What She Learned (Currently in progress) by Bailey Lee (classic novels for teens TXT) 📕

"Hey, Kara? Did you take care of the dogs?"

"No, I didn't. Did you want me to?"

"Of course I want you to."

"Fine! I'll take care of the dogs!"

Don't get me wrong, I love the boys to death, but I had just taken a shower, After I had just mowed the lawn. And they always jump on me. We say that they're giving us hugs, but really, they're ruining our clothes. I much prefer watering the flowers over letting the dogs out. They're huge. They're year old rottweilers. Their names are Axel and Paine. And they are really juvenile.

The second I walk outside and they see me, they go crazy. They start barking and start banging on the cage door. I go to put the lead on Axel's neck and he snaps the cage door open and starts running down the street. Oh My God.

I end up having to chase him down the street and putting the lead around his neck in some neighbor's yard. My parents were not happy with me. They're never happy with me. They make my anxiety go through the roof.

Hello. My name is Kara Anthony. I'm 16, and don't trust anyone I don't know.

 I hate strangers. I hate social media platforms. I hate anything that gives out my information or my face to people I don't know. I never know who's out there. I don't go on blind dates. I just think that people should be just a little bit more to themselves. It is literally insane how much of people's information is on the internet. A quick google search can bring up pictures of pretty much anyone in the world. And girls use those platforms to be sluts and pick up guys. Why would you want a boyfriend that wants you for your looks, not for you?

And yes, I know that you can't see someone's personality, but if someone has a horrible personality, why would you stay with them?

People are crazy, so I stay away from them. I hyperventilate when people come too close. Yeah, my anxiety is that bad. I mean, I really don't have a problem with people younger than me. I almost feel responsible for them, but my age and above gives me anxiety. You never know why they want to talk to you, or what they see when they look at you. 

 I'm a loose canon and am all over the place. I like art, calligraphy, and playing football. I'm independent and rely on myself to take care of myself. I have long chesnut hair and gray eyes and I love big dogs.

 My thoughts are cut short by my parents calling me, once again cutting my task short. I honestly thought about just pulling the covers up and pretending I'm taking a nap untill they go away, but I thought better of it. I knew that they wouldn't recieve it well if they found out I was faking it, so I went to the kitchen. They were on the phone with my uncle John. That was weird. John lived in California and we were in Louisiana.

We never went to him. He came to us. And there wasn't another family reunion in months. You can imagine my shock when I was told that I was going to his house for the rest of the summer. Summer had just started and I had zero plans. This would be life-changing. I had no idea how much untill three years later when I looked back.

 After I had boarded that plane, there was no turning back, and that was exactly what I did. John didn't have any expectations for me to follow, so I could spend my time watching classic horror movies and going on nature walks. There was a certain nature walk that lead me to where I am now. It started as normal. I left around eleven at night so I wouldn't meet anyone. The moon high and the underbrush on the edges of the walk-way was low. The flowers were beautiful. My favorite was the Wild Morning Glory. They absolutely glowed in the moonlight.

As I walk, looking at the flowers, I didn't notice the person in front of me. I collide with them and just about get ready to run. I stare at him in fear of him being mad at the clumsy idiot that just ran into him, but all he does is look at me kindly.

He looks at the flowers and says "The Fairy Lanterns are beautiful, aren't they?"

I had no idea how to respond to that question in the context it was in. I didn't aswer for a while.

He finally says, "I didn't meant to scare you. I'm really sorry. Will you tell me your name?" 

I was already scared because I got too close and bumped into him, but the complete honesty and concern in his voice broke something inside of me. A stranger that I didn't even know, showed more compassion towards me than my own family did.

"My name's Kara Anthony. What's your's?"

"Austin Williams."

 We sat there untill three in the morning, just talking. We had an honest and truly heart-lifting conversation. It was the best conversation I had ever had. Ever since that night I have been more open to conversation and connections with other people. I hadn't noticed at first, but he looked like an angel. He had short black hair and blue eyes. He had strong, yet gentle hands that picked flowers for me and put them in my hair and strong facial features that were always lifted in a smile. Why he showed even the slightest bit of interest for me, I didn't know. 

We talked about our past, our present, and the future. There was nothing he didn't want to know about me, and there was nothing I didn't want to know about him. I don't know what kind of blind trust had come over me. All I know is that he made me act very out of character. I trusted him and did not care where it led me. For the longest time I had been skeptical of everything that had come across my path, but he gave me no reason to be skeptical. He just gave off this aura of raw and unconditional honesty. We made jokes and we had serious conversations. We acted as if we were childhood friends. We had no idea what would become of this night, but I will never forget what did.

 We became really close. We took walks and we were happy to be teenagers, which was a rare thing for me to experience. I didn't go to senior parties. I had no reason to. They were just where people went to hook up or to reignite an old flame. I had no old flames and I didn't want to start a new one. 

Austin had a lonely past too. He was a fraid of a serious relationships being ruined by heartbreak. He wanted to know everything about me, though.

"What's your favorite color?"

"It changes. It just depends on my mood, I guess."

"Well what color does your mood match today?"

"I guess it would have to be cobalt."

He looked at me kinda funny. I didn't know cobalt was such an unusual favorite color.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's just that your favorite color is also your eye color."

Oh, that. he's talking about my greenish gray eyes that don't want to stay that color. My eyes are always changing colors in different lighting. Sometimes they looked silver. Sometimes they were bright green. And every once in a while they turned blue. I liked it because people would always think I was wearing contacts, or they would freak out at my color changing eyes. It also hid the fact that I had a pretty basic and bland eye color. 

"That's actually not the color my eyes are supposed to be. They should be greenish-gray, but they're not. They just change by themselves."

"That's amazing. You just get better by the minute."

And the most unexpected thing happened. He took my face in his hands and kissed me. He kissed me like he loved me, but he couldn't have loved me. We had just met and I was such an unlikable person. 

And there were so many other more attractive girls here.

He was insane, but luckily, so was I.