Secrets

Chapter Sixteen

The air outside was still warm, but the leaves had already started to change color. Kimby and Kariann had settled into their new life quite well. They enjoyed their classes and life on campus. A couple of weeks into the semester they spent an evening in their floor's shared kitchen with their new friends.

"I don't think I've ever cooked for this many people at once" Kimby groaned.

"I probably completely miscalculated the amount of pasta we need."

She was standing at the stove preparing dinner. Next to her Tobin stood at the sink washing the dishes from the previous days. Despite the strict dorm rules, the kitchen was always messy. They were all responsible for the mess together, however, so no one ever complained.

Christen, Kelley and Kariann were sitting at the table in the middle of the room, talking about the upcoming home game. More specifically, Kelley was talking and the others were nodding along.

"I saw videos of their defense the other day" Kelley grumbled, talking about their opponent team.

"That's gonna be a hard match."

"I know" Christen agreed.

"Let's just try to get one point and then look past the game" she said.

"Are you guys coming?" she asked towards her roommate.

"Sure", Kariann confirmed.

Tobin was done washing the dishes and started placing plates and cutlery in front of everyone. When she reached Christen, she squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her. Christen beamed back. Kelley and Kariann pretended not to notice.

"Who else is coming tonight?" Tobin asked to no one in particular.

"Pinoe wanted to join later. She's still in the laundry room" Kelley said.

"Oh well, she can get her own plate" Tobin grinned and sat down next to Christen, who rolled her eyes at the statement.

"I'm glad everyone is being so helpful!" Kimby said pointedly towards her friends who were all sitting down.

Kelley chuckled.

"I'm gonna help you" she said getting up.

"What do you need me to do?"

"The pasta is done, so you could pour the water out of the pot. Make sure you put the strainer into the sink before, though" Kimby instructed.

Kelley did as she was told, then turned towards the stove to grab the big pot.

In that moment, Kimby saw a scene flashing before her eyes where Kelley underestimated the pot's weight and dropped it, the boiling water spilling onto her feet; the girl was only wearing flip-flops. The pot fell to the ground with a loud noise and the pasta spilled onto the floor. Kimby quickly turned towards Kelley and the stove as well, and when the pot slipped out of the other girl's hands, she focused her vision on it, standing completely still. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Kelley's surprised face. The pot safely landed on the floor next to Kelley's feet with a thud, the lid remaining on top and only a little water spilling out. She looked up to find Kelley staring at her.

The others turned their heads towards the two girls as they heard the pot land on the floor and looked at them with bewilderment. Only Kariann knew exactly what had gone down.

Kimby! She silently shouted at her twin sister.

What! The other girl replied.

We talked about this!

The boiling water was about to burn Kelley's feet! Not to mention the weight of the pot! She plays soccer, she can't get injured! Besides it would have ruined our dinner! Kimby defended herself.

Kariann didn't reply and just sighed.

"Dude" Tobin spoke up.

"Did you drop the pot?" she asked towards Kelley.

The freckled girl was still standing there as if in a state of shock. She slowly looked up towards the others.

"I ... think so? It slipped out of my hands. But it landed just fine" she said confused.

"Are you okay?" Christen asked worriedly.

"Yeah ... I think so" Kelley repeated.

None of them had ever seen the out-going girl this speechless. Kimby and Kariann hoped she would just shrug it off.

Kimby picked up the pot and drained the water into the sink. Then she went to one of the cabinets on the other side to get a rag and clean up the water that had been spilled. Meanwhile, Kelley sat down at the table again, still not speaking.

The mood had changed, and the twins desperately hoped it would return back to normal again. Kelley just sat there, deep in thought. She tried to make sense of what had just happened. She was certain that she had seen a moment like this somewhere before, a moment where something or someone had landed more safely they should have, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Christen reached out to gently touch Kelley's arm and bring her back into the present.

"Hey, it's ok. Nothing happened. You didn't get injured, and we can still enjoy our dinner" she said and smiled at her friend.

"You're right" Kelley replied and smiled back.

Kimby started filling everyone's plates with pasta, then put the pan with the tomato sauce into the middle of the table. Just as she was about to fill herself a glass of water from the sink, Megan came into the kitchen.

"Oh good, you haven't started yet!" she stated.

"Wait, where's my plate?" she asked as she was about to sit down next to Kariann, but saw there weren't enough plates on the table.

Tobin giggled, earning an elbow into her side from Christen.

"Ouch!" she said in a fake-hurt voice.

"Tobin, you're the worst!" Megan said dramatically, then went to the cupboard to get herself a plate and cutlery.

She joined the others at the table, and the mood was instantly lightened and back to the way it had been before. The friends enjoyed their meal together, talking and laughing about anything and everything. The twins decided not to talk about the incident for now in order to not ruin their night.