Catboy

10: kyala

It was cold out, and Ky was wrapped up in a scarf, a puffer jacket, and thick sweatpants. Julian, on the other hand, was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, not even bothering with a coat. He sat down next to her, the bench shaking slightly as he jumped down.

"Don't do that," Ky chided. "This bench is old, man. It's gonna break."

"Nah." Julian shook his head. "I've been going to this park and sitting on this bench for the past year and a half. Not like it's not used to me already."

"Whatever." Ky rolled her eyes, but she was smiling anyway. "How's things?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Shit, man," Ky said. "Did something happen? Did he reject you?"

Another pause. Julian sighed next to her, and Ky slung an arm around him, gently squeezing his shoulder. He seemed to be struggling with his words, debating what he was going to say.

After a moment, he finally chose what to tell her. Carefully, cautiously, he started to talk. "He's, uh... he's sick."

"What?" Ky took her arm off his shoulder. "Like a- a cold or something? Stomach bug?"

"N... no," Julian said slowly, as if he himself didn't believe what he was saying. "Like, uh... a brain infection."

There were, and always had been, two parts of Ky's mind- the rational, and the illogical. The rational was telling her what her response should be- tears, an apology, a hug. Maybe a fancy hot chocolate and some nice cookies if she could afford it. A promise that she would stop by, say hello, bring anything that anyone needed.

But the illogical part, for almost the first time, had come up with a good idea. It would take some planning, but it would work. And, for now, she was willing to push past her sadness, push past her worry. For this to work, she would have to seem confident.

"Wait," she said, after a minute of reflection. Julian looked up at her, startled out of his sad sort of trance. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but... this isn't the worst situation." He glared at her, and she quickly tried to backtrack. "I mean, he's not gonna die or anything."

"He will if he gets a single virus."

"Just avoid that," Ky muttered. Julian turned and stared at her, furious.

"You say it as if it was that simple-"

"And I'm going to tell you what you should do, so you should shut up and listen to me," Ky snapped, and Julian lapsed into a shocked silence. She sighed. "Thank you." He turned back to staring at his hands, and she took it as a sign to continue. "Now, I'm going to give you my idea, and you're going to listen. Ask questions at the end, and only at the end."

"I'm not a chil-"

"Shut up," Ky said smoothly. "Do you want to hear the idea or not?"

"... I guess so."

"Take him on a trip." 

Julian opened his mouth in protest, but Ky held up a hand and he swallowed his words. "Take him on a trip, you, him, your other roommate if he wants to go. Not your brother." Julian nodded. "Take him wherever you want, but I'd suggest a forest. You can rent some nice cabins, and they're only a few hours north. He seems like the type to enjoy nature."

"I don't see why this'd help."

"Julian," Ky replied, "I don't remember giving you permission to speak. Now, as to why it'd help- I hate to break this to you, Julian, but he's sick." Julian flinched. "He's going to- is he going?- he's going to hospital. So," she said, "this might be your last chance to hang out with him." She saw Julian's expression, and stumbled over her words. "I mean, for a while at least."

She hadn't known Julian long, but she knew that he was thinking it over.

"If he gets sick, then everything is over."

"Well, no offence, Julian, but... if you were him, would you rather get sick in your bedroom, alone, and then go to hospital? Or would you rather get sick under the stars, having the time of your life, and then go to hospital?" It was barely a question, more of a statement. "I know what I'd choose."

Julian was silent, still. "We'd have to plan everything- it'd have to be close to a doctor, to a hospital, just in case."

"You don't have to go for long," Ky told him. "You can go for a weekend, but, hey..." She smiled at Julian, a sad little smile. "Just make the time count."

He nodded slowly, as if everything was finally sliding into place. "I guess it'd be good," he said after a moment. "A goodbye... for a while," he added hastily. "I mean, I don't think he's going to die or anything."

Kyala chose to ignore those last words. "You can go hiking, or watch the sunsets; or the stars." Despite herself, she was starting to get excited. "You can make nice food! You can do shit you never thought you would do before!"

"Whoa, Ky," Julian laughed, "getting a bit adult there."

"Shut up," she grinned, and smacked his shoulder. "Do whatever you want, Julian. But..." She paused. "You have to promise me one thing, okay?"

Julian groaned. "This is gonna be something awful, huh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Alright, alright. Lay it on me."

Ky smiled. "You have to kiss him."

"What?" Julian spluttered, his face turning bright red. "I'm not gonna-"

"Bonus level," she interrupted. "He has to kiss you back."

Julian's eyes widened. Does she know about the kiss? When did I tell her? Did he tell her? 

No, she doesn't know.

"Actually," he said carefully, "Lloyd's already kissed me before."

Kyala gasped, her eyebrows soaring upwards. "What? When?" 

Julian smiled, then got to his feet. "I should get going, it's past six. Lawrence will start getting worried."

"He kissed you?"

"Yep. Thanks for the ideas," Julian said, turning to leave. "I'll see what I can do about your promise."

"Wait, wait... he kissed you."

Julian laughed. "Last time I checked, it was me."

"Holy shit."

"See you around, Ky."

Ky took a breath. "See you around, Julian."