-Tristan-
Why did everything seem so strange?
I'd begun to notice slight changes in Kylie. Aside from her constantly ignoring me, which was already a natural thing for us, of course, I noticed that she'd be en hanging around with Erik frequently. Wait, was I missing something? Whatever it was, it wasn't my business anymore. I'd already made it clear to her that I w ouldn't care what would happen to her.
But I found myself groaning just thinking about it.
Someone poked my shoulder, and I turned to see Lacey standing at my side.
"Tristan," she said quietly, sitting beside me on the bleacher. "I've been calli ng you for ages already."
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Sorry, I was spacing out."
"You don't look well..."
I focused on the football field. It was already five o'clock, and students were on their way home or heading to other places.
Had I really just spent two hours thinking about her? I guess I had.
"Well, something doesn't feel right these days," I said with a shrug. "I don't k now what it is, but it's bugging the crap out of me. Wait, what are you doing he re? Aren't you supposed to be home by now?"
She nodded. "Uh-huh, but I was looking for Kylie. We're supposed to go home toge ther. Do you happen to know where she is?"
I stared at her. Didn't she know her sister didn't even want to see me at all? B ut she must've got what I was thinking, because she quickly snapped her mouth sh ut.
"Maybe she just went out somewhere," I suggested. "Why don't you send her a mess age?"
"I did, but she's not responding," she sighed. "I hope she's okay."
"Trust me, she is. I don't think anyone would dare cross her path-she can be qui te the gremlin when not handled carefully."
"T!" she cried.
I laughed, easing up a little. "Okay, I'm sorry. But hey," I said, turning to fa ce Lacey sternly. "Speaking of your sister, your mother really needs to think ab out keeping her on a leash."
Lacey raised an eyebrow. "Oh, did something happen between you two, and that's w hat started the fight this morning?"
"You... you know about it?"
"Everyone knows it," she said nonchalantly, looking out at the view in the dista nce.
Of course, she knew about the incident. Rumors spread like wildfire on this camp us.
"Well..." I said hesitantly. "It was just a little misunderstanding."
"Gee, I've already heard that story before."
An idle smile spread across my face. "And it's really tiring, isn't it? It's lik e a cycle that never changes. I guess we'll never get along with each other. "
"Hey, don't say that. I've always known that you two will work it out. It may no t be now, but maybe someday."
"Huh, easy for you to say." Snickering, I flicked her head playfully, dishevelin g her hair. "But that's cool."
Lacey let out a breath, as if she was the one carrying the problem on her should ers. I saw a couple of kids still playing on the field. The surrounding area was already looking shady, and the temperature had dropped. I pulled my jacket tigh ter around my body, and Lacey blew on her hands, a slight breeze blowing past us . She tucked her hair behind her ear while murmuring to herself, and I wasn't su re whether she was trying to say something or not.
We spent several minutes in silence until Lacey broke it by blurting out, "T, wh at do you think of my sister?"
"What?"
"Do you like her?"
I blinked, surprised by her unexpected question, and my mouth hung open.
She laughed, but I could sense a quiver in her voice. "Well, sorry if that came out suddenly, but you see, I've been wondering about that for a long time," she explained simply. She was looking at me in confusion, eager for an answer, but w hen I didn't speak up, she pleaded, "Come on, T. Please? Please answer me honest ly, and don't leave me hanging. I know I'm being nosy right now, but pretty plea se?"
"You really wanna know?"
Her eyes lit up. "Yes!"
"The truth?"
"Huge yes!" she exclaimed again. "Answer me, do you like Kylie?"
Slowly, my smile widened. I tried to cover my mouth with a cold hand, but it sti ll didn't manage to cover the uncontrollable grin that was forming. I knew I loo ked like dork.
Lacey must have noticed that I was flustering because of her question, since she giggled a lot and sang, "Aha, my instincts were right all along!"
I chuckled nervously. "Come to think of it," I said, my vision distant-her quest ion had really dug deep into my subconscious- "I was always the kind of kid that tease the girl I like just to hide what I really feel for her."
Lacey's hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes grew even wider with shock. Of cour se, I couldn't blame her-this was the first time I'd ever admitted it to another person.
"Oh, my gosh. This is a major exposé," she said breathlessly. She opened her mouth , then shut it, then did it all over again. Biting her lower lip, she tried to p revent her smile from growing again. "So, um, when did it start?"
"Hmm, I wonder..."
"Why did you like her?"
"Uh..."
"Did you find her very special?"
I scratched my head. "Uh, does liking someone really need to have a reason?"
"Well." She shrugged. "I guess not. You're right-it doesn't need a reason at all ."
I smiled. Looking back, I realized there were many things still waiting to be sa id. "Well, I can't tell when it started. I found her very weird, and funny... I noticed she's herself no matter what other people said to her, and that fearless attitude of hers was really something. Before I realized it, she'd already beco me so special to me, and... I just can't compare her to others."
I sucked in some air after I was finished and waited for Lacey to respond. I jus t couldn't believe I'd finally said those words-saying them had made me realize many things, and it had given me a strange, yet satisfied feeling. The things I hadn't wanted to believe at first were coming to the surface, and I guess there was no stopping them now.
Lacey raised her index finger like something had just popped into her head. "T, if you really like my sister, then why do you date other girls?"
I raked a hand through my hair, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Uh... to see if s he cared or not? Or if she will get jealous or something?"
Lacey's face crumpled in disbelief, and I snorted out a laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. But that method doesn't work with Kyli e at all-she's very impossible." I smiled lamely. "What I was doing didn't feel right, which was why I broke up with those girls so quickly. Not cool, right?"
"Ugh," Lacey groaned. "You boys are hard to understand."
I frowned. "Hey, we are not. It's you women who are hard to understand, especial ly when you're on your T.O.M."
"Huh? What's that?"
"Time of the Month." I snickered, and she made a face.
Silence fell over us again. Lacey was resting her chin in her hands and looking across the field with dreamy eyes, as if she was off in her fantasies. I found t he whole situation slightly comical, though everything already seemed doomed to failure.
You know that dreadful feeling you get when you like someone you know you should n't? Yeah, that was definitely what I was feeling.
Lacey finally shook her head and laughed. "You really are amazing. Why don't you just tell her right away? I bet Kylie will be extremely happy once she hears it ."
"Happy? Are you kidding me?" I slapped my palm to my forehead. "God, I swear she 's going to get mad. And there's also a huge possibility that she'll kill me."
"No, she won't."
"Yes, she will. She's Kylie, remember?"
"But-"
I sighed and said, "Trust me, Lacey, she'll kill me. She could have me eaten by a lion, drown me in a bathtub, sink me in quicksand, push me off a building, run me over with a truck, fry me in the desert, and do so much more just to get rid of me."
"Gee." Lacey wrinkled her nose. "You're going overboard. Kylie would never do al l that stuff."
I smirked and said, "But still."
She'd never believe me, anyway. It's better if I keep all of this close to my ch est.
"You know what, Lace," I said after a while, "just because of this talk, I reali zed something."
"What is it?"
"Screw Cinderella and chase Kylie instead."
Lacey laughed. "You know," she said, "it's really incredible to think that your heart can always tell who you're in love with even when your eyes don't recogniz e who they are."
"Huh?" I asked, clueless as to what she meant. Maybe she was referring to Clark-those two were as hopeless as I was. Or maybe she was quoting some passage from a book again. She always did that whenever her head was in the clouds.
"Now you said that, I guess I can't really keep this from you any longer, T," sh e said, smiling apologetically. "I feel bad about it, I swear, so I'm sorry-I'm really sorry I kept this from you all this time."
"What... do you mean?" I felt my stomach suddenly drop.
"I know you'll get upset because of me, and I know Kylie will get furious becaus e I broke my promise, but I have no choice. Secrets are eventually revealed, and promises are meant to be broken, right? So... yeah."
"Lacey?"
"But that's not really important now. I just wanted to tell you that-" she pause d, her smile broadening even more "-congrats. You did it."
I just gaped at her, my mouth open. "I did what?"
"You found her!" she sang in pure excitement. My mind was still processing what was going on, so I could only sit frozen in place while she shook my shoulders a s if to wake me up, exclaiming, "Don't you realize it? Open your eyes, Tristan! You've already found the girl you've been looking for so long!"
Then it hit me.
"Y-you mean-?" I couldn't continue-it felt like a huge ball stuck in my throat.
Lacey patted her pockets as if she was searching for something. At long last, sh e slid it out, and my breathing stopped in an instant.
"I've been waiting for the right time to give you this," she said.
There was like a cord that had suddenly been pulled from the back of my head, ma king me paralyzed. There were no words to describe exactly what I was feeling.
Christ.
It was the red string from the ball. The Heart string.
The one that had been paired to mine.
The one owned by the mysterious girl.
I couldn't believe my own eyes, but it was really in front of me, in my own hand s. And seeing the final proof made me speechless and out of breath.
My hunch was right all along. Why didn't I believe myself at first?
Swallowing the huge lump in my throat, I lifted my wide eyes from my hand.
Lacey looked at me, immeasurable relief in her face. "Kylie's lightning fast, so you better go and find her," she chirped, flicking up a finger in front of me. "The clock's ticking. You have to say it before it's too late."