It's So Obvious (The Kihanna Saga) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Author's Note

  Sunday, April 1

  Monday, April 2

  Friday, April 6

  Saturday, April 7

  Sunday, April 8

  Monday, April 9

  Tuesday, April 10

  Wednesday, April 11

  Thursday, April 12

  Friday, April 13

  Saturday, April 14

  Sunday, April 15

  Monday, April 16

  Tuesday, April 17

  Wednesday, April 18

  Friday, April 20

  Author's Note

  Other books by Mercy Amare

  Acknowledgments

  Find me online

  Mercy Amare

  It’s So Obvious

  The Kihanna saga.

  Book four.

  Copyright © 2014 by Mercy Amare

  Cover designed by PS Cover Design

  Edited by Laura Heritage

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, store in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any forms or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a review who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  If you are reading this book and you have not purchased or won it in an author/ published contest, this book has been pirated. Please delete and support the author by purchasing the ebook from one of its many distributors.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, place, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Here’s to making your own destiny.

  It’s So Obviousis book 4 in The Kihanna Saga. If you have not read the first book (The Fab Life), the second book (I Hate Goodbye), and the third book (Stranded in Paradise) you probably will NOT understand what is going on. Be sure to pick up the first books before reading It’s So Obvious!

  Sunday, April 1

  10am

  Three little words.

  It has been three months since I’ve heard from my stalker.

  Three months since Olivia’s boyfriend, Keith, died.

  Three months since my family was torn apart.

  I am waiting anxiously. I know that the stalker hasn’t given up. But at the same time, I’m relieved that they have decided to leave me alone for the time being. Really, what else can they take away? They took away my stepmom, Veronica. I have seen her three times since she moved out. So much for us “still being a family”. They took away Toby. The only time I see him now is at school, and occasionally when he comes to visit. I see my dad once a week for Sunday brunch. That’s it. Other than that, he’s always working.

  I hardly even talk to my friends anymore. Courtney, Ariana, and Victoria are just the people I say “hi” to in passing when I see them in the hallway at school. Gabe hasn’t talked to me since December, and Ty Newman pretty much pretends like we’ve never broken up. I’m not sure which is more annoying..

  I have made new friends. Olivia has turned out to be the best friend I’ve ever had. I hang out with her at school. I have to admit, I like hanging out with her. She makes me feel normal.

  Brian is still my boyfriend. Things with him are good. Except we haven’t had sex yet. We’ve been dating just over three months, and we’ve hardly done anything past kissing. I wanted to go slow with him, but this is beyond slow. I’m ready to take the next step with him in our relationship.

  We also haven’t said those three little words — I love you. I’m not ready to say them yet. With my last two relationships, I said it way too soon and both relationships ended tragically. So, I’m not going there. Not until I’m one hundred percent certain. Not that I’m uncertain about Brian. He’s the most constant person in my life. He’s always there for me. Even though he has a job, and he’s a junior in college, he always makes time to see me every day. Even if it is just for a few minutes.

  Today is family brunch. It now consists of Dad, Brian, and me. Toby comes every couple weeks, but he’s not coming this week.

  When Brian and I get to the country club, we walk back to the same table in the back that we always sit at every week. Brunch used to be loud and crazy. Now it’s quiet and awkward. My family was torn apart by an anonymous bully. A bully that the cops still aren’t able to find.

  “Hey, Dad,” I say, sitting down on the opposite side of him. Brian sits beside me.

  “Hey,” he says back to Brian and me. Over the past few months, Dad has gotten used to Brian. He still doesn’t like the fact that he’s three years older than me, but I think he’s finally decided that Brian isn’t going anywhere. In his own weird way, I think he likes him. He knows that Brian is here for me when he can’t be, and he knows that Brian is a good guy.

  “So, how was your week?” I ask him, just as the food is set in front of us. They know exactly what we order here, because we order the same thing every week.

  “Good,” he answers. “I went with Veronica to the doctor on Wednesday and we found out the sex of the baby.”

  “You found out on Wednesday, and you’re just now telling me?” I’m hurt. I have seen Toby at school. He could’ve told me. Or Veronica could have texted me. Somebody should have told me before now.

  “Well, actually Veronica wanted to be the one to tell you.” I look to see that there were two extra plates set on the table.

  “Oh my God. Veronica and Toby are coming here?”

  “Yeah.” Just as he says it, I see Toby and Veronica walking toward our table. Toby takes the seat on the other side of me, and Veronica sits by Dad. It’s weird to see them in the same room, let alone beside each other. Talk about awkward.

  “Did you know about this?” I ask Toby.

  “Nope,” he answers. “This was a complete surprise.”

  “As you know, we’ve been going to therapy every week,” Veronica says. “And while we aren’t ready to move back in with each other, we have decided that we should start doing family brunch together again. Soon there will be another person in our family to consider.”

  “So, is it a girl or a boy?” Toby asks.

  “It’s a girl,” Veronica answers.

  Oh my God. I’m going to have a little sister! I get up from my spot and hug Toby, Dad, and then Veronica. Veronica is still pretty small, but her baby bump is starting to show. She’s definitely bigger than the last time I saw her.

  Brian grabs my hand as I sit back down. I know he’s excited for me. Veronica sees us and smiles at me.

  “Have you picked out any names for the baby?” I ask her.

  “Not yet. I think that is something that Mark and I will probably discuss soon,” she answers. “Now that we know she’s a girl, it’s time to start deciding.”

  “She’s going to be the luckiest girl in the world,” Toby says.

  She will have everything she ever wants and more. The only thing more I could want for her is for our family to be whole. No more awkward family brunches, and no more fights. Just happiness and love. Not just for her, but for Toby and me too.

  “Kihanna, I was actually hoping that I could talk to you,” Veronica says. “I don’t know if you’d be interested, but I’d really like for you to be in the delivery room when she’s born. You’re her big sister, and it would mean a lot to me if you’d be there.”

  The thought of being in the room with her while she has the baby is both frightening and
exciting. I’m not sure if I want to watch Veronica in pain like that, but seeing my sister born would mean the world to me. How could I pass up this opportunity?

  “I would love to,” I tell her. “Thank you.”

  She smiles, and I can tell she’s super thrilled I accepted.

  My family isn’t perfect. In fact, we are far from it. But I can’t help but be excited about the changes that are taking place. Once a week family brunch. It’s a great start. I’m just glad that I’m not going to be excluded from my baby sister’s life.

  1pm

  I love this family.

  After family brunch, we go to Brian’s mom’s house. We usually go there every Sunday to hang out, and usually eat dinner with them. They’re the family I never had, and I love them. I can tell that Susan really likes me too.

  Olivia greets us at the door. She has become my best girl friend. I thought what happened on New Year’s Day would make her hate me, but if anything it has brought her closer to me. I get the feeling that there is something she’s not telling me about that night, but I don’t push it. It’s still painful for her to talk about. Keith and her dated for over a year before he died.

  I talk with Olivia for a bit while Brian goes to say hi to his mom.

  “I found out that I’m having a little sister,” I tell her excitingly.

  “Wow. When is Veronica due?”

  “August fifteenth, I believe.”

  “That’s my birthday,” Olivia says.

  I look at her for a minute. “Wait. You’re seventeen right?”

  She nods.

  “So you are going to graduate high school at age seventeen. How did that happen?”

  “It’s just what happens when you have a summer birthday,” she says. “When is your birthday? Isn’t it this month?”

  “April seventeenth,” I tell her.

  I will finally be eighteen years old, though it doesn’t really matter much to me. I have all the freedom that I want already. The only difference is that I will be a legal adult.

  “That’s awesome. I can’t believe Brian just turned twenty-one,” she says. “Maybe sometime we can convince him to buy us alcohol.”

  I laugh at Olivia, but I think it’s so weird. My boyfriend is old enough to buy alcohol, and I’m still in high school. I usually don’t think about our age differences, but when it’s pointed out I always wonder what Brian sees in me.

  A few seconds later, Susan comes into the living room and gives me a big hug. She’s excited to see me, as always.

  Once Brandon and Miranda arrive the noise and chaos begins. I can’t help but smile at the noise.

  I love this family.

  9pm

  Not breaking up.

  After we hang out with Brian’s family for a few hours, we go to his apartment to hang out. I don’t like my house anymore. It holds too many bad memories. Memories of the family that I once had. Memories of death. Sometimes at night, I feel scared… like somebody is watching me. I try to tell myself that there is nobody, but the truth is — there might be somebody. Just because I haven’t heard from my stalker in three months doesn’t mean they’re gone. Maybe they want me to feel a false sense of security. Maybe they want me to let my guard down. Maybe that is when they will come after me.

  Brian’s apartment feels like home. It feels safe. I feel happy here.

  “I wish I could just stay here with you forever.” I lay my head on Brian’s chest as we watch TV. We are currently on the sixth season of Lost. This show is so weird, but since we’ve come this far I have to find out how the story ends. They’ve already been rescued, what else can happen? Maybe everybody dies on the island. Yeah, that would piss me off. I want a happy ending.

  Some people hate happy endings because life doesn’t always have a happy ending. But I prefer fiction. I like reading happy endings. Life is depressing enough without being depressed over the death of a fictional character.

  “I wish you could too,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “But I don’t think your dad would be too happy with that.”

  I snort. “Like he’d notice. As long as we show up for brunch once a week, he wouldn’t know the difference.”

  “Well, maybe I don’t want to just live with you.”

  I sit up. “You don’t want to live with me?”

  “I said just.”

  “Yeah, cause that totally clears things up.”

  “I just… respect you. I don’t want to take things too far too quick. And when I do live with you, I want it to be as husband and wife.”

  I gasp. “Wife?”

  “You know that is what dating eventually leads to, right? Marriage.”

  “Yeah, but you haven’t even told me you love me yet,” I say. “We’ve never had sex. I feel like talking about marriage is kind of a taboo conversation at this point in our relationship. We’ve been together three months. Besides that, you’re only twenty-one and I’m seventeen.”

  “You’ll be eighteen in a few days.”

  Sixteen days, to be exact. “Still, eighteen is a bit young to think about marriage.”

  “I suppose,” Brian says. “But I’m not going to live with a girl until I’m married to her, because if I love a girl enough to live with her then I will love her enough to marry her.”

  “But the point of living with somebody is getting to know them. What if you got married and found out that the person drives you completely crazy?”

  “I think we’ve spend enough time with each other to know if we drive each other crazy,” he says. “You do practically live here.”

  He’s right — I spend every moment here that I’m not at school, and I often sleep on his bed while he sleeps on the couch. Half of the clothes in his closet are mine, and I have everything that I need here. But still, we have never talked about marriage before. The thought kind of scares me, truthfully. I am still worried that whoever is out there will come after Brian. I couldn’t live with that.

  I take a self-defense class once a week, and I go to the gym five days a week. I own a gun, and I go to the shooting range once a month. I won’t be caught off-guard by this person, and I won’t let anything happen to Brian or my family.

  Olivia has been coming with me. I know it makes her feel safer when she goes. I think our sessions are what keeps her going — especially after New Year’s. It has been as hard on her as it has been on me. We don’t talk a lot about it, but just having her there makes me feel better.

  “Do you think you’ll get tired of me?” I ask him.

  “Well, you haven’t driven me crazy yet,” he says, jokingly. “I don’t think I could ever get tired of you. Plus, my family adores you. If anything ever happened and we broke up, my family would be pissed.”

  “Yeah, if you broke up with me, I’d still have to go see your family.” It’s the truth. Olivia is my best friend, and nothing will change that.

  “Good thing I’m not breaking up with you.”

  “I’m glad you’re not. Because I kind of like you. A lot.”

  Brian turns off the TV, and then turns to me. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

  I pretend to think. “Oh, just every single day for the past three months.”

  “I don’t want you to forget it,” he says. “Because I don’t. And I will never forget how lucky I am to have you in my life.”

  “You lucky? Puh-lease. I’m definitely the lucky one.”

  “Maybe we’re both lucky. Because I’m pretty sure that what we have is a once in a lifetime kind of feeling. In fact, most people spend their whole life searching for what we have.”

  “I’m glad that we found each other,” I tell him. “I fully plan on enjoying every second I have with you.”

  “Me too.”

  Brian kisses me. But as always, he’s in control. He never lets things get carried away. He never tries to push things any further than kissing. And I’m glad he respects me, but I kind of wish he would let things go further than kissing. I want more.


  Hopefully someday, he will want the same.

  Monday, April 2

  8am

  Ty Newman sucks.

  Homeroom is my least favorite class of the day, because every time I am in here, I think about Jacqueline Hoff. She died because of me. And being in the room they found her body really brings up memories I’m not ready to face.

  They did change the desk. The police took the one Jacqueline’s body was in for evidence. Too bad they didn’t need the whole room.

  Kasbian takes a seat beside me, but he doesn’t say anything. We haven’t talked since the day we found Jacqueline’s body. I am okay with that, because I don’t think I want a guy like Kasbian as a friend. He’s too hot and cold for me. I don’t want a yo-yo friendship.

  After homeroom, I head to my next class. In the hallway, I see Gabe. He looks at me for half a second before looking the other way. I can still see the hurt in his eyes. It’s still as clear as it was the day at my house when he confronted me about Brian. No matter how guilty I feel for hurting him, I can’t regret my decision to end things with him. Gabe and I weren’t meant to be. Someday he will realize that. Maybe then, we will be friends.

  “Hey, Kihanna,” I hear Ty. He puts his arm around me, and I take my hand and push his arm off me.

  “What do you want, Ty?” I ask him, annoyed. Ty is a very persistent guy. He hasn’t given up hope that he and I will someday be together.

  “Can I not say hi to my girlfriend?”

  I roll my eyes. “You and I haven’t been together in five months. You can say hi to me, but only as a friend. But here’s an idea — why don’t you get a new girlfriend and bug her instead?”

  “I don’t want anybody else. I want you.”

  “Lucky me,” I say sarcastically.

  “There is nothing stopping you now. Gabe and you broke up months ago. You’ve had plenty of time to get over him.”