of all the stars

c39

Saturday's never held excitement for Ki until she met Lyra.

A normal Saturday would've been watching Netflix all day, or reading in the library with Acacia, or even some days just staring at the ceiling and contemplating life.

On an especially awful Saturday, she would spend the day crying and curled up into her pillow as Shori tried desperately to get her out of bed by using a promise to go get food.

But now she looks forwards to Saturdays.

This current Saturday is no exception.

Today she looks forwards to the sleepover with the four girls she's grown to call her friends this year. Even if she knows by the end they have to tell them everything, it's still nice to have people to hang out with. People who don't judge you for the stupid shit you do or say, because they do and say it too.

Ki never really credited herself with having too many friends as a kid. There was one through elementary school that she used to love hanging out with at figure skating. Her name was Abi, she was almost exactly one year older than her. They used to race each other around the rink drinking apple juice and throwing goldfish at each other, and when Ki moved, they never spoke again. When Ki started karate, she loved sparring with this one boy named Oliver who always used to brag about the fact that he was a whole four inches taller than she was. She always kicked his ass and it made Shori laugh when he would use the 'I was taking it easy on you' excuse. Thinking back on it now, Oliver may have been crushing on her throughout middle school, but Ki just missed all the signs.

Coming to Kennedy wasn't different from what she was used to. Other than Shori, there was no one she really deeply trusted or held a strong relationship with. She had no real 'best friends' in Texas.

However slight, things were different now.

Maybe she was opening up. Maybe she was letting more people in. Maybe she was getting better.

It scared her sometimes. What if everything was fake and everyone would turn around and leave her? What if she got too close only to be pushed away? What if no one actually liked her but they just befriended her out of pitty? Is that what Acacia did?

Ki liked to think it wasn't. She liked to think that maybe she was just becoming someone that was acceptable to be around people now. Maybe she was worthy of friends... of people that cared.

But what if she lost them all in the blink of an eye?

That seemed to have been the case of how quickly they came into her life. One day it was just her and Acacia, and the next she was hanging out with girls she hadn't really ever been close with. Lyra brought them into her life just as quickly as she showed up in her life.

But what if she lost them all because of Lyra?

It was a price Ki didn't want to pay.

————————

Halfway through the night, and half a bottle in, Acacia was a giggling drunk on the floor. It didn't take her very long to start drinking, and once she did, she had no intentions of stopping.

She was sprawled out Ki's bedroom floor, staring at the ceiling and laughing as Kat was telling a story about her brother. Hana wasn't drunk, but she was definitely buzzed due to the tired smirk she held on her face as she sat leaned up against the wall, completely exhausted. Next to her, Kat took a swig out of the bottle as she continued to make fun of whatever her brother did at work today.

"He's definitely bored out of his mind without Shori there anymore." She sighed, leaning her head back against the dresser. "I mean, he's pretty much begging to be fired."