Thinking Outside of the Box

Chap. 1

Kyla was beautiful, smart, talented and pretty much what you would label, perfect. She had plans, and like many people, she had ambitions. But when Ramon and Anferni walked into her life, she was stranded in a world that didn't have a promising future. Pregnant and kicked out of her own house, Kyla began her journey of getting back on her feet. Two people may have affected her life more than ever. D'ante', the pastor's son at her church teaches her that there is much more to life then beauty and talent, even more than love. Quenton, a mere stranger who she met on the bus, rises to her trust and becomes her best friend, helping her find a place, a job, and take care of the child to come. Reality hurts, and if thinking outside of the box will help, then Kyla's willing to try.

{Rape included in the book, rated R. Please, if you must, you can take this book, polish it up and sell it in stores, as long as you dedicate it to me, bruh (; }

Chap. 1

Thoughts circled Kyla's head furiously poking and pinching at her with ideas and old memories as she walked home with books in tow. There wasn't one second when Kyla Santiago didn't have her mind deep in thought; it was the things in the past that had got her like that. Things she didn't like to think about but came to her mind occasionally. Kyla's story was complicated, odd, and probably had been told in millions of ways, but she'll try to keep it nice, short, and simple for you.

When Kyla was a baby, she was different. She didn't roll a lot, or walk a lot or even smile a lot. "All that girl ever did was talk," her mother, Maria Santiago would say. Kyla was quite the talker. She loved to talk about everything from todays in nail polish to yesterday's lunch ravioli. There just wasn't anything Kyla couldn't talk about. Another thing Kyla's mother had said was, "That girl sure thought she was pretty. Wouldn't do anything messy. Uh-uh, she just talked." She usually told this story to anybody walking by like Mr. Mobley, the tall old man with an unusual muscular frame and lived in the apartment just a couple of blocks away, and took that path to work for exercise. Or the mailman, Carl who sat down with a homemade pot of gumbo Mrs. Santiago usually made and would listen for hours. He seemed to forget all about his post, probably too absorbed in the magic of Maria's beauty and storytelling to really care. Kyla was nothing but embarrassed anytime that this happened. And Mrs. Santiago wondered why Kyla's bottom lip was always poking out! But when Kyla reached the age of 13, she became slimmer, her cheeks less chubby and her Puerto Rican features stood out more than ever. Kyla was beautiful, unusually smart, and extremely talented. Boys would worship her and she barely had a clue about it. So when the year when she turned 15 hit, Kyla's first boyfriend appeared. He was the sweet mixed neighbor down the street whose mother was always forcing him to get "more social with that pretty girl down the street". He had struggled but his first words to her finally came out in a squeak. 

"Hi, I'm Ramon (Ruh-Mone)." 

Kyla smiled fully aware of the boys walking down the street whistling at her. She combed her hair to one side of her tan neck and rolled her eyes. At the annoying boys, not the adorable boy in front of her, of course.

"Hey Ramon. Come on in."

Ramon slowly trudged in and asked in a polite manner if he could sit on her couch. Kyla shrugged and plopped down first, surprising Ramon with her un-ladylike gesture.

"Kyla. My name is Kyla." She said shaking his hand. It was cold but somehow, she suddenly felt hot and sweaty. 

"My, uh, Mom... wanted me to say hello. I guess, you've been living here for years but…" Kyla stared at him intently as his sentence trailed off.

"I've never been that interesting to you before your Mom mentioned it?" Kyla smirked playfully hitting his arm. Ramon looking horrified down at her appeared as if he didn't get the joke.