Try Me

Chapter twenty-four

"Do you like Khalan?" Aria asked randomly, twirling her straw in her iced coffee.

"Huh...?" Akia looked up, confused, and tried to open his bag of chips with his slippery hands. Aria snatched the bag from him to open it before she gave it back. "Thank you," he said softly, then started eating.

"Don't ignore me, Akia."

"I'm not into, Khalan. I have a girlfriend."

Aria looked at him with a face that showed she did not believe Akia at all. In fact, she has been looking at Akia weirdly ever since they met up an hour ago. The way he was walking wasn't right, and though Aria isn't experienced, she knew exactly what that walk meant. She didn't want to bring it up, but the more she looked, the more curious she got. Who else would it be besides Khalan? Unless Tyra was bending him over—Aria doubted that.

"Why are you walking like that?" She asked to see what excuse he would give.

Akia shrugged his shoulders, but his red face gave it all away. Akia pouted a bit, thinking about how many times he had told Khalan to slow down. Akia didn't think that his limping was that noticeable, but of course Aria would be the one to say something—she notices everything.

"I fell at practice the other day."

"Oh, really? You know you don't have to lie to me, right? But I'm going to leave you alone." Aria left the topic alone. Today, the two decided to hang out. Akia was in a bad mood because Khalan ghosted him. Yesterday, Khalan never came back, and Akia ended up leaving at midnight.

He texted and called, but he never got a response. He's trying not to worry, but after he saw Khalan rushing frantically to get somewhere, how could he not be?
———

"Is Khalan here?" Akia asked, looking around the quiet house. Tyra shook her head and led him upstairs. It was weird. Khalan's car was definitely in the driveway, but he was nowhere in sight. "Where's he?"

"Why do you want to know so bad?" Tyra started, but then she decided to hide her annoyance. At this point, she realized that Akia took a liking to Khalan. It's not bothering her as much as it was before; if Akia wanted to befriend her brother, he could now, but that doesn't mean she'll make it easy. "He's in jail for fighting Taija's boyfriend."

"Jail?" Akia titled his head. That was something he did not expect to hear at all.

"Yeah, and it looks like his ass is going to be there for a while. He needs to be bailed out, but Taija is focusing on bailing out Chris because obviously that's her boyfriend." Tyra shrugged her shoulders. It didn't bother her. Khalan just has to stay in jail until court, and if he doesn't get charged for anything, he'll be back.

Chris had a warrant, and he just threatened and attempted to kill everyone in the house. Taija wants to bail him out before court because he'll most likely have a harsh sentence, and it's tearing her apart.

"How much is his bail?"

"Khalan's is only $5,500 because he didn't have a weapon. Chris had a warrant and an unregistered gun, and he attempted to kill Khalan, so his is around $35,000. Taija got half of it already, though."

"I can bail him out."Akia offered with no hesitation. He has the money. His modeling for his mother was doing him some good, and since he has it, why not help him out? He'll get it back after the case is over, anyway.

Tyra's mouth dropped because she didn't expect Akia to offer anything like that. Sometimes she forgets that her boyfriend is far more financially stable than she is. "You don't have to spend money to bail him out, bae. He'll get out eventually." She then smiled, getting an idea. "How about you get me a new wig, my nails done, and a nice ring instead?"