We're Still Human

Chapter 7: Audrey's Revenge Tour

Kendall ignored me for the rest of the day.

Now I'm not sure if it's Audrey's return that stunned her the most, or if the issue with Nadia that happened earlier affected her worse than she might admit, but one thing is for sure; my girlfriend needs to work on her communication skills. I'm not the best person when it comes to feelings sometimes, but I'm not going to shy away from how I feel about Kendall just because we're in a fully fledged relationship now. Nonetheless, I still have things on my mind, like what Nadia said, and part of me feels as if I shouldn't be thinking about what other people think of my relationship with her, but the more people attack me over it, the more I'm forced to ponder over it.

I walk into the devotions room alone, leaving prep time earlier than most. I wanted to be the first one in, and the first one out of there. I go to the piano and sit, opening it up. I grab the hymn book and skim through before settling on no song. I begin to play "Stay" by Rihanna, humming the lyrics lightly. As I'm halfway through, a hand rests on my shoulder, and I look up to see Kendall, a small smile on her face. She sits by my side and, with one hand, helps me play.

"I want you to stay," we sing to each other quietly. She lays her head on my shoulder, and I stop playing, hugging her lightly.

"Funny, you're the broken one, but I'm the only one who needed saving," she whispers.

"Cause when you never see the light, it's hard to know which one of us is caving," I finish off, my hand on Kennie's knee.

"Rihanna," Kendall mumbles. "Is this what you do now? Vent your frustrations by playing the piano?"

I smile sadly. "Well, it's better than keeping quiet and ignoring my feelings." Kendall chuckles softly. "Ignoring me doesn't work, you know. We're no longer playing games, Kendall."

"I know." She stands up, straightening her blazer. "Can we talk after devotions?"

I stand up as well. "No."

Shocked, she raises her eyebrows. "What?"

"I don't want to prolong this. Whatever you have to say, you can say now, Kendall," I explain. "I don't want us to deal with things separately. You don't have to hide from me, just tell me what's on your mind and I'll tell you what's on mine, just like we said we'd do when we first got into this."

Kendall gazes at me, sighing. "Is there something you're not telling me about Nadia and you?"

Baffled, I take a step closer to her. "What? No, of course not."

"Then...what happened on the tracks?" She fiddles with her fingers. "I know it was a mistake, but you don't just run miles with someone you hate..."

I shake my head. "Kendall, I promise you it is not what you're thinking."

"You know, at first when you told me that she ruined your life in Sydney, I was wondering how bad it really was for you to start coddling up-"

"We weren't coddling," I clarify. "She just... she taunted me way too much. I just had to try and beat her in a race."

"Yasmina, you have nothing to prove to her, you know that, right?" Kendall says. "If there's anything I've learnt from last year is that you need to stop proving yourself to everybody, what really matters is how you feel about yourself."

I look away from her. "In a world like this, you think it would be easier not to paint yourself in a good light."

"That's the thing though, you can paint yourself however you like, but every other person will paint you the way they want to, and once you learn that it's not how they see you that matters and how you see yourself, that's when you'll achieve happiness." She takes a step closer to me. "I don't know the version of you that Nadia has in her head, but I can tell you that the version of you right here with me, is the version that is superior, and the one that I love right now."

My eyes brim with tears, and she holds a finger up to my cheek, waiting for it to drop. "Right now?"

She laughs softly. "Always, I like any version of you."

Once the tear falls, she wipes it off her blazer, then gives me a short, quick kiss. The bell rings for devotions, and I give her one more kiss before going to the back with her, waiting for the rest of the girls.

***

Kendall dismisses the girls for the night, and I stand, trying to go to my girlfriend before Sofia dashes past me, almost tripping me. She looks at me, winking, and I roll my eyes, turning for the door. To my surprise (not really), the wicked witch of Riveria steps in my way.

Audrey's hair is now golden brown, flowing in long, luscious waves. She obviously spent a lot of time in the sun, because she's a bit tanner than she was last year. She also seems to have grown in height a bit and trimmed those God-awful eyebrows.

She crosses her arms, analysing my look. "You look comfortable."

Lynn, Isa, and Jo come to my aid, standing by my sides. "Help?" Isa asks me, and I shake my head.

"I'll update you guys, just go," I say to them, and after they mean mug Audrey, they leave. "You look...tanned." I say to Audrey. "How was the holiday?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Audrey looks behind me. "Those two look comfortable, don't you think?"

"You're like the third person that has said this. Can you come up with something new?" I yawn. "You usually had the best gaslighting skills in the world. What happened? Have you managed to grow a heart within a month or so?"

"Yeah, a heart set out on revenge," she snickers. "I won't bother with the questions about you and Kendall, but if I were you, I'd keep an eye on Sofia. She seems to be getting cosy with your girlfriend."

"Audrey! You're alive," Sofia suddenly interrupts us. Kendall holds my hand, and Sofia leans on Kendall's shoulder. Sofia and I exchange a glance before focusing on Audrey again.

"Your hair...it's shorter," Audrey says to Kendall. "And your hair is damn near grey. Is Yasmina the only one with good hair now?"

"Thanks?"

"We're glad you're back, really," Kendall says. "As you know, the management has changed now. We're your seniors."

"Yeah, sure. The only one I'll acknowledge...is Yasmina." Audrey smirks at me. "She's the only one that deserves the title." My mouth drops open as she winks at me. "Bye ladies, have a good year."

With that, she leaves.

"What game is she playing?" Sofia breaks the silence.

Kendall shrugs. "I guess she's playing the game we all know too well at this point."

What game is that?" Sofia asks again.

Kendall and I sigh at the same time. "The long game."