Broken Souls Don't Cry

Chapter 4

Kai

Fall semester was rapidly approaching. Thankfully, his parent's had made a sizeable contribution to the school he chose so he could get in after the application deadline. Kai had all his books for his classes and most of his credits had transferred over. The move had been fairly easy, and his parents had a condo here in Colorado already that they said he could use for the year. One of his friends was going to room with Kai as they both finished out their last year.

Andrew, or as most people called him, AJ, had met Kai at a comic convention several years ago and had bonded during a video game competition they each took part in. AJ had won their round, but they had had so much fun that they became friends and would frequently play games together when they had the time.

Kai was grateful to be several states away from his parents. He knew he needed to make a more long-term plan with this arrangement with his parents. He was stuck with doing the internship but had to find a way out after it ended. He also needed to figure out how to get out from his parents' control.

Kai needed a job so he could start saving. AJ had given him a few leads with local IT companies, and he had a few interviews setup for the next couple days. His first interview was in an hour and Kai was almost ready to head out.

He found AJ in the kitchen making a cup of coffee. "What's up?" Kai greeted him.

"I'm about to head off to work, it's my friend's day off and those are the days I get to do her job". Kai nodded. AJ had told him a little about the people he worked with and the things he did at the animal shelter. AJ usually worked the reception desk and tended to the animals kept in the lobby. He didn't do a lot of behind-the-scenes work. He handed Kai a cup of the nectar and headed out the door. "Goodluck with your interviews today"

"Thanks, I'll need it" Kai nodded.

AJ was a good guy, a bit quirky at times, but that's what made him a great friend. Kai didn't have many of those anymore. He had been the popular guy in high school, the guy every girl wanted to date. The star basketball player. When he went off to college, he lost touch with most of his "friends", the only one who he kept in contact with was Kyle, but even then, barely. They were both busy with school, Kyle had gone to Yale for a degree in law, while Kai had gone to Stanford, opposite sides of the country.

Kyle would often play the field and had a new girl every weekend, he'd sex them up and turn them out. As the saying went, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am. Just like in high school. Kyle hadn't changed much, and Kai doubted he would ever settle down. AJ on the other hand, never brought a girl home and was too busy to date. It made things nice for their living arrangements, Kai didn't have to turn girls out the morning after anymore.

Kai loved sex himself, but after a few worthless flings during and after high school, he wanted something more. Something tangible and real than meaningless sex. He had lost his virginity at age 15 with a girl two years his senior. Girls were always clamoring to be his arm candy, but he had yet to find anyone that he felt he could have a lasting relationship with.

After finishing his cup of coffee, he grabbed his keys and headed out to the interview. Kai could feel the nerves starting to build during his drive and his leg was bouncing for most of the drive. He'd never had a real job before, but he hoped that what he lacked in experience he could make up for with his knowledge of computers.

Mountains loomed before him while he drove. He rather liked the look of the Rockies and found it easier to know which way was what. Yeah, there were mountains in California but most days you could barely see anything due to the poor air quality.

He pulled up to the building and headed inside, hoping that it went well.

**

Kai cursed when he sat down and closed the door to his truck. After two interviews Kai was ready to call it quits for the day. The first interview wasn't too bad, he thought he did really well. However, both that interview and the one he just finished wanted someone with more experience and a job history. He had neither.