The Outlier II

TEN*

It was late at night and I was sure everyone else around me had fallen deep into sleep, despite interactions in our household going well into the night, and by the time I had escaped them, it was two in the morning. I loved everything about the Dominican so far but how I wished to have the ability to sneak my friends into my pocket and bring them with me. Just as the passing thought drifted into my head, a sudden idea popped into my head. International calls were expensive, but what's the harm in making just one tiny, short call?

I had gotten a new number at the airport and with my crystal clear memory of Ashton's number, I called them. I waited patiently, hoping that Ashton's sleep schedule was thoroughly ruined by the marvelous ways of summer activities. Sometime around the third ring, Ashton picked up. 

Groggily Ashton said, "Hello, who is this?" 

"The missing piece of your life," I grinned. 

"Kai," I could hear Ashton's smile through the phone. 

"Ash," I squealed as quietly as I could. "I have so much to tell you," I gushed, "where should I start?" 

"People usually start at the beginning," Ash snarked. 

"You know how there's 'what's up' in the States and 'wagwan' in London? 'Que lo que' is the go-to greeting here, and I've been throwing around 'diache' every time something shocks me. Oh, and 'chapear' is like flirting, you know?" 

"Chapear?" Ashton repeated, "remind me to keep a note of that the next time I want to chat up a Dominican girl." I giggled. 

"Speaking of chatting up Dominican girls, there's someone." 

I could envision Ash perking up from their bed, sitting up straight, and waiting for me to continue. 

"She's a family friend and she's really cool, I met her at a family dinner and she goes to school in UWash so distance won't really be an issue, I suppose," I rambled, "we ran into each other at an art gallery and we talked the whole time and by the end of it, we exchanged numbers." 

"Holy shit, when did my little caterpillar turn into an about-to-blossom pupae," Ashton exclaimed. 

"I don't know," I chuckled, "I really like her. I think I'm gonna ask her to hang out sometime. I mean, she already comes around loads because we're family friends so I suppose this is fate's way of telling me to stop moping around over Edward Cullen." 

"Finally!" Ashton hailed, "an upgrade." 

I laughed and let out a small sigh. I heard Ashton on the other end of the line, taking in a deep breath. 

"Kai, real talk, I'm worried about you." 

I stayed silent as I waited for some sort of elaboration. 

"You've never been in this much of a... funk over someone. Even with Kate and that's the hardest I've seen you fall for anyone, you took it well, and you did well afterwards. Samuel was nothing to you so I guess I wasn't shocked when you bounced back so quick. But this— this is something different entirely." 

"What do you mean?" I asked, my throat going awfully dry. 

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is, the world shouldn't end for you when things with Edward Cullen did. I know he made you really happy, I could see how things were looking up for you in the letters you'd mail home even if you didn't mention him at all, but that wasn't his doing, Kai, it was all yours. And before you say he helped you through it, stop; because I'm not buying it. You don't need shoes to run a marathon, but they do make the ordeal a whole lot easier. "