PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

BONUS CHAPTER 1.2

"Parallels"

~~~

Eva had never been to the west coast before. She had never been somewhere where it was warm in the winter (except Isla Nublar, of course), and as such, had grossly overdressed on her plane ride over. Where it was snowing in New York City when she left the state, it was only overcast in San Francisco. And yet when she checked the weather report, rain wasn't even expected for another three days. Which means her fuzzy boots and fleece lined leggings and eggshell sweater were practically useless in California.

For another thing, she found her Uber driver was considerably nice, knowing taxi drivers in New York were anything but. Or, at least, she was always handed the short end of the stick when it came to taxi drivers— which is why she much preferred driving with Kai.

The Uber she took to Kenji's and Darius's house came equipped with mini water bottles the driver called pony waters, granola snack bars, and those little strawberry candies that grandmothers always dig out of the bottom of their purse to gift to you. Now if her driver was secretly a woman, and a grandmother, Eva didn't know. But, she knew she liked the treatment she was receiving in the first hour of being in California.

After tipping the driver generously— especially when he left his car to retrieve her bag from the trunk like a gentleman, Eva came face to face with a little, two story light blue house. The door, the window trim, and the roofing trim were all white. The front yard was small, with just a few meters of slightly overgrown grass, a bright yellow mailbox, and a bike leaning against the front wall. Three steps led up to the front door, which had a cute little welcome mat— something that definitely would have gotten stolen in her apartment complex— and the Sunday newspaper. The porch was decorated with two hanging plants, and a large potted plant, the species Eva didn't recognize.

She pulled her suitcase up the steps behind her, then carefully rapped her knuckles against the door before she could talk herself out of it.

This was it. She was going to see Kenji after a year and a half of strictly screen calls. Kenji was going to open the door, they would say everything they wanted to in their call two days prior— all the things they wanted to say, but it just wasn't right to say not in person. They would make up, maybe be friends again. Maybe be lovers. The point was, she was going to get Kenji back, one way or another. And not only would she make Ms. Jennings and Oma proud, but she would also make herself proud, too.

The door swung open, and Eva's breath caught in her throat. She stared up at the tall boy in front of her, surprise overtaking her. "Darius!" Not the boy she was hoping would open the door, but thankful nonetheless. She still had no idea what she would say to their mom.

"Eva?" Darius stared at her shocked.

Eva took a step forward and pulled the younger boy down to meet her. He didn't hesitate to hug back with the same force Eva gave.

"Dude, how'd you get so much taller than me?" Eva laughed as she pulled back. The level of the house was only two inches taller than the patio, but Darius was nearly six inches taller than Eva in total. Considering he was about six inches shorter the last time she saw him, it was crazy to consider he had grown this much.

"Yeah," he laughed, "What— I distinctly remember you being like, up here," he said, measuring his hand high above his head. "Do you— do you want to come in? Mom is out on a grocery run and Brand isn't home yet from school."