There's Always A Plot Twist | Wattys 2023 ✓

9| The Egg

Kaizen takes his eyes from the bottom of the beam, starting at the floor, to the ceiling, taking in the entire mural of tight swirls curling besides each other like cogs in a grandfather clock. "So, tell me again why you painted my damn wall?"

"Firstly, it's a beam." Asanti clarifies, hearing the doorbell ring over the buzz of the house. "Saved by the bell, I'm out."

"I'm still waiting on that answer." Kaizen calls after him, turning on the remaining members of the trouble trio with a glare that shrinks them down to the size of Smurfs. "Which one of you is responsible?"

Bjorn pulls on his quickly reddening earlobe, locking eyes with Freddie. "Asanti did the whole mural thing by himself, we just kinda stood by and helped carry some stuff." he mumbles, looking at the floor.

Kaizen keeps eye contact as he takes a sip of his beer, squinting his as he lets Tweedle dumb and dumber incriminate themselves.

"And neither of us have an artistic bone in our body." Freddie argues, feeling more than impressed at Asanti's hard work. "I mean look at it, the longer you look at it...the more...it takes your breathe away."

"I'm not stupid enough to think Asanti is the one who originally came up with this but..." Kaizen's eyes flicker over the mural once more, the blue undertones running throughout making the piece feel cohesive as each swirl curves in chaotic harmony.

"Admit it. You think it looks minted too." Bjorn smiles, his pride swelling, feeling somewhat responsible for the birth of this creation.

"Look, I don't need either of you pulling Asanti down the wrong path. He may be a troublemaker but only by association with the likes of you two."

"Thank you?" Bjorn replies, raising a brow.

"Moron." Freddie giggles, slapping the hat off his friend's head. "It wasn't a complement man."

"You two have connections to get yourselves out of trouble but Asanti doesn't have any family like that." Kaizen stops himself, catching sight of Kenna crossing the room to sit in the suspended, egg-shaped, chair.

"He has us." Bjorn states. "We're his family."

Kaizen nods once before gulping down the rest of his beer and handing the empty bottle to Freddie. "Excuse me."

Freddie scowls. "I'm a waiter to the only other Asian guy in a mile radius...this is what my life has come to...I can already feel my ancestor's disappointment."

"So this is the guy everyone's talking about?" Asanti asks, taking Lain's tall figure in.

"What do you mean everyone?" Lain inquires, taking his hands out of his pockets, rubbing them together to chase away the cold.

"Well Amber told Farrah, Farrah told Lance, he accidentally told Kai, Kai asked Arlo...it's a very long chain of events." Asanti's smile doesn't quite reach his eyes as he tilts his head. "I'd keep your secrets close otherwise they'll spread around here like wildfire."

"Ignore him, he's just being dramatic, like always." Riley interjects, playfully sticking her tongue out when Asanti pretends to be shocked. "But like, also, don't tell anyone your secrets because we really do gossip twenty-four seven."

"If this is a scare tactic, it's not working." he whispers quietly into her ear, close enough to touch, close enough to kiss.

"So, anyway, what is this?" Asanti inquires, wagging his finger at the two of them. "Casual hook-up or potential boyfriend, girlfriend situation?"

Riley and Lain lock eyes but neither one answer the question. They smile but leave things at that, not wanting to rock the boat.

"I see." Asanti hums. "Well, you did meet each other in a graveyard so this entanglement could have some bad juju all over it but I'm not going to judge."

"You're doing it right now." Riley grunts through grinning teeth.

"How tall are you?" Asanti asks, diverting the conversation.

Lain looks towards Riley, wondering if this is some sort of test. "Tall enough."

"Are you any good at public speaking?"

"If you mean great at bullshitting my way through a conversation then yes."

Asanti claps his hands together, convinced he has found the right guy for the job he needs doing. "Excellent, come with me, I need you to convince one of my roommates that the mural that I did for him is worth something."

"You painted that thing?"

Asanti nods his head, linking arms with Lain before effectively stealing him away. "I'm here on a scholarship because everyone seems to think I'm some sort of prodigy."

"And you don't?"

"It's just a bit of paint."

Riley takes a moment to pray for Lain before taking the bag of food she brought with her and bringing them into the kitchen, catching the end of a hushed argument between Lance and Farrah that ends once she places them down on the counter.

Riley lets things cool down after Lance storms off into Asanti's room to cool off, focusing on putting out the food where she can before checking up on Farrah. "Everything okay?

"Sorry, what?" Farrah asks, running her fingers through her hair, the dyed blonde streaks at the front flopping back into her face whilst her natural brunette waves lay still. "Oh, that... yeah, he's just really pissed off with me right now."

Farrah looks down at her chipped black nails vanish, fighting back her tired tears through sheer willpower.

"Could you help me put these into bowls?" Riley inquires, continuing to put stuff out, aware that if she appears too eager to help Farrah then she will pull away.

Farrah smiles kindly, feeling safe enough to share whilst also feeling grateful to have a friend that doesn't rush her into anything. "This all started during the summer. We've spent our entire relationship with his parents during the holidays."

"The pictures of the four of you were so cute. You looked like you had a great time."

"Yeah, we did." Farrah stares into empty space, the corners of her mouth turned up into a tiny smile. "I love his parents, they're just so...real."

"I hear a but coming."

"Well, that's the issue, my parents are just not the type of people you want to meet."

"And I'm guessing Lance wants that?"

Farrah sighs, taking a sour shot when she feels a migraine coming. "He thinks I'm hiding him away from them because I'm ashamed of having a boyfriend who happens to also be black."

"Well, are you?" Riley asks, feeling obligated to do so. "Are you hiding him?"

"I'm protecting him."

"From your parents?"

Farrah lightly bites down on her tongue, tapping the counter with her finger, wondering why she carries a shame that shouldn't belong to her, wondering why she fears being ridiculed because of her association to her family and their beliefs, wondering if and when will these feelings go away, if ever.

Farrah silences herself again with another shot, licking her lips once she is done. "I've tried."

"Try harder...he can't be annoyed with you forever."

"Want to bet?" she whispers, knocking the counter with her knuckles before striding away.