~Kaylen~

scelestic /●adj. evil, wicked

Without knowing the whole situation sometimes, we judge people really quickly.

We somehow mostly come to the conclusion that the one who expresses their vulnerabilities the most is the one who's weaker. And the one who's non-expressive and cold out front is scelestic towards others.

Well, that's where we're wrong.

There's a certain strength that lies in showing your true self to the world and hints of weakness in keeping your emotions pent up.

~Emerald~

"That was just one time during spin the bottle!" I cried, dropping my hands in my face to hide the blush.

"Oh come on, you know you wanted to kiss me several times after that too."

I could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he munched on his food next to me on the couch. Mark and I were watching a movie in the living room. We both were jobless for the time being and thought we could catch up on old times on this particular afternoon.

"You're telling me that you're gay and you haven't fantasized about this body before?" He continued to joke, gesturing to his torso.

"I only figured it out recently!" I justified, laughing.

"So, who turned you into a homo?" He asked, his voice getting an octave deeper as he shifted a bit closer to me.

The voice of the TV had faded in the background as I suddenly got aware of his thigh brushing against mine.

Oh shit.

Was my childhood best friend trying to make a move on me? What was I supposed to do? I never thought of him that way! Well, except after that one kiss we had in spin the bottle and I kept wondering for a few days if it was okay to feel good about it. But that was history! I didn't know what to do now. I just ran away from someone who I actually had feelings for. Did I want another already?

"Uh...I...Um..." I stuttered, feeling panicky inside all of a sudden.

"Are you over him yet?" Mark was too close to me now. Too close for me to think straight. I gave my all into keeping my face towards the TV screen because I could feel his breath on my cheek and I did not want to turn and face him.

"Y-yeah." I replied. Was I over him yet? No. But he didn't have to know.

"Good." I heard him say and then shift back a couple of centimetres. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, how about we grab lunch somewhere outside? These sandwiches aren't really filling me up." He said.

I finally turned to him.

"Are you asking me on a date?" I teased, chuckling. His expression turned serious for a minute before he rolled his eyes.

"So asking to have lunch with you every time is going to be a date now?" He said, getting up and giving me a hand. "Come on, we can pick Jordon up later."

That got me to agree. It was an hour for Jordan's school day to be over and I had to go pick him up anyway.

"Okay," I grunted before taking his hand and getting up.

~~

"Oh God, I'm going to burp." Mark whispered quickly before letting out a loud ass burp.

I laughed, almost tripping on the side walk as we walked to the car. Lunch with him had been fine. He was the same funny guy I was friends with in high school, the guy I knew would hang out with me when no one else would. He was a decent guy actually.

"So, what have you thought about your job?" He asked after a while of silence as we sat in the car and I began driving towards Jordan's school.

"I've applied in the community college. Let's see how that goes." I replied.

"I'm sure it'll be positive." Mark smiled at me. I smiled back. We both kept quiet for the rest of the ride. Well, except the voices in my head.

It was confusing me how his smile hung on his lips a little moment extra, how he kept looking at me a while longer than we used to back in our teenage, how he suddenly liked to walk and sit closer to me than was necessary. He was confusing me. His motives seemed a little more scelestic than friendly.

Was I thinking too much?

"Hey, pull over. We passed the parking lot." He said suddenly and I realised that I had missed the school.

"Still fantasising about me?" He joked. But suddenly, those jokes weren't funny to me anymore. I had a feeling that they weren't meant to be jokes at all.

"You wish." I replied with a smirk as I parked the car and got out.

We both walked into the school, showing my parent pass to the gatekeeper and towards the classroom where I was supposed to be collecting my child. Little children were walking out with their parents, telling them about their day enthusiastically. I smiled, feeling excited about seeing my own little bundle of joy and hear about all his stories.

His classroom came and I entered, smiling at the teacher who recognised me but didn't call Jordon's name over like she usually does when I come.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm here to pick up Jordon." I had to say.

"Oh, he was called to the principal's office." She said, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"What? Why?" I asked. What could my little innocent baby have possibly done to be called to the principal's office? There had to be some misunderstanding. I suddenly felt overprotective, as I did with anything remotely threatening the safety of my kid's feelings. I had to immediately go and check up on the matter.

"Some Mr. Lutyens had come to see him," the teacher said after noticing my worried face.

I went numb for a moment as soon as I heard the name.

"C-can you repeat that?" I asked incredulously. Did I even hear that right?

"It is Ian Lutyens to be exact," she said looking up at me doubtfully. "Is it someone I shouldn't have sent him with? Jordon seemed really happy to see him and Mr. Lutyens is a friend of the principal, I guess. He also said he knows you really well." She explained.

"No, it's fine." I replied, turning around and walking shakily out of the classroom. It wasn't fine! But I thought it better to go get my child instead of screaming at the teacher's face.

"What was that? Who's this Ian guy?" Mark asked, following me.

What the hell was Kaylen's dad doing here?

"It's...It's someone I know from my previous town." I told Mark, walking briskly over to the principal's office. I needed to get my son back. How dare he even take him without my permission!

"Hello, ma'am. I need to talk to the principal." I said to the receptionist sitting outside the office.

"I'm afraid he's already meeting someone inside. I don't know how long it's going to take since it's a friend..." She replied, going back to typing stuff on her laptop.

"A friend? Could it possibly be Mr. Lutyens?" I asked hopefully.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Yes, it's Mr. Lutyens indeed."

I sighed in relief.

"Perfect. I need to go in." I told her.

"Okay, I'm going to ask if I can let you go inside." She murmured, getting up and peeking into the principal's office. After a few seconds she turned to me and gestured me to go in.

"I'll be back." I told Mark and went quickly inside.

When I entered, what I saw was the principal, offering a bag of chips to my son who was sitting in the lap of a completely different 'Mr. Lutyens' than the one I had imagined.

"Kaylen..." I whispered as his eyes met mine. His face seemed to pale before a smile began to tug at those handsome lips of his.

"Emerald..."

A/N: Do you people like our guy Mark over here?