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Chapter Five

Monday, June 18, 2018

When I see Daniel sitting in the corner of the High Street Diner, excitement jolts through my body. Am I supposed to feel this way about someone I just met?

I try to think of something clever, but once I reach him, all I say is, "Hey."

He smiles up at me, just like I expected him to.

"Hey, Kai. How are you?"

"Tired," I say.

I was still awake in the early hours of this morning due to editing. I forced myself to go to bed around two a.m. so that I could have a tiny bit of energy to get up and run just a few measly hours later.

"Didn't sleep much?"

"About three hours."

"Three hours!" he exclaims, staring at me incredulously. "You need more sleep than that."

I shrug a little and he shakes his head.

I take his order and begin walking to the kitchen to deliver his request but turn back when he calls my name.

"I, uh...."

He's nervous again, looking at the table, the floor, the wall, pretty much anywhere but me. I give him time to process what he wants to say.

"Well... I know if I don't ask you right now, I never will."

My heart feels as if it skips a beat.

"I'm here to shyly and... awkwardly... ask for your number," he says, glancing up at me.

I break into a bashful smile myself, wondering why someone like him would be nervous to ask someone like me for something like that.

"Did you honestly think I was going to say no?" I say timidly. I've always hated that when I'm feeling different emotions at the same time, all my voice does is become quiet and hard to hear.

Daniel looks down, grinning.

"I don't know. A guy just worries, right?"

"You're not the only one," I laugh.

Seconds later, I walk away to the kitchen, leaving a note with my phone number on it behind.

***

I ring the doorbell to the right of the front door and wait.

Several seconds later, thirteen year old Liv Porter swings the door open wide and shoots me an exasperated look when she sees me standing a ways back on the front porch.

"Why do you insist on ringing the doorbell every single time you come over?" she says.

I let out a laugh and step inside as she struts away screaming, "Kai's here!" for the rest of the house to hear. Asher bounds down the stairs in front of me only seconds later.

"What's up, Kai?" he grunts as he passes me to enter the living room. I hold back a laugh; Blaire's fifteen year old brother is too confident for his own good.

I turn into the kitchen and dining area to find Blaire and her mom, Kimber, preparing a salad for our meal at the island.

"Hi," I greet as I walk over and begin to help. Both say hello and involve me in their conversation.

Minutes later, after Hal, Blaire's dad, has brought in the grilled food from the backyard, I'm seated at the dinner table with the family I'm practically apart of.

On February 28, 2016, when I was fifteen years old, I walked into Sojourn for the first time with the Porter family, having been invited by Blaire, a very confident and sparky girl in my grade.

We hadn't spoken much before that, mostly because our personalities are polar opposites, but she made a point of inviting me to church with her once we worked in a group project together at school and she found out that once my shy shell was broken through, I wasn't actually all that bad.

In the months that followed that Sunday morning, slowly but surely, Blaire became my best friend, confidant, and one to lean on when my mom wasn't present.

Once Kimber and Hal learned from their daughter that her best friend was left home alone most evenings while her mother worked into the late hours of the night, they began picking me up for dinner at their house almost every day. Just like that, I became a part of the family.

Over the past two years as I've grown older and more independent, the gatherings have become less frequent, but eating once or twice a week with the Porters reminds me that my lonely life was turned around as they opened their home to me when mine wasn't much of one at all.

After the meal, Blaire and I sprawl out in her room, talking about anything that comes to mind, like we always do.

In the midst of one of the rare moments of silence between us, it hits me how truly blessed I am to have this girl in my life. I can tell her anything and trust that she will tell no one else. I can be myself in her presence and know she won't judge me. Though we tease and fake fight, I know she cares about me just as much as I care about her.

"I'm surprised with how easily I'm becoming comfortable around Daniel," I say quietly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Blaire look at me.

"He's kind. Talented. Sweet. Humble."

My best friend tries not to show it, but she's beaming.

"I've never... felt so close to someone I know so little about so quickly. It's strange, but... wonderful, I guess. Although I can't help but think about the fact that he's leaving this Saturday. I'm dreading it. Mostly because I feel that this- whatever it is- could've lead to an authentic friendship, but... once he leaves, it'll be hard to hold onto it."

"Kai," my best friend whispers, smiling at me gently, "even though I only watched you two interact with each other for about two hours last night, I saw something between you. Your personalities match. I know that if both of you put work into keeping this friendship going once he returns to L.A., in the future... it'll turn into more than just that."