Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
KALI DIDN'T LIKE TO LEAVE her room unless she really had to, like taking Cole out for a walk or filling up his bowls in the kitchen. The best thing about those dreadful times were that she got to do them alone, in peace. She hated leaving her bedroom to enter a world of chatter and conversations. She especially hated being trapped in a smelly van with Argyle. That boy made her miss Steve Harrington.
Argyle stared at the girl for a long moment, having never really spent time with her before. Jonathan told him all crazy kinds of stories about Kali when he was high, but Argyle couldn't remember many of them — because he was also high. His eyes ran down Kaliʼs shirt, which was most-definitely bought in the mensʼ isle until he reached her hand, finding a tattoo of an ace of spades, then vines that went over her fingers, a tiny name on the side of her thumb. The more he looked at the girl, the more ink he found on her body.
"When did you get your first tattoo?" he asked brightly, having no problem with speaking to uninviting strangers.
Before answering his question, Kali glanced outside the window to see how long she'd have left in the van with him alone. Jonathan was still at the bank machine, where Eleven and Will chatted away. Kali sighed and turned to meet Argyleʼs eyes. "The day I was born," she answered blandly.
Argyle grinned. "Whoa! You're dad must've been cool as shit!"
"He wasn't," Kali deadpanned.
The side door slid open and Jonathan entered the van with the kids, filling Kali with a sense of relief, glad she wasn't alone to smell the weed that radiated off Argyleʼs body. Although, she was pretty sure everyone else in the vehicle was used to it given their lack of reactions.
Even though everyone else joined them, Argyle still wasn't done with the conversation. He blinked slowly, and Kali was sure she could pop his brain like a balloon. "Wait. I'm confused," he stated, his stoned state causing him to drag out his words. "I thought we liked your dad."
Kali glared at him.
"Different dad," Jonathan jumped in swiftly.
Argyle beamed, not catching on quite as well. "Your dads are gay too! Man, y'all must throw some lit parties!"
Kali wanted to slap him in the face.
Knowing that Kali wouldn't be able to stand another ten seconds with him, Jonathan cringed. "Argyle, just...drive."
"To the airport we go!"
At the back of the van, Eleven and Will smiled with excitement.
༄༄༄
KALI TRIED STAYING AT THE back of the group, distancing herself away from the others, but Cole wasn't having any of it. The dog demanded to be beside Will, his second-favourite person in the house, only because he gave him all his spare snacks. This made everything and everyone around uncomfortable because of the way Eleven clenched her jaw and only looked straight ahead, careful to not let her eyes slide over on her big sister. Nobody commented on it, because everybody was used to it. Kali broke a promise, and Eleven hated her for it. They both lost their brother, they both lost their father, but all Kali could do was think about herself and her own feelings, leaving her baby sister, her last family member, on the side to cope on her own.
