Katherine, Maylin, Kyle, William, Abigail, and Rekka were all gathered around a table at the Pho King, chatting excitedly as they awaited their bowls of steaming pho.
Rekka, like her elder sister, had long purple hair that was tied in a thick braided ponytail. Her pink eyes had an adventurous glow to them and were in stark contrast to her milky white skin. She was explaining how card counting worked, because that was what every 13-year-old did, right? Except she wasn’t every 13-year-old, and she had a genius IQ, and thus her topic of choice was explaining how card counting worked to make big bucks and buy all the pho they wanted, which enthralled Abigail, even though she looked confused as Rekka explained the concept of how it worked.
“You see,” Rekka said with a smirk. “It’s simply a game of memory recall, and by remembering what cards may come up, you raise your statistical likelihood of winning big, and thus raise the odds in your favor.”
Abigail nodded along, her eyes large and body leaning forward with arms cross against the table.
“Granted,” Rekka continued. “It’s harder now that dealers and casinos switch out decks and randomize it more, but…,” she paused and leaned forward with a secret whisper. “I used it with some kids at school and won big. Boys are gullible and dumb, especially when it comes to their egos. Plus, they are easily distracted in certain ways.” The way she said the word certain had many implications that made Abigail curious.
Abigail was thoroughly enthralled, especially since Rekka had brought a deck of cards along with two rolls of quarters so they could play with real money, giving one roll to Abigail.
“I don’t know about your classes,” Maylin said. “But Mr. Schnieder has loaded us with so much math homework that I’m going nuts. I can’t stand geometry, as it doesn’t make a lick of sense.”
“Don’t worry, sis,” Rekka said with a dexterous shuffle of the deck of cards. “I can help you with geometry, it’s actually really easy.” She gave a sinister smirk. “Plus, if you learn it, you can use it to do things like win games of pool.”
Maylin rolled her eyes. “As I was saying, Mr. Schneider is one tough cookie. He’s loading us up as if his class is the only one.”
“Oh, you think that’s bad,” Kyle said. “Mr. Booth gave me the old saying of ‘You’re not sorry, you wouldn’t have done it if you were sorry’ speech after I told him I was sorry for being late.”
“Serves you right,” Maylin said. “Why were you late in the first place?”
“I was liking one of your videos on Quickgram,” he said with a wink.
“What were you really doing?”
“I was… liking one of your videos,” he repeated.
“Oh, so you’re following me, then?”
“Yeah,” he said, matter-of-factly. “On Quickgram, not that other site.”
“Okay.” What did he mean by the other site? Was he implying that SinfulFans site where girls posted lewd and naught pictures and videos? She didn’t push, though. Granted, it did make her wonder if she could make some moolah off it.
“What about you?” Maylin asked, looking at William.
William’s eyes flicked to Rekka and Abigail, looking like he wanted to join their fun but was too embarrassed as it involved Abigail. “Me, what about me?”
“I want to know how your little relationship is going. How come you didn’t invite Samantha Ashe?” Maylin spoke it louder than William looked like he wanted her to.
“It’s not a relationship,” William said, his face going red as he glanced at Abgail. “And I barely know her. Besides, you guys would embarrass me.”
“The only one who would embarrass you here is your brother. I am a proper lady.” She straightened her back and nodded as if this was true, pushing her chest out in the process.
“Speak for yourself, tragedy lover,” Kyle said. “Besides, pushing your chest out like that isn’t very… ladylike.”
“How dare you look at my chest,” she said, leaning back and putting her arms over her boobs as if he was peeping at her. She then lifted her chopsticks and pointed them at him. “Now you must prove yourself in a chopstick duel against me.”
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Kyle just stared at her with his jaw dropped. “You… are amazing.”
Maylin nodded. “I know.”
Katherine had excused herself to take a breather outside, the voices fading as she moved outside.
Storm clouds loomed in the sky as a slight breeze blew. She smiled, thinking about her mother. The sound of the door opening and closing made her turn to see Kyle coming out, shivering a bit as he sat next to her on a lone table.
“What are you doing out here all alone?”
“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “Just wanted to get away for a moment.”
“So, what happened earlier?” He seemed genuine, but she didn’t want to talk about this.
“Nothing. I was just having a moment.”
“Oh okay,” he said, as if that explained it all. He peered up at the sky. “Say no more.”
“It wasn’t that kind of a moment, idiot,” she said with a roll of her eyes, shoving him playfully. She looked down, her voice dropping. “I was just lost in the past again.”
“A little nostalgia, huh?” He glanced at her. “I know how that goes.”
Should she, or shouldn’t she? She decided on should. “I was thinking about my mom again.” She rubbed her arms.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing a hand through his hair. He knew there was something heavy weighing on her, and he had also known she had lost her mother when she was young. “It’s not nothing. It’s your mom. It’s okay to think about her, to miss her.”
Katherine gave a half-smile. “I know, I just—”
“What?” he said, their eyes meeting, and she looked away, brushing her hair over her ear.
“Have you ever had a nightmare that felt real or seen something that you knew was real yet no one else believed you? Something that made you look like a liar or delusional or crazy? But you know what you saw, what you experienced.”
Kyle heard her mom had died in some horrible car accident that left her body mangled and led to a closet-casket funeral—yet he didn’t know the specific story as it got muddled because Katherine had sworn it was some beast, a monster that had killed her. Yet that couldn’t be true, and he knew it. Monsters didn’t exist, so it was a child’s wild imagination, a flight of fancy, a delusion. He certainly wouldn’t tell her that, though? He thought of her in certain ways, so that would betray her. Then again, if that’s what she believed, he wouldn’t doubt it, at least not in his words, even though he knew it wasn’t true.
“I think,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “That it’s okay to miss your mom. It’s hard, trust me. My mom’s everything to me.” He clenched his hands as he never really wanted to tell anyone about this stuff, but felt fine telling her. “I’d die for her. Hell, I almost did once or twice cause my dad is a deadbeat loser, leaving us to our own devices, and thugs that want stuff and came knocking at our door. But I’m sure you know all about that, or have heard the rumors about me, just like I’ve heard stories about your past. But it’s your past, your experience, and if that’s what you saw, then that’s it. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re crazy or wrong for it. But when it comes to sad memories, traumatic events, we think about the past and how vivid it was but I think… no matter what happened, or how it happened, you need to let that go. You need to let your mom go and live your life. What happened was tragic. Losing a parent. I mean… damn. But Kathrine…” She could feel his intense eyes on her, and she didn’t dare meet them because this was a powerful moment. “You can’t hold onto that forever or it will destroy you.”
He really did like looking at her. Part of him wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked in that moment, but he refrained. Katherine wasn’t just any other girl to him, he always felt she was something special, so he didn’t want to ruin it.
She let out a long sigh. He was right, even if it felt wrong to let go. “I know. It’s just hard.” She gave him a quick glance, just to see those eyes and intense look for a moment, then turned away, realizing she shouldn’t have looked because it made her heart leap. She’d been stared at by boys before in ways that made her uneasy and uncomfortable, but this was different. Oh, boy, I’m in trouble.
He chuckled, raising his fist to the sky and thinking about how many times he had fought and got his ass handed to him. “It never is.”
She turned to him again, feeling her tension ease, and smiled. “Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime. I’m always here to listen. Anything you need, let me know."
They both looked back inside to see the steaming bowls of delicious pho come out.
Katherine’s stomach growled at the thought of the sweet and sour and hearty mixture of amazing tastes entering her mouth.
He nodded, hopped to his feet, and extended his hand. “Let’s get back in, shall we?”
She stared at the outstretched hand and gulped. Something about taking it meant a lot in that moment, and she couldn’t help but linger before extending her hand and hovering over his, a shakiness overcoming her. She wanted to take it, but what did that mean?
He took the initiative, grasping her hand and pulling her to her feet, and she almost fell into him, a little gasp escaping her from the force of his pull, her face going red. They made their way to the door, and he opened it for her, giving a playful bow and gesture of his hand. “Thanks for the chat, milady.” And he gave that sly smile.
“Milady?” She grinned herself, finding his playful nature cute. She nodded and shuffled in without another word.
After the pho, Kathrine felt so tired. And since everyone seemed lost with enjoying their drinks through banter and laughter, she just sat back and enjoyed the moment. She was so exhausted from the week, from her crying, from her worrying, from all the work. The warm pho settling in her stomach made her feel so relaxed, so heavy, so calm, that she decided to lay her head down against her arms just for a moment, and she drifted off into a sweet slumber.
She had the most wonderful dream of her and her mother enjoying pho, her mother’s warm smile like the warm bowl of broth as little whisps of steam rose from it. They sipped the soup, enjoying the addictive flavor that was pho as it moved down her throat and into her stomach, warming her body. It was such a nice dream that she floated away into its recesses.
