Autumn Pines - A Lava AU

We're Gonna Be Friends - 3

"Kai! Come downstairs! Cole's on the phone!"

Kai groaned at the mention of Cole. Normally he would be excited to talk to his friend, however, he knew damn well that Cole wanted him to come over, meaning Kai would have to show him his face.

Which could. Not. Happen.

"Kai!!"

"Coming!" Kai yelled back, dragging himself out of bed and running downstairs to answer the phone. He felt his stomach swirl with worry as he emerged at the bottom of the stairs, making his way into the dining room over to where the phone was. He took the phone from his mom (not before hearing a light "it's rude not to answer people when they're calling you") and greeted his friend on the other line. "Hey, dude, what's up?"

"Kai! Where have you been dude?? I haven't seen you in like forever!"

"Yeah, life happened I guess. I uh..." He looked around for something to lie about. "Took the driver's test."

"We're in seventh-grade dude..."

"I learned early!"

"Kai you're a horrible liar. Cmon you're hiding something."

Kai sighed. Cole could always see right through him. It drove him crazy. "Okay fine, you're right. I uh...I just...."

"You what?"

"I...forget it. It's nothing."

"Right it's nothing. Sure. Hey, listen I'm bored as hell, if you wanna come over and tell me you can."

Before Kai could say anything his Mom walked by and grabbed the phone from him. "He'd love to come over! He'll be over in around ten minutes!"

"Mom!"

"You've been avoiding him for too long, he was bound to find out eventually, now go get dressed, and have fun with your friend," Maya said as she gave the phone back to Kai, and walked off.

Kai rolled his eyes and held the receiver to his mouth. "I'll be over in ten minutes. See you then," he said simply before hanging up to go get dressed. He rummaged around his room for a bit before settling on a simple t-shirt, red jacket, and jeans combo. He ran a comb through his hair and slicked it up with some hair gel. Once he was dressed and satisfied (ish) with his appearance, he slipped on his red converse and climbed out his window, and across the tree over to Cole's backyard. He jumped down, thinking he'd stick the landing, only to be proven otherwise.

"Ow..." he groaned, slowly getting up from his spot in the ground.

"Why can't you just come over like a normal person?" Kai looked over and saw Cole standing on his back porch, staring at him disapprovingly. "You're gonna fuck yourself up one of these days."

"Jokes on you, I do it out of spite," Kai winced as he got up off the ground. "Can I come in now?"

"No I only invited you over to banish you outside, yes you can come in dingus," Cole laughed, sliding open the sliding glass door, and walking inside. Kai followed. He had to admit, after the worst week of his life, it was good to see Cole again.

"So, how's your mom doing?" Kai asked as they made their way upstairs.

"Doing good. Still sick but the doc says she should be doing better with this new medication she's taking." Cole replied, leading Kai up the stairs and to his room.

"Oh good! Glad your mom's doing better man. She's tough as nails though, so I had a feeling she'd kick this sickness's ass."

Cole laughed. "Oh yeah. Mom wouldn't let sickness take her out. She's far too stubborn for that," Soon enough, the two were at Cole's door. They both walked inside and sat down somewhere in the room. Cole sat down in his bed, while Kai took over the computer chair.

"Alright, you can't hide anymore," Cole said, looking over at Kai. "What's going on with you?"

Fuck. "What do you mean?" Kai asked, still trying to play dumb hoping Cole would just drop the subject.

"Come on dude. Ever since your dentist appointment last week, you've been avoiding me like the plague. Come on, what's wrong?"

Kai wasn't going to back down easily. There was no way in hell that he was going to show Cole what had become of his teeth. If he found out, he might as well just sign up for a permanent membership at the dork club. "What do you mean? There's nothing wrong, I'm fine!"

"Right. And my name is Mary. Come on man, just talk to me! It's not like I'm gonna bite you or anything."

Dammit. He didn't know how, but Cole was slowly persuading Kai to show him what all the fuss was about. He knew better, but he still found himself opening up like an idiot. "Okay, but you have to swear not to laugh!"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Okay Kai, I swear."

"Uh uh, you gotta swear not to laugh. Got it?"

Cole began to laugh a bit. "Okay Kai okay!" He held his right hand over his heart and held up his left. "I, Cole Brookstone hereby solemnly swear not to laugh at my friend Kai Smith, and whatever he's about to show me," he moved his hands back to their natural positions. "Okay, happy now?"

Kai sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so..." he felt butterflies in his stomach as he mentally prepared himself to show Cole what was probably the dorkiest feature about himself. He hoped to God he wouldn't laugh. I mean, it was Cole, and he swore not to laugh so he didn't think he would, but it never hurt to be prepared. He took in a deep breath and held his head up as he looked at Cole with a smile, heart pounding in his chest as he awaited his reaction.

"Oh you got braces!" Cole realized, looking at the metal brackets on Kai's teeth. "I think they look pretty good on you!"

"No they don't!" Kai exclaimed, immediately covering his mouth again. "I look like a total dweeb! Might as well go get me a pocket protector and a pair of velcro shoes. Hey maybe while I'm at it I can sign up for the Math Club or whatever the hell the nerds do with their spare time."

"Kai, you're not a total dweeb, trust me," Cole laughed. "If anyone here's a dork, it's me."

"Really? You're the dork? Dude, I have a face full of metal and wire, you're decked out in spiked bracelets and rock t-shirts how in the hell are you a dork?"

Cole sighed. "Well, you told me your secret, might as well tell you mine," He leaned down to grab his backpack. A sheepish smile spread across his face as he reached into his backpack, and pulled out a small black case.

"What's that?" Kai asked, curious.

Cole sighed and opened up the case. "Glasses."

"Glasses? You wear glasses?" Kai asked, genuinely surprised.

Cole nodded and slipped them on. He....actually looked pretty good in them. Kai didn't know why, but he actually really liked how Cole looked in those glasses. A small part of him wished he would wear them more. "I've had em since like, fourth grade I think. Although I never wear them despite what my dad says," Cole's slightly embarrassed but still good-spirited expression really pulled the whole look together. Kai really liked it, but he couldn't put a finger on why. "Doc says it's possible I'll grow out of them though."

Kai swallowed, trying to think of words to say. He was just astounded as to how...good his friend looked in his glasses. "Well, I think they look pretty good on you."

Cole looked up at Kai with wide eyes, as if he hadn't expected him to say that. He looked genuinely surprised and flattered at Kai's words. "Th-Thanks..." he mumbled as he averted his eyes, Kai could have sworn he saw some blush on his cheeks.

The silence was deafening, although not uncomfortable. Kai still decided to break it though. "So, Brace-Face and Four-Eyes. Sounds like a superhero team or something."

Cole snorted. "Yeah. It sounds like we go around knocking bad guy's teeth loose in back alleys or some shit."

"We're the new Batman and Robin duo! With you as my trusty sidekick!"

"Please, if anyone were to be the sidekick it would be you,"

"As if!"

"Wanna settle this over some Smash?"

"Oh you are so on."