"To Love So Many People At Once"
~~~
The sizzling of frozen veggies against hot oil was music against Eva's ears. When she was in the kitchen, she worked like a well oiled machine. Stir those, chop these— cooking was simple. Cooking was easy for her. It was therapeutic to stand over a pot of food knowing you were about to brighten people's days with good food. It was what got her into culinary school in the first place. But in culinary school, Eva lost her love for the craft. Everything turned into grades, and she was brutally reminded that cooking would only ever be a hobby for her.
Still, she was happy she had a chance in culinary school. It was fun at times, but not her cup of tea.
Jacqueline was sitting at the island counter facing Eva's back as Eva stirred the veggies around the pan. The mother had been talking about some old memory with her husband, but had fallen silent. She sipped her wine slowly, clearly lost in thought.
Eva picked up the bowl that held the cooked chicken and slowly dumped it into the pan with the vegetables before turning down the heat slightly. The kitchen smelled delicious, her stir fry being one of her old comfort foods from after they escaped Isla Nublar.
Eva's phone started chirping, alerting both the women in the kitchen. Eva stepped away and picked up her phone, switching it open as she turned off the alarm. She opened Skype silently, her thumbs working to type in the link her and her friends always used for Weekly Check In.
"I trust you not to burn down my kitchen?" Jacqueline asked as her chair slid back against the wood.
"Oh, you don't have to go," Eva said quickly. "I can turn off the fire and take the call outside—?"
Jacqueline waved her off as she left the room.
Eva frowned, then joined the call. On one side was Darius and Kenji up in Darius's room, and on the other was Yasmina and Sammy— somewhere dark where the only light was coming off one of their phones.
"Eva!" Sammy greeted.
"Sammy, Yaz! How's Texas treating you?"
Yaz gasped, "I love it! Getting to hang out with Sammy and her family has been great—" she pushed herself into Sammy's side, grinning happily. "Plus, some of the colleges I've toured here have amazing sports psychology programs!"
"And in our down time—" Sammy cut in, "—I've been teachin' her how to lasso."
Yaz scoffed playfully. "I'm really getting the hang of it."
Sammy went wide eyed and shook her head, glancing to Yaz to make sure she didn't see her.
Eva propped her phone up on a jar and went back to stirring her food, which smelled absolutely amazing.
The front door opened with a squeak, and Eva could hear Jacqueline and Brand conversing.
The two rectangles on Eva's phone split into four squares with the third one showing Bumpy breathing onto Ben's laptop, and the fourth black. Now they were just waiting on Brooklynn to join the call.
"Bumpy! Get out of the— oh, hey guys!" Ben greeted as he pushed Bumpy's snout down away from his computer. His hair was much longer, and small wisps of hair decorated his chin. He wore a bright red shirt smudged with red. Eva saw him every week during check in, but she had yet to see him in person since their secret island (Mantah Corp Island).
"Ben, I still can't believe your parents are letting you spend the summer on our secret island," Sammy said.
"Well, I just calmly explained that I'm practically an adult who can make his own decisions."
"And I called them," Mae said as she approached Ben's laptop. "Sammy, thanks for that last shipment of meat. Obviously appreciated."
"Anything to help."
Mae squealed, then shouted her goodbyes and ran off camera.
Eva turned the fire all the way down to the lowest setting and checked her rice, nodding in satisfaction. She poured a little aji-mirin over the rice, then pulled five white china plates from the cupboard and set them down beside the rice cooker.
"Super cool of you to keep this place up and running, Kenj," Ben said after watching Mae leave.
"You guys are doing all the work. Like, I just pay the bills," Kenji said nonchalantly.
Eva couldn't stop watching her boyfriend through the camera, knowing they still had an entire week before she was heading back home.
"Hey," Brooklynn whispered as she popped into the fourth square. "I only have a sec. I'm chasing down a lead."
"Ooh! You go Esther Stone!" Sammy exclaimed.
Brooklynn chuckled. "Yeah, it's just so weird. Darius, have you heard of the Lockwood estate? It's a little ways north of you."
"No." Darius shook his head. "Why?"
"They're saying that dinosaurs have somehow... Look I, I don't wanna say any more until I have some real facts. It's probably just a prank. Just keep your eyes open."
"Will do."
"I gotta go. Call you tonight, Darius."
Darius smiled at her before Brooklynn left the call.
Eva walked away from her phone and into the living room, unsure of how to interrupt Jacqueline and Brand's conversation when Brand spots her, immediately asking if dinner was ready.
Jacqueline gave him a look and he quipped, "what? There's nothing better than free food!"
"Yes, it's ready," Eva said with a laugh. She headed back into the kitchen and hovered over her phone.
Sammy's eyes lit up as Eva appeared back on screen. "Okay, real quick! I love you guys; care packages are on the way. Camp fam for life!"
"Bye!"
"See you all next week!"
"Bye, everyone!"
"Bye!"
"Buh-bye!" they all chimed in before leaving the call.
Eva was the last off, and she leaned back against the counter, smiling down at her phone. She didn't realize it was possible to love so many people at once, but her Camp Fam friends proved her wrong. No matter what was happening to her, the constant reminder that she had people that cared for her changed everything. It was like a constant reminder that she'd never be alone, even when that's all she felt sometimes. Eva rolled up her sleeve slightly and stared at her wrist, frowning.
A thunder of footsteps echoed down the stairs and a moment later Kenji popped into the kitchen. Eva let her sleeve fall as Kenji walked over to her.
"I knew getting a girlfriend that could cook was the best idea I've come up with."
Eva snorted. "More like you fell for a girl that just so happened to also know how to cook."
He slid his hands around her waist and pulled her into his body. "Either way... I kinda think we were meant to be."
"Oh, so you believe in fate, now?"
"Only when it's about you."
He kissed her and fireworks exploded, the world around them disappearing into nothing..
When he pulled back, he tucked a curly blonde lock of hair behind her ear. "You're so beautiful." Eva flushed red and looked down. "I'm serious. I am so unbelievably lucky to call you mine."
"You're so cheesy," she said, grinning.
Footsteps sounded from around the corner, and Kenji pecked her lips one more time before stepping back. He grabbed a plate as Jacqueline entered the room, closely followed by Brand and Darius.
"What did you make?" Darius asked, excitedly.
"Food," Eva deadpanned with a grin. "Make a plate before Kenji ends up eating everything," she joked.
Kenji scoffed, "I'm not gonna eat everything."
She shrugged, "I don't know, six months on Isla Nublar begs to differ..."
He lightly shoved her shoulder, then picked up the rice paddle and began adding rice to his plate.
"I set the table ten minutes ago," Eva added. "I didn't grab cups, cause I didn't know what everyone wanted."
Jacqueline walked to her, and pulled her into a side hug, before pressing her lips to the top of Eva's head. "I see your grandparents raised you right."
"One of the few things they did," she joked.
Dinner passed breezily and somewhat quietly, as everyone seemed to be stuffing their mouths with stir fry. Kenji kept talking about how good the food was every other bite and at the end of his second plate, Brand kept going on and on about how Eva needed to come to California more often. Darius was too focused on eating every little grain of rice, and Jacqueline and Eva were sharing their past kitchen disasters, filling the air with an amusing tone.
Jacqueline sighed and sipped her water, before setting it back on the mat, a smile still on her face. "It's so wonderful having you here, Eva. with everything you're going through, I wish I had the room for you to stay here."
Kenji slapped Brand's shoulder, and, through half a mouthful of food, said, "Brand, surrender your room."
Eva laughed, setting her spoon down against her empty plate. "Staying in San Francisco is definitely tempting, but I have so many loose threads back home... Who knows how long it would take me to tie them up?"
Kenji slid her arm around Eva's shoulders. "It's summer, which means we have two and a half months where I could totally help you."
"You just love being close to me, don't you?"
"Always."
~~~
Brand had returned to his apartment that night after dinner, and Eva had hung out with Kenji and Darius until midnight rolled around, and she took her place on the couch. She truly did love spending time with them all, spending time in San Francisco. But if she moved, who would visit Oma in the nursing home? How was she supposed to hang out with Kai everyday if they were on opposite sides of the country?
But then her heart strings tugged in her chest, and she went back to the idea of getting an apartment— or maybe even renting a little house in the hills, and suddenly that was all she could think about. She wanted to be here, she realized. For the first time in a year, she had found something she actually, truly, wanted.
Eva picked her eyes up from her book as Jacqueline walked by, heading for the front door armed with her purse. "Leaving?" she questioned.
"Just a few errands to run," she responded. "Tomorrow we can get our nails done all nice and pretty, my treat."
Eva smiled genuinely. "That sounds awesome. Thank you."
Jacqueline left the house, closing the door softly behind her.
Kenji moved from beside Darius— the two boys kicked up on the love couch— and to Eva's side.
Darius said, "Careful, Kenji. She didn't lock the door."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she's gonna—"
The front door swung open and Jacqueline poked her head inside.
"Mom! I'm twenty for crying out loud!" Kenji defended.
"This is still my house, young man," she warned, before leaving the house for good. The deadbolt snapped shut, and the trio knew she was gone for her errands for good.
Eva glanced down at her book. "We could solve this by renting a room in a hotel."
Darius scrunched up his face. "If you're gonna have sex, tell me in advance so I can not be home."
"How long do you think mom will be gone?" Kenji wondered.
"Should I leave? I think I'm gonna leave." Darius stood from the couch and walked away, Kenji and Eva laughing as he went. Within fifteen minutes, he had his backpack swung over his shoulder and he was heading out of the house, with promises to head to the library in case Mom asked.
"You scared him away," Eva said. She had been staring at the same page in her book for the past five minutes.
Kenji laid his hand on top of her book and pushed it down out of view. "Eva."
She shut her book and tossed it on the coffee table, not caring about not having put in a bookmark. She grabbed Kenji by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into her, their lips molding together instantly.
He guided her into the couch cushions, stradling her body as he left kisses up her neck and across her jaw. Her lips hooked upwards into a smile, letting Kenji attack her with kisses. Kenji moved her wrists above her head, his lips moving back to her own.
His thumb traced across her wrist and he froze, hovering above her.
"What?" she whispered.
He rolled up her sleeve, revealing her wrist— slightly red, raised scars covered her skin like permanent little tally marks. "What's this?"
"My wrist?" She frowned as he did, his eyes glossed over as he sat back, pulling Eva into a sitting position herself. "Look, it's nothing—"
"Why?"
Eva pulled her wrist from his grasp, and held it to her chest. "You wouldn't understand." Kenji stared at her long and hard, as if daring her not to. Eva caved. "I just... wanted to feel something different. It was all confusion and disappointment and feeling like the world was ending and I, I needed to feel something different. Something new. I don't want to die anymore, but living... living is so hard sometimes," her voice cracked, and her eyes began to sting with tears, but she was not going to cry. She hated it so much.
"You can't be doing this," he whispered, staring into her beautiful green eyes.
"It's not like I'm suicidal anymore, I'm just looking for an escape."
"How long?" he asked in a low voice.
"Not long."
"How long?"
"Start of the year..."
"Angel..."
"Don't be sad, please," she begged. "It's just an escape. Just till I figure out what I'm doing, okay?"
Kenji shook his head, and let his hands rest on her thighs. "Promise me you won't do it anymore. Promise me you'll stop hurting yourself."
Eva hesitated, and her heart broke as she watched Kenji's face drop.
"Please."
"I, I promise..." she whispered.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "New York isn't good to you, is it?"
"I guess not..."
"I'm gonna get you out of there, Angel. I promise you that."
Eva nodded, then stood up, bringing Kenji up with her.
"What now?" he asked.
"This," Eva whispered. She wrapped her hand around his and pulled him upstairs and into the shared bathroom, which was decorated with matching dinosaur towels, bath rugs, and a shower curtain. Eva laughed as she took it all in. "Darius's decorating skills, I presume?"
Kenji chuckled, pushing her further into the room and closing the door behind him. "Is what I think's about to happen, about to happen?"
Eva unbuttoned her jeans and slid them off, not bothering that they were half way inside out, and then slipped off her shirt, tossing it to the ground. Her fingers toyed with the clip on her bra, and—
"Wait!"
Eva froze.
"I've never seen you naked," Kenji explained quickly. "I just..."
"Yeah, but you've imagined it, right?" she asked, cockily.
"Well— pfff, yeah, but—"
She popped off her bra, letting it drop to the floor.
"Oh my god."
Stepping out of her underwear, she looked up at her boyfriend. "So, are you gonna continue staring at my naked body, or are you gonna get naked, too?"
Kenji grinned, ""Bet you're glad I got the body wash now, aren't you?"
"You're stupid."
Kenji hurriedly got undressed— "You love me."
"I love you."
"I know you do," he said with a smirk, moving to slip off his socks.
Eva rolled her eyes and walked to the tub to turn on the water. She let the water get somewhere between warm and hot, and pulled the little lever to make it shoot out the top. Stepping into the tub, she looked back to Kenji, who was already smiling at her. She drew the curtain beside the shower head and opened the back side, allowing Kenji to get in.
Kenji drew his fingers across her skin, touching every piece of her he could. She let the water hit her back as she pulled him into her arms. They kissed slowly, taking in everything from each other.
His hand took Eva's and he raised their hands, pulling back from her. He turned her wrist towards his face, softly kissing her scars. "I think you're the strongest person I've met," he whispered as he lowered her hand, though she kept it high, moving both her arms to hang around his shoulders.
"Sometimes it doesn't feel that way."
"But it is. I would never lie to you about that."
She blinked, and smiled up at her boyfriend. "I think you're the best thing that's happened to me, Kenji Kon." And she meant it, with every piece of her soul, every bone in her body, every atom that made her who she was, she was undoubtedly in love.
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THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
this is the end.
I loved writing Eva's story so much, and I'm so glad I finished the story and was able to share it with all of you <3. I hope you guys have a wonderful Friday. Remember to drink water and tell your friends you appreciate them xxx
- atha