CHAPTER THIRTEEN
[13]

song: lipstick by ariel pink

IT WAS PAINFUL SITTING NEXT TO HER. It was painful to sit next to her as she blatantly ignored him. Kai couldn't blame her, he was doing the exact same thing. If he wasn't so stubborn, maybe she wouldn't be either— and things wouldn't have to be so damn awkward.

Kai leaned forward in his seat, listening intently to the teacher as Daisy did the same. Although Kai wasn't truly listening, he was more trying to get into Daisy's line of sight, as if that would strike up some sort of conversation between them.

Kai would oblige to Daisy's wishes of 'leaving her alone' for as long as it took for her to come to her senses and realize that she wanted him just as bad as he needed her, but he wanted her to find that out herself. That's how this was going to play out. It had to. He planted the seed, the rest was up to her.

His last class of the day was a free period, with which he could just leave school, but he had to wait for Josette and drive her home. Instead, he sat at the top bleacher that overlooked the football field every day.

He told himself that he did this to just get a quick smoke in before he had to go home, and that it was just coincidental that Daisy had gym class at the same time.

He watched as she chased the soccer ball down the field, outrunning every other girl in the class. She tried to play it off like she didn't care, but Kai knew she was good, she was better.

Daisy spoke with a smile as she lazily jogged alongside a girl in her class, her dark hair pulled back into a high ponytail. She looked too good for someone who'd been running around outside for half an hour now.

Kai liked the feeling of watching Daisy without her knowing. He felt like he was watching the real her. Not the cold front that she puts up every time he was near.

But he also liked the feeling of talking to her, of pestering her, of making her so mad that she turned a heel and stormed off— only to come back and talk to him the next day.

Was the kiss worth all this torture he's putting himself through? Did she actually hate him now? She couldn't. Not after that. Though her lips were pretty, it is the feel of them that sent his mind into a sensual state of intoxication. It had been several days since that night in the woods, but with every free second Kai felt his mind drifting back to that feeling of her lips on his. It was perfectly innocent, a simple connection of two people that secretly longed for each other.

Kai began to feel the bleachers shake beneath him and he glanced up to see Josette walk towards him, a confused look on her face. She said something to him, but he couldn't hear it over his music. He took off a headphone and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" She repeats, sitting down beside him.

"Free period." Kai says.

Josette glanced at him and then over to the football field. "Free periods are usually spent in the library."

"Too quiet in there." He says, keeping an eye on Daisy as he spoke to his twin. "Why are you out here?"

"I finished my test and Mr. Anderson let me leave early." Josette responds.

"Oh— shit look." Kai says, his expression changing from bored to excited as something on the field caught his eye. Josette followed his expression toward the commotion.

Carol quickly got up in Daisy's face, and Kai hated himself for looking away for too long— now missing the context behind the fight that was about to erupt between the two.

It didn't take long for Daisy to shove Carol away from her, a smile on her face. It seemed as if all of the gym class had focused their attention on the girls now. There was yelling, but Kai couldn't hear any of it clearly.

"Wait what happened?" Josette asks, glancing at Kai and then back to the field.

Kai ignored her, smirking as he watched Daisy flail her arms out dramatically towards Carol, a proud expression on her face. The teacher began to jog towards them, blowing a whistle.

Without hesitation, Kai latched onto Josette's arm, siphoning her magic as he lazily flicked a finger towards the teacher, knocking her over and letting the chaos continue on.

Josette tore her arm away. "Kai!" She whisper-yelled. "We're in plain sight!" She looks around frantically for any onlookers. Kai scoffed, not taking his eyes off of Daisy. "Dad's gonna be so pissed." She says, rubbing her arm where he just siphoned her.

Kai quickly turned to Josette. "Dad's not gonna find out." He spoke sternly. Josette swallowed nervously, before turning back to the field.

It didn't take long before the teacher got back on her feet and tore Carol and Daisy away from each other. "Oh shit." Josette mutters. "She better not get grounded for this she was supposed to come over and study for the Econ test with me." She huffs.

"What?" Kai snapped his head back towards his sister.

"Daisy— and Jen are coming over tonight to study?" She says, confused by his sudden urgency to acknowledge her pretense.

Kai took a deep breath, turning back to the field to watch the gym class walk back into the school as the school day came to an end. "Come on." Kai says, standing up and swinging his backpack over his shoulders and walking down the bleachers, not checking to see if Josette was following.

A few hours pass, and Kai spent those hours in his room, blasting the same tape he had been listening to all week through his headphones as he played with his new Sega Genesis that he'd bought a few weeks prior.

A knock sounded from the door, and Kai flopped his head over to see his dad walk in. "You keep defeating the purpose of knocking." Kai says, shoving his headphones off and sitting up in his bed.

Joshua sighs, looking around his son's room, examining the complete and utter neatness of every aspect. Everything was aligned perfectly, stacked by size, not a speck of dust. "What are you doing?" He says, stepping inside and continuing to look around.

"Playing video games." Kai said annoyedly, questioning why so many people had that question when it was very much clear what he was doing.

Joshua shook his head and gestures around his room. "No— you're room." He says. "It's clean." Kai didn't say anything. "It's only clean when you're—"

"Manic?" Kai says bluntly.

Joshua stumbles on his words, that wasn't what he was going to say but that works too. "What have you done this time?" Joshua says, stifling another sigh— but the suspicious look on his face was enough for Kai to gather that his father knew him better than he thought.

"Nothing." Kai said with fake innocence.

"Have you been taking your medication?" Joshua asks.

Kai shrugs, turning off his Sega and setting it on his bedside table. "I don't need it." He says, getting off his bed and glancing out his window, Daisy's blinds were still closed. He faces his father again, waiting for him to leave his room.

"You do." Joshua says. "I don't want things to get bad again, you've been doing so well." He nods, trying his best to be calm and come off as understanding, when he was really just scared of his son.

"You mean I've been drugged up on meds for so long to where they suppress every ounce of energy I have, so I have no choice but to be just an extra, emotionless, body in this house?" Kai raises an eyebrow.

Joshua inhales deeply. "No— I—" He searches for words, then decides to change the subject. "Did you siphon Josette today?"

Kai almost felt his heart skip a beat. "What'd she tell you?" He asks, his mood shifting.

"She didn't have to tell me anything." Joshua says. "She gets very shaken up when you do that."

"Oh, poor thing." Kai scoffs.

Joshua narrows his eyebrows at him. "Siphoning cannot be a habit." Joshua swallows. "You know that."

Kai opens up his drawer of tapes to find another one to put in his walkman, shuffling through them as he spoke. "Don't worry." Kai begins. "You won't have to worry about me for much longer. Only four more years until my twin gets to whoosh me from existence. Counting down the days!" Kai spoke sarcastically.

Joshua clenches his jaw, then glances out Kai's door and then back to him. "Your sister's friends are here to study." He inhales again. "Please just stay in your room."

Kai puts a new tape in his walkman, unaware that Daisy had already been here. "Got it." He sighs.

Joshua hesitates, wondering if there was anything else he needed to say for his monthly, 'fatherly' conversation with Kai, before leaving— without shutting the door.

Kai lingered in the same spot, trying his best to keep his minimal emotions in check. He looks around at his room, proudly examining how neat it was. Kai liked to think he was at his best when he was like this— he was in full control of what he was doing. Which to others, felt like a fault.

Kai was about to put his headphones back on when he heard Josette's door open up down the hall, an eruption of giggles filling his ears for a split second before the door closes again— then footsteps came down the hall.

First he saw the back of her head as she looked around for what he assumed was the bathroom, only to find her turn towards his bedroom.

The two were frozen in place as their eyes met, staring at each other like there was a two way mirror in between them. Tension lingered in the air, and Kai wanted nothing more than to just pull her into his room and kiss her again— but he couldn't, not yet.

Kai stepped forward towards his door, and Daisy stiffened, as if she was awaiting his touch, but instead, Kai just shut the door in her face with no further words.