𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓, | lo'ak sully.

009.

KAY'ALI TOOK LO'AK'S HAND AND DRAGGED HIM WITH HER......

"umm..." said lo'ak, weirded out by the gesture.

"calm down monkey boy, i'm not interested." ka'ila stated bluntly.

"monkey boy??" lo'ak said, acting offended jokingly.

"yeah, it fits you." she said as she made her way through a group of people, still having lo'ak in her firm grip.

"you might wanna lighten your grip, my hand is gonna fucking fall off." he said dramatically.

ka'ila chuckled and when they arrived their destination, they finally stopped. the were looking at a boy and a girl playing in the water. they looked like ka'ila's and lo'ak's age.

"i'm in the same situation as you." she looked at the pair in the water.

"you like him?" lo'ak inquired, earning an eye roll from ka'ila.

"i like her." she replied, pointing towards the girl in the water. lo'ak looked towards her with an unreadable expression. ka'ila thought lo'ak was probably judging her.

'why the hell am i telling my biggest secret to a total stranger' kai'la thought , thinking the silence lasted too long.

the answer to that question is because she felt like she related to lo'ak in more ways than just love interests, even though she only knew him for 15 minutes.

"you guys would look good together." lo'ak said while turning to ka'ila with a smile on his face.

ka'ila felt relived. this was the first time she hadn't been judged. ever.

the girl returned the smile. after a long pause, she started talking.

"cmon."

lo'ak looked at her with a confused expression. he gave her a nod and she told him to follow her. as the two walked through the village, anoung and a group of about 4 boys that surrounded him started laughing.

"two freaks together." anoung remarked smugly as lo'ak and ka'ila passed by the group. "bet they're gonna go mate." he continued and lo'ak stopped in his tracks as he heard this.

"ignore them." ka'ila said as she turned towards lo'ak. they both walked away and heard their laughs fading. lo'ak clenched his jaw and took a deep breath as he continued to follow ka'ila.

as the two reached an empty sort of area, ka'ila called some ilus. she mounted one and lo'ak did too.

since he had skipped the ilu riding lesson, he just  watched what ka'ila was doing carefully. he mimicked her actions and when she started moving, so did he.

he was proud of himself for managing to not embarrass himself in front of another person.

the two didn't have to go far till they reached a small, stranded island. it had a couple palm trees on it, and some things were lying on the floor next to a mat.

"this is my safe space. i come here when i need to escape." ka'ila said as she dismounted the ilu and sat down on the mat. lo'ak went and sat next to her.

"tell me about yourself, lo'ak." she said.

lo'ak looked down at the sand and then looked straight ahead. "well, i guess i'm an outcast. as you could tell, the girl i've liked since, what , like forever, is getting stolen from me. i don't think she feels the same way, and i don't even think she knows i like her. she's the only person i can talk to, along with my brother." he took a deep breath cause he was talking too fast, and continued. "everyone here looks at me like i'm a demon. i miss my home." he started fidgeting with his extra finger. "i probably am a freak."

he looked at ka'ila. "tell me about yourself."

"i'm an outcast too. my parents don't accept me and treat me like shit. the girl i like is into guys, and the whole clan probably knows i like girls and mess with me. my dads gonna get an arranged pairing for me when i turn 18. and i feel like i can't relate to anyone but that one girl." she said the last like while smiling.

"her names me'ya." she said while looking at lo'ak.

"tell me about her." he said because he sensed that ka'ila probably has no one to talk to about this.

she smiled. "she's kind, she hilarious, she's talented,...... she's perfect." she went on. "and, she thinks of me like her sister."

"that's how i feel about zula." he smiled. "i can talk to her about everything, honestly. in the forest, we used to do so much together. ever since we've arrived here, she's given all her time to that..guy."

ka'ila looked at him. "we're not that different, monkey boy."

lo'ak smiled at the nickname. "i guess we're not."

"can i be honest?" ka'ila looked towards lo'ak. he gave her a nod and looked at her. "i don't think tey'lar and ne'zula will last long."

"what?" lo'ak said, a hint of joy in his eyes.

before ka'ila could speak, the two heard someone calling out lo'aks name.

"i think it's time we get back." ka'ila said, earning a nod from lo'ak.

the two mounted their ilus and headed back home.

"nice meeting you, ka'ila." he said as he was about to walk towards his māori pod.

"it's ila, and nice meeting you too." she smiled. "see you later."

from a distance, ne'zula was watching lo'ak and ka'ila. she felt a mix of emotions, and not happy ones, though she didn't know what she was feeling.

she shook the feeling off and approached lo'ak and ka'ila.

"hey lo'ak" ne'zula greeted. "neteyam was looking for you." she turned towards ka'ila

"hi!" she said. "i'm ne'zula. most people call me zula, though" she held out her hand for a handshake.

"i'm ka'ila! ila for short." ka'ila replied and shook the other girls hand.

"let's go." lo'ak said turning to ne'zula.

                               =-=

as ne'zula went to her māori, lo'ak followed her.

"zula?" he said grabbing her arm gently before she entered the māori.

"yeah?" she said, turning towards lo'ak and making eye contact.

"soo, you and that tey'lar guy." he said, trying his best to hide his jealousy.

she laughed "why, you jealous??" she said while wiggling her eyebrows.

he rolled his eyes and smiled. "yk what never mind." he said as he walked to his māori.

______________________________________
A/N

heyyy, it's one out of three chapters done!!!!

do we like ka'ila???? i feel like she would relate to lo'ak really fast yk

is ne'zula.... jealous 🤭😱

anyways, gonna begin writing the next chapter now!

🪷
word count: 1050