10 comments/  65166 views/  72 favorites

1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 01

By: Spartan22



My "Diary" series is something of a sequel to Operation: Final Fantasy, featuring a new cast, although many familiar faces will return. However, as a result I did have to take some liberties with the timeline in this story. It is written in three very distinct "Books", if you will; each one is drastically different from the next but will feature the same protagonists. They are all written, but in the early stages of being edited, so please bear with me. 

Speaking of editing, I'd like to thank Rusty aka Random Librarian for his incredibly helpful editing skills; if you see any errors within, then they are mine, as I've made a few small tweaks here and there after his editing checks. Sex is extremely limited throughout the entire series. Finally, feel free to vote and/or leave constructive feedback. In O:FF, I actually did augment future chapters based on reader inputs and suggestions which I believe made it better and easier to understand the characters. With all of that, I hope you enjoy the story!

BOOK ONE: The Diary of a Loser - Educating Kaylee



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 01



Her eyes opened even more. "Oh, wow, I didn't even realize that," she said upon realizing that discovery, staring at her pencil.

"Let me give you a few more sample ones to make sure you have the hang of it, and then we'll move on."

Luke gave her several more examples before moving on to her homework. She was amazed at how much she was learning, and how easily she understood what Luke was explaining. Every time they tackled a problem together, he somehow had a remarkable way of getting through to her. He was the opposite of Mr. Neil, and much less pompous. In fact, despite her frustrations and semi-frequent outbursts of anger, Luke remained remarkably calm. 

Before they knew it, she had plodded through all of her homework questions as well as several from the next chapter. His shopping analogies certainly didn't hurt, either.

Without any warning, half of the lights in the library went out. She looked at her watch. "I can't believe it's almost nine! It looks like they're kicking us out."

"Well, I think you accomplished a lot tonight, Kaylee," Luke said as he gathered up his books. "Need a hand?"

Luke held out his hand offering to help her put her own books away and carry her bag. 

"No, I got them." 

Kaylee stood up and gave Luke a genuine smile. "Thanks for everything, Luke. I'm feeling a little better about this already." 

It suddenly occurred to her that she took up all of his time, and he didn't have a chance to finish his book. "Oh, I'm sorry; you didn't have a chance to finish your fly book," she said empathetically. 

He gave off a pleasant smile in return. "Don't worry about the book; I'll have time to read when I get home. And no need to thank me; you did all of the hard work. Most importantly, you gained confidence in yourself. You'll be amazed at how far that confidence will carry you, if you keep it." 

Kaylee wasn't sure what to say, but her face was beaming. She had gained quite a bit of confidence in just a few hours, hadn't she? She thought it was ironic that such a nerd could talk about confidence the way he did, as if he himself actually had it. Either way, maybe she shouldn't have been so hard on Luke earlier, or looked down on him so much. Especially after he went out of his way to help her until nine o'clock at night.

Luke walked her out of the library and into the school parking lot, heading straight for her BMW.

"Well, this is me. Thank you again, Luke," she said, opening her car door. Her face was still smiling from ear to ear. It was like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She could practically see that "D" well within her reach; maybe all was not hopeless. "Can we do this again tomorrow?"

"Of course, Kaylee," he said, walking off. He stopped, turned around, and told her with a smile, "You know, you have an absolutely beautiful smile when you're not faking it. Like the one you have right now." He turned around and walked off, heading towards the road, apparently walking home.

She froze in her position, halfway standing and halfway in her car, looking at the back of Luke with her mouth wide open. Goosebumps ran up and down her arms when he said that. She wasn't sure why he said that; it was so unexpected. So random. Luke, possibly the most socially inept person in school, had just given her the sweetest, most sincere compliment. And at the same time, he called her on being a fake.

Awkwardly, she slid into her car and drove off, passing Luke as he walked down the sidewalk. He gave her a subtle wave.

Kaylee looked at him as she drove by with a little smile on her face. It wasn't until a few blocks down the road that her smile turned into a frown, wondering why she didn't think to offer him a ride home.



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 02







1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 02



"Here, just take it," he choked out, shoving his math book towards Kaylee, his emotions rapidly slipping out of his control. Kaylee, with all of her focus on Luke, made a feeble attempt to grab it but the book slipped out of her hands and fell on the floor. Luke didn't even wait to get his own book back; he turned and quickly walked off.

"Oh shit, Kaylee! You made him cry," Audrey said. She wasn't smiling any longer; in fact, she was genuinely upset and bothered.

"That went well," Cindy said sarcastically. "Swapped math books last night, huh," she scoffed. "Whatever. Bet you swapped more than that." Cindy shook her head and walked off.

"W-wait, no, it..." Kaylee stuttered, trying to explain to Cindy, but giving up shortly.

"Kaylee," Audrey said quietly, "It's not Cindy you should be chasing after."

Kaylee turned to Audrey, unable to hold herself together. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, "Oh Audrey, I fucked up. I can't believe I did that. I, I..." Kaylee sniffed.

Audrey knew Kaylee was remorseful, but she wasn't expecting tears from her best friend. Concerned, she asked, "Honey, are you..."

She didn't finish her words, but she didn't have to. Kaylee knew exactly what Audrey was going to say; "Are you sweet on Luke," or, "Are you falling for Luke?"

Of course she wasn't! That was just ridiculous. But, she wasn't a beast. So why did she feel like one? She had called people worse things before, and even to their face.

But this was different. It was tearing her up. She wasn't exactly sure how, but somehow this was much different.

She felt like a monster. The guilt was overwhelming; never before had she wanted to go back in time and erase a mistake as much as she did at that moment. She didn't mean to hurt his feelings; she really didn't. Maybe it was because of the look on his face, seeing the way she devastated him. She could tell by that look in his eyes. It absolutely crushed her. What she said to him, knowing she couldn't take it back..., it was a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from.

"I... I'll be right back." Kaylee took off down the halls, wiping her face and ducking through the crowds, hoping she could find Luke before it was too late.

By the time she rounded the same corner he turned down only moments earlier, Luke was gone. He had vanished into a sea of faces.

Kaylee quickly ducked into the girl's restroom, getting out of the crowded locker hall as soon as she could.

Once inside, she broke down and cried even harder.



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 03







1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 03



The phone was quiet on the other end; she could only hope he was smiling. He hadn't hung up yet, so that was a good sign.

"You still have my math book," Luke said dryly. Kaylee heard a quiet chuckle after he said that.

"I'll bring it over when I'm done with the cookies," she laughed.

Before he could say anything, Kaylee said, "So...um, just so you know, this part isn't easy for me. And I don't do it often, and can't remember the last time I did it, but I owe you about a million of them. So, here goes. 

"Luke, I'm so, so, so, so, so incredibly sorry," she gushed. "You might not even believe me, but I didn't even mean it at the time when I said it. I just...," she sighed. "I guess I just got myself wrapped up in my own distorted social life. I sometimes worry a little more about my reputation than I should, but in all actuality, it was the other way around. You're not the loser, Luke. It's the rest of us. Me, Bradley, Cindy... well, especially Cindy." It didn't come out like anything that Kaylee had planned to say, but she still meant every word of it. 

Luke laughed. 

"Kaylee, you're not a loser. You're a little too wrapped up into what people think of you, though, and I think it backfired. Yes, you stung me. You cut me open deep. I'm not sure if I've ever been hurt like that. Well, we can change the subject. You don't need to hear any more." Kaylee winced more and more with each word Luke spoke. 

"Luke, no. Please. It's ok. You can tell me how you feel," Kaylee pleaded. "I hurt you and I deserve whatever you have to say."

Luke said, "I'm not trying to hurt you back."

Kaylee was quiet on the other end, deliberately waiting for Luke to talk.

Luke sighed, "Have you ever seen something so beautiful and majestic, but you didn't realize how deadly it could be until you were wrapped up in it, and it was too late? Like the waves of the ocean?"

Kaylee couldn't answer. She wanted to, but she couldn't seem to manage. 

He continued, "When I heard you speak those words, I felt like I was swept into the ocean, swimming against the tide. I could see the shore line, but with every word you said as you kept talking, it was like I was pulled out deeper, no matter how hard I tried to swim. I couldn't breathe as I was swept away into the endless depths." He said, straightforward, "I couldn't run, I don't know why. And the worst part was that I couldn't make it stop." 

He spoke bluntly, but so eloquently, from his heart. She knew he wasn't trying to unleash drama or feel sorry for himself; she realized it was simply the way he spoke and how he communicated, how he opened up his feelings. That didn't mean it hurt any less; if anything, it hurt her more, the way he spun it like poetry. But she deserved it. The indirect pain he had just caused her was nowhere near the pain she caused him, and she hurt. Kaylee cringed as he brought forth the magnitude of the damage that she had caused him; she really had no idea just how much she hurt him until now. Her bottom lip quivered as he reminded her of what she had done; she didn't want to cry over the phone. 

"But, I was forced to remind myself that we are from two different worlds." Kaylee started to protest, but he continued, "And I'm ok with that. I'm the one who was lucky enough to cross into yours. Maybe I just let my guard down too much. A peasant is lucky enough if he gets to see an angel; I got to talk to one. For a moment, I even thought I was becoming friends with one. I guess ignorance is bliss, just like they say. I will always treasure you for that."

Kaylee felt herself swooning. Her cheeks were flush; she could only imagine how red her face actually was, and it wasn't just from the heat of the oven. She was glad Luke couldn't see her red puffy eyes though the phone.

Luke said, "I know it took a lot for you to apologize. I didn't ever think I would get an apology from the great Kaylee Reed." 

Kaylee smiled warmly. Luke had such a way with words, whether he knew it or not. "So, how can I say no? Of course I accept your apology." 

Kaylee smiled. "Thank you," she said softly. I don't deserve it, she thought to herself, but thank you, Luke.

"And, I'm certainly not an angel. I wish I were. But, I want you to know Luke that I do consider you my friend. We're still friends. I mean, we can get past this."

There was a quiet moment on the phone that unnerved her. Breaking the silence, she said, "Well, cookies are done. Would this be a good time to drop off your math book?"

"Sure, come on over."

Kaylee grew quiet. She cautiously asked, "Does this mean you'll continue tutoring me? I feel pretty good about the midterms coming up, but I could use a little more help getting ready, especially with chemistry..., I mean, if you don't..."

"Of course, Kaylee."

"I'll be there; I just have to clean up. And Luke? I really mean it. I am sorry. Thank you for forgiving me." She hung up her cell phone and smiled from ear to ear. Her excitement seemed unnatural, yet she found herself running through the house to change her clothes and grab her makeup, getting ready to go over to Luke's. She was pretty sure that it was because she made amends and that terrible weight was now off of her shoulders. 

Deep down and in the back of her mind, she wasn't so sure if that was the full answer.

Who cared? She was just glad she he accepted her apology and was willing to continue tutoring her. The only thing she had to worry about was what to wear over to Luke's and changing quickly enough that the cookies wouldn't grow cold.

---

As the door swung open, Kaylee thought Luke was going to say something, but his jaw was frozen in the open position.

Kaylee smiled pleasantly, smirking on the inside. Could it be because she was wearing short, tight cutoffs and a short sleeved grey leopard-print shirt with black spots, knotted up in front, showing a subtle hint of midriff? She thought so. 

She held out a math book with two large plastic containers resting on top, each one with a dozen cookies.

"Kaylee, I... wow, thank you," Luke said with a great appreciation, looking back and forth between the cookies and Kaylee herself. She noticed he stared at her – not her breasts or stomach, but her face. Her eyes. She smiled even deeper. 

"Well invite her in, Luke," a feminine voice said from inside.

Kaylee bit her lip and her eyes grew wide; she assumed that since her parents were never home, other people's parents wouldn't be home either. As it turned out, that wasn't a great assumption. Kaylee had a sudden urge to pull her shirt down a little further.

Luke held the door open for her. 

"Hi, I'm Luke's mother, Jessica. It's so nice to meet you." 

Kaylee smiled outwardly, but inwardly she hid her shock at how young Jessica looked. She was beautiful; Kaylee would kill for those blond ringlets. Most of the time Kaylee kept her hair straight in some kind of layered pattern; ringlets were always hard for her to pull off and took too much time anyway. Kaylee was proud of her breasts, but they didn't hold a candle to Jessica's. Her insecurity finally began to surface as she realized the only real advantage that she held over Jessica was her pure youth. 

Yep, it was time to go shopping after she left Luke's house. 

How did Luke come from a mother like this? Jessica must have married a super-nerd, which would explain where Luke got his genes from.

"Nice to meet you too," Kaylee said politely, shaking her hand.

"Luke, you didn't tell me Kaylee Reed was coming over!" A thin and wiry fourteen or fifteen year old girl that Kaylee didn't recognize, pretty but somewhat fashion-challenged, bounded up and offered out her hand. She was all smiles, showing the slightest gap between her two small front teeth. She definitely had her mother's beautiful, curly hair, although it was more tousled and unkempt.

"Hi, I'm Faith! It's so nice to meet you in person!"

Kaylee couldn't help but smile at both Faiths' bubbly personality, and also the fact that she acted like Kaylee was royalty. 

"It's wonderful to meet you, too. Luke told me you're a freshman?"

"Luke told you about me? I didn't even think you knew I existed," Faith gasped with awe, clearly on cloud nine.

"Faith, honey, why don't you and I go to the living room. They have some homework to do," Jessica told her. Faith sighed. Putting on a smile, she said, "Kaylee, it was so nice meeting you. I hope I get to see you again before you leave!"

Faith obeyed her mother's request, partly out of respect for her, and partly so she could tweet all her friends that Kaylee actually knew her! 

"Kaylee, Luke will get you anything if you need it. In fact, I'm sure he was just about to offer you something to drink," Jessica said, dropping an obvious hint to her son.

Luke looked bashfully at Kaylee. Kaylee beamed and said, "I'm good, Luke. Thank you for the offer, though."

"You two have fun studying," Jessica said, looking at Kaylee. 

It was a pleasant smile, but there was something about it that made the hairs on the back of Kaylee's neck stand up. It was obvious to her that Jessica was very protective of Luke, and the warning look fired at Kaylee that only a mother could give was clear evidence of that fact. Kaylee considered herself warned.

After Jessica and Faith left, Luke pulled out a chair for her and said, "Thank you for the cookies. You must have been busy with all of those batches you made for your friend and for me."

Kaylee smiled and tilted her head to the side, "Luke, the only batch I made was these two, and both are for you and your family."

Luke seemed confused. Kaylee put her hand on top of Luke's hand and giggled, "I told you on the phone I was making them for a friend. You're my friend." Luke looked at her again, clearly having heard the words but processing their meaning.

The smile on her face dropped, "I mean, you are my friend, right?"

The confusion on his face didn't exactly go away, but he nodded quickly, indicating that he was – or at least that was what he wanted. 

"I was a bitch," Kaylee said bluntly but quietly so only Luke could hear, lowering her eyes. "I guess you could say the cookies were part of my apology package. I'm not exactly good at this, or maybe I should say that it's not in my nature, so bear with me."

Luke smiled awkwardly. "You're doing good, Kaylee," he tried to encourage her, although he wasn't really sure what to say other than that. 

Kaylee put her hand on his, "Luke, I do consider you a friend. You've helped me so much more than anyone else, and you put up with my B.S. when no one else would have. Only a true friend would do something like that. Thank you."

A goofy look crossed Luke's face. He gave a discomfited nod and stuttered over his words, but nothing came out quite right. He gave up and finally decided on pulling out her chemistry book.

The pair buckled down and studied, and the minute hand on the clock seemed to leap forward at an alarming rate. Kaylee was gradually grasping the concept of her chemistry lessons as Luke slowly and steadily continued to guide her. He wouldn't do the work for her, but he made it easier for her to understand. 

Kaylee had her head down, working on a chemistry problem when she noticed Luke staring at her breasts out of the corner of her eye. At first, she was surprised, wondering if it was an accident or a coincidence. However, it was enough to engage her radar, and less than sixty seconds later she caught him doing it again. 

She smiled deviously, thinking, I finally caught him! I guess Audrey and everyone else were right. Maybe the leopard print is his kryptonite. What would he do if I wore tiger or zebra stripes, or maybe a snakeskin design? 

Kaylee giggled. It was so cute; she saw his head bouncing back and forth in confusion, wanting to stare at her rack but forcefully resisting half of the time, as if the gentleman in him was wrestling his inner-horndog. 

Luke looked at her, wondering why she giggled. 

"Oh, it's nothing. Just something I heard earlier today at school. Sorry, I'll refocus," she lied. At least it was only a little white lie.

She also about Luke kept rubbing his right shoulder. She asked, "What's wrong with your shoulder, Luke?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just a little sore is all." Luke looked at her sheepishly, and then turned back to her chemistry book.

Kaylee winced, "That's from when you knocked over Bradley, isn't it?"

Luke didn't answer, but his grin gave him away. Kaylee gave him a playful 'you're in trouble' look and just shook her head, "I should be mad at you for bowling over my boyfriend, rushing at him like some kind of rebel cowboy, yet I find myself proud of you for defending your friend. Bradley was kinda being a jerk." 

She sighed, exasperated with herself, "What kind of girlfriend am I?" 

He grinned even more, "Cowboy?"

"All you were missing was the six-shooters."

She got up from the table and asked if he had any Ziploc bags; he showed her the pantry in the kitchen and asked her why.

"Take your shirt off," she said, taking one of the bags to the freezer. 

"Um...whaaat..." he said nervously with wide open eyes.

Grabbing some ice and putting it in the bag, she told him with a wry smile, "Just do it, you pervert. My intentions are pure. I'm not going to molest you or anything. You're not that lucky."

He was still frozen like a deer in the headlights. She sighed, "Just trust me, ok? Can you do that for me, cowboy?"

Slowly he nodded and took his shirt off. She sat him down in the chair and held the bag of ice on his shoulder; he jumped a little. Grimacing, he said, "Cowboys don't like ice. I read it somewhere. I think that's why cowboys originated from the south, not from Alaska."

"Settle down, you big baby. This will help reduce the inflammation."

Shaking his head, Luke said, "He hit the pavement and didn't even get dizzy. I hit flesh and tweaked my shoulder. Go figure."

It was as if a light bulb turned on over Kaylee's head. She couldn't wait to share it with him, "Luke, you just gave me an idea. Hear me out."

"I'm all ears."

"Ok, so, you're tutoring me in school, right? And I've been looking for a way to pay you back."

Luke gave and awkward laugh and said, "Well, you did bring the cookies. I'd say that's good enough."

"It's not good enough for me," she said. "What if... what if I tutor you?"

It was obvious that Luke tried to hold his tongue. He was curious what she meant and said, "Um, ok. But, in what subject, Kaylee?"

Kaylee smiled, "Ok, so I can't tutor you in anything inside of school. However, I can teach you a lot outside of school. In athletics, for starters. I'll tutor you on the running track and inside the weight room. That way, we'll make you less prone to injuries, like this one. You'll be stronger and in better shape. And it will keep jerks like my boyfriend off your back." She blushed, shocked at what she had just said about her own boyfriend. "Oh my, I can't believe I just said that about him. I didn't mean it... he's a great guy, he just has a temper some times and acts before he thinks. You know what I mean."

He couldn't help laughing, "I know. I could see it in his eyes – Ready, fire, aim!"

Kaylee smiled pleasantly, but she became serious when she said threateningly, "That's just between you and me, you understand?"

He continued, "Don't worry, I won't tell him you said that. It'll be our secret. So, tutoring me with physical fitness, huh? I don't know. I've never really been athletic to start with."

"But that's the point." She sighed, "Look. Bradley has a good forty pounds on you, and I was really scared for you earlier. I'd never been happier to see Mr. Scott in my life, which is something because I absolutely hate his class. I don't want to see you in that situation again."

Luke gave a half-hearted smile, "Thanks. I think. Well, dad keeps harping on me to go to the gym with him. And now, you are, too." He shrugged, "I guess I should take a hint and give in to peer pressure this one time. You don't exactly look like a weight lifter, though."

She smiled, "Just because I look like a princess doesn't mean I'm not tough like an Amazon." she winked. "Girls lift weights too, just lighter ones. Besides, cheerleading isn't as easy as you might think. It takes a lot of arm strength to lift the other girls in the air and a lot of leg strength to do those jump splits. Again, you'll just have to trust me.

"Also, we'll have to do something about your outfit and your scraggly hair," she said, reaching up and tousling his hair.

Every muscle in his body tightened as she ran her fingers through his hair; he wanted to enjoy the sensation of her touch, savor it for as long as he could – or freeze time if he could figure out a way – but he was so nervous he wasn't sure how.

As her words sunk in, Luke looked at her puzzled, unsure of what she meant, and asked, "What's wrong with my outfit and hair?"

"Nothing, if you grew up in the 80's. You're a few strands away from an afro. A few things have changed that we need to get you updated on." Kaylee thought for a moment, "I'll tell you what. If you want to keep what you're wearing and how you look, that's fine; I won't pressure you. But, if you trust me, I can make you look hot." She was honestly surprised she said that; it wasn't that long ago she didn't think a team of hairdressers with beautician doctorates could have upgraded him to plain, let alone one person making him hot.

Still, she was confident in what she said. Her eyebrow rose, impatiently awaiting his response.

"So, I tutor you in academics, you tutor me in athletics. Quid pro quo."

Kaylee gave him a blank look, "Um, yea, sure. Whatever that means."

He thought it over for a moment, using his problem-solving skills just like he did with any other dilemma, weighing the pros and cons carefully. 

On one hand, running always made him cough, especially running outside in the cold. Granted, it was California, even if it was December. Still, Kaylee also mentioned resistance training. Lifting weights always made his arms and legs burn. He wasn't sure how his dad was able to do that every other day for the last however-many years, and he really didn't have any interest to do so himself.

Then there was... spandex. Kaylee's butt and upper legs covered in tight spandex, perhaps mankind's best invention. 

He remembered back during his junior year he was walking down the hallway, past the gym's open doors. He caught a quick glimpse of her in the gym, her back turned to him, wearing black spandex. The stretched fabric didn't come down very far; maybe several inches above her knees. It squeezed against her ass, holding her two spherical orbs in position so tightly an entire case of WD-40 couldn't free them.

He recalled how he immediately hastened his pace past the gym, swinging his backpack towards his front, his face turning red.

And that was just because of her ass. He didn't even have time to steal a look at her gorgeous legs with those shapely calf muscles, nor make an attempt to decipher whatever secrets her halter top held in place.

Pros versus cons. The decision was easy.

"So when can we start?"



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 04







1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 04



"Then why is she with that douchebag, Brad, over there? I'm sorry, I mean 'Bradley', the more feminine version of the name Brad," Aaron said, swinging his camera to the large senior on the other side of the courtyard with his arm draped around Kaylee. The camera swept back to Luke, capturing a great look of disappointment on his face, almost wincing as if in pain. He couldn't take his eyes off of Bradley and Kaylee; they looked so happy together. Aaron's question didn't seem to sink in.

She seemed so happy; she was talking and laughing with Bradley, Audrey, Cindy, and Mick. She was so bubbly that it was obvious she was the happiest of the five, although Bradley was a close second. Mick and Audrey were smiling, talking to each other, but Cindy was in a bad mood and didn't try to hide it.

"Well, I guess now that midterms are over, things are back to normal. No more tutoring, no more Kaylee. At least until finals come around, huh, Luke?"

Luke shrugged, "It seems that way. At least my body will be less sore from now on without her Nazi-style boot camp. Well, it's great to see her so cheerful; she obviously didn't fail any of the classes she was worried about. I'm happy for her." A slight upward curve arose on his lips, breaking the crestfallen look on his face, despite his head hanging low.

Aaron got quiet for a second and lowered his camera. "Dude, I hate being the one to tell you, but you know she's using you. Right?"

Luke didn't respond.

"I mean," Aaron continued, "she's not in our league, man. And there's nothing wrong with that. You're a good guy, man. Just don't get your hopes up about her. It'll never happen, and I'm telling you as a friend. A girl like that... she's not from our world."

Luke gave him a delayed nod, "Maybe. You're probably right. I know at first she started out using me, and that's fine, but I just can't quite tell if she was or not at the end. She probably was, but only subconsciously at least. I mean, she definitely reciprocated, buying me clothes and taking me to the gym. The human mind can be a tricky thing. Did I tell you she apologized to me once?"

Aaron was shocked, "Really? For what?"

Luke smiled, "Long story."

"Wow, passing her classes must have been more important to her than I thought. Her parents are supposedly loaded which explains buying you stuff, but who can explain her apology."

He stood up off the bench and told Aaron, "I think I'll go home early today. My last class of the day only requires us to turn in our take-home test, and I already turned it in last week."

"Alright, see ya bro," Aaron said, giving Luke an up-nod as his friend left the courtyard.

Aaron unzipped his camera bag and carefully slid his camera in. He'd spent a lot of money on it so the last thing he wanted to do was damage it. It was one thing if his parents bought it, but he had to save up for months before he could afford to buy it. As he turned to leave, he almost bumped into Kaylee.

"Hi Aaron. Where's Luke? I just saw him over here," Kaylee asked.

Aaron was caught off guard. This was a first; never had Kaylee approached him before. About anything. He stuttered, "L-Luke? H-he just left, you just missed him."

Kaylee looked heartbroken.

"He said he was going home since he was done with his midterms. He already turned in his paper for his last class," Aaron shrugged his shoulders. A smile popped up on his face as a thought surfaced, "You know, that's funny. I think this might be the first class he's ever skipped. That's so unlike him."

"That jerk," she whispered, crossing her arms, looking around the courtyard. When she made eye contact with Bradley, he took his sunglasses off, held his arms out and mouthed, "What the fuck." Kaylee held up a finger and mouthed back, "Just a second, be patient!"

Aaron quickly interjected, "He'll be back after the Christmas break."

She was on the verge of pouting but his obvious statement seemed to shorten her fuse. "Yea, I kind of figured that one out," she snapped.

"Sorry," she apologized, "But I'm not waiting that long after he busted his ass to help me. Not by a long shot. Which way did he go?"

Aaron seemed perplexed about her apology as well as the admission of Luke's sacrifice. He barely held his pointer finger up before Kaylee took off. "Thanks," she said over her shoulder as her pace quickened.

---

"Luke," she exclaimed, trying to get his attention as she ran across the parking lot. "Luke, turn around!"

The figure in the distance at the end of the parking lot stopped and turned around.

He shouted, "Kaylee? What are you doing?"

She snapped, "Well, running after you. In flip-flops. Are you really going to make a girl in flip-flops chase after you, or are you going to come to me?"

With a nervous, phony smile, Luke walked back towards Kaylee. She had already stopped running and held her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Uh oh, what did I do," he whispered under his breath. He couldn't hold his fake smiling anymore, and she didn't look too happy. He quickened his pace towards her despite his reluctance. For a brief moment he had considered turning around and running.

She asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, "What were you thinking? Hmmm?"

His eyes widened, "Geeze, the one time I skip class, ever, and you're going to give me grief?" He sighed, scratching the back of his head, "I'm not very good at this skipping thing."

Kaylee couldn't hold back a giggle as it escaped from her unhappy face, fighting to keep her lips from curving upwards into a smile, "No, you big jerk. For leaving before I could thank you!"

Catching Luke off guard, Kaylee lurched forward and embraced him tightly, placing her head against his shoulders, "You were really going to leave before I could thank you?"

Her words barely registered. Luke's grew weak in the knees as he felt her warm body pressing against his, catching the sweet natural scent of her body and feeling the fabric of her tight clothing against his skin. He had dared to put his arms around her, returning her embrace, although he moved slowly as it was completely against his instinct.

"I can't believe the midterms are over, and Christmas vacation is here. These several weeks went by fast, Luke. I'm not going to say I enjoy studying, but you made it so much easier to understand."

Kaylee kept her arms around him but leaned back so she could look at him, "You won't believe this, but I asked my teachers to take a look at my papers before I left and I told them I wouldn't take no for an answer. Can you believe I got a C+ in chemistry?"

Luke smiled, "Yes, of course I can believe it." Without thinking, he held her in his arms again and said, "I'm so happy for you! You earned it, Kaylee. You're the one who put in the hard work." His body went stiff as a board, realizing what he just did. He didn't know it was possible to feel so comfortable and extremely uncomfortable all at the same time. Kaylee didn't seem to mind the second hug for some reason.

Pulling away again, Kaylee smiled at Luke and said, "One last surprise for you. Well, kind of a surprise. I..., well, just close your eyes."

Luke closed his eyes.

Leaning in and whispering quietly, she said, "I got a B in algebra," and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

She squealed, "a B! Can you believe it?"

His legs almost buckled and his heart raced; he thought he was going to hyperventilate. His heart pounded so fast he was worried she would feel the vibrations and say something

"See you after Christmas break," she said, waving her fingers at him. "Maybe when we get back and start the next semester, you can help me get ready for finals and I'll keep coaching you at the gym. Bye, Luke."

---

His legs were immobile; he couldn't have moved if he wanted to. All he could do was stare at Kaylee's ass as she sauntered away and try to adjust the swelling in his pants.

Shaking his head, he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Nothing about what had just occurred made any sense. The only logical explanation was that he was dreaming.

He swore to himself he'd never wash his face again. Or at least the cheek she kissed. He couldn't help but smile, thinking of all the hours he dedicated towards Kaylee's education and all of the late nights helping her study. It wasn't that he minded, but it wasn't as easy as he let her think it was. It cost him his own personal study time and left him with a minor case of sleep deprivation.

But that kiss... it was the kiss of an angel. It made everything worth it.

The sound of a rapidly approaching figure brought Luke back to reality. A solid shove sent him sprawling; Luke tumbled backwards and landed hard on the parking lot pavement, skinning up his arms and hands while protecting himself.

"I'd like to say we're even, but that's just the beginning," Bradley said through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched, ready for action; he hovered over Luke like a prize fighter.

"What's your problem," Luke wheezed out, slowly getting back up on his feet, trying to brush the gravel out of his arms and hands without causing additional pain.

"Stay away from Kaylee, got it?"

Bradley kicked his chest before Luke could stand, knocking him down again. "If I see you try to kiss her again, or touch her, or look at her cross-eyed, I'll kick your ass. Midterms are over, so stay away from her."

Luke grunted; his chest really hurt, and he was worried his elbow might be injured after it slammed into the ground.

"You think just because you gave her a few study lessons, she actually wants you?"

"It's irrelevant what I want. I have no chance with her, I understand that. But I've seen the way you treat her. Don't act like you care about her," he groaned in pain, but with sheer defiance.

"You take her for granted. If Kaylee were mine, I'd treat her like a princess. She'll never be, I know, but she deserves someone much better than you, Brad. All you're doing is stepping on a beautiful, precious flower that you refuse to nurture and allow to bloom. She's like a radiant, beautiful angel that for some reason came down from heaven to be here, but you don't see that."

As Bradley started to snicker at Luke's speech, Luke leaped forward and dove low, going for Bradley's legs. It caught him off guard just enough for Luke to knock him over and on the ground. Bradley swung wildly as he went down, catching nothing but air.

Luke tried to get out of the way, moving back as quickly as he could, but Bradley tripped him and pounced on top of him, punching him in the face twice. Luke shot his leg up as hard as he could, catching Bradley in the groin; Bradley fell over like a dead weight, holding his crotch and rolling on the ground uncontrollably.

"Holy shit," Aaron exclaimed, running to Luke's side. Luke winced in severe pain but was already trying to crawl away. He blinked several times, unable to see from the sweat and blood in his eyes. Aaron helped him stumble to his feet; Luke held on tight, keeping his weight on his friend, trying to overcome the ringing in his ears.

"Come on, man, let's get out of here," Aaron said, propping up Luke with one arm while holding his camera in his free hand, still unknowingly recording.

---

"I'm not sure who's more insane; you for wanting to go to the mall three days before Christmas, or me for agreeing to go with you. I can't believe you talked me into this, Kaylee," Audrey said.

"Well, it's not like I haven't been here recently, looking for things to get my friends. On the contrary, this is probably my sixth or seventh trip since Thanksgiving. The problem is I never know what to get anyone, so I'm always coming down to the deadline," Kaylee explained.

Audrey rolled her eyes, "All that means is you should have prepared a little better and bought your gifts when you were here before, yet you walked away empty handed."

Kaylee gave her a condescending smile, "My dear Audrey, do you really think I came away from the mall empty handed? When's the last time I did that? Second grade, maybe?"

"You're impossible, Kaylee."

"Hey, I think that's Luke's little sister. She adores me," Kaylee whispered, nodding her head towards Faith and a couple of her friends a few clothing racks down. "At least that's what Luke told me. She's a real sweetheart. Let's go say hi."

Kaylee walked over towards a shelf of silver necklaces, rings, and other jewelry near Faith. Two of her friends had already wandered off to look at the designer jeans while Faith remained behind, apparently deciding between two silver necklaces, one with a crescent moon and the other with a heart.

"Hey Faith! Getting some last minute shopping done like us, I see," Kaylee asked.

Faith looked up from the jewelry. "Kaylee," she exclaimed with a smile on her face.

Her smile vanished as quickly as it surfaced. "It's good to see you," she said in a much less bubbly voice, changing her emotions like an on/off switch.

Kaylee thought it was strange, but she shrugged it off; maybe Faith was just having an off day. "This is my friend Audrey. Audrey, this is Luke's little sister I was telling you about. She's a freshman."

"Nice to meet you, Faith," Audrey said politely.

"You, too," Faith said, shaking Audrey's hand.

"Shopping for your mom," Kaylee asked inquisitively.

"Yea, sure," Faith quietly responded.

Nervously, Faith waived her arm and said, "Well, it was good seeing you," and turned back to the jewelry, awkwardly but deliberately away from Kaylee.

Audrey gave Kaylee a perplexed look; Kaylee shrugged back, just as confused.

Kaylee knew Audrey was expecting a lively, bubbly Faith Joy Patton, but that certainly wasn't the picture Faith presented. If anything, it was a polar opposite of what they were both expecting.

Kaylee was genuinely concerned; she communicated nonverbally with Audrey, suggesting she fade into the background. As strange as things had just become, Audrey was glad to do so.

"Faith, sweetie, is everything ok?" Kaylee was genuinely concerned.

A frown surfaced on Faith's face; it looked like, up until now, she had tried her hardest to hide her dissatisfaction about something. She opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind and immediately clamped back up.

"Faith, what's going on? You're scaring me. Is this about Luke? Please tell me he's ok," she asked instinctively.

Faith bit down on her lip, still looking at the jewelry. By this time, Kaylee could tell she was deliberately avoiding her gaze.

"I don't know," Faith spit out bitterly, "Why don't you ask your boyfriend?"

Faith was visibly upset. Her harsh words reflected a combination of sadness and anger; her eyes were damp, but she was severely agitated and trying hard not to lash out any more than she already had.

Kaylee flinched, "Bradley? I-I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

A look of confusion came over Faith as she realized Kaylee truly didn't seem to understand what she meant by that. Looking up at Kaylee, she sniffed and asked her, "You mean he didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Kaylee, he beat up Luke! He has a black eye, bruised ribs, and his arms are all scraped up. He even hurt his elbow."

Kaylee gasped, putting her hand to her mouth, "Is...is he ok?"

Faith sighed, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been rude. I should have known Bradley didn't tell you. I guess I'm just a little protective of my big brother."

"Wait, I know Bradley doesn't think too much of Luke and they had a pretty heated argument a few weeks ago, but he wouldn't just beat up Luke. He talks a big game, but he's never even been in a fight."

Faith shook her head, "Everyone knows he has it in for Luke, all the way down to our entire freshman class. Luke didn't tell me who did it, but after grilling him about what happened it was pretty easy to figure out."

Kaylee was a little relieved when Faith admitted she didn't know for sure who hurt Luke. Bradley was gruff, but there was no way he would've done that. Threatening Luke was one thing, but actually assaulting him?

Still, that didn't change the fact that someone went out of their way to hurt Luke, and pretty severely from the sounds of it. She tried not to be condescending to Faith, especially since it was her brother. Who wouldn't be emotional over a sibling in pain? "Faith, I have a hard time believing that. Bradley... he's talks a lot, but he wouldn't hurt a fly. I know him. I've been dating him for almost two years."

She didn't want to have to defend Bradley when she was still so worried about Luke. "Faith, I'm so terribly sorry, how is Luke? Is...I mean, is he ok? Please tell me he's not in the hospital at least."

"He's ok; he's at home now. He's mostly been trying to rest up. Mom has been spoiling him like a big baby, of course," Faith said with an annoyed grin, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Kaylee pulled her phone out of her purse. "I need to call him..."

Faith interrupted her, "Kaylee, he... he doesn't want to talk to you."

She froze.

"Yea, um," Faith said bashfully, "That's another reason why I'm pretty sure it was Bradley."



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 05







1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 05



"Holy shit," Aaron exclaimed from behind the camera as he ran towards Luke while the visual picture tumbled out of focus just before the camera turned off.

"Holy shit," Kaylee exclaimed.

A radiant angel? A precious flower?

Nurtured and allowed to bloom?

She could feel her body shaking; she couldn't recall another time in her life when so many emotions swirled through her head. She felt an intense rage towards Bradley and an incredible guilt over Luke. But aside her remorse, she also saw Luke in a new light; she witnessed a side of Luke that she had never realized existed.

He had a backbone, evident by the way he stood up to a bully much bigger and stronger than he was. He had confidence, much like David must have had against Goliath. However, what stood out most of all were the words flowing out of his mouth in the same way a poet might have weaved a poem; words that came from his heart that she was never meant to hear. Each word of beauty and admiration he spoke was purely about Kaylee.

She thought she was going to cry, but she was still too stunned for any type of reaction. Her first instinct was to call Bradley and chew his ass out, which was quickly overridden by an intense desire to skip the phone and drive over there in person so she could beat the living shit out of him.

On the flipside, Kaylee wanted to bolt out of Luke's room and chase him down to beg for his forgiveness. She wasn't sure she could do that; she was scared to face him after doubting his story. She cursed, realizing too late she should have listened to that nagging feeling in the back of her head. What good was it that the only reason she now believed him was because she saw the proof displayed before her very eyes on the computer screen? She missed her chance.

Aaron was still frozen in place; his hands hovered a foot above the keyboard, not wanting to make any sudden movements, much like helpless prey stalked by a hungry predator.

Her hand went up to her forehead. "Holy shit," she said again.

"Um, I think you already said that," Aaron said meekly.

Kaylee, having forgotten Aaron was in the room and now alerted to his presence, threw him a dirty look. Aaron cringed, attempting to slide his chair back subtly but only succeeding in accidentally bumping it into the wall.

She needed to clear her head; she wasn't in a condition to chase either Bradley or Luke.

Faith showed up outside Luke's door, looking inside. "What's going on," she asked. Kaylee didn't respond. Aaron made eye contact with Faith, but he didn't dare say another word if he could help it, not even to her.

"Aaron, do you have other clips of Luke? I want to see them," she tried to said calmly, brushing a strand of golden hair out of her face.

Aaron stuttered, unable to form even a complete word.

Kaylee shrieked, "WELL?"

Startled, Aaron pounced on his keyboard. "Y-yea, I have a few clips; hold on, hold on..." Never before had he typed on the computer and moved the mouse so quickly.

"Ok, here's one," he said, clicking play:

"Aaron, put that thing away. I'm trying to study," Luke said.

Aaron replied, "Come on, say something. Say anything! How was she when she was talking to you?"

"She was kind of a snot, actually."

Kaylee's bottom lip began to quiver when she heard Luke call her a snot, least of all in such a nonchalant manner. She'd been called worse by friends and rivals alike, but with Luke, somehow it was different. It seemed to hurt more. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't. Ok, she admitted it probably was, but it still hurt.

"Dude, we're talking about Kaylee. Everyone knows that; that's not the point. What did she say? What did she do? What was she wearing?"

Aaron looked down at his lap and scratched the back of his head, refusing to look up as his insensitive words on the video reached Kaylee's ears. Kaylee didn't react, but Faith, still standing in the doorway, glared at Aaron.

Kaylee was a little relieved, however, when she saw that bashful grin surface on Luke's face, despite his obvious resistance. She bit her lip as she heard Luke say:

"She unbuttoned her blouse a notch. It was buttoned all the way up the entire day. But when she approached me, she had one button undone. I think she was trying to add incentive for me to agree to tutor her. You have no idea how hard it was to be polite and not stare. It took everything I had."

Kaylee's could feel her face turning red; the temperature of the room must have quickly risen. She had no idea until now that Luke really did notice her ploy to seduce and trick him into helping her with her math. How did Luke know? He seemed so clueless at so many things, and at the time she pitied him for it. But he knew all along what she was up to. It was really a rotten thing to do, and she knew it. So why was she unable to resist the slight upward curve of her lips, thinking about Luke's every effort to use all of his mental powers in an attempt to resist her charm, and why didn't she feel guilty?

"Screw that, man. If she was opening them up to you, no need to be a gentleman. Right, bro?"

Aaron closed his eyes and scrunched his nose, as if trying to brace himself from an inevitable punch to the face.

"Ok, you want the truth? She's not the same as she was back in elementary school. I guess time changes people. Still, there's something about her I can't put my finger on. She puts on a front like she has it all figured out, but I sense some kind of insecurity in her. That's probably why she comes across as a spoiled brat -- she chooses to be one. I feel sorry for her."

Elementary school? She gasped, remembering her little scraggly-haired friend back in the first grade. How had she forgotten about that? Kaylee and Luke. Friends once upon a time, long ago. She felt so guilty for not remembering!

Luke, on the other hand; he remembered her completely. And it was as if he could read her like a book; she obviously had changed, and not for the better. The Luke on the video almost scared her; it was like he knew her better than she knew herself. She didn't like admitting it, and would never admit it to anyone but herself, but he was right. She was spoiled, and she chose to be spoiled.

But that didn't mean his words didn't sting her. They did. They stung her deep.

"But she's absolutely gorgeous. I've never seen a smile like hers -- ever. I mean, when she wants to, she can brighten up a room. I'm telling you, Aaron, she might even be the most beautiful girl in the world. Hey, I said put that thing down. You're not actually filming this, are you?"

"No, of course not," Aaron said.

The screen went blank, snapping Kaylee back to reality. She had never felt so cherished before this moment in her entire life, not even from her own parents. She smiled at Luke's ignorance to the camera and his beautiful, honest confession. Her heart fluttered as she recalled his sweet, sincere words.

The most beautiful girl in the world? For a moment she considered asking Aaron to play that part, over and over. She would have, if her burning desire to see the rest of the footage and understand more about Luke didn't override her tender and soft spots.

Aaron didn't even bother looking up.

"More," Kaylee snapped with an angry voice, stifling her smile.

"Kaylee, I..."

"Did I stutter?"

Aaron sighed, "This is the last one I have."

As Aaron pressed play, the first thing Kaylee noticed was Luke rolling his eyes. She giggled; it wasn't often she saw him do anything like that, or anything else that a typical teenager would do. Her own eyes glossed over as she listened to him speak:

"It's not like that. She wouldn't give me the time of day if I asked to kiss her high heels. Don't get me wrong, though, she's a nice girl. She's a lot different than I thought she'd be. She puts up a front so she can be one of the popular girls, but she's kind and giving and compassionate. Kaylee's really a sweetheart."

Aaron asked, "Then why is she with that douchebag, Brad, over there?"

The camera zoomed in on the large senior on the other side of the courtyard with his arm draped around Kaylee. Aaron panned the camera back to Luke, capturing the disappointed look on his face as he watched Bradley and Kaylee together.

Her hand reached up to her wide open mouth when the camera panned on a dejected and heartbroken Luke. He was longing for her, and she didn't even notice. She had no idea! She felt her heart breaking. As Kaylee watched herself laughing on video, holding and hugging Bradley in celebration of her victory over her midterms, she felt so awful that she almost told Aaron to turn it off; she didn't think she could take much more.

Kaylee didn't know why it never occurred to her before, but the realization hit her hard: She should have been celebrating with Luke instead. If it wasn't for Luke, she wouldn't have a reason to celebrate.

She heard a sniffling sound behind her; was Faith misting up, too?

Kaylee practically froze as she heard Luke tell Aaron:

"Dude, I hate being the one to tell you, but you know she's using you. Right?"

Luke delayed his response, but nodded, "Maybe. You're probably right. I know at first she started out using me, and that's fine, but I just can't quite tell if she was or not at the end. She probably was, but only subconsciously at least. I mean, she definitely reciprocated, buying me clothes and taking me to the gym. The human mind can be a tricky thing. Did I tell you she apologized to me once?"

Aaron was shocked, "Really? For what?"

Luke smiled, "Long story."

"I never used...," Kaylee squeaked out loud before her voice choked up. "How could he think...?"

As the video faded to black, Aaron quickly told Kaylee, before she could yell at him anymore, "That's everything."

For a moment, she paced back and forth in the room. Her hands went up to her head as if she had a headache, but in reality she was trying to process everything she had just seen. Bradley wasn't who she thought he was, and Luke certainly wasn't who she thought he was either. Both for very completely different reasons.

Faith was stunned, too, but she seemed concerned for Kaylee. "Kaylee, are... are you ok?"

That was enough to snap Kaylee out of it. Looking at Faith, she asked, "Faith, where did he go? I have to find him and talk to him."

Faith shrugged, "I don't know, try the library? Or maybe he just went out to take a walk to cool down?"

Kaylee bolted out of the room and out of the house. "Um, Kaylee, do you need help," Faith asked, but Kaylee was already gone.

"What just happened," a stunned Aaron asked Faith. "I mean..., Kaylee? Luke? Does she really feel for him, like..., you know..."

Just as shocked as Aaron, Faith tried to find the right words to say, "I...wow, I knew he had the hots for Kaylee, but I had no idea anything like that! No wonder he took off as fast as he did."

Aaron shook his head, turning back to the screen and sarcastically muttering under his breath, "That went well."



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 06







1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 06



As the overhauled midnight-black Challenger slowly rumbled down the street, Kaylee saw Jessica taking the hose to Ryan in their rear view mirror, followed by Ryan throwing Jessica over his shoulder and running off with her like a caveman until they were both inside the house.

Kaylee blushed.

---

"Holy crap, Luke, you're killing me! You're not driving Miss Daisy," Kaylee exclaimed.

"Driving who?"

"Driving Miss... oh Luke, it's an old movie. You need to get out more."

"That doesn't make any sense; if I need to see more movies, don't you mean I need to stay in more? Unless you're talking about a drive-in, then I can understa..."

Kaylee sighed, "Never mind."

Luke asked her, "So what's it about?"

"I don't know, it's old, like, my parents watched it once."

"So if you don't know what it's about..."

"Luke! It's just an expression that means at least attempt to go the speed limit, not five under. Most guys our age would be opening this baby up!"

Luke sighed. Kaylee shook her head, wondering what she had just got herself into.

She heard Luke chuckle, "This isn't good. We sound like my parents fighting on our movie nights. This first date thing is harder than I thought."

His laughter was contagious; she couldn't resist a quiet laugh.

"Well, at least we know why they trust you so much. If we ran head-on into a brick wall at this speed, you'd barely scratch the bumper. And what do you mean your parents fight? They're like Mr. and Mrs. All-America, or something."

He shrugged, "Dad normally says or does something stupid, and then mom gets all offended and takes it personally. After however long the fight takes, he normally says something even stupider -- sometimes unintentional, sometimes on purpose -- but it usually ends up making her laugh. They are predictable, to be honest, and don't even realize it."

The look on his face turned into a disturbing sneer, "And sometimes, when things get really out of hand..."

Luke shuddered.

"What?"

"He grabs her, throws her over his shoulder, and runs off with her to the bedroom. Don't make me say anymore because I'll probably throw up."

Kaylee was laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She said, "I think that's romantic, actually. You do have really attractive parents, Luke, and they really seem to love each other. I hope when I'm your mother's age, I have a husband that will love me like he does and do things like that with me. It's really sweet how they can't keep their hands off of each other."

"Sweet, huh? Can you picture your parents doing that?"

Kaylee turned up her nose at that picture, "Yea, right. They'd be like two porcupines going at it, trying not to kill each other while procreating. I'm not actually sure they ever have. They never talk to each other, let alone touch each other. I think I'm adopted."

Luke said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Besides, I think I'd literally puke my guts out if they did something like that," she added. "It's different with my parents."

Luke laughed, shaking his head. "Literally, huh?"

"Yes," she said sharply, glaring at him. "Literally. Don't make fun."

"Sorry, Kaylee. Well, we're here," he said, pulling up to the Mongolian grill.

The roar of the Challenger instantly dropped to silence as Luke turned it off. As he opened the car door, he looked over at Kaylee and asked, "Are you ready, Kaylee?"

Narrowing her eyes at him, Kaylee said, "You're lucky this place was so close. If it was any further away, we'd be eating Mongolian for breakfast." Her pretend mad look quickly morphed into a playful smile as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before he could get out of the car.





1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 06



Unable to stop herself, despite her need to protect her own vulnerability, the words came pouring out, "I've never done it either. Not with Bradley, not with anyone. I've messed around before, but... going all the way just seemed... I don't know. Not right. Giving it away, even to a guy I really liked, I just..." She threw her hands in the air, struggling for the right words, "I just want it to be more than what everyone else is doing. I want it to be special, with the right guy."

Turning towards Luke, she said, "Someone I could fall in love with."

Waves of emotion crashed over her as she tried to form the right words in her head. "Luke, if you're not ready, then we're not ready. And that's ok. We can wait until we're ready. But I really want you to know something." Kaylee took in a deep breath, trying to muster up the courage she needed to confess the impossible. "I realized something last night. Luke Patton, I've been saving myself, my whole entire life, waiting for the right guy." She almost choked as she admitted, "Waiting for you."

Somewhere along the way, she must have said the right thing, because his shoulders relaxed and the tightness in his face melted away. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. The faint smile that appeared on his face spoke volumes.



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 07



Just as quickly as the Christmas break had come, it was already over, which meant both cheerleading and choir were also over. It was a new semester; everyone had new classes and different teachers, and the dreadful prospect of homework was just around the corner. But most importantly, Kaylee's play practice was now in full swing.

Casting had begun for A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Kaylee really wanted to play the role of Hermia. Despite how hard she studied the lines, the cruel fates just had to dictate, of course, that Cindy would be the one to win the part. Kaylee got the part of Titania the fairy queen. She was initially disappointed -- especially losing the role to that skank Cindy, of all people -- but the more she read the script, the more she tried to look on the bright side, picturing herself enjoying the role of the queen of all fairies.

Still, it bothered her losing out to Cindy. Not just with the play, but with everything. There was something in the air, something different about Remmington High since school started up again, that made her feel like she was slipping into second place as the self-imposed role of "beauty queen" gradually transferred over to Cindy.

Her former friend appeared to be usurping her power within their inner-circle, intentionally or otherwise; Audrey really seemed be the only friend she still had since cheerleading ended. Kaylee tried not to let it bother her, but shrugging things off didn't come naturally.

Kaylee spent a lot of nights at play practice. She had to listen to Cindy's continual self-praise night after night, infuriating her to no end; the only saving grace was that Audrey was also in the play, as one of her fairies, Peaseblossom.

She sighed, thinking about her dilemma and declining social status. Maybe Luke was dragging her down; socially, at least. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it wasn't as big of a deal as she would have made it into only a few short months ago.

In fact, thinking about Luke always gave her a sense of peace. Pondering this simple fact caused a smile to develop on her face as she thought about the affect Luke had on not only her heart, but also the way he impacted her entire life. He was the first thing she thought about when she awakened every morning. He was the last thing on her mind before sleep overcame her while lying in her bed each night. She wasn't bashful holding his hand; she enjoyed walking down the school halls where everyone could see them.

Audrey even told her she was being less bitchy and to thank Luke for that. Kaylee was amazed at her own level of happiness; she was always smiling and couldn't hide it, and it was all because of Luke. If dating Luke was the sole reason why she was becoming less popular, then everyone could just go screw themselves.

At the beginning of the year, if anyone had told her she'd be dating Luke Patton, the scrawny antisocial math nerd of the entire school, she would have laughed in their face. But now, things had changed so drastically. Luke had opened up her eyes in so many ways.

She loved it, but it scared her. She actually felt like she had grown up by leaps and bounds over the last few months alone, and she knew it was because Luke was rubbing off on her.

Whenever she wasn't at play practice, she'd find a way to be with Luke. A couple nights a week, the young pair would sit on the porch swing at his parent's house, holding hands and rocking gently under the night sky, talking about anything and everything. Kaylee loved talking to Luke; it was a different experience having a conversation with someone as intelligent as he was despite his lack of wisdom in the social arena. While she learned a lot from him, she also enjoyed taking the opportunity to teach him social protocols that he had no clue about. They brought out the best in each other, the stronger partner compensating for the other's weaknesses.

Even though the end of the night meant the two were reluctantly forced to part, she looked forward to the goodnight kiss. They had kissed before, but each time was like the first kiss all over again with Luke. He was so predictable; she could always tell when he was going to kiss her. He would first start off by fidgeting with his hands, and then he would begin stammering, and eventually Luke would begin rambling.

Kaylee in turn would coax him, squeezing his hand or caressing his cheek, letting him know it was ok. On more than one occasion when Luke didn't get the hint, Kaylee simply put a finger on his lips and boldly told him, "Luke, you can kiss me now." She didn't think he'd ever get used to kissing her.

The more she thought about it, the more she preferred it that way.

---

The weekend nights were the most special. Every Friday night, and every other Saturday, Luke drove Kaylee out to the countryside in his Challenger. He still drove like Miss Daisy, she teased him, but she didn't mind. Fast or slow -- it didn't matter -- she loved sitting next to Luke, gazing out the window and enjoying the quiet pace as farm field after farm field passed them by.

Kaylee remembered vividly the first time he took her into the country. Luke found a quiet place to pull over and park as the sun went down; no one was around for miles. There was a feeling in the air unlike anything else she had ever felt before; it was as if they were the only two people in the world. Luke escorted her out of the car and grabbed a few blankets out of the trunk, throwing them on the hood of the Challenger.

She recalled her own state of shock as she watched him throw a blanket on top of the hood, climbing up and offering his hand to her. He loved that car, but with the single act that would have made any true car aficionado pass out, it showed how much more he loved her.

That first night was magical. Luke instinctively drew her close; she smiled, knowing how uncharacteristic that was for him. He was so busy looking up at the stars, excitedly telling her about the constellations, that he didn't even realize he was pulling her into his arms. Savoring the moment, she wrapped her arms around his chest, looking up and into the night sky with him.

"...And you see that one right there? That's Orion," he whispered to her. She wasn't really listening to him before; he was speaking way above her head and she couldn't keep up. Plus, all she really wanted was for him to hold her, and he was already doing that.

"Are you listening to me, Kaylee," Luke chuckled.

Caught red-handed! "Sorry, I was just daydreaming. Or nightdreaming. Dreaming at night without being asleep, whatever you call it," Kaylee said stumbling on her own words, unable to explain what she was feeling. Lately Luke had the ability to even mess up the simple things in her mind.

"Orion. You said something about Orion," she quickly blurted, bailing herself out.

"Yes, Orion is one of the easiest constellations to see. See those small three stars in a row," Luke pointed out. "That's his belt."

"Oh! I see it," Kaylee said as her eyes followed Luke's finger.

"They're called Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. Orion was a hunter in Greek Mythology, which is why the constellation is also known as 'The Hunter'."

Kaylee smiled. "Wow, that's original," she said sarcastically.

Luke nodded and kept talking -- he obviously didn't get it.

Once again, he lost Kaylee and had no clue. She didn't mind; Luke could talk all night for all she cared. In fact, she preferred it. His voice was calm and soothing, and his peaceful words reassured her that he was still there next to her. With that thought alone, she snuggled up against him even closer. If she had her way, she would have ripped off his clothes and taken him right there. Not because she had a primal lust the way that men had, but because he was... well, because he was Luke and she was simply crazy about him.

She wanted to give herself to him; she had such passion that she was desperate for him to have. She silently cursed under her breath, remembering how he had to play the role of the gentleman, despite what she wanted. No matter; she would get her chance with him eventually, somehow or another.

By the time that night was over -- or any of their subsequent nights -- she still hadn't learned the names of any of the stars, and other than Orion she couldn't even remember the name of a single constellation. That belt was pretty easy to see, but that was about it.

But aside the education in astronomy, simply laying on the hood and cuddling with Luke while gazing up at the stars? She wouldn't have traded those nights for anything.

---

As amazing as life was with Luke, Kaylee still knew she would have to deal with what Audrey called 'The Bradley Situation.'

She never called him after she saw the video of him and Luke in their one-sided fight; she was simply too angry to face him and maintain any rational train of thought at the same time. Every phone call from Bradley was ignored despite the instant surging rage she felt whenever his number popped up.

When she finally saw him in the halls for the first time after Christmas break, it took everything Audrey and Mick had to hold her back.

Audrey later told Kaylee she thought she was seriously going to claw him to death with her newly manicured fingernails. Even Kaylee, after she had a chance to settle down and let her anger subside, was shocked at her own behavior. She was just grateful that Luke wasn't around to see the 'psycho' side of her, as Audrey so lovingly called it. It was like she had turned into The Hulk, complete with all of his anger and rage. His raw strength, not so much, but that wasn't going to stop her from ripping Bradley apart had he refused to quickly retreat.

Audrey joked, "Kaylee smash!"

Kaylee didn't think it was as funny as she did.

Bradley stayed out of her path after that. Every once in a while, Kaylee would catch him staring at her, sometimes from across the cafeteria and other times on the other side of the lockers, but once he was caught he would walk away. Kaylee smirked, watching his pathetic loser-self crawl away like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs.

Funny about that analogy. In her experience, most men were in fact dogs. Luke was kind of the exception, even though he fit the definition in a different way; he was more of a sweet, loyal puppy that followed her around with unconditional adoration, unafraid of putting himself at risk for her. She loved that about him.

She tried not to be selfish, but she absolutely loved the attention he showered her with. He wasn't the smoothest talker, or the most eloquent, but she began to realize she had an ability to understand what he meant where others didn't. For example, whenever he said, "You look good, Kaylee," she could look into his eyes and understand what he really meant was, "You look absolutely stunning, Kaylee!"

At first, it seemed like they had a pretty good after-school routine developed. Most of the nights when she had play practice Luke would go to the library to study. At the end of each night, as Kaylee's play practice wrapped up -- ten minutes prior to be precise, as Luke was always punctual and on-time -- Luke would finish up his studying, put his books and binder in his backpack, and walk to the other side of the building to wait for her.

Practice was frustrating for Kaylee. For some reason she'd always get tongue-tied on the line, "Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard". She liked acting, but Shakespear...what the frick was he thinking? Really, why couldn't the old English guy speak... well, English?

At least Luke was always there to comfort her, even when she was overwhelmed and felt like bawling her head off.

---

"Where's Luke," Audrey asked Kaylee after play practice. "This is like the first time in a month I haven't seen him here waiting for you."

As the two girls walked to the parking lot, Kaylee couldn't hide her irritation. "He said he had something with Aaron tonight. I think he's helping him with his documentary."

"Yeah? What is that documentary about, anyway? He's been working on it like all year," Audrey responded.

Kaylee shrugged, "I don't know. I think it's like that old show Seinfeld, minus the comedy. It's about a whole lot of nothing. At least that's all I've been able to figure out from it." But when Kaylee remembered the video clip Aaron played for her, starring Luke Patton in the role of the underdog hero who took on the bully, she bashfully added, "Mostly, anyway."

"So I take it things are going good with you and Luke? You guys are like always together," Audrey remarked.

"It's going pretty good," Kaylee said, although her smile was obviously forced. "I wish he would've shown up tonight, though. He's already planning on seeing Aaron twice next week, too, so I won't get to see him."

Audrey laughed, "That's not that big of a deal; so what if you have to share him for a night or two? You can live without seeing him for a twenty-four hour period. Besides, absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Turning her head towards Audrey, Kaylee made a point of showing off an exaggerated eye roll, "Well, as crazy as I am about him, I think he's even crazier about me, if that were possible. I just don't like the thought of him losing interest in me." Kaylee pulled out her keychain and remotely unlocked her car. "I mean," Kaylee said, looking up at the night sky with a dreamy smile, "I've never had anyone as mad about me before as he is. He's practically wrapped around my finger, but the thing is, I didn't put him there. And here's the crazy thing." She continued, "Every minute that I'm away from him, it almost hurts, you know?"

With a slight smile, Audrey unlocked her car and opened the door, nodding, "You have it bad for him, hun. I swear, you guys are gonna have like twenty babies together." Unable to help herself, Audrey joked, "Literally!"

Even Kaylee laughed as she opened her own car door. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

She tried not to think too hard about Audrey's comment; having Luke's babies was the last thing she needed on her mind.

---

"What do you mean you're going over to Aarons again? That's the third time this week! You said it would only be twice," she pouted.

Kaylee was frustrated. She wanted to reach through the cell phone and choke her boyfriend.

"You know I want to see you after your play practice, but he needs me. He took on a project a little bigger than he thought it would be, and I'm trying to bail him out," Luke told her apologetically.

Her sigh was clearly audible through the phone, "Luke, you're killing me! You can't just pop this on me on the day of. You have to give me some warning!"

"I know," Luke replied, trying to use every diplomatic skill he could muster up, "I would have told you earlier if I had known but I just found out about it. I told him he has to give me more of a heads-up; he thought he had an extra week and found out today that wasn't the case."

"Luke, I don't even care what kind of project he's doing or what he's filming, but can't he do it himself? Haven't you helped him enough already?"

"Well," Luke responded slowly, treading very carefully, "I'm just trying to help him out, like a certain young lady I know that needed help with her mathematics and chemistry..."

She just knew he was sporting a smug smile on the other end on the phone. Leave it to Luke to remind her how much she needed his help. And, after all, Aaron was his best friend. She sighed again, but this time it was one of resignation. "Ok, ok. You have a point. Just don't forget about me, cowboy," she whispered in a sultry voice.

His momentary silence on the other end was a clear indication she found a way inside his head. She gave a knowing, satisfied smile as he stammered, "I-I would never forget you, Kaylee."

"I know, honey, and that's so sweet of you, but I was being rhetorical. And I feel the same way about you. The play is next week, just please promise me you'll be there for opening day at least?"

Luke said, "Of course, Kaylee. I wouldn't miss that for anything. Normally I'd be tutoring four or five people this time of year, but since I'm only helping Aaron and Melissa it will be easy to deconflict schedules and make your play my first priority."

Kaylee's eyes opened wide and she clenched her jaw. She growled, "MELISSA? Who is Melissa?"

There was a period of uncomfortable silence on the other end of the phone before Luke finally spoke.

"M-Melissa, you know. Melissa Young. She's a junior..."

Kaylee interrupted Luke and exclaimed, "THAT Melissa? She's a slut! Are you kidding me, Luke Patton?"

"S-she's not... I... R-really, Kaylee, we're just studying..."

Kaylee grunted. She wanted to scream, You better be!

Maybe she made Luke too hot. She didn't regret giving Luke his makeover, but Luke couldn't possibly resist someone like Melissa.

She knew how tramps like Melissa operated. They started out innocently enough, but gradually they would fawn all over their prey, and before their victim knew it, their hooks were set in them too deep for any hope of escape.

She held her tongue as well as she could and said, "Luke, I'm not going to make you not study with her. Just be careful. I know girls like that, and I don't trust her."

Luke said, "But don't you trust me?"

Kaylee sighed, deflated. It took her a moment to think of a response. "No, of course I trust you, Luke. It's her that I don't trust. I just... I don't want to see someone take advantage of you. You dress nice, and you look really hot. That means certain types of girls will be coming out of the woodworks, gunning for you."

"But I don't want any other girls. I just want you," Luke said matter-of-factly, as if he couldn't figure out why Kaylee was so upset.

Kaylee smiled. She even felt a little guilty. He sounded so calm when he said that, like he didn't know how to look at any other girls. It was as if he really, truly didn't understand why she was overreacting. Maybe she needed to relax, but she couldn't help worry about his vulnerability.

But she had to make him understand; he was soooo naïve. "Baby, just remember, you're kind of new at this dating thing. You're a bit... shall we say, inexperienced. There are girls on the prowl out there that would love to chew you up and spit you out. I... just... be careful." She breathed a sigh of relief, now that she at least had that off her chest. The rest was up to Luke.

"Ok, Kaylee," Luke said, devoid of emotion.

Well, that was Luke. At least he understood. That was all she could ask for.

"Night-night, cowboy," she told him, hanging up her cell.

---

Kaylee couldn't help steal the occasional glance out into the crowd whenever she had a chance, despite being on stage. Especially during one of Puck's never-ending and long-winded monologues. She knew exactly where Luke was supposed to be sitting, but the seat was empty.

She scanned the rest of the audience just in case he sat elsewhere, but he was nowhere in sight. Besides, Luke was predictable and a creature of habit. He wouldn't even think of sitting somewhere else other than his assigned seat.

That meant one thing: He stood her up!! She couldn't believe it! And if that alone wasn't bad enough, his absence made it even harder for her to focus.

"Your line!"

Audrey, or rather 'Peaseblossom', looked at Kaylee with wide eyes and whispered loudly with a closed mouth.

Slowly bringing her mind back to the mythological world of satyrs and beasts, Kaylee realized Brock, who was playing Oberon, had finished his rant and now everyone was waiting on her. She quickly spouted, "My Oberon! What visions I have seen!"

The rest of the night wasn't much better. She somehow managed to deliver her lines, although they came across flat and uninspired. It was a blessing when the play ended; as the curtain went down, she breathed deeply, feeling much like an animal put out of its misery.




1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 07



"Audrey, give me another wipe. This fucking makeup won't come off," Kaylee huffed, scrubbing her face unsuccessfully, sitting in her fairy queen dress in front of the mirror.

"Go easy, girl," Audrey said, throwing her another wipe. "Last time I saw you scrubbing that hard was when you thought that one boy gave you cooties back in the third grade. Keep it up and you won't have any flesh left. What's going on?"

Kaylee glared at her, as if she should have already known, then continued wiping her face.

"Oh, I get it. Luke. What happened? Wasn't he out there?"

"Nope," Kaylee said indignantly, her face red -- and not from the makeup. "That bastard said he'd be here on opening night. He's probably out with Aaron, helping him with that stupid documentary. That's just if I'm lucky. Heaven help him if he's with that stupid slut Melissa. She's probably trying to get into his pants as we speak."

"Wait," Audrey started, "Luke wouldn't blow you off with Melissa, and he certainly wouldn't be playing video games with Aaron instead of watching your play. You know that. Maybe he had a good reason. Luke would never blow you off intentionally."

"Good reason my ass. Luke can go fuck himself."

Audrey was shocked; she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Kaylee so angry... it was probably a year or two ago when she was with Bradley. Big surprise there. But being this outraged at Luke? That was something she never thought she would see.

"I mean, he didn't even call me! He still hasn't called," she whined, showing Kaylee her cell phone. "No texts, no voice messages; nothing. Maybe I'd consider believing something important kept him from coming, if he wasn't spending so much time tutoring Melissa."

"Well, Kaylee, he hasn't given you any treason to not trust him. I mean, what's with this rage of jealousy thing all of a sudden? I've never seen you like this. He's tutored tons of students and never acted inappropriately with any of them, not even you. He..."

Kaylee interrupted, "Oh just shut up! I do NOT get jealous! Just because he turned down my advances doesn't mean he'd resist every other girl's flirting, so this has nothing to do with jealousy."

Audrey wasn't sure what to say; Kaylee just wasn't thinking rationally. Her friend continued ranting, "I... I don't mind if he periodically helps Aaron or Melissa or anyone else study," she said unconvincingly. "But for him to miss the play, especially with..."

It was Audrey's turn to interrupt Kaylee, "Oh come on! You'd spend every minute of every day with Luke if you could, and you've been complaining to me since he missed your first play practice. And that was with him giving you a heads-up. Just give him a chance is all I'm saying. Call him and see why he didn't make it."

"Forget it," Kaylee snarled. "He knows where I am at. He can come begging to me and explain what happened. Better yet, I don't even want to see his face."

Audrey sighed. Sometimes it was impossible to get through to that girl.

---

Kaylee was the last one out of the building. It was harder to hold her tears back now that she didn't have to hide them from anyone, except for the janitor who would soon be locking up the building behind her, but she still didn't want Luke to have the satisfaction of making her cry. With each step to her car, shoulders slumped and her head hung down, Kaylee's could feel her eyes fill up until they were no longer able to contain her tears.

She pulled out her cell phone.

After it rang several times, it went to his voice mail. All of her rage finally spilled out, "Luke, you're a BASTARD! I can't believe you didn't show up for my play. I can't even believe you aren't answering your phone right now, you ass! I don't know where the hell you are right now, probably with that slut-butt Melissa; it's like you've been spending more time with her than me lately. Maybe you should date HER instead! I can't believe I've wasted my time with you. I thought you cared about me, but it's obvious you only care about yourself. You KNEW how important this play was for me, but you didn't give a shit, and you bailed on me! Whether you're with her or not it doesn't even matter; there's no excuse for not showing up and not even having the decency to tell me you couldn't make it. Well, FINE! I don't need you then. Don't bother coming to the one tomorrow night, either. You had your chance."

Taking a deep breath, she held the phone closer to her lips, "Listen to me, Luke: WE. ARE. OVER!!"

She turned her phone off; it took everything she had to resist throwing it across the parking lot. As she opened her car door and slid inside, she lowered her head on the steering wheel and began to sob uncontrollably.



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 08



XII -- A Matter of Trust

It was a mental struggle for Luke to push the pedal down harder, but because he was running behind he forced himself to accelerate just a few miles per hour over the speed limit on the three-lane highway.

He didn't really like breaking the speed limit but the last thing he was going to do was show up late for Kaylee's opening night. The mathematical odds told him his gamble to speed three to five miles an hour over the speed limit would be the perfect balance between getting him to the play on time and avoiding a ticket. That was even assuming the State Police were patrolling the freeway.

Luke felt comfortable enough to carefully shift from the slow lane to the middle lane.

He was a little disappointed in himself, coming to terms with the fact that he had severely miscalculated how long it would take him to get ready for the play. He was never late, and the ironic realization that he might very well be late for the most important event of his life greatly frustrated him. Of course, he knew exactly why he was behind; he spent way too much time getting ready for Kaylee's big night.

He shaved, showered, put on Kaylee's favorite cologne and styled his hair exactly the way that she liked it. He even wore the same khakis and button down shirt that she seemed to like the most -- it was the same outfit he wore when he once caught her looking him up and down. Never in his life had he found it so difficult to find the right shirt to go with the right pants.

After that daunting task, Luke had much more of an appreciation for the all of the times he had to wait on Kaylee.

Still, despite everything, he was optimistic he could make it to the play on time. Traffic on I-5 wasn't as bad as it normally was during this time of night. After doing a few quick mental calculations by factoring the speed he was driving in miles per hour and mathematically comparing it to the remaining distance, he figured he'd still get there about three minutes early. And that was even worst-case scenario as he had accounted for hitting each of the remaining lights red.

It was uncharacteristic of Luke, but he couldn't help the cocky feeling creeping up in the back of his mind. And for once, he didn't mind.

Screw GPS, he thought, unable to hide a smirk. All I needed was a little math and patience to figure out my timing.

Luke leaned his chair back slightly, rolled the window down, and rested his left arm.

An older beat-up yellow Toyota pickup in the fast lane started to pass him on the left. The driver wasn't much older than Luke. Normally one to avoid eye contact, Luke looked over with confidence and a smile.

The pickup driver smiled back and yelled, "Nice car," as he sped on by. Luke gave him an up-nod although he was still surprised at how many compliments he'd been getting lately. Well, it was the Challenger getting the compliments, but he didn't mind being the beneficiary.

It's gonna be a great night, Luke thought to himself, turning the radio up as Boston's Foreplay/Longtime pumped out through all six speakers. He tapped his fingers on the side of the car in rhythm with the keyboard and guitars. Reaching across the passengers seat, Luke rolled down the passenger window to let the music escape, carefully holding the steering wheel with his left hand.

Luke heard a loud bang. The yellow Toyota, about fifty feet ahead of Luke, immediately started swerving back and forth, cutting across the lanes as smoke poured from its tires; Luke couldn't tell if he blew a tire or hit debris on the interstate.  

Startled, Luke sat upright, grabbing the steering wheel with both hands so hard his knuckles turned white. He jumped on the brakes as hard as he could. The pickup veered off sharply to the right. It was as if everything happened in slow motion. The yellow pickup crossed the lane Luke was in, just clipping the front end of his Challenger. The light contact at a high speed was enough to bump Luke through the right lane and off the shoulder of the Interstate. With his brakes locked and the Challenger moving sideways, he slid across loose gravel and grass. The front end hit part of the sharply rising terrain, causing him to lose complete control of the Challenger; it rolled over and landed on the roof.

He watched as the cell phone in his lap and the red roses on the passenger seat flung out the window. The black Challenger continued sliding until it progressively ground to a halt.

---

Completely disoriented and hanging upside-down in his seatbelt harness, Luke tried to get his bearings. He wasn't quite sure but it looked like after the two vehicles collided, the pickup spun another ninety degrees so it faced in the opposite direction of travel. That, coupled with its sideways momentum, caused the pickup to barrel roll at least a couple of times.

It took Luke some time to process what had just happened. Trying to focus his eyes, he stared upside-down through the passengers open window at the burning pickup and the black smoke cloud surrounding it.

He didn't know why it was occurring to him only now that the person in the pickup could have been severely injured or maybe even dead, but that thought alone was enough to snap him back to reality. Bracing himself with one hand on the roof of the car below him, he unbuckled the seatbelt. His body came crashing down, almost landing face first.

He shook the sting of the fall off and carefully crawled through the open window on the driver's side, trying to avoid the shattered glass strewn about everywhere.

As he stood up and ran towards the pickup, pure adrenaline pumping through his veins, he realized he couldn't see very well out of his right eye. Luke placed his hand on his forehead, expecting to wipe sweat out of his eye, but the consistency of the liquid was thicker than sweat. He pulled his hand away and, taking a quick look at it, was surprised to find it was almost completely covered in blood.

He kept moving, alternating between blinking his right eye and wiping his forehead with his shirt. At least three, maybe four other cars had pulled over to the side of road, but Luke was the first to get to the pickup. Between the thick smoke, the blood in his eye, and the brightness from engine fire contrasting with the dark dusky night, it was extremely difficult to see.

The pickup had come to a halt on its side. The driver lay crumpled against his door, and he wasn't moving. "Hey, buddy! Are you alright," Luke exclaimed, afraid that he was either dead or unconscious.

Flames were spreading quickly and the truck reeked of fuel. Luke quickly jumped up on the side of the truck, sliding into the cab through the broken passenger's window.

Blood was all over the man's white T-shirt. Luke didn't exactly breath a sigh of relief when he heard sirens in the background, but as uncomfortable as he was in the burning vehicle he was thankful the sound was getting closer. Gradually the blaring noise overpowered the sounds of the raging fire; he knew help would be here any moment, but there wasn't any time to waste.

As he tried to unbuckle the man's seatbelt, the metal buckle burned his hand, causing him to yell out in pain. Luke winced but didn't hesitate to go for it a second time; this time, he managed to endure through the pain, taking off the seatbelt and getting the man free.

Luke thought he heard a quiet groan of pain. It was encouraging; at least that meant he was alive.

For now.

Sliding his arms underneath the man's armpits, he tried to carefully pull him up. Although he didn't have official first aid training, he knew one of the first things to do was to make sure he didn't have any neck injuries. However, the importance of time overrode that; at any moment, the entire truck could explode with both him and the driver inside. They both had to get out of the flaming coffin as fast as they could.

He was harder to lift than he thought, and Luke struggled to get him up. For a moment, he flashed back to his weight training with Kaylee and shuddered to think what would have happened if he had never picked up a weight.

Still, the limp body was heavy, and it would take time to get him out of the vehicle. Time he didn't have.

Grunting, he tried to lift the driver outside the passenger window. Right when he thought he couldn't push any harder, two men -- passersby's, Luke guessed -- had arrived to grab the driver. "We got him," one of them yelled to Luke as they hauled him the rest of the way out. Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

The flames dramatically increased, reaching heights well above Luke. He could feel the intensity of the heat. It was hot when he first entered the truck, but by now the heat was so intense Luke didn't think he could survive another ten seconds.

He hoisted himself out and jumped off the pickup, running behind the two men, both of them carrying the injured driver and also running for their lives.

Luke finally stopped running, believing to be far enough away from the burning truck. Just as Luke saw the first fire engine pull up, he heard -- and felt -- a loud explosion behind him, knocking him down to the ground.

Out of both fear and instinct, he crawled another twenty feet even though the explosion had subsided. His heart was racing faster than ever. He turned around, eyes wide and in disbelief at the massive ball of fire that had enveloped the crippled vehicle.

Looking up towards the fire engine, he watched as a team of firemen grabbed and unwound the hose almost before the truck had come to a full stop. The powerful force of water brought the hose to life like a snake, so incredibly strong that three of the firemen had to hold and direct it towards the flaming wreckage.

Another two firemen ran towards Luke. Both of them, like all of the others, were wearing their full gear and self-contained breathing apparatuses over their face. Before he knew it, the two men picked him up and hauled him back towards the fire truck, keeping him out of further danger.

After the firemen gave Luke a quick once-over, carefully checking his neck, spine, and other body parts for extensive injury, one of them removed his smoke mask.

"You know this means I'm dropping you off of my insurance policy, don't you," Ryan told Luke with a joyful smile, although Luke observed a slight shake to his usually calm father.

Ryan hugged his son tightly, careful of Luke's injuries. Oddly enough, of all the things for Luke to think about, he couldn't help but realize it was a lot harder for him to get his arms around his dad because of the thick fireman suit and the oxygen tank on his back.

Luke heard him whisper, "Thank you, Jesus," over and over until finally releasing him and pulling out the medical kit.

"You might need a few stitches, buddy," his dad said, washing the blood off of his forehead and eyebrow so he could see the wound more clearly. "But for now, let's take care of your hand. Looks like you burned it a little."

"Dad," Luke asked.

"Yeah?"

"That other guy," he nodded towards the driver of the pickup who was being loaded into an ambulance that must have just arrived on scene.

"Is he gonna make it?"

Ryan shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. I didn't get a good look. But after what you did, I know you at least gave him a fighting chance."

Luke beamed at his fathers compliment.

Ryan continued, "All we can do is pray for him and let God and the doctors do the rest. I hope he pulls out. But for right now at least, I'm just glad you're ok."

Luke saw his dad look at him strangely again. He narrowed his eyes, deep in thought, until it finally occurred to him what was most likely bothering his dad.

"Dad? You're thinking about my older brother Adam right now, aren't you?"

At first Ryan looked surprised, but his look progressively turned into a contemplative, playful smile. He said, "No, I was thinking about how much of a pain it's going to be to fix Charlene back up. You better let that cute little girlfriend of yours drive you around for a while, even if it is a Beamer. At least it's not a Mustang like your mom's car."

"Be serious, dad," Luke told him with a straight face.

Ryan finished bandaging up Luke's hand.

"There... I think your hand is good. We'll run you to the hospital just to make sure, and have the doctors sew your eyebrow up," Ryan told him, taking care of his son's medical needs first, but also trying to process old, painful memories that had resurfaced. He wasn't sure what to say about Adam who, along with his first wife, died in a car accident nearly two decades ago.

He sighed, "Ok, to answer your question: Both yes and no. I was thinking of Adam, but I was thinking of how much I didn't want to lose you too, buddy. What happened to Adam... it's probably the worst feeling in the world, and I don't ever want to experience it again. It still bothers me to this day, even with all the time that's passed. No parent should outlive a child of his. So, yeah, I had some old fears resurface. People tend to forget how amazing life can be, but they also forget how fragile and precious it is." Putting a hand on Luke's shoulder, Ryan told him, "But like I said, I'm just glad you're safe and alive right now. I think we both have something we can thank the Lord for tonight."

Luke smiled. Ryan shook his head, helping Luke stand to his feet as they waited for a second ambulance to arrive. "So straight forward and to the point, aren't you," his dad told him. He didn't think he would ever get used to Luke's direct matter-of-fact line of questioning. "You always did wear your heart on your sleeve, buddy."

Ryan patted him on the back, watching the water relentlessly attacking the dying flames at full force, the battle almost over. "That's one of the things I love about you."

Ryan looked thoughtful for a moment and told him, "By the way, when you talk to your mother, this is one of those times you... don't exactly need to wear your heart on your sleeve, or call a spade a spade. I recommend you sugarcoat this to avoid giving her a heart attack. I.e., I mean don't tell her about the lovely explosion that almost engulfed you, or you'll be riding the bus for the rest of your life."

With a quiet snicker, Luke asked him, "You want me to lie?"

"Two words, Luke. 'No'."

"What's the other word, dad?"

"'Bus'."

Luke thought for a moment. "You're probably right."

"Or Kaylee. For your sake, don't tell Kaylee."

"Good idea, dad."

---

It was around two in the morning when Luke and his dad finished filling out the last of the paperwork and finally made it home from the hospital. Jessica and Faith were already up waiting for him; Ryan asked his friend and fellow firefighter Jeff to deliver the news in person, but with two conditions: One, downplay the accident, and two, wait as long as possible before telling them. He didn't want his wife driving frantically to the hospital; the last thing he needed was two near-fatal car crashes in one night.

As he approached the house, the door swung open and his mother ran out to him, almost bowling him over as she grabbed him with her arms. She squeezed him tightly and began to sob.

Luke initially froze, but hugged her back. His wide eyes drifted towards his dad, as if to ask, "Can you please get her off me?"

Ryan smiled at the touching scene, simply shrugging at Luke's request knowing he couldn't do a thing about it anyway. He mouthed, "She's your mother."

Faith ran up and joined the group hug, trying her hardest to hold back her tears through incessant sniffing.

Jessica turned to Ryan and frantically snapped, "Why didn't you tell me my baby almost died?!"

Ryan sighed; he was caught. Looking inside the house, he saw a bear of a man looking sheepishly back at him with a guilty look on his face. His buddy Jeff quickly looked away, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Ryan.

Ryan realized Jeff did a poor job softening what had happened. He shook his head and vowed he'd get Jeff back for that.

"Um, mom," Luke told her, "You're smashing me."

Jessica relaxed her grip. "Sorry honey," she told Luke.

Ryan, treading carefully, said, "It wasn't as bad as you think... well, ok. It was kind of bad, but it really could have been much worse. He came through unscathed..."

Jessica gave him quite possibly the dirtiest look he had seen in as long as he could remember. She barked, "Unscathed? Really?" Jessica grabbed Luke's chin and told Ryan, "Look at his stitches and tell me he came through unscathed!"

"Honey, the point is he's ok. He saved the other driver; you should be proud of him."

Jessica, ignoring her husband, told Luke, "I know it's two in the morning, but you should call Kaylee."

Glaring at Ryan but talking to Luke, Jessica spat, "She would want to know. After all, you shouldn't keep secrets from girls, Luke."

It was obvious where that comment was directed. "I was going to tell you, I just didn't want you to freak out, honey, so I had planned on waiting a while," Ryan pleaded, trying to dig himself out of the hole. Directing his own glare towards Jeff, he added, "I didn't realize you would be told immediately. I wanted to break it to you slowly..."

Jeff cringed, mouthing a "sorry" to Ryan.

Jessica sighed, "It's not Jeff's fault." She wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck, catching him off guard. Up until that point he was braced, but prepared, for further rage from Jessica. What he wasn't prepared for was his bride leaning in and giving him a passionate kiss on the lips.

"I'm still mad at you," she said, raising an eyebrow and giving him a serious but understanding look, running her fingernails lightly against the back of his scalp, "but I also wanted to say thank you for bringing my boy home. Jeff also told me about that part, too."

She wrapped her arms around him tighter and whispered in his ear, "Thank you, tiger."

Every muscle in his body finally relaxed as Ryan gradually began to realize there was a good chance he just might not have to sleep on the couch after all.

Luke and Faith turned their heads away, standing in awkward silence and praying their parents would either break physical contact or take it elsewhere, out of sight and out of mind.

---

"Don't worry, I already called Kaylee," Faith told Luke after their parents went inside the house. "She's on her way over. She sounded pissy when I called her, probably because it was two in the morning. I explained to her you were in an accident but that you were ok. She really wanted to come over and see you."

"Thank you, Faith," he told her. "It will be nice to see her. I'm not tired anyway; I think I still have enough adrenaline running through me to keep me awake for a few more hours."

Faith giggled. "I bet. I don't think any of us are ready to sleep." She gave Luke one more hug and smiled, "I'm glad you're ok, Luke."

He returned her smile with one of his own. "Thanks. Me too."

Both of their ears perked up as they heard a vehicle screaming down the road, getting louder until it finally came into view, screeching to a halt at the base of the Patton's driveway.

It was Kaylee's Beamer, of course. Luke thought she was lucky no one was killed on her way to the house. Scrunching his nose, he asked Faith, "What exactly did you tell her?"

Wide-eyed and grimacing, Faith tried to explain, "I thought I softened the blow for her; maybe I didn't do a good enough job. I'm sorry, I had no idea she'd be this frantic."

As the car pulled up, Faith slipped inside the house to give them a little private time, unable to hide the guilty look on her face. She whispered one last "sorry" to Luke as she closed the door behind her.

Luke smiled at his sister and walked towards Kaylee's car.

It took her a while to get her seatbelt off and step out of the car as a result of her hysteria. With tears in her eyes, she ran barefoot to Luke as fast as she can, knocking him backwards and into the grass.




1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 08



Kaylee sat atop Luke, leaning forward on his chest, straddling him with her legs. She held his face in her hands and kissing him over and over. Soft little squeaks came out of her mouth; she couldn't manage to control her crying, and even her breathing was sporadic.

It was hard to tell if she was stuttering or if she was sniffing through her crying. Then again, Luke had a gorgeous blond girl sitting on his chest, dressed in possibly the thinnest tank top and the shortest pajama shorts that he had ever seen, which to him really looked more like panties. Needless to say, his comprehension level wasn't up to par.

"I-I-I-I..." she sniffed, coming up for air while trying to form a single word, looking deep into his blue eyes with her own. Kaylee gave up on speaking, instead diving back down on his mouth and continued kissing him again.

The look on her face after she saw the stitches was so pathetic, so heartbreaking. To Luke, it looked like her puppy had been ran over. She aimed for the stitches on his head, kissing them over and over as if her kisses really would heal his injuries, but she was so incredibly gentle when she did it.

"Shh, it's ok, Kaylee," Luke whispered, tenderly wiping the tears from her eyes. Carefully, still lying on his back, he pulled her down to his chest. "I'm ok, baby," he told her quietly with a soothing voice, trying to get her to calm down. He ran his hands through her soft golden hair, stroking her long elegant curls. Even though her hair was messy and tossed, it looked absolutely beautiful.

With a whimper, she buried her head in his chest and held him as tight as she could. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." she repeated over and over.

Somewhat perplexed, Luke told her, "You don't have anything to be sorry about. I'm ok, really. I had a close call, but made it out ok. Really, I'm f..."

He couldn't finish his sentence as Kaylee started crying again after he had mentioned how close of a call he had. He bit his lip, realizing his mistake. Sitting up, holding Kaylee in his lap, he took her chin and looked into her eyes, telling her, "Baby, it's fine. I'm all right, really. Ok?"

Staring at her, waiting for a response, she finally settled down just enough to give him a reluctant nod. She touched his face as if she couldn't believe he was there, as if he was a ghost.

"I... I was s-so worried, Luke," she choked out, finally able to speak. "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

He laughed and shook his head.

"Promise me! No more scaring me like that!"

"Ok, ok, I promise."

"Promise me what?"

With a slightly exasperated look, Luke told her, "I promise you I'll do my best to avoid any more vehicular accidents."

Standing her up, he told her, "Why don't you go inside for a little bit. You can wash up in the bathroom, and then we'll talk. Ok? I'll even hold you on my lap for a little bit. Consider it my second promise to you."

Sniffing, she cracked a smile and said, "I'd like that."

Luke noticed she had a strange look on her face as she went inside the house, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It looked like sadness, or maybe even regret. She flashed him a smile before she went in the restroom -- a very sincere smile.

He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what that was all about.

A voice snapped him out of his thoughtful state. "You're looking good, buddy."

As Luke turned around, he saw Jeff wearing a big smile. In his outstretched paw of a hand was a cell phone.

"I think you dropped this. By dropped, I mean flung it out the window at sixty miles an hour, or however fast you were going." Jeff had the corniest smile on his face, but Luke didn't mind. Jeff was like an uncle to him.

"Charlie found it; actually, you could say he stumbled on it while he was working the scene a few hours after the crash, helping with cleanup. It was in some of the undergrowth by a tree; the only reason he found it was because it was lit up like someone had just called it."

"You mean it works," Luke asked, unlocking the phone. "Looks like I have a message," he said, dialing his voicemail box.



1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 09



XIII -- But We Need To Talk

"What do you mean he took off," Kaylee heard Ryan whisper to Jeff, angrily but softly, as she opened the bathroom door.

"Dude," Jeff whispered back in his deep voice, unaware their conversation was no longer private, "I don't know. I mean, I gave him his phone; he had a voicemail so he called it, and whoever left that message really pissed him off. I've never seen your boy so angry. He just tossed me the phone and bolted."

Kaylee, standing in the doorway, gasped loud enough for the two men to hear her. They froze, halting their conversation, slowly turning towards her.

It's all my fault! OhmyGod please no, I can't believe this is happening, was all she could think, recalling the nasty voicemail she sent him.

"Kaylee, are you ok," Ryan asked her gently. It was obvious to her that Luke's dad was up to date on the latest "Luke-and-Kaylee" drama.

Kaylee wanted to cry, but she was in too much shock. She felt sick to her stomach.

She ran towards Jeff, snatching the phone out of his hand, and then ran out of the house. All she could think of was finding Luke. It was like the time when he ran out of the house after she saw Aaron's old videos of Luke pouring his heart out, trying to chase him down, except this time it was much, much worse. The last time he left was because of embarrassment but this time it was because of anger.

Anger at her.

He couldn't have gone far since his Challenger was totaled and his mom and dad's car were still at the house, meaning he left by foot. She couldn't chase him down barefoot, so she ran to her car.

Ryan ran after her calling, "Kaylee, wait!"

Without hesitation Kaylee jumped inside and took off, ignoring him.

Driving down the road, fumbling with her seatbelt, she frantically dialed Luke's voicemail on his phone as if she had to hear the evidence of her own self-destruction with her own ears.

No, no, no... this is not happening, please Lord... this is NOT happening!

The phone chimed, "You have one message, sent today, twelve-thirteen A.M."

She heard her own voice on his phone, spewing venomously, "Luke, you're a BASTARD! I can't believe you didn't show up for my play. I can't even believe..."

She hung up the phone in disgust, wiping her tears out of her eyes so she could see the road.

Kaylee was incredibly angry with herself, but then again, it was her anger that put her in this situation. Her uncontrollable, fiery temper. She had no one to blame but herself, and she knew it.

In a way, it was almost satirical; whenever her temper flared up in the past, even when used as a last resort, she would end up getting her own way. It didn't matter if it was with her parents or with her friends. Countless meltdowns and tantrums, kicking her legs and pounding her fists on the floor, worked like a charm until her preteen years. After that, if she really wanted something and was told no, all it usually took was screaming.

Thinking back, she realized it was early on in her life that she used her anger as a problem-solving tool. It was practically ingrained in her, like that one Russian guy with the bell and the dog. Throw a tantrum, parents give in. Throw a tantrum, parents give in.

Most of the guys she dated she didn't really need to throw a tantrum with. The ones she chose always did what she said, and in the rare instances that they didn't, all she had to do was pout and -- problem solved. Or just boot them, if she was bored enough. Most guys became stale and boring after a few months anyway.

But Luke wasn't most guys.

But here was something -- or, someone -- she wanted more than anything, and her anger completely backfired on her. Now she was likely to lose the only thing she ever really, truly cared about. Shakespeare would have a field day with this.

If only she had listened to Audrey! Of course Luke wouldn't have stood her up intentionally.

He was in a fucking car accident!

And where was she? Cursing at him behind his back. Exploding like an uncontrollable volcano. Kaylee wondered when the exact moment was that Luke's car flipped over. She wondered what she was doing. Was she off stage bitching to Audrey about how irresponsible he was? Was that the same moment in time when she told Audrey he was an asshole?

She had to find him and explain what happened, begging for forgiveness on her hands and knees if she had to. In the dirt, hands clasped together, reaching out for his foot. She couldn't get any lower, so it was only appropriate.

Desperation was new to her, but she'd grovel if she had to; she'd do anything to get him to take her back. He had to forgive her; he just had to.

---

"Kaylee, calm down, I can't understand a word you're saying," Audrey said, listening to the phone intently with her finger in her other ear, still lying in her bed.

"I-I-I..." Kaylee sobbed, trying to form a sentence.

"Kaylee, slow down. Focus, and take a deep breath."

"Luke... I left Luke a message. He..."

Audrey sighed, "Oh, Kaylee, please tell me you didn't blow up at him."

"Mmmhmm..." Kaylee whimpered.

"Ok, hun, I'll be right over. Just give me a few minutes to get dressed."

---

"I knew this was going to happen, Kaylee," Audrey sighed to herself as she rang the doorbell.

Kaylee answered the door; she looked terrible, and it wasn't because she had just awakened. In fact, Audrey guessed that as bad as she looked, she probably never went to bed. Whatever happened last night must have been really awful. Her dried mascara stained her face, but she wasn't crying anymore. It looked to Audrey like she had run out of tears.

This disheveled zombie-type look was frightening; Audrey would have rather seen Kaylee cry. This completely and utterly defeated look was something she had never seen from her best friend. It was obvious the stress of whatever happened had completely sapped her energy and drained her will.

Kaylee didn't so much as say hi. She left the door open and turned around, walking back. Audrey noted how her head hung and shoulders slouched as she walked, a far cry from her normal perfect-princess posture. This was bad, absolutely bad. How did Kaylee manage to push Luke away, and better yet turn her into the walking dead? Whatever she did, it was going to take a lot to undo. If it could be undone.

"I couldn't find him anywhere," Kaylee said without turning around. She fell forward and collapsed on the couch.

"Um," Audrey started, trying to figure out what she should say, "So what exactly happened, hun? Do you want to talk about it?"

No tears fell but her lip quivered as she answered, "I left Luke a really hurtful message. I called him a bastard and told him I never wanted to see again."

Audrey couldn't help but wince, and Kaylee noticed. "That's not the worst part. You were right; he wouldn't have missed my play if there wasn't a good reason for it."

For the first time, Kaylee made eye contact with Audrey. "He was in a car accident, Audrey. He flipped his fucking Challenger. To make matters even worse, he got out of his car and went to help the other car that crashed, dragging the guy out just before his car went up in flames. He... he was my hero, but when he did that... he became like a real hero. And I...I..."

Kaylee couldn't finish, but she couldn't cry either. Audrey moved over to the couch and sat next to her, letting Kaylee put her head on her shoulder. She sniffed, "Luke should be putting his head on my shoulder right now. I should be comforting him, and instead I chased him away. And I couldn't find him."

"Well," Audrey said, trying to encourage her, "He's probably at home now. Just give him some time; he's been through a lot. And then, when the time is right, you can e-bomb him with apologies and I'm-so-sorries."

Surprisingly, Audrey noticed Kaylee actually smiled when she said that; it wasn't a huge smile, but it proved that there were still signs of life within her.

She continued, "Maybe you can even call him. And if he doesn't pick up, at least he can hear your sweet loving voice on his voicemail."

Audrey lost her when she mentioned the word 'voicemail'; Kaylee broke out into a sob. Apparently it brought back painful memories of the last voicemail she left Luke. Audrey quickly added, trying to get Kaylee back on track, "Just let him know how sorry you are. You want him back, right?"

Kaylee nodded against her shoulder. "Then give him time, and be receptive. And if you need to vent, you know I'll always be here for you."

She sighed, "I just can't believe how badly I screwed up. I mean, not only have I lost Luke, but I also lost his entire family. His parents are so much better than mine! I mean, they're like better parents to me, even. They've showed me more attention and affection in the last few months than my parents have since I was born! His mother and I were finally starting to get along, which is saying something. Mother bear is so overprotective of him I thought she was going to claw my head off a few different times. Whenever I looked lustfully at Luke, she could tell. It was like she could sniff it out. So the fact that she was loosening up around me... and now I've done this! And Faith! She looked up to me, and I loved her like a little sister. She'll never speak to me again, and I don't blame her."

"Listen to me, hon. If they're really like your family, remember that families forgive each other. Even if it takes time. You're a great girl, and if they're as special as you say they are, they'll take you back in. Just be patient."

This time, Kaylee smiled a real smile, finding a possible narrow ray of hope shine down through the storm clouds. "Thank you, Audrey," she whispered. "You're a good friend."

Audrey snickered, "Oh, and one more piece of advice? Go take a shower and clean up. He probably won't be stopping by your house any time soon, but you never know. You don't want him to think you stink."

With a fatigued giggle, Kaylee flipped her off before she walked down the hall to take a shower. Audrey couldn't help but smile as she noticed there was at least a little bit of saunter back in her step, showing she was a little closer to that perfect-princess posture once again.

---

"I know it sucks, buddy," Ryan told Luke as he stepped into the garage. "But you can't keep moping around. It's been over a month since you and Kaylee broke up."

"Dad, I don't want to talk about it," Luke sighed, setting the weights down on the concrete floor of the garage. He went over to the shorter of the two workbenches to grab a towel and wipe the sweat off of his face.

"Alright, but at least I said it. Had to get it off of my chest. You don't need to leave if you don't want to talk about it." Ryan walked over to the longer workbench, the one with the tools scattered all over. "Your 'uncle' Jeff never cleans my crap up," Ryan sighed, grabbing a couple of wrenches and putting them back in the toolbox. "I only forgive him because he's helping fix up your Challenger. That man's good with his hands. I never was a natural mechanic; I always had to read about things, especially engines, in order to figure them out."

Stretching one of his arms behind his head, Luke gave a wry smile and said, "I guess that's where I get my lack of mechanical skills from then. I can't believe you guys were able to salvage the Challenger. I thought for sure it would be totaled."  

"You have Jeff, Charlie, and the other guys at work to thank for that one. They're telling me it should be ready in a day or two. You'll still have a few scratches here and there, but for the most part it'll be as good as new. You really impressed a lot of people, buddy," Ryan told his son, putting a few more tools away. "Especially the guys at the firehouse."

Luke shrugged, as if to say, "I guess so," or "Maybe."

"Hey, speaking of which, graduation is sneaking up. Are you still looking at finishing up at Mountain View Community College?"

"Dad, you know I'll be half way done with Mountain View by the time I graduate since I'm taking so many courses and CLEP'ed out of the rest."

"Not what I asked. I know you're almost half way done, but you've seemed disenchanted ever since..., well, I'm not sure if it's because of the car crash or because of your split with Kaylee. You were lined up for USC at the beginning of the year, remember?"

Luke exhaled, "Dad, please don't start. Mom gives me enough grief about that."

Ryan smiled, moving towards the toolbox. He paused, and turned around to face Luke. "Your mom loves you, Luke. She just wants the best for you."

It was clear that Luke was getting frustrated and wanted to say something, but Ryan stopped him.

"Buddy, I just want to make sure you are doing what you want to be doing. I want to make sure you don't have any regrets. You're grades are good enough to get into just about any college in the country. Just like your mother, I want to see you do the best you possibly can and of course I would have liked to see you get into USC. But, you're practically an adult right now. I'm not going to force you to do what you don't want to do. I think not going to college at all is a mistake but whatever you do, I want you to push yourself, challenge yourself, and most of all I want you to be happy. After all, that's all a parent ever wants for his son or daughter."

Ryan could tell that his fatherly wisdom seemed to be sinking in by the way Luke paused to reflect on his words. He couldn't resist smiling on the inside, celebrating one of those rare 'I got through to him' victories. Of course he didn't want to tip his hand and let Luke know that.

"So, my question is what do you want to do with your life? What do you want to do after college?"

Ryan could tell Luke was pondering his words, but he shrugged and came up empty.

"Luke, whatever you want to do, just remember you were made to accomplish anything you set your mind to. Remember the kid you saved in the crash; that took guts. That took heart. Not everyone could have done what you did; not everyone would have had the courage. And above all, buddy, remember that God has a plan for you. Don't forget that. He has a purpose for your life."

Crossing his arms and looking downward, deep in thought, Luke slowly nodded, "You're right, dad. I know. I just..."

Like any teenager, it wasn't easy for him to talk to his parents about this kind of stuff. But Ryan was patient, and would wait all day if that's what it took. Luke breathed in, trying to reform his words.

He said, "I guess a lot has happened lately. I still remember the crash like it was yesterday. And then there's Kaylee. I really miss her. She taught me a lot."

Luke grew quiet as if he wanted to say more but was holding back.

Ryan gently broke the silence, asking, "Do you still hear from her?"

"Yeah, she still calls me sometimes. I really never called her back until last week. It's been nice talking to her. Still, I don't know if I'm ready again. She really hurt me, you know? That awful temper of hers..." he sighed. "And now, she's not really even the same person whenever we talk."

Ryan nodded in understanding. "She's probably just a little skittish right now. I know she's like the Princess of the high school, but she's crazy about you. Well," he said, shrugging, "at least that's what your mom tells me. She's good at figuring these things out." Jessica and Ryan had talked about Luke and Kaylee on more than one occasion. After much disagreement over the last several months, Ryan had recently come around, realizing Jessica was probably right. After all, she had an incredible knack for understanding people and knowing what they like and dislike, probably one of the many reasons that made her salon and day spa such a successful business endeavor.

"But," he continued, "My point is, she's scared to death of losing you, and as a result, she's not acting like herself. She doesn't want to do anything stupid, so she's walking on eggshells around you."

Luke didn't say anything, but he was clearly soaking up his father's words.

"Anyway," Ryan said, closing up the tool cabinet, "Just think about what I said. Think about what you want for your future, don't be afraid of challenges, and do what makes you happy. That's all me and your mom can ask for as a parent."

With a wink Ryan grabbed a dirty rag, wiped off his hands, and left the garage.

---

Several months had gone by since what Luke had affectionately called "The Accident" had passed, and this was the first time he was finally able to drive his car again. The Challenger was a little worse for wear, but several of his dad's buddies at the fire station gladly volunteered their time to help fix it up the best that they could. It was no secret that they admired Luke's bravery, risking his life to save another, and they couldn't think of a better way to tell him thanks.

Luke maintained his humbleness throughout the entire ordeal, avoiding the spotlight the best he could. He would have felt a little more awkward about everything if he wasn't sharp enough to realize his fifteen minutes of fame wouldn't last long, and it was just a matter of waiting patiently until things returned to normal.

Considering his car flipped over, it wasn't really in that bad of shape. The engine and the entire undercarriage held out, amazingly enough. Luke thought for sure the front axle would have been shot, but the American steel stayed strong.

The majority of the damage was external. Almost all of the lights and windows had to be replaced and the body was severely banged up, especially the roof and the entire drivers side. Most of the crushed or dented panels had been replaced, but there were still a few sections with minor scratches he'd have to manage to live with.

There was something about getting back in the Challenger, the feeling of melding into the leather bucket seats, his fingers wrapped around the steering wheel, that told him it was time to move on. Maybe if his Dodge could be patched up, all of the damage between Kaylee and him could be, too.

Luke sat in his newly restored Challenger just a block away from Kaylee's house. His left hand sat in his lap while his right hand rested on the gearshift, both trembling slightly. The accident weighed heavily on his mind, but reflecting on the disastrous crash wasn't why his hands were shaking.

Luke knew that he should have taken this opportunity to cruise the open freeway, windows down and taking in the cross breeze, but he instead decided to call Kaylee to see if she wanted to talk in person. He wasn't looking forward to talking to her; it would be the first time he had seen her in person in the last few months, but it was something that had to be done.

He glanced at the clock again confirming that he'd been sitting in the car doing nothing other than waiting for the last seventeen minutes. He took a deep breath and finally opened the door, stepping out and closing it behind him. It was time.

He didn't tell Kaylee exactly when he was coming over -- he left it vague intentionally -- but she opened the door and came outside before he even made it to her driveway as if she was expecting him. Brushing a few strands of hair out of her face and nervously smiling, she hesitated before walking towards Luke.

It took everything he had to keep his composure. She looked as beautiful as ever in her tight white tank top, pink shorts and wedge sandals. It seemed like her golden sun-bleached ponytail had a mind of its own, bouncing gingerly from side to side, almost as if it was trying to hypnotize him as she walked towards him. Luke quietly groaned, realizing that what he had to do would be much harder than he thought.

Ironically, Luke noticed a slight shake to her hands, too. He vividly recalled what his father had told him:




1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 09



"Son, after what happened, don't forget that she is scared to death of losing you permanently and hasn't been acting like herself. She probably won't act like herself until she gets you back and sets things right, or simply finds a way to get over you."

With those words playing in his mind, Luke exhaled with relief, coming to the understanding that she was just as nervous as he was. Maybe more.

"You look good, Kaylee," Luke said quietly. "I've missed you."

Kaylee leaned in as if she wanted to throw her arms around Luke and hug him, but she stopped herself. "You look good too, Luke," she meekly smiled, crossing her arms and running her hands up and down her shoulders.

The two smiled in awkward silence until it occurred to Luke that the cold air outside must have been freezing to her, considering she wasn't wearing much. "Uh, do you want to wear my jacket Kaylee? You look like you're freezing," he told her, taking off his black leather jacket.

"No, that's ok. You don't hav..." she said even though Luke wasn't really waiting for her to answer; he already swung it over her shoulders. Kaylee beamed from ear to ear. Luke couldn't tell if her cheeks were red because she was blushing or if it was from the cold nip in the air. She snuggled into the jacket and quietly said, "Thanks, Luke. You always knew how to treat a girl."

As Luke straightened out the jacket around her shoulders, he noticed her nipples poking through the thin fabric of her tank top. His eyes widened slightly and bounced away from them, although he couldn't help steal another quick glance. Again his eyes bounced away, returned to them one more time, and finally looked away for good. He tried looking away as casually as possible, but a glance that obvious was impossible to recover from. He came across awkwardly, looking up towards the sky as if there was actually something interesting up there.

Kaylee giggled, barely able to believe what had just happened. "Why Luke, I do believe you've been looking at my breasts," she said in a pretend southern accent with her head cocked to the side. "I know you've done it before -- you're only male, after all, but I think this is actually the first time I've caught you."

It was his turn to wear the red hue on his face. He cast his eyes downward but gave her a crooked smile, "Yeah, I, uh..."

Luke shook his head and laughed.

"Audrey has seen you staring at my breasts before, but I've never actually managed to catch you. I must be getting better at this. Or else, you're losing your touch at being discreet."

He stammered, "Or maybe both."

"I'll let you in on a little secret. Whenever you don't make eye contact with me, it means one of three things. Either you're mad at me and don't want to talk, you're extremely embarrassed, or you're feeling very guilty about something." Looking down at Luke's pants, Kaylee giggled, "and judging by that, I think we can eliminate anger and embarrassment."

Luke squirmed, but he still wore a smile on his bright red face.

An awkward silence returned, but he didn't feel as nervous as he originally did. Embarrassed, yes; but not nervous. He could tell by her eyes and seductive smile that she wasn't nervous either.

"So... um, how have you been," she asked him, breaking the silence. "How is Faith?"

"Uh, I've been good, thanks for asking. So has Faith. She's missed you a lot, you know."

With an inquisitive look, Kaylee confidently asked, "Just Faith has missed me?"

Luke reeled backwards, unsure how to answer her. "Uh, yeah. Well, Faith, my mom and dad..." he rambled.

She asked him, "So just your family missed me?"

He knew she wasn't going to let him off the hook. "I... of course I have, as well," he faltered. "I, you know... I've missed you," he squeaked out.

He mentally cursed. Right when he started to get comfortable with her, she caught him off guard again and found a way to push his buttons. She was doing it on purpose, too; he just knew it!

"Real convincing, cowboy," she said sarcastically, shaking her head with a faint smile.

He swallowed, confessing, "I've missed you, a lot. I mean it."

Kaylee's eyes sparkled.

"I really have, Kaylee," he said, swallowing hard.

And he meant it, but it was time to drop the bomb.

"But we need to talk."

Kaylee recoiled. Luke felt bad about how he said that; he meant to soften the blow but his words came out all wrong. Kaylee looked like she was in sheer terror.

He could tell that the waterworks were about to start, and he wasn't sure how to intervene and prevent that from happening.

"No, I... it's not like that. I've been thinking about a lot of things lately," he said, placing his hands on the leather jacket around her shoulders, holding her gently.

He continued, "My dad and I had a pretty deep talk a while ago, and it forced me to do some thinking. Well, it forced me to do some soul-searching, really. About us, about college, about my future. About what I want to do with my life. I have to do something meaningful, something that has purpose. Something that makes a difference."

Carefully thinking about what to say next, he looked up to the sky as he paused to think. All of her focus was on him; Kaylee stared at him with complete captivation, desperately waiting for him to explain.

"My mom's going to kill me, but I'm not going to college. Well, I will, but not immediately after high school."

Kaylee's jaw dropped. The revelation that Luke -- the smartest person she knew -- wasn't going to college, absolutely floored her. The look on her face was one of bewilderment.

He could tell she wanted to say something, but she couldn't seem to form the right words. He quickly continued, "I've been thinking about this for a while now. Something pretty serious. It's been in the back of my mind, especially since the car crash."

"Kaylee...," Luke told her firmly, holding on to her shoulders.

"I'm enlisting. I'm joining the military; the Air Force. I leave the day after graduation."

She would have hurt less if he had punched her in the face. Kaylee lost it; she was ready for the worst, but that... she just wasn't expecting that. Her legs buckled and Luke had to quickly move forward and catch her. As she threw her arms around his neck, his jacket slid off her shoulders, falling to the ground. Luke tried the best he could to comfort her but it wasn't enough.

"N-no..." she barely managed to squeak out, unable to say any other words. "No, no, no!"

Kaylee buried her head into his chest and sobbed. Within seconds, her tears drenched his shirt. She didn't say a word, and neither did Luke. All he could do was hold her tight and gently stroke her head. He never wanted to cause her pain, but he couldn't help it. Hurting her was inevitable. He could feel his own eyes misting up, not because he was sad to leave but because of the pain Kaylee felt.

"Kaylee, I really hope you understand how much you have affected my life, and all of it for the better. This year has been incredibly wonderful, and it's all because of you. You've taught me so much about life, and about people, and even instilled a sense of confidence in myself that I didn't know I had. You showed me that I'm more than just a braniac or a computer nerd, and that I'm actually capable of being... well, normal."

Kaylee sniffled, trying to hold back her tears, "Luke, you are beyond normal. You're loving, and wonderful, and compassionate, and to put up with me I think you have the patience of Job."

Her biblical reference brought a slight grin to Luke's face.

Still, Kaylee's voice strained as she added, "And I haven't even had a chance to show you that, and now I'm losing you forever?" Her voice squeaked, barely able to finish her sentence.

Luke held her even tighter, hugging her again.

Gently taking her by the shoulders, he looked at her and said, "That's why you have to understand how difficult this decision was for me. The Accident... when I saved that other guy. It stirred something inside me. It took me a while to see it, but I realized that my actions made a significant impact. And based on that, everything... became clear."

He looked into her teary eyes and said, "I now know what I want to do... what I need to do. Saving one person showed me that I can help protect all of us, and you gave me the confidence I need to follow through."

Kaylee buried her head in Luke's chest, her shoulders moving up and down, yet not a sound came out of her.

Luke tenderly said, "Do you remember that poem you had to read for English, 'To Lucasta, going to the Wars' by Richard Lovelace? It ends, 'I could not love thee, Dear, so much loved I not honour more.' That's how I feel. I love you, Kaylee, and I always will. But in my heart, I feel the calling to serve my country. Precisely because I love you."

Luke knew leaving was the right decision, but he was still angry with himself. He wanted nothing more than to make Kaylee's tears go away, and instead watch her flash him one of those breathtaking smiles that she always did. But that wasn't going to happen, and no matter what his heart wanted he couldn't do a single thing about it.

Much had occurred during his senior year, impacting him more than any other point in his lifetime. In particular, two very different but equally incredible circumstances interwove their way into his life despite minding his own business, yet they were both powerful enough to change the course of his future.

One: Kaylee came out of nowhere. Because of her, he went from being the biggest nerd in the history of Remmington High School to having the most beautiful cheerleader in the world falling into his arms. Sure, he was probably still a nerd, but by the grace of God she didn't seem to care.

And now, she was crying in his arms. Luke considered himself lucky for even having her in his life, and the thought of leaving her made him physically sick.

Two: Luke was in a tragic car accident that almost claimed his life not once, but twice. The first time was from the initial crash itself, and the second was risking his life trying to help the unconscious teenager in the burning vehicle.

He actually saved the life of another human being. Had he not taken the actions he did, the other guy would have certainly died. The feeling of making a difference... there wasn't anything in the world that could compare to that feeling.

There was a new world ahead of him, a country to serve, and people to help. He thought long and hard, and he prayed like crazy. In the end, there was no denying that the military was his calling. He even continued to pray despite the feeling in his heart, just in case he was wrong and he was really meant to be with Kaylee after all. If that was the case, there is no way he would pass that opportunity by.

How amazing would it have been to marry Kaylee, sweep her off her feet and carry her away to a small little house with green grass and a white picket fence while watching their twins play in the backyard? It would be easy enough to get a job with a software firm and rake in a six-digit figure by the time he was thirty.

But, it didn't look like it was part of God's plan at this point. Maybe His plan was simply to bring her into his life only temporarily, just long enough for her to foster his self-confidence and allow it to grow. Maybe there was nothing more she could do for him.

Or, worse yet, maybe there was nothing more he could do for her; as she struggled with math and chemistry, he patiently educated Kaylee, guiding her to pass every one of her senior classes. That might have been his only purpose for being in her life.

He sighed, hoping that wasn't the case.

Holding his cheek against Kaylee's, Luke wrapped his arms around her tighter, gently swaying with her, back and forth. She had done so much for him; she took him from being a loser to being halfway normal. No matter what, he prayed God would etch this moment permanently into his mind; he wanted to remember this moment forever. He had to remember this moment forever.

He was going to miss her like crazy.

This concludes Book One, thank you for reading. Book Two will be coming out in a few weeks to a month in order to continue the tale of our young protagonists, although the story itself will be vastly different from Book One so depending on your reading tastes, you may want to skip it altogether. Except for a few flashbacks, be warned that the high school phase is over.

A special thanks to Random Librarian, especially on this chapter; he had a big impact on the ending. The Richard Lovelace poem was all him, and his inputs in the final conversation between Luke and Kaylee were significant.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

See you for Book Two: The Diary of an Underdog - Beneath Orion, Worlds Apart.