Broken Strings, Tangled Hearts. (#1 of Hearts of Silverlake)

3. Back to Familiar Strangers ୨୧

Kieran:

"Get up, it's time for school," my dad calls out, his voice rough from last night's drinking, not even bothering to check if I'm awake.

Well, that's one way to drag someone out of bed.

I stare at the ceiling for a moment, letting his voice echo through my brain, dreading another day in this house. It's my third day back in Silver Lake, and after months of begging him to move, he finally gave in. Four months of arguments, pleading, and doing everything I could just to get us back here. Now, we're here.

I'm back home.

But I haven't gone anywhere yet. There's been too much to handle between unpacking and dealing with my dad's drinking. Not that I expected much to change. The man still spends most of his time drowning in a bottle. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it.

I sit up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, my bare feet touching the cold hardwood floor. The room is small, bare except for a few boxes that I haven't had the energy to unpack yet. I glance at them, knowing what's inside-remnants of a childhood that feels like it belonged to someone else.

And then there's them.

The Donahues.

They were more like family to me than my actual family ever was. Alice and Dean took me in when my dad was too wrapped up in his own problems to care. They fed me, gave me a place to stay, treated me like one of their own. It felt real, like I was part of something stable, something good.

Now... I don't know. I keep telling myself I'll go see them soon, but I can't shake the feeling that things might be different. What if I'm different? What if I show up, and they don't recognize me anymore? The thought gnaws at me, even as I tell myself to stop overthinking.

"Did you hear me, kid?" my dad shouts, louder this time, his voice slurred with frustration.

"Yeah, I heard you. I'm getting up," I reply, my voice flat.

I stand and stretch, trying to shake off the weight of the memories pressing down on me. My body feels heavier here, like I've brought all the years of resentment and hurt with me. I grab a graphic tee from my closet, followed by a pair of worn-out jeans and my usual red and black flannel. I don't care much about how I look, just something comfortable to get through the day.

The mirror in the bathroom greets me with a version of myself that feels almost unrecognizable. The same brown hair, the same dark eyes, but now there's a hardness to my expression. The scars are new. They trace their way up my arms, across my hands. Old burns, reminders of nights I'd rather forget. I clench my fist, then unclench it, trying to push the memories away.

I don't look like the kid who left Silver Lake seven years ago.

And I hate that Daisy's my first thought. My first thought should be Cole, my best friend, the one who always had my back. He's the reason I was welcomed into their house. He's the one who helped me get through everything with my dad and my mom. But somehow, she's the one who helped me more. Daisy.

Just thinking about her makes my chest tighten.

When my mom told me to pack up my things all those years ago, she didn't tell me where I was going. She didn't say anything. Six hours of silence in the car. I thought maybe I'd done something wrong, or that she had a surprise waiting for me. I was a kid. I didn't know any better. But when she dropped me off at my dad's house, then left without a word, something inside me broke. A pain I couldn't explain then and can't fully explain now.

I was abandoned, left with a man I didn't know, a man who'd left me when I was four.

I force the thoughts away, stripping off my clothes and stepping into the shower, letting the hot water wash away some of the tension. It doesn't help much.

---

Silver Lake High looks almost exactly how I remember Alice telling me. The worn-down red brick, metal lockers lining the hallways, scuffed floors, flickering fluorescent lights that hum in the background. The gym is still massive, with championship banners hanging like dusty reminders of the school's glory days. Out back, the football field is still as cracked and faded as ever, like no time has passed at all.

The people haven't changed either. The same old faces, some older, some just younger versions of their parents. The same bullies, the same cliques, the same whispered conversations behind people's backs. It's like stepping into a time warp. Except for me. I've changed.

I wonder if Cole has. He was always different. Not like the rest of them. Maybe it's because of Alice and Dean, the way they raised him. They didn't have the perfect love story-anyone could see that. Alice always looked at Dean like she was searching for something, but whatever their struggles were, they raised their kids right. Cole was the proof of that.

I reach my locker, punching in the code, and toss my bag inside, shutting it with a loud clang.

"Hey, new kid. What's your name?" a voice calls from behind me, the tone smug, taunting.

Great.

"None of your business," I reply flatly, turning to face him.

He's exactly what I expected-a jock, tall, muscular, with short black hair and a cocky grin plastered on his face. He's got a group of other guys with him, all of them looking like they belong on the football team. The way he stands, like the world owes him something, tells me everything I need to know.

But when I glance beside him, I freeze.

Holy fuck.

She looks almost the same, but different. Daisy. Her blonde curls still fall in those soft spirals around her face, just like I remember. I used to mess with them all the time, just to annoy her. She'd get so mad, but it was cute, the way her nose would scrunch up. And those freckles, the ones she used to hate, are still dusted across her cheeks. They always made her more real, more... her.

But her eyes. They're the same, light blue with a hint of green, like the ocean after a storm. But something's missing. That light, the spark that used to shine so brightly, is dim now, almost gone.

She's standing close to the guy. Too close.

His arm is around her neck. His arm is around my girl.

"Listen, I'm cool with you hanging around our spot, considering your locker is here," the guy says, his voice smug. "But that doesn't give you the right to be staring at my girl."

I almost laugh. Your girl?

"Hey... wait." Another voice calls out, and I turn to see someone pushing through the crowd of guys.

Cole.

He looks almost the same-just older, taller. His eyes widen when he sees me, a smile spreading across his face.

"KJ?! Holy shit!" he says, his voice full of surprise and excitement.

"Hey, Cole. Long time no see." I smile, feeling some of the tension in my chest loosen as I fall back into our old rhythm.

"I didn't know you were back!" He pulls me into a hug, slapping me on the back.

"Yeah, I didn't know either until about a week ago," I say, my eyes flicking back to Daisy, who's standing there, frozen, staring at me like she's seen a ghost.

The guy looks confused, glancing between us. "You know this guy?"

"Yeah! He's my best friend. We grew up together," Cole says, grinning.

The guy frowns, turning to Daisy. "You never told me about him."

She doesn't respond. Instead, she just pulls away from him and walks off, leaving us standing there in the middle of the hallway.

Well, that's one way to reunite.