Tightrope

This Might Just Be A Bit Of Fun

I hadn't spent any substantial amount of time with Cole Knight in years.

It turned out he was arrogant, sarcastic, a little selfish, amusing and loved to make jokes at my expense, even though I was saving him from a life on the streets.

So obviously, we were undeniably similar.

"I don't get it, right?" said Knight, who was swinging dangerously on my egg chair and would likely break it, or topple straight off. I really enjoyed the way he appreciated the extent of my generous hospitality by respecting my things. It was sweet, how long it took him to touch anything, as he refused to be a burden on my personal space. The 0.4 seconds he hovered in the doorway were truly telling of his humility. "How could they kick me out? I'm awesome. And pretty. Bad things aren't supposed to happen to pretty people. It's literally hot privilege. It's a thing, I heard. Like, I've been rich and hot all my life. This isn't supposed to happen to me."

The brooding sad white boy thing was slightly less effective since he'd inhaled helium—I had some in my room, it made me feel better when I was sad—and his voice was reminiscent of a Beverly Hills Chihuahua audition. It was hard to think of him as a beneficiary of hot person privilege when he sounded like he'd walked off the Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack.

"I get it man," I said, slightly disoriented. I was lying with my head dangling off the edge of my bed, staring at Knight upside down. There was a tiny chip in the paint above his head. My eyes crossed as I tried to stare at it. His swinging didn't help the dizziness. Nor did the time; it was after 2AM, and Knight and I had giggled ourselves silly coming home, belting out the words to AC/DC and the Bubble Guppies theme song. We'd also tried to do Follow the Yellow Brick Road, but I couldn't do the skipping and arm linking, with the crutches, and without all that, there's really no point. The neighbours probably thought we were drunk. I had planned to be, before being a good Samaritan had impeded me. Instead, he was drunk on the thoughts of a warm bed and clean clothes, and I was just... excited. I couldn't say why, or how. But somehow, it felt like the start of something important. 

Or at least I'd thought so, until we'd argued profusely while setting up a makeshift bed in the closet. He had complained that I wasn't offering my bed. Apparently, I was a bad hostess. 

He was just a dick. 

"How do you get it? Are you homeless?"

"No, I've just been rich and hot all my life."

I'd been planning to spend the night in the guest house, so that I wouldn't wake up my family. But Knight needed things; hot food and clothes and a shower, so I'd forced him to carry me up the stairs so that we could be silent. He'd protested the whole time.

"It's good, though, right?" Knight said dreamily. "I like being hot and rich. But, see, the thing is. I'm not even hot without my wealth. Everyone knows that money equals sexy. Something about fancier skincare products, adequate sleep and no stress." He touched his hair cautiously. "What if the stress makes me go bald?"

I grinned. "Vanity is a sin, you know."

Knight looked pensive. "I've heard sinners are sexy."

"Yeah, okay, Lucifer," I replied. "I'm sure all the people are gonna think, 'wow, Cole Knight just stared at himself in the mirror for six hours? What a bad boy, I hope he has my babies.'"

Knight laughed. "I prefer to stare at myself for seven hours. Got to give myself the appreciation it deserves." There was a pause. "I know you obviously can't relate."

"Ha. Ha."

Despite his selfish vanity, I realised I really liked this guy. There was a certain kinship, a similarity. For a moment, I wondered why I had invited him to stay with me. Compassion may have played a role, sure, but maybe there was a bit of longing there too. I'd always been a little jealous—jealous of all my friends, coupled up in duos of friendship rather than ones of romance. I'd always romanticised the connection between Daria and Jace, even though I hated him, always wanted it for myself. Alec and Liv, Jace and Daria, even the weird bond between Cady and Jonah.