Naomi...

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself.

That can't be him. That couldn't be him.

What was he doing here?

"What's wrong?" Celeste asked, confused.

"That's him."

"That's who?"

"The guy from New York!"

"You mean the guy at the bar in New York that wanted to talk to you and you punked out?"

I groaned at the phrase, "punked out". I did not need to be reminded of that embarrassing decision.

"Don't groan at me, you're the one that did it," she said, "but what is he doing here?"

"I don't know."

"And why is your sister holding on to him like he's her man?"

"Cause she probably slept with him," I answered and her eyes widened.

"What?! You didn't tell me that!"

"It would have made the story worse," I said.

"It most certainly did," she said "Not only did you run away from this dude, but you let your sister get her slimy hands into him?"

"Can we not revisit this?" I asked annoyed.

"It's going to be hard not to," she said.

My sister noticed that we were just standing there and motioned for us to come over.

"Oh god, what do we do?" I asked panicking.

"We go over there like normal human beings and say hi."

"What if he remembers me?" I asked.

"He better," she answered, "then he'll go after the sister he really wanted."

She sent me a devious grin, and I knew she had some scheme up her sleeve. She grappled onto my hand and dragged me behind her towards my sister, ignoring the subtle resistance I tried to put up.

Thinking about that night for the past few days had been sending me crazy. I could not believe that I had let my fear get the best of me. Of course, I vented to my best friend, and she wasted no time letting me know that I messed up. I was in the process of trying to forget about it when he showed his face here. Did my sister invite him? Did he come all this way just for her? That would probably ruin whatever plan Celeste had up her sleeve.

The closer we got, the more I realized he was looking at me.

Oh god, he remembered!

Was he mad? Amused? Think I was weird?

I didn't have time to deduce an answer because we arrived at the group.

"Kyle, this is my sister Naomi and her best friend Celeste, who's actually Chris' sister," Noelle introduced, still holding on tightly to his arm. What was that all about?

"Hi," Celeste said.

There he was, standing right in front of me. He looked just as good in a suit as he did in the leather jacket.

A kick on my shin from my best friend pulled me out of my fantasies.

"Hi," I said, trying to sound as normal as I could.

"Kyle is here visiting his family," Noelle said.

"Who's your family?" Kamryn asked.

"Uh, Anthony Young is my dad," he answered.

For a moment I forgot about that night, and my curiosity took over.

"Anthony Young is your dad?" Alexis asked.

Seemed like I wasn't the only curious one.

"I didn't know Anthony had another son," Chris said.

"Yeah," Kyle chuckled nervously, it seemed like the topic made him uncomfortable.

Maybe there was more to that story that he wasn't saying.

"Well if you're Anthony's son, you probably shouldn't be seen hanging out with us," Brodrick said.

"Why not?" He asked, confused.

"You don't know?" Noelle asked.

"Know what?" He asked.

He really didn't know.

"Goodnight everyone," said a voice on the microphone inside, "I'm so happy to see all of you here."

"I guess you'll find out now," my sister said as she led him inside.

We all followed behind, going to hear the speech that we all knew was coming.

The older, grey-haired man stood on the stage, looking down at the crowd. Senator Winston smiled widely as everyone gathered around to hear him speak. He was a frail-looking man, the wisdom visible in the wrinkles on his face.

"Let me start off by thanking all of you for being here," he said, and the room erupted in applause.

He was a well-loved man here, that was for sure. His family did a lot for the state and its people, it was why there was a whole Gala named after them.

He went on with his speech, thanking whoever he needed to and sending "shout-outs" to the important people in the crowd.

"I know that we all may have heard by now why I'm up here tonight, but I needed to come here and make it official. I, Gerald Winston, am stepping down from the Senate and retiring entirely from politics," He said.

There were no audible gasps or words of surprise. Like he said, we all already knew, it was why my dad has been working so hard to get his campaign up and running.

"Even though it's sad that I'm taking a step back, from what I've heard, I'm leaving you in good hands," he said, "I've been hearing a lot about these new candidates, and I must say I am very impressed. I thought it was important that I come up here and give them some praise and support," he said.

I looked through the crowd and found my parents. My father was smiling widely at the old man.

"The first candidate is a newbie to the political space. He's worked as a lawyer for years here and has had his ups and downs. But he has been trying so hard for the people of his constituency and thought it best to take it to the state level. Let's give a hand to Mr. Terrance Washington!"

The audience clapped, but my sister and I made it our mission to be the loudest we could be.

"Yeah, Dad!" I said, and the crowd erupted into laughter.

This whole campaign thing may be annoying, but I was proud of my dad.

Kyle turned to me then my sister, "He's your dad?" He asked.

"Yeah," Noelle answered.

"Oh, so you must be the daughters he was talking about," he said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I bumped into him earlier. He said I should come out on the balcony where his daughters and all the young people are."

I nodded in response. That was nice of dad.

"The other candidate I have known since he was a baby. His family has had a hand in this state's political arena for decades. His grandfather was the Mayor of this very town for years, and had aspirations to go further but couldn't. But today, his grandson is going to finish what he started. Everyone my friend, Mr. Anthony Young."

The crowd clapped again, louder this time with a few cheers in between. I guess we knew whose side they were on, not that it was a surprise to my father and his campaign.

But there was someone who was definitely surprised by what they heard.

Kyle did not have the same reaction my sister and I had when your father's name was said. He stood there staring at the man on the stage, then at his father in the crowd who was waving at the people around him. He looked shocked and confused. Did he not know his father was running for Senate?

"You didn't know did you?" Noelle asked.

"Nope," he finally answered.

I couldn't quite tell what he was feeling. Was he happy his father was running? Or was he upset that he wasn't even told? That in itself was odd. Why would you run for office and not tell your own son?

Once the speech was over, we remained inside. There was supposed to be some performance from some "hip" new artist and everyone couldn't wait to see it. Well, except me. I'm sure they were cool, but I don't think I was in the state to enjoy a performance right now.

Kyle was staring, hard. But it would never be for long because my sister would keep pulling his attention, while she was still holding on tightly to his arm. It bothered me how she was constantly flirting with him. Was I jealous? Sure. But what was I even supposed to do about that?

Celeste seemed to have an idea, as she kept motioning for me to start up a conversation with him. But I was too scared. There was no way I could compete with my sister who did not care about how she looked flirting with him so openly.

"Hey Kyle," Chris caught his attention, "I don't think your grandmother likes that you're hanging out with the enemy."

He motioned over to his right, and we all tried to subtly look. His grandmother was staring, and she did not look happy.

Kyle rolled his eyes, "She can be pissed all she wants. I don't have time to deal with her attitude."

"So you've encountered the famous Sarah Young?" I said, taking the chance to jump into the conversation.

"So this is a regular thing?" He asked, looking at me. I tried my best to not react, "Like she does this to everyone?"

"Yep," we all answered.

I don't know what happened to this woman in her early life, but whatever it was, turned her into a bitch. Almost everyone had a, how should I put it, a strong dislike for her. But she didn't seem to care.

"At least she's not our grandmother. So, good luck with that," Noelle said, seeming to hold on even tighter to his arm.

She then pulled him into some random conversation, and again, his focus was not on me.

I was getting even more upset, and I knew that it was irrational. It was probably time that I excused myself before I did something stupid again.

I slowly stepped away from the group, no one but my best friend seemed to notice. She had a stern look, and all I could mouth was "sorry" before turning around and heading out the double doors to the balcony.

This was not right. This was not normal. I've only seen him once and I already feel like I have this huge crush!

I walked over to the edge and looked out, taking in the scene of the city. I needed to find something to calm me down and get my head right, and the only thing that helped was writing.

I pulled out my phone and pulled up the documents app. I again stared at the blank page. Nothing has come to me since I came back from New York. It should not be this hard to write a book.

I tried to go back to my inspiration for the story. It was a...particular scandal. The catch is that I was the only person who knew. I usually got my material from the gossip I heard around, but not this one.

It was actually a night like this when I snuck away from the crowd and I saw the real-life counterparts of my main characters sneaking off into a dark corner. I am not a nosy person, but my curiosity got the better of me that night. What I saw...well let's just say it was not for innocent eyes.

Part of me wanted to run off and tell Celeste, my mother, or my sister. But I loved the idea of keeping this one to myself, and the culprits one day reading my very famous book, wondering if it was about them.

At that moment a spark of inspiration hit me and I started typing away on my phone. My fingers moved fast across the keypad, and I planned on not taking a break until that whole chapter was done.

But my plans were ruined when a certain someone decided to disrupt the peace I was finally feeling.

"Hey," Brodrick said walking up to me.

Ugh!

Why was he here?!

"Hey," I said, plastering on a smile.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Just needed a break."

"What company?"

"No, I'm fine," I said politely.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "Out here is pretty quiet, and I don't want you to be alone."

I chuckled, "That's kinda the point of me being here Brodrick."

He sighed, and I could see the mask he always wore around me slip off.

"What do you have against me?"

I stayed quiet. I was not in the mood to deal with this right now.

"Why won't you just give me a chance?"

"How many times do I have to tell you we're just not compatible," I said, the exhaustion audible in my voice.

"Everyone else says otherwise," he said, "I say otherwise. Naomi, I could give you the life you deserve."

I was beginning to lose my patience.

"First off I'm not living my life for everyone, I'm living it for myself," I began, "Second, what is this so-called life I deserve?"

"This," he pointed around, "Being part of this community and society. It's what we deserve and need."

The fact that he thought that I needed or cared for this was problematic and proved my point that he only wanted to be with me for how it would make him look.

"I think you should leave Brodrick," I said, not bothering to acknowledge his answer.

"You know what, I really don't understand you," he said in frustration.

I chuckled. Sadly, he did not see the irony of his words.

"Goodnight, Brodrick," I said, turning my attention back to the view.

"You know what..."

"Everything good here?"

I quickly turned to see Kyle standing there with a concerned look on his face. What was HE doing here? He looked at Brodrick, then me. He could tell something was off.

Brodrick didn't stick around for any more questions. He quickly left towards the double doors.

"You ok?" Kyle asked once he was gone.

"Uh, I'm good," I answered.

He held out his hand, which I only now noticed had a glass of champagne in it,

"Celeste said you might need a drink, and insisted that I bring it out to you."

Of course her meddling ass did.

"Thank you," I said, taking it from him, ignoring the spark I felt when our fingers touched.

I quickly took a sip...well more like a chug.

Kyle chuckled, "That must have been an interesting conversation."

"Oh it was," I said.

"That was the guy at the bar right?" he smiled and I froze, "He doesn't seem to know how to take a hint."

He knows it's me. Oh god, he knows it's me! How do I play this off? Do I acknowledge it? Do I lie? What would even be the point of lying?

"He doesn't take direct rejection either," I said, deciding to casually play along.

"Maybe you need to be more direct."

"I think, "I don't want to be with you," is direct enough," I said.

He smiled at me and I nervously looked away. Here he was, without my sister clinging on to him, obviously wanting to talk to me and I was being a nervous wreck.

We stood there for a few seconds in complete silence, both of us looking around nervously. It was at least good to know that I wasn't the only one feeling like this.

"So, you remember me," I finally said.

"It's hard not to," he said.

At that moment I was so glad my skin was dark.

"For the past few days I thought I imagined you," he said, "One minute you were there and the next you weren't."

"Sorry about that," I smiled apologetically, "I was..."

"Trying to get away from dude?" he pointed to the door, referring to Brodrick.

I wondered how I should answer this question. Did I really want him to know that I freaked out at the thought of a guy that wasn't Brodrick possibly liking me, who would later not like me? That was too much trauma to dumb on someone after officially meeting them for the first time.

"Honestly, I was being a punk, according to Celeste," I said, "I was just really nervous."

That was part of the truth.

"I get it," he said, "Big shot athlete coming up to you might be too much."

I nodded with a smile. I'll let him believe that for now.

"Are you still too nervous to talk to me now?"

The grin he sent my way could melt the sun. How was I supposed to say no to that?

"I'm definitely still nervous," I began, "but we could still talk. I'll try not to run off this time."

He took a few steps and stood right next to me. We both turned to the view and a conversation sparked up instantly.

I was not looking forward to this night. His appearance rattled everything and Brodrick added a stench to it that I could not bear.

But here I was, having an amazing conversation with the guy I was sure would choose my sister over me.

Maybe I was good enough after all.