Wintercrest Academy

Numb to some feelings

      Mr Ariel has been nice. Very nice. Every teacher at Wintercrest is basically a darling, but Mr Ariel. Absolute darling. From the moment he helped Kaia out with the perfume and towel, to him coming all the way to Big K’s just to ask how she’s been—which ended up with her ugly crying for about seven minutes straight, to every other moment in between and then at Homecoming when he broke apart whatever Shira was planning to do. He’s been a really good person to her. He’s come to eat at Big K’s a couple times but today, he’s booked a reservation at a rather expensive looking Italian restaurant for the both of them. And Kaia feels very underdressed in her joggers and large t-shirt, compared to Mr Ariel in a properly ironed dress shirt and slacks. More than anything, she feels rather awkward and out of place, eating unannounced dinner with her teacher.

           “Is Bren going to join us?” her does eyes twinkle as she fiddles with the straw of her drink, the only thing she’s touched.

           Mr Ariel shakes his head in negation, cutting his steak into small bits. “This is a personal evaluation. I’d see him later. Today is for you.”

           “We could have met at Big K’s. More money for me, right?” she says.

           Mr Ariel chuckles and there is no time his cerulean eyes don’t make Kaia smile. “Your competition is next week, think of this as a—pre winning gift. A little appreciation for—” his phone vibrates on the table and when he looks at the caller ID, he frowns immediately and swipes the red phone icon. “A little appreciation for your hard work.” His frown disappears and is replaced by a smile.

           Kaia rolls a pasta around her fork, dips it in sauce and . . .hmm, very tasty. They eat in silence for a while, the vibrations of Mr Ariel’s phone disrupting from time to time. He just frowns, swipes red and returns to his meal, offering Kaia the tiny bits of meat he cut up.

           “You should take that, sir. I’d wait, of course.”

           “No,” he says in his ‘I’m a teacher’ tone. “This is a me and you time. No distractions.” He puts the phone in his pocket. Kaia was able to see the caller once. Lindsay. A friend? Can’t be a co-worker cause there’s no Miss Lindsay at Wintercrest. An ex, maybe? Kaia’s never seen a ring on him so his chances of being married are pasta slim.

           “Have you gone through all the past questions I compiled? Every single one of them?” Kaia nods. “Amazing. And the studying with Bren?”

           “He’s spoilt and rude and annoying. But studying’s been fine. We’re both pretty nervous about this week.”

           “I know.” Mr Ariel sets his glass of water on the table. “It’s normal to be nervous. Afraid. But as long as you stay prepared, those nerves would fizzle out when you start the exams. I trust you that you two would. Oh”—he picks a napkin and stretches across the table to dab Kaia’s upper lip. She draws in a sharp, surprised breath first. But then she sits like a statue as he wipes. “Sauce.” He shows her the red stain, which is too little compared to how long he dabbed her lips for.

           “Thank you.” She bobs her head a little. “And for—dinner too. I don’t deserve to eat expensive pasta on Sunday nights.”

           He bursts into a fit of laughter. “Of course, you do. You deserve expensive pasta, and steak, and . . .everything overpriced thing ever. I wish I could show you how much you really deserve. You belittle yourself so, so much, Kaia.” His eyes are serious and focused, and so is his voice, and now Kaia feels slightly uncomfortable because this was meant to be a light hearted joke lacking the depth Mr Ariel is currently putting into it. Like he can hear her thoughts, he shakes his head and his smile comes out of nowhere.

           “The Metleys are not ready for a Kaia and Bren combo. Trust me.”

           “I do. Trust you, that is,” she says and Mr Ariel grins and goes back to asking her all the questions he can. For a minute, she thinks that this ‘personal evaluation’ may be a little better with her and Bren bickering.

           “You have a package, Kaia.” Diane hollers from the counter the moment Kaia shuts the restaurant door behind her.

           “I do?” she hops around the counter and takes the, wow, pretty heavy package from Diane. “I wonder what Dad got me.”

           “Uhmm, that’s not from Big K?” Diane says.

           Kaia narrows her eyes in confusion. “It’s not?”

           “Yep. It’s from New York, and Big K actually got one too. Keanu as well.”

           Huh, weird. She places the package on the counter and starts unwrapping. An Anatomy and Physiology textbook, two very pretty dresses and three sets of jewellery from Swarovski. Oh, no. Please no. She opens the Anatomy textbook and at the bottom of the preface page is a small writing, black, light and cursive. Familiar.

           Dr. Kaia,

           Your greatness is ravishing, and I feel it so strongly. I’m not a huge part of the small steps you’re taking to success, but I want to be significant in any way I can. Your dreams are precious to me, and I can’t wait to see them come true, one by one.

                                                                                                                       Yours,

                                                                                                                       Mum.

           Kaia slams the book shut, blood roaring in her ears, heart threatening to break out of her ribcage. She wants to be significant? Kaia’s dreams are important to her? How dare she?! Kaia has asked her not to send any gifts to them. She doesn’t want anything that comes from her. Diane comes out of the kitchen and stands close to Kaia gingerly. Like she knows that right now, Kaia’s a ticking time bomb ready to go kaboom.

           “Where’s Keanu’s package?” she’s physically constraining herself from lashing out at Diane. It’d be unfair. Diane goes to fetch it and Kaia just grabs it quietly along with hers and leaves. She walks a while just to find a bin far away from the restaurant and then tosses it into it without a second thought. She goes back to Big K’s and sterilizes the counter, thoroughly and aggressively. 99.9% germs, 99.9% filth from New York, all gone.

                                                                                   ****

           Sleep is for the weak. And Brennon Kang is everything but. He’s spent more time in the library than in class and he’s been rightfully excused for that. He’s sadly cut down on running time, trying to study with every second he gets. And this freaking week seems to run faster now that the competition is close. He feels numb, and even when he goes to the home gym and almost wrecks the punching bag, he doesn’t feel a thing. He basically goes through the days leading up to the competition in a blurry cycle. Read (alone or with Kaia), down a s**t ton of coffee, run with the little time he has, work out, repeat.

           “Son,” Jacob Kang walked into his room yesterday.

           “Hi Dad, “Bren wiped drool of his mouth. He’d somehow fallen asleep, the most sleep he’d gotten in two and a half days.

           “Did you fall asleep?” Jacob laughed and perched onto his desk.

           Bren stifles a yawn and flips the drool stained page. “I just . . .rested my eyes.”

           Jacob nodded. “No slacking. The competition’s close and you have to go at it with your hardest. I’d go make you some coffee to keep you awake.” He squeezed Bren’s shoulders and left. Bren slumped in his seat. Willow would have him murdered if she had the slightest idea how much coffee he’s had this week. But she’d never understand. This weight their Dad places on his shoulders, it’s never been hers to carry.

           Not getting enough sleep makes you cranky. Bren knows that now with how many times he’s snapped at Kaia today. Friday is two days away; the written stage of the competition would commence. Saturday is for the oral and final stage. Schools that make it past the written stage would move on to the next stage. The one that determines the winner of The Metleys Junior Scientists Competition Award.

           “Are you even listening to me, Bren?”

           Bren blinks. Is it possible to sleep with your eyes wide open? Because it looks like that just happened to him. “Your voice is a lullaby; I’m trying very hard not to fall asleep.”

           She snorts and then folds her arms, glowering at him. “Well then, take over. We have 999 questions to run through and you’re the one reason I want to dump all of this and leave.”

           Bren just stares at her blankly, his eye lids seriously waging a war against him. This numbness, and empty heaviness, it can’t be good for him. “500. I’m supposed to take over when you get to the 500th question. We’d spend the night here if you keep on nagging.”

           “Oh I’m nagging because you’re being unbearable! I know the competition is upon us and you’re under pressure. I am too. I really want to win this. And I’m worried your best friend would kill me if we don’t.” She rolls her eyes at the last sentence and it almost makes Bren chuckle. “Just, let’s get on with this.”

           He cooperates, leaning very close to falling asleep every 5 seconds. She gets to 500—finally— and he takes over. After that’s done, they revise formulas, work on timing and it’s another 2 and a half hours before they finish. Kaia leaves and while he’s still seated, he gets a text from his Dad. I got my hands on a textbook I think would be useful for you. pick it up on my desk when you come home. Make sure to read all of it before tomorrow. Smooth. Real smooth. He switches of his phone before he goes crazy.

           “Argh!” he rakes a frustrated hand through his hair and dumps his head on the table, willing it to become Aladdin’s magic carpet and take him some place else. He stays like that for a while until he hears a soft thud on the table. He jolts up and is met with Kaia’s soft, puppy eyes. Being Bren, he grunts and arcs a brow.

           “This place was better when you left. What do you want now?”

           “Don’t be such a grump.” She gestures to a gift bag on the table. “Be a little less tough on yourself. You’ve barely been holding on all week. Eat those and you’d get a good sleep tonight. You need it because sleep is important for the neurons in your brain to communicate.”

           Bren huffs. Geek. “You bought me food that’d help me sleep?” Not out of place for someone obsessed with brain food.

           “Yes. And I’m gonna go before you make me regret it. Goodnight.” She waves in a noncommittal way and he catches a whiff of her scent as she exits. Sweet. Vanilla-ish. She always smells like that. He grabs the bag tentatively and opens it. A pack of almonds and walnuts, chamomile tea, Korean eye masks. His grip on the bag tightens. For this first time this week, he feels something. What? He doesn’t know. But the fact that she did this gets to him. Noticed that he hadn’t been getting any sleep, hence the eye bags and went to get him masks. Korean eye masks. His Dad had asked him to use some concealer to hide them.

           “Freaking brat,” he breathes. But this brat just turned his numbness into a sensation too tingly and sweet. Like the scent of her.