Bradin's mouth dropped when those words came out of her mouth. She stared out at the ocean not wanting to look at him. She was scared at how he was going to react or what he was going to say to her. She wanted to cry. But, something stopped her. She didn't know what that 'something' was.
"That's why I was scared to hang out with you. I'm scared to hang out with any guy. I keep thinking that they're going to do what the other guy did to me because I'm 'easy' to get to. Bradin, I'm not easy."
"I believe you," he said. She looked at him to find his gorgeous green eyes staring into her eyes. She didn't know if he was telling the truth to her or not. "And, I will wait until you're ready to trust me. I learned that it takes a long time to trust someone who wants to be a part of your life."
"You want to be a part of my life?" she asked.
"I want to be a friend," he told her.
She looked out at the ocean and thought. "I think I can handle friendship," she said looking back at him.
He smiled and held his arms open. "Hug?" he asked. She smiled back and they hugged.
She pulled away and told him, "I'm sorry to cut today short. But I have to get going. I told my father I'd be home by 3:30 to help him take care of the puppy. I left it with him all day and I felt bad."
"Can I walk you back?" he asked.
She wanted to say no in case Ethan and her mother were back already. She didn't want Bradin to see Ethan just yet. She wanted to wait a few more days to tell him. "Okay," she said.
"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" he asked as they approached her house.
"We're having Aaron Carter at the music store from noon to about three. Then, I have to stay to work until closing."
"Oh," he said with disappointment.
"Why?"
"I wanted to hang out with you again. Maybe we could do something else besides tears and talking. Maybe we can go to the movies or this party that my friend is throwing."
"I would but I can't. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he said, "I understand."
"So, I will see you soon?" she asked.
He smiled and nodded. He turned around and began to walk away. He turned back around just as she went to go into her house. "Kait," he said. She turned around. "Thank you for today," he said with a smile.
"You're welcome," she said smiling back.
Kaitlin walked into her house and got attacked by Alex. She smiled, knelt down near him, and began to scratch his head. He licked her all over the face because he was so happy to see her. She got up and walked deeper into the house to find her dad in the living room.
"Hey dad," she said.
"Hey princess," he said with a smile, "How was your day?"
"It's was good," she said sitting down.
"Your mother told me that you were hanging out with a boy today," her father said.
"Yeah."
"Did you have fun?" he asked.
"To tell you the truth," she began, "I did. I mean there was one thing I would change. But that wasn't our fault. It was Tanner's."
"Tanner? You saw him again?" her father asked getting angry.
"Unfortunately I did," she said with a sigh, "I wanted to kill him after what he did to Bradin. Bradin didn't deserve that shit that Tanner said to him."
"Do you care about this Bradin boy?" her father asked.
"I do," she said, "I found out something that changed his life worse than Ethan changing mine. His parents died in June and everyone makes him jealous and miss his parents even more. No one listened to him when h wanted to talk about the accident and how he felt when he heard that they died."
"He told you, didn't he?"
"Yeah," she said.
The front door opened and Ethan and Kaitlin's mother walked inside.
"Mommy!" Ethan yelled running up to her with Alex following him.
"Hello, sweetie," she said kissing his forehead as they hugged, "How was the zoo?"
"I saw the hyenas!" he yelled.
"Did they laugh like they did in The Lion King?" she asked.
"No," he said with a laugh, "They were sleeping."
"I'm sorry, sweetie. Maybe they'll be up another time," she told him.
"We saw tigers, too. Didn't we Ethan?" her mother asked him.
"Yes!" he yelled. "One roared and I took a picture of him for you."
"Thank you," Kaitlin said hugging him again. "Ethan, why don't you go play with Alex? I need to talk to grandma and grandpa."
"Okay." He ran up to Alex and ran off with him to the backyard.
"How was your day?" her mother asked sitting down next to her.
"I saw Tanner," she said.
"Did he try anything?" her mother asked.
"He tried to get close to me. But, Bradin pushed him out of the way. Then, Tanner said something and it hurt Bradin more than how he hurt me."
"It sounds like Bradin likes you," her mother said. "I know he cares about you. But, it also sounds like he likes you."
"I don't know," she said.
"Did you have a good time with him?"
"I did," Kaitlin said looking at her mother, "He's like a normal guy."
"Define normal," her father said.
"He someone that doesn't have that many people care about him. No one listens to him. He's friendly, kind, and caring. He also listens to people."
"What's your relationship with him?"
"We decided to be friends," she said.
"Do you think that you two will go out?" her father asked.
"I don't know. I'm still scared."
"Let him see the real Kaitlin," her mother told her, "I think he'll like that side of you."
"I think he already saw it," Kaitlin said.
Night came quickly and Kaitlin thought about Bradin the rest of the day. She lied in her bed thinking of what to do with her life. A noise sounded upon her window. She got up and walked over to it. She gasped to find…
