My Family

Chapter 2

Kipo sat in her dark, room letting her fur out, then putting it back in. She ran her fingers over her pinkish fur. Gently rubbing back and forth. So soft. She put the fur away studying her arm. Kipo has a scar from when she first discovered her unique genes. Three gashes, lined together, going across her arm. She freaked out and clawed herself. Luckily the school just thought it happened when she broke the sink. She traced the scars with her fingers. The cuts were deep, so she needed stitches, and she had to wear a sling for two weeks as it healed.

"Hey, dinner ready!" Song's voice carried out through the house. Kipo jumped from her bed and rushed downstairs. She wasn't paying attention and slammed into something and fell to her butt.

"You must pay attention to where you're going." A deep, but the delicate voice spoke. Kipo looked up at the older boy and smiled.

"Sorry Hugo," she said.

"It's quite alright," Hugo said reaching out for his little sister's hand. Kipo accepted. Hugo is two years older than her and still attends their last school.

He looks human enough. Has spiky brown hair, amber-brown eyes, and burly tan skin. But he is also a genetic experiment. He was put through the same experiment as Kipo, but after he was born, not before. Song and Lio "adopted" him from the lab when they found out he was being tortured. She was just born when he was adopted. Kipo's heart ached at that thought.

"We best be going to eat," Hugo said leading the younger Oak into the kitchen and dining room. They all sat at the table eating fish, chicken, and beef tacos. It was Taco Tuesday after all. They always have Taco Tuesday on the first Tuesday of the month, and a subsequent music night every week.

Listening to music as they ate, then Hugo would adapt his stage persona Scarlamane and play the grand piano that sits in the living room. Afterward, they'd start a bonfire and sing songs as they ate dessert. Which was normally some variation of Ice-cream.

Kipo loved guitar, but she could play anything she put her mind to. She has a bass guitar in her room, as well as an acoustic guitar. She even has a ukulele hanging on her wall she plays sometimes. Kipo also plays duets on the Piano with her brother or drums with her mom. Her father has the same love of string instruments as she does.

Her oldest friends use to joke that her family could be a band. Kipo thought this Idea was funny. No. Her family would never be in a band. Their music was for them and them only. If someone happened to hear then so be it. They didn't care.

"How is everyone?" Kipo spoke gently looking at her brother. Hugo smiled and pulled a note from his pocket.

"They are none-stop bugging me about you, but here." He said giving her the paper with a small wink. Kipo took it and opened the neatly folded paper. Inside were three names and a small note beside them.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"That Asher friend of yours was the most annoying," Hugo said. Kipo lightly chuckled remembering how protective the said friend is.

Whenever Kipo was being teased the two Berdacs siblings would be there ready to bash someone's face in. Dahlia more than Asher. Asher is more of a comforting person, and Dahlia is an action-taker. Troy,- her other friend- is good with conflict, He talks Dahlia down from attacking and delegates the situation. Kipo is the one who brings everyone to an understanding and makes compromises. That's just how they work. Everyone has a role to play.

She put the note in her pocket.
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The night was carried out like always. Scarlamen called Kipo up for a duet tonight. Hugo played the harsher and more complex notes, and Kipo played the higher-pitched melody that made the rough sounds from Hugo's part sound like a transcendent dream.

Everyone took turns playing their chosen instrument. For the love birds, it was the classic guitar. Kipo decided to dust off her ukelele for a finalè to the night.
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Once everyone said goodnight, Kipo went up to her room. It was a basic room. The pastel pink on her walls never changed from when she was a baby. Her bedding is a baby blue camo. She has a dog bed right by the foot of her bed, but it was never used. Mandu,- her pet pig- always slept on her bed with her. Kipo just couldn't say no to her big pure eyes. Mandu is special for a pig. She has a big blue birthmark on her rump. A sharp contrast to her greyish-brown fur, and she is heterochromatic. One black eye, and one blue eye. (She also has a fascination with cheese.)

Mandu has a homemade ramp that sits on the foot end of Kipo's bed, so she can get up and down as she pleases. Since she's too small to do it herself. In most ways, Mandu is more of a dog than a pig. The main difference is the daily bathing because Mandu likes to cover herself in mud or cheese.

Kipo changed into her 'bathing Madu™'. clothes and made her way to the back door. She picked up the mud-covered creature and carried her into the bathroom. Mandu loves baths, she squealed excitedly as soon as the bathroom door opened. The excited boar squirmed in the girl's arms.

"Calm down Mandu," Kipo said as she sat the pig in the tub and started the water.

Mandu instantly started stamping in the puddle. Splashing the poor girl. Kipo laughed, the same way she always did, and started cleaning the pig.

Kipo carefully scrubbed Mandu dry with her towel then finished the job with the hairdryer on warm. Once Mandu was all clean she let the boar out of the bathroom and started cleaning up the mess. Taking a quick shower herself.
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Kipo went up to her room and smiled at Mandu who was laying on her bed. She grabbed her phone snapped a picture, then sent it to her friends through the group chat she hadn't been on since she left the old school. Kipo threw her phone on the bed and started dressing in her fluffy pajamas.

The phone buzzed right beside Mandu... and she freaked out. Squealing as she jump to her tinny hoofs and rushed down the ramp. Kipo held in a laugh grabbing the thing that scared the pig so much. She received several texts from her friends. Some about Mandu, the rest asking her too many questions to answer.

Kipo hasn't talked to her friends since the accident at all. Too afraid, they'd hate her now. They tried to talk to her for the first week but decided to give her space. Kipo knew she has a lot of explaining to do. Her eyes glanced down at the most prominent texts.

'What happened in the bathroom?'
'I saw the damage it was bad'
'We just want to know you're okay'

She knew who each text was from without even looking at the names.

'I'm fine, and I don't remember a lot of it. I sorta blacked out.'

It was a lie. She remembers everything about that day, but her friends can't know the truth. At least not yet. They didn't like the answer but decided to let it be and move on to other things. The four of them have been friends since elementary school. Kipo knew they wouldn't betray her for what she is, But the nagging in her head telling her they will is too intense for her to ignore.

The clocked tick to ten as Kipo started the round of good-byes. She turned off her phone and rolled over to cuddle Mandu into her chest. Her phone lightly buzzed.

'I'm here if you need to talk'.

A single text flashed onto her phone privately from one of her friends. She smiled and texted back.

'I know

Kipo turned off her phone again this time putting it on the charger. Pulling herself closer to Mandu. Peacefully falling asleep.