After finding about everything with Jade I’ve been trying to focus more on myself. I haven’t spoke to Gio since the day Kaden pulled me away from him in class. I wonder how he’s doing.

I decide to take a walk to the coffee shop to see if he’s working a shift today. I walk into the coffee shop scanning the room, that’s when I spot the back of a boy with blonde hair. That would be him. “Gio!” I exclaim walking up to the counter. “Hey saige! How are you, same as last time iced vanilla latte?” He asks smiling. “Ah you remember! Yes same order and I’ve been.. okay. Do you maybe want to hang out after your shift?” I ask hoping he says yes.

gios face immediately lights up, “I would love that I could pick you up around 6 for dinner if that’s cool with you?” He beams.

“sounds like a plan” I say grabbing my coffee and heading out the door. Gio is honestly so sweet, I would totally consider him a close friend. I admit he’s a bit cute too.

I walk to the nearest book store wanting to add to my collection since I left most of my books at home. I glance at the romance section choosing a few that look intriguing.

I pay for the books and make my way back to the beach house. I’m actually super excited about going out with Gio tonight but I need to figure out what to wear and start getting ready being that it’s 4:00.

I approach the house and see Kaden sitting at the minibar with kam. “Hey saige! Where have you been!” Kam shouts from the porch down the driveway. Kaden looks over at me with eyes full of sadness. There’s no way it’d it’s over me not taking to him. Kaden doesn’t give a shit about me. “I went to the book store and to get some coffee, I’m going out to dinner with Gio tonight” I say walking up the steps before entering the house. Before I shut the door behind me I hear kam say “ouuuu dinner with Gio”. She’s a bit childish I told her we were just friends.

I take a quick shower and blow dry my hair. I can’t decide if I should straighten or curl my hair. “Kammm” I scream into the hallway, she comes rushing to my room frantically. “Should I curl or straighten my hair” I ask. “Jesus saige you scared the shit out of me but you should curl it” she answers out of breathe. Kam sits on the edge of my bed as I curl my hair and apply some makeup. By the time I finish doing that it’s now 5:45, I have 20 minutes to get dress. I dig through my closet picking a tight wine red crop top and some tight fitting black shorts. I grab my vans and slip them on. “How do I look” I ask Kambrie looking a bit uncomfortable. “Perfect! Now let’s get you downstairs he’s probably almost here” she squeals.

We walk downstairs and hear a knock on the door, before I can make it to the door Kaden looks me up and down before opening the door. “Hey, I’m here for Saige” Gio tells him. Kaden doesn’t even acknowledge him, he just looks back at me with a defeated face, it almost looks like he’s begging me not to go. I give him a nod, which is the first time I’ve even attempted to acknowledge his presence. “I’m right here Gio!” I say walking to the door. We exit the house and make our way to the car.

as well pull away from the house Gio looks at me saying “you look very nice Saige, but what’s with the tough guy act from Kaden everytime I get near you” he laughs. Do we really have to talk about it? Ugh. “Umm I don’t know he’s just protective I guess” I say awkwardly. This has gotten a bit awkward now.

We make some small talk on the way to the restaurant, we pull in and go inside. The host brings us to a booth and the waitress takes our drinks, I get a water with lemon and gio gets a sprite. “So what’s it like working at the coffee shop?” I ask him trying to start up conversation. “Umm well it’s an easy going job, we’re a bit short staffed honestly so I’ve been working double shifts like crazy” he admits. “I’ve been thinking about getting a job, I just haven’t had time to really look” I tell him. It’s true I do need to get a job so I can save up for a car, my scholarship money will run out eventually so I need to be able to buy clothes and food as well.

“if you want I can get you an application and bring it to you Monday in class, I can put in a good word for you if your interested” Gio offers. I think about it for a few seconds, “that would be awesome, at least I would already have a friend working there as well!” I say accepting his offer. As the night goes on dinner goes pretty well, I learned a lot about Gio. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mom, like I did except he’s still pretty close with his dad, he has two older brothers and two younger sisters and he’s majoring in business.

my life is finally starting to feel normal, I have a few friends, I’m working on getting a job now all I have left to sort out is my issue with Kaden. As we wrap up dinner, we pay for our food and leave a tip. We walk out to the car the both of us getting in. Gio puts the car in drive and heads back to drop me off at the beach house. “Hey saige, I really enjoyed hanging out with you tonight, maybe we can do it more often?” He asks. “Yes of course Gio! Tonight was so fun! I really do appreciate you picking me up” I say enthusiastically.

before you know it we are pulling into the driveway of the beach house, I open the car door getting out as I tell Gio bye. I walk towards the house and notice a tall dark figure sitting on the steps. Gios car pulls away, and I attempt to walk passed the tall figure, knowing it’s Kaden. “Saige.. please” he says looking up at me reaching for my hand. “Kaden I’ve had a really good night please don’t ruin it” i scoff. He stands up and we are now face to face, I’m able to fully see him now and his face is covered in blood, I notice his hands are bruised as well. What the fuck.

“Oh my god, Kaden what the fuck happened” I ask frantic, pulling him inside to the nearest bathroom. “I don’t know.. you left with him and next thing I know I’m in a alley picking a fight with this random dude and ended up getting jumped but, it’s really not that bad the other guys are pretty fucked up though” he goes on to explain.

I shake my head as I pull out the first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet, I’m now noticing how much taller he is compared to me. “Kaden you’re gonna have to bend down so I can reach the top of your head without standing on my toes” I say annoyed. Instead of just bending down he lifts me off the ground sitting me on the bathroom counter, his hands are now on each side of my legs and he’s now eye level with me.

I take an alcohol prep wipe and clean up the blood on his face, he winces in pain his grip on my legs becoming tighter, but it doesn’t bother me, I know how bad it can burn. I rub some Neosporin on the cuts. “All done” I say making eye contact with him. His eyes, they’re the prettiest shade of blue I’ve ever seen. My eyes trail down to his bottom lip which is busted and a tad bruised.

before I know it our lips are inches apart, my heart is beating rapidly, and just when he’s about to kiss me, I move back “Kaden.. we can’t.. your sister” I groan. His eyes turn stone cold. He helps me off the counter, I grab his hand leading him to the kitchen and grabbing him an ice pack “here you need to ice your hands and your um- lip, it should help the swelling go down” I assure him.

I hope he’s okay, I never wanna see him hurt. I know he pisses me off but this isn’t okay. I can’t believe this was all over me going out with Gio. Maybe me ignoring him has a part to play in it as well. I dont think it’s a good idea to leave him alone, he might try to do something destructive again. “Come on we can hang out in my room, maybe put a movie on” I say. We walk up the stairs into my room, I go into the bathroom changing out of the clothes I have on putting on some pajamas. He’s already sitting in my bed.

I climb in the bed next to him opening my laptop and turning Netflix on. “Saige you have a tv” he says pointing at the tv. “Well I tried but I couldn’t get it to work so the laptop it is” I tell him. It’s true the tv wouldn’t even turn on the other day. I press play on the movie, which I of course selected Insidious, a scary movie that makes me jump every time. An hour into the movie and a million jumps from me later I’m now laying on his chest dozing off as the movie continues to play.

my eyes are feeling heavy, so as they shut I fall asleep, Kadens hands are running through my hair, he honestly isn’t that bad I guess.