alive

eight

Kai

I woke up to Kate, asleep a couple inches away from me with her back facing me. I didn't want to wake her up, so I left the room as quietly as possible. I check the time on the stove, 7:00AM. I let out a sigh and looked out the front sliding doors. Ace is usually up around this time, but I couldn't see him. I check his room, empty. I peeked into every room and they were all empty until I reached Arden's, there lied Ace, shirtless next to Arden. I quickly shut the door and smiled widely. I don't know why seeing my brother and best friend together made me feel so happy. I shouldn't read into it, they could just be sharing the bed, but still. I bite down on my lip to contain my smile and walk out the front door.

"Good morning," I mumbled to my cat who followed me outside and sat on my lap as soon as I sat down on the grass patch in front of the stream. She meows softly while rubbing her nose on my knuckle. I enjoyed being on my own, the sound of birds chirping, the breeze blowing into the trees, the water flowing from the stream, and Kaia's purring. Kaia starts licking my hand, I pull my hand away and scratch her head. "Good morning," An unfamiliar voice comes from behind me. "What the hell," I jump up and throw my fists before looking at who it was. "What the hell me? What the hell you!" A girl with purple hair says, putting a hand on her cheek. "You can't just walk up behind someone like that!" I shout, watching Kaia rub her face against the girl's calf.

"Clearly," she frowns, rubbing the cheek I hit. "Why did you come from the back of the cabin?" I ask, letting out a sigh. "I live down the path behind the bushes," she says, finally taking her hand off her cheek. She looked a couple years younger than me, Korean, big blue eyes and light skin. "I'm Vivian," she flashes a big smile before putting her hand out. "Kai," I shake her hand, she looks about four inches shorter than me. "You look like the guy that lives here," she furrowed her eyebrows. "Is he tall, buff, doesn't smile?" I ask, she laughs and nods. "Yeah, he's my brother, Ace," I say. She crouches down and pets Kaia. "Kai and Ace, hmm. Cool names," she mumbles. "How old are you?" I ask, she tucks her bright hair behind her ear. "I turn fifteen tomorrow," she stands back up. "I'm nineteen," I say, picking up Kaia from the ground. I heard the front door open and found Ace walking outside while putting a shirt on.

Ace walks over to us with a sigh, looking down at the young girl. "What are you doing here?" He asks, checking his watch. She looks up at him and sighs, "I saw another truck, so I waited until someone came out to say hi," She smiles and looks back at me. "Are you guys twins?" she asks, she talks a lot. "No, he's five years older than me," I say with a smile, her mouth drops. "You're so old," she gasps and Ace chuckles. "I thought you were like twenty, nope, guess not. You're an old man," She teases with a big smile. It was odd how every time she smiled, it caused me to smile, even if she didn't say anything funny, her smile was so contagious. "I have to go now, we're going to the lake," she grins before running off behind the bushes at the back of our cabin.

"That sounds fun," I mumble, petting Kaia who was in my arms. There's a big lake about an hour from here, my family always went to it when we visited the cabin. "We should go sometime," I look up at Ace, he shrugs. "I don't see why not, we don't have training for the weekend," he says, I couldn't hide my huge smile. I peck his cheek. "I'm going to ask my parents if I can go with you instead," Vivian appears out of nowhere, Ace and I both furrow our eyebrows at each other. "Oh, just a warning, every time I say that I'm leaving, I never leave," She smiles. "Can you come with me to convince my mom to go with you guys?" She asks, grabbing my arm. I look at Ace. "I-I um, I'm not great with parents," I look back at the girl. "My mom loves everyone, don't worry."

It seems like I don't have a choice, so I decide to walk with her. We walked down a rock path behind the bushes and about five minutes later we arrived at a gorgeous, modern two story cabin that was hidden by tall trees, it looked expensive. She opened the door and ran upstairs, dragging me along with her. "Mom," she yells and a familiar woman with hazelnut skin appears in the upstairs hallway. "Jasmine?" I ask, pulling her into a hug. "Vivian is your daughter?" I ask and Jasmine laughs. "Unfortunately, yes," she slides her hands through her daughters hair. I was surprised at the fact that she had a husband, let alone a kid. "Kai and that one guy are going to the lake, since you're working, and dad doesn't feel well, can I go with them instead?" She asks, reaching for her mom's hand. "Of course. I adore Kai," Jasmine says, tucking her curly hair behind her ear. "Who's all going to be there?" She asks, I sigh. "Me, Ace, Arden, Felix- you met her the other day, Kate- she's Arden's other sister, and Gus- well, you remember him," I say, Jasmine gives an approving nod and watches as Vivian runs to a room a couple doors down.