For the love of your god, no one wants to kidnap an overweight white brat who’d rather steal from them and buy nachos.”

Kassy and annoying ass spell the same and I can see why.

“Firstly,” Kass raised her finger, pointing at me, “don’t call him fat. Secondly,” she folded her arms, leaning on the wall of our living room, “how busy were you with your dewy eye hoe?” She cooed, her closed-lip smile pushed her eyebrow up and my mood down.

“Don’t call him hoe you imbecile fucking turd.” I snapped.

“Then don’t call Andrew fat you incorrigible twat.”

 I shook my head, dismissing the conversation. It’s been two days since Eli and I talked in the park. As expected, my brain ran faster than light. The fleck of images--- him smiling, exasperating and his hand in mine, busted in the middle of the night, and rotten thoughts were put at bay for once. It was odd, as I had never thought of anything but how terrible I have become for the past couple of years. It was as if a ray of sunshine brushed the petals of a wilted sunflower. My brain had never registered a single happy moment in the past few years and I just continued digging deep in into the wound. I wanted the wound to stay. I felt if I didn’t do it, I’d even lose my nightmares that escaped from it and be lonely. Desperation made me seek solace in thoughts that never felt warmth. For the first time, it felt as if someone genuinely wants to seal the bleeding wound, and my mind wants to cooperate.

I can’t bother Eli on the pretext of “healing my mind”, right?

“How was the date?”

Kassy had jolted me out of my train of thoughts; she was already seated on the dining table with all the plates and spoons kept neatly. Our Mom likes it that way, but she acknowledges it only when I do it. Nonetheless, Kassy tries.

I pulled the chair and took my seat. “Terrible ‘cause it didn’t exist.” I straightened the table cloth like my face.

Kassy rested her chin in her hands, looking at me all dreamily, “Aww, that’s why you ghosted Andrew for two days, right?”

“Yes and of course,” I smiled wide, “Andrew is mad that why you’re still bothering me after two days.”

“He will be duh; he can’t digest the fact that he was the third wheel. He always gets the man.”

“First of all, tell him that the world doesn’t revolve around him, and secondly,” I took a sip of water from the glass that she kept on the table, “secondly, there needs to be a couple for a third wheel to exist.”

“Uh-huh, deny all you want, lovesick boy.”

“But we’re still looking for love,” We sang together and giggled.

Mum came from upstairs. She was about to enter the dining space when she saw pillows lying on the floor near the sofa, from her eagle-eyed peripheral vision. She heaved a sigh, glaring at us, before picking up the pillows.

“Yay, mum got a reason to feed me with a scolding,” Kassy whispered and I hit her arm.

“You kids never put the pillows up, I’ll make you wash them now,” Mum muttered under her breath and sat with us. Serving us with tonight’s dinner, she kept babbling about how she needs to end up in the good book of her senior at her office.

“Why isn’t Dada here, yet?” I asked as my eyes fell on the empty fourth chair.

“He called; he has another shift.” She slurped the soup rather loudly.

“You need to ask him to stop overworking,” Kassy frowned, the inner corners of her eyebrows popping up, “There’s no need to—”

“Well, looks like we have no money for Kal’s tuition fee after it went down the drain in the hospital. If you’re so worried about your Dada, you should’ve thought about us before embarrassing us.” Mum crinkled her nose as if the stench of Kassy’s past still chokes her.

“Mum, that’s not what she meant. She was just trying to comfort you.” I touch Mum’s hand, trying hard to transfer my calm, hoping it’ll work.

“You never supported your sister before,” Mum snapped, this time a stern visage of hers greeted me, “But I guess one failure needs the other's support for closure.” She rolled her eyes, brushing my hand off.

“Mum, Kal tried his best to score well, it’s not his fault that you’ll pay for restaurant bills to impress your boss than seek help for your son when he feels low. He still did his best—”

“Oh, you’ll tell me my son’s capacity? You think I distressed him? And what about you created havoc when you got all locked up with another man’s filth?”

“Mum!” I howled in shock, “We all know what she did, but please mind your language.”

“Look at my son asking me to—”

“STOP!” Kassy stood up, banging the dining table, “I know you’re making a fuss because we came late last night but will you stop already? What’s Kal got to do with all this? He’s our only hope and you’re pulling him down as you did to me.” Kassy was batting her lashes hard, letting her tears dry before they even came out. She’s her mother’s daughter, Mum has taught her to never cry.

“Well, you’re a usual disappointment, but what about Kal? Leaving Kassy with a stranger—"

“It was Alex—”

She raised her finger to silence me, “—and yourself returning home at questionable hours? If you picked up good habits and all your syllabus like you picked up bad habits, you would have been at a better place.”

“Mom, stop, if you had paid for better coaching services, he might have scored well.”

“Oh, as if we aren’t already paying well for both of you. We sent you to good schools, gave you everything you loved and now you’ll pay us back by talking back?”

The table cloth was pulled right in front me, Kassy pulling it with all her residual energy. The plate tumbled and clashed, breaking in front of us, in an unholy symphony. The splatters of red, 

yellow and green just painted the ugly picture of what was cooking up in the kitchen between us.

Mum gaped at Kassy, who was out of breath with her anger kissing her lungs.

“If you feel your children are liability and paying for the best services to the best of your abilities is a favour to us rather than a duty then don’t fucking give birth to children! We aren’t a part of your incompetence to feed us and make money.”

Next, I knew, I was following Kassy’s footsteps moving out of the house; I bid my Mum adieu with the door slamming on her face.

“You’re with Andrew?”

“Yes, and, where are you?”

“Um, somewhere safe.”

“That means Eli’s home. Call me when you feel like returning home.”

“You too.”

Kassy and I used to joke around about waking up in someone else’s bed when we were young. Strict curfew and controlling parents make you slip like sand in their palms. Little did we know that I had to wake up on Eli's rock cold mattress.

“So,” Alex folded his hands, as he paced through Eli’s guestroom, “you and Kass and a fight with your Mom and both of you ran away. I mean, you coming here makes sense but why didn’t she call me.” He frowned and sat beside me, creating creases by the depression on the bed.

“I am glad she is with someone safe,” I ran my fingers through my hands, “Wait, why does me coming here make sense?” I looked straight into his eyes.

“Dunno, you’ve gotten close to Eli for the past few weeks. You see, he never brings a glass of water for me, but he’s doing it for you, feel lucky.” He patted on my shoulder and hardened his smile.

Eli entered the room, with a tray in his hand. Keeping the tray on the desk, he gave me an open packet of cream crackers and a glass of water. I nodded in acknowledgement.

“So,” he sat/joysticked on the beanbag, “you’ve run outta your house and you’re gonna stay here?”

My mouth was too full to spit words without biscuit crumbs sticking to them, so I gestured Alex to explain everything. Once I had eaten, I interjected, “Only if you want or your parents allow you. I mean, I can’t crash your plane.”

“Huh,” Eli placed a finger on his forehead, thinking hard (or that’s what I think), “It depends on one thing.” He clasped his hands together, leaning towards me.

“What?” Alex asked before I could.

He breaks a smile, looking down and shaking his head, then looks up to me again, “You wanna go laser tagging in the middle of the night?”

It was a bad plan, I know. A place where you gotta place trust issues on your friends always end up with a screeching and occasionally broken relations.

Eli stood in line while Alex and I just stared around, more in awe than awkward silence. The neon lights kept hurting my eyes more than the darkness surrounding us. Groups of people were entering various halls, wearing some sort of vest and holding a laser gun. The loud music blurred my sense more than the drinks section nearby. The sizzling vats of oil and the smell of churros accompanying assaulted my tummy. I leaned on the padded wall, trying to take all in. The smell of cotton candy and cigarettes was another high I never wish I had tried.

“Don’t tell Kai that there’s cotton candy available. He’ll sell your kidneys for a cotton candy factory.” Alex whispered in my ears.

“How to play this game?” I asked.

“You see, as a professional Olympic champion of stealing lovely ladies’ hearts, I frankly don’t care about other sports. If they declared Among Us as an Olympic sport now, I’ll be down for some killing.”

“Are you ever serious?”

“No, Moony. Unlike you, I can’t change what I am once a month.”

“Was that a pun—”

“I got the tickets!” Eli jumped in, standing right in the middle of us and dragging us to the hall. His excitement was somersaulting on a trampoline. I wondered how he could navigate us in the dark when his smile was forcing his eyes shut.

“Kai, I understand your mitochondria are all charged up but you gotta tell me why we’re entering our future?” Alex asked.

“Our future?” Alex confuses me most of the time, not going to lie.

“Future ‘casue it’s dark?” Eli shook his head in disappointment and handed the tickets to the bouncer outside the hall. He gave us vests and laser guns. While we were wearing our ensemble, Eli explained with excruciating details.

“So,” Alex asked, “this is Among Us but in real life?”

“Exactly,” Eli replied, “We need to kill the opponents. The last one surviving wins.”

“I should’ve brought my enemies here, to practice killing them without criminal charges.” Alex pouted, then started to fiddle with his gun.

“But wait,” I had this sudden realisation, “but we can’t play this game with three people? We need an entire team?” I turned and looked at the partially darkened face of Eli, who still bore the smug smile like a badge.

“Don’t you think I have planned this already?” He asserted more than asked. The long strides he took towards the hall made us run fast to catch up with him. He was still babbling, “I had planned this already, you and Alex were only an addition. When you crashed my place, I thought it’ll be a good idea to bring cheer to your dreadful existence.” he turned and smiled, forcing me to do the same (not to mention awkwardly).

“What about me, though?” Alex questioned.

“Ah,” Eli sighed, “you’re just a quintessential third wheel who tags along.” Eli turned a winked at me, before disappearing into the dark.

~~~

Word Count: 2022

I am so sorry, I had written 1800 words 3 days ago but Among Us caught me up😭. The fact that I don't like writing in the morning also doesn't present an opportunity for future and faster updates. 30k deep, imma finish this baby up. I hope you guys are safe and sound and I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.
Also, a shoutout to @arodynamics /nana cause they're an inspiration and a great friend and I wanted to congratulate them for what they've achieved through perseverance and tad bit of procrastination. Please go read "la luz de mi vida" and make it 100k reads by the end of the year.

Ok bye!