Chapter Fourteen
"Where's Cassidy?" Kevin asked Ben as they walked into the cafeteria. "I'm supposed to be meeting her."
Ben shrugged. "How should I know?"
"I heard she left." Phillia Rupert joined them. She was not one of the better-looking girls in her class—she was Ben's age, tall and skinny, with reddish-brown hair, blue, square glasses, and a lot of freckles, but she had the IQ of a genius, and loved the gossip.
"Hey, Phillia. Where did you hear that from?" Ben asked, just as Kevin said, "Why would she leave so soon? She's only been here a few days."
"I heard she was in serious trouble, and was running away from the law."
"Who told you that?"
"All of the girls are talking about it. How could you not be hearing this? John Roe even wants to write an article about it in the paper. He wants to find out where she is and interview her so he can get the inside story on why she left."
"Oh. Phillia, you can't let him do that," Kevin said.
"Why not? It could be a great story—we haven't had such an interesting rumor in years."
Kevin wasn't sure why, but he only felt that, even though he didn't know her very well, still felt that he needed to protect her. "Because I'm sure that the real story is personal," he said flatly.
"Personal? Do you know the real story, Kinkirk?" she asked with a playful smile. "Then maybe they can interview you."
"No, I don't know anything. And if I did, I wouldn't say anything," he said, rising from his chair. "Tell John to give up; he won't find out anything." Kevin grabbed his jacket and left.
"Ben…" Phillia said as soon as Kevin was out of earshot. "Kevin doesn't even know this woman."
"Do you?"
"No, not exactly. She'd only been here a couple of days. But Mindy has been talking about her."
"Is Mindy really the jealous type?"
"Who said anything about jealousy?" Mindy asked, joining Phillia and Ben. "I'm not jealous of her, Ben. I'm happily dating your brother."
"That may change," Ben muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing," Ben responded. "Anyway, I have to go. See you later." Ben turned and began to walk away.
"Ben, wait."
Ben turned to look at Phillia and Mindy. "Yes?"
"Just try talking to your brother. Okay?"
"I won't make any promises."
Phillia nodded. "I know."
"Oh, and tell him to meet me here at six," Mindy shouted as Ben walked towards the exit sign.
Kevin wasn't hard to find. He was staring at the ceiling in the bedroom the two brothers shared.
"Kevin…"
"Ben, it's hopeless. I don't know what the story is, but I do want to find Cassidy."
"You've known Mindy for over a year, and you've only known Cassidy a couple of days."
"It's something about her, Ben, that I can't explain. She's just…different."
Ben shrugged. "Okay then. Good luck. Oh, and Kev?"
"What?"
"Mindy wants you to meet her at the cafeteria at six."
Kevin sighed. "What does she want from me?"
Ben shrugged. "I don't know. Marriage?"
Kevin grabbed his pillow and tossed it, missing Ben by a few inches. "Mindy isn't like that. We've agreed to wait for that."
"Then how do you know Cassidy's different from Mindy? You hardly know Cassidy! Are you going to propose to her?"
Kevin sighed. "No, I just want to get to know her better."
Ben grinned. "You need to stay focused. It's called a journey to love and manhood."
"And what do you know about it?"
Ben shrugged. "I know, that if you love a girl, then you go for her and take a risk. Love is like a dream, and that's what you need to follow it."
Kevin rolled his eyes and stood up. "Ben?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to go for it."
Ben grinned. "That's the Kevin I know!" But Kevin didn't hear. He was already out of the door.