E V E R E T T
"How are you so good at this? Seriously, Lana. You should be a pro gamer," I said, completely stunned over how good she was at this game. We had played countless rounds so far and she had only been landing in the first place.
I thought I was good, but Lana was on a different level. Seated on each end of the couch with our toes touching, Lana and I had been at my place playing Mario Kart for half an hour now. Well, I guess I could also call it her old house. I had no idea my parents bought Lana's old house. I was still shocked over how she was able to be in here at all. That's kind of why I suggested we play Mario Kart together so she wouldn't feel overwhelmed by the memories of her childhood in this house. Hopefully. I wasn't sure if it was working. She had the most difficult straight face to read.
"You play a lot, don't you? I see you playing in class and during lunch..." I trailed off when I realized how wrong that came out.
"I mean not that I watch you or anything. It's just noticeable. Not that I don't try to notice you or keep an eye on you. I mean...I'm not stalking you or anything. I just...What I mean is-"
"-Stop talking."
I nodded as I felt embarrassment color my cheeks. "Yes. Got it. My point is, it's cool that you play a lot."
Lana shrugged and returned her attention to her screen.
"I used to too, but not much since Emma died three months ago," I admitted, trying to get Yoshi to second place, which Toad had currently claimed.
Lana's eyes jerked up. "Only three months ago?"
"Uh, yeah. It happened at the end of the summer." For some reason, it was easy to tell this kind of stuff to Lana. Maybe because she was the first person I had met who understood what it felt like to lose a family member. Someone you thought was always going to be in your life but then they suddenly vanished, leaving you feeling so empty and dead inside.
Sympathy glinted across her eyes before she dropped her gaze and murmured, "I'm sorry."
We continued playing for a while in silence and even though Lana wasn't smiling or anything, I could see all of a sudden a hint of excitement across her eyes. However, she didn't shy away from putting on a frown when I finally beat her and she came in second place.
I smiled. "Come on. Second place isn't so bad."
"Second place is the first one to lose," she muttered.
I raised my brows as I realized the truth to that statement. "Well, shit. Now I never want to come second."
"Hey, you two." Lana's gaze slid past me and over to dad who was standing in the doorway with a friendly smile stitched on his face.
As he approached us, I smiled and said, "Oh. Hey, dad. This is Lana. We go to school together and she's on the council with me. The finance and media manager."
"How nice. I'm Simon. Everett's dad." With a smile on his face, he held out his hand to Lana but she rapidly glanced at me instead of shaking it.
"Oh, wait. Sorry. That was my bad." He quickly withdrew his hand with an apologetic smile and continued, "It's nice to meet you, Lana."
Lana didn't say anything but dad didn't react in a particular way either. "Well, I'm leaving for work, so I'll see you in the morning, Everett."
I nodded. "Yeah. Bye, dad."
After he left, I glanced at Lana who was staring at me. It was a what-the-hell-was-that type of staring.
I scratched the back of my head while explaining, "Oh, um, I called my parents and told them the student council was coming over. I also told dad that he couldn't shake your hand but it must've slipped his mind," I said, clearing the hint of bewilderment across her face and instead exchanging it with brief astonishment.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Suddenly, her gaze dropped but not to the screen of her Switch. Her brows drew together as if she was going back and forth about something inside her mind.
"Everett!" Dad yelled. "The rest of your friends are here!"
"Great. They're here. Be back in a second." I got off the couch and stepped out of the living room to find the rest of the strident council members huddled together in the foyer with shock painted like red bold letters across their foreheads. After dad left, chaos irrupted without warning.
"Dude. DUDE." Ali said, eyes blown wide open.
Kevin went ahead and said what they all were thinking. "You live in the Takumi house?"
"Is Lana here?
"Hope not? She's gonna freak the fuck out."
"She probably won't come-"
As they kept babbling over each other while they walked into the living room, I chuckled and followed them. It was the funniest situation I had experienced in a long time when their jaws dropped as they stared across the room where Lana was seated on the couch with her legs crossed, watching us with that signature blank stare of hers.
She blinked and waved.
The way they all trailed off and cleared their throats before they sat down around the table was kind of awkward and funny at the same time. Still, I resisted my laugh and returned to my spot on the couch next to Lana.
I clasped my palms together and said, "Okay, everyone. We have to focus on planning, posting information on Facebook, and also figure out how to improve the stuff that went wrong last year with the open day."
Kevin snorted. "Everything went wrong last year."
To their surprise, I smiled. "Then I guess we should get to work cause we have a lot to do."
~
The next day, after classes were finished and people were rushing out of the school building, I was walking down the corridor with Ali. On the way, we were talking about yesterday.
"I still can't believe you live in Lana's old house, dude. That must've been fucking awkward."
"It wasn't. It was more, nostalgic. For her, I mean. I have no idea how it was for me. Before we went inside, she was so close to tears. That's why I tried to talk about anything but stuff related to her parents."
"Wow? Seriously? Close to tears? I can't imagine that. She usually keeps a straight face. But that was a good idea. You think there are any hard feelings from her side?"
"I...I don't know. I don't think so. She didn't seem to have anything against it," I admitted.
"Maybe-" I cut myself off when I suddenly realized I didn't have my phone in my pocket. "Oh, shit."
"What's wrong?" Ali stopped walking and glanced at me checking my pockets.
"Uh, I think I forgot my phone in the student council room. I was working on some stuff for the Open day there with Lily earlier today. Maybe I left it there."
"Okay. Let's go check."
"It's fine. You're taking the bus so you should go. I'll go check by myself."
"Okay. See ya tomorrow, then." He bumped his fist against mine before walking away.
When I headed back to the student council room and pushed the door open, relief burst through me when I spotted my phone on the large table in the center of the room. However, I wasn't alone in the room. Lana almost gave me a heart attack when I suddenly caught her crouched down on the floor with her head hanging low.
"Hey, Lana-" she cut me off by tipping over and collapsing on the floor.
"Lana!" I yelled, running over to her and dropping on my knees as I took in the sight of her scrawny body and pale face. Her eyes were slipped close. She looked so lifeless that the dreadful and unforgettable memory of Emma's dead face flashed by.
"Lana," I said her name. She didn't answer. I tried again two more times, but still no response. She just lay still in front of me on the floor like a corpse.
Shit, shit, shit, I thought. This was bad.
Before I could think of what to do, a phone started ringing. It wasn't mine but then my gaze landed on Lana's panda backpack with the keychains attached to its zippers. I reached for the backpack and fished out an old iPhone with a cracked screen. Isha was calling.
Relief burst through me and I swiped the screen to answer and brought the phone up against my ear.
I sensed a hint of concern in Isha's voice the moment she started speaking. "Hey, Lee. Where are you?"
"Isha. Hey. Uh, it's me. Everett," I said, sounding slightly awkward.
"Everett? What are you doing with Lana's phone?"
"Okay. Don't freak out but Lana passed out." What was I saying? I was freaking the hell out here myself.
"WHAT? HOW? WHEN? WHERE?"And just like that, I pretty much lost 90 percent of my hearing in my right ear.
"In the student council room. I forgot my phone here so I came back to get it and I suddenly find Lana on her knees on the floor. She fainted just now and she isn't waking up. I don't know what to do. I can't touch her and I tried calling her name but she's not waking up."
"It's okay. I'm on my way. Just...stay with her but don't touch her. Just stay...okay?"
"Yeah, of course. Don't worry. I won't leave," I said, reassuringly. I needed her to know that she had nothing to worry about.
While waiting for her, I tried to stay put as I remained seated on the floor and kept my eyes on Lana's face. Her eyes were still closed and she looked like a ghost.
I reached my hand out to her but quickly drew it back as I remembered I couldn't do that. Instead, I tried saying her name again. After three attempts, she still didn't move. Not even a little.
Before I started panicking even more than I already was, the door burst open and Isha went from standing breathless on the doorstep to on her knees by Lana in lighting speed.
"Oh, god. Lana. Lee," she whispered, shaking her a bit but it didn't work. "Lana, please. Come on."
Suddenly, Lana stirred and her eyes opened slowly before she blinked once, twice. Then she groaned tiredly and Isha sighed with relief. She put an arm around her and helped her sit up and pushed her hair out of her face with the other hand.
"Hey. You okay?" She asked her, softly.
Leaning back against her chest, Lana slipped her eyes closed for a moment before opening them and nodding. Isha kissed her scalp before asking, "Did you hit your head or anything? Is anything hurting?"
Lana shook her head before exhaling a heavy breath. After watching her groggy condition for a moment, I pulled out my water bottle from my backpack and offered it to her. Lana, who just now noticed my presence, blinked at me and then at the bottle before gently cupping it between her palms. She took a sip and then gulped down a few more.
"Have you eaten today?" Isha asked, rubbing her arm.
She didn't say anything. Instead, she lowered her gaze to her lap.
"What about yesterday?"
Again. No response.
My eyes widened. She didn't eat anything for two days?
"Lana. Seriously? Are you mad-Okay, just hold on. Um, Everett? Could you go down to the cafeteria and get something for her to eat?"
"I could but it's closed."
Isha groaned. "Fucking perfect."
"I'm fine," Lana muttered, her voice raspy as if she hadn't spoken in over twelve hours.
"Yuuki Takumi, you are not leaving this room until you've eaten something. Don't argue with me," Isha commanded, sternly. I had to admit, Isha wasn't that intimidating compared to the rest of the sirens, but there was something about that current strict expression on her face that terrified me shitless.
"Uh, I have an extra sandwich in my lunchbox. Lana can have it," I offered, suggestively.
Isha narrowed her gaze. "You sure?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Sure It's fine."
Relieved, Isha smiled. "Okay. Thanks."
I brought my lunchbox out of my backpack and opened it before giving it to Lana. She eyed the sandwich before raising her gaze to me, almost asking.
I nodded and passed her a friendly smile. Lana picked up the sandwich and took a bite. Isha started rubbing her hand up and down Lana's back while she continued to eat in silence.
"Is it good?"
Lana nodded and Isha grinned before glancing at me. "Thanks, prez."
I shrugged. "No problem."
Suddenly, Isha's phone in her hand started ringing and she climbed to her feet. "It's Carmen. I'm just going to inform the girls. I'll be back in a minute."
Isha stepped out of the room, leaving Lana and I seated on the floor across from each other. Lana finished the sandwich and took a few gulps of my water bottle before wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"Arigato," she murmured before gripping the edge of the table next to her and climbing to her feet, unsteadily and awkwardly.
I smiled. "You're welcome. So who's Yuuki?"
Lana, who was picking up her backpack and phone, met my curious gaze. "My Japanese name."
My brows rose. "Oh, that makes sense. Yuuki. It's cool. I like it."
Lana zipped her backpack close and tucked her hair behind her ears before she gave her head a small shake to push her bangs out of her eyes. "Baka."
I grinned at her before Isha walked into the room again and took Lana's side, wrapping an arm around her waist. "You good to go?"
Lana nodded and Isha glanced at me. "Carmen's outside in her car. Want a ride?"
I shook my head. "Thanks but I have my bike. I'll see you tomorrow?"
Isha genuinely smiled. "Okay. Yeah, see you tomorrow. Thanks again, prez."
I smiled and waved briefly as they left the room. To my surprise, Lana glanced behind her shoulder and her tired, coal black eyes met my brown. I smiled but before I could see her response, she was gone.
***
Author's note: Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think of Lana and Everett so far?
Remember to
Vote⭐️
Comment❤️
Share with friends🌹
Follow me☺️