Jett

32

"Hey mum," Kayden greeted as soon as she picked up the phone.

He was sitting on the floor outside of their apartment, just to the right of the worn out front door. It wasn't ideal but at least their neighbours appeared to be almost non-existent so it offered a lot of privacy. Not to mention, it was a lot more preferable to the living room. The last time he had spoken to his mother inside Jinx had gushed about how 'adorable' he was in the background and had even squealed a few times. Switching to German didn't help because apparently she was more fluent in it than he was and had even started a conversation with his mum herself in quick-fire German. She'd held his phone hostage for a good 15 minutes. Since then he had become well acquainted with the old maroon carpet and green walls of the hallways of their apartment complex.

"Kayden!" She exclaimed brightly, as if she hadn't heard from him in months rather than just a few days. "How are you? Are you sleeping well? Are they feeding you well? Are you doing your homework?"

He snorted at the succession of questions "I think it's a yes to all of those, especially the eating, the pancakes here are to die for." He smiled softly to himself "how are you doing?" He worried about her quite a lot. After his dad left she was a complete wreck, something in her had seemed to be irreparably broken in the months following his abrupt departure, and after one particular incident he became quite paranoid about leaving her alone. "Are you taking your medication?" He found himself asking out of obligation

"Oh yeah I'm fine," she brushed off, not seeming too fussed over that particular subject matter. "Tell me more about you. How are things going with that girl you've told me about?"

He rolled his eyes at that, his mother had somehow become a huge Jett and Kayden shipper and she hadn't even met the other girl. He blamed Jinx. The one time he let her talk to his mother she had somehow gotten it into her head that Kayden and Jett were in a relationship of sorts. Since that moment his mother had taken every opportunity to pry on his relationship status. The only thing his mother knew about Jett was that she was a girl in the same program as Kayden— he didn't feel the need to mention that she was also the girl who punched him in the face all that time ago considering his mother wouldn't react too kindly to that revelation.

"We're just friends, Ma," he groaned

"I'm sure you are."

Before he could defend himself the apartment door swung open to reveal Naziah.

"Hate to interrupt but you and Jett have to leave soon if you want to catch the movie on time." Without even waiting for a response, she closed the door once more, returning him to his little bubble of privacy.

"What about Jett and a movie?" His mother questioned teasingly "don't they have curfews where you are?"

"Curfew is ten," it was frightening how good he had become at the whole lying thing. "Besides, we're not going out anywhere, a friend two dorms down is having a little movie night and a bunch of people are going okay. It's not just the two of us."

"Fine, I hear you loud and clear 'it's not a date.'" She then paused before adding "at least, not yet."

"Bye mum."

***

Once he had gotten back inside, he went looking for Jett. Naziah had silently pointed towards Jett and Jazz's room without even looking up from her laptop and obediently he followed the direction. Though before he could make it all the way down the hall Jinx popped her head out of her room.

"I wouldn't interrupt that if I were you,"

He glanced in the direction of Jett's room. "What's wrong?"

"Mum and Dad are fighting again," she stage whispered jokingly. Kayden took a second to wonder who was 'mum; and who was 'dad.' "I don't know what about but last time it happened things got... ugly." Jinx sent Jazz and Jett's door a grimace before disappearing back into her room.

Kayden blinked at her closed door, slightly confused at the abrupt departure. He really wasn't sure how to process most of the things Jinx did or said.

Ignoring her warning, he continued to make his way to Jett and Jazz's room, it couldn't be that bad of a fight. No one sounded like they were screaming at the top of their lungs or as if they were throwing anything. Which was how some of the more intense fights in his house had gone prior to his father's departure. Though, before he could knock on their door, voices drifted out from behind the thin piece of wood, causing him to pause before his hand connected with the surface. Morally, he knew it was wrong to listen in on their private conversations but he also didn't really care for such moral codes.

"You have to figure out what you want to do with him," Jazz's voice was clearly frustrated.

"I thought we already made it clear that we were enacting the civilian protection part of the protocol." Jett replied back in a contrastingly calm tone.

Kayden's eyes widened at the mentioning of that thing. He hadn't heard about the protocol in what felt like years. He had almost forgotten that it had existed even though it was the catalyst for his current living situation. They had never really told him the details of the protocol; it was almost as if they were purposely vague about what the conditions were. Which would be suspicious for any other person but he had gotten so used to their evasiveness that he had forgotten to question it. He had to make a mental note to ask Jett more about the protocol.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're right." Jazz's reply was dripping with so much sarcasm that Kayden was surprised that it didn't ooze out from under the door. "I just seemed to have forgotten about that with what you've been doing."

"I've been keeping him alive?"

"Jett."

"We're doing this to make sure he doesn't get hurt, Jazz. Both during our stay here and after we leave. That's it."

"Are you sure it's what you want?"

"Yes, Jazz." She clipped in finality before sighing and calling "Kayden you can stop eavesdropping now!"

His heart stuttered at being caught, trying to frantically think of an excuse as the door swung back to reveal an annoyed looking Jett and a frustrated Jazz.

"We have to go now," he said, rather than commenting on the conversation which had undeniably been about him. She had already changed into her typical jeans and leather jacket getup which meant that all she had to do was stuff her wallet and phone into her deep pockets so they could leave.

"We'll talk about this later," Jazz called after Jett, tone serious

Jett just rolled her eyes and didn't bother to respond; instead she sent Kayden a withering look. "I had almost forgotten how unbearably nosey you are."

Kayden felt his cheeks heat up slightly as he chuckled nervously "sorry."

"No you're not." She muttered as she slammed the car door with more force than necessary.

'Well shit, just when I thought we had actually become friends.'

****

Hey all it's me again, I was a little busy earlier with a very important exam period but I recently finished so here's an update. As always, don't forget to comment, vote and share if you enjoyed!

Until next time, stay safe and treat yourselves kindly, 

Artemis.