Pain

Epilogue

Armed with a pillow, Kiara snuck into Logan's room. As expected, he was sound asleep in bed. She shook her head. 'Some things never change,' she thought to herself. Then she threw her pillow at her brother and shouted loudly, "Logan!"

Hit by the pillow and startled by the sudden noise, Logan sat up in bed and looked around frantically. "What the-" His eyes fell on Kiara who was grinning at him. "Get up, big brother. It's school time."

Logan groaned and was about to pull the covers over his head when his cell phone rang. He looked at the display and groaned again. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Then he answered. "Yeah? . . . Uh uh . . . I see . . . So you called me to make sure I didn't oversleep on my first day back in school . . . Yeah, I appreciate your effort, but my dear sister has already done that . . . Uh uh . . . Yes, funny coincidence . . . Mmmhh . . . Okay . . . Yeah, see you later." He hung up. Kiara looked at him curiously. "Who was that?"

"Camille thanks you for your wake-up call. She suggests that you two could work out a plan together to coordinate who should wake me up in the future."

Kiara thought about it. "Not the worst idea," she said, winking at Logan. He grabbed her pillow and threw it back in her direction. "Get out of my room so I can get dressed."

Smiling, Kiara picked up her pillow from the floor and headed for the door. "Okay, I'll go. But make sure you don't fall asleep again. Kelly and Dave have breakfast ready and then Kelly will drive us to school. So hurry up."

"Well, here we are."

Logan didn't miss the worried undertone in Kelly's voice. "Kelly, I'll be fine."

She nodded, but wasn't reassured.

"I think we have no other choice but to trust him," Kiara said with a slight smile. Logan nodded to her. "Thanks, sweetie."

They got out of the car. Kelly sighed. "Alright. Have a nice day."

"You too," Logan and Kiara said at the same time, which made Kelly smile. She waved to them as she started the engine and drove away. Kiara looked at her brother. "Don't let them get you down, okay?"

Logan nodded and gave her a quick hug. "Okay."

"And behave yourself. You promised us that you would take school seriously from now on."

"Yes, and I'll keep my promise. You'll see."

She smiled. "Good. See you later?"

Logan shrugged. "I'm not sure. I might hang out with Camille after school."

"Okay, have fun. See you tonight."

"Bye, sweetie."

In the school parking lot, he found Camille leaning against her car, waiting for him. Logan's nervousness vanished at this sight. He called her name to get attention. She turned around and beamed.

"Morning," Logan greeted her and kissed her on the cheek. "Still have your brother's car?" he asked, pointing to the vehicle. Camille nodded. "We agreed that he would lend it to me until my parents finally let me have my own car. Also, it's more convenient that way, since my youngest brother is also going to high school now, so we can drive to school together. However, he said he would probably take the bus in the future because he doesn't think it's cool to be driven to school by his big sister," Camille explained, rolling her eyes. Logan smiled. "When do you think your parents will let you have your own car?"

Camille tilted her head and pretended to think. "Mmmhh . . . Definitely not before graduation."

Logan laughed. Camille smiled at him, then she looked towards the school building. Logan put a hand on her shoulder and she turned back to him. "Are you ready?" she asked, almost whispering. He breathed in and out, then he held out a hand to her. "Yes."

The whispering and staring started as soon as the first classmates spotted them in the hallways. Camille's hand twitched uneasily, Logan gave it a gentle squeeze.

"They're staring at us," she informed him. Logan looked around and suddenly stopped. Grinning, he whispered, "Then I think we should give them something worth staring at."

Before she could ask what he meant by that, he put a hand on her cheek and kissed her . . . right in the middle of the hallway, so everyone could see it.

Not far away, Kendall, Carlos, and James were standing along with Jo, Stephanie and Lucy. Stephanie let her gaze wander over her classmates. "Uh uh, some of these girls don't look happy at all."

Jo followed her gaze. "Hmmm . . . You're right. We should keep a close eye on Camille over the next few weeks."

"I wonder what's going to happen this year," Kendall murmured, crossing his arms. James shrugged. "Well, whatever happens, it can't be worse than last year, can it?"