This life... by Emily Zimmerman. (online e reader TXT) 📕

I said. A few minutes later, Kyle walked into the room, his mother trailing behind, she looked at me with sympathy in her eyes, Kyle sat beside me, putting an arm around my shoulder "so, what is going on here?" Kyle asked. "oh, were just getting to know one another" Mr. Miller said. I laid my head on Kyle's shoulder, realizing how much I missed him in the short time we were apart. Chapter Nine.

 chapter nine. We talked with his parents, and all the while, his mom seemed to look at me with new eyes, sympathy and admiration the dominant expression on her face, made me wonder what they talked about when they left for the kitchen. "well, we had better get going, you both are probably hungry" Kyle said, smiling at them both. Marianne - they insisted that i call them by their names - hesitated, and then looked at me "can... can i speak to you alone?" she asked me. I nodded, smiling slightly at her "sure" I replied. Dan got up, looking at Kyle "hey Kyle, let me show you my latest car before you go" Dan said to Kyle. Kyle nodded, getting up and walking out of the room with him. Marianne smiled guiltily at me. "um, Kyle told me what you went through, and what your going through, and how strong you have been through it all" she told me. I looked down at my hands "he told me that your parents blamed you the most for the reason they left, and that your own two brothers started humiliating you at school, and that they also blamed you-" I cut her off. "for my parents leaving, yes, they did, and I suppose he told you how strong I was through it all?" I asked her quietly. she nodded "he told me how happy you seem with him, it makes him happy that you are, he said that how strong you are only makes him love you more. Kaila, the way he talks about you, he loves you more than you know" she told me. I sighed "the truth is, at first, I wasn't strong, when they left, I didn't come down from my room for a week, and i avoided contact with my brothers for another three" I told her. She leaned over and pat my hand "sometimes we all need time to heal, and that was how you healed, you had time alone, and either your heart grows bitter toward the people that have done this to you, or you grow strong, and decide that a bitter heart is not worth their time" she told me. I stared down at my hands "It wasn't a strong thing to do, because I thought my brothers hated me, they wanted this to happen, because they blamed and hated me, my oldest brother Jared, he tried to help, but he went to another school, and i wouldn't let him, I am not strong because I thought I deserved it" I told her. Marianne stared at me with the same hypnotizing eyes as Kyle had, right now hers were very sad "you are a good person Kaila, you might act tough, you’re like Kyle's father in a way, when he was younger, he used to act tough, act as if he didn't care, but he acted completely different with me, you act like that with Kyle don't you? Kyle loves you, never doubt that, and never believe that you deserve what happened to you" she told me sternly. I smiled and nodded "it’s a lot easier with Kyle around; he calms me down when I'm angry. And helps me through allot" I murmured. She smiled, pat my hand, and got up from the couch, "well, we should find Kyle and Dan, their probably done looking at his new car" she said. I nodded and got up too, she hugged me around the shoulders "I should have seen it when I saw you with him, the way he looks at you, and the way you look at him, that boy has never been so happy, I swear" she said as we walked to the front door. I blushed and nodded. She opened the door and my mouth dropped open, a 1970s blue convertible Chevelle, It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen. Kyle was standing there, admiring it, but I could tell something was wrong, Marianne chuckled "this is his new car?" I asked her. She nodded "he collects old cars, it’s a hobby" she said. I walked down the stone steps and stood by Kyle, he looked at me, and I immediately saw a change, there was nothing wrong with him now, he relaxed and put an arm around my waist, pulling me close to him "this is a nice car" I said, admiration coloring my voice. He nodded "yeah...it’s mine" he said, smiling down at me. I stared at him blankly "what do you mean?" I asked finally. He chuckled "my dad needs to sell his cars, and this one’s his favorite, he decided to hand it down to me" he said. I stared at the car, and then stared at Kyle "you’re kidding, right?" I asked. Kyle shook his head "nope" he said. I sighed "I guess this means I'll be driving home alone then?" I teased. Kyle shook his head "never, dad is having your car taxied back by a trusted friend" he said. I smiled “we get to ride home in it?" I asked. It was a car without compartment in the front middle, it just had a seat, so i got to sit right beside him "of course, Love, we wouldn't walk" he teased back, running the tips of his fingers down my cheek. Dan cleared his throat behind us, when we looked at him he was smiling slightly "well, your car is safely back home, and you two should probably get going, I hope we see you both again soon" he said, smiling at the both of us. Kyle nodded "We’ll be back, don't worry dad" he said. Dan nodded, and hugged us both, then Marianne came up, hugging both of us as well "it was very nice meeting you, and remember what I said" she told me. I nodded "I will" I assured her. We got in the car, waving at them and leaving the top down. We sped down the driveway; I was sitting in the middle so he could keep his arm around me as he drove. the wind was loud against the car, so there wasn't much conversation, he would tighten his arm around me, kiss my forehead, my cheek, my lips, telling me in a low voice how much he loved me in my ear. I would close my eyes, and lay my head on his shoulder, sighing in content. When we got home, I sighed and reluctantly got out of the car, letting Kyle go. Kyle chuckled and put his arm around me again when I walked over to him. We walked into the house to find a frenzy of people. Mom and Dad were running around the house, shouting over the TV, a bunch of people were here, I didn’t recognize anyone. Everyone looked up at our entrance and smiled “Kaila!” they all shouted over the TV. I gave them a confused look and started up the stairs. I walked into my room with Kyle and sat down on the bed. “What is going on down there?” Kyle asked with an amused smile. I shrugged “I guess its old friends” I muttered. He chuckled “they have a lot of old friends” he commented. I nodded, “yes, they do” I muttered. The TV was so loud that no matter what we did we couldn’t block the sound out. I groaned and gave up on trying to block out the sound. I looked at Kyle; he was smiling in amusement at my efforts so I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. “Hey, how about we go somewhere? Like the park or something?” he asked me. I shrugged “okay, sounds better than this” I muttered. We walked down the stairs to find everyone watching football. “Hey Kaila! You remember Bob, Kim and Jake don’t you?” Mom asked. I looked at an older man, his hair was graying at the ends, and he had a beard, I assumed this was Bob, then I looked at an older woman, her hair was slightly grayed, I assumed this was Kim, and then a young teenager with black hair and brown eyes, he was staring at me lustfully. I shook my head “no, I don’t know any of these people” I told them loudly, trying to be as quiet as I could, but also yell so they could hear me over the TV. Mom nodded “I’m sure you don’t remember these people, your brothers used to hang out with Jake when they were younger” she said. I nodded “ah” I said, a blank look on my face. “Well, Kyle and I are going to the park, see you in a bit” I said, smiling a little. Mom nodded, and I smiled a smug smile as Jake looked disappointed as he looked at Kyle’s arm around me. We walked out the door with a wave. I was laughing as Kyle started skipping on the way to the park singing the wonderful wizard of Oz song. “We’re going to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!” he sang loudly, clearly making fun of it. I was laughing too hard to breath by the time we got to the park. “You’re such a dork” I muttered when I sobered up. He laughed and kissed me softly, pulling away with a thoughtful look on his face “I was thinking on the way home” he said, looking me deep in the eyes. I chuckled “oh really? I couldn’t think at all with you kissing me” I said with a smile. He smiled disarmingly. “What were you thinking?” I asked him. He sat down on the swing beside me. “I was thinking that we need to go on another date next Saturday” he said. I thought for a second and then smiled “okay, sounds like a plan” I told him, grabbing his hand. We stayed at the park until the sun went down, waiting until all their friends left, and then we walked back to the house. When we got to the house, the TV was still on but not nearly as loud and there were only a few people left in the house. Kyle and I sighed in relief as we walked up the stairs. I walked into my room and fell on the bed, sighing as my head hit the pillow. Kyle chuckled and laid down beside me, kissing my forehead. We talked until I fell asleep, mostly about the anthem tomorrow; I was hoping that I didn’t forget the words. The last thing I felt before I went completely under in a deep sleep was Kyle’s lips on mine.