School is finally over. The last few days have been hectic with exams and all. Today is the last day of me being a junior. I am currently waiting for my friends at the parking lot.

"Hey, Kiara," Luke greets me.

"Hey, Luke," I greet him back, and soon Ava, Kate, and Noah join us.

"So, guys, what are you doing this summer," Ava asks everyone.

"I forgot to tell you guys. I am going back to India," I tell them excited.

"What? But, we were all going to go to my beach house and spend the summer vacation," Noah tells me with a pout.

"When are you leaving?" Luke asks me

"Tomorrow," I tell him.

"I planned a whole week of shopping for three of us for swimsuits and beach items," Kate tells me.

My eyes widen. Me and shopping. Oh please. I am not a girl who likes shopping. For six months I went shopping twice, and that was last year for Christmas.

Ava chuckles, looking at my expression.

"Kiara, how can you do this to me. You are leaving me with the shopping devil," Ava cries out, and I play along.

"I am so sorry, Ava, that I cannot be there for you. I will pray that you come back to me in one piece," I cry, hugging Ava.

Kate huffs and jumps on my back, and we all start laughing.

"But seriously, we are going to miss you," Luke sulks.

"I will miss you guys too," I tell him and go for a hug.

"Bye, guys," I wave them goodbye.

"Bye, Kiara, and stay in contact," Kate warns me.

"Love You,"

"Love you guys," I wave one last time and head to the park.

The park looks so calm. The leaves are all shaking due to the wind, and kids are playing. A boy falls, and his mother rushes to him and soothes the crying boy. She gives him chocolate, and he stops crying and hugs his mom.

I feel hands touch my cheek and I jump, startled. I look at the pair of brown eyes that I have come to love. His eyes are full of concern, and he holds my face with both of his hands and wipes my tears.

"You have me and Ryder and mom and dad and your brother, your best friends sparkle. I will never leave you, and that is a promise," he tells me with a small smile. He puts his arm around my waist and hugs me. I hug him back. The same boy who hated me six months ago has become a crucial person in my life.

We head home, and I go straight to my room and start packing for my flight tomorrow since my idiot of a brother did not tell me until yesterday that I was going back to India. Yesterday he called me and told me. Imagine my shock. Keith also told raven not to inform me.

It is dinner time when I finish packing, and I go downstairs for dinner. We all have dinner and, Reed and Ryder all head to the pool. I just put my legs in the water while Reed and Ryder play in the pool. I lay down and look at the sky filled with stars and think about how my life has changed.

It is crazy how life changes in a day or a second. When you receive the news that you lost your loved one or finding that you got accepted into your dream university, one makes you sit down and sob, and the other makes you jump up and down in joy.

Reed comes out of the water and lays down beside me.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" I ask him, admiring the stars. He just hums.

"How are you going to spend your summer vacation?" I ask him.

"I am not sure. We might go somewhere or spend the whole summer in our beach house," he tells me.

"Aww, I won't be able to stay in the beach house," he chuckles.

"Well, you are the one going back to India," he tells me. I shrug. I am going to miss staying here, but I want to see my brother too. He is all alone.

"Yeah, I know. After my parents passed, Keith was all I had. It is the first time we are separated, and he is alone," I tell him.

"After you came into my life, Kiara, I started realising how beautiful life can be when you have the right people next to you. I started admiring the little things like the sunrise and sunsets," he stops. I wait for him to talk again.

"During freshman year, we had a lot of new admissions, but one girl caught my eye. She was beautiful with her blonde hair and blue eyes. I liked her a lot. She was the shy type, but she stood up for herself. She put others first before herself. She soon became friends with your best friends. That time I didn't know that I would fall in love with April, but I did, and I loved her so much that I wanted her to be my other half,"

April about whom I have heard my friends speaking. I am not going to lie. It is like someone is stabbing my heart with needles when he talks about the girl he loves.

"I took her on dates, and she also fell in love with me, or so I thought. I was happy with her. One day I went over to her house to surprise her with a date when I saw her kissing some guy. That was my first ever heartbreak. I loved her a lot, and how cliché, right? My first love broke my heart," he chuckles, but it seems pained.

"I was hurt. She was my girlfriend for nearly two years, and after the breakup, I started being a player. I could not find any reason to fall in love again. I loved her so much that I even let her explain why she kissed someone else, and she looked straight into my eye and told me that she never loved me. She was the first person I ever told, 'I love you too. I was depressed for nearly a month, and Adrian got me back on my feet. I never dated anyone else. She made me feel afraid to fall in love. I hated love," I look at him and see the broken boy he hides behind his player ways.

"You reminded me a lot of her, which is why I hated you at first. Then you showed me that you are not like April. I mean, you start crying if a character dies in a movie," he chuckles.

"You admire nature. You are very loyal. You start crying if other people are crying. You stand up for everyone else. You are strong and kind, and you go out of your way to help people. You helped me find meaning behind life sparkle. I was, broken, and I thought I could not be, fixed. But then you came along, and you changed me,"

"And now you made me talk so cheesy," he says, scrunching his nose.

I start laughing. I am happy that Reed decided to open up, that I broke down his walls. Glad that I was able to help somebody, that I found someone like Reed and ecstatic that he might be able to fall in love again.

I sit up, and he does too. I hug him, and he hugs me back, his warmth surrounding me.

"I am so happy that you opened up to me, Reed. Thank you so much," I tell him.

"No one else knows about this except my parents, Adrian, and now you sparkle. I trust you with my heart," he tells me.

I break the hug and realise how close we are, and my stupid mind now only realises that he is not wearing a shirt.

I clear my throat and look away to stop my blushing.

Suddenly I am being pushed into the pool, and I come back up and see Reed laughing. He jumps in, and we start playing in the pool. After some time, we all head back inside. I dry myself, change into comfortable clothes and head over to Ryder's room to see him sound asleep. I chuckle. I whisper goodnight to him and kiss him on the forehead.

I turn back and see Reed watching me with a smile. I say goodnight to him and go back to my room. I fall asleep once my head hits the pillow due to exhaustion. My last thought,

Reed will be able to fall in love again.

           ______________________

Hey you all. I hope you are going well. Here is another chapter. Remember Jesus loves you.

Love😍
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