Chapter 9 Respite
It's about time that you heard from me again. I hope you all had a great summer, I did although there were some bumps along the way. One amazing BTR related event that happened was that I was able to go to BTR's concert in Tulsa, OK. It was so much fun and the boys did amazing…my guy friends also lifted me onto their shoulders so I was able to be above the crowd and see them(which is an accomplishment since I'm rather short)-the best part was that all four boys at some point acknowledged me in different ways like a wave, smile or a hand sign(and wow, Kendall is stealing my heart…the look he gave me was priceless). Anyways, I'm currently moving into my new house and starting my life again in Texas. I'll write as much as possible, I promise!
I claim no copyright to BTR or any of the characters mentioned in this work.
Thank you for reading
The door creaked open as if buffeted by a gust of wind, followed by a figure clad in gray, the somber color adding years to his lean frame which was hunched up and weighted down with baggage. Swiveling on his heel, the blonde man faced the doorway and slammed the frame shut.
Instantly cringing due to the loud bang echoing throughout the quiet foyer, Kendall sent his gaze down the hallway filled with embellished furniture which portrayed an elegant yet empty and desolate air. As suddenly as the silence returned, it was broken from a startled shriek issued from the living room,
"Goodness, don't slam the door!"
"Sorry Mom." He huffed gruffly, taking the liberty to sprint up the staircase, taking two steps at a time while his backpack and sports bag jiggled haphazardly to and fro during the ascent.
"Oh Kendall!" His mother called up to him as an afterthought, stopping the escape to his room completely as she drifted into the hallway with a bottle of Windex and a washcloth in hand,
"You're home late, is something the matter?" Apparently caught red-handed, he adverted his eyes to a portrait of a golf course overlooking the coast of one of Florida's many beaches. The detached teen began to intently study the artist's delicate strokes of acrylic paint smeared onto the canvas, revealing his expert use of value and moderation, while Kendall hastily stalled to form an answer satisfy his mother's curiosity.
"N-nothing."
"But honey, you've been crying." At that, Kendall froze, taken aback that his emotions were so obvious even to his unobservant mother. Ripping his eyes away from the portrait to explain his reaction, he gripped the oak railing with both hands, leaning over the wooden beam to face the russet-haired woman staring up at him,
"I'm not crying Mom. I just…stayed after practice to work on my shooting and uh-I was just running around and working hard…y-yeah." Quickly sputtering, he concluded his false statement with a meager lie, "It's just sweat-that's all!"
Dubious, Mrs. Knight gave him a stern look noticing how puffy and red the rims of his eyes were. About to question him further, she changed her intentions-purposefully wiping the banister of the hall tree with a rag, allowing his alibi to slide. Instead of an interrogation, she sighed,
"Alright we'll talk about this later. For now, go clean up and I'll see you down here for dinner."
"Okay," He swiftly fled while his mother turned around to head into the kitchen. However, his retreat suddenly came to a halt when he decided to once more grip the side of the railing to call down to her,
"Hey mom!"
"Yes dear?"
"What're we having tonight?"
"Lasagna, your favorite." She beamed up at him, relieved to see him smile in appreciation before her son slowly turned around and finished his trip upstairs.
Later that evening, Kendall emerged from his room sporting a fresh navy blue shirt and a matching beanie which fit snuggly to his scalp, concealing a portion of his dark blonde hair. He wiggled his toes comfortably into a pair of socks that covered his feet as they trod down carpeted steps, one hand gliding across the freshly cleaned banister that led him to the base of the stairs. Upon arriving on the first floor of his home, he proceeded into the kitchen where both his mother and younger sister were busily making last minute preparations for dinner.
Without waiting for orders, Kendall retrieved a glass pitcher from the cupboard and began to fill it in the sink while his mother and Katie set the table with silverware and garnet napkins.
"So Mom, guess what Robert did!" Mrs. Knight bit her bottom lip in thought before giving up, setting a basket of bread on a placemat in the center of the table,
"I have no clue, what'd he do Katie?"
"He shoved his peanut butter sandwich into Ariel's face at lunch today!"
"Oh that's not very nice." Came the aloof comment as the folds of Mrs. Knight's mauve blouse swished as she returned to the kitchen to procure a lonely bowl of salad.
"Not at all." Katie somberly agreed to her retreating mother's back, setting a fork down by her father's porcelain plate before refocusing her conversation onto the only person left in the room. Sparkling brown eyes lit up at the sight of Kendall as the young girl chuckled,
"I mean, well, it was super funny but then we all remembered that she's allergic to peanut butter…so her whole face began to blow up and Robert got sent to the principal's office!"
"Ha hah, serves him right!" Kendall joined in her laughter, bringing the pitcher, full to the brim with ice cold water, to the table.
"I know, it was awesome!" Katie grinned up at her older brother, who gently brought his hand down to ruffle her light brown pigtails,
"I'm just glad you're not the one pulling pranks on people anymore!"
"Aw come on big bro, my jokes are the best!"
"True, but it's not so great when I have to wait after school to pick you up from detention, now is it?" The corner of his left eye crinkled up into a wink, allowing Katie to realize that he was still joking.
"Okay, okay, fine-you're right." All of a sudden, her dark eyes flashed to the kitchen where a high pitched beep resounded, "Well, wanna help me get the lasagna out of the oven?"
"Sure." They both picked up checkered hot pads off the counter and slipped them over their hands before lifting the large aluminum tray out of the oven, the ocean of cheese bubbling within the piping hot, dull metal.
"Watch out," Kendall cautioned, "Set it down slowly." Katie wordlessly followed his instructions, the pair able to successfully lower the main course onto the table without any difficulties. Pulling off the red and white oven mitts, Katie friendly questioned Kendall, who had currently preoccupied himself with straightening out the dining room chairs,
"So Kendall, how was practice today?"
"It was okay." He nonchalantly stated, sliding the wooden legs of his mother's chair closer to the edge of the table.
"Anything interesting happen?" At the mention of practice, his motion stilled. His thoughts instantly raced to the unfortunate discussion he had previously had with his best friend a few hours ago and how poorly it turned out. The blonde exhaled a deep sigh,
"No." His answer became sullen and short, inclining that he had no desire to reveal any more information. Katie noticed his sudden lack of interest in the conversation, turning a questioning face to her mother who had just entered into the kitchen to catch the rest of her children's chat. Instead of pressuring Kendall to answer, Mrs. Knight simply shook her head, indicating for her daughter to not say anything about it.
Despite her mother's warning, Katie struck up the worst question she could have possibly asked in that moment,
"Well what about James or Carlos, how are they?" Kendall's knuckles flashed white as his grip on his sister's chair that he currently held within his hands hardened rapidly. A pang of guilt and anger swam over him as his sister, unaware of the situation he was in, continued to discuss his fellow teammates,
"They're both so good at basketball, I'm sure they had a nice practice."
"One of them did." Kendall spit out between clenched teeth, the image of Carlos's shining face and victorious leap jumping into his mind.
Katie quirked her head at his comment, slightly confused but not indicating any sign of relenting from speaking,
"Um-well I guess that's great that at least one of them had a good day." She helped scoot in Kendall's chair which lay across the table, adjacent to her own while she finished her statement,
"I haven't seen them in a while...you should invite them over sometime!" Her voice dropped suddenly and became soft as a light shimmer of pink tinted the smooth expanse of her cheekbones, "It'd be nice to see James."
A twinge of guilt rose up in Kendall's chest at the mention of the brunette's name, clouding out the revelation of his sister's slight infatuation with his best friend.
"Y-yeah, that'd be nice. I'll try to see if they want to-" Before Kendall was able to complete his sentence, the front door opened and the chime of dangling keys clinking against one another's metal surface greeted their ears.
Out from the kitchen burst Mrs. Knight, a bowl of steamed carrots and peas clutched between her arms. Quickly, she set the contents on a pad to the left of the bread basket before rushing over to the door. Hastily, she brushed off her flowing skirt and lightly ran her fingers through her auburn curls. Then she stopped, staring straight ahead at the figure residing in the doorway. Softly her voice emerged from lightly coated lips,
"Hello Keith." Her crystal blue eyes rose to meet dark green orbs which seemed to gaze longingly back at her. All of a sudden, a pair of lips met her own then swiftly departed as a suave deep voice rolled out,
"Evening, Katherine." Her eyes widened in shock of what just happened at the archway of their home.
"Oh my," She blushed, a shade of scarlet heating her face with a warm glow as the mother supported herself by placing a delicate hand on his chest, embarrassed for being kissed passionately on the lips in front of their children.
Katie paused between distributing the remainder of forks to giggle while Kendall let his grip on the back of his sister's chair slide through his fingers, hiding his smile by shaking his head silently.
"Come here, Kate babe!" Katie needed no other invitation to throw down the silverware clutched in her hands and raced towards her father who quickly set his briefcase to the side and crouched down, his burly arms wide open to catch his daughter and swing her about.
After a few twirls and delighted squeals from the young girl, Mr. Knight set his daughter down, still fully caught in his embrace. He nodded towards his son,
"Kendall." The teenager returned the nod, the only form of recognition needed to transpire between the two men. Keith released his hold on Katie, allowing her hands to fall from his arms and go back to setting the dinner table.
The suit-clad man placed his palms on his hips, bending backwards slightly in a stretch before announcing to his whole family that he was going to unpack his briefcase and clean up before joining them for dinner. With that, the trio set about fixing up the dining room, filling all the cups, straightening out the table cloth and bringing seasoning, sauce and various other commodities necessary to provide for an exquisite Italian meal.
"Wow Katherine, this is delicious!" Mr. Knight exclaimed, squaring off another chunk of mozzarella cheese, spinach and noodle to the side of his plate in order to take a bite of the supper his lovely wife had prepared.
"Yeah thanks Mom, it's really good." Kendall nodded, scooping a spoonful of mixed vegetables into his mouth. Mrs. Knight in turn simply smiled, her eyes sparkling above the glass of water she was currently sipping upon before she set the cup down,
"I'm glad you all like it."
"It's great!" Katie chirped, not wanting to be left out of complimenting her mother. Biting into a steaming bread roll, Katie excitedly began to yammer on about her plans for the weekend,
"Oh hey, me and Jodie were thinking about getting together on Saturday. We both really really want to go to the mall to try to find some new shoes and friendship necklaces!" Mr. Knight shot his wife a glance before fumbling in his pocket as Katie continued exclaiming,
"But the best part is that afterwards, she even invited me to sleepover! Can I go, please Mom?" Glancing warmly down at the deep brown eyes pleading up towards her, Mrs. Knight patted the top of her daughter's hand,
"I suppose so Katie but first, I'll have to talk with Jodie's parents. I'll call her mother later tonight once dishes are done."
"And here you go Kate babe," A slim sheet of green paper appeared in between the thumb and index finger of Mr. Knight who waved a straight and unwrinkled twenty dollar bill across the table in front of his daughter's face, a small smile creasing the usually grim mouth,
"Buy yourself something nice."
Chocolate eyes widening, Katie practically jumped from her cushioned chair with joy, snatching the twenty bucks before shooting a fist into the air only to bring it immediately down again as if she had just scored a game winning point,
"Yes!"
"Now eat your vegetables." Mr. Knight gruffly chided, causing his daughter to sheepishly raise her shoulders and hide within herself, stuffing the bill into her jeans. Kendall let out a brief chuckle at his abashed sister, stifling the laughter with a hand upon receiving an incredulous look from his father.
Cupping the corner of his face in his palm, he glanced over to his baby sister and mouthed that he would eat her peas for her, knowing how she hated the little green mushy things. She whispered back a quick thank you before forking a square of lasagna and popping it into her mouth.
Eventually, as the evening progressed, the dinner conversation paved it's way to the usual debate of the night: Kendall's grades, college and life goals compared to those of his father.
"So boy, we should be expecting to see your report card soon. How do you think you'll fare?" Kendall paused from chewing, noticing how his mother quietly scolded her husband, whispering his name sharply under her breath to warn him to not bring the topic up and disrupt the evening which was going splendidly up to this point.
Instead of retorting violently like he usually did, the boy swallowed the remainder of his salad and calmly said,
"It's fine Mom."
"But Kendall-" He brushed her anxiety off by the wave of a hand, reassuring her,
"I said it's fine. Actually, I have decided to consider a position in business."
The flooring news caused both parents to gape in shock at their son who sat stiffly in his chair, simply shoveling a spoonful of finely chopped steamed carrots into his mouth.
"What's changed your mind son?" Mr. Knight finally ventured to ask the question everyone at the dining table was dying to hear an answer to. Perfect white teeth diced through the soft, round orange circles until Kendall was ready to speak. His eyes rose to meet the similar pair of his father's, studying the man leaning forward in his seat eagerly,
"Well…I guess you've been right all along." A single gray-streaked eyebrow rose in confusion, a signal that his father was about to interject, causing Kendall to rush and explain his reasoning,
"I mean, I've realized that basketball will get me nowhere. At least business has a good, steady income and I won't be struggling at the bottom of the food chain. I bet if I try really hard and get some help filling out applications, maybe some other colleges will accept me, right?"
At the end of the spiel, Mr. Knight slapped his knee and let out a hearty laugh,
"That's my boy! I always knew you'd come around eventually, didn't I tell you Dear?"
"Yes, you did Honey," Mrs. Knight nodded, smiling with her eyes but containing her joy. She turned to her eldest and only son, clasping her palm over his right hand in order to verify his choice,
"But Kendall, is this really what you want?"
"Of course it is dear!" Mr. Knight exclaimed without waiting to hear Kendall's answer, not noticing how his son had resorted to stirring the remaining food on his plate in silence.
"This is wonderful Kendall! I knew you could do great things-this career path is clearly the best choice anyways and son, now I know you'll be setting out towards a promising future!"
"Yeah Dad," Kendall glanced up, a smile plastered to his face but all the light vacant from his eyes,
"It'll be great…nothing would make me happier."
Don't you think that's great that I never seem to pass up the chance to add a little bit of Jatie lovin'
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