Rise Up [Kai Smith x Reader]

|01|Chapter One Rise Up

|The more I stray the less I fear, And the more I reach the more I fade away. The darkness right in front of me. Oh it's calling out and I won't walk away|

[Y/N]

Paranoia. That was the one word to describe my entire family. That was the one word to describe how I was acting. It was lunch, and without my "lawyer" I would be surely depicted as the coward. I was a coward, but there was a reason I was a coward. My parents abandoned me when I was ten leaving me with my grandfather.

That was the fear of being unwanted. My village was destroyed when I was seven. That was the fear of natural disasters. My old friend, Sarahe, ditched me every chance she got in middle school. There goes my fear of being alone. So many fears were clouding my mind like poisonous gas in a room without windows and an entirely sealed door.

I look around the cafeteria of the high school looking around for the slightest view of my best friend. I, finally, spotted her in the lunch line with ... Nya Smith? That was odd. I searched the room for where her brother and his friends sat. I, finally, found them at a table near the garbage cans. The loser table.

Our table in the cafeteria was the one in the center: The abandoned table. I cringed at the thought. Maybe, that's why I understand and like the table so much. I let my eyes drift from the two girls to the table of just guys and back and forth. I had no idea why Maddie was speaking with Nya, but I had a sneaky suspicion that she was trying to help. We may sit at the abandoned table, but it was a lot better than the ones by the garbage.

It was loads better.

Maybe, they can all sit at the abandoned table. It could easily hold eight people, and it wouldn't be crowded.  But I had this knowing feeling in the pit of my stomach that she was talking to Nya because of an assignment they had to do. I looked down at my watch to see only three minutes had past since lunch started. Didn't it start twenty minutes ago? No? Well, it sure felt like it.

"Hey, [Y/N], I'm sitting with Nya today. We have a partner project to do. You're welcomed to come sit with us." Maddie said as she appeared right in front of me.

My gaze went to my lap where I held my phone during lunch. It was so I could read my texts without Maddie breathing down my neck. Which was good today, considering what one said.

You can't protect yourself from the inevitable.

I turned towards Maddie who looked like she was contemplating on what my answer would be. I looked at the table of misfits by the garbage. They looked like they were suffering. The #1 group in the school who got picked on the most in school. The second was me and Maddie.

I turned my attention to Maddie. "How about they come sit with us actually?"

I saw Nya (who was standing beside her) with her mouth slightly opened. No one knew that would be expected. Maddie stared at me wide eyed. I knew what that expression read. Really? I looked at my best friend a little hurt that she would assume I didn't mean that.

"Do you really mean that?" Nya asked with hope in her eyes.

"I mean it, Nya. Have your friends sit with us. I know the abandoned table is one of the worst, but it beats the garbage cans anyday." I reassured her.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the five boys were staring at our exchange. Nya looked at the five before gesturing them to come over to the table. I moved my stuff from off the table to allow more room for them to put there stuff. Maddie sat in her usual spot which was across from me and Nya sat next to her as the boys walked very slowly over to the table.
It was like they were so unsure of this whole predicament I had gotten them into. The boys sat down at the table with Lloyd who sat beside me. I smiled at them.

"Hey, Zane." I told the boy who sat beside me in History.
He waved at me. I noticed Maddie roll her eyes at me. What was her problem? I did what she asked me to. She had asked if I would like to sit with them.

"This table is so much better than the one by the trash cans." The ginger with freckles I knew as Jay said.

If I remember correctly, I've had classes with at least one of them in one of my classes since the beginning of high school. For instance, Jay was my lab partner in Chemistry. I never wanted to go through with that again. However, he was my current lab partner in AP Physics, and boy was sure useful.

He was extremely good in that department of the sciences, and whenever I didn't understand something, he would explain it to the best of his ability.  Then, I sat beside Lloyd in the back of the English classroom towards the end of Sophmore year when the six of them moved down here. Since April of Sophmore year, one of them was in one of my classes.

Well, now I shared three classes with one person (who's name is Kai Smith): Psychology, English, and PE.

Unlike most people though, I was stable in the chaos division. I wasn't so sure about Kai though. From what I know of the guy, he has a short fuse with a big explosion. He might actually be the definition of Chaos. I saw Maddie smile at me from where she was. I didn't understand why, but I didn't pay it much thought as the bell that signalled it was the end of lunch rang.