Circles

3.

"Hey Kai," she states again, a bit more serious this time, "have you ever thought about leaving this place?" He gives her a side glance she can't see, he knows where this is going but decides to play along with her anyway.

"What do you mean?" He asks, dividing his attention between her and the meat being cut in front of him.

"You know, like, what if you could just leave. Not have to worry about anything and just, just go."

"Even if I had, where would I go?" he questions her, trying his best to not sound cynical. Yet it doesn't work. Lilly looks over at him and sighs.

"Nevermind," she says, "forget I even mentioned it." Kai knows her well enough to know that her question usually have a hidden meaning, but he decides that this time he won't press the issue any further.

"Actually," she begins, "I have to tell you something, and you can't tell anyone. Please don't be mad at me." She adjusts her position again, and stands up folding her arms. She looks down again, drawing in a deep breath to calm herself down. "My parents think that it's time I get married. That I'm at a good age, a-and husbands might not want me if I get any older." Kai stops what he's doing to look at her face, he knows the look she has on her face when she lies, but she doesn't have it.

"Come again?" he chuckles dryly, he smiles because he doesn't know what else to do. He knew from since they were younger that it would happen eventually, but he didn't think she'd be so young.

"I don't wanna repeat it, please don't make me say it again," she responds softly. She feels her throat begin to hurt as tears well up in her eyes. She blinks them away rapidly as she refuses to let him think she's being a crybaby yet again. Kai's smile fades, realizing that she is in fact absolutely serious. Kai is about to say something when they hear the front door open. He bites back any comments he has and continues what he was doing so as not make their conversation known. As if on cue, Eli walks into the kitchen.

"We're home, how's the food comin' along?" Eli asks. Looking over at Kai's handiwork.

'Oh, it's um, good," Kai responds. To which Eli gives him a thumbs up and goes to check on Adelai. Kai and Lilly can both hear Eli scolding her to say hello to their other brother. Moments later Adelai walks in.

"Hi," she waves to Kai with her little hands. He watches her and comes to the realization that because of her 'predicament,' she too will someday go through what Lilly is going through. That she might be sold off to the highest bidder by their never-really-home parents. For the first time, he feels helpless.

"Hello Adelai," he feigns a smile at her and watches as she walks over to Eli to do her homework. He looks over at Lilly and a rage boils inside of him, but it wasn't at her. It couldn't have been. This shouldn't be how things are, they should've been better for both her, and potentially even Adelai. He waits until Adelai is completely out of earshot and turns to Lilly.

"I talk to you about it later," he tells her.

Lilly sits on the bed her room later that day, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt legs folded into her chest. Her phone rings and she looks down to see who it is, of course, she's greeted with Kai's name and answers.

"Is it true what you said before?" he interrogates, "is that why you asked me about running away?"

"Yes to both of those," she say in a quick breath.

"Why would your parents do that? Don't they care about you?"

"Kai, I don—"

"That's unfair and you know it!" he exclaims. Anger present in his voice. There's a silence that washes over the both of them and neither of them know what to say.

"I'm sorry," she states simply.

"Sorry for what? You didn't make that decision," he says, attempting to calm himself. Lilly's never heard him like this before, she feels glad that he cares about her, but is extremely concerned with the way he sounds. This isn't the Kai she's used to. Again, a silence comes over them, and neither one knows what to say. That is, until Kai decides to break the silence.

"Meet me in front of the school tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's Saturday, we don't have school."

"Just do it," he pleads.

"Ok, I will," she says. Her mind immediately races for an excuse to tell her parents as to why she has to go to school. After a few moments of mindless chatter the two hang up. She looks at the clock and realizes that once again, she's kept him up past twelve.

She wakes up the next morning, if you could even call it that, after a night of restless tossing and turning to try falling asleep. Her head feels light and her body feels weak as her heart beats fast, she really didn't like feeling this way. After going through her morning routine, she packs a bag with only a sheet of paper and pencil, then tells her parents that she's going to tutoring at the school—looking them in the eyes as she blatantly lies to them. The distance from her home to the school isn't too bad. She watches the birds and they form Vs to fly down for the winter. The school yard is empty when she arrives. As is expected on a cold Saturday morning. Kai isn't there yet, and she takes this time to prepare herself for whatever he might say. No more than five minutes later, he arrives with a little bag in hand.

"Hi Lilly," he smiles at her as though nothing is wrong.

"Hey," she says plainly.

"Thank you for coming," he states, "this isn't easy for me either." She says nothing and simply watches his movements. He walks a bit closer to her and holds out the hand with the little bag.

"Open it," he playfully commands. Lilly reaches out a takes from him, she opens the top of the little bag, which was closed by a drawstring. She peers inside to see a little velvet box.

"Kai, no..." she whimpers

"I'll marry you," he begins, "I don't you to be married to some creep who you don't even know." His tone becomes serious as the words leave his mouth. He knows full well the implications of what he's just done, but he doesn't quite care.

"Kai, no, I-I can't."

"Why not?" he states getting frustrated, "I'm trying to help both of us out! You don't have to marry a stranger and I get peace of mind knowing you're safe! It's a win-win!"

"Kai, you don't underst—"

"What don't I understand?" his voice getting louder.

"First of all Kai, we're only seventeen! Second of all, they already got me engaged!" she yells back at him, "I was trying to tell you before, but I couldn't do it." Tears now slowly stream down her face, "I couldn't do it." Her voice growing shakier with each word. She gives Kai the bag back, trying to wipe her own tears away with her sleeve. There's no one around to see her cry at the very least, she thinks to herself. Kai's face drops for the second time in two days. He walks toward her and pulls her into a hug.

"Please don't cry," he whispers softly, all traces of anger leaving his voice. He doesn't have the luxury of being angry at her. He traces circles on her back through her jacket. She buries her face in his neck and sobs a bit more uncontrollably. At the end of the day, she was still his best friend, and he would be there for her no matter what.

Whether she wanted him to, or not.