Incognito

Ch. 46 "Close As Strangers"

Chapter 46

Six weeks.

He's been gone for six weeks now, and I've never felt more alone.

Everyone at school is either being fake to me or hating me. There's actually no in between.

Emerson and Braden feel betrayed that I told Trent and not them about Kyle. Peter and Grace don't want to pick a side. Anthony's acting all weird around me.

All I have is Clayton and surprisingly Willow.

Kyle didn't really stick to his plan of calling ten times a day or whatever. Instead, we only share late night calls and random texts that just don't make up for all the lost time.

We're trying.

Trent's upset too. Not only is he really missing Luke and Kyle, but Emerson has also been avoiding him. I think she's upset he didn't tell her, though it's really all my fault.

Trent won't let me take the blame for it, which just makes me more upset. I deserve the blame.

I haven't told Kyle any of the bad things in my life. There's no need for him to be worried about me. As long as he's happy in California, then I'm happy too.

"Cassie," Trent yells from my family room, "guess who is on the TV!"

I sprint faster than freaking Usain Bolt to get to that family room. Panting, I plop down next to Trent and scoot into his side for comfort.

"Turn it up," I demand, hitting his chest lightly.

Kyle's always on TV, and I don't think I've missed an interview. It's just that I get to hear him talking longer on TV than I get to when we're on the phone.

He's so adorable when talking about the new movie or openly talking about his bad past or sometimes even me.

It's always a bit awkward when he talks about me, but somehow I always end up in tears.

"So, Kyle, let's talk about the girl," the interviewer lady says.

Trent nudges me with his elbow. "Hey, that's you!"

"Oh boy," I mutter and bury my head into Trent's shoulder.

Kyle blushes, biting his lip. "Can't go an interview without talking about the girl."

It's true. I've been mentioned a lot. Whether it's about our relationship or about Bradley and my mom or even about the tweet that Kyle sent out a few months ago, I'm always talked about.

"Well, we all saw that speech you made at the school," the interviewer laughs. "It was probably one of the cutest things I've seen."

"Thanks," Kyle says awkwardly.

"How are you two doing now?" she asks interestedly.

He's been asked this question once before, though it was five weeks ago. We had only been a week without each other. Now is different. Now I'm worried for his answer.

He hesitates, bringing his hands to his lips. "Uh...okay."

"Just okay?" she pushes.

"I love that girl," he assures passionately. "That hasn't changed one bit. I mean, I won't ever stop loving her."

"Then what's the problem here?"

"The problem is not being able to tell her I love her to her face, to kiss her, to touch her, or even to just be with her," he explains in distraught. "All I get is a crappy phone call at three in the morning."