Chapter 4: Home "Alone"
"Ky, I received a call from the school nurse today. Apparently, despite all of your sleeping in, you missed the last class of the day as well!"
"I know, mom, I know… I'm just not feeling all that great today"
"Ky, baby, I'm worried about you."
Kai said nothing, only attempting to squish himself further into the corner between the back seat and the window.
"See? You always complain when I call you my baby boy! Something's not right! Please, Kyle, talk to me. I'm your mother, for god's sake!"
The car slowed before taking a slightly-too-fast right turn, mashing his face further into the window.
"Is it that Becca girl? Did she hurt you? Being a teenager is hard, Kyle… I just wish… you'd talk to your poor ol mother sometimes, you know?"
The car slowed as the blinker began it's endless march of repetition.
}dink{ }dink{ }dink{ }dink{ }dink{
"I worry about you, Ky, I really do. All the goddamn time. Whether or not you realize it, I really do love you more than you know."
Kai let his eyes droop shut in an attempt to escape the world around him. His mother continued to drone on about "how much she cares about Kyle" and "how worried she is" about him.
The car accelerated into a left turn that Kai was uncomfortably aware of.
Acceleration. Harsh stops. Left turns. Right turns. Unfortunately, Kai felt them all.
Less than 5 minutes into the ride, he already had a pounding headache.
"Just… I don't want your sister to grow up and think she can't talk to me either, you know? She's already so lonely… it hurts me to think about…"
10 minutes in, he began to rack his brain for the method to open the window, craving the cool breeze outside.
Thankfully, by the time he succeeded, his mother had given up on mothering him.
15 minutes into the ride, his head poking out the window, he began to vomit.
The car skidded to a stop, which only spurred another round of painful stomach cramping.
"Kyle, are you sick? Why didn't you tell me this morning? You should've stayed home! My god… I've raised a dumb one, haven't I…"
Thankfully his mother seemed to realize her driving was not great for his stomach, and the remaining duration of the ride was much smoother.
Upon arriving home, Kai yanked the door handle and practically threw his body out of the car, ready to be anywhere but in that god-forsaken metal box.
~~~~
Kai grabbed himself a glass of ice cold water and took a seat at the kitchen counter. His mother thankfully had to return to work, so he was blissfully alone.
He alternated between drinking and holding the cool glass against his forehead, which helped ease his nausea. Upon finishing the glass of water, he topped off the ice that had melted and continued to sip on the liquid.
One might think Kai continued to drink the water because he was thirsty, but that was not the case. After so long in the void, with his senses so starved, he could taste layers of flavor in the water.
The sharp coolness of ice cold water, the grittiness of the dust in the cup, a touch of metal from the natural minerals in the ground, a slight hint of the glass he was drinking from; these new experiences brought him pleasure.
This absence of nothing, the presence of something…
Is this what made life beautiful?
Contemplating upon these things, he watched the small bubbles and flecks of dust swirl around in his glass of water.
This past hour had been truly marvelous.
~~~~
Setting the empty glass by the sink, Kai was headed upstairs when a tiny, yet somehow incredibly loud voice exclaimed
"Brobroooooo!!!! You're hooooooooomeeee!!!!!"
Intending to ignore it, Kai began to climb the steps when he felt two tiny arms wrap around his waist.
The force at which the child had flung herself at him caused him to stumble a bit.
Thankfully, he managed to catch the railing in time, but was still pretty miffed by the small child who was now clinging to his waist.
He attempted to continue to climb the steps, but Kai was about to discover the true power small children held.
By the time he had reached the third step, he had given up on reaching the top.
He rotated himself so the girl was in front of him, and sat down.
She yelped, as if Kai had sat on her instead.
He started to get up when she grabbed his hand and asked
"BroBro, can you give me a piggy back rideee!? Pleeeaaase!?
Kai stared at her blankly, which she apparently took as a cue to continue.
"I know I'm heavy now, so I skipped breakfast this morning! Don't tell mom though because she thinks I ate it."
"Hannah, I'm really not feeling great. Today was bad, so I'm gonna go to bed now."
His response did not help the situation.
"Ky, are you okay!? You've never said you felt bad before! Do you want a hug!? Cmon I'll give you a hug."
Without an ounce of humor in his voice, Kai responded with one word.
"No."
"Pleeeeaaase?? I want you to feel better! I love you brobro!"
Unwilling to deal with the child any further, Kai stood up and headed to his bedroom, accompanied by what he thought was the loudest, most indignant human to ever exist… until he slammed the door right in her face.
Her tears afterwards were annoying, but with the help of a pillow around his ears, he was able to tune out the noise and get to the next curiosity of this world.
The internet.
~~~~
Logan cursed as he ran into another red light.
'Of course the night I hit all the red lights is the night I ask Ashleighe out to a fancy restaurant. Of course it's tonight I get caught in traffic!'
The light turned green. When the car in front of him did not accelerate, Logan slammed on his horn in frustration.
}HOOOONK{
'Ah… maybe I overreacted a bit.'
Logan drove off, continuing to ignore the fact that he did not usually drive in rush hour traffic, excited to pick up his girl. He had worked hard to earn them this date. With a busy life of football and honors classes, it was nearly impossible for him to find time for himself.
But for Ashleighe, Logan made it work.
He pulled up to her house and put his car in park before sending her a text. Pulling out his key, he exited his car and walked around the corner to the front door just in time to see his wonderful girlfriend stepping outside.
"Hello M'lady." Logan attempted to say this in a sultry voice, but it just ended up sounding dumb. He nearly stopped mid-bow, but decided to see this cringe through, if only to play it off as intentional. Plus, the pose hid the embarassment apparent on his face.
Ashleighe giggled, and the color of Logan's flushed cheeks intensified.
'What am I even doing right now!?'
Unable to lengthen the face-saving bow any further, he stood back up and clasped his girl's hand, leading her to the car.
He held the car door open with a wide grin. "Who says chivalry is dead?"
Ashleighe shot him a glance.
"It's dead if you only use it to prove a point, babe. That's how this stuff works."
Logan failed to stifle an unexpected laugh.
He attempted to climb gracefully into his car, but failed.
He leaned in to kiss Ashleighe in an attempt to buy some time to recollect himself, but that ended up being a mistake.
10 minutes later, the car rolled out of the driveway and off to a lovely meal.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Teddy_910
Teddy_910 Wow... I totally thought we'd get further along the plot than we did in 900-some words! I am aiming for 1k+ words a day, so I might release ch 4 tonight, or just stockpile it because I start a new job tomorrow. Which is cool, but also time consuming. Adulting is hard.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and go have a great day or else. <3
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