Free Spoiled Secrets by Ebony N. Donahue

chest.  “Can we go and check on him?”
     
                  How can I deny her?  I couldn’t …and, that is how I ended up at the zoo holding Amber as she cried.  Each tear that fell, pulled at the strings of my heart.
     
                  “Chase, it’s not Kinjy!  I was wrong - she’s hurting - she’s sad.” 
     
                  Those few words from my sister’s lips shocked me. I knew at that moment that there was more to Amber, than what everyone else sees.  This girl, this beautiful girl, captured my attention as soon as I walked around the corner to Kinjy’s enclosure.  I was all set to let my sister have it.  No, I would never yell at her, I was going to sternly remind my sister of the dangers of running off. 
     
                 
                  I stood back and watched as she interacted with my sister.  I watched, as she smiled and talked with the current occupant of my heart.  I watched and appreciated this unknown girl for indulging my sister in conversation, when others would have gotten annoyed with her.  When I finally decided to make my presence known and she introduced herself to me, I was hooked from that moment on. 
     
    *****
     
                  “Momma…momma, Chase met a girl!”  Peanut announced as we walked through the door. 
     
                  “He did, is she cute?”  My mother asked playfully, as she bent and kissed my sister.  I walked over shaking my head as I placed a kiss to my mother’s forehead.
     
                  “She’s cute mom, but you know me, looks aren’t everything.  She goes to my school, I believe she’s a senior this year.”
     
                  “Momma, she was hurting bad in her heart.  Chase held her and she cried.  Chase…your feelings were weird!”  She turned those all-knowing eyes towards me.  “Why were you feelings so…so…momma,” Peanut turned to look at mom.  Poor mom looked so confused. “You know how I tell you Chase feel for you and me?  I think, he kind of feels for…for…Chase, what’s her name again?”
     
                  “Her name is Amber, Amber Wallace.” 
     
                  I just stood there looking at my sister with sort of the same bewilderment plastered on my face as my mom.  Leave it to my sister to understand my feelings before I had time to take a closer look at them myself. 
     
                  “Chase, you feel for Amber like you do for us.”  She points to herself and mom.  “Can you feel it?”
     
                  “Yeah.”  This was my exasperated response.  Moms head swung around so fast I thought she just might get whiplash.
     
                  “Peanut, please!  Please, stop for just a minute.”  Mom has always been a little uncomfortable with Peanut’s talents.
     
                  Since the little rascal was born, she has consumed me. Her little talent never bothered me, matter of fact, her and her talent go together like peanut butter and jelly. I guess what I’m trying to say is, without her talents; she just wouldn’t be my little Peanut. I just wish that one of these days, my mother would jump on the bandwagon and realize that this is who she is. She also needs to get to the point where she can accept everything about her.
     
                  “Listen mom, I know you’re a little uncomfortable and you probably want to grill me right now, but I just need a little time to myself.”
     
                  I didn’t wait for an answer.  I walked to my room, shut the door, and laid across my bed to go over the events of this weird ass day. I haven’t put a lot of stock into dating.  I always thought of myself as being too young to get all serious with any girl. Don’t get me wrong, I do date.  I am one hundred percent