The Destined Protector (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 1)

Thirteen · · · Monta (.2)

"Where to first?" Chanta asked the only adult among them. He rubbed his bare hands together to warm them up from the cold.

Ray raised his hand like he was back in school. "My house," he offered. He tilted his head as if he was unsure.

Chanta didn't say anything when he took off down the street. Chaka whispered something in Ray's ear that made him smile. It was most likely something that was reassuring since it also made him give her a nudge. Chaka laughed and nudged him back.

"Don't you think they're cute together?" Tapalla asked.

Monta and Tapalla walked behind Chaka and Ray trying not to creepily watch them.

"Yes, they are," Monta said. "Do you think they're dating?"

Tapalla shrugged her shoulders. "I think so. They look like it."

Monta wiggled his nose in frustration. He wanted to talk to Tapalla about there kiss and what it meant, but he didn't want to ruin anything. There wasn't any weirdness between them, but Monta felt like there should have been.

"What about us?" he asked rubbing his forehead.

"What do you mean?" Tapalla asked as she looked up at him.

When Monta looked back at her, he could see her face turning red as she bit her lip.

"Stop blushing, please," Monta swayed back and forth as he walked.

"What do you mean?" she asked again, looking away.

Monta rolled his eyes and asked, "Can you please stop saying that?"

"What do-" Tapalla started to ask but stopped herself. "I mean, oh, I don't know. What do you want me to say?"

"Something?" Monta suggested. "I just wanted to know what you thought of us and our...."

"Kiss?" Tapalla asked. She gulped before she said, "Sorry. I blurted that out. I didn't mean to do that."

Monta shook his head. "No, it's fine. I just wanted to talk about it, but never mind. It's nothing."

Tapalla hit Monta's arm, making him smile. "It's not nothing, but I thought, for the time being, we could go on as we were. Everything's too complicated right now and I really don't feel like ruining our relationship."

Monta felt like a weight was taken off his shoulders. "I feel the same way," he said, though he still felt like they should take more about their kiss.

Tapalla nodded and said, "Good. That's good."

Monta didn't say anything else as they walked. Ray's house was close enough to Chaka's so the walk wasn't long and soon enough they entered his little home. Monta, Tapalla, Chaka, and Ray all shuffled in while Chanta stayed out in the cold. Ray's mala, Maylily Pollun, and his pala, Topna, sat at the small dining table in the front room holding hands.

Truthfully, Monta never saw any resemblance from Ray to his parents. While Ray long, straight black hair that usually ended up being greasy even if he cleaned it, his parents both had curly red hair that was dark. Ray didn't even have the same eye color as them since his eyes were gray and their eyes were mixed of dark and light blues. Their facial structures weren't even the same. Ray had more rounded features while his parents' features were sharper.

Tears were in Maylily's eyes, so when Ray saw her he quickly ran over to his mother. When he tried to soothe her, Maylily stuck out her hand and shook her head no. She didn't care about wiping her tears away and let them sit on her cheeks. Her dark tanned skin had become rosy pink from the irritation of her eyes.