Again

Chapter 20

For the next few days, it seemed as though Kayla lived in their home office. Zac felt like he was going insane just waiting for her to come out. He figured at some point she'd have to eat, or at least use the restroom, but he always seemed to miss her.

"What are you doing?" Isaac asked, walking up on Zac and watching him jump slightly at the sound of his voice.

"Shhhhh," Zac hissed at his brother, "I'm trying to see if I can hear movement in there." Zac turned his attention back to the door, and pressed his ear up against it.

"Dude, she's studying, how much movement do you think you're going to hear?" Isaac asked, amused at his younger brother.

"I don't know. Maybe some paper rustling, or a pen sliding off the desk? She's been in there for days Ike, literally days."

"I know, but she told us she was going to be because she has her first set of finals on Tuesday," Isaac replied, in a slow voice adding a slight drawl to his words.

Zac rolled his eyes at his brother, "I'm not stupid, Isaac, I know what she said, I was there. I'm just worried, I've never seen her like this. I am not even sure when the last time she ate was."

Suddenly, startling both Isaac and Zac, the office door flung open.

"If I come out for a little while and give you some attention do you promise to let me finish studying for the rest of the night?" Kayla asked. Her tone was playful and directed towards Zac.

Zac stood up straight and cleared his throat, "I mean, I guess. I was just trying to look out for you..." he trailed off as he began making his way towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" he asked Kayla as she and Isaac took a seat at the kitchen island.

"I could eat," Kayla replied. She took her glasses off of her face and rearranged the bun she'd been wearing on the top of her head. "Are you gonna cook for me?"

Zac, who'd been staring in to the open refrigerator, looked over at Kayla and smiled, "You're so cute when you're delusional," he then said. Kayla laughed. "I will take you out to wherever you wanna go though," he finished.

Kayla was hesitant for a moment, before she agreed to go out with Zac for lunch. It was Sunday afternoon and she was sure she hadn't breathed fresh air since she'd dropped Taylor off at the airport Friday morning. They invited Isaac, who'd declined and retreated to the living room to lounge around instead. Kayla told Zac she was going to take a quick shower, before disappearing down the hallway and into her bedroom. He heard the bathroom door close and the shower turn on. He made his way to the living room to join his brother.

"Does Kayla look different to you?" Zac asked Isaac.

Confused, Isaac turned the T.V. down before turning his attention to Zac, "What do you mean different? She's wearing her glasses, but I mean, we've seen her with glasses before."

"No, I mean... how do I describe it? Does she look, I don't know, older or something? I feel like she looks like a completely different person for some reason and I can't think of why or what it is about her. You know like when Mom claimed to know we were all going through 'the change' because she said it was written all over our faces?"

Isaac chuckled at that, "Well, Zac, I think it's safe to say that you of all people know that Kayla went through puberty a while ago."

Zac rolled his eyes, "Shut up, you know what I mean, that was just an example. It's just something."

"I don't know dude," Isaac said as he turned back towards the T.V., "Maybe it's because you haven't seen her for a few days. Or maybe because you notice things about her differently than we do?"