The Rejects Club | Lonely Hearts Club [EDITING]

Episode 3 - Kyra, Jasmine, and Mark really have nothing to talk about

Kyra wasn't sure what to think anymore. Of course, she could be mad, angry beyond answer, but really, she didn't feel anything at all. The club had been... interesting, to put it simply. The fact of the matter was that she just didn't understand it. Why would someone spend so much time on something so inexplicably pointless when they could be doing something much more practical? She couldn't comprehend it. The whole idea of the club just seemed senseless and a waste of time. She was better off joining a club that really did speak more to practicality.

And why did she want to go back so badly? Out of everything that she couldn't be thinking, why did she want to go back? Kyra had already decided that she didn't understand the club. She knew that it was a huge waste of time when she could be spending it working at her grandfather's station. She had her normal school work to do on top of all of that. And adding a club to the rest of that mess meant more working, more stress, and more of her grandfather breathing down her neck. Why in the name of anything would Kyra want that? And to top it all off, the cherry on the cake, was that Cleopatra Blackheart was invited too and Jasmine was beyond convinced that Cleopatra would join. It wasn't that Kyra and any explicit beef with the older girl, no major motive to hate her, but to be associated with someone with her record... Kyra couldn't really afford that, could she? Cleopatra had a track record as long as any kid could get, from what she'd heard from around, but to be in the same club as her? That could break her career if she wasn't careful. And if not with future employers then with her grandfather right now. Kyra would never hear the end of it from him. It wasn't really a matter of debate but those words echoed through her head anyway.

How about some real friends?

Why did that have to be the kicker? With a groan, Kyra glared down at her math problems and watched her pencil led snap under the pressure. The equations looked like a foreign language and the word problems sounded like a seance. Kyra had enough of those for one day. Another go at them would just drive her crazy. She pushed her math book aside and leaned down on the desk, letting her head fall into the safety of her arms. Life needed a guidebook, she decided. Nothing could prepare her for the feelings she was feeling now.

The answer was obvious. Kyra should just say no. She would say no. She'd never go back and that'd be the end of it. It was just as simple as that. If she were to do that, life would return to normal and she wouldn't have to worry about how she was going to juggle work and school. She wouldn't have to worry about emotions or disappointing her grandfather. Kyra wouldn't have to worry about what her grandfather would say and she had nothing holding her back from becoming the detective she wanted to be. The answer was easy, obvious, more simple than flipping a switch. And yet, it wasn't. Because now she was aware. Aware of her emotions, of her feelings, when she desperately wanted to forget them. Because when Mark asked her if she wanted some real friends, only then was Kyra painfully aware of how lonely she was. Thinking back on it, it was hard to recall a time she really ever felt like she belonged. But one thing was for certain. The last time she had ever felt like she belonged even just a little bit was all those years ago when she was seven.

The last night she'd spent a happy child.

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"Do you wanna go outside or something?" Jasmine asked, leaning against the column on the porch, as she waved to Sasha. Sasha waved back to them as she got in the car with her father and left. The group was silent for a few seconds before Jasmine spun on her heels to look at Mark and Monet again with a small smile. "We could go down to the Warehouse and screw around for a bit. Or... or we could go to the roof of the house and watch the stars. Oh! Or we could watch another movie! Just as long as it's not another one of mine. We don't need to see another piece of trash like that again so soon."