following morning with my eyes all puffy and red. She didn't say anything; she pulled me into a hug and told me to stay home and take a break from school.

While I was taking a break in my room, Keith barged in without so much as a knock. He jumped on my bed with a furious look on his face. "What were you doing at the 'Dancing Violin' yesterday?"

"How did you know?"

"There's a tracking device on your phone. I wasn't lying about that. Answer my question."

"Having lunch with a friend. Why?"

"Or a date?"

"No, Keith. Lunch with Duke."

"Yes, Keyonna, date. When a guy takes you to an expensive restaurant, buys you food and pays, it's a date."

"Wow, Keith, you're seriously broken," I said, slapping his arm playfully.

"Not broken, just looking out for you." He rubbed his arm and got up. He stopped at the door. "And Keyonna?"

"Yes? What's up?"

"Our cousins are coming over for dinner on Friday. Be prepared," he said and shut the door behind him. I didn't need to think twice before knowing who he was talking about. I swallowed. This was bad. Really bad.

∆

Later that day I got a message from Duke. It was a really long message but the message was clear. He was sorry he acted up yesterday and he didn't mean to scare me. I sighed. He didn't need to apologise. I knew right from the start that Duke's feelings for me was going to burn us both. He chose to be stubborn. So I sent him a very long reply telling how I truly felt and how sorry I was for yesterday. A minute later he replied that it was fine and he was going to be fine, whether I liked him or not. And that was a lie. But I didn't tell him that.

He sent a short message after saying he was occupied and he would speak to me later. With an 'okay' from me, I dropped my phone and flopped face flat on my bed. What in the world was wrong with me?

************

There was a mini war in the house since my father returned on Wednesday- the Brighton parents vs. the Brighton children. Tension was thick and the awkwardness was there. My siblings would win a degree in acting, I swear. Me, on the other hand, can NOT stand them and I'd rather stay away from them.

School was cancelled because of the repairing and fixing of the various parts affected by the storm, so I was in my room most of the time. I used the opportunity to watch the second video on the flash and read the book.

The video featured Shay Ashley Mitchell and she said a lot. She spoke about her very sad background and how she was able to rise above. She talked about purpose and meaning, the importance of family, faith and forgiveness, truth, moving on and making the best of every situation life throws at you. To be honest I was deeply inspired. (Things were going for change for me, but not all. I hadn't completed my bridge therefore I couldn't get over everything. But I'll get there.) I owe her a thank you letter.

Keith wrote the book/photo album. Each page carried a unique story of the six of us in the Brighton family. Kimberly's words kept replaying in my mind. I feel like we're so blessed to have the support system and the best family to really just support each other no matter what we're going through. But the book was so lengthy it took me three hours to read it.

Nah, kidding. It held six chapters only. But I'm lazy. Sue me.

Dinner that night was awkward, as usual. We discussed the dinner plans for Friday, and that was it. We all went to bed early, but I didn't sleep until late hours. I was too baffled to, after I got messages from two different numbers. The first said, I'm sorry, Keyonna. Please call me. The second one, however, struck me in the chest.