umkansa - atwow highschool au

eleven

kiri

Kiri approached the front door of their home, reaching for the knob when Lo'ak grabs her wrist in an effort to stop her. "Can we just- wait a little? I think Neteyam might still be upset with me," he asks, his face practically begging for her patience. Kiri let out a sigh and slowly brought her hand down to her side. She could see the visible relief on her brothers face as he sat down on the step. Kiri leaned against the pillar and crossed her arms. She hadn't spoken to Neteyam since the incident last night, but not because she didn't want to. She had tried to talk to him this morning, find out why he really wasn't going to school. But he hadn't answered the door when she knocked. She knew he was awake, he never stayed in bed past 5:30am on a school morning and she heard the rustling of his blanket when she approached his door. Kiri thought about texting her brother to make sure he was okay, but when she found out he didn't text Lo'ak back, and when he did it was a four word phrase accompanied by an emoji at the end, she figured he wasn't in the mood to talk. She never found any use in talking to people who didn't want to talk to her. "You ready now?" she looks down at her brother as he gives her a small nod, rubbing his palms on his knees before standing up and opening the door. They were greeted by their mother sitting on the couch watching her cooking competition shows. "Hi Mom," Kiri waved at her mother, taking her converse off. Lo'ak made his way to the fridge while Kiri decided to make a trip upstairs. She stared at Neteyam's door for a moment before deciding to knock. "Come in," she heard from the other side of the door.

She cracked it open and peeked her head inside. "Hey, you okay?" she asked seeing her brothers room much cleaner than the day before and a garbage bag full of trash hiding in the corner. "I'm okay, yes," he replied with a small smile. Kiri hurriedly entered the room and shut the door being her. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she hissed, hitting her brother in the back of the head. "What? I-" "You had Lo'ak stressed out all day because you've been ignoring him. And then when you do talk to him you give him this dry ass response and expect him to think you're not upset? You know he can't handle people being upset with him. You know how sensitive he can get. He didn't eat lunch and he had a whole mini panic attack in the middle of the hallway at school. You have to talk to him Tey. You have to tell him how you feel because if not both of you are going to go insane and I do not have the time for my family to be falling apart right now," Kiri let out a huge breath as she placed a hand on her hip and hunched over slightly. Neteyam stared at her with wide eyes as he scooted over and patted a spot next to him on his bed. She made her way to sit next to her brother and gave him a look. "You have to talk to him Teyam, it's not fair for either of you if-" "I know, I know, and I will. I promise, I was just really having a hard time today that's all," he didn't look towards his sister at all. He stared down in his lap and managed to avoid making eye contact. Kiri embraced him into a hug. "I'm sorry you're struggling right now. If you need anything I'm here for you, okay?" she felt him nod into her shoulder and let a sigh. Next thing they knew the door flew open.

Neteyam and Kiri's heads flew in the direction of the doorway as they saw Lo'ak standing there scratching the back of his head. Kiri could see him getting nervous as he began rubbing his palms on the side of his pants again. He awkwardly rocked back and forth still standing in the hallway. "Are you gonna come in or..?" "Right, sorry," he entered the room closing the door behind him. Nobody said a word. Tension was clearly developing in the room, even to those who had no idea what was going on. Lo'ak began his routine of rocking again refusing to look away from the ground beneath him. Kiri and Neteyam shared a look before bring the eye contact back to their brother. "Say something," she mouthed in Neteyam's direction followed by his rapidly shaking head. Kiri rolled her eyes and looked back at Lo'ak. She smacked her lips and scooted away from Neteyam making room for Lo'ak in between the two of them. "Lo' sit down," Lo'ak looked up slowly before quickly approaching the bed and sitting down. He looked at Neteyam and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm super sorry bro," he said in a hushed voice, trying his best to let his brother know he was sincere in his words. "It's okay, I'm over it and I know you didn't have any bad intentions behind it. I forgive you Lo'ak," Neteyam rested a hand on his brother's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. "But it sorta hurt my feelings at first, maybe it was the way you said it. It just made me feel so guilty and it kept me up all night, I barely got sleep, I was stressing out, and I just couldn't go to school today. And i'm really sorry for not communicating with you I just didn't know what to say," Kiri watched the interaction between her two brothers. It was rare to see them so vulnerable, especially with each other. They tended to unintentionally compete to be the strongest and because of that, hide their emotions and keep to themselves. Kiri never found being emotional weak, yet always found herself thinking the exact opposite when it applied to her personally. She never wanted people to see her weaknesses let alone use those weaknesses against her. So she always found alternatives to allow herself to express her emotions without providing anyone anything to use against her. "Aww you guys are cute," she mocked placing her hands on her cheeks and smiling. "Oh fuck off," Lo'ak hissed pushing her gently as he stood up from the bed. "Anyways, I have to take a shit so you may not want to go in the bathroom for the next 30 minutes," he ran out the room before giving his siblings anytime to react. Kiri's face was full of disgust as she pretended to gag. "He's absolutely disgusting," "Yup, just so gross for no reason," The two of them laughed before Kiri left Neteyam's room for her own.

She jumped into her bed and opened a book she had set aside this morning and flipped through the pages until she found where she last left off. After about 45 minutes of reading she got bored and decided to go on her phone. She patted around her bed looking for it before realizing it was in her tote bag which she had left downstairs. She groaned as she hopped out of her bed and skipped down the stairs, scooping up her tote bag before returning to her room. She pulled out her phone and decided to text Tsireya.

Reya 🫧🐬:

Hey wyd rn? (kiri)

(tsireya) just watching tv wbu?

Just finished reading (kiri)
Want to come over and hangout? (kiri)

(tsireya) sure! i'd love to!
(tsireya) can ao come too? i don't want to leave him home alone our parents aren't back from work yet

Sure (kiri)
He can hangout with Tey and Lo'ak (kiri)

(tsireya) perfect! i'll be there soon 😊

"Teyam! Lo'! Ao'nung and Tsireya are coming over so Ao'nung's hanging out with you guys!" she yelled across the hall not bothering to leave her bed. She heard a booming "OKAY!" which she could obviously tell came from Lo'ak who was still in their bathroom. A short while later Kiri heard the doorbell ring. "I got it!" she yelled, making her way down the stairs. She opened the door to Tsireya and Ao'nung waiting on the porch. She gestured for them to enter. "You can leave your shoes by the door. Oh, and this is my Mom," she pointed to the couch where Neytiri was still located watching her cooking shows. She gave her daughters friends a small wave before returning her focus back to the screen. "She's obsessed," Kiri mouthed, making Tsireya let out a small giggle. The three of them headed up the stairs before Kiri stopped in front of Neteyam's door. "This is Tey's room. Just knock and he should let you in. Lo'ak's in the bathroom so he should join you guys shortly," she spoke up to Ao'nung. He gave her a nod of understanding before knocking on the door. Kiri and Tsireya continued down the hall to her room. She opened the door revealing the various amounts of greenery and books scattered around her bedroom. "Woah, I wanna live in here," Tsireya gasped, mouth refusing to close. Kiri let out a laugh before making her way to her bed. Tsireya took a seat in the green fuzzy beanbag located across from Kiri's bed. "You room is so...you," Tsireya explained, melting into the beauty of Kiri's room. Kiri had always put so much effort into her rooms every single time they moved. She always wanted her room to say as much about her as her personality did. She wanted it cozy but not cluttered. Her room was her safe place. "I got that beanbag at a garage sale 2 years ago. Some idiot was selling it for 8 bucks," Tsireya laughed at her friend's word choice taking an opportunity to observe her room further. She made her way to Kiri's crystal collection. She hovered her fingers over them, making sure to avoid making any physical contact in case that bothered Kiri. She then walked over to Kiri's book shelf and took a look at the genres she enjoyed most. She then walked back to the beanbag and plopped down into it. "Your room is fucking amazing," she exclaimed, smile spread broadly across her face. Her dimples were visible in the lighting in Kiri's room, which Kiri found interesting. "So your brother, Lo'ak, is he like...single?" Tsireya hesitated, her question not as subtle as she attempted it to be. She didn't look make eye contact with Kiri at all, instead she fiddled with her fingers. The room was silent for a moment before Kiri burst out laughing, hand on stomach. She rollled off her bed and began kicking her feet in the air as she continued to giggle. Tsireya gave her a look of confusion. "What's so funny? Stop that," she kicked Kiri in the side, which subtled her laugh. Kiri took a moment to catch her breath before sitting criss cross on her bedroom floor. "You want that pickle head in your dms?" she questioned shaking her head slightly. "Stop it! I think he's cute," Tsireya couldn't fight the smile that appeared on her face. Kiri laughed throwing a pillow at her friends head.