Accessory Wars

Chapter 8-Ki

            Ick, bleach. Not a good smell to wake up to. Fortunately, when I pried open my eyes I spied a familiar blob of red-orange next to my bed. Kaylee, the quiet one of our group and lover of all things autumn. She has more fake pumpkins and plaid wool shirts than any average person. But it's just so...Kaylee.

Kaylee was small: short, tiny build, narrow frame. She wore these pretty green frames that complimented her eyes. Her bangs hung over her forehead and her hair was pulled back in her usual French braid pigtails. She has this cute little mole under the right corner of her lower lip that I liked to tease her for.

I've actually known her the longest of my group of friends. We met during freshman orientation on campus and our dorm happened to be coed, split by floors. Her room sat directly above mine and I rarely heard a peep from her, save when she dropped her camping gear while packing. She loved the outdoors. Camping, hiking, fishing, rock climbing. She took me on an overnight camping trip once and took away my phone on the drive out. It was probably the most relaxing trip I ever had. We mostly hiked in silence, letting our thoughts blend in with the rocks and trees. While others find her quite bland, I found her comforting.

Kaylee sat next to my bed on her phone, glasses glowing with the reflection of the screen. She gave a start as she looked up and found me awake. A smile warmed her face. She glanced back at her phone, sending a text, and scooted her chair closer to my bed. Kaylee folded her hands in her lap on top of her phone.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. I ran my tongue around in my mouth, finding it dry and pasty. I spotted a glass next to my bed and eagerly swigged down a few swallows.

"Groggy," I replied. My head felt like it was trying to churn butter on a swaying boat. I peered down at my bandaged hands. When I shifted my fingers, I felt stiches pull against my skin. Medical bills. Great. At least my hands didn't hurt. Whatever the nurses gave me for pain was certainly working.

"Trevor stepped out for a bit but he should be back," Kaylee brought up. "When we heard what happened, we all dropped out of class to come make sure you were okay. Officer Colfry directed us here but you were in surgery getting glass removed." I peered at the LED clock next to my bed to find it around four in the afternoon. There went my day, not to mention my next paycheck. "You were lucky you made it out. They say three people died."

As much as I knew she meant well, I didn't want to hear that and I had a hunch I knew who the victims were based on who I saw in the employee lounge. I released a shuddering sigh and forced myself to stay composed. Kaylee reached out and placed one of her hands over mine.

"You were brave," she whispered.

"I know," I muttered. My eyes shifted over to the door as it opened, revealing Trevor with a small bouquet of flowers from the gift shop.

"Hey, how's it going?" Trevor asked. Ah, Trevor. The "wild child" of our bunch, more so in a literal sense. Avid hunter, tournament winning fisher and professional river dancer. I swear I'm not making that last one up. He strode over to my bed side and plopped the flowers down, unsure what to do with them as there was no vase. He stood a few inches taller than me and had coffee colored hair. Well, coffee with a hint of milk. It sort of varied on the season. His eyes were a warm chocolate brown and he always had some sort of scruff along his pale jawline. His fingers were calloused from carving and guitar, and he had a scar on his eyebrow from where a fishing hook got caught there. I've sort of known Trevor as long as Kaylee, since he came to visit her frequently in the freshmen dorms, but I didn't really get to know him until Kaylee took us rock climbing together.