By that Friday, my cast was off. It felt weird to have full control of my toes again, and I kept flexing my foot to see if it could still pivot. Jamie’s friend had been right about the hair growth. Longer, darker hair covered the skin that had been under the plaster. He didn’t let me hear the end of it, as he gloated in my face. He also made me swear I was secretly a werewolf, and only let me shave the hair off after he’d run his pudgy fingers through it. 

Dinner that night went as expected. Forks clicked against plates as we worked on whatever disaster was on the menu—a chicken and rice casserole, topped with vegan cheese. It wasn’t as bad as most of my mother’s handiwork, and I got in a few spoonfuls before my jaw grew tired of munching on pieces of undercooked rice. 

It was only at the very end, when I was leaving the table, that Adam addressed the elephant in the room. 

He cleared his throat, making me pause. “How’s it feel now that the cast is off?” 

“Eh... Good, I guess.” I froze in mid-air, not knowing whether to sit back down or to stand up. It would have been an easier choice if he’d gone to the point instead of maneuvering around it. 

“Will you be taking Jamie to school, or should I call the driver?” There it was. And he didn’t even bother to mention Sam. I stood. 

“I might be late some days, because of the paper, so it’ll be a good idea to call him.” 

He nodded firmly, wiping off his lips with a napkin. “All right. Martha’s back, so you don’t have to do whatever you were doing in the kitchen.” 

“What? Cook?” I raised my eyebrows, hoping the feigned surprise concealed the sarcasm laced underneath my tone. “I didn’t know feeding myself was such a crime. Or that I was so bad at it, you’d prefer I’d splurge on takeout.” 

“That’s not what I meant, and you know that.” His voice was eerily calm, but the way he looked at me was harsh enough to have me look away. And leave without saying whatever sat heavy on my chest. 

I stayed on the phone with Adrián that night, and we made plans for Saturday. The finals of the swimming championship ended at 2pm, and we agreed to meet after that. 

It was barely sunrise Micky when pulled up in front of my house. As per the routine now, he and Jamie greeted each other with fist and hip bumps, both of them grinning from ear to ear. 

“Good luck today!” my brother squealed, hugging Micky. 

Micky looked at me, shaking his head. “You told him?” 

“Why not?” 

“I didn’t know he was coming to watch, though?” 

“He’s not,” I said. “We’re taking him to Mia’s house. Our parents are going on a trip, and I can’t leave him by himself.” I’d gotten Mia’s address from her brother the first time we’d ran into each other at the school. His name was Antoine, he was in his early twenties, and he was actually her cousin and not her brother. 

Jamie, who had settled on the backseat, pushed forward as far as the seatbelt could allow, and nodded with enthusiasm. Micky ruffled his hair before turning on the ignition. 

“I see. Sorry for picking you up this early. I’m trying to see if I can get a couple of laps in before it starts.” 

“It’s fine. I need to work on the layout of the website and put in the articles for Monday,” I assured. “You haven’t submitted yours, but the way.” 

“I know, I know. I’ve written it; I just need time to polish it.” Micky sighed audibly, biting his lip. He looked worried, despite his cool composure. After a longer look at him, I realised he was anything but ‘cool.’ Dark lines ran under his eyes, and his leg bounced softly. As he rounded a curve, I caught sight of his chewed-down nails. 

“You shouldn’t be nervous. I’ve seen you practice. You’re pretty fast.” 

“Thanks. I’m trying not to be, but Kai... he’s part fish, I swear. Been trying so hard to beat his time at the swim meet, but it’s practically impossible.” He hung his head, hitting the steering wheel several times. “I need to win this thing. This is my last chance to impress college scouts, and I can’t lose, Parker. I really can’t.” 

It took a while to find the right words. “Well, if it doesn’t work out, you still have the paper as back up. I’ll put in a good word for you with Mr Dimas, for your recommendation letter.” 

“What do you want in return?” he glanced at me, eyes widened in desperation. 

I shook my head. “Nothing.” 

“Really? This is the last day of my job as your chauffeur, since you’re finally free of that thing,” he laughed. “You didn’t even want me around, and now you’re offering help? For nothing?” 

“You make Jamie happy. That’s more than enough reason to help.” 

Banners had sprung up along the hallways, all displaying ‘Go Team,’ and sporting the school mascot—a Dolphin. Each one Micky saw made him recoil a bit, instead of pushing his chest out. This was really stressing him out. 

A bunch of his teammates spotted him, and they raised a cheer, which soon fell into chest bumps, more hollering, and butt grabs. 

Micky shrugged, raking a hand through his hair as he shook the nerves free. “Duty calls.” He saluted me, giving me a tight smile. 

“I’ll be in the newsroom,” I said, adding, “You’ll do great!” 

Time passed too quickly, and it was nearly 10am when I finished setting up the new layout for the homepage. I leaned back in my chair, trying to loosen the knot that had formed because of sitting still for too long. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the door handle turn slowly, before hearing the creak as it fell back. Since no one else knew I was in here, I assumed it was Micky. 

“Micky, are you bringing the—“ 

I was wrong. The figure had a slightly taller build, made even bigger with the oversized hoodie shrouding it. 

“Finally! I’ve looked everywhere.” Hands pulled down on the hoodie, revealing Kai’s face. “You’re awfully hard to find.” 

“Hi, Kai.” 

“Hey.” He looked around as he walked forward, eyes flitting over every single detail. “Your newsroom is impressive. Not a dump like West Dale’s.” 

“Mm,” I hummed. “You’re not supposed to be in here, though.” 

He shrugged. “I wanted to remind you to come watch me beat Micky’s ass in the competition. In case you forgot.” 

“You mean watch Micky beat your ass? Sure. I just need to finish some edits.” 

“Oh?” He stood next to my desk, looking over the laptop’s screen. “Looks awesome.” 

Just as I opened my mouth to reply, the door gave way to reveal another person. A more familiar one, this time. 

“Micheal, you’re not supposed to be in here,” Kai said, repeating my words. When I looked up at him, he met my eyes with a smile and a wink. 

Micky, however, frowned immediately as he recognised Kai’s voice, throwing darts at him with his eyes. “I’m a reporter. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Can’t say that same for you, Bunny,” he huffed. “The pool’s out there.” 

“Sounds like you’re forfeiting the championship? Interesting.” Kai said, “You’re a lot of things, Michael, but I never pinned you as a quitter.” 

“You’d love that, won’t you? Too bad you won’t know what drowned you when I get the gold medal.” 

“You two are terrible at flirting. Just kiss already,” I said, shutting the laptop. When I looked up, Micky had turned red, right up to his ears, and Kai’s gaze was challenging. “What?” I asked. 

“That wasn’t flirting, trust me.” 

Micky pretended not to have heard either mine or Kai’s comments. “I finished it. I needed a distraction, so I took it up again.” He handed me a folder. 

Through the clear cover, Kai read the title on the paper inside. “Rivalries in Sports: A Northwood History.” His lips turned up in a teasing grin. “Aw, you wrote about us. You should have let me know you were putting up our love story for the world to see.” 

Instead of Micky coming up with another quip, he paled. Kind of like he looked in the morning, but he looked more embarrassed than worried. 

Without a word, he spun around and left the room. 

Kai cocked his head towards the door. “Now, that is flirting. I even got him speechless, which is an achievement because he doesn’t shut up.” 

“I’m really looking forward to Micky beating you now.” 

Kai smiled wider. “The battlefield waits.”

~~
Some more Kai for y'all!

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