Kel was laying on the ground with a few bruises marked against his face.
“Teaches you to mess with us loser!” Kim bragged as she picked up the candy bag.
“Please, Kim! We need to know where Aubrey is! She stole something really important for all of us and we need to get it back!” Kel begged, hoping to some god out there that Kim listens.
Kim and Vance both stopped moving and Vance turned around to look at Kim. Kim let out a sigh and turned to Kel, “She is at the church.”
“Huh?” Out of all places Kel was expecting her to be, it definitely was not the church.
“Shut up, you wanted to know so there!” Kim grumbled, “If she asks, I didn’t say anything! Say it was Mikhael or something.”
“Kim we gotta go before mom gets mad ya know?” Vance began walking ahead.
“See ya losers!” Kim walked away as well leaving Sunny and Kel alone.
“The church? Why would Aubrey go to church?” Kel pondered aloud, “Whatever, as long as we get the photo album back for Basil I don’t care if she was in Mexico. Let’s go Sunny!” Kel grabbed the teen's hand and began walking towards the church.
~~~~~~
A bad feeling swirled in his gut, he felt awful as he laid on top of his bed.
He didn’t know why but it felt like something awful was going to happen.
Maybe Kel is right, the sun was messing with them.
Everything is going to be okay...isn’t it?
~~~~~~
“Alright, we’re here.” Kel sighed to himself. He saw Aubrey’s scooter was parked next to the side of the church and they watched as four people walked inside, “This is honestly the last place I would have pictured her at.”
Sunny walked forward to the door and opened it just a crack. Kel decided to look through the crack as well.
It looked like a normal sermon to them. Everyone was sitting quietly with their heads down. Aubrey was easy to pick from the crowd with her bright pink hair.
“...We should wait outside, I would feel bad interrupting- and you walked right in. Okay then.” Kel sighed as Sunny walked past him into the church.
Sunny and Kel walked inside, their feet only making the floor gently creak. They managed to nab a seat right behind Aubrey.
“Psst Aubrey, we need to talk,” Kel whispered behind her ear, causing her to slightly jump.
“What the- didn’t I pay you ten bucks to leave me alone!” She whispered back.
“Yeah, that was before I found out about his photo album that you stole,” Kel muttered.
He heard Aubrey take in a deep breath before she turned around to face him. Why does everyone he knows today seem so exhausted?
“Look, I know that you like playing the hero and everything, but this is personal.” Aubrey sighed.
“Well, it is personal to me as well. We have photos of everyone in there, plus our memories!”
“Kel, I am only going to say this once. Stay out of this. If Basil wants it so badly, he will come to me.”
“We both know he won’t! Have you seen him lately? I may be stupid but I am not dumb! He looks anxious all the time and I just want to help him.”
“Sometimes people don’t need help Kel. Did he ask you to help him with his problems?”
“Actually, yes I did.” Kel deadpanned.
“...” Aubrey stayed silent before letting out another sigh, “Do you even know why I took it?”
“No?” Kel gave a confused look.
“Heh, what I thought. Maybe ask Basil why I took it and then find out why I don’t plan to hand it back.”
“Ugh, I don’t care what he did! I just want to see him happy! If that means I need to steal it from you I will!”
“Try me.” Aubrey stood up and walked out of her row, “If ya want it that badly, meet me at the park.” She proceeded to storm out the building, her bat in tow.
“Damn it…” Kel sighed to himself.
He knew another fight was coming and after the last one, he knew that his ass was destined to be kicked. He had no chance of winning, after all, she has a bat! With nails in it! Who would survive that?!
“Sunny do you have any ideas on how we can beat her?” he decided to ask his companion.
Sunny seemed to look down in thought before getting up. He made a motion for Kel to follow him outside.
Outside of the church, Sunny made Kel hold out his hands.
Was he planning to give Kel a weapon? What kind of weapon did he have that could beat a bat with-
Sunny pulled out a steak knife and put it in Kel’s hand.
Kel’s body froze up and Sunny looked at him with confusion. Was-was Sunny telling Kel to stab Aubrey?
“Sunny, my dear friend, my number one amigo that I would trust with my life.” Kel took in a deep breath, “Why do you have a knife?!?”
Sunny just sorta stared at Kel and then shrugged.
“Sunny knives are dangerous! I am not going to-” “Scare her.” Sunny spoke for the first time, his voice sounding like he hasn’t spoken in several years. It honestly looked like his own voice scared him.
“...What?”
“Scare her,” Sunny stated again.
Kel took a moment to process what Sunny had said. He could actually use the knife to scare Aubrey into handing the album over. Would that even work?
“...I guess that could work. Still concerned about why you were carrying a knife.” Kel muttered.
“Later.” Sunny shrugged.
“Yeah, for now, we need to get Basil’s photo album.” Kel nodded in agreement.
~~~~~~
The awful feeling grew. It was suffocating. Almost as if he did something bad in school and the principal called his parents and now he was awaiting punishment from them.
Heh, like his parents had even cared for him in the first place.
Tears began to roll down his eyes as he let out a laugh.
“Why are you laughing? You shouldn’t laugh. It isn’t funny.”
Oh, but it was. He deserved it. He deserved to be laughed at, but since no one is here to laugh at him but himself he must take the roll. He was a joke. A stupid joke.
“It isn’t funny. Stop. Stop it.”
He couldn’t stop. Even if he wanted to he couldn’t. It was just too funny. How much of a joke his life is.
“You shouldn’t laugh because you don’t deserve it. No one deserves to laugh at you. You are a horrible joke. An offensive joke that shouldn’t exist. You shouldn’t laugh.”
He stopped laughing. It was replaced with sobs.
~~~~~~
Kel stepped into the park where Aubrey was waiting patiently, her bat to her side and a smile on her face.
“Ah, so you came.” she taunted.
“You knew I would,” Kel spoke back.
“Yeah, I did. Though I thought by now Sunny would have left.” Aubrey looked over to the skinny teen.
“Sunny is here because I promised him we would hang out together. I ain’t going back on it because of you.” Kel stated.
“Then let’s begin. I can easily beat up a moron like you any day.” She grinned, tapping the bat on the ground like she was getting ready to swing.
“I may be a moron but,” Kel pulled out the knife dramatically, “I am a dangerous moron! Fear me!”
“KEL WHAT THE HECK!”
“What? Scared?” Kel laughed.
“A knife!? Are you for real!? Where did you even get that!?” Aubrey asked, actually terrified that the stupidest person she knows has a knife.
“Sunny had it.” Kel shrugged.
“Why did Sunny have a knife!?” Aubrey proceeded to get more concerned.
“Don’t know. I planned on asking that later.” Kel shrugged again.
“I- UGH!” Aubrey wanted to wack her head on the nearest thing in sight.
“Oh come on! You have a weapon that could kill me too!” Kel groaned.
“For intimidation, dumbass! I wasn’t planning on using it!” Aubrey argued.
“Then who says that I can’t use a knife for intimidation!” Kel argued back.
Sunny wishes he had a bowl of popcorn right now.
“This is stupid! Here have the fucking album! I ain’t dealing with people who carry knives around like idiots!” Aubrey groaned as she grabbed the Photo Album from her book bag and threw it.
Kel was unfortunate enough to have it wack his face, which Aubrey counted as a personal win.
“Now, leave me alone assholes!” Aubrey stormed off, her feet still being able to be heard as she made her way back to her house.
“...That was certainly something, wasn’t it Sunny?” Kel sighed.
Sunny nodded in response.
“Well, now that is all done and over with-” Kel looked towards Sunny with an unreadable expression across his face, “Tell me, why did you have a knife?”
Sunny felt his throat tighten as he looked at Kel with little beads of sweat dashing down his face. His eyes filled with panic as he tried to come up with a good excuse for having a knife. His hands twitched as if he was looking for it himself.
The scenery seemed to change as the sun dimmed and Sunny’s breathing got quicker. The ground underneath also seemed to dampen as if it had suddenly rained. Kel immediately regretted his decision in asking that question.
“H-hey! Calm down! You don’t need to answer that right now, though you have to tell me later.” Kel put his hands on Sunny’s shoulders, “I gotcha, alright? Breathe.”
Sunny seemed to tense up before Kel hugged him. Rubbing his back and trying to calm down his friend. Sunny latched on to Kel like a lifeline before his breaths began to decrease.
“It’s alright. It’s alright.” Kel muttered, “Everything will be okay.”
“E V E R Y T H I N G W I L L B E O K A Y.”
The words rang in Sunny’s mind as his breathing stopped. His whole body froze. Everything will be okay...he trusted those words before. Can he trust them again?
“Sunny? Are you okay?” Kel asked, still rubbing circles into his back.
Sunny breathed again and all the tension from his body faded away. He bit his lip as he set his mind straight. He had to act like everything was okay. Everything is okay.
Sunny released Kel and nodded keeping his eyes on the ground.
“...Alright I won’t ask about why you had a knife okay? Just don’t carry one around like that again. Okay?” Kel waited for Sunny to answer.
Sunny gave a quick nod, still looking only at the ground. The scenery changed back to normal.
“Then let’s head to Basil’s house. I’d bet he would be happy to see that we were able to accomplish our mission!” Kel beamed, trying to lighten the mood so Sunny could feel better after...whatever just happened. He grabbed Sunny’s hand again and pulled him towards Basil’s house.
~~~~~~
He curled in on himself while he sat on his bed. The voices won’t leave him alone, in fact, they have been growing more restless since last night. Why must they ruin everything for him? He just wants to have a normal day.
“You shouldn’t have sent them to get it.”
“They are going to hate you. She will tell them why she took it.”
“Can’t you do things yourself you worthless trash? Get it yourself”
“They are wasting their time. They should leave you to die alone instead of wasting their precious lives on you. It is what you deserve.”
He nodded in agreement. Why should they waste their time with-
KNOCK! KNOCK!
~~~~~~
Sunny and Kel knocked on the front door of Basil’s house. Kel tapped his foot impatiently as Sunny swung slightly left and right while waiting.
The door swung open and revealed not Basil but a woman. That woman seemed to be old, perhaps in her 30’s? Kel couldn’t tell.
“Oh, hello there! Who might you two be?” The woman asked the duo.
“Um, you're not Basil…” Kel trailed off, wondering why this woman would be in Basil’s house. She doesn’t look like him enough to be his mother.
“Ah, pardon me! My name is Polly! I am Basil’s caretaker!” Polly introduced herself.
Basil nervously appeared in the doorway, peaking out like an animal checking for predators.
If Kel looked closely he could see that Basil’s eyes looked a bit red. Who knows, maybe he didn’t just didn’t get enough sleep last night.
...Why did his gut feel like something was wrong?
“Oh, hey Kel. W-What is it?” Basil asked nervously.
“Hey, Basil! We got the album back!...are you okay?” Kel asked.
“Y-yes! Of course! I am a little tired but otherwise, I am fine!” Basil gave a small smile for reassurance.
...Something felt off, Kel couldn’t place his finger on it.
Kel wished he could know what he got himself into when he walked inside.