''I have a fondness for souls who, despite their sorrow, continue to love and grow."
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"Hey, I was waiting for your call." Kyan pouted when Avery picked up the Skype call.
"Don't be a baby. I'm here at exactly the time we decided on, aren't I?" Avery rolled her eyes.
"You were 6 seconds late," Kyan complained like a kid.
"It doesn't count. So, how's stuff over there?"
"It's pretty good. I hung out with Flynn and Skye the other day. It was fun. I would never have thought I'd be able to enjoy after you left, but I actually am. Skye's really cool too, just like you." Kyan gave her a smile.
Avery couldn't help but feel jealous about Skylar. She had been hearing about Skye from the day Kyan met her. She seemed like a nice girl, but Avery felt threatened by the fact that Kyan had compared her to Avery. It made it seem like she was already on the same level as Avery in Kyan's eyes. It was inevitable that they'd both be spending more time with others than together since they were living so far apart. And yet, Avery couldn't accept it. She had been his friend from the start, but as crazy as it sounded even to herself, she felt like she was going to get replaced.
"I would love to meet her someday. Since you talk about her all the time, I feel like I know her too." In an attempt to mask her thoughts, she got up from the bed and moving out of the camera's range.
"Where are you going?" Kyan asked, peering into his laptop screen.
"I have a party tonight, so you're gonna help me pick a dress," Avery said, moving into the frame again with a few dresses.
"You're gonna look beautiful in anything," Kyan said, watching her in different dresses.
After some time, they picked a navy blue dress. Kyan could only gawk as Avery twirled around in from of the camera in the dress. He had never seen someone so beautiful and he felt so attached to the girl who had stolen his heart. At the same time, he felt jealous of the people who now got to see her every day and hang out with her. He sighed as Avery came back after putting her clothes away.
"It's Saturday, don't you have any plans today?" Avery asked, flopping down on the bed.
"I'm thinking of getting the whole crowd together and doing something fun. Maybe even do something adventurous." Kyan answered.
"I miss hanging out with you guys so much. I've met some great people here, too, but no one can replace you guys." Avery's voice trembled signaling that she was about to cry.
"We'll all meet up soon, I know we will." Kyan reassured her.
They talked for another hour or so before Avery had to get ready for the party and they hung up.
It was always hard ending the calls or chats they had. With neither of them being aware of it, they both wanted to say the same thing to each other, but both were hesitant, worrying about how it might affect their friendship if the other didn't feel the same.
Kyan started calling his friends one by one and inviting them to hang out. They all agreed and decided on going bowling, since it had been a while.
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A bit later, Skye was getting ready to head out when there was a knock at her door.
Her mother entered the room and gave her a small smile. Skye was surprised to see her mom coming to see her.
"Are you going out?" Her mom asked, eyeing her outfit.
Skye was wearing a black tank top and black ripped jeans with a denim jacket. Her long hair was styled into a mermaid braid and she had put on just a hint of makeup. She was looking forward to meeting up with everyone, especially Kyan.
"Yeah, my friends from school invited me to hang out." She answered softly.
"I hope you're doing well in school. Remember to participate in as many extracurricular activities as you can. You know it's important for college. You should be thinking about going to the best one," her mom said sternly.
Skye wasn't surprised about what she had said. If they talked, it would always be about her studies and her academic future. There would be no 'how're you doing' or 'how're you settling' or 'what's going on in your life'. It was just how it was when it came to her parents.
Skye nodded slowly. Not bothering to reply and have her mood ruined. Her mom sighed and walked towards the door.
"Don't be out too late. You know the curfew." She said before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.
Skye stood for a moment, staring at the door before shaking herself out of it. Grabbing her keys and backpack, she hurried out of the house before she felt trapped.
After calling Kyan and asking for directions, she started driving towards the bowling alley.
Within 15 minutes, she pulled up at the parking lot and made her way inside, hoping she wasn't late.
She spotted Kyan and the rest in queue at the counter to purchase games and bowling shoes. The shoe rental was located near the main entrance and the gang was waiting for their turn to rent the shoes.
"Hey guys! I hope I'm not late."
"You're on time. We're just getting everything ready." Toby smiled enthusiastically.
"Someone's excited about this." Emma rolled her eyes.
"Who wouldn't be? I can't wait to beat all of your asses." Flynn grinned, bouncing on the spot.
"This is my first time so I don't know much about bowling," Skye replied, looking at Flynn with some anxiousness.
They all looked at her, shocked at her lack of social activities.
"Have you been living under a rock?" Mark burst out.
Jane smacked the back of his head for the outburst and everyone started laughing as Mark scowled and rubbed his head.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked in indignation as the gang moved forward to get the shoes.
Skye looked around, taking it all in. There were vending machines, billiards tables, arcade games, pro shops and party rooms in the bowling alley.
Each lane had an overhead television screen to display bowling scores as well as a seating area and tables for dining and socializing.
They all grabbed some drinks and snacks from the vending machine and chose an empty lane to play.
Skye was nervous as she sneaked a look at Kyan. He was laughing at one of Mark's jokes and without warning, Skye felt her cheeks heat up. She quickly turned away and started a conversation with Emma to distract herself.
They started the game and Skye was struggling with the sport. Flynn glanced at her sympathetically and started to move towards her when Kyan beat him to it.
He stood behind Skye and taught her to hold the ball and to aim. Skye was glad that no one could see her face because she was blushing hard. Her hands trembled underneath Kyan's larger ones.
After getting tips from Kyan, she started to get the hang of it and making progress. Flynn slowly took in her appearance. Skye had that shy look, but it wasn't because she was shy. Flynn had a feeling that it was because she lacked social interactions and had kept to herself more in the past. He noticed that behind those slightly pursed lips was a smile just waiting to be tempted out. Sometimes she'd look his way and he generally pretended not to notice, trying not to look like a creep. But when he did return her glances, he didn't have to try to smile, it just came naturally. In those moments she would smile back making Flynn's heart race.
"I'm gonna go grab some more drinks. Any one wanna help me?" Kyan stood up as they finished all the drinks and snacks.
Everyone busied themselves with something except for Skye. Her eyes twinkled as she walked over to Kyan.
They both walked to the vending machines in a comfortable silence. Grabbing the drinks, they started to walk back to their friends when someone called Skye's name.
Skye turned around to see an old family friend walking towards her. Skye was surprised that the woman had even recognized her, as it had been around 6 years since she had moved to Boston slowly lost touch with her parents. She halted next to Skye, and started asking about her family. Kyan stood near Skye, trying not to listen to the conversation.
"How's your brother doing? He must be done with college now, right?" The petite woman asked cheerfully.
"Oh didn't you hear? Jasper passed away five years ago." Skye swallowed hard, a huge lump already forming. Even after all this time, it was still hard to say it out loud.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry about that. I had no idea, it's been so long since I heard from your family." The old woman quickly apologized and gave her a small hug before leaving.
Skye closed her eyes to calm herself and opened them to see Kyan staring at her.
"It must have been hard for you."
Skye was surprised when those words left Kyan's mouth. Usually, people would be apologizing and giving her sympathetic looks. She couldn't see any of that in Kyan's eyes. Just genuine concern for her was lit in the blue eyes.
"You're strong. I've never had to feel a loss like that and I don't have any siblings so I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you. Don't worry, you don't have to tell me anything. Just know that we're here for you and we've got your back," Kyan said, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a side hug.
He knew he couldn't empathize with her about the death of her brother. He hadn't experienced a death of someone so close, but losing someone was something he had recently gone through. He didn't want anyone to feel sympathetic towards him and he vowed he wouldn't feel that way towards someone else.
Skye gave a sad smile at him but she felt more comfortable around him now as it felt like they had suddenly grown closer. She looked at him fondly as he went over to his friends and started handing out the drinks. The realization that she had absolutely no control over her feelings anymore didn't surprise her.
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A/N
I'm so sorry for the late update. Hope you like this chapter and don't forget to vote and comment 😀
I would love to know what you think of the characters and the story.
Love y'all ❤️
-Ansh