All Signs Point to You Part Two by Navaura Campbell (uplifting books for women .TXT) 📖

Denise exclaimed, "But I love you, Jordan. I know I was stupid for breaking up with you over something that had nothing to do with you what so ever, but I don't want to lie to myself." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't want to miss my chance Jordan."

Jordan smiled at this, finding it poetic in it's own way. "You already did, Denise. I'm not going to break up with Sebrea for you. I refuse to do so."

"But...why?" Denise whispered, her throat starting to ache.

"Because, I can't do that. That's not me." Jordan stated.

Denise shook her head in denial. Looking up at him, her lips pursed, she whispered, "I love you so much."

His green eyes shimmered, the hardness replaced with the Jordan she knew. Jordan felt the jolt take hold in his heart. He felt a tenderness come in as she said those words, but quickly pushed his feelings to the back. Gazing into her big brown eyes, he felt the anger he had subside. Replaced with it was compassion. Grasping her hands, he brought them up for a kiss.

The soft touch of skin to her hand, made Denise's heart thud. She watched in awe, the ache in her heart heavier as he kissed the back of her hand and said in a calm voice, "You have to leave, Denise."

The tears she'd been holding back surfaced and gushed down her face, putting holes through her heart, leaking out the pain. She whispered, "Jordan...please."

He closed his eyes, and pulled her up. "I'll take you home."

"Jordan, talk to me. Why not?" She gasped, weak kneed. He stopped and sighed, "Because De-De, I won't cast her aside for you."

"Not even if you loved me?"

Jordan turned and looked her in the eyes, "Would you do that if you were in my position? If I'd hurt you the way you hurt me De-De, would you just tell your new boyfriend that you were leaving him for me after I hurt you?"

Denise stared at him, not able to answer. After a few minutes he nodded his head, "You don't love me as much as I love you Denise."

"I do love you Jordan." She whispered.

He swallowed, "Oh really?"

"Yes."

He was silent for a moment, not knowing if he should do this, but then he thought of the status of his relationship with Sebrea. Although he liked being around her and she was a blast of fun, he couldn't pretend the obvious. Looking back at Denise, he sighed, "You love me, right?"

"Yes." She whispered.

"You want to be with me, right?" He asked, his tone contemplative.

"Yes."

He nodded, understanding. "Prove it."

Denise sniffled, "Prove it? How?"

He rubbed her hand, "You have to figure that out."

Denise narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean I have to figure it out. You are the one who gave me this challenge."

Jordan swallowed, "I will give you a chance if you can prove to me that you're worth it. Prove to me that I am who you want, that you've truly learned your lesson."

Denise shrugged, "I don't get it."

Jordan sighed, "Come on, I have to take you home before mom wakes up." He escorted her out of the room and out into the hallway.

"So I love you isn't enough?" She was confused again.

He didn't answer. Instead he took her down the stairs and out to his car. Once the car was running, heat blasting, he turned to her and answered the previous question.

"No, I love you isn't enough. Anyone can say that."

She looked up at him, her brown eyes sparkling. "How do I know you mean it when you say it?"

He ran a hand along her cheek, "Because you know me, De-De. Just like I know you."

Denise turned her eyes back to her folded hands. She placed her hands in her lap and thought. What kind of game was he trying to play? Was this really worth it?

Once the car pulled up outside her house, Denise got out. Looking back at him, she looked in to see if he was serious. His facial expression was sincere. Deeply sincere. How was she supposed to figure out how to do what he asked? How Was she supposed to prove her love? Prove that he was the only one she wanted?

After Jordan left her house, he drove home with a smile on his face. Not only was he ecstatic at the fact that she actually came to him, but he was going to enjoy seeing just how far she'd go to prove that she loved him, wanted to be with him. He'd thought it was too easy to tell her yes. It was too easy for him to reveal his true feelings for her. It was too easy for her to push Sebrea out of the picture for good. He didn't want that. He still loved her, wanted to be with her, but he wasn't going to be a fool. He was going to make sure that she knew that the ball was in his court, that he called all the shots. Most importantly, she was going to allow someone else to take the lead for once. Now, the simple part was done. Not giving in was going to take sheer will power for him, not revealing his true emotions. He stepped on the break, to stop at a red light.

What was going to be challenging was getting Sebrea to understand exactly what he was doing. He knew no girl in her right mind would want to be pitted against another girl, but he figured he may as well put the truth out there, let her know. He enjoyed her company, and thought she was a great girl, but his heart was already somewhere else. His mom had been right, it was best to tell her the truth than to just let her find out through someone else, which would no doubt get him into more than enough trouble. Sighing, he glanced at his wrist. His watch read a quarter till three. Great, he had to get up in three hours for school and he had basketball practice later that day.

Denise donned on a pair of flair's, picked out her Afro, tied it away from her face with a ribbon, smoothed over the white and black striped sweater she wore, and grabbed her lip gloss before school that morning. She put the round tube into her bag, grabbed her house keys a pair of gloves and left her room for breakfast.

That morning as she made her way down stairs and into the kitchen, her mother was in the kitchen, flipping a pancake in a pan. Vicki sat at her usual spot at the table and so did her dad. Denise stopped inside the door, watching as Vicki and her father talked about the day's activities. She swung her gaze back to her mother, who was dressed in a pair of slacks and turtleneck, an apron had been tied around her neck. "Denise, good morning." Her mother stated, turning around to greet her with a smile. Denise's gaze went to the table where a plate of bacon, eggs and orange juice sat out for everyone's reach. Denise gave a small smile, "Hi mom." She went to the table and sat down in front of Vicki who smiled at her and told her what a nice sweater she wore. Denise eyes narrowed in suspicion. What was going on here? Hesitantly grabbing a plate, Denise looked at the eggs and bacon, noticing for the first time the growl in her stomach. Glancing up at her mother, she asked, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Mrs. Richards smiled, "I'm not going in until later today. I decided to take a half day today, that way we could have some free time together, you, me, Vicki and Garrette could spend the day together, doing family stuff." Mrs. Richards had a cool aide smile on her face. Denise raised both eye brows, "But mom, we do have school this morning and it's the dead of winter, what are we going to do in the middle of winter?"

Mrs. Richards laughed, "Well, after you left my office on Tuesday, I began surfing the net for activities that we could do together as a family. There's four I want to try today."

Vicki who'd been pretty silent, spoke up, glancing over at their mother. "Four? How long do you expect us to be out today?"

"I can't miss school," Denise interjected, starring up at her mother in horror. We're getting a new packet today in Mr. Kerris's class. I can't miss his class. If I do, I'll never catch up."

Renee rolled her eyes as she grabbed the coffee pot and poured her husband another cup. "One day is not going to kill you Denise."

"But, it's going to push me behind everyone else."

Vicki laughed, "You are such a nerd, Denise, don't nobody care if you miss one day. You act like you're going to flunk the whole semester if you're gone just one day."

Denise lowered her brows at Vicki, "Unlike you, I have goals for after I graduate."

Vicki sighed, exaggerating, "Well, excuse me for not thinking my world is going to end if I miss a day and anyway, I do have plans for after I graduate."

Denise huffed, "I'm sure you do." Her tone was full of sarcasm.

"Alright, girls, that's enough." Garrette cut in. He stilled their banter. "Just appreciate the fact that your mother did take enough time off work to spend some time with us. That's what matters." Turning to Denise, he smiled, "You need a break Denise, don't even think about school today, just enjoy the festivities."

Denise looked up at her mother and then around at her family and sighed. Her stepfather had a good point. She really needed to get out and have some fun, plus it wasn't everyday that she and her family had the opportunity to spend time together as such. Smiling, she said, "Ok mom, where do we go first?"

First hour was a miss, there was no problem. Second hour was a maybe she'll show up, but by third hour, he was getting worried. Denise never missed class. He sighed and thought about going over to her house, but then reminded himself that he had to be strong. He couldn't just do stuff like that just because he was concerned. He'd have to wait it out, just like a friend would. Inhaling sharply, he waited for the end of third hour.

"I can't skate, mom."

"You don't even want to try?" Mrs. Richards questioned, trying to convince Denise to join her, Vicki and Garrette out on the ice.

"That would be too much physical activity for the brainiac," Vicki cracked, a sly grin on her face.

"No it's not. Shut up."

"You shut up." Vicki reiterated.

"No, you shut up!" Denise yelled at her, hands on her hips.

Vicki stuck her tongue out at Denise.

Denise reciprocated, sticking her tongue out as well. She watched for a minute as her family made circles around one another on the ring. The way they were doing it. Ice skating didn't look too hard. Sighing, she decided to give it a try. Getting up, she balanced the blades as she crunched through the snow and made her way toward the ice rink. How hard could ice skating be? She soon found out, as she slid across the ice, desperately trying to balance herself. She wobbled side to side, catching herself there and standing a little straighter. She seemed to have gotten the hang of it, until she was sent backward. Before her head even hit the pavement, she thought of its sound. That was brief though, because nothing compared to the hard smack she felt when her head did hit. Immediately, she blacked out.