Love Songs (Secret Songbook #1) (20 page)

Chapter 21

“I don’t need a bodyguard, you know,” Harper joked. “She’s after you, not me.”

“I know, but I don’t really want to be alone,” Kaley replied. She had insisted on walking Harper to band practice after school. Every shadow took the form of Abigail and her minions. She jumped at every noise and thought everyone was coming to get her.

Abigail had declared war on her, who knew to what extent she would go to for the win? It was a scary thought.

“Well, if you had joined the band like I wanted you to, then you could sit in a small room for an hour and I guarantee Abigail and her friends wouldn’t dare step foot in there.”

“Maybe taking a chance with Abigail isn’t a bad option,” Kaley teased. They reached the music room. “Mind if I linger for a while and watch?”

“Knock yourself out.”

Kaley watched at the door while Harper picked up her violin and waxed the strings. The rest of the band arrived and started setting up. By the time the teacher arrived five minutes late, they were ready and waiting for him.

They shuffled through their sheet music and Mr. Stephens acted as the conductor. They each lifted their instruments and started playing from their cue.

Kaley saw Cooper standing next to Harper. She hadn’t seen him play before but she could see what Harper saw in him. He looked and acted like a rock god, except it wasn’t an act.

Whatever Cooper had going on, it was a natural flow, like he was destined for the music industry. One day he would be discovered and would make billions of dollars. Someone with his natural attitude and aptitude wasn’t destined for mediocrity.

Her eyes moved to Harper, her violin bow moving slowing across each of the strings. She was concentrating on the sheet music but still had a smile on her face. It brought one to Kaley’s.

Each of the band members looked like they were having fun making music together. They were proud to share their abilities with anyone and everyone – the more the merrier.

Kaley felt a pang of jealousy. How they could be so open and free was beyond her. For just a fleeting moment, she wondered whether she had made a mistake by not joining the school band. Perhaps she could be sitting at the piano and playing along with them.

It might have been kind of nice.

Kaley felt a hand on her back and jumped, feeling like a kid being caught watching something she shouldn’t. She turned around and saw the hand belonged to Eli.

“Hi, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He took her hand and led her away from the music room, not wanting to interrupt their session. “You were a million miles away.”

“I guess I spaced out for a minute.”

“I’ve been looking for you all day. I heard about what happened with Abigail this morning.”

Kaley didn’t want to be reminded of it. Having experienced it once was traumatic enough, and then there were the hundreds of times it had replayed in her mind all day.

“She was a little crazy,” Kaley admitted, trying to play it casual. She didn’t want to break down and tell him she was now terrified of everyone.

“I had a talk to her.” His words were no comfort. “I told her to back off and leave you alone.”

“You shouldn’t have done that. She’s probably only going to get worse now if she thinks I came running to you.”

“I told her there was no way we were getting back together, she won’t keep trying to hurt you.” Eli was adamant, but Kaley knew better. She had known girls like Abigail her whole life and they didn’t like being told what they couldn’t have. It only made them want it more.

Kaley wasn’t going to argue, it wasn’t going to change anything. When cyclone Abigail came to knock her out of the game, she would have to deal with it. She just hoped it wouldn’t be a category eight attack.

Eli pulled her close, kissing her forehead. “It’s going to be fine,” he whispered. She let him believe that. “I’ve got to get to practice. I’ll call you later?”

“Sure, have fun.”

She let him extract his arms from around her, unmoving. It may have been her paranoia, but she thought for sure she could feel someone watching her. It wouldn’t have surprised her to see Abigail shooting her daggers from behind a tree somewhere. She looked around self-consciously but couldn’t see anyone.

Kaley checked her watch, it was almost four o’clock. She panicked. She didn’t realize how long she had spent watching the band practice, she was supposed to be with Harvey at his house working on their science project. She ran to the front of the school gates but he wasn’t waiting there for her.

Cursing herself the entire way home, Kaley hurried as fast as her legs would take her. She didn’t know how many more times she could apologize to Harvey before he started hating her too. She was going to accumulate enemies until one of them took her out for the count. She hoped she couldn’t add Harvey to the list yet.

Running inside to tell her mother where she was going and dump her bag, Kaley stopped in her tracks. Georgie was in the kitchen, along with Harvey. They both had a slice of chocolate cake in hand.

“Harvey, I’m so sorry,” Kaley panted, trying to catch her breath from the jog home.

“Kaley, ladies don’t run. Where have you been?” Georgie cut her a slice of cake, handing it to her without any concern for her current state.

“I was with Harper and the school band.” Kaley turned to Harvey, trying to show him how sincere she was. “I swear, I just got caught up with them. I’m really sorry for being late. I ran all the way home.”

“I waited for twenty minutes,” Harvey replied, almost apologetic himself. “I guess we should get started if we want to finish this project before the end of the semester.”

“Sounds great,” Kaley agreed, still taking in gulps of air.

She took the cake and followed him next door. He had everything set up and ready to go. He must have gone to her house only when she hadn’t shown up. Georgie probably insisted he stay and try her cake while they waited for her. Mother Barbie liked baking, it was one of the least-annoying qualities.

“I’ve completed the body of the rocket, but we have to work on the mechanisms,” Harvey explained. It instantly made Kaley feel guilty, he had done a lot of work on it already since their class earlier. She didn’t deserve to be his partner.

They had to race the sun as it started to dip toward the horizon. Harvey and Kaley worked swiftly together, moving in perfect synch with each other. They managed to paint the body and get most of the mechanism working for the lift-off. They weren’t ready to test it yet, but it wouldn’t be far away.

“What color should we paint it?” Kaley asked, having made up for her absence by working extra hard. They were seated on the grass, packing up the last of their materials.

“How about neon green?” Harvey tried to hide the smirk from his face, he knew she didn’t like that color. “We could paint it all the one shade so it’s like a big pickle.”

“Really? You really want to go there?” She threw a wet rag at him, the one she had used to wipe away the excess glue.

“Hey!” He picked up a sheet of aluminum foil and scrunched it into a ball before throwing it her way. It hit the side of her head. She mocked a surprised look and threw it back at him, hitting his shoulder.

“Oh, it’s on now,” he declared. He made a lunge for her, tickling her ribs the way he used to when they were kids. She tried to get away but couldn’t, the laughter too much and rendering her useless.

She tried to retaliate, pinching his neck the way he hated. They tussled on the grass, neither willing to give up the fight.

Finally, Kaley couldn’t take it any longer, her lungs hurt from laughing so hard. “I concede, you win.”

He let her go, she relaxed onto the grass while she caught her breath. Harvey was leaning over her, his hands still around her ribcage. He took a few breaths himself, trying to recover. They stared at each other, the smiles slowly fading from their faces.

He realized he was still holding her and quickly let go. He sat up again, returning to the materials – quicker now, trying to get them packed up so they could be done for the day.

Kaley sat up slowly, a small part of her wishing she didn’t have to. She could still feel the warmth of his body as he leaned against her. She shook her head, getting rid of the thought.

It was ridiculous, they had just been caught up in the moment, trying to recapture something from their childhood. They had always played in the backyard, back in a simpler time when nothing was complicated.

“I’d better get home, it’s getting dark,” Kaley said as she stood. Harvey picked up the rocket, signaling that he was finished also.

“Yeah, me too. Well, I’m already home, but it’s still getting dark and we’re finished here,” he spoke quickly, too quickly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow. Have a good night.”

Kaley hurried out of the yard and into her house. She had no idea what had just happened, but it was strange. She hoped it wasn’t something that would change anything. She had enough change for one day.

“Kaley? If that’s you, then dinner is ready. Come and eat,” Georgie called from the dining room. She did as she was told and continued through after dropping her things in her room.

At least her parents would be a distraction from everything. They didn’t know about Abigail and only the basics about Eli. She could have a civil conversation without wanting to hurt herself.

Both her parents were already seated at the table by the time she got there. Her dinner of meat and three vegetables was waiting on her plate. They started eating as soon as she took her seat.

“So how was your day, peanut?” Strom asked with genuine curiosity.

“It was fine,” Kaley replied, knowing it was anything but fine. She smiled, it was amazing what she could hide with a smile. “How was your day?”

“The usual. I told people about the products and it was all good until I gave them the prices,” Strom replied, although he seemed happy about it. “So then I talked them into it and they placed an order for over a thousand quantities.”

“Oh, well done,” Georgie cheered from the sidelines.

“That’s great, Dad.” Kaley smiled, hoping she wouldn’t end up with a sales rep job one day. The whole idea of having to sell things feared her. She imagined a future in music, not one where she had to sell her soul to get paid.

“I did the grocery shopping today if anyone cares,” Georgie said in the lull of the conversation. “They were having a two for one deal on shampoo so I stocked up on your favorite, Kaley.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Then I came home, put everything away, and baked a cake. Harvey arrived shortly afterwards, he’s such a nice young boy.”

“He’s already considering university options,” Strom added. “I was talking to him about it last week. He’s very focused.”

“He’s cute too.” Georgie purposefully nodded at Kaley, like they were best friends dishing on the boys at school. She rolled her eyes in response, wondering where the whole conversation was going. “Don’t you think Harvey is cute, Kaley?”

“I don’t know, I guess so.”

“Even I think he’s cute.” Strom grinned.

“You’ve been friends for a long time now,” Georgie continued with her torture. “How long have you known Harvey for now?”

Kaley sighed, eating a little faster to escape the dinner. So much for being able to focus on someone else’s issues for a while. “Ten years now, give or take a few months.”

“You know, your grandparents were childhood friends before they grew up and fell in love, Kaley.” Georgie was being as subtle as a cement truck. “My father always said he knew they were soul mates. A friendship is a very solid base for building a relationship. Don’t you think, Strom?”

“Absolutely.”

Kaley sighed, fearing her parents had officially gone off the deep end. Where they suddenly got the notion that her and Harvey should be together was a mystery to her. They had probably listened to Harper at some point. She didn’t want to listen to their not-so-subtle promptings anymore.

“Hey, how about we change the subject?” she said sarcastically. “This dinner is really good, Mom. Is it a new recipe?”

“No, just the old one. It’s amazing how something old can seem new again when looked at in a different way.”

Kaley groaned, not even seeing that one coming. “Or perhaps it tastes the same as it always did.”

“Maybe you should think about it some more.”

“Sure, Mom, I’ll continue to think about your recipe.”

Strom took over the conversation, talking about his manager who had called a staff meeting for later in the week. Something about having a meeting for the sake of having a meeting, Kaley wasn’t sure, she’d switched off. It was easier dealing with them when she only gave them a quarter of her attention.

They finished their family dinner and Kaley was released from the torturous table. She went to her room, grateful for the peaceful solitude. It had been such a long day, one she wouldn’t have minded forgetting about.

Abigail scared her, even though she hated that fact. She wanted to be able to stand up to her and not give her that power, but she couldn’t help it. Abigail was used to getting what she wanted at all costs. A shy little girl like Kaley was not even a speed bump in her plans, she was a mere hiccup. One that would go away eventually without much thought or effort.