The Echo of Silence

The Only One For Him

"Cinder?" Kai called out to his wife as he walked into their apartment. Cinder had claimed she would be home at five, but the cramped living quarters were dark with apparent emptiness.

Kai closed the wooden door behind him, letting out a sigh. It wasn't uncommon for Cinder to be late; after all, she was the busiest mechanic in all of Phoenix. Kai only wished that her job didn't take up most of her time— he always missed her when she was gone.

The couple had met at ASU during their Junior year only seven year ago. Kai as a Journalism major, and Cinder as a mechanical engineer major had come together, not through common interests, but due to a mutual enemy: Pearl Lihn.

Pearl and Cinder were roomates at the time, who constantly tortured one another. They were step-sisters due to Cinder's father's marriage to Pearl's mother. Their only reason for rooming together was because Pearl's mother, Adri, claimed that it would be an excellent time for them to bond (and also to save money) while the two families were growing together. There was never any bonding.

Kai had met Pearl in English class. Her infatuation with him had started when Kai leant her a pencil. Shortly after, she had asked him on a date, and politely he had obliged. The date was awful, as Pearl talked only of herself and her hatred for her stepsister— and at the end, had tried to kiss him.

After the unfortunate date, Kai realized with horror that Pearl had left her phone in his car. He debated giving it back to her during their class the next week, but knowing that she would probably need it within the next four days, he decided to be a gentleman and bring it to her dorm.

Resigned, Kai returned the phone to Pearl's apartment, except for when the door opened, it was not the nasally annoyance, but a different girl. The only girl for him. It was love at first sight.

For Kai.

She was kind and intelligent, the complete opposite of how Pearl had painted her. Her eyes had captivated him with their brilliant sparkle, and even dressed in sweats, a greasy t-shirt, and a ponytail, she caught his eye. She wasn't beautiful, but luminous. If asked five minutes later what she said to him, Kai wouldn't have remembered— for he was too captivated by her.

Cinder stole his heart in a matter of seconds, and broke it an instant later as a handsome boy walked out, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. Kai had never known heartbreak as strong as in that moment, even when Cinder swatted her boyfriend away from her with a wry smile.

From that moment on, Kai never stopped thinking of Cinder. He dreamt of her every night and daydreamed pictures of her during every wakeful moment. He hung out with Pearl just to be close to Cinder, and while he hated himself for using her, he couldn't help himself. He needed Cinder as much as light or air or anything that kept one alive. She was a drug, driving him to the last strings of his sanity.

Somehow, during all of Kai's creepy stalking, the two became friends. They had a lot in common, despite all of their differences. Both were raised by their single fathers; both had an intense love for books and movies, though never movies that were conceived of books; both despised Pearl, though Cinder never knew that until years later.

The day Cinder broke up with Liam Kinney was one of the greatest in all of Kai's life. He had planned for over a year how to ask her out, where he would take her, how he would tell her that he loved her. She, in opposition, got with Carswell Thorne (her childhood best friend) before Kai even had the chance.

Heartbroken, yet again, Kai continued to wait. Cinder and Thorne dated for only a few weeks before deciding that they liked each other better as friends. Kai prepared repeatedly to ask her out, and before given the chance, she was always taken before he got the chance to even try.