Ordinary Human Beings

19: King Kennie

With the orange hues of the sky finally settling down and turning into deep blues, I walked back to the campsite after watching the water for a while. On my way there, I stumbled upon a Lilly, and I picked it up, blowing off the dirt and continuing on my path.

Hearing whispers as I got closer, I hid behind a tree to see who was talking. Sofia's blonde wet hair stuck out to me the most, and Audrey's bangs blew in the wind softly. I crouched down and peeked at them, trying to listen in on their conversation.

"Is she even coming?" Audrey said, kicking the leaves. "She's taking forever."

"I don't get why I have to be the one to do it," Sofia murmured. "Kendall hasn't done anything wrong."

"Yeah but she should know who runs this place," Audrey scoffed as I stood up, preparing myself to confront them. "She can't keep running around here like she's in charge of everyone. She's not a queen."

"You're absolutely right," I agreed, walking over to them. "I'm not the queen here, I'm king."

Sofia's stunned expression changed to a more amused one. She crossed her arms, taking a step forward. "You can't be king, Kendall. No one made you the king."

"I did, actually."

I looked past Sofia and Audrey, watching Yasmina smile as she sauntered over to us. She bumped shoulders with Audrey, standing beside me and linking arms with me. Instinctively, I kissed her cheek, putting a few of her braids behind her ear.

"Is this an ambush?" Audrey rolled her eyes.

"It was going to be one, I just evened the playing field," Yasmina answered, grinning at her as Audrey frowned. "This thing of ganging up on Kendall is over, we have one more day till we're back home and a week or two before school starts."

"And your point is?"

"Her point is that I'm no longer going against your trio," I spoke up for Yasmina. "Or more like what's left of it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"
Sofia and I locked eyes once more before I stared at Audrey. "Seems like one of you is going to go against the other soon. I don't know who told you I was competing with you to be the golden girl, but now that I actually have concrete evidence of you literally plotting against me, I can safely say I'm competing."

"I thought you knew better." Sofia looked down.

"I thought you did too, apparently you're just as dumb as Audrey here is," I replied, earning a chuckle from Yasmina. "May the best girl win."

Audrey huffed before turning around and storming back to the campsite. Sofia stood there, and I waited for her to go, but she didn't.

Yasmina turned to me. "Do you need company? I can stay with you if you don't trust her enough alone."

I gave Yasmina a hug. "I'll be fine, just make sure to tell Isa I'll be there in a minute."

Yasmina nodded, exchanging glances with Sofia before running off, leaving us as the sun continued to set.

"I really thought we were turning over a new leaf, Sofia," I murmured, disappointed. "I thought you were tired of the constant fighting between us."

"I thought so too," she replied. "That's until Audrey told me you were planning on becoming head girl."

"And you believed her? Come on, Sofie, between the two of us…you'd be the head girl because I'd rather stay away from the spotlight." I took a step closer to her. "You of all people know that."

"I don't believe you." She avoided my gaze.

"You're really willing to let Audrey, the girl that bullied us in freshman year, tell you that your best friend—"