Conflicted: Keegan's Chronicles (6 page)

Her face flushed and a smile crossed her
face. The loud sound of ice breaking startled her. Looking around
in relief, she saw all the creatures breaking free from the icy
prison she had put on them. She felt light and happy. How was he
able to have that effect on her so fast? She was able to laugh at
herself for getting angry over something as silly as a game of hide
and seek.

“I do believe that’s enough for today,
everyone,” Calvron called out. Right before her eyes the magical
land was gone and they all stood at the bottom of the hill below
where their cars were parked. Donald and the other creatures were
back in their human forms.

The door was gone.

Calvron walked to his truck and yelled, "See
you guys next week."

Keegan turned to Donald, "Thank you." She
paused, started to talk, and stopped again.

"What is it Keegan? You can tell me."

"It's just, I'm really scared, Donald. I'm
glad you were there to help me fight through the darkness." She
wrapped her arms tight around herself and stared into his cerulean
eyes.

"You will figure this out. There is so much
good in you, the dark doesn't stand a chance. When you feel
yourself getting angry, try to focus on something or someone that
makes you smile."

Keegan looked down at her shoes and then
back at Donald. "Thinking of you makes me smile."

Donald grinned and responded, "Would you
like to go out with me sometime? Maybe we could go on a hike or
just hang out and watch a movie? "

"I would like that. Text me later and we'll
make plans."

Keegan walked over to Anna's car, her mind
raced. She was still so confused. However, she could not deny that
she felt happiest when she was around Donald. Rourk was always in
the back of her mind, but she still could not remember what it felt
like to want to be with him.

Once she got to Anna’s car, Anna blasted out
questions. “What happened? I feel like I lost time, but I have no
idea why. All I remember is teasing you and next thing I know
Calvron is telling everyone to go home.” She looked down at her
sweater. ”What the heck is up with my clothes? They’re wet!”

“So are mine,” Lauren added from the
backseat.

Keegan sighed and told them about her temper
which led to them being frozen and how it seemed to be an
unfortunate side effect of the dark magic.

Her friend’s silence worried Keegan. She
said, “I’m not mad at your mom, Anna.”

She just nodded, her pink hair swished as
she avoided a response.

They drove to Lauren’s house in silence.
After dropping her off, Keegan turned in her seat to look at Anna.
"What do you think of Donald?"

"Well, that’s an odd question. I think he's
a great friend and he's hilarious."

"Do you think I should date him?"

Anna raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"Where is this coming from? I know you used to have a crush on him,
but I thought your focus was Rourk?"

"I feel nothing for Rourk, but I feel happy
and excited when I am around Donald."

Anna stared at her friend, not sure what to
say. Her mother’s warning rang in her ears. "Well, you did used to
date a lot before so I really don't think it's a big deal if you
want to hang out with him."

"Yeah, that's what I think too. I just don't
want to hurt Rourk’s feelings."

***

They drove the rest of the way home in
silence. Anna needed to find the light witch in a hurry. Hopefully
her mother had made some progress on her search.

Anna dropped Keegan off at home, pulled out
her cell and called her mother.

"Mom, have you found her yet?"

"Not yet, it's not as easy as you would
think."

"Well, Keegan is already moving on from
Rourk; she wants to date Donald."

"Anna, you have to let Keegan make her own
choices. Don't try to talk her out of anything."

"Like that’s even possible. Keegan is
stubborn."

"Okay, well, I'll see you when you get
home."

"Bye."

Anna was deep in thought. Sure, she could
probably be happy with Donald, but she deserved her chosen. Anna
would do anything to know who her own perfect match was. Keegan had
been handed hers and then had it ripped away. She had to figure out
a way to get Keegan’s bond back.

Keegan walked through the door, energized
from her time in Calvron’s world and itching to share it with
someone. Her mother sat in the living room with a book open on her
lap. She sipped a mug of something steamy. "Hey, Mom!”

Emerald looked up with her hand at rest on
the pages of her book, and smiled at her daughter. “Hey. Where have
you been?”

“You will never believe! Calvron made this
incredible magical land. We had to walk through a wooden door that
was suspended in the air. It was amazing. I wish you could have
seen it.” Keegan’s words rushed out so fast.

"Slow down Keegan. Why don't you come sit
down and tell me all about it?" She patted the seat beside her and
turned to face Keegan.

Keegan smiled, skipped over and sat beside
her mom. She chatted away as she described Calvron’s world. After a
while, she paused, and bit her lip. She almost forgot to tell her
about the freezing issue. "Mom, I learned of another side effect of
the dark magic today."

"What?" Her mother gave her a concerned
look, her blue eyes dark.

"Well, I’ve noticed that when I get angry, I
start to feel cold. Today they were teasing me during a game and I
got so mad that I froze them all on the spot...even the ground.
Calvron and Donald were able to help me. When I think positive
thoughts the coldness goes away. So after Donald told me some
stories that made me happy, the ice melted, but I was really
scared."

Her mother started at Keegan without saying
anything for several seconds. "Interesting,” she finally murmured.
“I guess it could be worse. You will just have to learn to keep
your anger in check, Keegan. Believe me, I have been dealing with
learning to control my temper most of my life. It is not an easy
thing to do.” The corners of her mouth turned down and her brow
furrowed. She sighed and reached over to brush Keegan’s hair behind
one ear. “It is, of course, possible. Your father can work with you
on breathing exercises. It also helps that you know how to keep it
at bay through your thoughts and emotions. Obviously trying to
avoid situations that increase your anger is the easiest thing to
do. Prevention is the best medicine, as they say. I just hope other
side effects don’t pop up.” She put her arm around Keegan and gave
her a squeeze.

"Mom, I think I like Donald." Keegan spit
out before she gave it too much thought. She really wanted her
mother’s thoughts on it.

"What do you mean you think you like him?”
Emerald asked. She pulled away to catch her daughter’s eyes. “As in
more than a friend?"

"Yes. He makes me happy and I feel special
when he is around." Her cheeks

flushed as she looked down to where her
hands were clasped in her lap.

"Keegan, you have met your chosen. You
cannot be interested in others."

"Mother, I can't even remember Rourk. He is
like a stranger to me," Keegan said. She rubbed her arms in an
attempt to warm herself up.

Emerald reached over her daughter and pulled
a throw blanket from the back of the couch and handed it to Keegan.
“You really should give Rourk a chance, Keegan. But, if you are
interested in Donald then perhaps you should see where it goes. I
do suggest that you take it slow. I don't have to remind you that
elves are supposed to partner with elves. You
have
been dating humans for
years so I guess dating a shape shifter is not the end of the
world." Emerald gave her a wry smile.

Keegan reached over and hugged her mother.
"Thank you for understanding."

With the blanked still draped tight around
her shoulders, Keegan headed up the stairs to her room. She was sad
at the thought of moving on from Rourk. How many hours had she sat
around daydreaming about meeting her chosen and the perfect life
they would have together? He was incredibly cute too.

Her phone vibrated and she looked down to
see it was a text from Donald.

Night beautiful.

Smiling she replied back.
Night and you’re not so bad
yourself.

A goofy grin spread across her face while
she changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She was excited
to see Donald at school tomorrow.

***

When she rolled out of bed the next morning
and looked at the clock, Keegan noticed she had better hurry up
unless she wanted to be late again. At least she had her Jeep now
so she could speed if needed. Of course, she couldn't find her
sweater. She misplaced at least one piece of her school uniform
every day.

"Mom, where is my sweater?" Keegan yelled
out her bedroom door, tearing through the pile of clothes in her
desk chair.

"Did you look in your closet?" her mother
called back, her voice thin and reedy from down the hall.

"Ugh, of course I did!"

Her mom’s footsteps sounded down the hall
and she walked in, moved a couple of things around, and pulled the
sweater off the back of the chair.

"I looked there."

Emerald raised an eyebrow and replied,
"Obviously."

Keegan rushed out of the house a few minutes
later. She still had enough time to make it to school before the
bell rang. She wanted to get there a little early to see
Donald.

She pulled into the lot of school after
breaking several speed limits to get there and went inside. As she
was walking down the hall, one of the teachers yelled out, "Keegan,
your sweater is inside out."

Keegan looked down and saw the little tag
hanging from the inside seam at her waist. She shrugged and waved
to the teacher who grinned back at her. "Thanks," she said.

She scanned the halls and didn't see Donald
anywhere.
Where is
he?
Spencer and Sam were deep in conversation, so she didn't
want to bother them to ask.

Lauren and Anna were at her locker when she
got there. "Hey guys."

"Keegan, your hair is a mess. Get over here
so I can fix it," Lauren said with a puzzled look.

Keegan ran her hand over her hair and
realized she hadn't even brushed it. It was official; she was going
mad.

"Just put this clip in and it will be fine."
Anna reached into her big purse and pulled out a clip with a huge
blue flower on it and passed it to Lauren.

"Let's hope there are no bees in here ‘cause
I will surely be attacked," Keegan joked.

"You are just so funny, Keegan.” Lauren
rolled her eyes and adjusted the clip in Keegan’s hair. “You'll
see. It looks really cute."

“If you say so.”

"Voila!" Lauren moved her hands like Keegan
was a piece of art on display.

Keegan glanced in her locker mirror and
turned her head from side to side. "It is cute."

The warning bell rang. Keegan waved to her
friends and they all ran off in separate directions to their
classrooms.

She was bummed she didn’t get to see
Donald.

The morning seemed to drag on. Donald was
nowhere to be found between classes and she started to wonder if he
was avoiding her. It didn’t make any sense, though, because she
hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe he was sick? Hopefully she would
find out at lunch.

She was relieved to see a flash of orange
hair when she entered the cafeteria. Her pulse quickened as he
walked toward her.

“Hey Keegan, nice flower.”

She self-consciously touched her hair.
“Thanks, I think. I thought you might be sick or something. I
haven’t seen you all morning.”

“Nah, I just woke up late. Let’s go grab
something to eat.”

“Umm, sure.” He had never asked her to eat
lunch with him before. She wanted to run over and tell Anna and
Lauren, but that would be silly. They would figure out it out on
their own.

Keegan grabbed a hamburger, fries and some
chocolate milk. She hesitated and then grabbed a slice of cake.

“You eat a lot for a girl.”

“I hear that all the time. One of the perks
of having pointy ears is I have a high metabolism.”

“Yeah, same for me. No matter how much I eat
I can’t seem to keep on any real weight.”

She looked him up and down. “You look fine
to me.”

“Well, thank you.” His face was bright red;
it made his blue eyes look even brighter.

Keegan had an odd urge to reach up and kiss
him.
Sure, great
idea in the middle of the cafeteria.

“Are we going to sit with the guys?”

“Nope, I want you all to myself today. If
that’s okay with you?”

“Of course it is.” Keegan smiled up at
him.

Keegan couldn’t believe this was happening.
After all this time, Donald was into her.

She tripped and started to fall and her tray
flew through the air. Luckily, she caught herself on the way down
on the corner of a nearby table.
What the heck! What did I trip over?
Well,
if people hadn’t noticed them together before, they did now. The
kids at the tables around them snickered while Keegan tried to
clean up the mess.

“Keegan, it’s no big deal. I’ll go grab you
another tray of food.” Donald set his tray on the table. “You look
super cute when you’re clumsy.” He winked at her and walked
off.

Keegan smiled as she picked up the
splattered cake. Donald seemed to have a knack at defusing
situations. He came back with a tray that had twice as much food as
the last. “We can’t have you hungry with the big chemistry test at
the end of the day.”

“Thanks.” Keegan looked around to see if
anyone was staring at her. Everyone had gone back to eating and
chatting, oblivious to the two of them.

“Are you ready for the test?” He asked her
as they took seats across from each other at an empty table.