Lucky Stars & Air Guitars #TeenFictionAnotherYearShortStory

Part 8-Somebody Else

"SEAN," his mom's voice interrupts the bangs of bombs and clicks of weapons.

"WHAT, MOM!" Sean yells over the action.

"WE HAVE YOUR SISTER'S THING TONIGHT!" Suddenly, Sean's mom appears, grabbing the remote to mute TV. "Tell your friends it's time to go."

"See you later Momma P. Thanks for the sandwich."

"You are so welcome, Kai, now Sean's gotta get going. I'll see you another time," she smiles at Kai, ignoring me like everyone else had for the past hour.

"Kk," Kai says, getting up to leave.

"You need a ride?" I ask, hoping to get some attention from him finally.

"I was gonna walk, but I guess," Kai says.

It's surprisingly easy for me to contain my excitement. Maybe I'm tired? While we walk to the car, I secretly slap my face a couple of times to try and snap myself out of my weird mood. Hoping in the car, I watch Kai buckle up and then take out his phone to start scrolling through his Insta.

"Tell me where to go," I say, this time playing it surprisingly cool.

"Left up here," he says, still scrolling.

I take off as a weird silence fills the air. I try to imagine questions to ask him, but the words keep getting jumbled in my head, only making me irritated.

"Right here," he says, again without looking up from his phone.

I stare over at an interested Kai. It just doesn't make sense. Last year when Kai and I collided in the hallway, it was like the stars had aligned, he looked at me like no one ever had. But now, it's like he doesn't even notice—or care.

"You okay?" Kai asks.

"Yeah, why?" I ask.

"You just seem to talk a lot, and now you don't have anything to say," Kai says.

Knowing Kai, he doesn't mean it to be rude. He's just blunt. I always used to find his bluntness charming and funny. But now, he just sounds like an ass.

"It's just been a weird day," I say, my excitement fading.

"You know," Kai begins. "You aren't who I thought you were."

I've heard him say those words before last year after a week of hanging out. My heart begins to take off in hope again.

"Meaning?" I ask, keeping my eyes on the road.

"Right here," Kai says, putting his phone down for a second. I can feel him looking over at me. "You're just different than I expected you to be," he shrugs, taking his phone back up.

Last time I asked him, he had added, and it's a good surprise. But this time, those words are missing.

"You're different than I thought too," I say back, my heart suddenly feeling angry.

I hadn't had much time to be angry at Kai for breaking up with me because my whole world was crumbling. My senior year had become all about Kai. There was no just Shay. There was only a Shay and Kai. But right now, I don't feel sad—I feel angry. I look over at Kai and his ridiculously perfect face and realize I could never be mad at him. I'm just frustrated about how things turned out, I'm frustrated about how my senior year ended, and I'm frustrated with my actions. I think I'm angry at myself.

"Second house on the left," Kai says, not knowing I'd be able to drive to his house in my sleep.

I pull in his driveway as all the memories flood back in. This very driveway is where his mom took endless homecoming photos of him and me over by the rosebush. This is where we had all those late-night makeout sessions. We did hours of homework, sitting over on that lawn. Our prom limo sat in the exact spot my car is now just weeks ago. As the memories hit my heart, so does the realization that they might just stay memories.

"Hey," Kai says, as the car stops. "You never got to play Call of Duty."

"It's fine," I say, taking out my phone, scrolling down my Insta feed to hide my face.

"You sure you're okay?"

No. "Yeah..." I say, continuing to hide my face and scroll when a new Insta post pops up on my feed—it's Mer's.

She's at the spot—our spot. I'd know that bench anywhere. This is her way of telling me she's waiting for me.

"Well, wanna come in and play Call of Duty now? Just us?"

As Kai's words hit my ears, my eyes remain frozen on the bench in Mer's photo. All-day, I've been waiting for an opportunity to restart my time with Kai. But somehow it doesn't feel as urgent as it did just hours ago.

"Rain check?" I say, my eyes still fixed on the photo of the bench.

"Sure," Kai says, opening the car door.

I watch as Kai and his blonde hair bounce away from my car towards his front door and can't help but wonder if I'm blowing my second chance with Kai. But, the thing is, I'm starting to wonder if maybe the lucky stars sent me back for another reason.

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