Chapter 12: Distancing
I woke up the next morning, took a shower, got changed, and headed downstairs. I was wearing jeans, a white fitted tee, Sora's hoodie, and my Uggz.
"Morning Kai." Cloud greeted. I ignored him, grabbed my toast, and headed out the door. I heard the door open again.
"Kairi, wait up!" Cloud shouted. I stopped and turned on my heel.
"What?" I asked.
"Sorry about dinner last night." He said. I rolled my eyes.
"Now, how was that your fault?" I asked.
"Well, I don't know, I just-"
"Whatever." I said continuing my walk to my car. I climbed in. Cloud came and tapped on the window. I rolled it down.
"Look, Kairi-"
"I don't want to talk to you right now, Cloud." I said rolling the window back up and speeding out of the driveway. I looked in my rearview mirror, and saw Cloud yelling some things. I looked back to the road, and soon made it to Namine's. She came out and climbed into the passenger's seat.
"Hey." She said quietly.
"Hi." I replied.
"Look, I'm really sorry about last night. It was my fault. I never should've tempted Roxas." She said.
"It's fine." I said.
"No it's not. I feel horrible."
"Well, don't." I said as we pulled up in front of Rikku's house. She got into the car.
"Hi guys." She said.
"Hey." Namine and I chimed.
"But Namine, don't worry about it." I said.
"Ok. So how was your night with the guys?" she asked.
"What?" Rikku asked leaning forward.
"Our little Kai was out with the boys last night." Namine said giggling.
"How did that happen?" Rikku asked.
"Well, my parents and I got into a fight about the guys again. So I left my house, and Sora ran into me with his skateboard. I asked if I could go to his house because there was no way I was going back to mine. He said it was fine and we headed to his house. We ordered a pizza and I met his brother Nathan, who hit on me. But he's in college, so it doesn't really matter what he thinks of me. So we ate pizza and then the other three guys burst into Sora's room and-"
"You were in Sora's room?" Rikku screamed.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Holy crap, Kai! At the guy's house, and then in his bedroom? My God." Rikku said.
"Shut up! We ate pizza!" I yelled.
"Ok, ok. So what happened then?" Namine asked.
"Ok. So the guys came over, and we headed to the skate park. On the way there we were passing my house and Roxas and I started shouting purposely trying to get Cloud's attention, and it worked. Cloud came out and tried to bring me back to my house, but the guys stood up for me and wouldn't let Cloud touch me. So we went to the skate park and the guys taught me how to skate-"
"You learned how to skate?" Namine interrupted.
"Yeah. So anyways, then we went to get ice cream before I had to go home. That's when you called Nam. So we quickly ran out of there and back to my house. We also almost got hit by three cars, so don't run in the streets at night. So I finally made it back to my house and Cloud was waiting for me in my room." I finally finished explaining.
"Wow. Wild night." Rikku said. We started laughing and we reached the school.
"Wait, Kai! You forgot to pick up Maddie!" Namine yelled.
"Chill. She called me last night; she's on vacay." I said. We got out of the car and started towards the boys who were on the other side of the lawn. Roxas saw us coming and nudged Sora.
"Dude, she's wearing your hoodie." He said to Sora. Sora's eyes got big.
"Aww, it's a sign of affection." Axel said seeing what they were talking about. He showed Riku.
"Aww, how cute." Riku said laughing.
"Shut up! At least I have someone that likes me." Sora defended.
"Umm, hello? Dating Namine here." Roxas said.
"You're not dating Namine. You told her you liked her. And as far as I know, she didn't say it back." Riku said.
"Shut up, pretty boy. As far as I know, no girls have even talked to you." Roxas said.
"Whatever! Shut up, here they come." Axel said.
"Hey Kai-"Sora started.
"Nathan?" I yelled. Nathan turned around and I ran up to him.
"Hey Kai." He said.
"What are you doing here?" I asked eagerly.
"Well, I'm on break right now, so I came to visit you guys." He said smiling. I smiled.
"Oh! These are my friends!" I said motioning the girls over. "This is Namine-"I said pointing to Nam. "And this is Rikku." I said. "My other friend Maddie would be here, but she's on vacation." I finished.
"Cool. So how'd everything go with your parents?" Nathan asked.
"Umm, I don't know. I haven't talked to them since dinner last night." I said.
"Oh. Well, isn't your dad like the principal or something?" he asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Sora told me."
"Oh. What else did Sora tell you?" I asked.
"That your family hates him and his friends."
"Oh, he mentioned that."
"Yeah. And that he thinks you're really pr-"Sora stepped on Nathan's foot. "Dude, what was that for?" Nathan yelled.
"Sorry, you know I'm always clumsy." Sora replied. Just then the bell rang. 'Thank God.' Sora thought. Everyone went to class, and luckily for me, Nathan got to follow us around all day since he was a visitor. First period ended and we were walking to our lockers.
"So, how do you think your dad will react?" Sora asked me once we reached our lockers. And as if on cue, my dad came over the PA system and asked for me to come to the office.
"Well, we'll find out, now won't we?" I said shutting my locker. "Tootles." I said to the group walking to the office.
"She sure has a lot of confidence." Roxas whispered to Namine.
"Well, I mean, it is her dad." Namine replied. Roxas shrugged and they all headed to their next class.
I walked slowly to my dad's office. I mean, hey, it was getting me out of class. I finally made it there and my dad told me to come in.
"Sit." My dad said motioning his hand towards the chair. I sat down and faced him.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Where did you go last night?" he asked.
"I went to a friend's house."
"Cloud said you were with those skaters."
"Maybe I was."
"This is no time to get smart, young lady."
"Dad! What is so wrong about them? Tell me, please. Because apparently, I don't understand."
"They're just different."
"Well, that's not good enough."
"Well, it'll have to be."
"Dad. If I don't learn, I'll never know. Do you want me to go through my life not knowing?" I asked tilting my head to the side.
"You know enough."
"But, why do you hate them?"
"Skaters, they just can't be trusted. They've got liar written all over them."
"But that's not true! Sora and his friends are so sweet!" I yelled standing up.
"You watch your tone!" he barked back.
"Well, it's true." I said sitting back down.
"Look, Kairi. I know you like them and all…but it's just not in the cards. You're not like them. They're all dark, and you're not."
"Dad, I was just like them when I went to Black Hill." I retorted.
"And why do you think I pulled you out of there? I knew you were changing. I knew you weren't my little girl anymore. And it was those skaters that changed you."
"That's a lie." I said.
"Is it?" he inquired standing up and walking to his window. He turned back around to me. "Then what was it? The thing that changed you." He said.
"I grew up. I wasn't six anymore, Dad. Of course, I wasn't your little girl anymore."
"You were growing. And look at you now. You're a beautiful young lady."
"Dad-"
"Do you think you would be like this if you went to Black Hill any longer?"
"Dad-"
"I mean, you're so perfect now and-"
"Dad! I don't wanna be perfect. My happiness was there. And you took that from me." I said.
Meanwhile…
The bell rang letting the students pass to their next class. Namine and Roxas walked out of their class together.
"Where do you think Kai is?" Namine asked.
"I don't know. Maybe she'll meet us during free period." Roxas replied.
"Yeah." Namine said. They put their stuff in their lockers and headed for the doors. They met up with the others at the fountain.
"I wonder what's taking Kairi so long." Rikku said walking up to Namine.
"I know, me too. Come on, let's go to the oak." Namine replied. Rikku nodded and they started walking away.
"Hey! Where are you guys going?" Riku asked after them.
"We'll be at the oak. If you see Kai, tell her to meet us there." Namine yelled back. The two girls headed for the oak while the guys stayed back at the fountain and talked.
Back with Me…
"Dad, I really should go." I said.
"No. I'm not finished yet." My dad replied. "Why, Kairi. Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why them? You had friends here. Why did you have to become friends with them?"
"Dad. I didn't choose to meet them. I got assigned to work with Sora. And the girls got his friends. And then we all just became friends."
"You didn't have to become friends."
"We didn't try to become friends. It just happens, Dad." I said standing up.
"Where are you going?"
"Dad, I need to get to class. Can we talk about this at home? It's not like I can go anywhere anyways." I said.
"Fine." My dad said sighing. I smiled walking out the door and down the hall. I went outside since it was free period and my friends were probably out here somewhere. I saw the guys by the fountain.
"Hey guys." I said walking up.
"Oh my god, Sora! I-is it a mirage?" Roxas asked. He slowly inched over and poked my arm.
"No, I'm not a mirage." I yelled laughing.
"Jeez, Kai. What took you so long?" Sora asked.
"He wanted to know where I was last night." I said.
"And it took you that long?" Axel asked.
"What, did you tell him everything that happened? And if you did, please tell me you didn't mention the whole Nathan hitting on you thing. Your dad would like kill him." Sora said.
"Don't worry. I didn't tell him what happened last night. Anyways, where are the girls?" I asked.
"Oh, they're at the oak." Roxas said.
"Kay. Ttyl." I said walking towards the oak.
"Kairi! You still didn't tell us what took you so long!" Sora shouted after me.
"Dude, leave her alone. Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you. I bet she'd rather talk to a man." Nathan said walking up.
"Then she can talk to me and my friends." Sora said.
"Oh, are you saying I'm not a man?" Nathan asked.
"Um, duh? Seriously, it's not that hard to figure out. I mean, you were the one calling the house after two weeks at college saying that you needed money because you spent it all on beer." Sora said.
"Hey! I did not say I spent it on beer." Nathan defended.
"But you did though, didn't you?"
"Maybe."
"You're not even allowed to drink!" Sora said.
"You wanna talk any louder?"
"It would be my pleasure."
"Ok, guys. Just stop." Roxas said pulling Sora back.
"Yeah, Sora. Listen to your friend." Nathan said.
"Why are you even trying to make Kairi like you?" Sora asked.
"I don't know. It's just a little project I'm working on while I'm here." Nathan said.
"What?" the others screamed at the same time.
"What? You guys seemed surprised." Nathan said. Sora went over and punched Nathan in the face. "Dude, what the hell?"
"You don't treat Kairi like that!" Sora yelled.
"What do you care? She's just some stupid preppy girl who'll ditch you in a second."
"That's not true!" Sora said.
"Isn't it though? I mean, how much can you trust her? Mom and Dad sure don't."
"They don't trust her dad."
"So? She's his own blood, what's the difference?"
"Why are you being such an ass? She trusts you."
"But I don't trust her." Nathan said walking away.
"Ugh! See if he's still alive in the morning." Sora said.
"Look, Sora. Just let it go." Riku said putting a hand on his shoulder. Sora shrugged it off.
"I'm just sick of him. I wish he'd just go back to college." Sora said looking up at the sky.