River
"I kissed her,"
After the words leave my mouth, I almost want to eat them back up. I feel guilty that I've cheated when I promised myself I wouldn't anymore.
"You kissed Lea?" Ky repeats.
I nod, rubbing my face with my right hand, irritated.
"Nice one, man!" Jake hoots, raising his hand for a high-five.
Ky turns to him with the most disapproving look that resultantly makes Jake drop his hand in defeat. It's assuming because his now puppy-dog eyes don't match the tough demeanor he displayed just a moment ago.
"When?" Ky questions, his eyebrows furrow.
"Yesterday, in the hos—" I reply, cutting myself when I've realised what I'm about to say.
They're not supposed to know that I took her there.
"In the what?" Ky asks, evidently confused.
I inhale, shutting my eyes at my stupidity of letting it slip from my tongue. "The hospital," I say again.
After a moment, Ky's eyes widen in realisation, diverting to stare absentmindedly at the wall behind me for a moment. Then, he turns back to me, confusion clouding his eyes.
"You've told her about Emily?" He questions.
I lean back onto the couch, distancing myself from Jake and Ky, both their expressions verging on the edge of disbelief.
"Dude, that's not cool. You've only known her for a day." Jake inputs and I turn to him.
"A week, actually. And I don't care what you guys think, Emily is my sister." I retaliate.
"Yeah, but you said you'd slice off all our dicks if we told anyone you guys were related."
"Emily didn't want loads of people to know that we were related – it took me at least a month to convince her to tell you guys," I say, pushing myself off the couch to stand amongst them.
"So, if Emily didn't want that many people to know, then why tell Lea?" Ky asks, annoyed.
"Because..." I try to think of something to say, but nothing springs to mind. I don't know why I told Lea, it was a spur of the moment decision, and it just felt right. "I just did."
"You've known that girl a day, don't you think telling her about this is a little too soon?" He finishes.
"I've known her for a week!" I yell exasperatedly. "And she has a name."
"Well then, you've known Lea a week. But the number of days and her real name doesn't change the situation," Jake replies.
I hear a sigh escape Ky's mouths before he too speaks, a much calmer note to his voice. "How do you know she won't tell Marissa?"
"Ky, you've seen Lea. She's not like that." I reply, letting my annoyance calm itself a little.
"That's the same thing that you said about Flo when you told her as well, but then she told Georgia," Jake mutters, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Can you not bring Flo into this?" I spit at him.
"Why? Lea seems to be the second Flo, don't you think so too Ky?" Jake turns to Ky, who is staring blankly at me, showing no emotion.
Damn it; I hate it when we fight. And this is not the time to fight with the boys, not when I've already fought with Lea.
"Whatever you're playing at River, I reckon you should stop. You've pissed too many people off." Ky says coldly.
"What the fuck, Ky?" I reply with more force. This time I really can't be fucked to deal with him. "Who have I pissed off? Just because I fucking told Lea, you two are throwing a hissy fit. Why the hell do you care so much anyway? What's it to you?"
"You piss everyone off River, even the girl that's only properly known you for a week" Ky argues but doesn't shout like me. He's good at controlling his temper that way. "Emily didn't want that many people knowing, she made us promise not to tell. And who did you tell? Oh yeah, this girl that you hardly know. How the fuck can you trust her so easily? Why wouldn't she tell her best friend, just like how Flo told Georgia?" He bites back at me.
"Oh, and why do I care so much? Because I love Emily, and I tried to keep her from going into the car with Nick - who, for some reason, you loved so bloody much back then for whatever reason. She felt obliged to get into the car with Nick, to wish you a happy anniversary with Georgia."
His words sting me. I step forward aggressively, ready to swing my fists in Ky's direction. However, Jake steps between him and me, blocking my blows from ever making contact with Ky's head.
Don't remind me of how I could've saved her. It claws away at me enough already.
"Wow! Stop, man! Stop it!" Jake shouts, pulling my arms to my sides to keep them from flying all over the place.
"You bastard!" I yell at Ky. "If you loved her so much, then how come you were such a pussy and couldn't stop her from getting with Nick? Huh?" I spit in his direction. "Don't tell me I was the reason, don't you dare rub it in like that. You sick bastard!" I yell even more, ready to throttle Jake just to get to Ky.
Calm down.
"Calm down, River!" Hisses Jake, trying to lighten my nerves. His head blocks my view of Ky, who's standing a few meters away from us. "Dude, calm down, he didn't mean it." Jake hisses again.
I ignore Jake completely and twist my head to look at Ky. He still has that emotionless look on his face, and I want to punch it away. "Oi, you pig. What's your problem? Just because I bloody told Lea? Are you goddamn serious? Emily's my sister I can tell the whole world if I want to!" I struggle against Jake's hold. "Let go, Jake. I won't waste my energy on that wanker."
Finally, Jake eases his grip on me but still stands cautiously between Ky and me, ready to pounce and hold me back if I try attacking again.
After a moment of just sending each other glares, Ky eventually speaks. "You broke another promise." He states.
"What do you mean," I snap, my voice is hoarse and low.
"You kissed Lea, what about Georgia? What about what you promised her?" He reminds me as if it isn't already annoyingly glued to my brain already.
He approaches me steadily, but Jake doesn't worry about his actions since we all know that fighting isn't Ky's thing.
"I'm sorry," he says once he's a close enough. "I shouldn't have said any of that. And I deserve a punch." He admits, and my eyes widen slightly in surprise.
That's another thing about Ky – he says it how it is, no lying, no beating around the bush.
"But the reason why I'm annoyed about you telling Lea isn't just because we promised Emily. Lea doesn't need that kind of drama. She's a sweet girl, and I don't think it's fair if you drag her into all of this. She's dealing with her own problems; I don't think it's wise to make her deal with yours too." Ky expresses his good intentions.
"All I'm saying is the less Lea knows, the better. She's going to move out soon, and you can concentrate on your relationship with Georgia. What is done is done, but don't cheat again River. This isn't fair on Georgia." Ky says, stepping forward with the flow of his very true words.
I nod, knowing all that he's said is reasonable and correct.
"I'm sorry man," Ky apologises, a pleading look in his eyes. "I shouldn't have said those things; it was just a—"
"Whatever. Forget it." I dismiss it all, shaking all the rushing thoughts from my mind.
Ky is right; you need to get Lea out of your head.
"God, you guys are like bipolar hormonal weirdos," Jake mumbles under his breath.
He looks up at both of us in turn, probably realising what he said was loud enough for us to hear. He coughs awkwardly before speaking again.
"I was going to say 'I mean, you guys are awesome', but I can't be assed. Because come on, anyone can mistake you guys for girls on the periods, and I always have to be in between you two when you're at each other's throats, or more specifically, River is at your throat." Jake points to Ky, a smirk appearing on his face.
Both Ky and I look at each other, shake our heads and roll our eyes, then turn back to Jake.
"Remind me why I'm friends with this dude again?" I ask Ky, examining Jake's expression.
"I have no idea," Ky replies, and I chuckle.
"You two," Jake points accusingly at Ky and me. "Are devils. I just saved your sorry ass, Ky." Jake finally huffs, before turning on his heel. "Since your bitch fit is over, let's go and eat. I'm starving." He strides towards the door of the wood house.
Willingly, due to the hunger eating away at my stomach, I follow after him, and so does Ky.
We leave our problems in the wood house, where they're usually kept.
***
After entering my garden from the opening in the trees, and see the shining lights that illuminate from the windows of my house before me, my eyes only look at one window in particular. I know which one it is, I even counted how many windows up and along it was. The guest room window, where I'm pretty sure Lea is. She's been locked in there since yesterday's fight - hardly coming out unless she has to eat or get some fresh air. But, she's successfully avoided my presence, which is what I think is best for the both of us right now.
As the boys and I walk across the freshly cut lawn, that possesses a yellow tinge from the sunset sky above us; my eyes fixate on Lea's balcony. There's a chunk of me that wishes she would come out onto the balcony at this precise moment.
Ky was right, get her out of your head.
Once we get to the patio landing in front of the kitchen glass doors, I peel my eyes away from Lea's window and turn to see both mine and Lea's mothers cooking and chatting together. It seems like mum's got a new friend.
Jake slides the already open kitchen doors wider and steps onto the checkered black and white tiling covering the kitchen floor. Ky and I follow after him, and I carefully edge the doors shut, not letting any more of the evening breeze steal the warmth from the kitchen.
"Boys! It's been a while, where have you been?" My mum drops her stirring spoon onto the kitchen countertop and walks towards us bearing a large smile, which brightens her face. She outstretches her arms for the scary part of her greeting - her monster hugs.
"Come here, boys!" She gestured for Ky and Jake to approach her, and they do as they are told, knowing better than to do anything otherwise.
She grasps them as if her life depends on this hug, and squeezes them so tightly that I swear I hear Ky wince a little. Then, for the second stage of her hug, there are the endless kisses on your hair and every inch of your face.
Thankfully, today is my lucky day, and I don't have to endure the torture, but can watch it from a distance, thanking God that I'm not in Jake and Ky's position. With every kiss she scars them with, she makes exaggerated and cringe-worthing kissy noises.
"Hi River," I jerk in my spot, forgetting completely that Lea's mum is in here as well.
Now, I feel embarrassed on behalf of my mother for doing this in front of a woman that we practically don't know.
"Oh, hi there Mrs Wilson," I turn to face her, pulling on a smile.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She laughs.
"Oh no, it's fine."
"Well, I guess that those boys are your close friends?" She points towards Ky and Jake, who are currently having separate turns hugging my mother, while she yells, saying 'are you well?', 'do you have a stable girlfriend now, Jake?', 'please don't say you're taking drugs, Ky, you're too much of a good boy to do so'.
Mum, you're bloody embarrassing.
"You mean the boys being abused by my mother? Yes, they are." I reply, watching the devastating yet humorous sight before me. I concentrate on Ky, instantly feeling guilty for wanting to rip out his throat earlier.
"River, foods almost ready, so would you mind getting Lea?" Mum calls over to me after she has finally released the boys from her death grip.
I may have just swallowed my tongue at her words. I cannot, I repeat, cannot do that. But I can't say that here, not now in front of Lea's mum.
Fucking damn.
Sighing, I turn to the boys, pleading for help with my wide-open eyes, yet they're too busy wiping off the remains of my mother's lip gloss that has stained their faces.
You're a wimp, River. You can go and call Lea for dinner. Come on you sissy.
"Okay," I say, turning to head out of the kitchen; however mum quickly stops me mid-track.
"River." She calls after me, approaching me.
"Yes?"
"Come here; I haven't seen my beautiful son in a while either." She says, before unexpectedly wrapping her arms around my body. Automatically, I hug her back.
"Hey mum," I chuckle into her shoulder, which is too low for me due to our contrasting difference in height.
She squeezes me a little tighter - but thank God not as tight as the embraces she gave to Ky and Jake. Quickly raising onto her tiptoes, she whispers something in my ear.
"Be nice to Lea, please." She says in the quietest hushed tone so that only my ears can pick it up.
And then, she's no longer hugging me, but instead pouncing around the kitchen, grabbing the saltshaker and sprinkling the white crystals into the three different pots on the large stoves that are alight with fire. After a moment of consideration, I take my mothers words into account, and head out of the kitchen, starting for the spiral staircase in the hallway.
Though, I'm stopped almost instantly when I see two very familiar girls approaching me. They are both beautiful, yet the underrated kind that some people would overlook. Their eyes are yet to discover my presence, so I slow my pace until they notice me. Lea's eyes are the first and then are Marissa's. They both stand robotically still for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. And then, to my dismay, Lea is the first to break the eye contact and look elsewhere. Mine don't.
She starts to walk, her eyes focusing on the floor beneath her until her footsteps pass my halted body. Completely ignoring me, she walks through one of the corridors to my left, with Marissa closely trailing behind her, and heads in the direction of the dining room.
I can't help but think that dinner is going to be quite awkward.
***