My mission in life is to find my true love. This is the story of how I fell in love for the first time and how it changed my whole life. They say a true love story never ends. Let's see how mine goes, shall we?
'Cuz the players gonna play play play
And the haters gonna hate hate hate
But I am just gonna shake shake shake
Shake it off
Shake it ...'
I turn off my alarm clock and groan, "Ugh... Just five more minutes." I close my eyes and drift off to dreamland again.
I wake with a gasp as I feel ice-cold water running down my back.
I hear few snickers escape a mouth. I turn to find my brother trying his best not to laugh, but it is in vain as he starts laughing, clutching the table nearby to hold himself up.
"You ...you should've seen your face it was priceless ha ha ha ha ha." he laughs hysterically.
I give him my best death glare while he just grins at me.
"Keith, you have three seconds," his smirk falls a bit, "to run before I roast you alive." I say sweetly.
My brother has fear written all over his face because no one wakes me up and gets to see another day. I mean it. NO ONE.
"1 ..., " my brother dashes out the door like his life depends on it.
"2 and 3...." I jolt up from my bed and run after him. I see him running outside through the back door. I didn't follow him. Instead, I go to the fridge and get a handful of ice cubes.
I run to my backyard through the front door. I spot him peeking into the house through the door. Thankfully his back is towards me. I tip-toe ever so slowly with a huge grin on my face. I pull the back of his pants and dump the ice cubes inside.
"Aahhhhhhhhhhhhh holy mother Theresa," he shouts. I am on the ground laughing my butt off as he dances weirdly trying, to get the ice cubes out of his pants. He gives me his death glare while I just smirk at him. All so soon, his glare turns into a smirk. Oh God, that is not good. I start running, and I see him following me.
"Ah, its cold its cold." I scream and laugh as my brother is spraying me with the hose.
It turns into a full-blown water fight, and we play like that for the next hour. I guess no shower today.
After my brother was satisfied with his revenge, we go back inside and get ready for the day. I wear a white t-shirt which says girl power and black skinny jeans.
I go downstairs and find my brother making dosas. I must say he is a better cook than me. I hate cooking.
He looks at me and sets a plate with dosas before me.
"Nutella or peanut butter?" he asks.
"Nutella." We eat having simple talks.
"I am going to miss you so much Ara," my brother says quietly. I look at him and give him a small smile.
"I know Kei. I will miss you too," I say with a sad smile.
You all might be wondering where I am going. I am going all the way to America to do my senior year as an Exchange student.
"After you go, the house will be so lonely no one will be here to fight with me." Keith says with a pout.
I give out a small chuckle. Even though Kei is nineteen, he acts like a baby. Our parents died two years ago due to a car crash and, he is the only family I have left.
"That's why my dear brother you have to find yourself a girl." I speak after swallowing a good piece of dosa.
"Yeah, yeah as if girls are waiting in line for me to date them." he tells me sarcastically.
I am not going to lie. Kei is handsome but, he is annoying. He pulls pranks, even if it is his girlfriend and, not just simple pranks. Huge ones.
Once, he pranked his ex-girlfriend two years ago that he is moving to Australia. He even threw a going-away party for himself to make the prank more believable.
The girl was crying so bad, so when my brother told her that it was all a prank, she took her heel and gave one tight slap across his face. That must have hurt. You can guess what happened after that. Yeah, they broke up.
I chuckle at the memory. Kei had a heel print on his face for days.
"You are thinking about the moving away prank aren't you?" he asks me with a knowing grin.
"Yes, that was epic."
"Yeah, I know." he tells me with a smirk.
"Wait for the girl who loves your annoying character. She is the one who loves you for who you truly are big bro." I tell him and go upstairs.
I see a hangouts video call request on my laptop. It is from my two best friends Anna and Divya.
"Hey, Kia how are you?" they both scream, making me wince.
"Why do you guys always scream when I answer the call?" I ask, shaking my head to stop the ringing in my ears.
"That's because you love it." Anna tells me with a sarcastic grin.
I sigh. I love my friends but, they do everything they can to annoy me. Sometimes it makes me want to kill them.
"But, we are seriously going to miss you." Div says with a pout.
"I know you guys, but you know it has been my dream to go to America." I tell them.
"Yeah, we know." Div says.
"So, I will see you guys tomorrow morning?" I ask.
"Yeah, we won't miss it for the world girl." Anna informs me.
"Love you guys."
"Love you too Kia." I end the call and sigh, looking at my room, or what used to be my room. It is hidden by the clothes that I need to pack for tomorrow.
I spend the rest of the day packing and thinking about how my life is going to change after tomorrow. I am going to be living with the Scotts. They have two boys, one who is my age and the other younger than me. I am a huge believer in love so, I hope I find the one.
It has always been my dream to go to America. I don't know why, but I always dreamed of living there. People don’t judge you for wearing shorts or hanging out with your friends or even dating as they do here in India. I just want to feel free.
I wish goodnight to my brother and get ready for bed since I have an early flight tomorrow.
"Mom, please come back home soon." Kei says.
"Okay honey. We will be home soon after meeting your dad's boss." she informs both of us.
"Ok amma." we both say. She kisses our heads, and we exchanged 'i love you'.
Two hours later a police jeep comes to our house. I run down to see my brother in tears. When he sees me, he comes to me and hugs me tightly.
"God has taken them to heaven Kia."
I wake up with tears streaming down my face. It takes a moment for me to adjust to the dark. I rub my eyes and look at the clock to see it’s 1:10.
I go to Keith's room and see the lights still on. I knock and hear a slow 'come in'. I open the door and go inside. I see him on the bed doing something on his laptop. My brother is a junior in college.
When he sees my crying face, his face falls. I have been having these dreams at least once a week after our parent's death.
He motions me to his bed. I lie down, and he whispers soothing words to me while I go to sleep.
All I can think before I sleep is, hope that my life changes after tomorrow.
I wake up at 6 am as my flight leaves today at 11. I see my brother still sleeping, so I go to my room and get ready for my flight. I wear a black crop top with black jeans, and a grey long-sleeved coat and pair it with some black sneakers and put my hair in a high ponytail.I wake my brother up, and we both head to the airport. It is starting to get cold here. The rainy season is over, and soon winter will start. I look at the rising sun and think that I am so lucky to be alive to see this beautiful sight. We often take everything in our life for granted. The beautiful sunrise, the voices of early birds, looking for food, the air smelling like the rain and time spent with family. We never know when we will be robbed of all these. I look at kei, and he is awfully quiet.Tears already start forming in my eyes since I know that I won't be seeing my brother for a long time. I pray to God to take care of him. He will be alone in that big house that has a lot of memories of
My jaw is literally on the floor. Wow. Ok, that hurt just a little bit. Raven did tell me that the boys don't know and that it was a surprise, but still, it is wrong to make assumptions you know."What? Reed no! she is our new exchange student and her name is Kiara." Raven informs her son.He did look a bit taken back, but he covers it up. He gives a stiff nod and runs upstairs."Ooh, I always wanted a sister." the smaller boy says. I smile. He reminds me of Keith."My name is Ryder. I am 13 years old." He tells me."My name is Kiara and I am 16 years old. I am going to be a junior in your school." I introduce myself.He also gives me a nod and runs upstairs."I am so happy that you are here." Blake tells me. I smile at him."Freshen up Kiara, we will have dinner afterwards." Raven informs me. I give a quick nod, and Blake leads me to my room. It looks very beautiful. I have my own tv, there is a big queen-size bed. I love it.
The next day I wake up, do my morning routine, and go down for breakfast."Good morning honey. How are you feeling?" Raven questions."I am fine. Just suffering from jet lag." I reassure her."Ok, here have some breakfast." she hands me a plate with bacon and eggs.I've never had bacon in my life. Well, everyone has a first time."Mmmm it tastes so good." This tastes amazing. I have been missing out on this all my life."Looks like someone likes bacon." Raven grins."Yeah, you have to get more bacon now." I grin back."Anyway get ready we will be going to the mall in an hour." Raven reminds me.I wish morning to Blake. I didn't see the boys as they already left for school. They still have two more weeks of school before winter vacation.I give a swift nod and go upstairs to get ready. I wear a tie-dye hoodie, skinny black jeans, pair them with my white sneakers and tie my hair into a high ponytail. I don't like ma
I wake up to Ella licking my face trying to wake me up."I am up, I am up," I reassure her with a laugh. She gives me a doggy grin, if that is possible, and leaves my room.I get ready for the day. I wear a hoodie, legging, pair them with white sneakers, and leave my hair down. I walk downstairs to find the boys ready for school and eating breakfast."Ooh, finally, the queen has awakened." Ryder greets me."At your service." I give him a bow, he chuckles. I greet everyone else and make myself a bowl of cereal."Kia, I have work today, so I won't be home. Will you be fine all alone?" Raven asks me, concerned.She is a housewife but, she is also a substitute doctor. So, she works rarely and, Blake is a CEO of a good marketing company. They are pretty rich."I will be fine. I will probably spend the day talking to my friends or chilling in the pool." I reassure her.She gives me a small smile and gets ready for work. Soon ev
"You are riding with me on my motorcycle." Reed says with a smirk.Reed thinks that I am afraid of motorcycles like some people. You are so wrong, buddy.I love motorcycles and the feeling you get when you ride on streets with the wind blowing on your face. The scenery is an added bonus. I also know how to ride one, my brother taught me.Now it is my time to smirk, "No problemo buddy."He looks a bit taken back but, he quickly covers it up."Fine, let's go." Reed says and, I follow him to the garage.He gets on the bike and hands me a helmet. I take it and take a seat behind him."You can hold onto me if you want," he smirks.God, I wish I could wipe that smirk off his face."No problem dude i can handle myself." I smile sweetly and catch the handle on the back of the bike to hold myself.We take off and, I enjoy the ride and the feel of the wind blowing on my face. I remember Keith used to take me out on long dri
I wake up and realize that it is Sunday morning, and there is only a week left for Christmas. I always go to church back in India on Sundays. I shower and wear a white knee-length dress and pair it with a blue jean jacket. I leave my hair down and apply some mascara and lip gloss.I go downstairs and see only Raven and Blake in the dining room. I guess the boys are still sleeping because it is only 8:30.I greet them good morning, and raven raises a brow, questioning 'why I am all dressed up?'"So do you guys go to church on Sundays?" I ask Raven."No, we don't. But we do go during Christmas and New Year." Blake answers."Can anyone of you
Finally, it's Christmas Eve. This past week I spent time with the family learning more about them. Reed is not acting cold to me anymore. He makes small talk here and there. I would not call us friends yet but, it is progress. I also spend a lot of time with Ryder. We watch horror movies, I play sports with him, and sometimes Reed joins us.I will meet Andrew again today when I go to church. I can't wait to give him the presents I got for him. But I am also scared. What if he doesn't accept? What if he thinks that I am doing it out of pity? I am doing it because I have been through what he is going through. But, I at least had Keith, but he has a stepfather who hates him.I take a shower and straighten my hair. I wear a hoodie and legging.I go downstairs, and a beautiful aroma fills my senses pancakes. Yum. I greet everyone and take a seat beside Ryder. I ruffle his hair a bit, he swats my hands and glares at me. I put my hands up in surrender while he fixes hi
"KIARA ...KIARA WAKE UP IT'S CHRISTMAS," Ryder shouts in my ear, effectively waking me up.I get up so fast that I fall out of my bed with a loud thud, and I groan."Ugh, I am up, I am up." I say, rubbing my butt.When my eyes adjust to the bright light, I see Ryder jumping on my bed shouting, "It's Christmas.","I am gonna wake up Reed," he shouts and runs out of my room.I really don't know where he gets his energy from. That kid's hyperactive even without sugar. I glance at my clock and see it's five minutes past seven. That's early.I hear a loud 'It's Christmas', which is followed by a loud thud. Looks like Reed fell out of bed too.I go out to see an energetic Ryder pulling a sleepy Reed, who is rubbing his butt out of the room. I chuckle at the scene. While Ryder wakes everybody up, I quickly brush my teeth and comb my hair.I go downstairs to see Reed and Ryder sitting around the Christmas tree with presents. I look bac