Tale Of Two Worlds

4

Earth

Kailee had left the gym right after her confrontation with Mitch, dreading the inevitable confrontation with Jen on the ride home. She had decided to get it over with as soon as possible, but knew that Jen would be busy with some friends for at least another hour.

She had taken that time to think about how she was going to tell her that Mitch had basically asked her on a date. The fact that she was going out with Mitch wasn't as worrisome to her compared to how much Jen would freak out and make such a big deal about it. Kailee hadn't been on a date for a long while, and during that while, Jen made a bigger and bigger deal about Kailee's lack of love life. She would try to set her up, try to persuade her to go to the school dances, and if there was a guy Kailee so much as smiled at, Jen was beside her in a heartbeat, Facebook stalking him and giving her all the juicy details of his life for "interesting conversation starters".

Kailee sat at her desk in her room, writing yet another outline for the possible ways this conversation could go. If she had control of the conversation, she could make sure that it ended well and get to bed at a decent time. She loved Jen, but she could talk for hours without end. Which happened a lot, especially when it came to the opposite sex.

Kailee puffed out a sigh as she propped her head in her hand, staring at the blank sheet of paper laid out before her. She had crumpled balls of paper all around her spilling onto the floor, each from previous attempts to wrap her mind around what she was going to say. It was already 11:45, she was tired and needed sleep. Maybe she should give up and tell her about it afterwards?

She stood and began pacing back and forth across the floor of her room. After a while, she ended up sitting in the alcove by her window. She pulled back the sheer, light-colored curtains and gazed out into the night.

She looked out into the dark, the mist punctured by the soft light of the street lamps, sighed, and closed her eyes. She had just convinced herself that she would tell Jen all about the date afterwards, when her phone rang.

Who would call her this late? She grabbed her phone and groaned. It was Jen. Of course.

"Well, might as well get this over with..." She inhaled before answering, bracing herself. "Hello?"

"Hi Kai! So, what did you and Mr. TD&H talk about?"

Kailee blinked. "TD&H?"

Jen sighed. "Tall Dark and Handsome, duh."

Kailee smiled.

"Right. But first, I wanna apologize Jen. I was being a total jerk to you and I hope you know I didn't mean any of it."

"Yeah, it's fine, we're good, just spit it out already. It seemed important, because he basically kicked me out."

"Wait, he told you to leave?"

"Yeah. Did he kiss you?! Please tell me it was juicy!"

"What? NO! Jen, why would even think that?" despite trying to keep her cool, she started fidgeting, uncomfortable with Jens' romantic fantasies when it came to her love life.

"Wait so, he did kiss you, but it wasn't juicy?"

It took a moment for Kailee to find her voice. Even then, all she could squeak out was; "Jen!"

Jen exploded into laughter, forcing Kailee to move the phone away from her ear. She only put it back to her ear when she could hear Jen calming down.

"Jen, that was so not funny."

"Oh, c'mon, it so was! I hate to say it Kai, but you've been a bit of downer lately. Besides the whole Will situation, is everything okay?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so. Besides the whole thing with Will.... Mitch asked me on a date." She rushed through that last part in a whisper, hoping against hope that Jen might have just missed it. But no, the fates were against her and her wishes.

Jen gasped. "He did what?!"

Kailee couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, that's basically what happened."

"Okay, tell me when, where, and what."

"Um, tomorrow morning, Cindy's Shack, and he said mainly talking."

Jen was quiet. For longer than her normal limit.

"Jen? What is it?"

"Uh, I'm not sure something that trivial can count as a date."

The hairs on the back of Kailee's neck suddenly stood up, like someone was watching her. Twisting to look out the window she said; "That's because you're overly romantic, Jen. In order for a guy to impress you he needs to take you somewhere in a horse-drawn carriage covered in rose petals." Kailee continued to peer out the window, not seeing a single soul in sight. From where she was perched, she had a good view of the surrounding area, but no one was there.

"Oh shut up. I am not overly romantic, I just have higher expectations than most other girls. Though now that you mention it, we should totally do a group date in a carriage."

Kailee turned back around after closing the curtains. She hadn't seen anybody out there, but she still couldn't shake this uneasy feeling. She was nearly convinced someone was out there, watching her. She climbed out of the window alcove and slid under the protection of the sheets in her bed. Maybe she was just cold. She was only wearing shorts and tank top.

"Hellooo!"

"Sorry Jen, what?"

She huffed through the phone. Kailee could clearly see her rolling her eyes on the other side of the line. "I said, will it just be you two, or is anyone else I know going to be there?"

"As far as I know it's just us two."

Jen squealed. "So it'll just be you two, 'talking'. I see how it is. I take back what I said--this can totally count as a date."

Knowing she was going to regret asking, Kailee asked; "What, exactly, do you mean by that Jen?"

"Oh come on, Kai! It's so obvious! It'll be just the two of you, on a date, all alone, and he simply wants to talk? No way in h-e-double-hockey sticks is that true! He's so going to try to put a move on you!"

Kailee laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Even if Mitch tried, she wasn't looking for another boyfriend, so she'd just turn him down. Problem solved.

Her laugh was cut short by an overwhelming chill. How could she be getting colder? She was in her bed! But this cold felt different from just needing a blanket to chase it away. It felt like it was inside of her, inside her mind. She sat up and looked around the room, still feeling like someone was watching her.

"Kai? You okay? You got real quiet all of a sudden." Jen's voice made her jump back to their conversation.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I guess I'm just tired."

"Eh, sounds fair. You kicked butt at the game, and I'm guessing it took a lot to make you say yes to Mitch."

At the sound of his name, the coldness grew sharper in her head. She sucked in air at the sudden pain, closing her eyes.

"Kai?"

"I'm fine, I just got a really bad headache all of a sudden. Listen, um, it's really late, and--"

"Say no more, I totally understand. Do you want my help for the big day tomorrow?"

"I don't think so, I'll be fine. He wants to meet at nine, so I doubt you'll even be up."

"Hmm, good point. I do like my beauty sleep. Well, tell me how it goes! Night!"

"Night Jen."

After hanging up, the pain dulled a bit, but was still there. Staggering out of her bed and into the bathroom just down the hall, Kailee took some medicine and went back to bed. But she could still feel someone watching her, and the pain was still there in her head. It took a long time for her to fall asleep.