Revealing Kia (7 page)

Too stunned to formulate proper words, I could only shake my head slowly.

She looked back at her feet, the smile melting away. “But I knew it couldn’t last. Eventually the night would end and you’d want to know who I was and I … I couldn’t…” She bit her lip so hard I feared she would draw blood. “I ran. I know that sounds so lame and cowardly, but you have no idea how torn I was. I couldn’t stand the thought of being rejected by you…”

“I
would never have rejected you,” I murmured quietly, so quietly, I wasn’t sure she heard me.

“It didn’t matter.
I knew I had to tell you and Nessie before Claudia did. The afternoon at the school, I was getting ready to do just that when, well, you know what happened.”

A portion of the shock had begun to recede, leaving me a small window of clarity as the situation unfurled
and and memories of that afternoon rushed through my mind.

“
She told me you moved, or that Marie had moved.” I shook my head. “I didn’t believe her. At least, I didn’t want to believe her. I’d already started to figure out you were Marie, but when she said you’d gone I began to have doubts that maybe I’d been wrong. Then I saw you on the stairs and I knew for sure.”

“
She lied,” Kia muttered bitterly. “She wanted you to stop looking for me so she could have you. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I wouldn’t let her have you.”

I wasn’t sure she realized what she’d just said, but I did a
nd it only further sealed my theory—we were both on the same page. I wasn’t letting her go either.

“What happened?” I asked when she fell silent for a moment.

There was fire in her eyes when they lifted to mine. “I told her I was going to tell you everything. I didn’t care anymore. I would rather you hated me than fall into her clutches. I wanted to beat that bitch’s face into the ground.”

The venom in her voice brought a slight grin to my face. “What happened with Van
essa?”

The fire faded
to a sad flicker. “She made it very clear that she would hate me and I … I couldn’t stand it, Adam. She’s my best friend, and as much as I want you, and God do I ever want you…” Her gaze, wet and shiny with tears, lifted to my face. “I can’t have you.”

Kia

Mr. Chaves stood at the stove the next morning when I shuffled my way downstairs. Kenny and Adam were at the table, heads bent over Kenny’s phone, but Adam looked up when I approached. His blue eyes soaked me in, leaving a scalding trail in their wake before settling on my face. I quickly looked away.

“Good morning, Kia.” Mrs. Chaves glanced up from the magazine open in front of her.

Grateful to have something else to keep my eyes busy, I
walked over and pulled out a chair.

“Morning.” I peeked at the magazine and grinned at the bright red circles marking nearly every piece of furniture on the page. “My
mom bought that wine rack last month,” I said, pointing.

Mrs. Chaves’ eyes widened with interest. “Does she like it?”

I shrugged. “I guess. She uses it for magazines. She and Joanne don’t really drink,” I explained when Mrs. Chaves blinked at me in confusion. “She rolled up all the magazines lying around the house and fit them through the slots. She’s very
Martha Stewart
like that.”

“That is brilliant!” she exclaimed, sitting back. “Donald and I don’t drink very often either, but this is just too adorable to pass up.”
She marked a check next to the rack.

“The
IKEA
catalog is like my mom and Joanne’s bible,” I said. “We have half that stuff cluttering the house, but in a very organized manner.”

Mrs. Chaves laughed.
“You’re so funny. Vanessa said you were, but … it’s nice.” She tilted her head slightly to the side. “So Joanne is your … sister?”

I hesitated. It was always tricky
answering that question. People were either pro or con the whole same sex relationship. Most of the time I could tell straight away, but other times it didn’t end so well. And in a town like Mayferd where most of the people weren’t as liberal minded and had a tendency to cling to the old ways … telling them about your mom’s lesbian lover tended to get interesting.

“Joanne is my mom’s partner,” I said evenly.

There was the expected look of confusion from the older woman as she tried to grasp the meaning behind my words.

“Life partner,” I added, figuring I might as well just rip the band aid right off. There
were still five days of holiday and I wanted to know where I stood with this family.

“Oh!” Realization lit the woman’s face right up. “I see.”

“It’s the twenty first century, Mom,” Adam muttered from across the table. He folded his arms and rested them on the table as he leaned over. “Get with the times.”

Mrs. Chaves’ face flushed. “No, no, I’m with it.” She looked at me, her eyes wide with a slight hint of alarm. “Really.
We do not discriminate. Right, Donald?”

From behind the stove,
Mr. Chaves raised a spatula bearing hand and waved, his attention focused on whatever he was making. It didn’t have a scent so he could have just been boiling water for all I knew.

“
We had a receptionist who was gay,” she went on hurriedly. “We had to let her go, but not because she was gay! She was very nice—”

“When she wasn’t sniffing the laughing gas,” Mr. Chaves chimed in
with a hint of impatience.

“Which of course had nothing to do with the fact that
she preferred a different lifestyle!”

I wanted to laugh, but Mrs. Chaves looked so distraught that I was afraid I might offend her or worse.

“Mom, relax
.” Adam laughed.

But if anything, his mom got even more agitated as she eyed me worriedly. Was she afraid I might flip out and kill everyone?

“I just really don’t want you to think we’re one of
those
people,” she said to me.

I offered her a smile. “I
t’s fine. Mom and Joanne have been together for a year, I’ve heard it all. But they’re happy and so am I.”

Some of the tension loosened from her shoulders and she smiled. “
I spoke to your mother on the phone when we were making arrangements to bring you with us and then again when we picked you up. She seemed very nice.”

“She is,” I said without hesitation. “She’s great.
”

Mrs. Chaves’s smile widened. “So where’s your father?”

“Can someone grab me some plates?” Mr. Chaves called to the room at large.

Adam got up to do it.

“My dad lives on Smithson Street, over Mr. Wung’s Chinese restaurant,” I said.

Mrs. Chaves beamed. “I love their dumplings!”

Adam returned, but rather than regain his seat next to Kenny, he dropped his lean frame into the chair next to me. I stiffened, suddenly all too aware of him, of his heat and scent. It hadn’t been such a problem when we had a whole table between us, but when there was nothing but air separating me from him … I couldn’t think straight. Mrs. Chaves asked me several more questions, but I’d become tongue tied and fidgety. I wanted to ask him to move, but there was no way to do that without raising suspicion so I sat stiffly in my seat and suffered in silence.

“
Get out of my seat, loser!” Nessie ambled into the room, looking worn out and exhausted despite the fact that she slept the entire night without so much as twitching.

Adam only further inclined his
lean body, stretching out his legs under the table and folding his arms behind his head. “You snooze, you lose.”

Nessie marched up behind him. She jabbed her hands onto her hips and shouted, “Mom!”

Mrs. Chaves sighed. “Can’t you just take the other seat, Vanessa?”

“But that’s my seat!” Nessie exclaimed. “I always sit there.”

“Well, maybe it’s time for a change,” her mother decided. “It’s only for one day. My goodness, Vanessa! You’re not a child.”

Cheeks stained a dark red, Nessie stomped around the table and threw herself into the chair next to
Kenny. “This isn’t fair. You never tell Adam to do anything.”

“Because I’m awesome,” Adam replied, earning a scowl from his mother and a death glare from his sister.

“That isn’t true, Vanessa,” Mrs. Chaves said impatiently.

“Isn’t it?” Nessie slapped her hands down on the table. “
You treat him like he can do no wrong while I’m always getting shit.”

“Language!” Mr. Chaves barked, scooping somethin
g from a frying pan into a bowl—the same bowl Adam had helped me put away the other morning. I felt heat creep into my cheeks and had to quickly look away.

“Did you ever consider
the possibility that maybe you would get special treatment as well once you’ve proven that you deserve it?” Mr. Chaves said to Nessie. “You could start by not getting detention slips like it’s going out of fashion.”

“It’s winter holidays,
what does that have to do with Adam taking my chair?”

“I can move,” I volunteered, already half
way to my feet.

“No!” Adam dropped a hand
down over the one I’d placed on the table. “There’s a lesson being taught here,” he said and gave me a wink when I stared at him in confusion.

I felt my face burn hot
and quickly jerked my hand out from under his, barely resisting the urge to cradle it against my chest. It was also a task not glancing around to see if anyone else had noticed, but I did and cringed when my gaze caught Kenny’s. He smirked in a way that spoke volumes as he tucked his phone into his pocket and folded his arms over his chest. He had one leg up, the knee balanced on the table edge as he leaned back in his chair. His mussed hair of platinum gleamed in the early morning light. His dark eyes glinted with a knowing gleam that only further amplified my horror.

Distressed
, my gaze darted to Nessie, dread curdling in the back of my throat like sour milk. Had she noticed? She must have if Kenny had. What about Mr. and Mrs. Chaves? It was a small relief to find everyone’s attention directed away from Adam and me. Mr. Chaves was beating something in a steel bowl and Mrs. Chaves was pointedly ignoring her daughter’s venomous glower by flipping through her catalog. I gingerly lowered myself back into my chair, feeling nearly faint.

“I touched your hand.” Adam leaned ever so slightly to whisper into my ear. “I didn’t
… well, do anything I really wanted. Now
that
would have gotten us into a bit of trouble.”

The burn was nearly physical as it shot through me, starting from my very core at the dark intent in his remark. My heart sky rocketed and I shot the others another quick glance before turning my head to him.

“You have to stop doing that.”

His dark eyebrow arched. “What’s that?
Daydream? I can’t say I can help that. I’ve always had a very vivid imagination.”

Rivers of fire seared through my veins and I had to drop my lashes to shield what little sense I had remaining from the hunger in his eyes.

“Touching me,” I said, the words barely a whisper.

There was a moment of pause where I thought maybe he
was actually considering it. But he was watching me with a brilliant grin on his face when I dared myself to glance up.

“All right,” he said very calmly, shocking me. “I will if you will.”

I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant when Nessie’s growl split the silence.

“It’s not fair!”

Mr
. Chaves shrugged indifferently. “Life isn’t fair.”

Crimson splotches marred Nessie’s face as she glowered at her
father with a bitter rage that seemed to poison the room. Her blue eyes were narrowed into thin strips as the muscle along her jaw danced. Then, in a move I never saw coming, she lunged forward, seized my wrist and dragged me to my feet. The chair nearly upended as I was heaved physically away from the table.

“Hey!”

My protest was ignored as I was dragged forcibly from the kitchen, through the sitting area and out the front door in nothing but a t-shirt and jeans. Thankfully I’d had the foresight to wear my shoes or I probably would have shoved Nessie into a snow bank and run back inside.

“What are you doing?” I demanded as we practically ran
around the side of the house towards the back.

“I can’t stand to be in there another second!” she shouted.
“I need air.”

“We could have opened a window…”
My foot slipped on bit of ice and I stumbled. “Will you slow down? I kind of need my arm.”

She did, much to my surprise. Snow
shimmered as it fell from the cloudy heavens. It clung to our hair and clothes, melting and making us damp. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. We stopped at the side of the house. Nessie slumped against the wall and dropped her head back. Snowflakes landed on her flushed cheeks and glittered on her eyelashes.

“I hate
him.”

Had it not been for the plume of breath that whispered past her lips, I would never have known she’d spoken.

“You don’t mean that,” I said.

She opened her eyes and turned her head in my direction. “
Yes, I do. He’s an ass. You see the way he treats me, like I’m not good enough to be in his family. Just because I’m not as smart as they are and don’t care about school he think I’m an idiot. I just can’t take it anymore. You’re so lucky your mom and Joanne are so cool.”

It was true. I was lucky and I knew it. But it wasn’t the time to agree. Instead, I replied, “You’re lucky as well. Your
mom is really nice.”

Nessie snorted. “
Only when
he’s
not around. She never stands up to him. He just pushes everyone around and she lets him. I honestly thought I was adopted for the longest time. I still would except there are disturbing videos of me being born.”

“You also have the shape of your mother’s face,” I added.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Exactly. I always hoped my real parents would come and take me away from this hell. No one ever came.” The sadness in her voice wrenched something inside me and I found myself reaching towards her. My hand rested lightly on her arm.

“They love you, Nes.”

“No they don’t!” She twisted her arm away from me. Anger raged behind her eyes. “You don’t treat people you love like that.”

“They want you to succeed—”

Her teeth glinted in a snarl. “It figures that you would take their side. You’ve always been such a goody-goody. Maybe they should adopt you and just toss me away.”

I sighed, releasing a cloud of breath between us. “You’re being dramatic, Nessie.”

“More like realistic,” she muttered. The snow beneath her sneakers crunched as she adjusted her weight. She shouldered off the wall and stood huddled before me, small and vulnerable. Her bottom lip trembled and I wasn’t sure if it was because she was cold or if it was emotions. “You have no idea what it’s like being part of a family who’s good at everything and you’re good at nothing. Yet they expect you to be. They think just because you have their genes, you should be smart and athletic and talented. It’s like it doesn’t make sense to them how I am nothing like them.” She sniffled and used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe beneath her nose. “You’re the only person who understands me, Kia. You never expect me to be anything I’m not.” Tears tickled down her cheeks. “You’re my only family.” Her voice broke. “I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you.”