umkansa - atwow highschool au

nineteen

kiri

After hanging up the phone with Tsireya, Kiri set her phone down on the small table she had been seated in for the past half hour. A girl had approached her table, and didn't look much older than she was. Probably around Neteyam's age. "Hi! Are you Kiri?" The girl had beautiful curly hair that stopped just at her shoulders. She was wearing a black t-shirt, beige cargos, and an apron that said Panera on it. Kiri assumed this girl was going to be the one to interview her. "Yes, that's me," Kiri began to fidget with her fingers as nervousness took over her. "Great! I'm Sora, and I'll be doing your interview today. I'm just going to run to the bathroom really quickly, then i'll be right with you," Kiri nodded at Sora in understanding, with her hands resting in her lap. She began to bounce her leg as she remembered the previous phone call she was having. Lo'ak was home alone, having a panic attack, with a girl who didn't even know how to assist him. She trusted Tsireya greatly and had no doubts that she would manage to calm Lo'ak down. But guilt rose inside of her to an extent she couldn't bear. She was always there with Lo'ak during his attacks and she didn't want this one to be any different. She was there for his very first one and she hopes she will be there during his very last as well. "I can't do this," she mumbled as she grabbed a napkin out of the napkin holder and a pen from her tote bag. She wrote a quick note to inform Sora she would not be continuing with the interview.

Kiri picked up her phone and began texting Neteyam.

teytey :)

kiri
hey, my interview's over
can you come get me now?

neteyam
yeah ofc
me and ao'nung are at the corner store checking out rn
ill just have ao'nung take the stuff and the house and ill take the car and come get you

kiri
okay hurry

Kiri was not going to tell her brother she walked out of her interview with a napkin note. She knew how excited everyone had been for her and was not ready to let that go just yet. Kiri watched as Neteyam's car pulled up in the parking lot. She quickly opened the door and got inside avoiding all eye contact with her brother. "How was your interview?" Kiri looked down at her hands and started to pick at her fingernails. "Good," she replied bluntly, hoping the conversation would end there. "It was quite fast don't you think?" Neteyam smiled at her. She let out a sigh before responding. "Yep. She was straight to the point. Can we please go home," Kiri put her seatbelt on and looked out the window. She was praying her brother wasn't catching onto her lies. "So when will you find out if you got-" "Tey, please," Neteyam sucked his teeth then nodded as he reversed out the parking space. He was completely oblivious.

Once they arrived home, Kiri waved to Ao'nung before heading upstairs. She knocked on Lo'ak's door and waited impatiently. "Come in," she heard a voice on the other side of the door. But it wasn't Lo'ak. It was Tsireya. Kiri slowly opened the door to find Tsireya seated on the floor scrolling through her phone, with a sleeping Lo'ak rested in her lap. "Hi," Tsireya whispered with a small wave. "Hey, is he okay?" Kiri asked as she kept her place on the hallway. She didn't want to feel like an invasion. "Yeah he's better. How'd your interview go?" Kiri was truly getting tired of being asked that question. "It was good," Tsireya nodded in response as she caressed Lo'ak's cheek gently. Kiri took that as her que to leave. She gently closed the door making sure to not cause to much ruckus. Lo'ak was a very deep sleeper, but she just wanted to be safe.

Kiri made her way to her own bedroom and plopped down on her bed, face first. She let out a frustrated groan into the comforter before sitting up and grabbing a book. She read for about 45 minutes before she heard her stomach growl. That's when she remembered she hasn't eaten since they had lunch at school. She set her book back on it's designated shelf.