Kaia's P.O.V. – Seventy-Nine more days
I don't know how Aunt Meredith does it. Somehow she manages me to get in dresses despite how much I hate it. This dress that I am wearing, is probably the worse dress I have ever worn in my whole entire life. It's a three quarter sleeved dress, the hem reaching my knees, but the top half is laced whereas the bottom half is simple but beneath it has some rough material that makes my leg itch. I can't tell whether this dress is beige or gold. Not only did Aunt Meredith get me in this dress, she also made me wear heels, again.
This is the worst birthday dinner already. "How much further?" I ask. To make this night even worse, we've been walking for two minutes and my legs are already freezing. This is why I don't wear dresses or skirts at night!
"We're almost there," Uncle John says.
I mentally groan. "It's so cold," I whine to Kieran.
"Then why did you wear a dress. That's your own fault," Kieran points out.
I pout. Why is he so mean to me? Oh right, he thinks I'm dating his friends. Well, I actually am now but he doesn't know that. Woops. My bad.
Kieran notices my pout. He rolls his eyes and grabs me by the shoulder, "Come here brat," he says. "Regina has been giving me the death stare ever since I shoulder bumped with her lover boy. Now I'm worried that she's trying to put a hex on me," Kieran whispers to me, feigning fear.
I laugh, "Your poor soul. The wraith of Regina is always unpleasant," I reply.
"Unfortunately. Now, every time I speak, she'll stare at me like I crossed a line. Look, she's doing it now," Kieran whispers. I look at Vivian and like Kieran says, she glares at Kieran as though she is sending daggers with her eyes. "Hey Vivian, how's your boyfriend? What's his name again?"
Vivian scoffs and looks away, her head held high as she walks. "If she lifts her head any higher, her brain might fall out of her tilted head," I chuckle.
"That shouldn't be a problem. Her brain fell out ten years ago. Remember, we witnessed it," Kieran responds. I laugh, remembering the time we told Vivian when we were seven that Vivian's brain fell out. First Vivian didn't believe us saying that she doesn't see it, but then we tell her when her brain fell out, you wouldn't be able to see it because without the brain, she slowly becomes blind. She cried for days actually thinking that her brain fell out.
"Just so you know, I don't care if you date him anymore. Just don't be an idiot, alright," Kieran says abruptly.
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you are talking about," I mutter, feeling guilt.
"Oh God, you're already acting like an idiot," Kieran exaggerates.
I smile, hugging Kieran. "Oh, you mean Cade? Yeah, I'm not dating him," I whisper. "Cade is obsessed with me. I don't blame him though, I am pretty amazing," I say.
Kieran chuckles, "Yeah, of course you are. You are my sister after all. All your coolness came from me," he says.
I grin. "Ha, what a joke. You think you're cool?" I joke.
His proud smirk disappears and he glares at me. I innocently smile. I spot the name of the restaurant only a few metres away. I yelp and quickly run into the restaurant. Well my attempt at running in heels. I probably look like a toddler trying to run for the first time. By the time I'm two feet away from the entrance, I stop baby running, and I walk into the restaurant aiming to look fancy. As I enter I feel the warmth immediately. Mum, Kieran, Aunt Meredith, Vivian and Uncle John soon walk in.
Uncle John goes to the lady at the front desk, "Hello, I made a reservation under the name of John Harper," Uncle John says.
"Table for nine?" she confirms.
"That's right."
"Alright then, follow me please," she says, grabbing nine menus. Wait, did she just say nine? I start to count each people in our group. There's six of us. Why do we need three more seats? Is there someone else joining us? Or did we just ask for three more seats for more space, or a seat for our bags? It makes sense considering Aunt Meredith always thinks her bag is a human and needs to be treated like one. I bet she tries to feed her bag baby food like she does with her dog. But there's four women, that's not enough seats for our four bags.
We take a seat at a large round table. I sit next to Kieran who sits next to mum who sits next to Aunt Meredith who sits next to Vivian who sits next to Uncle John. There are three seats available between Uncle John and I. I guess they aren't for the bags then. "Uh, Uncle John... who are the other three for?" I ask.
"Oh, a friend and his family will be joining. You've met them. Do you remember Mr Pearson?" he asks.
"Pearson?" I frown.
"Remember honey, we had dinner with them at your Uncle's house a few weeks ago."
My eyes widen, "You mean Cade?" I yelp.
Oh no. "Yes, since he is your and your brother's friend, of course we'd invite him to your birthday," Aunt Meredith says with an evil smile. This is bad news. Why do we keep having dinner with them? It's been a few days since my forced date with Cade.
He called me when he got home last night, after dropping me off. He asked me if I'm okay and if I enjoyed the day. Afterwards, he said goodnight. Then he calls me the next day and asks how I've been and of course, I had to respond. He's calling me constantly. It's getting annoying. Who talks on the phone when we have texting? Like why waste breath?
But then today, he was so protective of me from Nerd Jock. I can tell they don't like each other but I don't know why. Actually, no I do. Cade is annoying and people don't like him; yet, I'm dating him. Did I hit my head against a rock or something during our date? I still haven't decided if I want to date him or not, but I feel like I already am. The way we talk and the way we walk together in the hallways, we were dating. People believe it now. I guess there is no point on hiding it and pretending anymore.
I like Cade and now we're dating. Why did I give in when now I have to hold a spider? I'm so stupid. "There they are," Uncle John says. I immediately jump up from my seat, eyes wide as I stare at the entrance. No one I recognise is at the door.
"Is everything okay?" mum asks.
I look at mum and realise everyone on the table is looking at me. I look at Uncle John and realised he's on the phone. Could this be any more embarrassing? "I thought I saw fireworks," I lied.
"Where?" Kieran asks, confused. He looks around the restaurant looking for the firework. What a moron.
I hit him on his arm, "Not inside, idiot. Outside," I state.
Abruptly, I hear Uncle John jump from his seat. "Lance, you made it," Uncle John says. I look at him to check if he's on the phone but, nope. I see Cade and his parents approaching us. Mr Pearson and Uncle John handshake while Mrs Pearson hugs Aunt Meredith. This is so awkward.
After saying our hellos, Mr Pearson takes a seat beside Uncle John, then beside him is Mrs Pearson, then of course, Cade sits beside me. Cade smiles at me, his eyes glittering with amusement. I knew what those eyes were saying. He's amused with the fact that I am in a room with my whole family and his family and that means that it's time to reveal our relationship.
While everyone decides on what to get, I suddenly feel Cade's hand snakes up to hold my hand. My eyes widen, immediately pulling my hand away from Cade. I scowl at Cade which he innocently smiles. Awkwardly, I turn to look at Kieran who is reading the menu. "Kiki, let's swap seats. This chair hurts my butt," I lie.
Kieran frowns, "They're the same chairs, Kaia. It'll make no difference," his eyes don't even leave the menu.
Oh dear, why was I born with an idiotic brother? Couldn't he even tell that I was asking him to swap seats because Cade is sitting beside me.
"Kaia was always such a hassle when it comes to food," I hear my name. I look up to see mum talking to Mrs Pearson. Why are they talking about me? Are they talking about how much I'd be a terrible girlfriend?
"Why are you fidgeting so much?" Cade whispers to me.
"Shut up," I whisper back, putting my attention far away from Cade and to my mum.
"If anything on her plate was green, she would drop everything and run away," mum complains.
I pout, "Um, of course I would. There is a reason for that," I pitch in abruptly. I need to defend myself! "If it is green and it grew from the ground, that means it's healthy. And anything that is healthy means it's gross," I state this as if it is a scientific fact.
"I agree," Cade says.
I look at him, "You do?"
"Oh, Cade was the same, he still is. When he was younger, he prayed to God to destroy all vegetables," Mrs Pearson says. "I would always chase him around the house trying to get him to eat the vegetables. He always had a habit of taking off his clothes just so he has more time to not eat the vegetables."
I laugh. "Mom, stop it," Cade mutters.
"What? It's true," Mrs Pearson states.
"Match made in heaven," Vivian mutters.
I immediately start coughing. "What did you say?" Mrs Pearson asks with a smile.
Aunt Meredith gasps, "You didn't know?" she asks. Erg, what a drama queen.
"Know what?" Mr Pearson asks.
No! Not now! Aunt Meredith caught everyone's attention except for Kieran who still continues to flick through the menu. I immediately knew why he's acting all weird suddenly; he doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that Cade and I are potentially dating. He is avoiding himself to say something.
I look at Aunt Meredith, almost pleading with my eyes to have her shut up. But it didn't work. Unfortunately, Aunt Meredith cannot read body language.
"Oh wow, they have ravioli. Mum, do you remember when we had ravioli last week and Kieran thought there was a spider on it and he threw a fit," I change the topic.
Mum ignores me. "Kaia and Cade are dating," she says. My whole world completely shatters as everyone eyes turns to Cade and me.
I slowly feel myself sliding down the chair, attempting to hide under the table. However, Cade grabs my hand, pulling me closer to him. I yelp as his arm wraps around me, "Yeah, sorry we didn't tell you sooner. But it just happened. Kaia and I are officially dating," Cade announces.
"Is that true?" mum asks.
I awkwardly laugh. "So today was an eventful day, wasn't it?" I attempt to change the subject again. But none of the expressions change.
"Yes, it is," Cade answers for me. I sigh, giving up. I nod in response, feeling my heart ready to explode. Suddenly, I notice everyone's eyes turn to Kieran. I look at Kieran again and he continues to ignore everyone and read the menu. Everyone watches him as though we're expecting him to blow up. But nothing.
"Stop staring," Kieran mutters. "I already know."
Silence.
"Well," Mr Pearson breaks the silence. "Isn't that lovely. I'm glad that Cade is dating such a wonderful girl like Kaia," Mr Pearson adds. I realise that Cade continues to have his arm wrapped around me. Roughly, I pull away and sit up straight on my seat.
"Oh, what an interesting fork," I say suddenly, attempting to change the topic again.
After dinner, we all decided to take a walk beside the beach. Kieran didn't want to go, neither did I but they couldn't care less. It's not like it's our birthday or anything. We leave the restaurant, where everyone is ahead of us. I left the restaurant quickly to avoid Cade and I walking together. Before I could catch up with the others, Cade grabs my arm creating a greater distance between us and everyone else. I look at Cade with a frown. "What's wrong?" I ask.
He pulls his hand out of his pocket with a small box in his hand. It's a beautiful jewellery box that has engraved designs on it. I take the box from him, examining it from head to toe. "What is this?" I ask.
"It's a jewellery box," he states.
I roll my eyes, "I know that, Einstein. But why are you giving it to me?" I ask.
"Guess, genius. It's your birthday present," he says. I blush, realising that it's still my birthday. I look at the gift and smile. "The box isn't the present. The thing inside is," he says.
Did he give me jewellery? Honestly, it's not something that I am that excited to receive but it's still a present. The thought is what counts. I open the box. Instead of jewellery, something else is in the box. It's a folded piece of paper that is ripped from an exercise pad. I take out the paper, opening it with one hand and read the writing inside.
Just the one word. I frown looking up at Cade. "Penguin?" I ask. The only word written in the folded piece of paper is the word penguin. What does this supposed to mean?
"It's our code word," he says.
"Code word for what?" I ask.
He takes the piece of paper out of my hand, folding it twice and placing it back in the box, closing it. "Penguins don't like being alone, they always live with the other penguins because it's their nature. Penguins always stick together. When a penguin leaves everyone and travel alone, it's because they're depressed. So, when you need someone, even if you want to be alone or when you need to scream and yell, just say penguin and I will know. I will be with you and will never leave your side. Wherever you want to travel to, I will always come with you because you don't deserve to ever feel alone. I'll be your penguin."
I glance at the piece of paper once again. I reread the word a couple of times, enunciating the words with each syllables. "Penguin? Of all words, you picked penguin?" I ask.
"Yep," Cade says, unaffected with the criticism.
The thought is stupid and cliché but it was nice. I like the idea of having a code word and that word has so much meaning to it. "Thank you," I smile.
"Your welcome," says my penguin.
[a/n: I apologise for the long wait. I haven't been able to write a lot lately. I will attempt to continue writing but my schedule has been pretty packed lately. But whenever I have inspiration, I will definitely write! Thanks for being patient! I hope I will write more frequently but I cannot make any promises.]