Float

sixteen

j

the front door slammed behind me and i jumped at the noise. cole patted my back, motioning me to go to bed. reluctantly, i trudged up the stairs and to the poorly set-up bedroom. the mattress was tattered and there were no blankets or pillows. there wasn't any wall decorations or even a fan with a light. all there was, was that goddamn mattress tucked up against the wall looking as pathetic as ever.

"you're back", kai slid into the doorway, "wanna go out somewhere and grab a snack or something".

"cole told me to go to bed", i shrugged and sat down on the bed.

"you're not a baby, you can choose to sleep whenever you want to. the nights still young", kai laughed and held his hand out to help me up.

"okay, fine, but in return you have to tell me all about lloyd and nya's rondevu", i followed kai out the door and to the sidewalk.

"alright, fine", he shoved his hands deep into his jacket pockets and sighed, "what do you want to know?".

"why did nya kiss him?", i walked faster to almost a jog to keep up with kai.

he became quiet and gritted his teeth together like he either hated the reason or hated having to tell me. we stopped at a cross-section in the road and waited for the cars to stop speeding by.

"i don't know, i guess she just likes kissing people who join the gang huh?", he ruffled my hair and sprinted across the street.

i followed him close behind and sighed.

"you can't just forget that?", i scoffed, "tell me the truth, kai".

he threw his hands up exasperatedly and raised his voice a bit, "i don't fucking know, why did you kiss her?".

"don't reverse the rolls, i asked you", i hit kai's arms down and crossed my arms across my chest to keep the warmth in.

he rolled his eyes and held open the door for the nando's. he sat down at a corner booth and kicked his legs up on the table.

"wanna go order for me?", kai smirked.

i reluctantly nodded my head and listened to kai's noxious voice list off what he wanted. i carried the tray full of food back and sighed as i sat down.

"now will you tell me?", i scoffed and ate a couple of fries.

kai shoved his burger into his mouth and hummed before he began talking, "i thought i already did! i. don't. know. i have no clue why lloyd would go off and make-out with my sister. i don't care about her boy issues-".

i quickly cut him off, "but you cared about me".

he threw his hands up and scoffed, "i cared about you because you had first stalked me on my way home from school! don't pull that little stunt on me. you're questions are stupid".

"just answer and i'll stop!", i whined.

"maybe you're just not asking the right questions or maybe it's more like you're asking the wrong person. why don't you just ask lloyd himself?", kai got up to throw his trash away and took mine with him.

he held open the door for me and i walked through, thanking him, and letting the cold, crisp air softly touch my face. kai took a deep breath in and closed his eyes as he stopped walking to bathe in the brisk, fresh air. i stopped with him and laughed slightly about how stupid he looked. my hands were shoved deep in my pockets as they searched for warmth.

the sun was just rising as we walked back to the house. my feet shuffled across the pavement and kai shot me the glance to "stop right fucking now and pick up your feet like you're actually able to walk", so i did.

"jay?", a familiar voice grabbed my wrist to spin me around and sighed, "i thought i told you to go to sleep, you have an early morning tomorrow".

"hey, when did you sign the adoption papers and become such a dad?", kai pushed him off of me and laughed.

cole threw his hands up like he was innocent and scoffed at kai, "i don't remember you being the leader, kai. i control you as of now".

kai gritted his teeth together and pushed cole back again, "shut the hell up, bastard!".

"hey, let's not do this here", i grabbed kai's shoulder and tried to pull him back.

"let me go!", he pushed my hand off and huffed at me, "this is between cole and i so why don't you just leave?", kai grabbed the front of my shirt and pushed me back causing me to fall down on my back, knocking the wind out of me.

"what the hell?", i propped myself up on my hands and scoffed.

cole narrowed his eyes and threw down the bags he was holding in his left hand. he began to breathe heavily and stared up down at me and then up at kai. quickly, he harshly grabbed the back of kai's neck and lowly spoke, "don't you dare lay a hand on him like that ever again. i'm the only one who touches him, understand?".

kai winced and held his hands up pleading his innocence, "the fuck? okay? let me go!".

cole ripped his hand away and rushed over to where i lay. he put his hand out and helped me to my feet. cole's eyes locked with mine as he softly smiled and walked back to grab his bags and then disappeared around the corner.

my eyes locked on the path he took and i began to walk forward until kai put his arm around my abdomen and turned me around.

"i guess it's bedtime, little b", he dragged me away and to the house, "your little boyfriend is quite protective, huh?".

my face reddened, "you know?".

"know what?".

"oh... nothing".