Perks of having an Alter-ego. [POHAA]

Chapter-6b Star-struck

I dragged my body out of the comforting couch and tramped towards the dining table. As soon as I settled into the chair, Kiara enthusiastically uncapped the lid of the vessel. My nose sniffed in all the essence of tangy steam from the spaghetti Bolognese. It suddenly reminded me of home, my mom, the laughter I used to have at the dinner table, for every lame joke that my dad cracked; that every moment my mom used to get annoyed for the commentary we used make on her cooking- skills, as an epic dad-daughter team.

"Is that enough?" Kiara's voice snapped me back to the reality. My eyes widened at the amount of spaghetti that was piled up on my plate, with a pool of red sauce around it.

'What does she think of me? A troll or something?'

Nevertheless I dug my fork in and started eating and slurping the heck out of it. Kiara burst into a snorty laughter and tried to hide it by sticking her long index on her crimson lips. My hurried and hastened​ eating slowly paced down. I tucked strings of hair that were dangling in front of my eyes behind my ears and acted all natural, trying not to become an embarrassed-goose in front of them.

"Why act so royal, when you are hungry as hell? And where did you buy that 'shyness' from, and since when?" She narrowed her brows and Chuckled.

"I am not shy..." I blurted, wiping my lips with a hand towel.

"Like, duhh? From that 'super-boy' she is dating with..." Barb gave her sassy little eye roll, slurping the spaghetti. As soon as she caught my irk, she suddenly said, "and, it's so delish...Mom", looping her index and thumb in a gesture of saying super. Poor thing was happy that her mother, for the first time in years, had cooked her some real food. And more over she was dining with us.

"Aww, thanks Barb. But you got to eat all of that, okay? No wasting." Kiara warned, putting on a fake serious look on her face.

"Mm..mh." Barb nodded, licking the red sauce from her lips.

I squeezed my eyes and glared at the devil's face, poking her feet with my toes. She sheepishly looked down onto her platter. 'How dare she speak of me like that? I'mma kill her later!'

"So?" Kiara looked at me expectantly, pausing after having a mouth full of food.

'Uh oh! What do I tell her?'

"So what? What do you mean?" I rolled my guilty eyes.

"You and Neon. Huh?" She asked, rolling her tongue on her canine, in an attempt to pick the sticking food.

"I uh...It's...it's complicated. All I know is that, he is not like what we had assumed him to be. He saved us. So, that's that. There is nothing more to it." I said, not daring enough to look into her eyes. "Can't we just enjoy the food for one night? If you don't want me eating with you, I'll go back." I know, it was very evil of me to say those bi**hy words, but I had to before things got out of control.

She sighed and pressed my fingers which were resting on the table top. I was shaken by her every other act, that day. First was that, she didn't reek of alcohol; second, that she went ahead and cooked some tasty food for us and now that, she was giving me this sort of emotional support. What more could go wrong? I felt like I was living in some sort of alternate universe. But then again, it was a whole different type of day.
"It's okay. Just don't be naïve, okay. No matter what, I am by your side." She genuinely smiled.

My 'resting snob' face took a few seconds to soften, I returned the same gesture and smiled at her. "Thank you."

"So, how is the karate going?" She changed the subject, relieving the uneasiness that was haunting us that evening. And the talk went on until all of us were full. There was nothing left to throw into the trash can, the vessel didn't even need washing, that's how empty it was.