Our indelible pasts|✔

seventy one - kiana

WHEN I REACH the door, I press the doorbell and wait for someone to open it.

"Oh, hey Kiana. I didn't know you were coming." Bryson greets when he opens the door.

"Hey. I told Noah I'd drop bye. Promised him a round of COD." I say as I walk in.

"He's not here yet but we can play before he gets here."

"You want to get an ass whooping?" I laugh as I move to turn on the game console.

"I am the king of call of duty." Bryson says. "I bet I'll carry you the entire game."

I smirk at Bryson. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." He says as he catches the controller I throw at him.

"Well, I'll have you know, every time I play with Noah and Mason, I carry the entire squad." I confidently tell him. "I'll carry this game too."

"You want to bet?"

"Yup." I say, a confident smile on my face as I plop down next to him on the sofa facing the TV.

"I'm dead!" Thirty minutes later, Bryson shouts, again.

I raise my eyebrows in shock.

"Again?" I ask as I swiftly take down one of the last few standing opponents.

"I just have really bad luck today." Bryson says and I burst out laughing.

"Yeah, let's call it bad luck." I tease.

When we quiet down, I remember something. "By the way, I uh...I heard about you and Sandra. I'm sorry about what happened, must have been rough."

"Yeah, but it is what it is. Just got to move on, you know?"

"Yeah. You'll be alright. But I hope you know you didn't deserve that." I say, keeping my eyes on the game.

"I try to tell myself that every day." He says and I feel saddened for him. "Thanks, by the way."

"No problem." I smile. "I got him...I got him..." I tell myself as I close down on the last opponent.

"You got him!" Bryson shouts when I shoot him down, winning our squad the game.

"I should have put money on it." I shake my head as I set the controller down.

"I'm glad you didn't." Bryson laughs, reminiscing on his terrible game.

"Honey, I'm home!" Mason shouts and I turn my head to see him and Noah walk in.

I laugh at Mason's grand entrance. "Hey guys."

"What's going on here?" Mason asks as he makes his way to us. "Hold on. Bryson, my man, my good friend. You played with Kiana?" Mason asks, and I can sense a laugh dancing at the tip of his tongue.

"Yeah." Bryson sighs.

"How did that go?" Noah smiles.

"She won us the game, that's all I'll say." Bryson says and the rest of us laugh.

"That's all you have to say. I don't know anyone better at COD than her." Mason says and I smile, allowing him to further inflate my ego.

"But you can beat her at practically any other game." Noah points out and I shoot him a glare.

"Yeah, she's shitty at everything else." Mason chuckles.

"You're good at COD but bad at everything else?" Bryson asks, in expected shock.

"I'm not...bad, I'm just not the best." I roll my eyes.

"That's weird." Bryson says.

"Extremely." Mason agrees.

"I hate you guys." I shake my head, a small smile on my face.

"Let me get out of these and come play." Noah gestures at his outfit before disappearing into his room.

"I'm not playing with you. Unless it's anything but COD." Mason says as he heads to his room.

"I hate you, Mason!" I shout through the apartment.

"I have to play you in FIFA." Bryson says from beside me and I roll my eyes.

"That's never going to happen." I laugh. "I'm too cocky to put myself in a losing situation."

"How did that happen though? You being good at COD, and bad at everything else?" A curious Bryson asks as he fiddles with the controller in his hand.

"I had this crazy obsession with beating Noah at any combat games cause he's always been really good at them so I just started playing games like that every day, trying to get better." I chuckle. "The other type of games I rarely played."

"You like winning too much." Bryson shakes his head.

"Winning was my mojo back in middle school and high school." I explain. "I used to get really mad when I'd lose. My parents actually had me go to anger management classes because of it for a year."

"Did the classes work?" Laughing, Bryson asks.

"Not really. I give all the credit to myself. Those classes didn't help me for shit because I barely used to say anything in them or better yet pay attention."

"Kiana was really stubborn." Noah says as he walks in, pulling my favourite hoodie of his over his head. I remember buying it for his last birthday and instantly regretting that I didn't get it for myself instead.

"Key word being 'was." I smile.

"That's debatable." Noah says as he sits with us.

"Here." Bryson chucks him the controller which Noah catches with ease, as I set up the game.

"Guys, brace yourselves to see the queen in action again." I boast and Noah throws a pillow at me.

"Get over yourself." Noah laughs.