Letting Love In-Ch12

Chapter 12:

I walked into the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. “How can she know?” I thought to myself. Then I turned on the sink and splashed some cool water on my face. I looked down at my clothes; I still had my bathing suit on. So I walked into the closet and took out a pair of jean shorts and a grey and white tunic. Then I walked downstairs to go to dinner.
“Ah, here she is” my father said, giving me a hug. “Yeah, I just had to um, freshen up” I said back to him putting on my best fake smile. Just then Sidney walked into the kitchen with Uncle Mario. “Hello everyone” my uncle said kindly. “Excuse me, but dinner is served in the dining room” Amanda poked her head in the room and smiled politely. “Thank you Amanda” my father said. “Let’s eat” my mom said looking from Sidney over to me and we took our seats at opposite ends of the table. I was very quiet at dinner, mostly staring at my plate, not wanted to catch Sidney’s glances towards me.
It was around dessert when my brother asked me if I was excited to leave in two days. “Yes, I am” I managed to stammer out. “I think I will enjoy the conservatory very much”. I then looked over towards Sid, who was trying not to protest about me leaving. Right then I grew very sad, and finished my cookie very quickly. “May I be excused?” I asked my parents, “Sure honey, make sure you have everything ready to go shopping tomorrow. Kevin will be taking you at nine a.m. sharp.” My father said in reply. With that I stood up and walked out of the room and outside, and then I heard footsteps behind me.
“Kay wait up” I heard him call. I kept walking towards the gazebo and when I finally got there I sat down and felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I didn’t say anything to him for a while, he stood there behind me, like he was holding me up and I didn’t know what to say. I tilted my head into his hand, “I’m sorry” I whispered, it was so faint even I almost couldn’t understand what I was saying. Then he sat down next to me, staring out into the distance. “Don’t be” he said after a few minutes went by. I couldn’t help it, I started crying. It was silent though. “I... I have to go” I said and I ran back to my room and slammed the door.
I must have fallen asleep on my bed when I went back into my room because the next thing I knew Amanda was knocking on my door at 7:30. “Miss Kay, please get up and get ready, Kevin will be picking you up in an hour and a half.” I muttered an “Ok” and rolled over. I had a horrible headache, and the sunlight didn’t make it any better. I dragged myself to the shower and let the hot water run over my temples. I felt a little better as I got out and dried off. After blow-drying my hair and putting it in a high ponytail, I pulled on a pair of Juicy Couture sweat shorts and a matching zip-up sweatshirt. Then I found a pair of matching flip flops. Then I picked up my purse and shopping list, and slowly made my way to the kitchen.
“There was a message left for you this morning Miss Kay” Amanda said quietly to me as she handed a bowl of cheerios to me. She then slid a piece of paper across the counter. It read:

Kay- I know that you are feeling really bad about leaving tomorrow. I promise you everything will be alright. Please come to my wing tonight at 8:30, I have a surprise for you.
-Sidney
“When did he leave this?” I asked Amanda, “Before he and your uncle left for practice” she replied. Just then Kevin walked into the kitchen, “It is time to leave for your shopping trip Miss Kay” he said. “Alright, if I don’t leave now, I never will” I said to him standing up and walking to the car.
I went to about 15 stores and bought everything I needed, and a little more. What can I say, when I’m upset, I know how to buy my way out of situations. It was 4:45 when Kevin was driving me home and of course we hit rush hour traffic. A forty-five minute ride took us almost two hours. When we returned home I carried my bags upstairs and set everything aside for Amanda to wash. Then I headed downstairs to see that my family was waiting for me. They had prepared my favorite meal; Grilled chicken, with rice, mixed veggies and cornbread. “Thank you so much for this dinner” I said sitting down. I looked around the table to see that my uncle and Sidney were not in attendance. “Where are Uncle Mario and Sidney?” I asked casually to my mother. “They have a late practice and won’t be home for another few minutes” she said. The dinner was very casual and very nice. I started to grow more and more tired so I asked if I could be excused and went up to my room.
Meanwhile, I finished packing all of my clothes, shoes, and makeup into my Luis Vuttion duffle bags and my mom had come in and told me that I would be picked up to leave at 9:00 sharp. I would need to have everything ready by 8:30 to be loaded into the car and that my flight would take off at 10:48. Then she gave me a credit card for my spending there and some other informational things about the conservatory. I looked at the clock, “8:50, crap” I said jumping up and finding a pair of pajama’s to wear. After I changed, I ran down the stairs and out through the back to Sidney’s wing. I knocked on the door three times, and then I heard “Who is it?” called out in an angry tone from the other side. “It’s me” I squeaked out. Then the door opened and I looked up through my glassy eyes and saw Sidney staring down at me. His expression turned from hard and angry to soft and caring in a matter of seconds. “Come on” he said softly taking my hand. We walked upstairs to his room and when he opened the door, there was a bowl of popcorn and one blanket on the bed. “What’s this?” I asked him quietly. “This” he said pointing to the bed and popcorn, “Is what you are going to be doing your last night home.” Then I sat down next to him on the bed, and fell asleep within twenty minutes.
I woke up at 7:00 already with tears in my eyes. I managed to get out of Sidney’s arms without waking him up. I kissed his cheek very softly and picked up the blanket that was wrapped around me. I walked over to the door, and with only one look back I went back to my room. I got out of the shower and put on a pair of dance warm-ups, which was a baby pink sweater with a grey tank top underneath and a pair of matching grey capri pants. Amanda came into my room around 8:30 with Kevin to help with my bags and I sat on the veranda watching the morning clouds pass by. With one deep breath I stood up and walked downstairs.
I had a whole line of people to say my goodbyes to. My cousins were first, and they each gave me a picture they had drawn, and my arms were filled with hugs. Then was my brother, who gave me a stuffed ballerina bunny doll and said to take it for good luck. Next was my aunt who gave me a big hug and said if I ever needed anything to call her. Then it was my father, who hugged me tightly before handing me a new Blackberry phone. “I figured you would need this more than your other one, and that you could figure out how to use it on the ride to the airport” he said with a smile. “Thank you so much” I squealed and hugged him again. My mother was next down the line and she just hugged me very tight. “Knock them dead Kay, and don’t hurt yourself too much” she said. Uncle Mario was next, as I hugged him; I felt something being dropped into my pocket. “Use this wisely” he said with a smile.
It was after I was done hugging and saying goodbye to everyone that I noticed Sid wasn’t there. I held back my tears as I got into the car and I found a note waiting on my seat. It read:
Kay- I’m sorry I could not be here to see you off. I will try to make contact with you whenever I can. Hopefully you can watch the games while you are at the conservatory. I will miss you so much, but don’t worry about me. Have a great time.
XO-Sidney

I sighed to myself and slipped the note into my pocket, it was then that I felt the thing that uncle Mario had put in my pocket. I the thing out and looked at it. It was a Penguins Visa card. “Wow” I said to myself. And then the car drove away.