Tattooed Boy. || ENG

|15|

Basically what happened after the exam phase ended, is that I'm at home boring myself to death for a huge part of the day. Now that I don't have to study or prepare for something I just don't know what to do with myself.

Because of that I spend a lot of time drawing but also with Mom while cooking or cleaning or just talking even. Dad said I should search for a job for the summer but I feel like there's nothing I could actually do. Last summer I worked in some shop but the owner ended up getting rid of me early because I'm not made for lifting heavy boxes. The library in town doesn't have enough money to afford an extra worker and in the local supermarket work a few people I barely stand seeing while buying groceries. Kelsey is 95% sure the cashier is a wanted child molester and the woman behind the meat counter hates people in general.

Today I didn't even take a step outside to search for a position but helped out Mom instead who – don't ask me why – suddenly wanted to paint the window frame baby blue.

After Kelsey arrived home after her shift she cooked dinner and soon also Dad entered with a confused look on his face (Mom apparently didn't announce the sudden change of colors of our window frames but did it spontaneously) and as if my bones didn't already hurt Mom happily announces: "Work division!"

We all groan simultaneously, but she just laughs it off. This woman is tireless. I'm curious as to what I inherited from her in that matter.

"Honey, you go wash the car, Zoe you'll do the dishes, Kelsey vacuums and I'll clean the windows, okay? Okay."

We all do as she says anyways after some complaints from both sides and after a while I can even hear dad singing along to some song on the radio through the open windows.

"Zoe?" I turn around to face Kelsey. "Do you have a minute?"

I shrug. "Sure. Let me finish this" I say and point at the plates piled up in front of me. "Is something wrong?"

She smiled reassuring. "No, no I just want to talk. Alone, if possible" she adds with a cheeky grin and a quick glare to the window.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Should this secretive behavior worry me? My sister winks at me and leaves the room with the vacuum cleaner.

As I put the last plate into the cupboard, my mother asks without turning around: "Would you bring out the garbage as well?"

"Sure."

"Thanks dear" she yells after me and I roll my eyes. She really does love these work parting moments. While following her orders my thoughts wander to my sister. We often have random talks but usually we don't plan to have them beforehand. Something's surely off here.

I find Kelsey a few minutes later on her couch, legs on the table in front and her phone in her hands. "Oh, there you are" she says as she notices me sticking my head through the frame of her door.

I let myself fall on my butt right next to her. "What's the issue?"

She smiles and the way she does makes me impatient.

"C'mon spit it out."

She stays silent, but her eyes turn into some kind of puppy eyes.

"What?" I question slowly getting annoyed. "Another party you want me to accompany you to?"

Quickly she shakes her head. "Hell no. I won't force you anymore. You seem to have much more fun when you attend voluntarily."

"That's supposed to mean what exactly ...?" I reply with my eyebrows raised.

"Last time must've been a lot of fun. At least Jisung said so."

Now I furrow my brows. "Jisung? And what does he know?"

Kelsey seems surprised. I don't seem to find a proper structure or even reason behind this conversation. "I thought you went there together?"

"Uhm ... no? I went there with Ann."

"But you brought him home, didn't you?"

"Ha!" I blurt out laughing. "He literally kidnapped me there and dragged me into a taxi" - yes, I regained most of my memory - "I don't even know why he was there. Anyways ... I didn't allow him to stay here or anything. He used the excuse of not having any money left as an excuse to sleep over."

"Quite an efficient excuse" Kelsey can't help but grin. "He must like you."

"As if."

"Why would he spend money on bringing you home in the first place? He could've just used it for himself and let you get drugged again."

"Hey! I could've just paid myself?" It's not that I haven't been wondering about the exact same thing, it's just that I don't want to talk or even think about it further since that part of the night is still blurry. But especially I don't want my sister to jump into some weird conclusions.

She grins and ignores my complaint. "Well, in that case it could've been only common sense or kindness or whatever you want to call it, but if you ask me..."

"I didn't, though."

"...it seems like he is fond of you. After being drugged once, he could've expected you to know it better and just let you be, but he didn't and instead protected you like a prince on a white steed."

"Wait a moment." I interrupt her. "Kelsey, Kelsey, calm down for a second. I didn't get drugged this time, okay? I did not. So there was nothing to rescue me from. That dude causally dragged me out when the party was the most fun, that's nothing a 'prince on a white steed' would do." I roll my eyes as I quote her.

She pouts. "But hypothetically it would've been super romantic."

"What the-? Kelsey!"

She shrugs. "Just saying."

I groan and bury my head in my hands. "He really gets on my nerves sometimes." More like most of the time.

She puts a hand on my back. "But you like him."

I groan. "No I don't. Don't you listen? He annoys me."

"Why do you let him bother you when you don't like him?" her voice sounds amused.

"What can I do when he's as stubborn as a damn bull? He just won't stop interfering."

"Maybe that's because he likes you."

I open my mouth to answer but freeze for a second. "Stop day dreaming" I then reply harshly. She just laughs it off.

"Believe me or not, I have a sense for stuff like that."

"You have a sense for annoying me, too" I fire back. "Maybe that's why you and that guy get along so well."

"You seem to get along with him even better" she says and finishes off literally singing while jumping up to escape my hand which is longing to slap her.

"Come back here, you beast!" We face each other as if we were in some kind of box fight.

She burst out into laughter. "Never in a million years."

"Kelsey!" I warn her. "We're not done talking yet."

"You didn't seem to want to talk about it anyway" she teases.

"Oh, shut up." I make a step towards her.

"Ow, our little princess is getti-"

I tackle her and we fall back onto the couch, tickling each other and laughing our asses off. "Okay, okay!" Kelsey says after a while, trying to catch her breath. "I'll stop."

"Thanks" I say and sit up.

"But you'd really look cute together."

"KELSEY!"