After Ms. Hayze and Allison's talk ended, Ms. Hayze left to pick up Olivia. Things were looking up. The next day, Allison and her mother decided to surprise Olivia by going to church. The praise and worship music was amazing. The broken relationships between the mother and daughters were slowly starting to mend.
The middle of December had crept up on everyone; Just a couple more days till Christmas. Allison's family and school life had been going great. Though neither of them had seen Mr. Hayze since the incident with the papers, her mother had helped with turning things around. After doing a few quick check-ups on Mr. Hayze's whereabouts, Mrs. Hayze assured Allison that her father would come around again.
Allison made her way back to the doors, allowing her mother and Olivia sometimes to fellowship. When outside in the parking lot, she finally faced forward, only to slam into something solid. She fell backward into the cold snow. Turning her head upwards she gazed into a pair of dark brown Hershey eyes.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The voice was deep, but not as deep as Kyle's. An unfamiliar hand reached down to help to surprise Allison.
"It's fine," Allison mumbled, brushing snow off of her small blue winter coat.
"No really, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. What's your name again?"
"Sorry, my name is Darren Keel." He pushed his hand out to shake.
"Allison Hayze."
"You have a pretty last name," Darren noted.
"Well, thank you." Before they can finish their conversation, Allison's vision becomes black.
"Guess who?" A low voice whispered behind her.
"Kyle?"
"Yes?" The voice lightened.
"Hi!"
Allison whirled around to look at his face, relieved it wasn't some creepy stalker. Being so happy to see him, she threw her arms around his neck. He ended up having to shrink just a tiny bit so he could hug her back. Once they broke apart, Allison caught the emotionless expression stamped on Kyle's face. She then realized it was directed toward the young man standing behind them. She turned to Darren and smiled.
"Darren, this is Kyle. One of my best friends. Kyle, this is Darren."
"Kyle." Darren spat out. He didn't even try to cover up the disgust in his voice. Confusion and worry washed over Allison.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you two know each other?" She chuckled sheepishly.
"Yeah..." Kyle responded solemnly. The sweet and happy Kyle had been removed and replaced with an icy cold Kyle. "He's my cousin."
"But you're... what about your last name? You're a West, he's a Keel." Allison pointed out quietly.
"His mother has a brother, sweetheart." He let the sarcasm lace through every word.
"That's my mother's maiden name," Kyle added on through gritted teeth. Allison saw that the conversation was not going to end well between the two cousins, so taking it upon herself, she decided to end it. Plus she was starting to become extremely cold.
"Oh okay— Well, it was great to meet you, Darren." Darren's attention was taken off his cousin and placed upon the beautiful, shivering girl in front of him.
"It was a pleasure meeting such a pretty girl as yourself." He slightly winked, peering over toward Kyle.
"Well, you should be getting home right about now, right Kyle."
In the corner of Allison's eye, she saw Kyle crossing his arms, and beginning to lean on the side of the church building. It was clear that Kyle had no intention of leaving. If looks could kill, Kyle would be on his way to jail and Darren would be about 10 feet under. Darren quickly cleared his throat and took a step back.
"I'll see you around," Darren whispered in a deadly voice. With that, he got into his blue Honda and drove off. Allison brought her attention back to Kyle, still leaning on the tan building. Still showing no emotion, she made her way toward him and wrapped her arms around her friend once again. It seemed to bring him back to reality.
"You okay?" Kyle shook his head to push his thoughts away.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He straightened over Allison, bringing her closer. It wasn't one of his friendly hugs either. It felt like a very protective one. Allison poked his side, making him jump.
"Come on, You can tell your best friend." Kyle sighed.
"Darren just doesn't come around often. When he does, he ends up stirring some sort of trouble. And I mean serious trouble; consider him the homewrecker as they call them."
Once again, Allison gazed deep into his eyes. They were standing where the smallest ray of sun was shining.
"We'll always be friends. You already promised." Allison responded just above a whisper.
Their sweet moment is interrupted by a small human tugging on the bottom of Kyle's collared shirt. The two friends glanced down and saw Olivia's adorable grin.
"Hey, bud!" Kyle exclaimed in a joy-filled voice. He picked her up and spun her around like an airplane. Allison stood back and watched Olivia giggle as Kyle continued lifting her higher into the air. Allison felt a warm hand come onto her shoulder. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
"She adores him so much, mom." A sneaky smile appeared on Mrs. Haye's face.
"He'd make a great husband and father one day." Allison felt her breath hitch but quickly regained her composure.
"We're just friends mom."
"Maybe now, but things can change in a couple of years." Before Allison had a chance to respond Kyle and Olivia came back over to the two ladies.
"Mrs. Hayze, great to see you!" Kyle greeted.
"You two Kyle! We should probably get going, Allison." Allison nodded and gave Kyle one last hug.
"See you, ladies, later." Kyle gave a slight bow, then made his way towards his car.
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When Mrs. Hayze pulled into their driveway, they saw a young man standing by the door.
"Allison, is that one of your friends?" Allison pulled her eyes away from her phone, focusing in on the boy who was standing at their door.
"Yeah, friend," Allison replied hesitantly.
"Well, I need to get dinner ready. I'll take Olivia in so you two can talk." Once Mrs. Hayze and Olivia were inside, Allison approached the brown-haired boy.
"Hey, Ally!" He greeted.
"Darren? Not to be rude, but how'd you know where I lived?"
"Don't worry about that. I know a lot about you." He smirked, but it wasn't like one of Kyle's playful smirks. Allison began to feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Uh, okay— I have to get back with my mom. So, I guess I'll see you around."
"You won't." He countered.
"What do you mean?"
"My parents are shipping me off to boarding school to finish out my senior year. Then I'll be off to college. Unlike Kyle...
"Wait, Kyle isn't going to college?" Darren stared towards his car.
"Good question, I'll let Kyle answer that one. Maybe I'll see you in a couple of years, sweetheart." Winking, Darren climbed into his vehicle, then swiftly drove away leaving a very confused Allison.
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Until We Meet Again
Romance|She was a beautiful, rich, intelligent, responsible, and kind girl; Definitely a rare combination, that's hard to find. On the outside, to the world, her life was perfect; absolutely flawless. On the inside though, now that's another story. Allison...
