You're going to be seeing Francena change Julian's contact name countless times throughout the story—sometimes it the next time it's mentioned; it doesn't not mean I forgot what I written wrote for Julian's name but instead, shows how Francena changes the name due to circumstances and appeal.
Kenji takes the empty seat beside me on the couch, placing a bowl of potato chips in between our squished thighs. His eyes scanned on the TV screen, as the iconic logo of Mortal Kombat appears in pixels.
"I'mma beat your ass," Kenji declares cockily, causing me to roll my eyes. "I've been playing this shit since the beginning of my elementary days—I'm a pro."
"But who showed you the game, hmm?" I challenged, my eyes slapped on his appearance as he sports on basketball shorts and a white tee, "Who showed you how to play it?"
Kenji rolled his eyes, knowing the answer was right in front of him. He plops a potato chip between his teeth, and pick up the PS4 controller. His eyes focus on the screen, forgetting my little comment, "whatever."
We log into the game station, and click onto our characters. While I pick Scorpion — him being one of my favourites — Kenji decided on Liu Kang.
"You picked one of the most basic characters," I declare as we pick on our background and continue onto start, "typical."
"Said the girl who always picks Scorpion; at least I change my characters once in awhile."
"Scorpion has a great character development—"
"Scorpion has a great character development," Kenji mocked, causing me to shove him by the head, to the side. Of course, in a playful manner. "Hey!"
I chuckle, pulling myself back to the video game as the announcer told us to start, and we begin to push buttons in quick pace. Kenji jabs his elbow into my direction a couple times, blocking my path as he attempts to pull himself to the right direction.
"Come on, come on, come ON!" Kenji shouts to his controller, as he memorised the button placements from heart and his eyes over on the screen. He frantically presses his button—cheering over the fact that he's gaining more hits on me than I intended. "NO!"
"YES!" I pump my fist in the air as I managed to block a couple of his hits, allowing myself over to create the x-ray theme and cut scene to the black and white picture as it demonstrates how Kenji's character, Liu Kang, bones and skull being completely demolished—ending this round as me being the winner.
"Stop premature cheering, there's two more rounds," Kenji grumbles with a hint of determination that stings his tone. I rolled my eyes, knowing my brother's competitive nature, and continue onto the next round.
The start-up calls for us, and we begin to press the buttons on the controller violently. I knew I had to gain onto Kenji this round, and I would solidly be declared winner. However, Kenji's fingers flickered faster against the shaped buttons and after a couple of combo moves on my character, he selected onto the classic x-ray kill.
"FUCK," I blurt, once the announcer declares Liu Kang as the winner for the round. I turn to see Kenji sporting on a cheekily smile on his face. "Oh shove it, baby face."
The final round came to emission, and this one was going to determine who wins for the final game. I tried to do a couple of blocks from Kenji's moves, jumping screen as I dodged. I hit up some strong basic hits, and a combo before doing a power hit; the chain ran from Scorpion's hand and pulled Kenji's character forward—damaging his body.
Kenji's life bar lowering significantly, I did two more basics before allowing the x-ray to finish the works, causing Liu Kang to fall flat on the floor.
I finished with a fatality, and ended the game. Pushing myself off of the seat, I pump my fist in the air and cheered, "told you!" I declare as I throw the controller on my previous seat. I take a potato chip and slapped it between my teeth, chewing. "Kill ya ass!"
"I want a rematch!" Kenji fumed, shoving my controller into my hand. I rolled my eyes as I drop it back down, and dust off the chips dust before calling for another match—this time, I chose a different character.
—
"So..." Kenji draws, the atmosphere shoving into a conversation. Kenji leans back against the couch's armrest, with his head turned towards the flat screen. An action movie was playing in the background while I simultaneously get distracted from watching. "How are you and Julian?"
"What do you mean?" I click the phone off, looking up to my little brother as I'm greeted with our usual position of tangling our legs between in the middle of our seat, a set over another as we form comfortability. Kenji was a sweet gentleman and took the armrest, taking the side with back support, while he leaves me to bundle up pillows behind me to create my own back support. Gentleman.
"Like, are you guys friends? More than friends?" He queries, a look of curiosity passes through his dark eyes.
"I don't know what we are," I replied honestly, placing the cool screen on my toned stomach. "I think we're friends but I don't know, I could be wrong."
"You guys looked like friends the other day," he refers back to the day Julian came over to my house. "Actually, if I'm not mistaken, it could've looked like something more, if you catch my drift."
"I do not," I rolled my eyes, knowing where Kenji is going into this conversation. "If anything, we're friends. If anything, nothing more than that."
My brother doesn't reply to anything, and a thought appeared from the mention of Julian Dean. "Speaking of Julian," I muse, his eyes formed over my features, awaiting my next sentence, "what can you tell me about your crush on my dear good friend, Jaycee?"
Kenji's skin turns a beet-root red, "h-how you know about that?"
"The shameless staring at her when I invited her over to eat udon, the look you gave me when I tried to ask what was going on; and not to mention, you helpless giddy when Jaycee said goodbye to you that day." I list off, a teasing smile on my pink lips as my brother's face turns a shade darker.
"I. I just think she's pretty," Kenji said, his eyes glooming over for a thought, "like really pretty."
"You do know she's fifteen, right?" I remind, as Kenji turns to focus back onto me, "and with fifteen, you're like thirteen."
"You could never know if she'll be into younger men," Kenji wiggled his brows, and I laugh at the sight.
"Stop referring to yourself as a man, you didn't even hit puberty yet."
"Yet!"
I shook my head, laughing as I felt a light vibration on my chest where my phone laid. A flash signal a notification, and I pick it up to reveal a text from Julian.
JULIAN (THE BOY WHO HAS FREAKISHLY LARGE BICEPS) DEAN 💪🏼
6:32PM
Julian:
can we meet up?
Francena:
right now?
Julian:
kinda the point to text you now
I shook my head, okay smart ass.
Francena:
i don't know, i'm with my brother.
Julian:
can you try? it's urgent. it's about Miss Incomplete.
Read at 6:34PM
I doubt it was anywhere near an urgency, but the way Julian makes it sounds, it almost like he needs help with a surgery and he ran out of staffs. I turn up, looking at my brother as his eyes resumed over to the television screen. A bittersweet frown on my face, "bro, can I cut our day short and meet up with a friend?"
"What friend?" Kenji begins to pull his legs from the pile, and shifted his seat over to me. I turn the phone around and show him the text message. "Ah, the boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," I quickly spoke, typing back a reply.
"He's asking to meet, something a boyfriend totally doesn't do."
I look up from the screen after pressing the finishing touches of send, "your friends ask you to hang out at their house, does it make them your boyfriend?"
"Ew! That's gay!" Kenji said with a disgusted look on his features, I made a face at his expression before hitting him in the back of the head. Hard. "Ow! Rei!"
"Nothing's gay unless you're gay," I said with stern eyes, a fume of ignorant boiling in his head from his friends that I wanted to slap away. "don't use those slurs again in this house, or I swear to Buddha, I will kick your ass out."
"Geez, sorry sis," he massages the back of his head, "I didn't know that."
"Of course you wouldn't," I declare, "hanging around with all those white friends with no sense of culture in mind. I'm not surprised." My brother scratches the back of his neck as I continue, "this is why I want you to make more friends outside of that group. You should make friends with people who have more open view points—or at least, someone who's POC."
'Why would I need those friends when I have a sister who's a feminist?"
"Because. I'm not always going to be here," my eyes soften on him and he frowns at my words. "And I'm trying to teach you the most I can, but one day I'm going to leave for college and the most you'll have is dad and sobo."
"Ugh, don't even talk about college right now," Kenji moves back to his original position, crossing his slender arms against his chest, "I don't want to hear it."
"You know we talked about this before, I want to go—"
"Yeah whatever," Kenji looks from me, and hide his face from view. I knew he was upset, he was always upset when I brought up the fact that I might leave him one day. I tried to assure him that I wouldn't be gone long, but we both knew that was a lie. College is four years, not to mention if I want to go into something medical or law.
I stand from my seat, picking up my pillow wall and putting them back in their correct order. I turn to my brother, walking over to see his eyes built with slight anger and bubbled with sadness. I place a peck on his forehead, "love you, little bro."
He grumbles the words back, a little less audible. I move across his seat, and head upstairs, going to change from the singular tee I wore currently.
My phone vibrates in my hands once more, and this time, it was to the address of the café shop Julian told me to meet at.
I nod, knowing he couldn't see me, and texted him back a reply before I strip.
—
I was here before Julian was.
I found a table in an unoccupied corner, a good bit away from other customers staring at their tablets and laptops for the usage of free wifi. I thought it would be best if we sat in a more secluded area, just in case there were wondering ears.
I've already placed my order for a small cup of coffee, deciding it would be best if I wasn't overly fuelled on caffeine for our meeting. Plus, coffee here is shit expensive.
My gaze found to the glossy window; my slight reflection in the pane as I found interest in the landscape. Where I live, it wasn't far from the city. In fact, it was approximately an hour away from the big buildings, but it wasn't the country side either. It was the suburbs, with a good amount of buildings and corporates in our area but enough land space where the population wasn't suffocating.
The sight outside was building bundled next to each other; where I was located was a outlet that was a common spot among my peers—however, it wasn't as used as much as the malls in the city; it was a decent service with shopping stores like Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls and other with athletic attire and makeup stores. The coffee shop was located in a ring, with other food stations circulated in the road. Many people use this area as a place to walk their dogs, hang with their friends, or go shopping once the idea that the city is too far away.
The coffee shop surrounds in primary glass build, a small porch in the outside for people who wishes for outside settings. While I choose the indoor settings with AC, it allowed me enough to see the partial road of street lamps and cars streaming pass the streets.
The bell dinged, announcing a newcomer. I deliberately strip my eyes away from the scene and look for the new customer, finding Julian walking in to the counter and ordering a drink. He pays and begins to scan the store before finding my little corner; he walks over with a small smile on his lips.
"Sorry, I'm late," he announces, running a hand through his tousled hair. I continue to spot the light lines appearing to the corner of his eye. His eyes continue to appear distant, and slightly puffier than the last time I saw him. "Traffic."
I nod, snapping away from his features, "it's chill. I got here by bus, so I was early."
His head slightly tilted to the side, "I thought you had a car."
I wave my hand dismissively, "well, I do, but gas money man."
Julian chuckles and nods. He claps his hands together, "so, should we start off immediately, or should we talk about our day or something like that?"
"Geez, if I don't know any better, I would think this is a date." I teased, causing Julian to chuckle at my words. I brush it off, "no need, we can get straight into the whole Nancy Drew stuff." I scan his attire as I notice he sports on an Nike sweater. "So, where's the cards?"
His brows furrowed together, dropping the friendly appease, "cards?"
"The cards for Miss Incomplete?" I said, dubiety laced on my tone as my head tilted slightly to the right. "aren't we here to discuss them?"
"... I was supposed to bring them?"
"You didn't?"
A light blush made its way to his tan skin, "no..."
"Well how are we supposed to discuss who the copy—I mean, Miss Incomplete without it?"
His eyes wandered, not meeting my stare as an embarrassed smile played to his lips, "discuss without it?"
I shook my head, "Julian, I don't mean to be rude—but what can we do without the cards? I thought the cards are the primary source of reason for our discussion; this meeting is useless without it."
Julian doesn't replied, and a slight frown appeared to his lips. His eyes continue to droop, and I found myself feeling bad as the slight harsh tone in my words. "look, it's okay. We can discuss it another day then; I'll just go grab my coffee and go."
I stand up from my chair, the legs slide against the wooden floor and produced a screeched sound. I begin to head towards the exit but was halted to a paused once I felt fingers wrapped around my wrist.
"Wait," Julian jumps from his seat, his standing height towering mine, "maybe we should take this day to get to know each other. Since we'll be working close by now, we shouldn't be left as total strangers and feel awkward talking to one another. We should at least be owed that."
I thought about it for a moment, but as my name stirred in the mouth of the barista as well as Julian; his grip on mine loosen and he heads over to pick up the coffee, coming back with two in his hands. He hands me mine.
"Plus," he adds, "why waste a perfect day on wasted time?"