Falling | Olajide Olatunji/KSI

Trivial Pursuit| 4

1 week later

It had been beyond lonely in the apartment, I became a hostage in my own home in a way. It was out of the ordinary for me to get this bad, only seven days ago was I smiling like a mad hatter, and now I was cradling myself because passing time seemed to get harder and harder.

The days went by slowly, then they sped up and left you reeling because of the uncertainty of the actual time. There wasn't an actual reason I was feeling this inner turmoil, the fact Simon hadn't text me back in a week had dampened my mood slightly though, the only friend I thought I gained just disappeared. And overall I was getting down as the week dragged on, I was just getting through the motions, making meals, drinking, keeping myself hygienic as possible.

I had days were I just didn't feel good, and today was turning out to be one of them. Everything wasn't bad, but it definitely was not terrific, I sighed and let my head rest on my pillow. The fairy lights Simon hung up we're doing a good job at keeping me more in check at night, I was still internally grateful for that as it'd helped me out in the long run.

I was drained mostly emotionally, I mean I couldn't be physically drained as I didn't have the willpower to move around at all, my motivation had been dropping drastically and it was getting to the point showering was challenging, which was utterly stupid.

I let out a frustrated groan and wanted to let the exhaustion take over, cloud me over into an abyss of bliss sleep for once, but of course not. My phone beeped and I pulled at my hair roughly before looking at the text, Simon finally answered, and it was completely irrelevant.

'Hey, I know this is out of the blue, but we're having a buffet tonight and before we do it we'll just be playing games. I wondered if you wanted to join in? I was given the choice to invite people over, didn't know if it would be your thing or not, text me back asap'

He didn't even mention the previous texts I'd mentioned before, all the common pleasantries of 'how are you's' and 'what you up to' . Maybe he had not got the notifications or had not been paying attention? Whatever his excuse, I needed a reason to get out the house, get rid of this bitter mood and smile like I did a bit ago.

'Yeah, I'd be down, just send an address and time, I'll be there'

That seemed like a good message, straight to the point, and not just giving him an indirect reply. A sigh of relief escaped my still chapped lips, briefly I brought my finger up and felt how chapped they were, as I waited for Simon's response I decided to search the apartment for some lipsol.

I heard a ding, and assumed it was Simon (and I was right) so I got into some good attire, it was getting cold recently so I wore a burgundy jumper with white lines on the arms, and I just about managed to get in some comfy blue jeans. I hastily put on my shoes and grabbed my phone and keys, the address was nearby and the ideal time to be there was in twenty minutes.

Without thinking, I typed to a taxi number and waited ten minutes for the blasted car to come, I was still slightly irritated and my chest felt weighted so I didn't want it getting worse by being late, that would cause so much unbelievable embarrassment.

I constantly was looking at the time, I was that type of person, embarrassment was one of the worst things, it was practically torture to my head so I tried to avoid it at all costs. I didn't make any conversation with the driver once I had gotten in, I just listen to the music playing on the radio and begged I got there in the nick of time.

I mean honestly, how could Simon just pretend I never existed for a week? I could understand if he was busy, but he didn't even warn me, I felt so secluded and stupid. I was slightly aggravated, but I knew I'd end up forgiving him as he was the only person to like me for a long time, I'm grateful, but still a bit upset, he could've told me at least.

I relieved a sigh, there was still a somewhat weight pushing down on my chest, I tried my best to ignore it as I pulled up at the house. It was definitely larger in size than I thought it would be. As the car stopped, I muffled my nervous breaths and thanked the driver politely before feverishly jogging closer and rapturing my hands on the door.

It took a long time before anyone answered, it wasn't Simon, confusion laced my face as I waited for the man to introduce himself. He smiled, and he seemed extremely kind, he was short and had very prominent eyebrows and dark brown eyes. His features were very striking, he would be very easy to spot from a distance because of how he looked, very different from anyone I'd ever seen.

"Hey, I'm Vik!" He did seem a tiny bit introverted like me, which made it a bit more comfortable, I was still incredibly uneasy though as he was a total stranger. He didn't quite fathom what to do, it was almost as if he was about to stick out his hand, but decided not to last minute. "I'm guessing you're Kiara? Simon mentioned you the other day, I wouldn't have trusted him on the first day, too tall"

I raised an eyebrow, he seemed in a joking mood, but he did shed some honesty, I guess he wasn't fond of strangers as well. I didn't trust Simon, it was just coincidence he was the only one who could help me, and it deeply annoyed me to call him, I still felt on edge with him and even if I let him hang up my lights, it was unpleasant to let someone into my life that quickly.

"Yeah, I am Kiara, I'm not quite sure what to do now" I replied with a frown, I didn't know my way around and wasn't told what games were being played and everything.

"Oh, thought Simon would have the decency to tell you" he laughed and shook his head, "they're upstairs, you'll hear them laughing when you get close to the right door" he informed me, "I'll be joining in a minute, just getting a drink"

I nodded and cautiously made my way up the spiral steps, how did they afford this?

Because they actually have a career unlike you

I blocked out my inner voice and chortled quietly, I should've expected a sarcastic remark from my self conscious.

I heard a bundle of laughs on my right and creaked the door open. A few boys looked my way, didn't seem like girls existed in this house. Simon was in the corner, sitting cozily on a beanbag, he waved me over and I sat down on the floor beside him.

"We were just about to start a game of trivial pursuit, wanna play?" He stared at me, awaiting my answer, a spare controller hovering in his hand.

"I don't see why not" I mumbled, grabbing the controller gently. I briefly had heard of the game before, just practically knowledge based, I wasn't the smartest, but I happened to know some random facts from long nights surfing the internet.

I quickly realised that everyone was horrible at the art topic, including me, how would anyone know most of those answers?

To put it shortly, me and another man in the room had a rivalry for second place, I didn't really talk to him, just shaking my head when I got a question wrong and he got it right. I gripped the controller intensely when you had to compete against everyone to quickly pick your answers before another grabbed it, I got a few right but was miles away from being first.

I ended up coming third, Simon came first and the second place was so close behind him. My stomach growled by the time we finished, the boys lead me into their kitchen, and I quickly picked out a sausage roll and crisps.

10 minutes after I was done, one of the boys came back into the kitchen, Vik, asked if I wanted to go to Nando's with everyone in a few hours, as they'd already eaten from the buffet but wanted a proper dinner later.

I panicked, and ended up declining, I wasn't ready to meet more people as the others would be there. Simon just shrugged, and asked for another game before I would head back home.

I nodded, but distantly I asked myself if I missed out on a good opportunity or not. Was I just being stupid?

You're always stupid, Simon will realise how awful you are soon, you should've gone and tried to have been a little interesting for once

I looked to the side and this time failed to block it out quick enough, I hoped my self criticism wouldn't get worse, I just wanted to have friends and company.

Not a personal attacker

Oof, so now you guys are starting to see the cracks in Kiara's personality, she's not just awkward. I've always thought of Vik as really nice, so that's why he was so kind to her. Dangggg guys, she missed a chance to see JJ at Nandos, maybe next time ;)