Chapter 11 – New Day, New Beginnings

(Esther's POV)

I wake up and turn over to my side and look at my clock. It is 5:45AM. Wow, it's early. I slowly sit up and yawn. I get up and walk over to the window and look out into the world of NYC. I see people walking busily and am envious because they don't have to live through the embarrassment of my life today. I went to my laptop and checked my e-mails and went to the one from my friend who had originally told me about my laptop getting hacked. I was able to stop the virus last night and set up new passwords late last night. She said that they decided not to run the story due to it being false. I sent her a statement last night and didn't know if she would get it in time. It didn't really matter; the damage to those that I cared about was already done. I needed to talk to Scott still about this and he didn't look too pleased with me last night. He looked disappointed in me for some reason, how I wish I could go back and just tell Em that I didn't like Scott. Why did I say that? I don't know. There's no chance that Scott and I would ever be together, I know he loves Emma. I do like Kevin, but it's different. I write to my friend and let her know that I am grateful for her company not running the story. I send out an email to everyone in the group that the story will not run and again, apologized for any hurt that it may have caused. About twenty minutes pass and I am caught completely off guard when I hear a soft knock at my door. (Knock, knock)

Who in the world would be knocking at my door at this hour? I get up and walk over to my door and ask through the closed door, "Who is it?"

"Scott," Scott whispered through the door.

I closed my eyes and placed my palm on the door as I twisted the lock and before I opened the door, I took a deep breath. I pulled the door opened and saw Scott standing there waiting for me to let him in.

"Scott, what's wrong, it's early?" I ask. I'm still a little surprised that he's here at my door.

"We need to talk, Esther," Scott said very calmly.

I stand back a little and let Scott enter and then look down the darken hallway. I close the door and turn towards Scott who is pacing back and forth. He stops and sits in the chair by the desk and looks at me and I finally say, "What do we need to talk about, Scott?"

"Esther, we need to talk about everything that happened last night," Scott said sincerely.

I walk over to my bed and sit down facing him. I pull the blanket up around my legs and cross them. I fold me hands in front of me as well and eventually look up at him. "Scott, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blurt out that I liked you, especially in front of everyone. I wasn't really thinking."

"Esther, do you really like me?" Scott asked.

I look at him and feel myself blushing. I reach for my face and hide my face in my hands and I nod my head. I look at Scott and say, "I have really tried not liking you since you and Em got together. I would never ask you to break up or anything like that. I'm so sorry that I told her that I like you, I wish I could take that back."

Scott looked at me, with a look of sympathy and said, "Esther, I like you too, but you know I don't like you in that way. You are such a wonderful girl and I know that there is someone out there who will love you unconditionally and you'll love him too!"

I nodded, knowing what he was saying was true, who was I kidding, and Scott wasn't leaving Emma for me. I knew that last night. I cleared my throat and said, "Does Emma hate me?"

Scott shook his head and said, "No, she doesn't. She's confused, but she would never hate you."

I smile slightly, only slightly, and then ask, "Is there anything else that you want to talk about?"

Scott stands in response and says, "No, I just wanted to talk before everyone got up. I got your e-mail; I'm glad that the story is not getting out to the public."

I nodded in agreement and say, "Okay, thanks for coming to talk to me."

Scott headed out of my room and as the door shut, I laid my head back on my pillow. I heard another knock at my door and wondered if it was Scott again. I got up and pulled the door opened and was shocked to see Kevin standing there.

"Hi," was all that I could manage.

"Esther, I wanted to do something last night, but I feel like if I don't do this, I'm going to lose my chance." Kevin said.

"Kevin, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Esther, I would like to kiss you," Kevin said.

I was surprised by his request, but something in me wanted to kiss Kevin in that moment. I smiled and said, "I think that would be okay."

"Okay," Kevin said with a wide smile. He stepped forward and touched my shoulders gently and pulled me into him and kissed me softly on my lips and I felt my entire body become alive. I wrapped my arms around Kevin's shoulders and reached for the back of his head. Our kiss turned into a very passionate first kiss. When we finally broke free, I couldn't help but giggle.

"Kevin," was all that I could manage to get out.

Kevin smiled and said, "Esther, I hope you know that it's going to harder than ever to not want to do that again."

I blush and smile and say, "You can do that anytime you like, Kevin."

"So, what are you feeling right now?" Kevin asked me.

I stood back and couldn't help but say, "I'm feeling very happy right now. I wish you kissed me like that a long time ago."

"Would it have mattered?" Kevin asked.

I looked up at Kevin with new feelings bursting through me. Feelings that I felt that were always there, I guess. I smile and say, "Yes, it would have mattered a lot."

Kevin smiles and nods and says, "Well, I'll leave you to it, see you later."

I smile and close the door and turn towards my room and throw my hands over my mouth to keep my excitement inside of me. How in the world did my life change so much in the past 12 hours? And that kiss? Oh my God! That kiss. I go to my laptop and open it up and go to my private folder and hit delete. I remove them from the recycling bin on my desktop and feel instantly better, no more private folder photos. I am going to start this relationship with Kevin with a blank slate. No secrets. No photos to ever come back and haunt me.

(Kevin's POV)

I walk back to the living room and see Mitch sitting on the couch with Avi. They stop talking and I know that they are talking about everything that went down last night. I sit down and smile at them both. Mitch notices my smirk and says, "Kev, you seem happy today?"

"Why wouldn't I be, Mitchie?" I ask with a big smile.

Avi says, "Yes, you seem very happy, is everything okay?"

Avi and Mitch share a very concerned look with one another and then back towards me. They must think that I've lost my mind. I smile back at them and stand up and head towards my bedroom, "Everything is amazing and awesome."

I laugh as I head back to my room. I hear them talk in whisper to one another and know that they are really confused.

(Avi's POV)

"Mitch, are we in the twilight zone?" I ask.

"You know, Avi, I'm not sure, but, that was really strange. He seemed like he was on top of the world. I guess his talk with Esther went really great?" Mitch says shrugging his shoulders.

Smiling, I added, "I guess so."

(Scott's POV)

I slowly get back into bed and try not to wake Emma. Too late for that, because as soon as I climbed back into bed, Emma turned towards me and asked, "Where did you go?"

"I went to talk to Esther, I needed to talk to her about last night," I say.

Emma's eyes opened up and she looked at me quickly. She then sat up and said, "And?"

"And what?" I say, not fully understanding Emma's question.

"And, what was said between the two of you?" Emma said, now staring at me with such seriousness in her eyes.

I reach over and touch her arm and smile. I then say, "Em, I told her that I didn't like her in that way and that she would find someone wonderful. I'm with you. You know that."

Emma smiles at me and says, "Yes, I do. Does she know that I'm not sharing you?" She smirks at her last comment letting me know she was teasing.

I pull Emma towards me and hold her close saying, "I love you."

"I love you," Emma says back.

"So, are you okay with the whole Esther thing?" I ask.

I feel her shrug and quietly say, "I guess. I have to get used to girls liking you, I have seen the fangirl comments. There's a lot of girls out there and they will always be there. I just never expected one of those girls to be one of my best friends."

"I don't think that she meant to hurt you at all, if it helps. I think that she's confused. To be honest, I don't think that she likes me in that way at all," I say.

"I hope so; I really don't know how to act around her now?" Emma asks.

"I think that everything will be okay, trust me," I say.

Emma leans towards me and kisses me on the cheek and says, "Okay, I'll try my best to believe that."

(Kirstie's POV)

Avi came back into the bedroom and I was finishing up e-mailing my parents. I look over at Avi and see that he's very relaxed and calm. I ask, "What did I miss?"

Avi smiles wide and comes over to me and says, "I don't know, I think that everything is going to be okay now. Kevin went to talk to Esther and he was beaming, literally beaming. Esther sent out an e-mail that the story is not going to go out, so that's wonderful too."

"Yes, I saw that. I'm so glad," I say smiling back and add, "That's great about Kevin. I wonder what him and Esther talked about?"

"Have you talked to Emma at all?" Avi asked.

"No, she's been in her room with Scott, I didn't want to interrupt," I say.

"I'm glad that they are okay, they are so good together," Avi said.

"Yes, I think so too. He's really good for Emma and vice versa. She seems to make him really happy," I say.

"Yes, so, you think that I should go check on Esther?" Avi asks.

"No, let's just let it go for now. A lot went down last night, and for now, Kevin seems happy, so it must be a good sign. Besides, we are all going to be eating breakfast soon downstairs in the restaurant," I say.

"Okay," Avi said and he leaned in and gave me a quick kiss.

TO BE CONTINUED…