We Were Giants

Chapter 15

"What happened?" Kayla asks when I let her in my house Sunday afternoon. I've been avoiding contact from the outside world for as long as possible. But with Kayla here, I realize that I need her more than I ever have before.

"Isaiah kissed me," I say bluntly without looking at her. I'm expecting her to say she told me so. Because she did tell me so. She pegged that Isaiah liked me the first time he spent the weekend with us. I should have seen it.

But she doesn't say she told me so. She just hugs me. She doesn't know what to say. And I don't know how to respond.

"What's got you so upset?" Kayla smiles. "Was it a bad kiss?"

She's trying to break the tension, but in a way that also gives her the juicy details.

"I don't think so," I shrug. I lead her into the living room and we sit on the couch. "He's my friend, Kayla."

She looks at me with the same confused look that Isaiah did when I said this.

"What on earth does that mean?"

I shrug. It makes less sense now that I'm saying it to Kayla. It's a weak argument.

"And even if I liked him like that, his Mom hates me."

I recount the weekend to Kayla. I tell her everything that happened from the time we parted from her and Cameron until the moment she appeared on my doorstep. I tell her about the awful conversation with Mrs. Rosenthal. I tell her about how I felt backed into a corner and how she told me I wasn't good enough for Isaiah.

"That's awful," Kayla shakes her head. She's angry. "I'm so sorry, Cade."

She swallows hard, like she's physically swallowing down anger. But the anger wins.

"What a bitch," she finally says, exasperated. "I'm sorry. But you're not good enough for them? She should feel lucky you even deigned to step foot in her presence."

Before I know it, Kayla is pacing around the living room, all but shouting.

"You're the kindest, most caring person I know, and she doesn't think you're good enough?" She's venting. But it's flattering to hear her talk like this. Kayla usually only talks about herself.

"You work so hard and you're so talented. You're a local celebrity. Everybody loves your art. You have an art show coming up." She's sorting through all the reasons I'm a rock star in her eyes and, surprisingly, it makes me feel better. Even if I do hate the attention.

"She's jealous, Cade," she finally concludes. "She's jealous of you and your life. She can't paint. She can't create. Since she can't, all she does is destroy. She sees how beautiful you are, and she wants to destroy that beauty. You can't let her. What a bitch."

Kayla reaches for her keys.

"Come on," she instructs me as she heads toward the door. "I'm going to tell Mrs. Rosenthal exactly what I think of her."

I stop her before she gets to the door. That would only end in disaster. She'd probably have us arrested for trespassing or something. She'd probably have her butler have us arrested for trespassing.

"Kayla, stop," I hear Isaiah's voice echo in my head as I command Kayla. I wonder if she's as angry as I was when Isaiah spoke to me like that. "Anger only makes everything worse. And this is all so complicated, already."

"Fine," Kayla concedes, sitting back down on our sunken-in sofa. "I'm just pissed."

"I'm pissed, too," I shrug with my arms crossed.

"Not pissed enough," Kayla laughs a little bit.

I'm grateful that Kayla doesn't ask me if I like Isaiah. In fact, Kayla drops the conversation altogether. Instead, she opens her backpack and pulls out her notes school.