The Hijinks War

47. Not a Dress Rehearsal

There was a whimpering sound, like a dog crying, and a boot clad foot landed in front of me, narrowly missing my nose.

"Whah?" I grumbled and shoved the foot away. I tried to sit but found another body part on me. Jackson's other leg was strewn over my middle, pinning me down on yet another leg. Too many legs, my mind processed the thought slowly. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see mounds that resembled my friends around the fire pit.

Katia slept as she had been sitting most of the night, leaning against the cave wall. At her side was Kellen, his head surprisingly resting on her hip with her hand on his shoulder. He slept in the most awkward position, one leg pulled up, and the other stretched out and trapped under me. No wonder I'd been so uncomfortable.

The whining that had woken me was coming from Kellen and I got up and gently shook his leg. "Kels? You okay?"

"Huh? What's happening? Why are...?"

"You were crying."

He stood, slowly and shuffled away from the group after eyeing them all as if he'd forgotten where we were. "I wasn't," he grumbled as he stepped out of the cave.

I tugged my jacket around me and joined him. "You kind of were, Kels... Nightmare?"

"Don't remember," he said and pulled me into a hug when I shivered.

I pushed out of his grasp and ducked back into the cave, returning with one of our unused sleeping bags. As I unrolled it and tossed it around both our shoulders, I grinned. "You and Katia were cuddling!"

I thought he'd be happy that Katia would do something as nice as that when she supposedly hated him. He shrugged as he sat on the ledge, pulling me down beside him. "How can I be so twisted about this, Cole?"

"About what?"

"Katia."

Understanding what he meant was beyond me at that moment, and I laid back on the ground, waiting for him to continue. He laid back too, and we stared at the stars in the waning early morning darkness for some time, pulling the ends of the blanket over us.

"I want us to be better.

"I know."

"But I am so mad at her. Last night just reminded me."

"Why? We've already established you guys have both done stupid shit to each other. If you want her to forgive you, it goes both ways."

"In theory, yes."

"What makes it so hard?" I had a feeling he remembered his nightmare. Why else would he be so invested in this anger? Last night they'd been nothing short of normal teasing siblings.

"I know she doesn't like me, but we've never done anything actually hurtful to each other. That time in the dining hall was a mistake, I've tried to tell her that many times. I didn't mean for that whole thing to happen, I was actually worried about her!"

"I know."

"I know I messed up, but she wouldn't even hear me out. I never thought she'd go and..."

The hacking. He was still mad at her over that. I wondered if I should tell him what I knew; I was already involved so was I really butting in?

"That wasn't her, Kels," I said finally. "She had nothing to do with that."

"So she says." His laugh was cynical, like I was stupid for believing her.

"Kellen. It really wasn't her. Hads and Vivi called her out on it and she flipped on them for even suggesting she would do it. She said she was going to find and destroy whoever did."