Chapter 4:
January 3, 2002
Well, I finally did it. I finally told Reese that I'm not in love with him. I finally told him that I love Miguel.

Well, ok, he heard Simone say that I was in love with him, so I didn't have much choice. But all the same, Reese and I are no longer a couple.

Not only that, but for the first time, I think I think that I have finally succeeded in driving a wedge between Charity and Miguel. Granted, they're not broken up yet, but they certainly appear to be on the rocks!!

All in all, this was a great day. I am finally FREE! And if my luck holds out, Miguel and Charity will break up soon… leaving him free to date his one true love—ME!

"It's just that I love him so much, Simone! I don't know what else to do!" Kay had just explained her brilliant plan to her best friend, and she was trying to convince Simone to give her a hand. She needed help—after all, she couldn't be in two places at once!

"Kay, I can't help you. Not tonight. My parents are dragging me and Whitney to some hospital charity banquet," Simone explained. "I'm really sorry, but I just can't do it."

This could not be happening. Simone had to help her!! This plan was sure to work—but she couldn't do it alone!

"Simone!!!" Kay whined. "I need you to help me! I don't know how else I'll be able to pull it off!"

"I told you I was sorry, Kay. There's nothing I can do!"

"After all I did to help you get Chad, this is how you repay me?" Kay fumed. Kay couldn't believe it. She had told so many lies to help Simone snag Chad! Kay racked her brain. How could she convince Simone to help her?

"Look, Kay, I have tried to help you get Miguel more times than I wish to remember. All of your 'great plans' have gone up in smoke before—what makes you think that this one will be any different?"

Kay was about to give her so-called best friend a mouthful on how friends help each other out no matter what, when she heard someone sit down on the nearby bench. Quickly she slapped her hand over Simone's mouth. "That's enough, Simone!" she hissed. "Someone's listening!"

Simone froze, and Kay debated whether or not she should investigate and find out who had overheard their conversation. Damage control could be necessary.

Before she could make the decision, Reese's voice interrupted her thoughts as he carefully poked his head around the corner. "Kay?"

"Reese!" Kay gasped in shock. Of all the people to have overheard that conversation, it had to have been Reese. If it had been Charity or Miguel, she would have been able to explain it away as a 'friendship-love' and they would have believed her. But Reese was too smart for that. What was she going to do now?

"Can we talk?" Reese asked.

Kay nodded and looked towards Simone, who ran off without another word. Kay knew that her friend wanted to avoid this confrontation. Hell, she wanted to avoid this confrontation that had been years in the making.

"How much did you hear?" Kay asked cautiously. Maybe he hadn't heard Simone say that she loved Miguel. Maybe she would be able to claim that she had been talking about him. While the chances of that were doubtful, Kay could hope—couldn't she?

"Enough," Reese responded flatly. "Kay, was Simone telling the truth? Do you really love Miguel?"

Kay took a deep breath, contemplating what to do. If she told Reese the truth, he would hate her. And chances were that he would tell Miguel how she felt.

But did she really want to keep living a lie? Every day she rued the night of the Halloween party when she had first kissed Reese. She had thought he had been Miguel, but after that night, everything had gone downhill.

She didn't want to keep lying to the world about her 'relationship' with Reese. It was time to tell the truth.

Softly, Kay whispered, "Yes, I do."

Kay saw Reese's face fall and realized how much she had hurt him. But she couldn't take it back—she wouldn't. She refused to keep living a lie.

But Kay knew that Reese deserved some type of explanation, so she led him to a nearby bench. "Reese, I know I should have told you, but I didn't know how. I didn't want to hurt you."

Reese looked at her. "How long has is been? How long have you loved him?"

Kay bit her lip. Should she tell him the whole truth? She had to admit that it was the only explanation that made any sense. Besides, if she claimed that she had fallen for Miguel while dating Reese, that would only hurt him more, wouldn't it?

Her voice was barely more than a whisper when she admitted, "A long time."

"How long, Kay?" Reese demanded. "How long has it been? Have you ever loved me?"

She willed herself not to cry. She was Kay Bennett, and Kay Bennett didn't cry. She had never cried over Miguel, so were tears threatening to fall now?

She knew better than to trust her voice. Mutely, she shook her head no, avoiding Reese's dejected gaze.

She heard Reese exhale loudly. "Honestly, Kay, if you never loved me, why did you lead me on for so long? Why did you even kiss me like that at the Halloween party?"

"I—I—I thought that you were Miguel," Kay whispered.

Reese grabbed Kay's chin and forced her to look into his eyes. "But once you realized I wasn't Miguel, you didn't tell me that it was a mistake. Why? Why the hell didn't you just tell me the truth then, Kay?"

"Miguel and Charity were so happy together, and they just seemed so certain that we belonged together. I, uh, I thought that maybe they could be right. I hoped that maybe if I gave you a chance, I'd fall in love with you… and get over Miguel."

A wave of remorse swept over Kay. She knew that she shouldn't be lying to Reese. He was 17. He should be able to handle the truth by now.

But Kay just knew that anything—even an unclean soul—would be better than seeing anger and betrayal in Reese's eyes. Until that day, she had never seen him look at anyone that day, and she would give anything to never have to see it again.

"But you didn't," Reese replied coldly. "Why didn't you break up with me after you realized that it wasn't going to happen?"

"What was I supposed to say, Reese?" Kay asked rhetorically. "'Hey, Reese, it's been great, but it's over since I love Miguel more. Sure, he never forgets about Charity enough to even realize I exist, but I'm breaking up with you so I can sit around pining after him'?" She took a deep breath. "Reese, I've been trying to find a way for awhile now to tell you this, but I could never find a way to tell you without hurting you."

"So, you'd rather that I overhear you proclaiming your love of our best friend? Do you think that that didn't hurt, Kay?"

"Reese, I'm sorry!" Kay cried, a single tear falling down her face. "I didn't want you to find out like this!"

"That much was obvious," Reese scoffed.

"Reese, let me make it up to you. Please! I'll do anything!!"

"Thanks but no thanks, Kay. You've already done more than enough."

~*~*~*~

"Hey, Christopher! Wait up!" Kay called as she ran towards her English class.

Obligingly, Christopher turned to wait for Kay to catch up. "Hello, Kay. How are you doing today?"


Kay shrugged. "Okay, I suppose. Anyhow, I was wondering if you'd want to meet me at the Book Café tonight for some coffee. A bunch of my friends should be there, and I figured you'd want to meet some more people. Sound good?"

"It sounds fantastic, Kay. I would love to come. But where is this 'Book Café'?"

Kay grinned. "It's downtown, across the street from the Youth Center. If you get lost, just ask anyone. It's an institution in Harmony."

"Thank you, Kay. When should I arrive?"

"Uh, my friends are meeting at about 7:15, 7:20. I should be there around then, but I might be a little late. If I'm not there, just look for a girl with long blonde hair. She should be there by then."

"I will see you then," Christopher agreed as he walked off towards his next class.

~*~*~*~

That night, a little after 7, Kay was running around the house like a madwoman. Miguel had promised to stop by after basketball practice, and he was sure to arrive any moment. With a glance around the room, she knew that everything was ready.

Ding, dong!

Crossing and uncrossing her fingers seven times, Kay walked towards the door. With any luck, everything would go as planned.

~*~*~*~

"Kay, what time is it?" Miguel asked her almost a half-hour later.

"Uh…" Kay replied, glancing up at the analog clock on the wall. "It's about 7:12. When did you tell Charity you'd meet her?"

"7:30, and I don't want to be late."

"Don't worry about it, Miguel. You have plenty of time," Kay assured him. While she didn't know exactly what time it really was, she did know that it most definitely was later than 7:12. Her preparations had involved hiding all of the digital clocks in the room and unplugging the analog—after setting it to 7:12, of course. Miguel would be late, leaving Charity time to get to know Christopher.

A nagging voice told Kay that what she was doing wasn't right. She dismissed the voice, reminding herself that if everyone ended up happily ever after, it couldn't be wrong.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Miguel paused. "Anyhow, Kay, what's this I hear about you and Reese breaking up?"

"Who'd you hear that from?" Kay asked cautiously. She had been hoping to avoid this topic of conversation tonight, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"Reese. He said that you ended it during lunch today. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Miguel," Kay apologized. "I just wasn't ready to talk about it quite yet."

"Kay, I'm your best friend. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Kay almost laughed. Ever since Charity had come to town, she had felt more like a third wheel than a best friend. And how on earth was she supposed to tell Miguel that she was in love with him?

But, instead, she sweetly responded, "Of course I do, Miguel. It's just that I needed to sort out my feelings before I talked to you about this."

"What do you mean?" Miguel asked gently.

"I mean that I don't think I love Reese anymore. I don't want to lead him on, so I broke up with him. I mean, I still love him but only as a friend. I'm just so confused, Miguel!! I don't know what to do!"

Then Kay turned on the waterworks, knowing the Miguel would hold her and comfort her. She knew that tears would make Miguel believe that she was really upset about this. She knew that Miguel still thought of her as the tough girl who never cried.

But 'his Kay' had changed over the past few years. Lack of attention and love from the man of her dreams had changed her. She was no longer the naïve tomboy he had once known.

Kay was now a woman who was willing to do anything to get the man that she felt was rightfully hers.

Anything at all.

~*~*~*~

"I can't believe that your clock was broken!" Miguel exclaimed as he and Kay sped towards the Book Café. "Can't you drive any faster?"

"Miguel, you know that Luis is always patrolling along this stretch of road. The last thing I need right now is a ticket!" Kay replied.

"Charity's going to be so worried," Miguel lamented.

"Try her cell again," Kay suggested, knowing full well that her batteries were dead. Yes, she had taken care of everything.

Miguel did so, but moments later, he shoved the phone back into his jacket pocket. "No answer."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore," Kay informed him. "We're there."

She had taken care of her part of the plan. Soon, she would discover if Christopher had unwittingly given her a hand.

~*~*~*~

"Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald, where on earth have you been?" Charity cried out as she ran towards him and Kay as they walked through the door. "You're over 30 minutes late, and I've been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Miguel apologized, moving for a kiss.

"Don't even think about kissing me, Miguel. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm mad at you!"

Kay couldn't believe it. In all of the time that she had known her cousin, she had always taken her for this wimpy, blonde pushover. But, apparently, when push came to shove, Charity had a spine. Learn something new everyday.

"Miguel, I really don't know what going on inside your head right now, but if you don't care enough about this relationship to even let me know that you're going to be late, we have some serious thinking to do. Maybe you're just not ready for a long-term relationship quite yet." Charity paused to flip her hair over her shoulder. "Christopher, would you be willing to give me a ride home? I just can't bare to look at him for a moment longer?"

"Of course, Charity," Christopher replied, ignoring the look of death that Miguel flashed in his directions. "Let's go."

After watching his girlfriend leave with another guy, Miguel glanced over at Kay in shock. Kay had to admit that she was just as surprised as he was. While she had expected Charity to be mad, she certainly hadn't expected her to overreact.

Not that Kay was complaining. Any overreaction of Charity's was sure to help her out in a long run.

Things were looking good. Finally, it appeared that one of her plans had worked!!