King of Hearts (gxg)

20. Opening Up ♔︎

"What all do you have to reflect on?"

"A lot," Cameron answered. He was going to leave it at that, but he felt a sudden urge to be real with Marco. He felt like he could trust him for some reason. And in turn, he hoped that maybe Marco could trust him too. "I feel like I should be lucky as hell to be living here now," he continued as he leaned over the balcony's glass railing. "So many people back home would kill to be in this position. They fight hard to try and move to places like this."

"But?" Marco encouraged him to keep going because he knew there was more.

"But I can't help thinking of everything and everyone I left back home. It wasn't always the easiest, but it's home, you know. Then to be uprooted from everything I've ever known and forced into a situation in which I have no say is... frustrating. It's frustrating because I feel like they don't take my feelings into consideration since I'm so young. It's even more frustrating knowing that my whole life has been one huge lie."

"Yeah, I heard your frustration earlier when me and Kiara went to pick you up. Didn't understand much of what you were saying because your accent is thick as hell, but I could hear it in your voice. And I know exactly what that's like. I know all too well what it's like to feel like you have zero control over your own life."

"In what way do you mean?"

"My parents were killed when I was six," Marco said. "I'm sorry if that was too heavy," he apologized when there was an awkward amount of silence afterward.

"It's not heavy, it's real. My dad passed when I was a baby, and my mom... she's dying. And I didn't find out until this morning. That's the real reason why Aunty Chloe and I were arguing. My mom has been hiding it from me. Says she didn't want me to worry and that it would distract me from school and running track."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Yeah, I can definitely understand why you wouldn't want to stay here with something like that going on back home."

"They both think it would be better for me to be here, but I think it's all a bunch of bullshit. And only recently did I find out that Chloe is my real mother and that my mom is my great-aunt. And my father, I don't know who the fuck my real father even is."

"Damn," Marco let out a deep breath because he wasn't expecting that at all.

"Yeah," Cameron sighed as he looked out at the crashing waves in front of him. "I guess we both have some pretty heavy stuff going on in our lives."

"That's a little unfortunate. I was banking on being the only new kid with the dark, tragic backstory. You kinda stole my spotlight here."

"You like to make jokes," Cameron said but still let out a slight laugh.

"It's the only way I know how to cope. I laugh to keep myself from tearing the world apart from anger."

"Hmm... I guess I better start laughing then." Cameron's body relaxed after he said it, not even realizing that he was holding his hands in such tight fists that his nails began digging into his palms.

*
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*

Back inside the condo, Kiara had woken up in complete darkness. The sun had fully set, and she didn't have any idea what time it was. What she did know, was that Ava was still fast asleep on her chest, so she was careful not to wake the little girl as she got up. She realized Marco and Cameron were gone but figured they had gone to one of the food places nearby to get something to eat.

After using the bathroom, Kiara went to Monie's room and slowly opened the door in case she was still sleeping.

"I'm awake," Monie said from the other side of the door.