Choose by Madison Fechter (guided reading books txt) 📕

dream world. I slowly drift away from reality. His fingers run through my hair. His strong hand is on my back. I feel safe ans content. He brings me closer to him. We are pressed against each other. He slowly pulls away. This can't be real, but it is. I lay my head on his chest and we continue to watch the movie. It's almost over.
The movie ends and we drive back to his place. We get to his house and he removes my hoodie. He hangs it in his closet.

"Do you want anything?" Kenneth asks.

"That's okay. I'm fine." I say. "I'm kind of tired, though."

"Then lay down." he says.

As I'm about to lay down, he gets on his bed and lays there. I lay down with my head resting on his chest. He kisses the top of my head.

"I love you." he says. But, I don't know how to respond to that yet. I just pretend that I'm asleep.
I Can't Forget

I hear a beeping sound as I slowly wake up. It's Kenneth's alarm clock. Wait! His alarm clock?! Oh no! I fell asleep at his house! We have school today!

"Kenneth! Kenneth! Wake up! We fell asleep. We have to go to school!" I shouted.

"Oh crap!" he says.

He hops out of bed and slips his pants on. Wait, he slept in his boxers? How did I not notice this? I grab my hoodie out of his closet and put it on. Kenneth grabs my hand and takes me down to the kitchen. He tosses me a banana.

"Here, quickly eat this." he says and we rush out the door.

We get in his car and he drives to school. It's the second day of school and I look like crap. Great. We get to the school and walk inside. Right by the main staircase, Shane is standing there.

"Hey Ari! So today is our date!" Shane says enthusiastically.

"Yep. I can't wait!" I say without too much enthusiasm. I don't want Kenneth to feel bad.

"It's weird." Kenneth says.

"What is?" I ask.

"We just met you yesterday and we are already dating you." He says.

"Yeah, that is weird." Shane says.

"Okay, but we really need to get to homeroom." I say in a hurry.

"Alright, c'mon. Let's go." Shane says.

We get to homeroom and during announcements, all I can think about is Kenneth. I can't forget the way he kissed me. His body was like a force, a magnet that just kept pulling me in closer. What if that's all I can think about when I'm on my date with Shane? That wouldn't be good. Out of the corner of my eye I see Kenneth smiling at me. I smile back. He gets out a sheet of paper and starts writing something. He folds up the paper and hands it to me. He wrote, "Remember last night? The kiss?" I wrote back, "How could I forget? You were perfect." I passed it back to him. He read my note and he smiled.
Shane got a suspicious look on his face. He ripped the note out of Kenneth's hand. Shane read the note.

"YOU KISSED HER?!" he shouted.

Everyone turned to look at the three of us. How embarrassing. Now everyone knows. When homeroom ended, Shane dashed out of the room. I caught up with him and i turned him around.

"Shane, wait. Don't be upset." I tried to make him feel better.

"There is only one way to make me feel better." he said.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Kiss me." he said.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Kiss me." he repeated.

So, I leaned in to kiss him. His lips were salty with tears. He pressed his lips harder to mine and I grabbed his wrist. I put his hand on my waist. Everyone was staring at us. I didn't care. I wanted to make Shane happy. I wanted him to love me the way Kenneth does. I cared about Shane. I was falling into a dream-like state of mind as we kissed. I could feel the tears from his eyes falling onto my face. In my dream world, it felt like waterfalls pouring down on me. I pulled away.
I love Shane and Kenneth.

I Love You

"Jamie, I love them both." I said.

"Well, you have to tell them." she said.

"I know, but I don't know how." I answered.

"Call them." Jamie replied.

She hands me my cell phone. I call Kenneth first. The phone rings once and he picks up.

"Kenneth?" I ask.

"Yeah." he says.

"I love you, too." I say.

"What?" he asks. He sounds shocked.

"The other night when you said you loved me, well I love you too." I repeated.

"Thanks, babe." he answers. "I saw you kiss Shane this morning."

"Oh, he needed it. He was upset." I said.

"I never said I was angry that you kissed him." Kenneth said. "But, do you love him too?"

"Well, yeah. I do." I said proudly but also kind of scared.

"Well, you need to decide who you love more. You do know that. Remember, dating two guys isn't going to be a permanent thing." He said. "One of us will be your boyfriend in the end."

"I know." I replied sadly.

"I love you." Kenneth said.

"I love you, too." I answered.

"Bye." we both said at the same time.

Now I need to call Shane. The phone rang twice and he answered.

"Hey." Shane said.

"Hey Shane." I replied.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you, too." he said.

"But I love Kenneth too." I said.

"I know." Shane answered. Then he hung up.

Well that didn't exactly go as planned.

Another Date

Shane will be here any minute for our date. I'm excited, but I'm also worried that he will be upset because I love Kenneth. I hear a knock on the door. I'm not ready yet. I haven't changed my outfit, but I go down the stairs and open the front door. Shane was standing in the doorway holding a single red rose.

"Hey. I brought you a rose." Shane said and he gave my a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks. I'm sorry I'm not ready yet." I say.

"It's okay. I'll wait for you." he replies.

As I walk up the stairs to my room, Shane follows. When we get to my room, he sits on my bed. I grab a handful of clothes from my dresser. I take the clothes with me to the bathroom and I get dressed. Let's see... There is my purple penguin t-shirt and my light blue sweater with the buttons on the sleeves. Good, and I can pair it with my blue jean shorts and my stripey knee high socks.
I walk out of the bathroom and I enter my room. Shane is still sitting on my bed, but I notice him reading something. Oh no! He's reading my music!

"Hey, you look perfect." Shane says.

"Thanks. Oh no! You're reading my music! That's so embarrassing." I say and I start blushing.

"I love this music. Did you write it yourself?" he asks.


"Yeah, I sing a little."