Imani was just supposed to make sure that the lost dog got home safely, come back, and pretend like the mere thought of the owner with doe eyes and an armful of tattoos didn't make her question her entire belief system. Sounds simple enough...right...
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It's already been a few days when Kaia and I finally manage to make time to meet in person.
She had been swamped with work and I, like the rest of the band, had stayed home to take care of stuff after Sean had announced that now that his sister was off to University and capable of fending for herself since she was out of that house, he was going to cut things off with his family.
We had more than enough faith in his determination, but if there was anything we had learned over the past few years about his family, it was to never, ever trust them.
And in all honesty, I also personally wanted to watch out for how Sean was coping. For me, dealing with his parents had always seemed easier. Because I couldn't care less about them. If they arrived at our doorstep one day, I know that out of everything, our biggest problem would be how to liberate them out of my chokehold.
When there had been no sign of them or their phone calls for three days straight, and Sean didn't seem affected in the slightest, we'd (unfortunately. For me) finally let our attention deviate.
"Do you have any clue what Kaia might have to say?" Juni had started the conversation by being the first one to ask, their voice unnecessarily ominous and their brows raised dramatically. They eyed everyone in the room and stopped at Sean by the single couch, who was reading a magazine column that suspiciously looks like mine.
He glanced up when he felt eyes on himself and obviously, said, "Don't involve me in this." Then he looked back down, and added, "Not that you ever listen to me, but you should really keep your nose out of this one."
"Nah," Juni announced and then leaned back on the couch. I rolled my eyes, aware that they weren't going to let this go until they had their fun. "Lay. Theories?"
I threw my hands in the air and laid flat on the carpet. "This is ridiculous."
"Person whose guess comes the closest to what Kaia says, gets twenty dollars from everyone in this room," they added, and then met Sean's eyes. Or, well, his death glare. "Minus Sean. Haha. Obviously."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"And me," I interjected, following the patterns on the ceiling with my eyes. "I'm not betting on my potential significant other."
"Chickenshit." Juni tossed one of the couch pillows at me, but I just grabbed it and put it under my head. "Lay? Ved? Come on."
"Maybe she's a serial killer and Imani is her next victim," Ved joked, and I scoffed. "If you think about it, maybe that's why her house is so big." He lowered his voice into a whispered hiss. "It's full of secrets."
"Oh, fuck off," I said, but not without a laugh.
"She's a princess living away from her kingdom to avoid marriage with a man she does not love," Layla said, her voice so serious that I had to raise my head to give her a look. The corners of her lips began to tremble the harder I stared at her, so I smacked her on the arm and laid back down.
