Never Say Forever

Back at the house, Sam was pacing back and forth in panic.

"This is all our fault!" He kept saying. "This is all our fault! She wouldn't be acting like this and on the verge of getting herself into trouble or an STD if it wasn't for us!"

"Sam, relax. Please!" Kimmi was getting annoyed. "You were the one who kept telling me that we can't care that much, so please just sit down."

"This is all our fault!" Sam shook his head. He was acting like a crazy person.

"We already missed the movie, and now you're going to have me sit here all night watching you walk back and forth? Let's go downstairs and play foosball or watch TV or SOMETHING! Just get your mind off of it." Kimmi sighed. "I'm sure Kaleah and Tyler are having fun, so we should too."

"Tyler doesn't know how to handle Kaleah. As much as he believes that he can, he can't!" Sam paused for a mere second, remembering the past. "Last time he tried to 'help' her and 'handle' her, he ended up having sex with her!"

"So what if he does again? That's none of your business anymore!" Kimmi rolled her eyes. 

"It is my business, because I caused this! We caused this!" Sam almost screamed the words at Kimmi. "Don't you get it? It's all our fault!" 

"Why, Sam, huh? Why would it be our fault? Because we happened to fall in love? We can't seriously blame ourselves for that!" Kimmi hollered.

"Don't yell at me!" Sam hollered back. "Kaleah is out there, half naked, partying it up at the most grimy club in this town! Who knows what the hell is happening!" Just then, Kimmi and Sam heard footsteps and giggling out on the front porch.

"Shh!" Kimmi said, as she turned to look out the window.

"Is it Kaleah?" Sam asked, hopeful. It had been merely 4 hours since her and Tyler left. All he wanted was for her to come home safe and realize that leaving in the first place was a huge mistake.

"I don't know, I can't see anything. Just some dude in a green shirt." Kimmi explained.

"Was Tyler wearing a green shirt?" Sam asked, hopeful yet again.

"I don't remember...I don't really pay any attention to Tyler's clothes." Kimmi said, annoyed.

"Should I go out there and check?" Sam asked.

"No, Sam. Please just stay in here. Whoever it is will come inside, just give it a minute." As Kimmi spoke, they heard a bang at the door. It wasn't a knock...it sounded more like a body being pressed up against the wood.

"What the.." Sam said, but before he could finish, the door swung open and Kaleah stumbled inside wrapped in the arms of some stranger.

Sam and Kimmi slowly approached Kaleah, who was standing in the foyer making out with this strange man. Kaleah was completely oblivious to Sam and Kimmi, and went about what she was going as if nobody was standing there watching. Sam watched as Kaleah kissed the guy, from his lips down to the base of his neck, and back up to his lips. He heart sank and his stomach jumped. He knew he shouldn't be feeling jealous, but he couldn't help it. Eventually, Kimmi broke the silence and cleared her throat. Kaleah stopped kissing the guy, and looked up at Kimmi.

"Ha ha ha." Kimmi laughed. "Hey guys!"

"Kaleah, what in the hell are you doing?" Kimmi asked, crossing her arms. 

"Meet my new friend. His name is Bob." Kaleah stumbled over her words, very obviously wasted.

"It's Boston, actually." the man laughed.

"Oooopsies." Kaleah giggled.

"That's okay. Tonight, you can call me whatever the hell you want." Boston kissed Kaleah again, this time much harder than before.

"Kaleah, we need to talk!" Kimmi hollered.

"One second." Kaleah said, against Boston's lips.

"Now!" Kimmi sounded furious.

"Jeesh, okay, mom!" Kaleah said. "How about you meet me up in my room? It's the first door at the top of the stairs." Kaleah was swaying as she stood there. She definitely had too much to drink.

"Or, you could just go home." Sam said, bluntly. Boston laughed and kissed Kaleah on the cheek. He turned towards Sam and put his hand on his shoulder.

"I think I'm going to listen to the lady on this one." He winked. "But thanks for the suggestion." Boston laughed drunkenly before heading upstairs. Sam could feel his face getting hot.

"Kaleah, you are acting stupid!" Kimmi hollered once Boston left the room. "You ditched us to go to some gross club, dressed like a whore, and then come back totally wasted out of your mind with some guy you just met! You understand what you're doing, don't you? You're about to have sex with a stranger!"

"I think I'm aware of that." Kaleah giggled. Kimmi's expression was far from humorful. Kaleah looked over at Sam, who's expression was softer, but he looked almost heartbroken. "Lighten up, you guys!" Kaleah said. "I'm just having fun!"

"Who knows if that guy has like an STD or something. You know, he probably won't even call you ever again. I can see it on his face....he's doing a hit and run. He'll have sex with you and leave and you'll never see him again." Sam explained.

"You say that like you've done it before." Kaleah accused.

"I'm a guy, Kaleah. I haven't done it, but all of my old guy friends used to." Sam said.

"Well I don't really care about Bob. The whole point of him being here is to just have fun and take care of a little business, if you know what I mean." Kaleah giggled. 

"This is sad." Kimmi said, softer. "You can't even remember his name."

"Hey, now. I don't care if his name is Bob or Frank or Joe!" Kaleah pointed her finger at Kimmi. "I am going to sleep with this guy tonight. He is hot and that's all I care about."

"Are you listening to yourself?" Sam asked, feeling a bit frightened by Kaleah's words. Kaleah looked apologetically at Sam, knowing that he was upset by this. But she couldn't care about that...just like they wouldn't care about her. 

"My friend is waiting." She said, before backing up and leaving the kitchen. Kimmi and Sam stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what had just happened.

"She's gone crazy!" Sam finally hollered. Kimmi rolled her eyes and turned to face Sam. "This is all our fault!" Sam repeated.

"Sam, listen to me. We can't control Kaleah's behavior. She will get over this...we just have to let her do it on her own!" Kimmi hollered back.

"And let her act like this in the meantime? I don't think so!" Sam was furious. How could he have let this happen.

"What else do you want me to do, Sam? Did you not see me trying to convince her to stop?!?! I was in her face talking to her and she didn't care! Kaleah is going to do what she wants to do whether we like it or not! Whether it's our fault or not!" Kimmi was getting just as angry. Frustration was settling in and a bit of guilt threatened its way into Kimmi's heart.

"You could have done more...SAID more! You are her cousin, for Christ sake! You are her family! You are much closer to her than I am!"

"You are seriously putting this off on me? Sam! You are just as close to her as I am! You are her roommate and you have been living with her for months now!"

"Do not even try to blame this on me! None of this would've happened if you didn't...." Sam cut himself off, not sure if he was going to regret the last of the sentence.

"If I didn't, what, Sam?" Kimmi asked, softly, knowing exactly what he was going to say. Sam shook his head, refusing to finish what he was saying. "If I didn't come here? If I didn't meet you?" Tears began crawling there way down Kimmi's cheeks.

"No, Kimmi. No, that's not true." Sam sighed, trying to clear his anger away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." He pulled Kimmi into a hug before the fight got any worse. Kimmi began to bawl into Sam's shoulder. "Blaming each other isn't going to solve anything."

"So what will?" Kimmi asked, frustrated. "This is getting way out of hand!" 

Kimmi wiped the tears from her eyes. Just then, Tyler came bursting through the door, out of breath and totally exhausted.

"Tye!" Sam said, shocked.

"That girl is NOT the girl who showed up on your doorstep! That girl is possessed!" Tyler said, through gasps of air. "She's a menace!" 

"What happened?" Kimmi asked.

"I tried to keep an eye on her...I really did! But she went absolutely nuts! She wouldn't listen to me...she even pretending she didn't even know who I was! She drank and drank and drank and danced on tables and drank some more...and then she just disappeared." 

"Disappeared?" Sam and Kimmi asked in unison.

"Yeah, disappeared. I have no idea where she went! I searched all over the club, and nothing. I looked at every coffee shop and restaurant on my way home and nothing...I think she went home with some disturbing juicehead she met at the bar."

"I think you're talking about Boston..." Kimmi said, trying not to giggle at Tyler's concern. 

"What? How would you know?" Tyler asked, confused.

"Kaleah is here...she came home with some guy named Boston." Sam said. Tyler noticed the sad look across Sam's eyes. 

"They're upstairs?" He asked, sympathetically. Sam nodded slowly. "Well, I guess we can look on the bright side. She's home safe."

"Sorry about my roommates." Kaleah told her new friend once they were laying on the bed together. "They're annoying."

"No worries." Boston laughed. "At least your roommates care about you. My roommate only cares about his stupid World of Warcraft computer game."

"I'd rather that then have my roommates breathing down my neck all the time." Kaleah giggled.

"Am I allowed to breath down your neck?" Boston asked, seductively.

"Mmm only if you have an ulterior motive behind it." Kaleah said back, just as seductively. Boston kissed Kaleah hard on the mouth and they quickly got right into making out. It wasn't long after before their clothes were coming off and the sparks began to fly.

Later that night...or more so the next morning...Sam heard noises coming from the kitchen. He couldn't sleep...not after what he knew Kaleah had been up to only hours before. So, without hesitating, he went to investigate, hoping to God it was Boston so he could give him apiece of his mind. When he walked into the kitchen, Kaleah was standing at the fridge in nothing but her bra and underwear. Sam had never seen Kaleah in this way before. He wasn't sure whether to look away or stare. He didn't like this new side of Kaleah, and he didn't find it right to feel turned on by the way she looked right now. The Kaleah that he knew and had feelings for would never leave her bedroom with less than a shirt on...unless of course she was in her bikini. Most people think that a bikini is the same basic thing as a bra and underwear...but not to Sam. Seeing a girl he cared about in nothing but her bra and underwear was a big deal...at least, he wanted it to be. As he approached the kitchen, trying very hard to look at Kaleah's face and not her body, he cleared his throat. Kaleah jumped.

"Sam! Goodness...you scared me." Kaleah said, letting the fridge slam shut.

"What are you doing? It's like four in the morning." Sam explained, looking up at the clock above the kitchen sink.

"I'm hungry." Kaleah said, rubbing her bare stomach. "I didn't eat dinner."

"So you eat a meal at four in the morning in nothing but your underwear?" Sam asked, giggling. Kaleah looked down at her body, remembering just then that she wasn't really wearing anything. She blushed and started to walk away. 

"Kaleah, hang on." Sam said, grabbing Kaleah's arm so she couldn't walk away.

"What do you want, Sam?" Kaleah asked.

"Let me cook you some food." Sam said, trying to be civil with her. As much as he didn't like this new side of Kaleah, he wanted to help her. He wanted the old Kaleah back...his Kaleah back. 

"I'm suddenly not hungry anymore." Kaleah explained, trying to cover her almost bare chest with her arms.

"Oh come on...that can't be true!" Sam said, a little too harshly. Kaleah lowered her brow at Sam.

"How could you possibly know that? You're not me..." Kaleah said, just as harshly.

"Kaleah, what is going on? Can you please talk to me?" Sam asked, almost pleadingly.

"There's nothing to talk about, Sam! I'm perfectly fine." Kaleah tried to walk away again, but Sam stopped her. "Sam, let me go!" She hollered. Sam refused.

Kaleah grew angry and turned to face Sam.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, all to loudly.

"Kaleah, please! Just tell me whats going on with you!!!" Sam hollered back. "This isn't like you! You never used to go out to clubs before and bring home strangers to have sex with! You never used to walk around in nothing but your underwear! You cut your hair and dyed it black and you're constantly angry! Talk to me! I am begging you!!"

"Sam, I need you to get this through that thick skull of yours....I AM COMPLETELY FINE! Now please just let it go! If I want to go to the club, I'm allowed to. If I want to sleep with some guy the first night I meet him, I'm allowed to! If I want to grab something to eat but I'm too lazy to put clothes on at four in the morning, thinking nobody would see me anyways because everyone is supposed to be sleeping, then I'm allowed to! You're not my father!"

"Nobody is saying that you're not allowed to Kaleah! It just isn't like you! You have me completely freaked out!"

"I'm sorry If I'm inconveniencing you, Sam, but quite frankly, I'm just trying to have fun for me! I don't really care how scared you and Kimmi are. It's really not any of your business!" Sam didn't know what else to say. He stared blankly at Kaleah. Kaleah dropped her arms which she was flailing about so violently as she spoke. "Good night." She sharply, before turning around and walking away.

Kaleah didn't go back to bed. Instead, she got dressed and stared once at the strange man laying in her bed. He was sleeping so soundlessly...like he didn't have a care in the world. Just once, she wished she could be that person, who was just an innocent party to all the drama and could leave whenever they wanted to. He would wake up later that day, put his clothes on, and go home. He might give Kaleah a quick kiss and say good bye, or he might not. He might go straight home or he might grab some breakfast at the local bistro first. Either way, it didn't matter what he did because he didn't have to care. Kaleah would give everything to feel like that, even for one moment. Kaleah dropped her head and sighed before skulking out to the dark balcony to paint.

She painted until the sun came up. One painting after another, and Kaleah was completely lost in her art. It was her sanctuary...the one thing she can always count on. It was the one thing that Kaleah knew and loved and could completely take her mind off of things. As her brush stroked the intricate weaving of the canvas, her troubles melted away into the globs of paint. It wasn't until Kimmi showed up that she finally snapped out of her trance and reality set back in for round two.

"Kaykay?" Kimmi said softly as she approached her easel. 

"Kimmi, please go away." Kaleah said quietly. "I'm not in the mood."

"I don't really care if you are in the mood or not, Kaleah. I need to talk to you." Kimmi said, a matter-of-factly.

Knowing that Kimmi was stubborn and wouldn't go away until Kaleah agreed to let her talk, Kaleah put down her palette and paintbrush and turned to face her cousin.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asked, trying to stay clam.

"Kaykay, I'm worried sick about you." Kimmi said, in a sad voice. She looked like she was about to cry. "I know you...you're my cousin and we used to be so close. I would hope that if there was something goin' on with you that you would talk to me. Can I count on that?" Kaleah sighed and shook her head slowly. "What? What do you mean, no?" Kimmi said, wide eyed.

"I'm sorry, Kimmi. But I don't really feel like I can talk to you anymore." Kaleah said, truthfully.

"Why?" Kimmi asked, her eyes swelling up with tears.

"Because you're being so critical lately!" Kaleah could feel the anger in her words and her face was beginning to get hot. "I just want to be left the hell alone!"

"Kaleah, I am not going to leave you alone right now. There is something going on with you and you need someone to talk to! Please, trust me." Kimmi sounded so naive...so juvenile...as she begged Kaleah. 

"Kimmi, you're too late. I already had this lecture from Sam this morning."

"Sam tried talking to you?" Kimmi asked. "He never told me that."

"Well he did, and it didn't work. And I'm not about to open up to you, either." Kaleah tried to stay calm, but her anger began to overcome her again.

"Kaleah, please. As your cousin...your family...I want you to talk to me."

"Kimmi!" Kaleah hollered, letting her anger take her over. "You can't just come into MY house, into MY life and tell ME what to do! If I don't want to talk to you about non-existing problems, then I don't have to!"

"Non-existing problems?!" Kimmi hollered back. "Kaleah, it's written all over your face! Something is wrong!" 

"THERE IS NOTHING WRONG! GOD DAMMIT, JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!"

"QUIT SWEARIN'! KALEAH, I KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG!" Kimmi took a breath. "You're upset because me and Sam are dating. Just admit it, already! That's something we can talk about."

"Oh my god, Kimmi! How self-centered can you be!" Kaleah laughed without humor. "You know, did it ever occur to you that my father just freakin' died, and I'm just trying to take my mind off of it? I'm sorry that you've never experienced the loss of one of your parents but it's not something you can just get over and move on from right away!" Kaleah was lying, she could feel it. As much as she wanted to believe that her behavior was from the pain the loss of her father was causing her, she knew it wasn't the whole truth. Sam and Kimmi dating did bother her, but she wasn't about to admit that.

"I'm sorry...I didn't--" Kimmi tried to apologize, but Kaleah wouldn't let her.

"You didn't realize? Kimmi, that's retarded! He died only a few weeks ago! It's amazing how self centered you are. You are so absorbed in thinking that I'm upset because of you and Sam that you didn't even remember the severity of my situation and how it happened not long ago." 

"I don't mean to seem self centered!" Kimmi started crying. "Gosh, Kaleah! I'm just concerned about you! And you not opening up to anybody isn't helping anything! Not even helping you!"

"Kimmi!" Kaleah put her hands up and pushed Kimmi's shoulder slightly. "Just get out of my face! You can't waltz into my house, live here, and expect to be the mother figure! I don't need you to be concerned about me!" Kimmi tried to open her mouth to say something back. "GET OUT OF MY FACE!" Kaleah screamed. Kimmi stared wide-eyed at Kaleah. She had never seen Kaleah get this angry and mean before. Never has she been pushed by her cousin. Never had she been screamed at by her cousin. Kimmi felt almost scared. 

Kimmi nodded slightly and turned to walk away.  She walked through the balcony door, trying hard to fight back the tidal wave of tears threatening their way out. She walked inside, and from over he shoulder said:

"I've never seen this side of you before." She sniffed. "I'm scared for your sanity." Before Kaleah could get another word in, Kimmi slammed the door behind her. As soon as she was out of hearing range, she let the tears pour out and she started bawling in the hallway. Kaleah was different, and Kimmi could see that Kaleah wasn't being honest about Kimmi being here not bothering her. Why else would she have gotten so angry at Kimmi?