No Dogs Allowed

Concrete Forests House Concrete Beasts

(EDITED)

(Note to readers: Some parts ahead may not be in line with the new edits.)

[WARNING: READER DISCRETION ADVISED:

This chapter contains sexual content that some readers may find uncomfortable. If so, please refrain from reading further. Thank you.]

June in Los Angeles was a killer and a crook, a thief of summer and spring and a murderer of winter. You can quote me on it.

"Christ alive," I muttered one morning, yawning to high heaven as the smell of something savory wafted through the air. "What're you doing now?"

Kane had just pushed a bowl at me. "Kongnamul guk," he said.

I took a spoonful of it. "You sure Diego's the cook?"

His smile was translucent. "Is it good?"

"Better than anything I can make."

He just hummed. Corvus trickled in one by one, and he laid out the bowls, his smile lingering in my head.

Another morning had sentenced me away from my room long enough to return to a box on my bed. I'd frowned, checked for any suspicious tricks or tags on its surroundings, before popping it open.

A pair of cream-colored slippers stared up at me, with Kitty White waving up at me. I'd stared at them for a long, long moment.

At practice, I said, "Someone got me Hello Kitty slippers."

Kane hadn't looked up from his place on his bike, fiddling with the handlebar's adjustment. "Mm," he said.

"You know who?"

"No."

I told Zahir. Zahir had said, "Oh, in the white box? I saw Kane with that last night."

I had to lie down for a while afterwards.

At another point, I'd stumbled upon it outside my door.

I frowned down at the bag. I peered inside to find tangerines and granola bars. On a sticky note, it said: too many gummy bears.

I'd slept with the bag sitting idle on my nightstand, haunting me with a bright grin.

At a different day, Kane had found me hanging off the edge of a campus table near the science building, a Redbull as my lunch and my eyes seared off in the sun. He'd said, "Are you trying to die?"

I shrugged. "Is it working?"

Kane handed me half a veggie sandwich, set his bag down beside me, and sat down. "Not on my watch," he muttered. "It's too late in the season to find another sub."

My stomach churned, but the sandwich was damn good.

Corvus wasn't really helping my head either.

"You and King hang out a lot," Diego had said when we returned from a grocery run.

"Tracker," I explained.

"Sure," he replied.

Meredith smiled at my shirt, which had mysteriously appeared on my bed while I was in the shower. "Is that Uma Thurman?"

"One of the only good humans," I replied.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Dunno? It was on my bed."

Meredith had sat back in the kitchen chair. "Ah, I see," she murmured, and smiled.

It found me on the balcony more often than ever.