Between The Lines and YOU

Twenty Seven

I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness whenever I remembered my last conversation with Kael. I wanted to talk to him again, but I had no idea how to face him. I let out a heavy sigh.

“That was deep.” I quickly turned toward Scarlett, who was once again busy tinkering with her Nintendo. She still looked pale and weak, as though her strength hadn’t fully returned. But as always, her mouth was as lively as ever.

I borrowed a book and started reading. Knox had a collection of Divergence. I’d already finished the series long ago, but since it had been years, I wanted to reread a few parts I’d forgotten. We were in the living room.

“Good thing you and your brother don’t get lost in here, huh?” I shifted the conversation.

“Our hide and seek games used to last for a whole week,” she said with a laugh. I couldn’t help but laugh with her. Well, with a house this huge and just the two of them living in it, that wasn’t surprising.

“I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“Are you really my brother’s student?” That made me set the book down and look at her.

“Do I look like a liar to you?”

“No, that’s not it. But why are you two so close? Why does he call you? And most of all, you’re the only one he’s ever brought here and introduced to me. I didn’t even get the chance to meet Celine. I haven’t seen her in person at all.” Knox was far too secretive and serious about life. I had seen different sides of him, but even then, I could never quite figure out what was running through his mind. He never shared anything. Except when he was being shameless and teasing me endlessly.

“We really are close, even at school. I’m his favorite student.” I lied. We weren’t close at school. He barely even glanced my way during discussions. But when it was just the two of us, his whole demeanor changed. And honestly? I liked it. That song Lowkey really suited us..Still, it was clear Scarlett wasn’t convinced. You can always tell when someone believes you or not, and her eyes told me she didn’t.

“You can’t fool me.”.I knew it. I picked up the strawberry juice and took a sip. My nerves were on edge, worried she might push harder. If I slipped, I might end up telling her the truth.

“Are you our long-lost sibling?” I stared at her blankly before bursting into laughter. I thought she was going to say something serious. But she just kept looking at me, her eyes silently demanding to know what exactly was so funny about what she said.

“Of course not. Where did you even get that idea?”

“It’s just—I can’t find any other reason. If it’s not about work or about me, he wouldn’t call anyone else. I know him too well, and his eyes, whenever I ask you about him, they sparkle in some strange way. His mood’s been different lately, too. He’s less grumpy now. And that’s not good.”

“What’s not good about that? Don’t you like him being nicer?”

“It’s not that. I’m just not used to it. But if you were our half-sister and he’d just been hiding it from me, I’d still accept you. So? What’s the truth?” She really was unbelievably talkative.

“I told you, no. You’re so persistent.”

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“This is the La Belle Duke collection. Inspired by Shakespeare, the great poet.” She said it while pressing something on their elegant, ridiculously expensive electronic stove. Her words left me stunned. I’d only ever seen this model in magazines, worth two hundred thousand dollars. Insane. Once it powered on, she picked up the cooking booklet again and sat down at the counter table.

“Add two tablespoons of vanilla syrup and one cup of—”

“Wait, hold on. Is that even right? Didn’t we already put in two tablespoons of vanilla syrup earlier?” We were making purple macarons. I wasn’t sure if the ingredients she read out were even correct, but since we had nothing better to do and she invited me to try making them with her, I agreed. We also planned to make pancakes. Apparently, they were Knox’s favorite too.

Scarlett glanced at the booklet again. She sometimes gave the wrong measurements, which left the counter covered with spilled milk, chocolate, and all sorts of ingredients. I’d even managed to cut my fingers a few times, which she quickly covered with bandages that had cute little stickers on them. I didn’t let her help much after that she clearly wasn’t ready. So, I took over. The problem was, I didn’t know how to cook any of this either, so I just followed whatever she told me.

“Wait—what’s that burning smell?” She set the booklet down. My eyes widened when I realized the first pancake I’d left on the stove was already overcooked. Smoke rose from the pan, sending me into a panic. Oh, shoot! I fumbled, clueless about which button would turn off their electronic stove.

“How do you switch this thing off?” I snapped at her since she was the one who’d turned it on earlier. She began to panic too at the sight of me scrambling around.

“Wait, where are you going?!” I grabbed her arm as she tried to leave. My voice rose slightly, I had no idea what else to do.

“I’m getting the booklet.”

“The booklet? What booklet? Weren’t you the one who turned this thing on earlier?”

“Yeah, but the off button’s different. I don’t know which one it is.”

“And what exactly are you going to do with the booklet?”

“I’ll check how to switch it off. Wait—why can’t you just take the pan off?” Damn it. How stupid of me. I could’ve just removed the pan instead of panicking over the stove. Quickly, I grabbed a pair of thick gloves, lifted the pan, and tossed it into the sink. God, I was half-expecting the thing to explode if I didn’t shut it down soon.

__________________________

“Burn!” She laughed at me again as I lost for the second time. Irritated, I threw my cards down.

“I give up. You’re cheating. I don’t even understand how this game works.” My voice dripped with disappointment. We were playing cribbage. She had explained the rules earlier, but I still couldn’t grasp it. No matter how many rounds we played, I just couldn’t beat her. This really was a rich people’s game.

After the disaster in the kitchen, we gave up on cooking. I had a feeling we’d disturbed Knox earlier when Scarlett called him to ask how to switch off the stove. So, we stuck with playing cards. She kept offering me snacks too, and I was stuffed. For all her talkativeness, she was fun to be around.

“What? Come on, you’re playing really well. Ares doesn’t even reach a hundred points when he plays, and you got a hundred and five. That’s impressive.”

“I don’t want to play anymore. The only games I’m good at are Chinese garter.” I flopped down on their thick mattress, tempted to just fall asleep. Scarlett pushed the card box aside and lay down too. We both stared up at the ceiling. It was already six, but Knox still wasn’t home. I couldn’t just leave Scarlett here by herself. Besides, I wanted to see him before I went home.

“I had so much fun with you today, Pria. Thanks for visiting me. It’s depressing being alone. I want to go outside, meet new people, and try new things. It must be really nice to have lots of friends, isn’t it?”

“It’s even more depressing to know too many people, Scarlett. It’s scary. Draining. They’ll just take what they can get from you, and once they’re done, they’ll leave.” Of course, not everyone was like that. But most people were. The more status you have, the more people clung to you. You’d think you had real friends, but in truth, they were only there because you were generous and useful.

“I don’t understand.” I smiled, turned on my side, and looked at her.

“Think of it this way, the fish in the ocean will laugh at the dove because it can’t dive deep underwater. Meanwhile, the dove will laugh at the fish because it can’t soar through the skies.”

“Which makes it hard to understand each other’s perspective. But what does a fish and dove have to do with humans?”

“If I told you that all people are bad, would you believe me?” She shook her head quickly.

“Not everyone’s bad.”

“Exactly. You have your own opinion, and so do I. I grew up poor. I know the struggles of people at the bottom. You’re rich. You understand how things work at the top. When everything settles down and you’re free to go out into the world, you’ll understand what I mean.” A smile curved her lips, as though she finally caught my meaning. We lay there for minutes, how long, I couldn’t say, until someone spoke.

“What’s going on here?” Scarlett shot up immediately and ran to her brother, kissing him on the cheek. I stood too, gathered up the scattered cards, and packed them back into the cardboard box.

“Change your clothes. We’re going out for dinner.” I heard his command to his sister.

“Yes! You’re the best, Ares!”.She darted upstairs to change. I kept tidying up, assuming Knox had gone up as well. But I was taken aback when he suddenly pulled me down onto the couch, sat me on his lap, and wrapped his arms around me from behind. Immediately, my hormones went wild.

“Good evening, Knox. Tired?” He only hummed in response, then laughed softly when I yelped at the pinch he gave my side. He liked it when I called him baby love whenever it was just the two of us. I glanced nervously upstairs, worried Scarlett might suddenly come down and catch us like this. My hand instinctively caressed his arm where it circled my waist. Why was I even prolonging this, when we were already acting as if we were truly a couple?

“I just love the idea of getting excited to go home, knowing you’re waiting for me. Seeing you here with Scarlett after a long and exhausting day.”

“Are you not excited to come home when your sister is the one waiting for you?”

“That’s a different kind of story.” I only nodded.

“Love.” The grin that spread across my face was ridiculous, but I could not help it when he called me that.

“What?”

“Can you stay here tonight?” I hesitated. Ivy would tease me endlessly if she found out I stayed here overnight. But whatever.

“I didn’t bring any clothes.” I tightened my grip on his hand when he blew softly against the back of my ear. Thank goodness I was wearing a hoodie, or his restless hands would have easily found their way where they should not.

“K–Knox.” My voice stammered, and a shiver raced down my spine when he pressed feather-light kisses against the nape of my neck and the side of my throat. I took it back. The hoodie had not helped at all.

“You can sleep naked then. I would not mind.” My throat went dry at his whisper. A sudden rush of adrenaline hit me, and I bolted upright. He smirked and let out a low chuckle. He really was a master at teasing, fully aware he could disarm me with ease.

“Your mouth, be quiet. Scarlett might hear you.” He leaned in with a smile and brushed a kiss against my cheek.

“Gosh, you’re so adorable. We have plenty of extra things here, I wouldn’t mind if you took half of them.” I rolled my eyes at him. Always so shameless.

He led me to his room. While he showered, he told me to choose something to wear. I settled on picking his clothes. I liked the way they smelled of him. If I could, I would wear his natural scent itself just to have him with me all the time.

“Pria.” His voice called out.

“What is it?” I saw his head peek out slightly from the bathroom door.

“I forgot to bring a towel. Can you give me a hand? Fifth row, blue one.” I nodded and opened the glass walk-in closet. My jaw dropped at the sight of the countless clothes, enough to last me an entire year without doing laundry. The dream of never repeating an outfit. I pulled open the fifth row as instructed, revealing towels neatly arranged by color. Some were for the face, others for the hair, and the rest for the body. After picking one, I handed it over. Yet, his head still peeked out.

“Do you need anything else?”

“No, but I just wanted to ask, do you really not want to join me?”.I froze. I did not know if it was the tone of his voice or my imagination, but it sounded undeniably seductive. My face burned at the fleeting scenario that flashed in my mind. Him and me in the shower, bare. Damn. That was a dangerously hot image. I turned away quickly as he loosened the door just a little.

“N–No, I’ll just shower in the guest room.”

“Are you sure?” His voice was soft, coaxing, and achingly sweet to the ears. Temptation, stay away from me.

“Y–Yes.”

“All right. But I’ll leave the door unlocked, in case you change your mind.” The moment I heard him close the door, I hurried out and went to the guest room to shower instead. I would just call Ivy afterward.