Chapter 30 #3
While Mrs. Nelson calls the school administration, she simultaneously makes sandwiches in the kitchen. She’s truly amazing in a crisis. She gets a message to Kai to leave class and call her right away. Hearing her tell Kai what has happened is like hearing it from Sheriff Lennon all over again.
She offers to pick Kai up from school, but he tells her he’s on his way to the parking lot and will be here soon. Waiting for him to arrive feels like I’m living in slow motion. Thankfully, I have Milo to lean against, so I don’t turn into a sad puddle of goo on the kitchen floor.
“James!” Kai’s panicked tone echoes through the house before I see him.
As I turn, Milo steps away from me. Kai jogs toward me, and in an instant, his arms are curled around me. His embrace is filled with life-recharging energy.
“I can’t believe this,” he says in astonishment, holding me against him. “I’m so sorry about your mom. And I’m even more sorry about being a massive jerk.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper, patting his back.
Kai moves back slightly so he can see my face without lowering his arms. “No, it’s not. I feel sick about how I treated you.”
“It was a shock. I get it.”
“I don’t even want to talk about that right now.” Kai shakes his head, shock contorting his expression. “I just want to make sure you’re okay. I don’t know how you handle news like this.”
I hold on to his forearms as his grip on me loosens. “I’ve been prepared,” I admit. “Aunt Maddy always said Mom was gone.”
Kai’s frown twitches as he holds back his emotions. My heart swells. I’ve never seen Kai on the verge of tears before.
“How do I stop being stupid?” he whispers. “I don’t want to do another thing that jeopardizes being best friends with you.”
“It’s both of us, Kai,” I reply. “We were both keeping secrets. We gotta stop doing that.”
Kai releases me and his eyes wander across to Milo. He gives his brother a half smile and then releases a forlorn huff.
I beckon him to follow. “Come with me. I need to show you something.”
Kai follows me to my bedroom. I take the TV remote and click around until the menu shows all the movies I’ve streamed in the past month.
“I don’t get it,” Kai says. “What are you showing me?”
“This is what I’m into,” I say, gesturing at the screen. “I’m a desperately hopeless romantic.”
Kai smirks, surprised at the random comment. “Okay? Since when?”
“Since always,” I say, plonking down on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t approve.”
Kai’s forehead creases as he looks at the TV and then back at me. “What gave you that idea? Yeah, this stuff is super cringe, but I wouldn’t tell you not to like it.”
“You would’ve made fun of me.”
Kai shrugs. “That’s what we do. We all make fun of each other.”
I shake my head. “We wouldn’t have stayed friends.”
Kai sits beside me. “You think some movies would’ve stopped me from hanging out with you?”
“I couldn’t make friends with girls. I didn’t want to do anything to ruin my friendship with the boys. So, I hid the girly stuff I liked.”
“James.” Kai sighs. “I said I like that you’re not into girly stuff, because you told me you didn’t. I believe what you tell me.”
“So, you don’t care if I talk about rom-coms and what kind of dates I want to go on?”
“Boy, what’s wrong with us?” Kai asks, wincing as he rests his head in his hand.
“Why do we keep hiding things from each other?” He huffs and looks up at me.
“You’re my best friend. Literally the person I trust most, and I hide the fact I’m good at school.
Like, what is that? And you can’t even tell me you’re into ultra-girly movies. Why do we do this to each other?”
I smile and brush my hand over his. “Maybe because we want to be perfect for each other.”
Kai laughs, smiling as he shakes his head.
“And maybe that’s why we both found people we can be honest with,” I suggest. “That’s how Tabby makes you feel, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. And Milo does that for you?”
“Kai, I really like him.”
“It still weirds me out.”
“Do you want me to stop seeing him?”
He clutches my hand. “No way. I saw how you two look at each other. It reminds me of being around Tabby. I couldn’t break that up.”
“Whoa. You like Tabby as much as I like Milo. You’ve got it bad.”
“At least I’ve been more out in the open about it.”
I laugh, nudging him. “Yeah, right. I found out about you two by witnessing your make-out session.”
“It wasn’t as hardcore as you and my brother.”
“Our first kiss was much more timid.” I snort. “Milo ran away afterwards.”
Kai throws his head back in laughter. “Lame!”
I slam my hand over his mouth. “Shush.”
He chills out, smiling. “So, are we good?”
“Yeah, I think so. You cool with the real me?”
“I can deal. Maybe you can even talk with Tabby about this stuff.”
A tired chuckle seeps out of me.
“So, these dates you want to go on,” he says, hesitantly looking out the door. “They’re with Milo?”
I swallow hard. “We’re official.”
Kai’s eyes grow glassy. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was fighting my feelings for so long; I didn’t think there’d be anything to tell.” I kick my feet against the bed frame. “Then we started up, and I didn’t want anything to ruin it.”
Kai nudges me. “You didn’t want me to ruin it.”
“You kept Tabby a secret from me until you got serious about her.”
He gestures at the TV. “Because the version of yourself you shared with me wouldn’t have approved.”
I rest my head on his shoulder. “This is why we can’t have any more secrets.”
He pats my knee. “Totally agree.”