Solivagant

~3.4 - Diego~

I wiped the tears away from my eyes, trying hard to stifle my laughter. Damn, I didn't know Karla could tell jokes. She was blushing slightly, unsuccessfully trying to hide it behind her itty-bitty donut. Her eyes were bright though. She seems to be having a good time. "That was good Karla. I think you're getting the hang of it." I reached for my own donut: glazed with chocolate icing and lots of whipped cream. A guy needs his sugars.

Karla chuckled softly. "Thanks."

I turned to look at Jennie, who gave me an encouraging thumbs-up. Even though I hadn't seen her in a while didn't mean she didn't know what was going on. We texted every day about all the important things. Karla was definitely an important thing, and Jennie knew anything and everything that concerned me and Karla. I returned my attention to her, who was halfway finished with her coffee. "No problem Kitten." I smirked.

She glared at me. "Come on Diego, you said you wouldn't call me that while we were here."

I shrugged, sipping my macchiato. "Well yeah, but there's no one here to listen to me call you Kitten."

"Well what about mom?" She protested, looking a little desperate, especially since she had pointed out the only person that would hear us.

Chuckling, I shook my head. "She can't hear us cause she's too far away and we're too quiet for her to hear. Also," I took another drink. Time to drop the bomb. "Mamá already knows."

Karla almost dropped her coffee, she was so surprised. "What?" She hissed through gritted teeth. "Tell me you're joking."

I sat there silent for a moment, enjoying the fact that I had riled her up. Ha! You're not the only one who can push someone's buttons. "I'm joking?"

She scoffed. "Great, thanks. Now the one person who's been nice to me thinks I'm a fucking stripper."

I frowned, reaching for her hand. "Hey, Karla, it's okay." I soothed, worried she would storm out of the coffee shop. "She doesn't think you're a stripper. I told her it's my nickname for you because you're short and find it irritating, okay?"

Huffing, she pulled her hand away from me. "Fine." She took a bite of donut, making us sit in silence for a moment, and letting me remember how cute she was when she got angry. "Is that what friends do?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Is that what friends do?" She repeated. "You know, irritate and pick on each other. You and Malik did, and Malik and Phyre did, so... is it a friend thing?"

I nodded, trying not to laugh. She really isn't big into friends, is she? "So, can I ask why you don't seem to have much of a clue about the whole 'friendship' thing?"

Karla set her donut down on a napkin, the light in her eyes gone in an instant. "I haven't had friends since Washington." Her voice was low and quiet, almost as if she was talking at a funeral. "After I moved, I never really got close to anyone."

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. It took all of my willpower to stay sitting. She had turned back into the emotionless, robotic teen that had scared me so much in the library. The black hole. I hesitated a moment. I really hadn't wanted to upset her like that—if you could call it upset—but maybe I could ask more questions now and get answers. "You... lived in Washington?"

She nodded slowly. "I was born in England, but we moved to Washington my seventh grade year." My eyes caught movement on the table, and I noticed her hands shaking. She must've seen it too because she grabbed her coffee with both hands to hide it. "After Washington, I went back to England, but it wasn't the same as my childhood. I tried living in Germany and France, but neither of those worked out. I came back to the United States, living in Michigan, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Denver, and now here."

I thought about that for a moment. Something she had said seemed a little strange. Like she was leaving something out, or I was missing something. I took a large bite of my donut, feeling a bit of whipped cream on my nose. I wiped it off quickly, I mean, I did have my reputation as a bad boy to keep up. Born in England, moved to Washington, back to England, tried Germany and... wait... I looked up at her, unable to hold back my curiosity. "You said we moved to Washington. Then you kept saying I moved."

Hesitantly, she let go of her coffee cup, resting her shaking hands on the table. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice. It had been an accidental slip, and I was sure you wouldn't hear it." Karla smiled wryly. "My bad."

I sighed. "Karla, I know I'm being nosy. If you don't wanna tell me, I won't push it or beat you up, I swear." I set my donut down, no longer feeling hungry. We probably means her and her parents at least. I reasoned. Something happened to her parents and now it's just her, but what the fuck happened? Why does she say Washington like it was a huge, apocalyptic event?

Karla pulled her phone out of a pocket hidden in her sweater. She sighed. "School starts in about a half hour." She grimaced. "I-I know you brought me all the way out here, and it probably takes about a half hour to get there from here, doesn't it?"

Slowly, I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah, so you'll be a little late to school."

She frowned, gradually becoming more life-like. "I'll be late? I was about to ask if you could just drop me back off home." She stood, grabbing her coffee and her donut. "What about you?"

"I'm not going today." I explained, standing as well. "Got too much to do at home." Truthfully, today was a rare day that Grace didn't have any work from the college. I was looking forward to going home and hanging out with her.

Chuckling softly, she finished her donut. "More important than watching over your kingdom?" I growled softly, but she ignored me. "Too hard being king?"

I smirked. Oh Kitten, being king isn't what's hard.