Life is Funny Like That

Tehn. My Most Pinterest-y Chapter

Just to make sure he doesn't do something stupid, she treks into the kitchen and searches the silent and empty room, gaze wandering over the dim air. Her eyes rise and fall along the silhouette of the hanging pots and pans, the grease-stained drywall, and stalked shelves of canned items, coming back to the doors. Where... She does a double-take.

Adrian, the boy she loves like her own, sits beneath the sinks, a bag of lettuce on his lap.

"What-" Kimmy stops, losing her train of thought along with the sharp words she had planned. "What on earth are you doing?"

Adrian wrinkles his nose, shoving another handful of lettuce into his mouth.

"I'm stress eating, Kimmy." He deadpans, staring at a point on the other side of the room. His hands shake and his foot taps the floor to a beat that is only in his head.

Her gaze lingers on the sheen in the corners of his eyes. He blinks harshly, his cracked lips rubbing back and forth.

"Well, you're not gonna get anywhere with salad," Kimmy says. Making her way over to the freezer room, she reaches behind the frost-covered shelves into her ice cream stash, pulling out cartons of cookies n' creme, and red velvet.

Grabbing two spoons, she takes a seat on the tiled floor beside Adrian. His shocked eyes flit down as she glimpses over at him. His salad bag is snatched away and the cookies n' creme is plopped onto his lap, a spoon tucked between his kneecaps. 

"I'm the owner. Of course, I have an ice cream stash." she chuckles, only dipping Adrian further into confusion and surprise.

Wordlessly, they open their containers, digging into the dairy dessert. A few moments pass, the silence seeming to offer some form of comfort to him, but she can't help herself.

"So... my waffle-lover has given you problems, has she?" Kimmy ponders. "Tell me, Ady, why?"

Adrian resorts to stirring his ice cream, an inaudible sigh lingering on his lips. It takes a few seconds; she can see the thoughts formulating in his mind. Like a sleep-deprived writer, his mind sits on the floor, balls of crumpled paper surrounding it. It works in a desperate speed, scribbling as it tries to formulate thoughts and feelings that were never meant to be experienced, that were never meant to be held onto all alone.

"I'm scared..." he almost whispers. "I'm... scared of her."

The answer surprises her and she lifts her chin, spoon in her mouth. It isn't what she had originally suspected. She peers back down at him, whiskey-colored eyes studying his little vibrating bouts and stiff shoulders. She had always thought those little twitches and bouncing thrums were because he was cold all the time. The thought never crossed her mind to look up at his eyes, bloodshot, wide, and flitting. Now that she actually looks, it is fear encompassing him on all sides.

"Scared she's gonna hurt you," Kimmy finishes, finally understanding.

Adrian purses his lips, letting the silence confirm her conclusion. 

His reluctance with her pushy commands comes to mind, and a guilty taste dawdles with the red velvet in her mouth.

"You know, life ain't really worth living when you're always scared of getting hurt." Kimmy sets her ice cream down. "I know your pop had it rough, and made you think that life is only pain, but it's not, Ady. It really isn't."

Adrian's cookies n' creme is now soup, but he just keeps stirring it. It's too cold to eat. Sitting on the cold tiles, purple fingers holding the ice cream, everything's just too cold.

"I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up; if you wanna be happy, you're gonna have to take chances, you're gonna have to jump into life, headfirst. With a little bravery and whole lot of this," Kimmy pulls out a crucifix around her neck. "your happiness will outweigh the pain. It always does."

Adrian's chapped lips purse. He begins to rub them from side to side, doing his best to contain the chin quivers.

"I don't know, Kimmy. I-I don't, I just don't-" he stutters through suppressed tears as he stares at the crucifix, dangling in her fingers. Eyes screwing shut, his head drops to his knees.

Kimmy exhales, watching her little boy, now all grown up. But with the growing pains, a wall was constructed around his heart. Now, he's too scared to let it out, too afraid that its strongest trait of being warm and kind will be its greatest weakness.

There's only one thing left to do. She'll have to force it out.

===============Jul-20-21===============
pub, Dec-20-21

***literally laughed out loud while editing. i promise my punnyness doesn't show up often. a rare sighting, to be sure. 

*****metal can be a huge trigger for anxiety or panic attacks... (there's a difference between the two; i don't remember what it is 😅) i was tempted to put something on this chapter, but that's not appropriate, like, at all. i can barely listen without shaking. so, i don't even know why the thought crossed my mind.

i really like this chapter. we finally get some quality Kimmy. she's not such a ruthless boss after all...

ok, also, i mentioned 'our protagonist', but that makes me wonder, who is our antagonist? who is fighting our protagonist? who is the final battle against? could it be himself? that's a thing. but could it be the actual fear? so many options. give me your thoughts!
fun fact i just learned: fear is the strongest emotion out of all of them. how interesting is that?