Part of You

Chapter Fourteen

"What?" On the verge of crying, I stared into Ken's beautiful blue eyes.

"Nikki..." Ken closed his eyes and sighed.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Nikki I knew this was a bad idea," Ken started. "But I listened to what my heart wanted, and not what my mind told me. I basically forced you into this relationship, well kind of, and I saw how angry and hurt you got when you saw Jay with Hayden...And I wish you looked at me the way you look at Jay. I can try, but I can't make you love me the way I love you."

  I had absolutely no words as gentle tears streamed down my face.

"Bye," Ken whispered and shut the door, shattering my heart into a million pieces. I allowed the tears to run down my face as  I ran upstairs to my room. I got on my bed and rested my head on the pillow. Ken and I have been best friends forever - I never had feelings for him because we were best friends, but I had actually fallen in love with him. Just then, someone slowly opened the door.

"Nikki what's wrong?" Max said, taking his guitar off and placing it down. "Is it Ken? Did he hurt you?" he asked when I didn't respond.

"Emotionally...yes," I finally started. "He broke up with me."

"Oh..I didn't know you were so serious about him."

"Max he was my best friend, and I blew it. I love him."

"Well have you told him that?" Max said  taking a seat on my bed.

"What?"

"Since you guys started dating, have you even told him you love him?"

"No..." I admitted, feeling ashamed.

"'I'm no love doctor, but I think you should."

  "You're right Max...Thanks."

"Welcome." Who knew a 13 year old could be so helpful?

"Go ahead," I started. "I'll be okay." Max nodded and got up, taking his guitar as he closed my door. I heard a knock on the door and groaned. "Max, go away!"

"It's not Max," mom chuckled as she walked in. Luckily I had stopped crying and dried my eyes so mom wouldn't bombard me with questions.

"Hi mom," I said, forcing myself to sit up.

"Hey Nikki, I did tell you about the one week college trip, right?"

"Yes..."

"OK, bye sweetie, take care of Max, you know the rules and I left enough money for food and emergencies," mom said as she gave me a hug.

"I know mom." Max and I saw mom off and returned inside. I sat down on the couch and turned on the T.V. I looked down and studied myself. Starving myself was working. I was not eating at all, and when I was forced to eat, it'd only be vegetables. When I was eight, I saw Laura Lee Piscotto, a famous model from Russia modeling at a fashion show. I was instantly inspired - she had beautiful auburn spiral curls, flawless pale skin, beautiful hazel eyes, and a perfect body. Sadly, I wasn't blessed in the way she was. Anyway, when I was fourteen, I convinced myself that I didn't want to go down that path, but now I'm wondering if I could actually achieve this - could I really become a model?

    Back to the topic at hand, I now had two tasks to complete. One, patch things up with Jay so we can be friends again. And two, tell Ken I love him, and hopefully he'll take me back. Which one to do first? I wasn't sure, but I was going to just take care of it later.

"Peace," Max said as he raced down the stairs.

"Woah woah woah, where you going curly top?" I asked as Max held a firm grip on the doorknob.

"I'm just going down to the basketball court around the corner."

"Around the corner my butt," I said.

"OK it's a few blocks away, so? See you later."

"Max - I'm in charge right now. You can go to the basketball court but make sure your phone's on ringer, and you have water. Plus, here's ten dollars in case of an emergency."

   Max took the money from my hand as he gave me a confused look. "Some one's a little over protective," he mumbled.

"Bye." And finally, I was all alone. I drifted off to sleep but awoken to a strong knock on the door. I rubbed my eyes and stumbled to the door. Looking out the peep hole, there was Ken. Again? What does he want now? I slowly opened the doors.

"Hi Ken..." I said as I continued to rub my eyes. Ken stayed silent for a while. "Ken, I'm really sorry...I'm really sorry about -" I was going to tell Ken I was sorry about the way I reacted to Jay with Hayden, how I seemed to act around him, and tell him I love him, but something caught my attention. When my vision became clear, I realized that the silver object in Ken's hand was a knife. "Ken why do you have a-" I was cut off when Ken launched at me.