*Ray
Around her, the guys started shouting—some at Felipe about the renovations, some at her about guys and sex, and finally Lokela showed up to yell for everyone to be quiet.
Felipe cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to hit you with this. But the owners just sent me the letter. Don't hate me, I'm just the messenger, by the way."
"We know that," Casey said. "Legally, I'm pretty sure they are in the wrong. I can ask around. I've got some friends in pre-law."
"It's complete BS, you don't need to be in pre-law to know that," Lokela snapped.
"As I was saying," Ray said, loud enough it would be difficult to talk over her. "What kind of renovations are we talking about? Because we should do them ourselves, thereby sparing ourselves the worry of having to move or get the rent raised on us."
"I'm not shelling out for a new kitchen. Not a chance," Trevor said. He shifted to lean against the wall, accidently bumping Ray.
Lokela was glaring at him. Ray narrowed her eyes as him, mimicking his suspicious expression until he noticed her, and dropped his gaze.
"Let's stay calm. Give me the letter and I'll look into it," Casey said. He snapped for it.
Felipe frowned at him in confusion. "I think I left it in my room."
"Then let's go get it. Everyone can go back to their rooms. We'll have a meeting asap. But later." He led Felipe down the stairs.
Doug let out a big sigh. "Ray, you said something earlier. Maybe we can talk in my room?"
"Good idea," she said.
"Whoa, hold up," Travis said. "Is this about guy's brains and sex? Because you might need more than one opinion."
"I agree," Hugh said. "Did you get another poem?"
"It was a letter actually," she said. She dug it out of her bag and was handing it to him to read when Lokela snatched it from her hand.
"Isn't this kind of private?" he asked. "You can't just hand it around to whoever asks."
"It's...my letter." She poked the paper. "My name is at the top."
"Ray, we talked," he hissed under his breath. "I thought we agreed. You don't do anything—anything at all, for a very long time, because you really need to be sure about a big step like this."
"A big step like guys and sex?" Trevor asked. He crossed his bulky arms, his usually care-free expression becoming confused. Suddenly, he glanced at Ray in alarm.
She held up her hands. "It's not what you think."
"But it kind of is, isn't it?" Doug asked. He seemed to have figured out she might have sex with Zach.
Ray's stomach dropped. So much for a healing heart-to-heart with someone she could reveal her fears to. She fumed, glaring at Lokela.
"That's enough, get in my room," Doug said. He held the door for her.
Lokela braced his arm on the frame to block her way. "Wait, Ray, let's talk about this. I know Zach better than anyone."
Was he angry or scared? She couldn't tell anymore. She was exhausted. It was her own fault for blurting it out in front of everyone, but seriously, her brain was not functioning like it should.
"Lokela, I'm not doing anything tonight," she said. "In fact, I just need to go to bed."
"But you can't bring up a problem about guys and sex and then not talk to us about it," Trevor said. The other guys rolled their eyes and scoffed.
"She can, and she will if she wants." Doug walked her next door to her room. "Knock on the wall if you need anything."
"And yell if you want a sandwich or something," Travis said. "I have cheese, and tomatoes and pickles."
"That sounds delicious, actually, but I'll fix it later. I can pay you back tomorrow," Ray said. She squeezed into her room and tried to shut the door. Lokela's foot stopped it.
"We didn't finish our conversation, Ray, there are things I need to tell you," he said.
She bit her lower lip. She'd already messed up too many times that day. For crying out loud—it was her fault Lokela stopped in the middle of the street and then Zach had to push him out of the way. She wanted to say she was sorry.
Tears tingled in the backs of her eyes. She didn't want him to see her crying. It would be too much for one day.
"Tomorrow." She shut the door.
She pulled her dress over her head and tossed it on the floor, then collapsed on her bed. From the hall, the sound of doors closed repeated several times. Someone was stomping down the stairs. The front door opened and closed with a loud crack.
She knew it was Lokela.
***
*Lokela
Lokela kicked at the loose pepples on the path to the house, scattering stones in the front lawn.
Why was everything such a mess? How had this happened? How was it possible that a girl as smart, funny, caring, and beautiful as Ray could fall for a jack-ass like Zach?
Because she thought Zach wrote poetry and love letters.
He sank to a crouch, clutching his head. She fell for him because he arranged it. He had tricked her into falling for another guy. There was only one thing left to do.
Her window glowed softly with lamplight, the lower half open for fresh air. He tossed a stone at the top half. And missed. He tossed another. It flew straight into her room and smacked into something glass.
In a flash, Ray stuck her head out, waving her phone. "What the heck, I am calling the co—oh, hey, Lokela. You could have come in and knocked, you know."
"Ray, listen," he said. But he couldn't continue.
"That's what I'm doing. But don't you want to come up? I was a little overwhelmed for a minute, but I'm better now."
"Please, just let me talk." Lokela stood directly under her window, with his head tilted up. She seemed so far away, the light of her room glowing softly. Her hair was a golden halo. He was such a scumbag. A traitor. A worthless piece of sh—
"Am I supposed to be quiet in order to listen?" she asked. "Because there is a lot of silence going on."
"No, I'm figuring out how to say this." He had to close his eyes. It was easier in the darkness. Except the sight of her was burned in his eyelids. Images of her through the days, as she danced around in the kitchen, laughed with customers, hummed off-tune in the bathroom while getting ready, and the other day when she changed her hair. It was nothing, really, just a red hibiscus bloom tucked behind her ear with a sparkling pin.
"You can say what you want, Lokela, I'm not judging."
It was a knife to his heart. She said that only because she didn't know what he was going to say.
"I'm not afraid of being judged or mocked. I get it every day," he said. "I'm afraid of one thing, and it's the one thing I know will happen."
"Who would make fun of you, Lokela? You wither your enemies with a glance," she said, her voice light-hearted, teasing him.
He knew she was trying to make him laugh, to make whatever he had to say easier. It didn't work. "And yet, here I am, in the shadows below your window. Trying to tell you..."
"Tell me," she said. "Whatever it is, say it."
"Ray, I—" His voice broke.
"Ah, come on!" Felipe leaned out of the ground-floor window to Lokela's left. "We're dying in here. Hurry up and say it already."
"Agreed." Casey's face appeared at Felipe's shoulder. They must have been looking at the letter from the house owners.
Lokela slumped, defeated. He clamped his mouth shut.
"Really, dude," Miller called from his window on the other side of Ray's. "How long do we have to wait for some answers?"
Then Doug appeared and crossed his arms on his windowsill, too. "I was really enjoying it. You can take your time."
"Lokela, do you want to come up and talk?" Ray asked.
He kicked at the grass. "No, it's all right. It wasn't that important."
"Are you sure?"
"Then stop yelling at the house before the neighbors come out to listen, too," Miller said.
Doug beckoned. "Don't listen to them. This house is a safe place for everyone, and they are ribbing you because it's their way of encouraging you."
"Yeah, no, not really," Felipe muttered. "If the owners start getting calls from the neighbors, we'll all be kicked out faster than you can say shit-balls. Hey, that kind of rhymed. I'm a poet like Zach."
At Zach's name, Lokela's blood pressure skyrocketed, but then he saw an answer to his dilemma and he pounced. "The owners. It's about what you said, Ray. If they want to do renovations, we can't let them raise the rent or make us move out. This is our home."
"Yes!" she cried. "That's the spirit. We are in this together, literally and figuratively."
"This is our home, isn't it?" Lokela said, pointed at the other guys.
Casey shrugged. "I'm not really worried. That said, I'd rather not have to move right now. I've hit a rough patch on my thesis and need to get in some extra hours."
"And you shouldn't have to," Ray answered, leaning so far out that Lokela instinctively moved forward to catch her. Just in case. "None of us should. We could do this. That is, I'm not sure what all we're doing, but we do most of it, I'm sure."
"By working together," Lokela said. "We're family, cousins. Ohana."
"Ohana," Miller grumbled. He nodded curtly and then disappeared in his dark room.
"I'll put together a list of what they want done and see what we can arrange," Felipe said, grimacing. He and Casey left the window.
Only Ray was left. He could barely make out her expression as her face was cast in shadows by the light behind her. What was she thinking? Did she wonder if he had meant to say something else?
Coward. She deserves better.
"Ohana," she said. "Are you sure you don't want to—" She broke off, glancing down at her hand. It was her phone. She read a message that lit her face in a blue. Her eyes widened, then she smiled.
What Lokela would do for a smile like that...
"It's Zach. He can't sleep. He says he wants...well, I shouldn't say."
*** What does Zach want? And is Lokela ever going to find the guts to tell her the truth? Thank you for reading and hit the star if you enjoyed!!! ***