PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LI. I Will Get Down On My Knees And Beg

Chapter Fifty One:  I Will Get Down On My Knees And Beg

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"Hello!" Ben snapped on the campers as Eva and Kenji rejoined them in the living room. "I thought we were supposed to be searching for gas? A patch for the boat? A GPS? Any of this ringin' a bell?"

"Dude, chill, have some water." Kenji tossed him one of the bottles.

Ben caught it with ease, and looked down at it confused. He took a sip, his eyes widening. He sniffed the bottle, then took another sip, and sighed in content.

"Oh, does this place have a hot tub?" Yaz asked as she took a seat on the couch beside Sammy.

Eva looked to Kenji, to find him already surveying her. They shared unspoken words, both thinking about their time spent in the pool room.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" Samy said in amazement.

"A gym?" Yaz gasped.

Eva nudged Kenji. "You're flexing hard, big man."

He nudged her back. "You think they're liking it here?"

"You're that nervous, huh? Dude, look at them, they're clearly in love. Just be glad no one has questioned why we came here alone, yet."

Kenji snickered, gaze focusing on his shoes.

"Hey, uh—" Kenji picked up a bag of popcorn and jingled it in front of Eva's face. "Want a snack?"

Eva grabbed the bag with faux interest, then tossed it into Brooklynn's lap. "I don't like popcorn."

"I thought you were just saying that?"

Eva cupped Kenji's cheeks and brought him down to her height. "I don't, like, popcorn."

Then she let him go, dusting off his shoulder while he stared at her, shocked.

He walked away quickly, zoning in on Yaz and Sammy. "What awesomeness are you two looking at?"

"This adorable drawing you made of your adorable family!"

Yaz pointed at the drawing as Eva approached, curious. "Is that mermaid your aunt or...?"

Kenji yoinking the paper away from them. "I got all this baller stuff and you zone in on something I drew when I was five?"

"Mermaid? On brand," Eva giggled. "We better end up playing mermaids when we get back to the mainland." Sammy and Yaz shared a look, but Eva continued, clueless, "Go up to Green Lakes State Park, glamping, roasted marshmallows..."

"Uh, guys?" Ben said, now on the balcony. He was peering over the edge, his water long forgotten. Brooklynn, Darius, Kenji and Eva migrated outside to see what was wrong. "She only acts like that when she senses danger or when she's constipated," he said in reference to Bumpy down on the ground, who was beating her tail and pacing back and forth.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope it's the second one," Brooklynn said.

"And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope it's danger." As much as she was tired of running from dinosaurs, whatever happened in the pool room made it feel like everything was okay again between her and Kenji, and if she had to fess up about her feelings, maybe everything would be wrong, again. Eva turned to Kenji. "You're going down, Pretty Boy!"