Behind The Walls
1196 Words
“Do you think he’s with her? Cause he likes her. I know for sure he does!” Bren asks for the hundredth time and even though he can tell that Rosco is tired of it, he doesn’t stop.
“That’s not important, man. What’s important is you! Do you like her?”
“Why would you think I do?”
Rosco deadpans. “Lie to yourself, Kang. You know you can’t lie to me. Fix your beef with Shira. I’m beginning to think she makes you sane and now that you aren’t on speaking terms, you’re losing it.”
Bren tsks. Rude piece of— “okay, look. Just tell me how it looks on the outside. Does it look like they have chemistry?”
“A lot.” Rosco returns to his phone and Bren kicks him hard under the table. “Dude! What was that for?” Rosco bends to massage where it hurts.
“You didn’t have to be so blunt.”
“You were bothering me! If you like her so much, why don’t you tell her?!” A few heads turn towards them and Rosco lowers his voice. “Leave. Me. Alone!”
“I said I don’t like her.” Bren groans. Blatant lie. He knows for a fact that Adan has those kinds of feelings for Kaia. And it sucks that Bren can see that in the way Adan always comes to get Kaia when it’s lunchtime, the way he sped over the night she ran away. Also, how he casually wraps an arm around her. There’s more to them than just ‘friendship.’
Rosco ignores that. “How’re things with your dad? The article?”
“I’ve been sneaking in and out of the house. I don’t want to be predictable, or else he’d fix some stupid interview. And I don’t know how I’d react if he does that.”
“Must be tough, man. My dad’s a pain and he hasn’t even made his ambitions for me public yet. I can only imagine how hard it is for you.”
It is. Extremely difficult. Bren chuckles because it’s funny, how he and Rosco basically have the same dads but in different bodies. But unlike Rosco who’s path in music is clearly carved out, Bren is just about a wave tossed in the ocean. Rosco has an argument when his does brings up the whole pre-law/law school conversation. “I want to study music. I’m passionate about it.”
Bren, on the other hand has nothing to make a case with. All he knows is that he doesn’t want to go pre-med. He had considered being a professional runner but Jacob Kang didn’t even let him finish before dismissing it. And Bren couldn’t fight for it because he wasn’t sure if that was the life he wanted either.
“Hey,” Rosco pats his arm. “It’s okay man. You’d figure it out. It’d come to you easily.”
“Yeah,” Bren mumbles. He’s been waiting to figure it out for so long. He has just one more year before it’s senior year. He’d figure it out before then. Hopefully. The bell goes and it’s time for class. Rosco goes for an elective class and Bren decides to go take permission from Coach. He’d be writing the SATs next week and he wants to take a few days off practice. Coach grants him the permission and he starts to head towards AP Math class.
“Mr Ariel!” He waves when he sees Mr Ariel breeze ahead but Mr Ariel doesn’t stop. He probably didn’t hear him. He’s on the phone, and looks tense and, nosy Bren decides that it’s a good time to skip a few minutes of Math.
Stealthily, he catches up with Mr Ariel. Hiding behind a wall, he sneaks a peek at Mr Ariel’s back. He can see that he’s talking to someone. Who it is though, he can’t make that out.
“I told you not to come here!”
“You stopped answering your phone!” the person says. A female voice. If Bren peeks any further, he’d get caught. He stays put, wishing the muscles of his neck were very elastic.
“I got busy. I have private tutorials most times. You can’t keep blowing up my phone with calls.”
“But,” the female sniffs. “I miss you. It’s even worse now because of the hormones and you’re not helping.” Hormones?
“Lindsay,” Mr Ariel says and then the hall goes quiet. A few seconds later, Bren hears some smooching sounds. Gross! But Lindsay, that’s the person he was talking to on the phone that day. The one he asked not to come, but here she is. She has to be important to him. Somehow.
“I miss you too. And my Zane. Just, take care of him. And take care of you.”
“Why can’t we come and stay with you?”
“There’s no need for that, Lindsay.”
A brief silence and then Lindsay’s venomous voice breaks it. “Is it . . .is that habit back? Is it happening again?”
“What are you talking about?” Mr Ariel makes a scoff sound.
“You want me to spell it out for you?”
Yes please. Yes!
“Where’s your camera?” Lindsay asks and when Mr Ariel is about to answer, someone taps Bren’s shoulders, making him jump in shock. The sole of his kicks kisses the floor and makes a squeak. Crap. Furious, he turns to see who the psycho that interrupted this very important part of his spy mission is and . . . holy molly, Kaia’s beauty punches him across the face every time. Her hair is pushed into a low ponytail and two braids are let loose to hang over her face. She glows, my goodness, the girl competes with the sun!
“What are you doing?” she asks and he presses his forefinger to her lips.
“Is someone there?” Mr Ariel booms and Bren scans the area for somewhere to hide. There’s none close enough. If Mr Ariel walked towards them, he’d catch them before they can completely escape.
“Miss Ackerman asked me to find out why you’re not in AP Math class. Are you spying on Mr Ariel?” Kaia’s eyes widen in surprise. Innocent little thing. If only she knew who the real spy was here.
“Shh,” Bren says as his brain overworks. He has no idea what to do and he can already hear the sound of Mr Ariel’s footsteps getting close. Kaia is staring at him with questioning eyes and in a state of confusion, he swirls her in place so she’s pinned against the wall and he’s facing her. She panics immediately and resists.
“Bren! What are you—”
He leans in, close enough that their breaths are mixing. “Just trust me.” When he sees Mr Ariel from the corner of his eye, he leans further and presses his lips against the sides of her neck.
- Writer
