Dreams We Had

Chapter Four - Momo Miki

It was early afternoon and Kayden was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal. There was something up and I could tell. His face was bruised and cut up, not to mention the fact that he was sitting in our kitchen eating my food. I stepped up to the table.

"Hey, uh, Kayden, that's my cereal." I confronted him, staring him down with a threatening gaze. He looked up and pushed the half eaten bowl towards me.

"Oh. Gomen'ne! Your brother told me I could have it, do you want it back?"

I shook my head no,"No. Eat it. There's still a lot left in the bag. It's not a big deal..." I sighed, examining the half empty bag of sugary death that was sitting on the counter. "I'll just go yell at Kian for knowingly giving away my  food! He knows better than to do that! Especially my sweets!" I said as loud as I could, loud enough so that he could hear it in the other room. "Anyways, when did you get here?"

"I spent the night." He said with a smile, taking another big spoonful of cereal and giving me a wide-eyed look. I looked away then back at him. It didn't really bother me that he had spent the night. That's what dating people do; spend the night. Whatever. I was just a bit taken aback since he hadn't stayed over since before they dated. 

My eyes focused on one of the lacerations on his face, "Ah, crazy night then?"

"Oh no, it's not like that. I'm going to be staying with you guys from now on. Permanently." He said in a rather causal tone. I reached up into the cupboard and grabbed a small bowl and a spoon, pouring my own bowl of cereal and sitting down across from him.

"Oh..." I replied in an awkward, sort of dumfounded voice. "Cool."

Kian entered the room, hugging Kayden from behind and wrapping his arms around him and giving him a quick kiss; "Morning hun!"

"Morning!" Kayden replied lifting the, now cereal-free, bowl to his face to drink the milk.

"And! Morning to you too Momo," Kian said as he walked over to the counter and put a piece of bread in the toaster, looking back towards me, "Kayden's going to be staying with us from now on because, uh...well... um," He looked at Kayden, confused as to what to say. I glanced over towards him, waiting for an answer. 

"My house is being renovated, and I didn't want to burden any of my relatives." He chimed in. They were clearly lying to me, but I let it slide

"Whatever, I don't care." I replied just as Kian's toast popped out of the toaster, causing him to flinch and Kayden to giggle. 

"How was the first night in your new room?" He asked, standing up to put his bowl in the dishwasher. 

I did a little shrug, "Fine, I guess. Uh, hey Kian, I'm going to go to the mall with Nellie, so, I'll be back later, okay?" I said as I stood up and pushed in my chair. I put my plate next to Kayden's in the dishwasher, and grabbed a juice box from the fridge. Kian shrugged a kind of yeah, whatever  type shrug.

 I ran to my room to get dressed. I put on a soft lilac sweatshirt and a light blue skater skirt, leaving my hair down. I grabbed my purse, and ran out the door and down the stairs. I burst out the doors of the complex and bolted two blocks where my friend, Nellie, was waiting. She was a tall, thin girl of with tan skin, long brown hair, and light brown eyes. She wore a pink polo shirt with a frilly white skirt, and her hair in a braid. She smiled as I came running up to her.

"Hiii!" She squealed, waving her hands excitedly. Nellie and I had been friends since preschool when I had come to the school. We sat at the same table and shared crayons. She was my only real friend other than Kayden and my brother, which was sad given the circumstances, but I didn't mind. She was always there for me no matter what, and I treasured her friendship. We started down the narrow sidewalk towards downtown. It was a rather clear day with only a few stray clouds. It was warm and the air smelt of salt from the sea and food cooking in the nearby restaurants. The sidewalks were lined with tall, well-groomed palm trees that reached up to the sky like skyscrapers. Together, we laughed and skipped down the sidewalk, just having a good time talking about whatever. After a good half an hour of walking, we arrived at the mall entrance. We strode through the revolving doors into the small shopping center. It only had one level, but always seemed to be busy. Just inside the doors people were leisurely walking in and out of stores, some of them were alone, and some had little children who squealed and whimpered as they walked.