𝐈 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖
[ Chapter Nine | ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ ]
KIMBERLY COULDN'T REMEMBER the last time she had seen her mother. Not properly, at least. There were a few phone calls here and there, but that was far from the nurturing presence a child needed.
Kimberly's mind drifted to the day her parents divorced, when her father sat her down, and told her everything she needed to hear.
"Your mom's career is taking off, Kimberly, and I can't keep feeling like I'm a second choice. We're not happy anymore, and I don't want you to grow up thinking this is how a marriage should be."
She had cried herself to sleep that night, wishing things could go back to how they used to be. Before the long working hours, and the constant ringing on her mother's cell phone that always stole her attention.
And now, in her living room at the Palm Woods, Kimberly faced the woman who used to be the center of her world.
"What are you doing here?" Kimberly asked, her voice tinged with anger and sadness.
Anastasia took a deep breath, attempting to compose herself. "I just wanted to see you, Kim." she finally said, her voice strained.
Kimberly scoffed. "Really? After all these years, you just wanted to see me? Give me some credit, Mom."
Anastasia's lips pressed into a thin line. "You know I wouldn't have come if I thought it wouldn't be welcome."
"Maybe not," Kimberly got up from the sofa and started walking around, "but you wouldn't have come at all if it wasn't convenient. You left me with Dad, remember? Sacrificed your family for your precious career."
"Kim," Benjamin said, his voice a calming balm, "let's not..."
"No, Dad," Kimberly interrupted, her gaze fixed on Anastasia. "It's time she actually heard this. And how did you even know I was here?"
Anastasia's eyes flickered to Benjamin, a flicker of pain crossing her face before it was masked by a glacial composure. "Please, Kim," she said, "let's not rehash the past."
"No, we are rehashing the past," Kimberly insisted, her voice trembling with hurt. "The past of missed birthdays, empty holidays, and a father who had to pick up the pieces while you chased your dreams."
Benjamin got up and tightly grasped around Kimberly's hand. "Kim, please," he pleaded, "don't make this harder."
Tears welled up in Kimberly's eyes. "It's already hard, Dad. Every day is so hard, wondering why she chose her ambition over me, her own daughter."
Anastasia stood abruptly, her eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and regret. "I made a choice, Kim," she said, her voice sharp. "A choice I wouldn't take back even if it meant losing you."
The room fell silent as the weight of Anastasia's words hung heavy in the air. Kimberly stared at her mother, with a mixture of anger and disbelief clouding in her eyes. Benjamin, caught in the crossfire, remained silent. His brow furrowed in worry.
"I- I don't even know what to say right now." Kimberly sighed in disbelief.
As the emotions intensified, a distant but muffled thud caught her attention. She turned towards the door, realizing that the commotion had caught the ears of someone passing by.
Through the partially closed door, Kendall Knight and Logan Henderson exchanged glances, registering the tense atmosphere within.
Kendall, with a cautious nod toward the door, suggested to Logan, "Maybe we should..."
Before he could finish, the door swung open, and a stormy-faced Kimberly emerged. Her eyes, still wet with unshed tears, met the curious gaze of Kendall and Logan.
"Uh, hey," Kendall stammered, caught off guard by the intensity of the situation.
Logan added, "We, uh, heard... well, not everything, but..."
Kimberly cut them off, her voice sharp. "This is none of your business. Just keep walking."
Kendall hesitated, a genuine concern in his eyes. "Look, we just heard some arguing, and we wanted to make sure everything's okay."
"Everything's not okay," Kimberly snapped. "So, unless you can magically fix years of family drama, you can't help."
And with that being said, Kimberly slammed the door shut and returned her gaze to her mother, the bitterness still fresh in her voice.
"You made a choice, Mom. And now you have to live with it."
"Kimberly, I understand you're upset," Anastasia's expression shifted between frustration and sadness. "but you have to believe that every decision I made, I believed it was the best for us."
"For us?" Kimberly scoffed, then yelled. "You mean for YOU. For your career, and for your ambition. There was never an 'us' in your choices, Mom."
Benjamin, who had been silently observing, finally spoke up. "Enough, Kimberly. This isn't helping."
She turned to her father, frustration etched on her face. "It's about time someone told her the truth, Dad."
Anastasia, perhaps sensing the futility of the conversation, took a step back. "I came here hoping for a chance to rebuild, not to argue. I'll leave you to your life, Kimberly. When you're ready, I hope you'll let me be a part of it."
With those words, Anastasia exited the room, leaving behind a heavy silence, and the click-clacking of her high heels. Benjamin approached his daughter, his eyes filled with a mix of sympathy and regret.
"Kim, I know this is hard," he began, "but she's trying. People change, circumstances change."
Kimberly, however, wasn't ready to hear it. "She can't just waltz in and expect everything to be okay, Dad. That's not right, that's... I-."
Kimberly's voice caught in her throat, choked by a torrent of emotions. Anger, hurt, and a gnawing sense of betrayal clawed at her from within. She wanted to scream, to lash out, to make Anastasia understand the years of neglect and loss, but the words wouldn't come.
"I need to rest."
Benjamin nodded, then sighed. "Okay."
And with that, Kimberly walked up to her bedroom and closed door behind her. In the peacefulness of her room, she took a deep breath, and propped herself on the bed, desperately needing to take a nap.
The confrontation brought up so many emotions she had buried, leaving her to feel very drained.
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four hours later...
THE DIGITAL CLOCK on the bedside table displayed 5:38 pm. Kimberly gradually woke up, and began to rub her eyes. Before she could even touch her eyes, the peace in the room broke by the buzzing sound of her phone, which was sitting on the bathroom sink.
It was Mindy.
As Kimberly stepped into the bathroom, she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror—eyes red, cheeks stained with the remnants of tears. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this vulnerable.
Her phone was still buzzing, but decided to ignore her call and head into the shower.
As the water ran down her face, Kimberly's thoughts drifted back to the confrontation with her mother. Wait— scratch that, she didn't want to think about that anymore, and was more focused on the fact that Logan and Kendall were listening. Eavesdropping everything that encountered in her living room.
She couldn't help but think about the genuine concern in their eyes when they had stood at the door earlier. Especially Kendall. His attempt to offer support, though awkward, hadn't gone unnoticed, and a small part of Kimberly wondered if his presence could be a comforting anchor in the storm of emotions.
Finally, with a towel wrapped around her, Kimberly approached her phone. The missed calls from Mindy blinked on the screen. She hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to call back.
Instead, she decided to leave the phone behind and walk around the palm woods.
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LURKING AROUND THE palm woods brought more calm to Kimberly's chaos. It was impossible to get away from her mother, knowing she was here for "work", but it gave Kimberly some sense of relief that her mother wouldn't be working here for long.
"Excuse me," A voice emerged from behind Kimberly, leaving her startled. "Are you lost?"
"Oh, no I'm not." Kimberly replied.
This person took one look at Kimberly. He was big, wore glasses, and had a name tag that read, "Bitters".
"Well don't bother asking," He replied with a negative tone, almost as if he wanted to piss someone off. Suddenly he walked away, and found another fixation to be pissed at.
The flower pot that he knocked over.
In Kimberly's mind, she wasn't sure if she should be offended or find it funny. But so much chaos has happened within the past couple of hours, Kimberly didn't want anymore negativity and actually found this encounter to be quite hilarious.
It somewhat made her evening a little eventful.
Shedding a laugh, Kimberly walked around the pool and took in the Palm Woods air. Even though it was the evening, the scent of coconut sunscreen lingered, mixed with the subtle aroma of tropical flowers. The palm trees swayed gracefully, casting long shadows on the sunlit ground.
It was the epitome of California living, different to the environment she had grown up in back in Minnesota.
While taking in the aroma, she spotted Mindy around the campfire, with four familiar faces. Mindy eventually spotted her and signaled to come over.
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KIMBERLY FOLLOWED MINDY'S signal, making her way toward the campfire. The crackling flames danced in the evening breeze, casting a warm glow over the group gathered around it. As she approached, the familiar faces became clearer—Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos.
"Hey, Kim!" greeted Logan, flashing a friendly smile. "How's your evening going?"
Kimberly forced a smile in response. "Ah, could be better but... why are you guys wet?"
Logan chuckled, running a hand through his damp hair. "Long story short, Kendall's sister Katie thought it'd be a good idea to push us into the pool. We didn't exactly plan for a swim."
"Well, a surprise swim never hurt anyone." Kimberly said.
"Except maybe Carlos. He can't swim." James, smirking, added.
Carlos, looking a bit sheepish, chimed in, "I never said I can't swim. I just said I never learned how to."
Kimberly rolled her eyes playfully. "You guys are a mess."
"We aim to please," Kendall said with a grin, his eyes meeting Kimberly's. There was a knowing look in his gaze, as if he could sense something beneath the surface of her forced smile. It intrigued him, but he didn't pry on it too much.
"So," Logan, always the conversation navigator, smoothly transitioned to another topic, "how's the Palm Woods treating you so far?"
"It's not too bad. I mean, we just got here, but it seems like a cool place. And Gustavo Rocque—"
"Yeah," Logan interjected, "he's... something."
Kendall smirked. "That's one way to put it. The guy's got a big fucking temper, but he knows the music business inside out."
Logan chimed in, "Yeah, genius producer, but working with him, is challenging. He's intense."
"I've noticed," Kimberly said, recalling the confrontation in the recording studio.
James leaned in, looking intrigued. "You've already had a run-in with Gustavo? That's a rite of passage around here."
Mindy, who had been relatively quiet, finally spoke up, her tone sarcastic. "Yeah, real fun. Like getting a root canal."
James shot her a look, and Kimberly sensed the tension between the two. Clearly, they weren't starting off on the best foot, but Kimberly gained a sense of Mindy's intentions that night.
It wasn't negative.
Carlos, always the peacemaker, tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, speaking of run-ins, you guys should've seen Mindy and James at the soccer game the other day. It was like watching a tennis match with all the eye-rolling."
James rolled his eyes dramatically. "Please, Carlos. Like anyone could handle Mindy for more than five minutes."
Mindy shot him a smirk. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Wait, what happened at the soccer game?" Kimberly asked.
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Kendall added.
"Oh, yes, I do. I wasn't at the game."
James and Mindy exchanged a glance, both seemingly reluctant to share the details. "Let's just say Mindy here has a way of making a grand entrance, and it didn't sit well with some of the teachers."
Mindy shrugged nonchalantly. "I like to keep things interesting."
Kimberly chuckled, finding their banter amusing. "Well, I'll keep that in mind when I'm navigating the halls of our glamorous high school."
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AS THE NIGHT continued, the group shared more laughs and stories. Logan shared a story about a quirky science experiment gone wrong, and Carlos entertained everyone with his latest attempt at perfecting a magic trick.
The tension between Mindy and James gradually eased, replaced by playful banter. Kimberly remained mysterious, and Kendall couldn't help but feel intrigued by the girl he once knew from Minnesota—there was definitely more to her than met the eye.
"Hey, guys, I'm gonna take a quick smoke break. Anyone want to join?"
Carlos shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."
James raised an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Smoke break? Kendall, since when do you smoke?"
Kendall smirked, a sly grin forming. "Since I got to LA and realized it's the city of new experiences with new shit to deal with. You in?"
"No."
"Okay then," Kendall smirked, then shot a grin at Kimberly. "What about you, Kim? Care for a smoke?"
Kimberly hesitated for a moment, but gave in. "Okay yeah, sure."
"Great," He smiled and signaled her to follow him.
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IN THAT MOMENT Kimberly was finding solace. The night air was cool, carrying a hint of excitement and the promise of new beginnings.
As she walked alongside Kendall, the rhythmic sounds of laughter and the distant murmur of the Palm Woods behind them created a soundtrack to her thoughts.
It made her think of the experience she's going to encounter soon.
∞ ₒ ˚ ° 𐐒𐐚 ° ˚ ₒ ∞