Perception

Part 61

Kota POV

Nate calls in the order for a plain cheese, and a meat lovers pizza, and we sit in the living room while we wait. He continues to look at me, somewhat guiltily, and I finally have to ask.

"What? Why do you look so guilty?" I ask with amusement swirled with apprehension.

"I guess that came out wrong. I didn't mean that Jess can't count on you, it's just that this may be a case of her needing to confide in someone other than you. You're not upset that she's looking up to Sang, are you? I mean, you're a great brother and all, but you're a guy," he says, watching me carefully as he speaks.

I hear what he says, but take longer to listen to what he means. I don't think I'm upset that Jess is looking up to Sang. Sang's strong, sweet, and thoughtful. I wanted her to talk to Jessica for a reason, after all. Maybe my reasons for making the request were wrong, but I just want my sister to get better.

"I don't have a problem with Jessica looking up to Sang. I just don't relish being left out of the loop, you know? I want to be able to help more, and Jessica isn't even giving me that option," I say with frustration, flopping backwards onto the chair and dislodging my glasses. I rub the bridge of my nose before sliding them back in place. Nathan just chuckles quietly, and shakes his head.

"I know. You can't help yourself. We all want to help," Nate says and is interrupted by the doorbell ringing. He pops up and walks past me, cuffing me on the shoulder as he goes, "but sometimes you have to accept that other people can fix things too," he says before swinging the door open and handing over cash. He walks back toward the kitchen, and I unfold myself from my seat to go get the girls.

It turns out they were already coming out of Jessica's room. Both have blotchy faces and puffy eyes, but they're genuinely smiling. Sang lights up when she sees me standing there with what is probably a dumb look on my face.

"Kota, I need your mom's cell phone number," she says with caution. My spine snaps straight with worry, but she smiles and shakes her head at me. "I wanted to know if it was okay if Jess and I have a sleepover tonight," she says to reassure me, then winks at Jessica. Jessica looks at me hopefully, and I smile with ease.

"Of course. Here," I tell her, and rattle off Mom's number. She types on her phone, then turns to shove her phone in her secret girl shelf.

"Om..ime poo eaf!" Nate calls through a mouthful of pizza. Sang and Jess burst into laughter and stumble their ways over to the counter to grab a paper plate.

"Poo?" Sang snickers, then covers her face when she snorts. Nathan, who is taking a drink at the time, turns his head and coughs while soda sprays from his nose.

"Gross!" Jessica calls, laughing and looking disgusted at the same time. Sang and I bump into each other in our rush to grab paper towels, and Sang ends up on her bottom right in the puddle of nose soda.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Sang," I say feeling horrified. She's sitting there with a look of laughter melting into one of shock. Her green eyes find mine, both sets wide open, then as if telepathically cued, we laugh some more. I help her up out of the mess, and see that Jessica watched the whole interaction with avid fascination.

Nathan seems to have given up on our assisting him, and has a wad of paper towel held to his face as he sneezes out the rest of the liquid.

"Well, it's a good thing I wore these home so they could be washed. Um...I do need to change now, though," Sang says shyly trying to pull her gym shorts away from her backside inconspicuously.

"You can borrow some of my pajama bottoms!" Jessica volunteers. Sang presses her finger to her lower lip, but nods slowly. "Come on. I'll go get the ones I got for my birthday. They're still a little big on me, so they should only be a little small on you. You can wash up in mine and Mom's bathroom," Jess says sympathetically.

By this point Nate finished clearing his sinuses of liquid, and meets my eyes.

"You know what this means, right?" Nate asks, raising his left eyebrow smugly, and takes a bite of pizza. I shake my head 'no' but he doesn't elaborate--just sits there looking proud of himself.

I help myself to a couple slices of pizza, and try not to think too closely on whether Nathan turned his head in time during his nose spray or not. Within a few minutes, Sang and Jess come back to the kitchen, Jess leading the way. She makes a stop at the fridge to pull out waters, and Sang continues to the counter. She's wearing the Hunger Games pajama set that Jess was talking about. Jessica was right, they are a little small on Sang. 

The top is fitted, but meant for girls that haven't developed yet, and the bottoms hug Sang's slim curves like a second skin. I realize what Nathan was hinting at earlier. I nearly swallow my tongue when she bends over to wipe up the sticky spot on the floor, and my hormone-driven eyes note every curve and indent that underwear would have camouflaged. Nathan sits there and laughs at me--until our physical responses have both of us dashing to stand on the other side of the counter.

"Your mom said I could sleep here tonight, Kota," Sang says happily before starting on a slice of plain cheese pizza. I smile, but don't know whether to celebrate, or curse.

"Why don't you go get Sang some clothes, Nate," I suggest hopefully.

"Oh! No, I don't mind sharing! It'll be like we're sisters and sharing clothes!" Jessica chatters cheerfully. I manage a cheerful smile before glancing at Nate from the corner of my eye.

"Just make sure Gabe brings some clothes over for school. I don't think the school is the place for these 'sister' outfits," I mumble from the corner of my mouth. Nate's eyes round in alarm.

"North would KILL us!" he hisses back.