CRUEL SUMMER, heartstopper!

07

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"So, what's going on with you and Imogen then?" Tao and their cousin Lei cornered Kira in Tao's room in an attempt to avoid the chaos going on downstairs and in her bedroom since all of the younger cousins had just arrived and were screaming the house down.

"Nothing's going on, Tao," Kira sighed, running a hand through her hair. "and since when do you care if I'm involved with someone romantically?"

"I'm your brother, I don't want to see you get heartbroken by Imogen bloody Heaney of all people!" Tao exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait, can we back up for a few seconds?" Lei waved his hands at them. He turned to Kira, his hands out towards her in a gesture. "You like girls?"

Kira pursed her lips and glanced at the ceiling. Tao sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "It's okay if you do, Kira. Just in case you didn't know that already."

"Of course I knew that," Kira scoffed, half-heartedly throwing her hands up. "I'm fucking bisexual and Imogen's probably using me to get over Nick and experiment with her sexuality or whatever."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Tao spluttered. "'Get over Nick', what do you mean?"

"Nick rejected Imogen. Said they were better off as friends," Kira said. "He ditched his date with her to go to Charlie's birthday bash."

"Are you sure he 'ditched' her?" Lei air-quoted.

"Look, Lei, I'm still trying to grasp the fact that you have a significant other when you've never been able to actually talk to anyone with stumbling over your words and essentially falling face first," Kira said rapidly, holding her head.

"And you're giving me a headache," Tao fell back against his bed. "So, you're bisexual? Female lean?"

"Of course I'm bisexual, my own friends say it's obvious!" Kira exclaimed.

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Tao fired back in a tone.

"Because I didn't want you guys to think of me differently," Kira returned. 

"Why would we think differently of you?" Lei said softly.

"I don't... I don't know, I just... " Kira exhaled, out of breath. "I just didn't want to let down whatever expectation you had of me."

"You said you wanted to take Math as an A-Level," Tao gawked at her, now suddenly sitting right behind her. "There is no expectation."

"Fuck off, will you?" Kira pushed his head back, causing him to roll off of his bed unintentionally. 

"Imogen, though? Really?" Tao said once he got back up. "What about that Verity girl you kissed at Harry's party?"

"You kissed a girl at someone's party?" Lei exclaimed, looking unbelievably proud of his cousin.

"I didn't kiss her," Kira clarified. "I nearly did but then this chef guy caught us so we ran to the dance floor, but then I saw Imogen drunkenly stumble into the bathroom so I kissed her cheek and followed her."

"So that's why you weren't home!" Tao yelled loudly and Kira surged forward and grabbed him by the ear. "Hey, hey, hey, stop it!" He looked to Lei for help, but the eldest Xu in the room simply gave him a wide-eyed look, sinking back against the bean bag he was sitting on.