Right in Front of You

31. Not Okay

Kay walked down the long hallway leading to the gym, wondering why she felt so nervous. It was probably because she had no idea what to expect, what Kyle not being okay meant. Even before she reached the entrance, she could hear the sound of something being pummeled. Warily, she opened the door.

Kyle was in front of the boxing bag, punching and kicking the shit out of it. He had headphones on and the music turned all the way up, since Kay could actually hear the buzzing of what sounded like heavy rock between the hits.

Sweat trickled down his face, running down to his already soaked t-shirt, and the look on his face sent shivers down her spine. He didn't look sad, he looked pissed as hell. And at that moment, she wondered what Max was playing at. If he knew about Kyle blacking out when he got angry, why was he turning him into a potential killing machine?

With a frustrated grunt, Kyle punched the bag hard. It flew off its hook and crashed against the wall. Kay took an involuntary step back.

"Fuck, not again," he mumbled, wiping his forehead. He rested his hands on his bent knees, breathing for a second before he went for the bag.

"Um, Kyle?" she said tentatively, though she was sure he couldn't hear her with the music playing so loud.

But he turned around and looked at her surprised, the anger vanishing in an instant. "Kay? What are you doing here?" He took the earbuds out and started fishing for his iPod to turn the music off.

"Max let me in." She took a hesitant step inside, because she could tell Kyle really wasn't his usual self, though she couldn't exactly tell what had changed.

He raised his eyebrows. "Max?"

"Actually, your housekeeper, but then Max came and said I should come down to see you. I only wanted to see if you were okay because you didn't answer your phone." She hesitated, but couldn't stand the silence so she filled it with petty small talk. "I think I woke Max up from his nap."

Kyle, who'd started searching the pockets of his sweats, probably for his phone, stopped and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you mean from his romp."

"What do you... no!" Kay's mouth fell open. "Do you mean...?"

"That Max is doing Rosario? Yeah, for the past two years. He has no idea I know, but I walked in on them, then had to wash my eyes out. I knew what they were up to, hence the loud music." He grinned at her, but it wasn't the usual carefree smile she loved.

That explained why the house keeper looked so flustered. "But she's so young.'"

"Nah, I think she's like ten years younger than Max. She's a big girl, knows what she's getting herself into. If I didn't want to avoid the subject like the plague, I'd tell Max to get her into college." His voice was off, too.

Kay walked to a bench that was closest to him and sat down. Maybe it was her turn to play supportive friend. "Are you okay?"

He watched her for a few moments, as if wondering if he should lie or not.

"We're doing the brutal honesty thing, by the way," she added, just in case.

He smiled again, but it was humorless. "I'm not okay." He indicated towards the fallen punching bag. "I'm very obviously not okay."

She patted the space next to her on the bench, but he ignored her and leaned against the wall instead, crossing his arms over his chest. He was tense and something obviously bothered him.

"Look, if it hurts so much, you can end it," she said. The words were tearing holes in her throat, but she had to get them out, it was the right thing to do. "Cecily will surely want to get back together."