Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(67)

I smiled at her as she sat there with rosy cheeks from her nerves. “On a scale of one to ten, how much do you like him?”

“Like a hundred.” She giggled. It was so nice seeing this side of Karla. A side that wasn’t so serious and heavy. A normal teenage crush.

“And he’s nice to you?”

“Oh yeah. He’s pretty much the only person at school who makes me not feel invisible.”

“That’s important. You want to be with a person who sees you and loves what he sees.”

“The other day, a few kids were bullying me, and Brian heard about it. Later that day, I found a piece of candy in my locker with a note that said, ‘I’m sorry people are dicks. Here’s a Snickers.’” She grinned cheek to cheek. “I knew it was from Brian, too. He’s nice like that.”

I smiled, thinking back to my high school days when I used to find gifts in my locker. Banana Laffy Taffys.

A flurry of butterflies shot through my stomach from the memory, but I did my best to push them away and focus solely on Karla’s situation. “Well, here’s the thing, Karla. Sometimes in life, you have to take a leap of faith. If you want to tell this boy you like him, then don’t be afraid to do so. Be brave and put yourself out there. If he isn’t interested that’s his loss. You’re a diamond, and he’d be lucky enough to get close to watch you shine.”

She lowered her head and combed her hair behind her ear. When she looked up to me, she was smiling and showcasing her beautiful scars. “Thanks, Shay.”

“Of course.”

“I think I might love him,” she confessed, fiddling with her fingers. “I don’t know for sure, but I think I do.”

“Well, that’s even more reason to tell him how you feel.”

“How did you tell your boyfriend you liked him?”

I laughed. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“What?!” Her eyes bugged out of her eyes. “But you’re hot!”

“I appreciate the compliment, but still, I’m as single as they come.”

“Probably because you’re waiting for the right person. That’s why Uncle Landon doesn’t have a girlfriend. He said he’s waiting for the right person to come back into his life. He said he used to love a girl a long time ago, but it didn’t work out.”

My heart flipped, kicked, and screamed in my chest.

I tried my best to ignore it.

“Oh? Is that so?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s never had a real girlfriend since then. My mom used to call him a manwhore and said she worried that one day his penis would stop working.”

I snickered.

Luckily, said penis was still going strong.

“What about you? Have you ever been in love?” Karla asked, staring at me with those same eyes as her father’s.

I sat back in my chair and took a breath. “Once. A long time ago.”

“What did it feel like?” Her eyes gleamed with wonderment, as if she were searching for clues to see if what she felt for Brian was real love.

My hand massaged my left shoulder blade as I gathered my thoughts about what it felt like to be in love all those years before. “It felt like ecstasy. Like I was floating through the world, and I wasn’t afraid to fall because I was convinced there was going to be someone there to catch me. It felt healing. I felt happy. So, so happy every time he crossed my mind. Sometimes, I’d be sitting in class and I’d totally zone out on what the teacher was talking about, because I was thinking about him and the next time I’d be able to see him.”

She sighed. “That’s what I feel when I’m around Brian. I think about him all the time, too. Sometimes, I write my first name with his last name in my notebooks. I love him.”

“You’re a lucky girl, then.”

“That’s not lucky. I don’t know if he loves me back.”

“That’s okay, though. Anyone who experiences love in this lifetime is one of the lucky ones.”

She began picking at her fingernails. “A few of my old friends have been texting me about a party coming up. They said Brian would be there, so I was thinking about going and maybe telling him there.”

“I think that’s a great idea, Karla. And remember, no matter what happens after that, at least you were brave enough to put yourself out there. If you’re ever given the chance to choose between being afraid or being brave, please, Karla, be brave.”

She nodded and murmured the words to herself. “Be brave…” She smiled toward me, and I was thankful that she no longer tried to hide her scars from me. Watching that young girl heal was healing for my own soul. There was nothing more beautiful than watching someone find their way in life.

Karla deserved the world, and I hoped she wouldn’t stop trying until all of her wishes and dreams came true.

“Okay,” she sighed, rubbing her hand against her cheek. “Now back to my characters.”





The weeks passed by, and my job search continued. I tried my best not to get disappointed, but to be honest, I was starting to feel disheartened. A person could only be told ‘no’ so many times before it started affecting their spirits.

Luckily, after yet another rejection, Landon was in town, so I was able to use him to clear my head. He’d be in town for forty-eight hours. Twenty-four of those hours would checking in on Greyson’s family, and he left the other twenty-four opened for me.