Yeah, Katsu Mori didn’t think much of us. Damon was trouble, and I was… nothing. At least Michael was ambitious. He was a leader, and Kai’s father respected that as a viable influence for his son.
But Kai just joked back. “Don’t be like that,” he cooed to Damon. “He was really flattered you approved of his taste in women when you adjusted yourself right in front of him at the sight of my mother.”
“In a bathing suit, Kai!” Damon pointed out, looking at Kai over his shoulder. “I mean, what the fuck? Jesus.”
I shook with a laugh, remembering that day last summer we were all at Kai’s house.
“And you all think I don’t have any shame,” Damon said. “If she weren’t your mom…”
“My father would still rip your dick up through your stomach and out your mouth?” Kai retorted.
Damon quieted, settling back into his seat and sticking his cigarette into his mouth. “Daddy’s boy.”
Kai shook his head, but I saw the smile fade as he looked out the window.
“Maybe we’ll stay in the area and go to Trinity instead,” Michael said, “so we can all be close to Kai’s mom.”
I snorted, all of us laughing as Kai rolled his eyes.
I took a puff off the cigarette, realization starting to dawn. It was months away, but it was coming. Different schools. Different states.
New people.
And that’s what scared me the most. People change us. Others become important, while others become less, and soon, we’d be gone.
She’d be gone.
I turned my eyes out my window, the inevitable sitting on my shoulders like a house.
“Okay, Devil’s Night…” Michael cleared his throat. “Probably the catacombs, but keep the cemetery in mind,” he told us. “I’m thinking about changing it up this year. There are some tombs, and that Bell Tower through the woods. What are you guys thinking for your pranks?”
I couldn’t think of anything yet. Nothing good anyway.
“I’m kind of thinking about getting out of town,” Kai answered. “Meridian City. The Whitehall district, maybe. Or the opera house? Maybe book a floor at a hotel?”
“The whole point is to be here with our people,” Damon told him. “On our turf.”
Kai was silent, and I saw him open up his course catalog again, mumbling, “Just an idea.”
I watched the both of them, kind of enjoying how they hardly ever got along. Kai was ready for tomorrow. Damon never wanted to leave today.
I had no idea where the hell I was half the time, let alone where I wanted to be.
An idea occurred to me, though. “The Cove,” I said. “After hours.”
Damon nodded. “That might be an idea.”
I looked over at him. “I heard a rumor the place might not be open much longer.”
“Even better.”
“Too much of a liability,” Michael interjected. “Drunk people get stupid, and stupid people on roller coasters will piss me off.”
Come on. It would be fun. Just us and a few others—invitation only.
But as usual, my ideas were tabled.
“I’ll think of something,” Kai told him. “Something that lets us end the night in one piece, and between the sheets with something pretty.”