Chapter 11 (Caroline)

“What do you mean?” he asked. My eyes flickered over to his truly curious face before I sighed.

“I’m only 18, why would I have a toddler? Preston is my brother’s son. Well, I’m practically his mom, but he’s not my biological son, but he is my nephew… and that was my brother you saw with us,” I explained. His eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

“Where is Preston’s mom in all of this?” Keegan asked. I looked down at the crumbled napkins in my hands and sighed.

“She left my brother, Danny, to deal with Preston on his own,” I answered softly. Keegan touched my arm gently. Fire shot up my arm, but when I looked at his face, it held nothing but sympathy.

“I’m sorry,” he said genuinely. I shook my head as a soft smile played at the corner of my lips.

“Don’t be. I love that kid,” I said. I bumped his shoulder lightly with my fist before I started dabbing him again. “I’m sorry about spitting all over you. I can’t imagine how attractive that looked on your end,” I joked. His hand was still on my arm.

Trust me, I noticed.

“I don’t think anything could make you unattractive,” he muttered quickly. My eyes shot up to his as he blushed lightly. He averted his gaze and shrugged a little. My ears were hearing things. That was the only excuse I could come up with.

~

The next day, I was anxious for lunch. I knew exactly why too.

Keegan.

He was all I could think about lately. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to get inside his brain and learn everything. I wanted to crawl under his skin and stay there. My leg shook nervously as I waited for the bell to ring to signal the start of lunch. I stared at the clock; watching the time tick away. As soon as the bell rang, I jumped up and grabbed my bag. I packed my lunch today, so I went straight to my table. I pulled out my lunch bag and started dumping its contents on the table. Stacy and Mariana slip into their seats at our table.

“Damn, what’s gotten into you?” Stacy laughed. I couldn’t very well say that I was waiting on Keegan because I needed his touch, his voice, his face, his everything. I wondered briefly when I got psycho-

stalker on the poor unsuspecting kid. I just wanted him to hold me and never let go.

See? Psycho.

Stacy and Mariana went on about some party that was going to happen this Friday. I could care less.

My attention snapped to one of the cafeteria entrances where Gregg was. I smiled lightly to myself.

Keegan wouldn’t be far behind. Sure enough, he was through the door next… with Natasha hanging off of his arm. It felt like my heart stopped as I froze. Natasha was on the volleyball team with me.

Everything about her was fake even if no one came right out to say it. I never really got along with her in the first place, but now…

I hated the bitch.