9. Pageant Smile

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• Nya Smith •

Nya had confidently thought Kai wouldn't be able to clean the entire house before their parents arrived, but she turned out to be incorrect. The entryway was polished to the nines, the living room looked brand-new, and the kitchen looked like it had come straight out of a lifestyle magazine.

She ran a finger along the surface of the counter and checked for dirt or dust, but there was nothing. Not even liquid splatters. The whole house smelled like roses and lavender.

"Who did you hire?" Nya's question shocked her brother, who was sitting on the beige couch and tapping away on his cellphone.

"What?" Kai turned off his phone to look at his sister.

"Who did you hire?" she repeated. "There's no way you cleaned this place on your own."

Kai's lips thinned. "Well, I did. My friends helped me after the party."

Nya raised her eyebrows in complete disbelief but let the topic come to a close. She was too tired to dig for an argument. The hotel bed she had slept on was stiff and uncomfortable, her neck taking most of the damage. It was hell trying to get her head to turn left and right.

It also hadn't been the best idea to stay up later than needed to finish an assignment she hadn't been able to tackle back in Jeannette's Treats because of Jay and Cole. Speaking of Jay, the short conversation in his car had also been a reason for her not being able to sleep fall asleep easily.

Nya and Jay had started off their day with accidental insults and unwanted glances, but they had ended their string of banter with a somewhat deep conversation that Nya would have loved to conclude.

She was interested in him. From the way he had blushed at the mere attention she had given him to the customization of his car, Jay was an interesting person to think about. Sure, he was sassy and quite judgmental, but Nya assumed it was a helpful mechanism for him to gauge the people's personalities he was interacting with, like a little helper in his head telling him which person was good and which one was bad.

The way he had talked about his first ever invention warmed her heart. He truly was a passionate person, and Nya wanted more. She wanted to hear all of his stories and laugh with him.

Maybe it was the fact that she didn't have any fun stories to tell about her own childhood that made her want to listen to his stories. He likely had enough to cover for both of their childhoods.

Nya snapped back to the moment when Kai cleared his throat. She watched as he stood up from the couch and turned around to look at her more easily.

She was ready for something stupid to grace her ears, but instead Kai shocked her by asking her where she had gone last night.

"What?" she asked back. "What do you mean? You know where I went."

Kai shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing and his eyes cast down at the couch, avoiding eye contact. "No. You didn't go to the hotel." He pursed his lips. "Mateo said he saw you getting into a blue BMW with a guy." His eyes found hers again, a certain glint in them Nya hadn't seen in a long time. "Who was he and why did you get into his car? Where did you go with him?"

Nya blinked. Then she blinked again. She was baffled by the sudden change of his tone. Kai had not asked her about her personal life and relations with other people in years.

"I did go to the hotel," Nya emphasized. "He drove me there."

"He," Kai repeated. "Who is this he?"

"What's it to you?"

Nya had no idea where this side of Kai had stayed hidden all these years, but now was not the time for it to see the light. Their parents were due to arrive any minute, and Nya really didn't want to talk about a boy with Kai in front of them.

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