Chapter 9 - The Choice

CHAPTER 9: The Choice

	Maria leaned back from the kiss, "Evan I think I love you." Evan stood there, motionless, trying to process what had just happened. His eyes were fixed on Maria, "Wh.. why did you do that?" She blushed, "Because Evan, I love you, and I want you to know that." Evan took a quick step back from her, "But, I.. I love Kari, the other girl." Maria grew a sad look on her face, "But I love you, please just tell me you have some feelings for me?" Evan couldn't think, his mind was racing, he couldn't calm down. "I.. I don't.." He tried to respond to her, but couldn't find the words. "I just.. I love her, and I mean.." Maria's eyes began tearing up and she fell to her knees. "P.. please don't cry Maria," Evan reached his paw down to try and comfort her but she swatted it away. She quickly stood up and began running away down the hall, still crying. Evan stood there with his paw still reached out, "What do I do now?" He quickly remebered, "Kari!" He ran down to the school parking lot and walked over to his car to see Kari there standing and waiting for him. "Hey, what took you so long?" Kari asked as he walked up to the car. "Oh, nothing," He looked over at the book in her paw, " What's that you have there?" Kari looked down at her book and held it up, " Well I'm in cooking, but the teacher doesn't care and I don't know what to make. So i was wondering if you would want me to try anything." Evan shrugged, "Sure let's look at it when we get to my house." They hopped into the car and headed over towards Evan's house.

	Maria kept running, she ran out the door and didn't stop running until she was off the school grounds. She stopped running and fell back onto her knees, she couldn't go on and broke down crying. "Why? Why did I have to wait until it was too late?" Was all she could think about as she remained there. After minutes she finally stood up and began slowly walking to her house. Half an hour later she finally reached her house and stepped inside. "Hey, how was your first day at school?" Her mother called out as she heard the door open. "It was okay, I have homework so I'll be in my room."  "Alright." She ran upstairs to her room, she didn't want her mother to see that she was still crying. She closed the door and threw herself onto her bed and continued to cry into her pillow. "I wanted Evan to know how I felt about him.. and I wanted him to feel the same way towards me..," was all that was going through her head as it laid there in the pillow, the thought circled over and over. Hours seemed to pass, but she had finally calmed down before thinking about what to do. "I want to be with Evan, everyday I think about him, I can't get him out of my mind now," she thought to herself. "I just need a way to get him and that other girl broken up.." She pulled out a small notebook and a pencil, "Now to just think of a plan.." She began thinking and was soon writing in her notebook. When she finished she looked down at her notebook, "This should get me what I want," she grinned. "Now I just have to wait until tomorrow before school.." She quickly began working on her homework with the grin still on her face, waiting for the next day at school.

	Evan and Kari pulled up to his house and stepped out of the car. Evan sighed, "What am I going to do about that Maria girl?" He thought. Kari looked over at him, "Seriously what's up Evan?"  "Nothing, nothing, let's get inside and check you that book."  "Hmm," Kari thought, "something's up." She shook it off as they entered his house and sat down at the kitchen table. They began flipping through the book, "This looks interesting," Evan said as the pointed to a picture of a cake. "I never took you as a sweets guy.. even though you are a sweet guy," Kari smiled at him. "What? is it wrong to like cakes and cookies and such?" He smiled. "Nahh, it's alright. So should I try to make this in class tomorrow?"  "Yeah, and I wana try some when your done."  "Sure," Kari smiled. The two kept searching through the book, pointing out many more recipies and deciding what Kari should try out until they made a full list of things to try out. "So what do you want to do now Kari?" She shrugged. "Oh, I know," she leaned towards him and kissed him on his muzzle. She moved her body closer to him and cuddled up with him, he blushed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, "I love you Kari."  "And I love you Evan," She happily returned. "So you're going to get started on these recipies tomorrow? Just wondering."  "Yep," she kept cuddling up to him. "You need me to pick you up again tomorrow?"  "Yeah, I'm too lazy to drive." She giggled. He held her tight, not wanting to let go of her. "Kari," he thought, "The one I love
	
	Evan awoke to the sound of his alarm clock. "Ugh," he groaned as he sat up on his bed and hit the alarm off with his paw. He slowly nudged his way off the bed and towards the shower. He turned the handle and felt himself nod off as he waited for the water to warm up. He took off his boxers and hopped inside the shower and began to wake up as the hot water hit him. After a quick rinse he clothed himself and grabbed a quick bite to eat before running to his car. "Not going to be late today," he thought as he got into the car and checked the clock. He headed over to Kari's house and noticed she wasn't outside, "Maybe she's still getting ready," he thought, "I'll go check still." He got out of his car and stepped up to the porch and began knocking on the door. After a minute the door opened and there stood an older female cat. "Umm, hello, I'm Evan and I'm here to pick up Kari?" The cat nodded, "Kari, your friend is here! Get down here now!"  "Alright!" Evan heard Kari yell. He still stood at the poorch, and waited for Kari. The other cat, who Evan finally realised was Kari's mom, walked back farther into the house and Kari came out onto the porch. "Hey," Kari said as she appeared at the door, she seemed to have just woken up, and was still a mess. Evan snickered, "So what? You got up three? Five? Minutes ago?"  "Ughh," Kari groaned, "Shut up," She now had a disgusted look on her face, "so what If i woke up only ten minutes ago?" Evan began giggling at her remark, "Alright, let's just head out." Kari sighed, "Fine, Fine. I'm just still tired." They headed out the door and got into Evan's car, "So you still have that book with the recipies?" Kari perked up, "Oh yeah, be right back, I almost forgot it." She laughed and ran out of the car, headed back into her house for the book. "I wonder what will happen when I see Maria today during class," Evan began thinking once Kari ran inside. "I hope she's not still upset from yesterday.. I hope I didn't make her cry that much.." Kari ran inside her house and picked up the book that was on the kitchen counter and stared at it. She began thinking of everything that happened yesterday. "Evan said he felt someone watching him.. and it turned out to be some girl.. I wonder what was up with her.." She shook her head and began running back to Evan's car. She hopped in, "Alright let's go." They took off and headed towards school. Kari held the book up against her chest and continued thinking about the other girl, "Does she.. have feelings for Evan? Does she.. love him? What if Evan find he loves her back?! What if Evan leaves me for her.. What if Evan.."  "Kari," Evan called out to her, breaking her trance. She looked around and then up at him. "Kari we're here.. at school." She looked blankly at him then finally remembered, "Oh yeah." She laughed. "Let's get inside then." They both stepped outside of the car and walked up to the school doors and went inside. Suddently Evan felt paws go around his neck, pulling him down a bit and a then a kiss land him right on his muzzle. His eyes opened up wide as he saw Maria infront of him kissing him with her arms around his neck.

	Maria woke up when the alarm on her phone went off and she sprang up instantly, "Today I WILL let Evan know how I feel and I WILL get him to tell me how he feels!" She walked over and happily started up the shower, jumped in, and made sure to clean herself thoroughly for the day ahead. She finished up and put on some fresh clothes before picking up her notebook from the previous night, and running downstairs to her car heading towards school, but for her it was all about Evan. She pulled up to the school and looked down at her notebook, "Alright, now, inorder to cause a break between them I need to make that other girl not trust Evan as much, and I know just how to do that." She got out of her car with her notebook and school bag and walked inside the school doors and waited. She checked her notebook one final time then placed it into her bag and waited for Evan to arrive. She waited for several minutes but for her it seemed only like seconds, she wanted Evan to come walking though the door so she could show him how much she wanted him. She saw Evan and the other girl getting out of his car and walking up to the school doors, "This is it!" Maria became excited and a bit nervous, but she knew what she had to do. She saw him open up the door, this was it. He walked inside and she charged up to him, threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him right on his muzzle. She kissed for only a few seconds, but in her mind it was hours. Evan stood there, with his eyes wide-open and they stared at eachother, but Evan finally realized what was going on and struggled free from her grip. He looked at her, his mouth open in shock, "M..Maria what was that for?!" Maria had a playful smile on her face, "That was a kiss silly, and I did it because I love you," she said. Kari stood next to Evan with her mouth wide open at the spectacle she had just witnessed. "Who? What? Where did she come from? How does he know her name? SHE LOVES HIM?!" Kari's mind was racing. "Maria! Don't do that! It's not right!" Evan yelled out. Maria began tearing up, "Do you not like me then?" Evan began stuttering, "Well I don't know I mean I just met you yesterday, but I'm here with Kari and shes the girl I love.." Maria began sobbing. "Ma..Maria please don't cry." Kari snapped out of it and wakled up next to Maria and glared at her, "What is your problem?" Maria looked at Kari still sobbing, "Nothing why?" Kari grew furious, "What do you mean nothing?! You just kissed my boyfriend right in front of me!" Maria wiped the tears from her eyes, "Well I love Evan, and I told him that I do, but he just seemed to ignore me."  "Maybe because he already has a girlfriend!" Maria shrugged at her, "Well I just want him to tell me how he feels towards me right now before school starts." She looked over at Evan, "Please Evan, let me know how you feel." Kari turned towards Evan, but he just stood there, scared to respond. "well, I.. I mean I don't love you like I do Kari.. ,but I mean.." He paused. "What am I doing? I don't know what to say without destroying her." Evan thought as he stood there with the two girls staring him down. "Uhh, uhh." He couldn't think with the two of them staring, so he did the only thing he knew he could do. He quickly turned around and ran! "Evan get back here!" Kari called out as she began chasing after him. Maria trailed behind, "Please Evan just tell me how you feel." She called out. "This is going good," Maria thought, "now just have to keep it up." Evan sprinted away from girls and made it all the way into his math class before he stopped to catch his breath. "Well, Mr," the teacher looked down at her class chart, "Sparks, you sure seem to be in a hurry to get to class." Evan looked up at her, panting and out of breath but gave her a nod. "Very well, take your seat then." Kari had stopped chasing him inorder to focus her rage at Maria. "Why did you do that to Evan?!" Maria stopped running next to Kari as she heard her remark. "Well I love him and I just wanted to show him that I do."  "Well go love someone else, Evan is mine!" Maria looked at Kari and sneered, "What makes him yours?"  "Because I love him and he loves me!"  "Is that so? Well I guess I'll have to try harder to get him then." Kari grumbled. Maria turned around and began walking towards her first class. Kari watched her until she turned a corner and Kari began heading towards her english class, but now she couldn't sleep in class, her mind was still confused and full of anger. "What should I do now? It's not like I can just beat her up, and threats wouldn't work on someone like her." Kari continued thinking thoughout her class, "What happens if she gets Evan to like her? No, what am I saying, Evan loves me I know that, he always tells me. But what if Maria tricks him into something? I mean the way Evan is and the way he acted earlier, he would definatly lend a paw to help her." Kari frowned at her thoughts, "I just need to talk to Evan at lunch about this and to clear it all up." She kept thinking about how to get back at Maria until the bell rang and her thoughts were interupted. She headed down the hallways to her science class, but as soon as she sat down in her desk she began thinking about how she was going to deal with all of this. Evan got up from his desk and headed over to his P.E. class. He changed his clothes in the locker room and headed into the gym. He saw Jaden and ran up to him, "Jaden I really need help! You see there's this girl, Maria, and she kissed me infront of Kari and,"  "Hold it Evan," Jaden stopped him, "Alright let me get this, some girl named Maria walked up to you earlier and kissed you infront of Kari?" Evan nodded. "Woah man, This will be hard to get over for Kari probably. Why did that girl kiss you anyways?"  "Well yesterday after 7th class she stopped me and told me that she loved me and kissed me there, but I didn't tell Kari about it and today she came up before school and kissed me. I had to run from both of them, Jaden I don't know what to do?!" Jaden showed a look like he was thinking about it. "Well Evan, you need to tell Kari about all of that stuff, and then try to make up for it okay?" Evan silently nodded. Their gym class once again consisted of running around aimlessly on the track. Evan kept up with Jaden through the excercise but couldn't  help but worry about his next class period. "Man, what am I going to do? Maria is in my next class and I really don't want to see her." He thought, as he continued running around the track. The coach soon ordered them to head back to the locker rooms and change their clothes. Evan slowly changed out of his gym clothes and back into his regular ones. He pleaded that something would happen to him that would prevent him from seeing Maria before he reached his next class as the bell rang for them to leave. He slowly walked to his english class and saw Maria waiting at the door. He saw her tail begin to wag as he walked up near her. "Evan can we sit together? I really want to talk to you." He sighed, "Sure." They took a seat near the back of the classroom and waited for the teacher to get into the lesson before they spoke. "Evan," she paused. "Yes?"  "Listen I know we started off wrong, but please I really want to atleast get to know you." Evan looked at her, puzzled, but glad she wasn't acting crazy like before. "Alright, what do you want to know?"  "Lots of stuff! I want to know everything that you like, dislike, and all that."  "Well," Evan began listing his likes, dislikes, and everything in between and after twenty minutes had gone by he was finally done, "Well that's most of it." He looked deeply into her eyes and they showed that she had listened intensely to every single word he said, absorbing it all. "So Maria, what do you like?" Maria became nervous, "Well.. for starters I like you." She smiled at him and Evan couldn't help but blush. "Also I like studying for school," she continued on. Evan couldn't take his eyes off her as she spoke, "Why can't I stop looking at her?" He thought to himself. He went back to listening to her, "and I really like.." She stopped and looked at him, "Is something up Evan?" He quickly shook his head, "N-no! nothing!" He was nervous now. "Looks like he's finally starting to like me," she thought. "Are you sure? Because you seem to be giving me a certain look." Evan turned his head away, "W..what look?"  "A look that says you're into me." Evan kept his head from looking at her, "R..really?"  "Yeah, Evan infact if I didn't know any better I'd say that you.." The bell rang and interupted her, and Evan bolted out of the room and towards his science class. Kari got up from from her desk in math class and went to P.E. "I hope that people don't stare at me today," she thought, "and I really can't wait to talk to Evan at lunch." She walked into the locker room, changed and headed into the gym. She looked around, catching people stare at her and she frowned, "Always me."  "Anyways, I need to think about what I should say to Evan," she thought as the coach seemed to bark orders at them. "Well when I see him next at lunch, I should really ask him about that Maria girl." She seemed to be distracted with the thought of Evan and how he felt about her and Maria. "I shouldn't have to worry, Evan loves me.. I know that." Next thing she knew she was changing back into her regular clothes and awaiting the bell to ring for lunch. As soon as it did she bolted down to the cafeteria, heading towards Evan. She grabbed her food and walked back to where they were the previous day. She saw Evan with Jaden, Jasmine, and.. Maria. She ran up to Maria who was sitting next to Evan. "Why are you here?" She looked up at Kari, "Because I can, and I want to sit next to Evan." Kari groaned and took the seat to the left of him, "Evan we really need to talk." Evan looked at her and smiled, "Sure what about?"  "About that!" She pointed to Maria. "It's rude to point," she said with a frown. "Well then just get away from Evan and I wouldn't have to!" Maria nudged closer to Evan, "No." Kari growled and then threw her arms around Evan, "He's mine!" Evan looked at both of them, "Umm.. do you girls really have to do this?" Maria looked at him, "Yes!" and threw her arms around Evan as well. Jaden looked at Evan and just laughed, until Jasmine smacked him across they head. Evan looked down at the two girls with their arms around him, "Can you two please stop this?" "No!" They both exclaimed. "Please let go." he began pleading. The girls groaned and let go of him, neither one could resist doing what he asked, if only to show how much they cared. The bell rang and Evan got up to get to his next class, "I'll see you in history class okay?" Kari and Maria looked at eachother then at Evan, confused as to which one he was talking about. "He must mean me." The two of them thought. Evan couldn't concentrate in his classes, "I just need to come clean to them and tell them how I feel." He sighed, "Now to figure it out." Evan sat in his computer class and Art class, going over his feelings, planning on telling them once he saw them both in history class which came sooner than he expected. He sat down in the desk with Kari to his left and Maria to his right, "Listen girls I have to tell you something." They both stared at him, "What?" Kari asked. "Well you two have been fighting because I haven't really told you how I felt and so.."  "Evan!" The teacher called out, which made all the class look at him, "Be quiet in my classroom!" He sank in his desk and she resumed his lesson, "I'll tell you after this class," he whispered. "The one he loves? It has to be me, we've been together for a while now. There's no way he could love her." Kari thought and looked over at Maria. Maria stared at her, "He has to love me, I've told him many times how I felt, and he even became nervous while we were talking in class. I'm sure he loves me more than Kari." The two sat glaring at eachother while Evan was still sunk in his desk, "Man I really just wanted to get it over with but I don't want the teacher to yell at me again." He sighed and glanced up at the clock which seemed to slowly tick the seconds away until the end of the class. He sat there in silence for more than fourty minutes, as the girls still glared at eachother. The final bell rang and Evan motioned for the two of them to follow him out of the class room. He walked along the wall until he was a ways away from the door and stopped to turn towards them. Both looked at him with eyes full of desire, but he knew that he had to break one's heart. "Girls, I know that you both like me.. and I really like both of you too, but I mean.. I can only love one of you, there's only one place in my heart for that special someone. He became more nervous, "That's why I have to tell you which one really does have that place in my heart." The girls looked at him nervously, then Kari took a step closer to him, "Please Evan, tell me I'm the one you love," She sobbed. Maria then took a step forward as well, "Evan, please, I've thought about you and only you since last year. I really love you." He sighed and look his paws and placed them on both of their heads. They looked up at him as he began sobbing, "I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you, but I know I that I have to since I can only love one of you." Evan looked down at her and smiled, "I love you," he released his paw from the other girl and wrapped both arms around her neck as he kissed his love. She pulled back for a second, "Evan, I love you too, and I knew you would choose me," she said as she wrapped her arms around him and began kissing him over and over again.