A Chance at Love by T. K. Chapin

reason he was with me was because he thought I’d be easy!” She dropped her face back into the pillows and began sobbing again.
    My heart broke for my sister, and I came over to the edge of the bed and sat beside her. Placing my hand on her shoulder as she lay on the bed, I said, “I’m glad you did the right thing.”
    She started crying harder and then lifted her face without looking at me and said, “But I didn’t.” Then she let out another wail, diving straight back into the pillows.
    My blood felt as if it were gasoline and someone had just tossed a match on it. This guy took my sister’s innocence and then tossed her out like fast food. I stayed silent to collect myself before speaking. “I don’t understand why he left you if you . . .”
    She sat up. “I told him it was a mistake and I didn’t want to do it again.”
    Rubbing my temples in anguish as I leaned over the bed, I shook my head in confusion and said, “You weren’t going to do this, Joanie. You just told me that the other day.”
    “I just got caught up in the moment and—”
    “I don’t want to talk about it. Please, stop. You’re my sister. It’s already strange enough that we are close as we are.” I stood up and raised my hand to my forehead as I paced her room. “I’m going to kill him. That’s all there is to it, Joanie!”
    A smile broke from Joanie’s face. “You’re not going to kill him, Kyle. You, the one who loves puppies and the smells of Bath and Body Works in the mall? You couldn’t even hurt a fly if you wanted to.”
    “Hey! Those things don’t matter,” I said, stopping and looking at her with all seriousness as I could feel my adrenaline pumping through me.
    “Okay. Whatever. You’re not going to do anything to him. It’s sweet, but it’s not happening.”
    Taking a moment to breathe, I realized she was right. I wasn’t. Walking over to the bed, I sat down beside her and sighed. “It just sucks.”
    “Yeah . . . hey. You got home awfully late from seeing Emily. How’d that go?”
    I pressed my lips tightly together, forming a thin line as flashes of her mother, Patricia, hollering at me flashed through my mind. “Not good.”
    Joanie leaned into my face. “Care to elaborate, brother?”
    I sat a little straighter and shooed her away from my face. “I’m not going to be able to see Emily again. Not very easily, anyway. There’s no way her parents will let me. My tire popped, and the car slid off the road on the way down from The Abby, and—”
    “Oh my goodness. Really?” She looked me over and saw my ear that had been cut. “That explains the cut on your ear.”
    “Yeah. We obviously didn’t go over the cliff side of the road, thank goodness, but we were knocked out for a few minutes after the impact. Her mom showed up after we got ahold of her and just went nuts.”
    “Wait. It wasn’t your fault. Why would you two get punished for it?”
    “Her parents are a little overprotective.”
    Joanie nodded. “Can’t blame 'em.”
    “Yeah.” I strained to keep my eyes open as a silence filled Joanie’s room. Yawning, I said, “I’d better turn in for the night. Getting late.”
    “Me too.” She leaned over and hugged me. “Thanks for the talk, and I’m sorry about Emily.”
    “It’s all right,” I replied as we hugged. Releasing from our embrace, I stood up and headed for the door. Pausing as I was in the doorway, I looked back and said, “Someday, God’s going to send someone to you, Sis. He’s going be worth your tears. Not because he’ll never make you cry, but because the pain is worth it to be with him.”
    “Is that how Emily is for you?” she asked.
    My eyes began to water as my inner self felt a sense of hopelessness overtake me in the moment. “I don’t know how I’ll get to be with Emily, but I’m going to fight to be with her. If tears happen, which they will, they’re all worth it for her.” Wiping the runaway tear from my cheek, I smiled and said,