Tainted Love

Chapter 1

Hello, my name is Cara Johnson, and I have experienced many things in my short life. It all started when I was little, when I played in my front yard to get away from my parents because they were arguing loudly, and two men kidnapped me. My parents didn't hear me scream because they were still arguing. My brother Marco realized something had happened when he came home from a friend's house. I was in a cold warehouse for eighty hours before the police found me, but not before the two guys got away. My parents never get along, even after everything, and won't divorce because they do not believe in it, but it is my life. My older brother, Marco Johnson, has been my rock for as long as I can remember. Even when I returned home from being kidnapped, he was the one to comfort me and feel safe again. When things got bad between our parents, he could take me with him to friends' houses and even out to the park or movies. Dylan Millar is someone I met playing basketball, but turned out to be a good friend of my brother, whom I had never met until now. Dylan and I have always played cat and dog with one another, but we never dated. He can be a jerk most times, which is probably why, but he texted me wanting to hang out, but I started dating a guy just a month ago that I met through a close friend named Ana, and his name is Reggie.

He was 5'6" and had short brown hair with dark brown eyes. His body is fit like a runner with toned muscles. Reggie was up there and racing cars at his uncle's track. We hung out a lot that summer, went swimming, took long drives, and even walked around town late at night. Things happened pretty quickly for us; we dated, and then we became boyfriend and girlfriend within two weeks of hanging out. Everything was perfect, and he seemed perfect. My parents loved him. They loved his ambition for racing and how he knew what he wanted in the future. He wanted it first; he had it all planned out. One of the things that I loved that he did was that he would show up randomly to surprise me; it wouldn't matter where I was. Then one day, he came over to take me back to the river where we spent the past month swimming. It was such a beautiful place with many trees and an excellent wide river with a big rock that we could jump off into the river.

While swimming around and enjoying the summer air, he decided to grab me by my hips. He said, "Cara, I know we have only been dating for a month now, and college will be starting soon for you, and I will most likely have to go back home, where I plan on getting my business license and getting everything rolling, which you already know. "But before you left for college, I want to tell you something." He paused for a minute, stared at me, and then said, "I love you." I was speechless, I felt utterly lightheaded, and my stomach turned like I would throw up. It all came out as a surprise, but then I realized his expression was getting and like I broke his heart for not reacting or saying those three words back.

So I decided to gather all my nerves together and contain them to reply with, "I'm sorry that took me by surprise, but I love you too." His expression flipped before I knew it; he looked beyond happy, yet his cheeks were red, and I was so pleased I felt the same way.

"Really?" he said almost hesitantly.

"Yes, I love you, Reggie." I stood again with a big smile on my face. Without even blinking, he grabbed me tighter on my hips and pulled me into him to kiss me. We then went on with it, enjoying the rest of the day on the river. When driving home, we try to plan to visit each other at least once a month at school, since we would only be 300 miles away from each other. He plans to head back to Barton to get his business license and open a construction company down there. Then, when making enough money, he goes back to another branch of his construction company up here, then takes over the family racetrack. But free, I was different. I got a scholarship for basketball at college, but as my current major, my parents want me to become a psychologist or something in the medical field. I don't know if I want to do that; I am not passionate about it.

"Are you okay?" Reggie asked while reaching for my leg to grab my attention.

"Yes, sorry I was spacing out. I responded, well, rubbing my eyes, I was getting drained. I can't believe I am leaving for school in 2 weeks."

"I know, but we will make the best out of these two weeks. "I promise," Reggie said, smiling like he had no worries in the world about our relationship with the college and his work. We pulled up to my parents' house; he then kissed me on my forehead and said, "Don't forget Anna wants us at the park at 11:00, so you should go to bed soon. I love you. "

I smiled back at him. "I love you, too." I exited his car; he pulled away from my house and waved goodbye. I then walked into my house, and my mother bombarded me. Her name was Leah Johnson, and I was short like her, but she had beautiful, long blonde hair. She was highly skinny, though, to where I was a little thicker, but that is because I had a solid round butt and a size B cup for my boobs. My mother had a tiny butt with a size A cup for her boobs.

"Sweetie, were you with Reggie?" My mom asked.

"Yes, mom. Why?" I asked.

"Okay, good. "I was making sure you weren't with that girl," Mom said sarcastically.

"Do you mean Emily?" -Cara-

"Yes, her." -Mom-

"Why, mom? She is nice and not like she is a partier."-Cara-

"Because she is always trying to distract you from college and everything else." -Mom-

I rolled my eyes at my mother. Emily never distracted me from anything; the only thing she ever did was help me figure out what I wanted to do at college, which pretty much tells me that I needed to start following my dreams and not my parents.

"Goodnight, mom," I said while walking away to go to my room. Once I got to my room, I gathered my pajamas to take a shower. But before heading out the door to the bathroom, my phone dinged, so I walked over to my nightstand and grabbed it. To my surprise, it was a text from Dylan. I hadn't heard from him in a couple of weeks, but his and my relationship was kind of complicated.

- Hey, Cara. Are you going to be in the park tomorrow for the concert? - Dylan

I texted back with:

- Yes. Did Anna ask you to come join us? – Cara

All right then, so I set my phone down on my nightstand and then jumped in the shower to wash off the river water. When I got back to my room, I noticed I had a few more messages, but before looking at my phone, I got into my pajamas—one from Dylan, the other from Ana, and three more from Reggie.

-Yes, I hope to see you there. - Dylan

-Hey girl, don't forget about tomorrow. I hope Reggie isn't distracting you too much, lol. - Ana

-Hey, baby- Reggie

- I miss you already. - Reggie

-. I hope you are sleeping. I love you. - Reggie

I then decided to text Reggie first.

-Sorry I was in the shower, but in bed now.

I never got through my phone to the following message to Ana.

- I won't get a girl goodnight -

Then I debated texting Dylan back because there was no need, but he always understood me. I laid my phone in my chest, waiting for Reggie's response, but then I thought back to Dylan about how we always had a thing for each other, but nothing ever happened. First, his best friend realized I had a massive crush on Dylan, but blocked him from getting with me when we first met by telling me that Dylan couldn't stand me but felt pity for me. Oddly, I ended up going with his friend, but he was a complete douche bag, so I broke up with him fairly quickly. But when I became single, Dylan then dated his girlfriend whom he is still with, but it was a weird relationship. I mean, I barely ever see them together; she also hates my guts, but I honestly didn't blame her. Dylan had a habit of making me a priority no matter what, which made me feel wrong about how it made his girlfriend feel. I told Dylan to be with her all the time, but he was stubborn. Dylan said we would always be best friends, no matter what. There was something about him that I couldn't shake; he had ragged brown hair with gorgeous green and brown eyes. Dylan's body had the perfect tan skin with just the right muscles like a football player, but he played basketball like me, where he and I met.

'Ding'

-Good, get some rest, baby. I love you.-Reggie

-Night. Luv u- Cara.

I then place my phone back on the charger. When I rolled over, I closed my eyes, but my mind was moving at 100 miles an hour. Thinking of Dylan again, I know I'm with Reggie, but Dylan and I have a lot of history. I had resentment. It just never worked out for us; I mean, I've dated other guys, but nothing serious. I honestly have a hard time with guys who feel comfortable around me. Honestly, Reggie is perfect for me; my parents love him, and he has ambition for his future and cares for me. Now, Dylan, I didn't know my parents couldn't stand him. He is known for fighting all over this town; everyone knew it was never a secret. He fought guys in school and even guys in the street, and even older people. I felt tired, so I rolled over and closed my eyes, and I finally decided to fall asleep.