Free Kendall

Chapter 13

Chapter 13
Kissing?

Kendall's POV
Tw: Short Makeout scene

Ari's face tilts towards me, and they kiss me.
My eyes widen even more than they had been, and I lean into the kiss, pulling Ari closer to me.

Their lips are so soft and I have melted against them.

Ari wraps their arms around my waist, and I wrap my arms around their neck, kissing them more hungrily.
They make a little noise against my lips, making me shiver slightly.
They kiss me again and again until I whisper their name.

"Ari-"

Ari's eyes watch me, and they break off the kiss slowly and untangle me.
They smirk lazily, and a piece of hair rolls in front of their eye.
I reach out and tuck it back, and Ari raises their laser tag gun and squeezes the trigger.

My eyes widen, and I realise that they've shot me and gotten me out completely.

Ari winks casually and runs off before I can say something.
I'm utterly confused, just standing in an alcove with a dazed expression on my face.
What the heck just happened?

***

I hop in the van, sitting in the way back next to Tate and Jonas.
The two of them are obliviously flirting, and I think every other person in this car can tell.
But I'm still sort of processing what had happened during laser tag.

Did Ari kiss me on purpose just to tag me out?
Did Ari want to kiss me? If so, why did they tag me out?
My mind swirls with all these unanswered questions.

I press my hands to my head, massaging it to relieve the stress, just like my Nana taught me.

"Are you okay Kendall?" Rayssa asks from the front.
I nod.

The rest of the car ride is quiet until Quinn changes the radio station, and Christmas music starts playing.
Quinn immediately switches it off with a harsh swear coming from xyr lips.
"It's not even Thanksgiving yet!" Xe yells at the car radio.

I chuckle along with Nik.

"Well, the Christmas season is soon," Tate replies in a sing-song voice.
"And Thanksgiving is next week," Ari adds.
"Already!?" Diana asks.

Ari nods.
"Our annual two-day skip fest is soon too."
Hazel laughs.
"You're always excited about that, aren't you?"

"Of course!"

"What's this event?" Rayssa asks, curious.
Collective groans come from The Gays.
I raise an eyebrow, very curious now.

"It's every year," Ari begins, deliberately not looking at me. "And we always have two days of school the week of Thanksgiving, which are completely b.s because we never learn anything. So a few years ago, Nik and I started the tradition of skipping those school days and having fun."

"What do you do on these days?" Tate asks, intrigued.

"Well," Jonas replies. "Day one, we all wake up early and drive to Battleground Park and walk around, then once the Science Centre opens, we go and see the animals using Diana's grandmothers' membership card."
Diana giggles.
"Then we go out to eat, go back to Ari's house, and clean up."

"And Day 2 consists of?" Quinn asks.

"Well," Nik says, chuckling. "We all sleepover from Day one, and Ari's dad makes breakfast. Then we spend the rest of the day playing games, binging Hulu, whatever you name it."

Everyone claps dramatically, and I see Ari smile.
Ari turns, catching me in the act of watching them, and I look down quickly my face flushing.

~

We drop everyone off, and I am second to last.

I wave goodbye, and I'm about to walk into my driveway when Nik calls "Wait, Kendall!"
I pause, and he walks over to me.

"What can I help you with?" I ask.
He sighs and runs a hand through his blond hair.
"Do you like Ari?"

I freeze involuntarily, my face flushing.
"I-i don't know my feelings exactly at this moment."

Nik nods.
"Well, they're like my little sibling to me, and I will personally hurt anyone who messes with them. Please, if you intend to show your feelings to them, don't break their heart. They've gone through enough shit as it is."

I nod.
"I would never hurt them."

He smiles.
"I know you won't, but you never know what could happen."

He runs back to the car and they drive off.
I stand there in the driveway, confused and wondering what the heck I could do.

The front door bangs open.
"Is that you K?" Rainne asks.
"Yep!" I reply, turning and walking up the driveway.

I climb the front steps and she wraps her tiny arms around my waist, hugging me.
"I missed you," She mutters.
"I missed you too," I say, and we walk inside.

"How was bowling?" Nary calls from their office.
"It was good!" I yell back, and I take off my shoes and throw them into the pile of shoes.
"Did you win?" Dad asks from the couch, playing our family in the Sims.

Rainne plops on the couch next to Dad, grabbing her controller and resuming as herself.

"Yeah," I reply, making my tone on the highest sarcasm level.
Rainne giggles.
"So you lost."

I flick her in the head and she swats her hand at me.
Dad and Rainne continue their game, and I climb up the stairs to my room.
I put the stuff away, sitting on my bed.

What did Ari mean by that kiss? I wonder. Do they have feelings for me? Did they kiss me because they wanted to kiss me?

I shift my hands through my hair, going through all these thoughts.
One name goes through my mind for getting help.
Sel.

He'll know what to do. Definitely.
I pull up my phone, scroll through Discord to see if he's online.
The green button on his status is lit.
Perfect.

I press the call button, and the Discord noises start.

"Hey Palmer," a voice says as Sel answers the call.
I do a mental hallelujah.

"Hey, Sel," I reply. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing good, mate. What about you?"
"I'm doing okay. Do you have time to help me sort through some things?"

He yells at someone to close the door and then responds with a yes.

"Okay, great. Let me tell you about what happened earlier."