Page 11 of Follow Me to Your Heart
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m still a little hurt by it.”
“And you have every right to be.” Symone gave her two cents. I was about to say something, but she held her hand up and continued. “And before you get in your feelings, I was about to let Korren know there’s not a girl in the world who can come in between what y’all have. Your bond is special. It always has been. The love the two of you have for one another is something I want to experience one day.”
Symone winked at me and tapped her nails against the table. I released Korren, processing what my sister said. If anyone knew me, it was her. Even though Keith was the only person I’d expressed my feelings to about Korren, deep down, I felt Symone knew it too. She wouldn’t talk about it until I did, but her coded words were a way for her to let me know she was ready whenever I was.
The factI already had a math exam coming up within the fourth week of classes was crazy. Math was my weakest subject, so I’d been studying since my professor gave us the study guide. I was confident I’d pass any other class with ease.
Since I started kindergarten a year later, I always felt behind everyone else. I couldn’t help it that Alana chose to enroll me late because she wasn’t ready to let me go. Often, I wondered how our relationship was then. There were times I couldn’t remember, but from the way she put things, it sounded like we were close. If only it would’ve stayed that way.
My phone vibrated beside me, and I was pleased to see it was my father texting me and Kasey in the group chat. He was doinghis weekly check-in to make sure we were okay and didn’t need anything.
That was one thing I loved about Daddy. He didn’t play when it came to his kids. No matter where we were or what we needed, he would drop everything to be there for us. When we were kids, he and Mom bumped heads about it. She swore up and down he was babying us, but to Kasey and me, Daddy did everything we wished Mom would’ve done.
As I was texting back, an incoming call from my best friend, Sienna, came through. I quickly answered, elated to talk to her.
“Sienna! I thought you forgot about me since you don’t like to text back.” I answered the phone, half joking. I was a little in my feelings about not hearing from her, but we’d both been busy getting settled into college.
“No, ma’am. Don’t do that, Korren. You know I’d never intentionally ignore you. It’s been hectic as hell getting situated. I miss you, but I know you have other friends to keep you occupied.”
“As if you don’t. At least I checked in with you. You couldn’t tell me kiss your ass or anything.”
“You’re so dramatic.” Sienna giggled. “I am sorry, for real. How about I make it up to you by coming to spend the weekend with you?”
I sat up and bounced on my bed. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, girl! I need a break from the city. I’m already overwhelmed with my classes, and it’s hard not seeing your beautiful, freckled face every day.”
“I mean, we do have FaceTime for a reason. You could see it, but you choose not to.”
“You know what . . . I’m not even about to go there with you. I’ll do better. Do you have classes on Fridays?”
“Hell no. Anyone who does is crazy. I have two clients that morning, but that’s all I have planned.”
“Bet. I’m going to come around noon. We can go eat or something.”
“You know I’m always down for some food. I can show you around Harley Grove. Make sure you bring something cute to wear. We’re going to a party Friday night, so be ready to turn up.”
Sienna squealed. “Ooo, yes! I’ve heard HG has the best parties. I gotta make sure I look my best. Maybe I’ll be able to snatch me one up while I’m there.”
“There’s plenty of options too. My head be about to swivel off my neck when I’m on campus from looking around so hard. These boys here are a different breed.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. Well, I love you. I wanted to call and let you know I was coming through, and I’ll do better with communicating. Charge it to my head, not my heart.”
I playfully rolled my eyes and laid back on my bed. “I hear you. Love you, Si.”
“Love you more, Ko.”
We ended the call, and my heart was full. Sienna had been my best friend since pre-k. She was more like my sister than anything else. It was hard being apart from her, but she was one of the few people who encouraged me to leave Camden Cove while she stayed back. Hopefully, she would come to the city and love it so I could convince her to transfer our sophomore year.
The only concern I had about her coming here was how she and Taylor would get along. Sienna was very possessive of me. She’d always been that way, but I wouldn’t let her be mean to Taylor. That was my girl too. Lately, Taylor had been there more for me than Sienna. The truth stung, but it was what it was.
I took a break from studying and scrolled through my phone a little longer. I went to my messages to see if Cage had read the text I sent him two hours ago. He hadn’t, so I checked his location to make sure he was good. It showed he was driving onthe north side, which meant he was probably doing his pickups. I debated on calling him to hear his voice. It wasn’t like him to not text back.
Symone’s words had been replaying in my mind. I wondered what she meant when she said she desired a love like ours. What Cage and I had was special. I believed it because not too many girls and boys could be best friends with no strings attached.
Even though I often thought about attaching one.
It was hard to admit to myself that my feelings for Cage were budding by the day, so I surely wasn’t going to admit it to anyone else. I needed to come to terms with it first before expressing it to anyone. Even then, I wasn’t sure I’d ever accept it. I loved Cage too much to ruin our friendship by admitting I was falling in love with him.
