What?
“He said that?” Seeing as how I wasn’t particularly dressed up, that took me by surprise.
“Yeah, he said you were looking pretty hot,” she said slyly.
I snorted, unimpressed. “He was probably expecting me to look like a homeless disaster with my parents losing everything,” I replied, sarcasm dripping from every word.
Julie laughed, “Probably.” A heartbeat later she said, “He also said you were there with Talon freakin’ Draven, Kenz.”
“I was not-wait,” I paused. “How do you know Talon?”
I could feel her rolling her eyes over the phone. “Join the real world, Kenzlee,” she said theatrically. “Everyone knows who Talon Draven is.”
“Uh, I beg to differ,” I argued. “I had no idea who the guy was until I started going to Lakeside High.”
“That’s because you’re not the partying type. At least, not outside Providence,” she amended. “I’d bet you money Kaden knew who he was.” The mention of Kaden’s name was a jab to my ribs, but I shook the impact off like I always did.
God, what I wouldn’t do to have my brother back.
Switching subjects, I said, “I saw Cameron was there with Jimmy Brent, Holly James, and Kelly Milton. He said Jimmy knew about the fight and they thought it’d be cool to check it out.”
“Nu uh, girl,” she tsked. “Tell me about you and Talon Draven. Cameron said Talon almost lost his shit when he told him you guys used to date. Cameron said Talon’s buddies had to step in between them.”
Goddamn Cameron.
Screw it.
While this thing with me and Talon wasn’t ideal, I’m pretty sure we’ve past the point of pretending we didn’t affect one another. “We’re dating,” I confirmed. The words came out smoothly, but they tasted foreign on my tongue. And not because I wasn’t used to dating, but because what Talon and I were doing felt way more serious than mere dating.
“Holy crap, Kenzlee,” Julie squealed. “You have to tell meeverything.”
Her happiness for me was contagious and I couldn’t help but laugh. “What do you want to know?”
She laughed back. “All the juicy stuff, of course,” she replied.
Even if I wanted to, there was no way to explain it. Oh, I knew people all over the world believed their love was the only love created from the Heavens, but I knew there was something deeper between me and Talon besides attraction and lust. There was an actual buzzing every time we touched, and I knew that wasn’t normal for everyone.
“He…he’s a little intense,” I told her truthfully.
“I bet,” she chuckled. “I’ve only seen him fight once, a couple of years ago, but he was awesome.”
“Julez, he has aneight-pack,” I said confessing one of my weaknesses.
She sighed into the phone. “God bless the boy,” she said dreamily.
“Oh, trust me,” I said, the words escaping before I could yank them back, “God blessed him plenty.”
There was a second of silence before Julie started laughing over the phone and I joined in. “Oh, my God,” she shrieked.
Now, I was going to have to tell Alex. It didn’t feel right confiding in Julie and not Alexandria. After all, she’s the one who has been standing by me this entire time. Besides, I was pretty sure Talon was going to announce it to the world tomorrow at school, and I didn’t want Alex feeling blindsided, or left out.
“Hey,” I said into the phone, “let me call you back later, yeah?”
“Sure,” Julie replied. “Just make sure your notes are in order, because I want to knoweverything.” I laughed, and after assuring her I’d dish all the details later, I went in search of Alexandria.
I found her in the backyard, on the porch, reading. I sat down in the chair next to her. “Where are your parents?”
She put her book down and looked over at me. “Picking up take-out for dinner,” she replied.
