“Kessa!”
Why was there never any way to go more than five minutes without Jen yelling her name? Little sisters could be so annoying. Taking a deep breath to keep from snapping back, even though this was the fifth time she had had to stop her homework to go find out what her four year old sister wanted.
“What Jen?”
“Leland is at the door!” Jen’s voice echoed through the house.
I stood to peek out my bedroom window overlooking the driveway. A silvery blue mustang was parked where mom’s van usually was.
“What?”
She slowly started walking down the hall to peer over the railing overlooking the entryway. Kessa could hear her sister’s giggles.
Standing just inside the open door was Leland Brolditern. He wasn’t one of the popular jocks at school but they definitely didn’t have a drop-by-unannounced kind of relationship. In fact, more often than not he seemed surprised they even knew each other.
“Oh, you.”
He looked up and smiled, giving a short wave.
As she descended the stairs she looked around, expecting their dad to be hovering nearby just as he did anytime a boy was at the door. “Where’s Dad?”
Jen looked up at her with wide innocent eyes. “Dunno.”
“So you opened the door without an adult, not knowing who it was?”
Jen shrugged and ran off. Kessa turned to face Leland.
“What brings you by?”
“Tonya.” He looked down the hallway Jen had fled down.
Stifling a groan, Kessa motioned him back toward the living room. Tonya had once been her best friend. They had done everything together. It was almost a year ago that she suddenly stopped. No texts, no phone calls, nothing. She wasn’t dead or anything. Just switched crowds.
Kessa had been left reeling at the sudden change. She had gone from being Tonya’s only and best friend to a stranger. Tonya had somehow managed to jump from one friend to about 50 overnight. That is where Leland came in. He was one of the 50. And since he was apparently observant he knew that I had once been her friend.
Maybe he forgot because he acted like it never happened but about a week after Tonya’s sudden life change he had stopped me in the hallways with concern etched into his eyes. He’d asked if I was ok and commented on how Tonya seemed so different.
He didn’t start hanging out with Kessa all of the sudden or anything. Just every once in a while he would check in on her to make sure she was good. He hadn’t checked in for a while now. Maybe his internal conscience had reminded him to check in on the loser girl who had lost her only friend.
“Why come to me?” She folded her arms. Talking about Tonya was still hard.
“She is acting off. Sometimes she looks around at us as if she thinks someone or something is missing.” He was looking straight at her with an intensity that made her want to squirm.
She waited.
“She saw you during lunch today and looked startled.” He continued, not looking away. “As if she was surprised to see you. It looked like she was ready to bolt over to you. Then she flipped her hair behind her shoulder and continued talking to Lisa.”
Kessa didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t tried talking to Tonya since she had decided to cut ties. When Kessa had gone up to her at school, Tonya acted as if she didn’t even know who she was. It was not a pain she wanted to willingly revisit.
“This isn’t exactly my favorite topic, Leland. Can you get to the point?”
He motioned for her to sit next to him on the couch. She did, reluctantly. “Kessa, I haven’t pushed you into anything during this past year because I care about you. I’d rather not bring up Tonya at all and say that I came over to simply be with you. Yet every time I have tried talking to you, to get to know you, all you hear is Tonya’s name and you shrink away.”
Kessa sat up straighter. “I didn’t mean to make you feel stuck in between us.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” He ran a hand through his hair. “What I’m trying to say is that last year when Tonya disappeared from your side I really wanted you to know you had a friend in me but I had the misfortune of being from the group she ditched you for so I was always associated with her and the pain she caused.”
Letting the words sink in, Kessa couldn’t tear her eyes from him. “I don’t see you that way.” She faltered. “I mean, seeing you doesn’t remind me of Tonya.”
He shook his head. “You do. It does. And that’s ok. I realized a few days ago that I needed to come out and tell you how I feel. And with what happened to Tonya today at lunch I had a reason to come. Though now that I say it out loud I realize how dumb that sounds. I shouldn’t have waited for a Tonya reason to come see you.”
He didn’t wait for her to respond, reaching out and holding her hands between them.
“I like you, Kessa. You are strong, funny, and amazing. Would you go out with me?”
“I…yes?” Kessa wasn’t sure how Tonya acting strange at lunch translated into him asking her out but when he asked she had the strongest urge to hug him.
“Really?”
She nodded, feeling her smile grow bigger. “Yes.”
His intense gaze dropped down to their hands and he squeezed. “I think Tonya had some sort of head injury and literally forgot who you were.”
“What?”
“She keeps looking confused, complaining her head hurts and only seems to calm down when she sees you. Then she jumps back into the new Tonya from this last year.”
“How long has this been happening?” Kessa felt her hands start to shake.
“A few weeks. It wasn’t until today that I knew for sure that it was you that she was looking for when she’d get confused.”
“I don’t know what to do with that.” Kessa confessed.
“Me neither.” He shrugged, giving her a sheepish smile. “I’m hoping it doesn’t make you change your mind about that date.”
“No.” Kessa let out a breathy laugh. “Not at all.”
