KALEN

Chapter |3| Kalen who?

T E S S A ' S P. O. V

I'm over him. It's what I tell myself every f*****g day.

Then I go to Kiara's house. I practically sprint up to her room, and lock myself in it until it's time to go home. Of course, there are times I need the bathroom, or my mouth has become so dry and scratchy that I'm forced to go back down to the kitchen.

That's when I see him.

It could be in passing, when he barely looks me in the eye. Other times he flashes me a small smile whilst holding the door open.

He's polite and respectful and everything your best friend's brother should be.

But he doesn't know how much my heart still aches from his cruel words. He doesn't know my diary is filled with angry pen scratches over Mrs Kalen Romano, that I scrawled down when I was 14.

I've seen him kiss other girls. I've seen him heartbroken. I've even seen him cry. Once.

He didn't want me to see it, but I did. His girlfriend cheated him on with three guys on the same basketball team as him. I know he loved her, because he looked at her the same I used to look at him.

I asked him if he was alright. He didn't reply so I sat down besides him. When he didn't move away, I set my hand on his and gasped as this electrifying spark jolted through my body.

I know he felt it too, but then he ran away like I had just told him I had an infectious disease that was airborne.

Anyways, Kalen Romano was the past. And I only looked to the future

I was ready party, dressed in a tight prada dress that Kiara had bought me for my birthday. A bottle of vodka was stuffed at the bottom of my bag, and I was towering in my five inch heels.

Kiara would label me a confident b***h, the biggest compliment she pays right now.

However the moment I walk into the mansion, my happiness fades at the violent screams coming from upstairs. I drop my bag on the couch and sprint upstairs, a difficult feat in my shoes.

I find Kiara's parents and siblings outside her room. Panic and concern washed over their faces. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Gabi cries. Her husband wraps his arm around his wife to comfort her. "She just came home, angry at first and then suddenly she started breaking down. She won't let any of us in."

I think I could guess why. Kiara had been seeing this guy, one of her bodyguards, and she was completely in love with him. It was strange seeing your badass friend melt at the sight of a man.

Tristan was kind with her, and he loved her as much as anyone could love another person. Hurting Kiara would break him...and her.

"Kiara?" I knock on the door, causing the screams and cries to fade. Her sobs turn to quiet hiccups as the door unlocks.

"Only Tessa." She murmurs through the wood.

"Kiara..." Her father starts.

"No. Only Tessa. Please, just her." Kiara sounded broken and she was strongest person I knew.

Everyone stepped back and slowly began to leave. Except Kalen. He lingered for a moment as Kiara was opening the door. His eyes met mine for the briefest moment and his lips lifted up.

"Take care of her." It was so gentle, and soft. Two words I would never attribute to him now.

I watch him leave, sighing at the sight of him. f**k. No, Tessa. Kalen Romano means nothing to you. He's just another guy, taking up space on the planet. You don't need him.

"Hey, Kiara. It's just me." The door cracks open and I quickly push through.

Her eyes are puffy and red, her body engulfed by a large fluffy blanket. There's a strewn of empty liquor bottles thrown over the floor, and her mirror is cracked. The glass shards everywhere.

"Have you hurt yourself?" I quickly yank off the blanket and search her body for any marks.

"No, I got angry, so I threw my hairbrush at it." She looks at me with the most heartbreaking sadness I've ever seen. "He left me Tessa. He f*****g left me."

Kiara breaks down in my arms. I stumble back, but quickly steady myself, wrapping my arms around her and comforting her in the only I can right now.

We spend half an hour like this. She tells me the rest of the story, glossing over the part where this all happened a week ago.

"Wait what? Kiara why didn't you tell me? Why are so upset now? I mean, you can be upset but it's like it's all happened today. Did something go on?"

"I saw Aaron." She murmurs. f**k. Aaron was Tristan's friend. Kiara met him through her ex and then slept with him after finding out Tristan had left her.

"Where? Did he talk to you?"

"No, I f*****g ran before he could see me. It was close though, so close."

"And that brought everything back." I realise.

"I didn't cry before. I was so angry and vengeful that the only thing I cared about was hurting him, the way he hurt me. Then sleeping with Aaron, just messed my head."

"Because he's so hot?" She laughs quietly.

"Because...it felt different."

"Different from what?"

"All the other pointless hookups." I almost choke.

"You've only ever slept with Tristan. Right?"

"And Lewis in our grade, then this guy I met at a club, one of my dad's business partners, a guard running security on the grounds and maybe a hot janitor the same day."

"Holy fuck." I whisper, shocked.

"I know, I know. I'm a slut, but I just needed to numb it all. Even for a minute." I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

"You're not a slut, you're a horny teenage girl. You're allowed to have casual s*x, just slow down a bit now. You have to process a break up, not just ignore it."

"I've never been good with feelings." Same, but she doesn't need to know her brother was my first kiss that caused me to spiral into a heartbreak.

Her eyes quickly gloss over my outfit. "s**t, you look hot."

"Oh yeah, the party, remember?" I instantly regret saying that as I see her eyes light up with mischief. "Kiara no."

"Tessa yes! This is exactly what I need, give me two minutes." She sprints towards her closet before I can grab her.

"I thought we agreed to no more boys!"

"It's a girls night. No boys, I promise." I doubt that. Boys flock Kiara like she's pure gold. Their eyes light up with heavy desire and tongues wag out like they're dogs chasing the bone.

What they don't know is Kiara loves to bite back, and I'm the one who holds her leash, constantly trying to reign her in, whilst she tries to pull me into the fight.

"I'll be back." We sneak out so many times, it's become a routine.

I find Gabi, and tell her Kiara fell out with one of our close friends again, Amanda. There is no Amanda but she seems to help us out a lot. Gabi seems to buy the story and urges me to stay over with Kiara, promising she'll inform my mother.

As I walk into the kitchen, Kalen glances up from the table, his eyes pinned on me like I've go an embarrassing stain on my dress.

I grab a water from the fridge and unscrew the lid to take a sip. His eyes still watch me from afar. "What?" I finally snap.

I expect a rebuttal, even a bit of a shock, but instead he simply narrows his gaze and stands up. The chair scraps loudly along the tiles.

My heart starts to pound inside my chest with every step he takes closer. I lean back against the counter, my ass pressed against the cool marble.

His stare becomes scrutinising now, but I stand taller, refusing to let myself be intimidated by a man I'm completely over.

"Do we have a problem?"

"Having a problem would mean I think about you, which I don't."

"Good."

"Fine." I childishly retort.

He continued to stare. "I think you're angry at me."

"For what?"

"That's left to be figured out, but I will...soon."

Fuck, he's testing me. I can practically taste his rich aftershave, the kind that haunts my wet dreams .

"How's my sister?"

"Better. She was just upset over a friend."

A harsh laugh comes out of him. "Bullshit. Kiara doesn't have any friends she cares about, none except for you."

"Too bad, because that's what happened." As I turn to walk away, his hand snatches out to grab my wrist. "I think you should tell me the truth."

"I think you should let go of me." He doesn't and a tiny part of me bursts inside with joy.

"She's my sister." He visibly gulps like the next words takes strength to form. "Please."

I'm struggling to think within the internal battle that takes place within my mind. On one hand, Kiara is my best friend and I could never betray her by outing her relationship. On the other, Kalen cares. He cares so f*****g much, he's practically begging me to tell him.

"It's about a guy. He hurt her."

"What? He hit her?"

"No!" I exclaim, quickly quietening down. "No, she liked him, and you know it takes a lot for Kiara to like someone. So when he didn't call her back...then she was hurt. It's her first heartbreak, the first ones are always the worst."

"You talk about it like you've experienced one before?" He c***s his head, trying to figure me all out. I won't let him.

"Boys can be assholes."

"Yeah they can." I wait for him to move, but he doesn't. Instead, he reaches out to push back a strand of my fallen hair.

My breath hitches as his fingers graze my skin once again. I'm suddenly 14 again and we're in his basement.

I gasp, and he suddenly steps back, as though just registering our close proximity. My nerves come back and I shift my eyes away from him. I think he notices, so tentatively he reaches out to touch my hand.

"Thank you, and you look beautiful."

Not hot or sexy or cute, like all the boys say.

Beautiful. I had never been called that before, not even by my own parents.

"Where are you going?" I frown. "I doubt you're so dressed up for just Netflix and ice cream."

"We were going to go to a party but..."

"But..." Should I tell him? He already knows Kiara is upset over a guy, and honestly, Kalen had this kind of charm that makes you want to spill all your darkest secrets, and f**k am I carrying a lot of them.

"Fine, we're still going. She needs a girl's night out and I'll take care of her. Just please don't tell your parents." He considers this, and then flashes me a small smile.

"I won't. You helped me out, I'll help you out." My mind takes a dirty turn from all those smutty books I read. I imagine him helping me out in all the wrong ways, preferably with me on my back and him in between my legs.

"I...uh I should go back..." I quickly walk out the kitchen, not daring to glance back.

I force down every warm feeling I once squashed concerning Kalen Romano. He hurt you, he didn't even notice you. He's a guy, just like all the rest. And guys do nothing but hurt you.

"Hey, you took your time?" I startle at Kiara's voice.

"Oh, yeah. Your mom took more convincing than usual."

"Weird." She remarks and I watch her stuff two more bottles of vodka into her bag.

"I don't think drinking is a good idea." I'm probably the only person who could say that to her without getting bitten.

"It's not for me. It's for you. You look you like you need a drink."

"Maybe one, but not ten. Just take this instead." I pass her two ciders. Still alcohol, but drastically safer than vodka.

She huffs but replaces the vodka with cider anyways, and swings the bag over her shoulder. I admire her figure. It's hard not to check Kiara out, she has the body of a goddess. It really is unworldly.

She catches my eye and smirks. "Do I look that good?"

"You always good."

"So do you b***h. Now let's have fun." I follow her out the window, hoping to god for once, we just have a normal night.

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A/N: I love tying in Kiara's story with Tessa's!! What are your thoughts on the chapter??

On Tessa and Kalen in the kitchen?