... not in love with Kale Eddison (14 page)

“Oh, um since
about 9.30 last night,” he smiled sheepishly at her.

Izzie took
another sip of water; her throat was really killing her now so at
least she wouldn’t have to ham it up, “God, you should really go
home and sleep. My throat’s feeling quite sore again, so I’ll not
be much company.”

Kale stifled a
yawn; he was pretty beat and Izzie looked wrecked too, “Ok, I’ll
call you later or something. I’m just glad you’re all right.” He
got up, stretched and gave Izzie’s hand a friendly pat and
left.

Izzie breathed
a sigh of relief; at least she wouldn’t have to explain anything to
her parents now. She yawned and tried to sleep again – but as
sleepy as she felt, she found she couldn’t drift off; every time
she closed her eyes, all she could see was the look on Kale’s face
when she said that they should be friends; it wasn’t his strained
smile that worried her, it was the look in his eyes; it was one of
intense hurt … and the thing that bothered her most; she was pretty
sure that if Kale had looked at her own eyes hard enough, he
would’ve seen right through her little act …

Izzie woke up
later on to find her parents and grandmother in her room. Her
mother smiled at her when she saw that Izzie was awake.

“Hey honey, how
you feeling now?” Her mother felt Izzie’s forehead and looked at
her worriedly.

Izzie tried to
brush her mother off, “I’m fine,” she protested croakily, “I’m
actually feeling a lot better.”

Her grandmother
smiled at her in a knowing way and then frowned at her
daughter-in-law. “Would you leave the girl alone … she’s looking a
hundred times better than the last time I saw her. Now, could you
be a dear and go grab me a cup of coffee from the canteen?”

Izzie’s mother
looked slightly taken aback but left the room regardless. Izzie
watched her Gran smile craftily, “Oh and Isaac … go get some
breakfast.” She eyed her son sternly.

Izzie bit back
a laugh as her father rolled his eyes, “Mum, if you want to be
alone with your granddaughter, just say.” He shook his head and
left the room too.

“Now,” Izzie
watched her Gran smile broadly, “are you going to explain to me why
Kale Eddison was calling by the house looking you yesterday evening
or am I going to have to make you tell me?”

Izzie looked
uncomfortable, “Nothing’s going on Gran, your mind can stop going
into overdrive right now.”

Her grandmother
frowned, “Isobel Charlotte Frank, don’t you lie to your
grandmother; it’s bad for my health.”

Izzie rolled
her eyes, “Way to be melodramatic Gran and don’t middle name me …
it’s not going to squeeze info out of me!”

Her grandmother
did not look amused, “Isobel, you can tell me … be thankful that
your mother was still here with your father yesterday when Kale
called otherwise she’d be ten times worse at trying to get
information out of you.”

Izzie couldn’t
deny that that was true, “Fine Gran, what do you wanna know?” She
knew her grandmother wouldn’t give up easily.

Her grandmother
gave her a satisfied smile, “Ok, why was he quite distraught
looking when I told him where you were? He looked very concerned
when I told him you had collapsed and he seemed to be under the
impression that it was his fault.”

Izzie sighed,
“Well, we met up on Saturday, we got caught in that heavy fall of
rain … that’s probably why he thinks it’s his fault that I’m sick.
As for him looking distraught, I have no idea.” Not strictly true
but her grandmother didn’t need to know it was probably because he
was feeling guilty about the way they had left things on
Saturday.

Her grandmother
raised an eyebrow, “Uh-huh, I believe you though thousands
wouldn’t.” She eyed Izzie sceptically and waited for Izzie to say
something more.

“What?” Izzie
asked, trying to act innocent. “I’m telling you the truth so don’t
give me that look.”

“What look?”
her grandmother shot back, “Two can play at this game you know.
There’s something going on; he came by to see you for pity sake.
Just ‘cause I’m old, it doesn’t mean I’m a fool.”

Izzie gasped,
“Who told you?” She thought that Kale had sworn the nursing staff
to secrecy about his little late night visit.

Her grandmother
perked up instantly, “What do you mean? I told you that he came by
the house … wait, what do
you
mean?” Izzie watched as her
grandmother looked excited.

Izzie slapped a
hand to her forehead, “Oh man, I thought … never mind, it’s not
important, forget I said anything.”

“Whoa, wait a
minute,” Izzie watched as comprehension slowed dawned on her
grandmother’s face, “Kale came by here, didn’t he? When? Was it
last night? Well, what happened?”

Izzie sighed,
knowing her grandmother was not likely to give up on her mission to
find out the gossip. “Ok, yeah, he came by last night. He bribed a
nurse so he could stay all night.”

Her grandmother
gasped, “Oh my, isn’t that so sweet? Well, what happened? Did you
talk?”

Izzie lowered
her voice incase somebody came in unexpectedly. “I woke up to find
him here; he near gave me heart failure in the process. Anyway, he
asked how I was and wanted to stay all day but I told him to go and
get some rest.”

Her grandmother
looked satisfied at this, “So, is he coming back again?”

Izzie sighed,
“Gran, why are you so interested in all of this? It’s not like
we’re dating; we’re friends – quite grudgingly on my part – but
friends nonetheless and that is it.”

Her grandmother
nodded, “Keep telling yourself that but you didn’t see him
yesterday. He looked like he wanted to be more than just your
friend … and keeping a bedside vigil? Well that definitely screams
more than friends.”

Izzie sighed,
“Gran, you just want to see something that isn’t there. I’m afraid
to burst your bubble but he definitely knows that I don’t want to
be anything more than friends.”

“Are you sure
about that?” Izzie saw her grandmother scrutinise her
expression.

“Yes,” Izzie
told her grandmother with as much conviction as she could muster
but she knew, deep down, she thought she felt something more for
Kale but she still didn’t understand why.

“Hm,” her
grandmother said knowingly, “I think you protest too much. Are you
sure you’re not in love with him? It’s not a bad thing if you are,
you know. These things happen so fast and unexpectedly; I knew
within the first week of knowing your grandfather that I’d marry
him. When you know, you know … you can’t help who you fall in love
with … even if they are a famous film star.”

Izzie tried not
to answer too quickly since it would only give her grandmother more
ammunition to support her theory, “Gran, I can honestly tell you …
I am not in love with Kale Eddison.”

Chapter
Eleven

Izzie was glad
to be able to leave the hospital on Thursday; she was sick of
sitting around but Dr Albright was adamant that she wasn’t to be
discharged until her temperature returned to normal. Izzie happily
let her parents fuss over her when they finally arrived home; she
was just relieved to be home again. However, as soon as her parents
were satisfied that she was alright, she gratefully found solitude
in her bedroom. Izzie rummaged about for her school bag; once she
had extracted it from under her bed, she dug out her iPod and
flopped onto her bed. She tried to concentrate on the lyrics to the
songs but found her thoughts drifted elsewhere … somewhere where
they shouldn’t be! Izzie just couldn’t stop thinking about what her
Gran had said at the hospital and now all she could think about was
Kale and if she felt
that
way about him. She really didn’t
know, she really despised him at times but at the same time, he
could be really sweet. Izzie sighed; frustrated with her train of
thought, she got up, keeping her headphones in and made her way
over to her desk and turned on her laptop. When her homepage had
popped up, she decided to check her emails and found one from Kale
that had been sent earlier today.

From: Kale
Eddison

Subject: The
Halloween Dance

To: “Izzie
Frank”

Date: Thursday,
28 October 2010, 08.34

‘Izzie,

Once again, I
am sorry about everything, anyway, I heard you were getting home
today and I just wanted to talk to you about the Dance on Saturday;
I didn’t want to text or phone you because I’m sure you still feel
quite weak and want to rest. Anyway, since I haven’t really seen
you from Monday, I thought I’d send you a quick email to check if
you are still up for going to the Dance. I totally understand if
you don’t want to go but I rather hoped you’d still be able to make
it. Please don’t leave to attend my first High School Dance alone;
I really don’t think I could handle trying to avoid certain people
all night! I know I’m being totally selfish but if you still agree
to it … I will be the happiest guy alive. Anyway, text or email to
let me know … it doesn’t matter what time.

Speak soon
hopefully,

Kale

P.S. Hope you
are feeling better and have forgotten my idiotic rambling at the
hospital!’

Izzie chuckled
to herself; he really didn’t want to go to this dance alone; it was
evident that he was way past desperation now. Izzie shook her head
to herself and sent him a text message; knowing that he would most
likely want to know right away.

‘Got email,
will go but u owe me. Iz’

A few seconds
later and her phone bleeped, ‘Thanks, c u tomorrow. K’

Izzie smiled in
spite of herself and continued to check her emails and found one
from Maddie; this was a bit of a shock since Izzie hadn’t spoken to
her in a while. Nevertheless, Izzie clicked it open.

From: Maddie
Herring

Subject:
Sorry

To: “Izzie
Frank”

Date:
Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 15.04

‘Hey Iz,

I heard about
you being sick. Sorry I haven’t visited … or even spoke to you in a
while. I was acting childish, so can we just forget all the crap
that happened? I also wanted to warn you that Jake is dating Stacey
now … sorry if you’re gutted. Anyway, can we be friends again?

Talk to you
later,

Mads’

Izzie felt very
suspicious of Maddie’s email; there was just something she couldn’t
put her finger on. It seemed very convenient that she wanted to be
friends again after Tuesday’s article in the paper. Izzie had been
shocked to see that she had made a headline once again. Kale had
called her to the hospital to apologise; he was mad he couldn’t do
it in person but he couldn’t leave his house as the reporters had
set up camp outside it. He was furious that his visit to Izzie had
been leaked and he was still trying to uncover who had squealed but
Izzie wasn’t too mad this time; the hospital had managed to keep
reporters from invading and at least the paper had the decency not
to paint her as too much of a villain this time:

‘‘
Kale’s
Bedside Vigil’

Kale Eddison
fans … it is with great pleasure that our reporter can disclose
more juicy gossip regarding our favourite Hollywood Golden Boy. We
can exclusively reveal that Kale has been exposed as a real
sweetheart! Our insider recently uncovered some vital information
that paints our Golden Boy as The Perfect Male. Mushy romantics out
there; this information is especially for you.

As our readers
know, our reporter was the first to publicly reveal that our Kale
was smitten with a local girl, Izzie Frank. Now, we have the great
pleasure in informing you – our readers – that one Mr Kale Eddison
paid a secret, late-night visit to his sweetie pie at the local
hospital. Our reporter uncovered this juicy gossip when contacted
by our source.

We were
informed that Kale had bribed a nurse to let him in – past visiting
hours! – so that he could keep a bedside vigil with Ms Frank. After
further prying, we managed to discover that Ms Frank was suffering,
from what was believed to be, “a nasty case of tonsillitis”. Now,
all of us know that we feel lousy when we’re sick but we certainly
aren’t that lucky to have Kale Eddison staying the night with us!
Our source also reported that Mr Eddison went to great lengths to
avoid any photographers; he was overheard on the phone to his
assistant, telling her that he wanted to “keep the press out of
it”. Naturally, our Golden Boy has underestimated us once again and
it is with relish, that we can bring you this report. Our insider
also revealed that, despite Kale staying the night, he left rather
early the following morning; making one wonder why … Did our Golden
Boy get scolded by the nursing staff? Or perhaps, was it because Ms
Frank forced him to leave when she awoke to find him there instead
of her other boy toy; Jake Greenberg? We can only guess at this
point but surely, the question on everyone’s lips is; “Can Kale
Eddison possibly get any cuter?”’

Izzie had given
Kale a break when the article had surfaced, after all, he had tried
his best to keep it a secret; he hadn’t known somebody would blab.
Anyway, Izzie was still suspicious of Maddie’s motive; she had been
wary to trust her after the first article had appeared. To receive
this email now, well Izzie was even more wary; she was strongly
beginning to suspect that Maddie had been the ‘
close, personal
friend
’ mentioned in the first article. Izzie knew Maddie was
envious of her friendship with Kale and Maddie could be devious
enough when she wanted to be. Izzie didn’t know what to do; she
read the email again and actually laughed out loud; Maddie had even
the nerve to bring up Jake again! Izzie definitely knew something
was up; Maddie had always been the first one to tell Izzie to stop
lusting after Jake but then when Kale came along – BAM! – Maddie
was all gung-ho for Izzie chasing Jake, leaving Maddie free to go
after Kale; how pathetic. Izzie shook her head; she was well and
truly over Jake and really couldn’t care less who he was
dating.