Summer Solstice

Love, Fear, And Auras

"Idiot." I grumbled under my breath.

Maybe I was being a little biased in my view, but it just seemed wrong that Joe could leave the situation between Kaida and him the way it was. I didn't want him to explain everything to her, I didn't need him to explain anything at all. I just wanted him to talk to her and tell her he was going to be busy. Anything would be better than severing all contact with her.

I stomped back up the hill, snow splattering under my feet. Joe moved to the side as I stormed past him, and he looked away. Yes, I was angry, and I didn't care if he knew it. My best friend deserved more than a second-hand goodbye.

Joe moved towards Miki, and he and Nalu started walking up the hill with Joe. Just before the edge of the trees, Nalu turned around and gave me a sympathetic look. Great, all of the boys had heard our conversation. I sighed and scrubbed my hands over my face, I didn't need anybody else deciding they were mad at me.

The boys could call me nosey, or say I was butting in, but Kaida was... Kaida. And being my best friend, she needed more than a slammed door in her face, which was basically what Joe had done. And I still wasn't sure if she'd understood the button, or had misread it as I had. Did she think it was just a 'kiss' too?

The other boys were still standing in the woods, waiting for Konai, Teddy and Sky to return. I stopped at the center of the small group and looked around. Tin was staring at the ground, his expression unreadable, and I wondered how many of them were upset with me for talking to Joe.

Dasan reached up and put his hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay. And I think you're right... and wrong."

"And why is that?" I reached up and rubbed the center of my forehead, trying to ward off any oncoming headaches.

Tin smiled sadly, then walked past Tor to stand by me, "Joe is going to get himself hurt if he's around her too much, but he also needs to be fair to her. This isn't going to be easy on either of them."

I leaned back and stared at the sky, praying for a little guidance. How far would I go to spare my best friend the heartache that was coming, and would I only be forcing Joe to hurt himself instead?

The four boys turned, looking back towards the open field, and I saw Konai and Teddy returning, Sky following slowly behind them, keeping his distance. Before I could even ask, the four boys pasted on excited smiles and started calling out to Konai. They were all asking if they could go get something to eat.

Dasan stood beside me as the other boys walked over and started talking to the guardians. He leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry, we wouldn't want him to know anyways. He's very sensitive when it comes to his little sister." He reached his arm around my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze, "And smile. Everything will be okay. I can feel it." Dasan put his hands on his hips and yelled, "Can we PLEASE go eat now?" I laughed and covered my ears.

Konai looked towards us and smiled, then said something to the other boys, who began to smile and whoop. The boys rushed back towards us, all except Sky, who's steps slowed as he watched the other boys hurry to leave. I wished he felt just a little more comfortable being around us, just enough to get closer to us.

I jogged towards the group of boys, then called over their heads, "Hey Sky, want to go eat?" He stopped walking and stared at me, looking confused. I suddenly hoped I hadn't offended him. The closest he'd gotten to any of us, voluntarily, was that first day in the forest, when he'd ran down the hill and said it was nice to meet me.

Sky surprised me and actually hesitated. He tilted his head to the side and glanced up at the other boys. Tin waved his arm, bidding Sky to hurry up, and Dasan smiled, "Come on, time to stuff our faces."