Social Circle

14. Talking to the Moon

            Kara sat outside Richard’s new room trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, but failing miserably. Why wouldn’t Jacob let her talk to him?  Finally, after what seemed like hours Jacob came out of the room looking exhausted, “Were you eavesdropping?” Jacob accused.

            Kara blushed looking guilty, “I failed miserably….” She grumbled.

            Jacob stared at her for a moment as if trying to figure out if he should yell at her or not. He ended up just shrugging and allowing her to go into the room, shutting the door behind her.

            Kara went and sat on the bed with Richard whose face was hidden by a pillow. “Hey Rich,” she said softly.

            He didn’t reply, “Are you okay?” she asked gently rubbing his back.

            “Go away,” he said coldly.

            Kara was a bit hurt at his words, but attempted not to show it, “Rich….” she trailed off.

            “Go talk to Landon,” Richard turned around and glared at her.

            She was now very taken aback. “W-What?” she whispered.

            “You heard me, do you have any idea how hard it was to do what Ariel and I did on that stage? Did you even give me a thumbs up…..no……but when Landon did his skit you ran onto the stage crying to hug him…..then you went to ‘talk to him’ and I walked by and you two were making out…..want to explain yourself?” he growled angrily.

            Kara looked down, “He kissed me, and I told him, I wasn’t interested, and I’m sorry, about not telling you anything after your performance, I just…..I had a connection to Landon and Jennifer’s story……yours was amazing, and if I would have known what the meaning behind it was…… I would have been sobbing…..” Kara whispered.

            Richard looked down, “Whatever,” he grumbled plopping himself back down face in a pillow.

            Kara sighed gently stroking his hair, “I’m dumb, Kara, I used protection, I should have known better, but…..how are you supposed to react when someone tells you that the baby is yours…..” he whispered.

            She laid down next to him and kissed the top of his head, “Rich, how you reacted proved you were a good guy,” she told him.

            “No it doesn’t,” he grumbled.

            “Rich, if you weren’t, why would she have picked you?” Kara replied.

            Richard looked up slightly from his pillow so they were nose to nose, “Really?” he asked.

            She nodded, “Come on, you don’t need to mope in your room, Ariel will be back soon, and you probably have no desire to see her, let’s go outside, and stargaze……talking to the moon, is sometimes so relaxing,” Kara replied.

            He gave her a small smile, “Okay,” he told her softly standing up and following her up the stairs to a little trap door that allowed them outside on the roof. “Wow,” he said softly.

            She shrugged, “I need my alone time,” she told him going and sitting on the edge of the roof letting her legs hang off.

            He followed her lead and sat beside her, “You’ve been worried about me, but I haven’t shown any concern for what happened today……” he trailed off.