"Honey, hurry or your gonna be late for school! Make sure Xavier's ready to go too. Breakfast on the table and uh couple 30's for lunch."
"Don't know why you bother Kathy, what's the point of even having a personal chef if your just gonna do their job for them." Conner grumbled from the dining table.
The boys stumbled in before she could respond. They had been giving each other looks on the staircase over his-..Katherine's weird behavior.
She was smiling sheepishly at him and he gave her an awkward smile back. Xavier only glared at Conner who got grumbles in return.
"You made all this stuff yourself?" Kyle askey slowly at the plates of food taking up counter space. It looked half undercooked and half burned all at once.
She was never a stay at home mom or a housewife no matter how much Conner probably wished.
Her work, her husband, her image, that was her life. She was probably as clueless at that stuff as he was.
"Well I..I had a little extra time this morning before work and I don't really cook much so I figured why not? Greg and Angelina do such a great job of keeping the house clean and keeping us all fed, I figured they deserve a morning off." She turned to Xavier with a smile.
The man began to choke on his crispy hash brown and Kyle had to slam him on the back a few times.
The 3 finished their breakfast together, Connor leaving half way through. The morning was actually kinda nice.
Katherine handed them the lunch money on the way out which they both tried to refuse.
They both shuffled away with money practically shoved down their throats.
"I wanted to make you guys lunches but I realized your not in kindergarten anymore.."
Kyle hesitated at her kindness that seemed to grow more each day.
Xavier gave her a side hug, thanking her. Kyle did the same giving her a peck on the cheek before pulling away.
For the slightest second she looked as though she might start to cry but she ushered the two out before anything happened. They didn't speak of it on their way to school but Kyle was..uh..pleased? Warm?
And he was sure his best friend could tell.
"So, you ready to see ya men's..Wait, ma- men's? Men? Shit, what is it?" Xavier looked off, trying to think, causing him to almost fall down the flight of stairs.
"Its men. And they aren't mine. And I told you not to discuss it."
"Come on, man. You know I..I worry. I just would like to think you have more people in your corner then just me, you know?" Kyle looked down, focusing on his vans hitting the concrete.
"Come ooon. Don't get like that," Xavier nudged, nodding to a few guys he knew. "You like them? One of them, at least." He pleaded with a smirk. Kyle was sure he'd be a lot more freaked out by the prospect of his best friend having a..whatever you wanna call it with a guy. Let alone 3.
He was surprised but..probably just more relieved that anything. Maybe he was tired of feeling like Kyle's safety net. He didn't blame him. He deserved more then that..
Kyle was nudged again. He was quite before speaking up. "Maybe."
"Yeah?" Xavier exclaimed, clapping his back. Kyle shrugged it off.
"He's a hard guy to like.."
That had his friend staring, wondering who could be so bad. If he only knew.
Xavier pulled him close as they continued to walk to class, the sun shining down on them and he could feel Xaviers smile grow even wider when he saw Payton running up to them. "Babyyy!!"
"Babyyy!"
He hid his grin at the faces nearby kids made. The two had always been overly affectionate, no matter who was around. The only reason Kyle could stand it was his love for them. He wasn't sure he'd have stuck around otherwise.
She ran into his arms and they started to make out. Kyle naturally distanced himself, giving them their space before they made their way inside.
Walking into school, Kyle was hit with a wave of anxiety. He was invisible. Quite and distant and people gave up on conversing with him when it got no where. That's how he preferred it. The quite was calming.
However since he had a tryst with a member of the student council, one of the fratty football kids and a playboy, there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that he would stand out, even if no one knew about it. They did.
Him and his friends went walking to the little coffee stand in the cafeteria. Kyle's gaze immediately dropped when he saw Karie's group of friends laughing away at one of the tables.
The one time Xavier had been paying attention. He glanced to the guy then to Kyle and back and forth until his mouth hung in shock.
One of his friends, Chris Walkins, was tossing a basketball around as he talked about a girl he had slept with the night before. A few teachers were around but they really didn't give a shit and Kyle didn't either until he called out, "Yo China! Get your ass over here for a sec!"
He looked up at the friends who were grinning and mumbling to each other. He could feel Xavier's glare from the front counter where they were making their drinks.
Kyle did the same and started to walk towards the table, not giving a shit how hard they laughed. He might be a coward when it came to his father or to people or to..he could handle the likes of Chris.
He could hear footsteps coming from behind. He wanted to tell Xavier to leave for once but Chris was already jogging over.
"I'm Korean. Is there something you want?" Kyle could see DaKarie shaking his head from the corner of his eye, as if showing dignity was somehow a mistake. Kyle refused to acknowledge him.
Chris walked up real close, staring Kyle up and down as his smile turned into a grimace. He stood even taller over the guy who was surprisingly short. Of course, compared to him Kyle was a twig.
He just hoped height gave him an edge if the man was gonna start shit.
"Come on man, why you getting all defensive and shit? Just had a question" He said.
Kyle sighed, "what do you want from me?"
Chris started chuckling a little, his friends just mumbling to each other, probably betting if fists would be thrown.
Kyle swore he could feel his checks burn a bright red from anger. And it certainly didn't help that DaKarie was laughing too, the prick.
"Nah, you see, I don't know if I fuck with you now. I don't appreciate disrespect, bro."
"You..im confused, is referring to me as 'China' respectful to you? No?" He turned to the group questioningly. "Not man. Not..dude. I'm China, yeah? And that would make you Africa?" Kyle faced the group again who immediately burst with laughter. "You men, you would be africa correct? Nigeria? W-..I, maybe i'm being too formal."
"Nahhh bro" One stared with an amused gasp, his friend slapping his arm with cackles. DaKarie's face was in his hands, too scared to look. Kyle turned to Chris who was dead serious now.
"For a hermit motherfucker, you sure do love to talk shit, huh?"
"Just asking a question. No need to get defensive, Africa."
"Man, come on." DaKarie stood suddenly, chair scratching the floor. He looked to Kyle almost pleadingly. "Yall both fucked around now leave."
WAM!!!
Kyle stumbled back barely catching himself from the fist to his face. He shrugged Xavier off who tried to help him up.
Chris was slammed to the floor in an instant and Kyle watched in awe as he witnessed his best friend start to beat the hell out of the guy.
The guys friends had had their fun but were prepared to step in if not for DaKarie who held them back. He stood there waiting with a clenched jaw.
After a truly solid punch to the nose; Chris dripping a little blood, Karie stepped forward, peeling Xavier off of him.
He shoved a grinning Xavier into Kyles arms and pushed them to leave with a firm stare. Xavier called at them, cursing but Kyle said nothing, dragging him away.
"What the fuck were you idiots thinking?! Kyle, fighting fire with fire never ends well, your way better then pettiness. And Xaiv, fighting fire with fists is just plain stupid!" Payton was screaming at the top of her lungs but grabbed them cold paper towels, cleaning their wounds anyway, looking them over.
"Dude!" Xavier stared at him, almost laughing in disbelief. "Out of fucking everyone? Him?!"
"I told you he's hard to like." Kyle only mumbled, pressing the coldness to his cheek. Payton glanced up. "Dude, your gay?"
"No its.."
"He's gay for DaKarie Jones."
"Oh no shit!"
"Right!" They whispered loudly and Kyle just rolled his eyes. He sat there mumbling to himself, lost in what had just happened and the wrath that was sure to come.
"..I had it handled."
Kyle collapsed to his bed with a sigh, letting all of the stress and pain consume him. He was careful not to move around too much seeing as he didn't want to stain the bed with his bloody nose. His head was still dizzy from the fight at lunch and he couldn't help but think back on it, how..
He shook his head. He had known something was coming, it was only a matter of when. He and Xaiv got out pretty okay but that wasn't really on their own merits.
Max and his friends came out of nowhere like athletic guardian angles, breaking up the fight and even getting some of them suspended.
On the first day of school too.
Granted, Kyle was one of those kids but still, he was grateful. He just didn't know why Max would do it.
Yeah, they all had a..thing, whatever you wanna call it but Kyle wasn't an idiot. Guys like Karie and Max, they had too much to lose, so why would they risk it all just to protect him? How, in any way, was he worth it?
His phone beeped from his side table and he slowly drudged himself from his bed to grab it.
"Shit.." He muttered as he stared at the little alert.
Yo, how's it going?
Fine
Why
Just checking
Look
It was a joke yk
Okay
I'm sorry
Is what I mean
Okay
Thanks
You ever think about it?
About what?
You know what
Yeah
Why didn't you join?
I don't know
Ask Max if your so concerned
I really don't know
We dont talk
He's a bich
He got me suspended
And it was a mistake
Ive never cared for these things.
I never thought about them but now I do
I dont like it
Can you meet me at mine?
We can keep talking
I don't know
Come on China
Says Africa
I wanna see you
Okay