Once the bell rang, Kyle made his way to the locker and stuffed his books into it, well, the ones he didn't need. He was instinctively on the look out for Jason but he was nowhere to be seen thank god.
He made his way to the staircase, and leaned against the back wall, taking out his phone while he waited but only to send a text Giselle, glad he remembered. Hopefully everything would go okay. It was just a smoothie, how bad could it actually be?
Well, it could be pretty bad, but Kyle prayed that it wouldn't be. He'd never had an actual human friend before so some part of him hoped Xiomara would be.
Xiomara, being the carefree person she was, had completely forgotten to visit her locker after school. She hummed a tune to herself as she pulled her phone from her pocket. Her father had sent her a few unnoticed texts. She sighed as she read through them.
Marie, I'm going to be late home again. I'm picking up another shift. Don't leave the house after nine. Stay away from the park, ok?
Xiomara's face fell. Another long night for her father. He worked himself too hard. Sending a quick text back, she turned down the stairs, groaning. "Looks like another long night for me." She muttered, looking up to see Kai. Her face lit up. Her dad wouldn't be home until at least two in the morning. She could hang out past nine.
"Ready to go?"
Kyle looked up from his phone and nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready. Lead the way."
He stuffed his phone into his pocket and pushed his glasses up his nose. He couldn't be home too late but he was glad he was spending time with someone he might even consider a friend. And he hadn't had a smoothie in a while was he was looking forward to it.
"Where is the smoothie place?" He asked, following her out the staircase and the school grounds.
"Very close, just a bit of a walk from the school." Xiomara bit her lip, tasting the metal of her piercings as she thought. The nearest smoothie place was only a few blocks down and it was her favorite place. She gestured for him to follow her grinning from ear to ear. "I thought you were really soft spoken at first, Kai. But you're quite talkative under certain situations." She giggled to herself. When they reached the school's entrance, she nearly threw herself at the doors.
"So, you are a senior, right?" She asked cautiously, stealing a glance at his face. His hair was just as messy as before. "Is the frost and ice nice to have in the summer?"
"I'm not that talkative," Kyle muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck as he flushed a light shade of red from embarrassment, "And yeah, I'm a senior and yes, the frost is nice in summer."
He'd always preferred winter over summer, most of the time. But in summer when you don't have a pool and don't like going to the outdoor swim center, it was nice to be able to just cool off in his room easily.
"You're talking to me which is saying something." With a grin, she nudged him gently. "People say I'm too forwards yet you seem to be doing fine." She fell silent suddenly, her eyes closing for a split second. "I ask too many questions don't I?" Yet another question.
"Ah, can't be helped though, can it? At least a smoothie will shut me up for a bit." This small moment of self-doubt made her frustrated. She was fine, just attention seeking.
Kyle shrugged a shoulder, "I don't mind you talking or asking questions." In fact, he actually liked her talking. He was used to silence or insults so questions was a nice change, and in meant that she was trying to get to know him.
"I don't mind the questions so you don't have to shut up." Again, he shrugged a shoulder.
“If I get annoying, feel free to shut me up.” She laughed softly, but her tone was serious. As she turned down a road, her eyes fell back to her feet. “You can ask anything you want too. I feel like I know too much about you already.”
That didn’t mean she wasn’t enjoying it, however. She was having the time of her life getting to know him.
"You know that I have ice powers and a dog," Kyle said deadpan, "That's two things." Granted it was two more things then anyone else knew but for some reason he didn't care today.
"And I know that you have a cat and like scarfs. So we're even." Some part of him wanted to know more about him, but he didn't want to intrude too much on her life.
“Pfft. Wow. I guess we are even now.” Her eyes lit up at the sight of the cafe in front of them. “Hm, I guess we are just acquaintances. Of course we wouldn’t know much about each other. But hey, what says ‘bonding’ like a smoothie?”
She grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the cafe, grinning from ear to ear. “Tropical is probably favorite but blueberry is to die for! I’ve never tried the strawberry banana mostly because I hate banana anything but I’m sure it’s good too, without the banana.”
Kyle gently removed her grip from his wrist as he looked at all the different flavours of smoothie to choose from. He hated banana too so that was a no go ad the tropical sounded nice. Damn, he hated being indecisive.
"I.. I might go for the orange and mango? I dunno." He rubbed at his neck, trying to decide before ultimately choosing the orange and mango.
“Today I’m feeling… rather tropical actually.” Her eyes drifted for a moment to the cashier, a wicked grin spreading across her face. “Ohho, Atlas is working today.”
She glanced at Kyle feeling a bit nervous. She and Atlas had a… strange relationship so to say. Hopefully this wouldn’t ruin her reputation.
"Who's Atlas?" Kyle looked over to the cashier, "Them?" He raised an eyebrow.
He wondered why she suddenly looked so nervous. Maybe it was because he was there and she spotted someone she knew and he was embarrassing her. He really didn't know but he didn't want to ask and make her feel even worse.
“That guy up there,” She nodded at the cashier. His heavily tattooed arms and neck were slightly visible from the button-up he wore, making him look more of a delinquent than anything. His skinny, paled face held a long, crooked nose in place and two gray eyes locked on the two seniors. He flashed a pearly white smile, chuckling at the sight of Xio with someone else.
“Yo! Xiomara! Took you long enough to come. I’d missed you.” He called, waving a skeletal arm in greeting. She snorted.
“Don’t listen to a thing he says. He’s a bit of a tease.” Xiomara warned, shifting uncomfortably. “Don’t believe what he says either.”
Kyle nodded, an amused smile threatening to spill, "I won't. You seem uncomfortable, are- are you okay?" He asked, flicking his gaze between the two of them.
Atlas looked like an interesting dude, even if he looked slightly intimidating. He wondered why a guy like him worked in a place like this. Then again it wasn't his place to judge.
“I-I’m fine! He’s just a-an… ex.” To the both of them it was more like friends with benefits. They never took it farther than a kiss, always berating each other over the little things. That was their relationship. And in a way, once all that had come to an end, the two had remained friends. “It wasn’t too serious, so it’s fine. He just likes to tease me… and he’s really dirty minded. But you know, college students will be college students.”
Xiomara laughed, shaking her head. “Don’t let him change how you see me. I’m no delinquent. I did what I did to annoy Lynette, my biological mother.” She moved to the counter, leaning over it and grinning at Atlas. “Hey, Atlas. You’re rather loud today.”
“It’s not everyday I get to see your pretty little head. How about a kiss for the go?” He asked, eyeing Kai. “Mm, don’t tell me you’ve moved on already, honey.”
Kyle shook his head and rubbed at his arms, "I-I'm just a friend." He said, quietly but still loud enough for Atlas to here. He took a step closer but kept his distance from the two, not wanting to over step.
He cursed his naturally quiet and awkward nature. The other boy probably thought he was weird! Then again he was because he had freaking ice powers! Not that Atlas had to know that little fact about himself.
“Jealous much? We decided to end it, remember?” She replied quietly, noticing Kai’s distance. Her mood fell. Atlas seemed to take joy in Kai’s words. He was enjoying the whole show. Such a quiet kid around Xiomara wouldnt last long in his opinion.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t miss you. Especially your smell. Lavander and vanilla. Man I miss it.” Atlas teased, leaning back and stretching. He ran a hand through his dyed red hair, yawning. “Alright, Love. What will you and ‘just-a-friend’ be having?”
“Mango and orange for him, tropical for me, please.” Xiomara replied, biting her lip nervously. So far so good. Except for that slightly creepy comment about her scent.
Kyle took a small step closer to Xiomara, closing the last of the distance as if he could sense her disappointment, "You sure you're okay?" He whispered, loud enough for her to hear but not Atlas.
Personally he thought that Atlas was sort of creepy. Who comments about a persons smell? It was just weird in his opinion but he wasn't going to mention it here. Or at all probably.
"I'll pay, by the way." He added. He didn't want her to pay for him otherwise he'll feel bad. And he also wanted to pay for her as a sort of thank-you for not freaking out earlier.
Xiomara nodded softly, smiling. Her reply was simple and sure: “I’ll be alright.” Atlas was never a threat. Maybe a bit of a creep, but never a threat. He hardly even touched her without her permission.
“Let me pay for mine at least. You don’t know me, remember?” She joked, sticking her tongue out. Her bubbly personality was back.
“Just as cute as always. Here you go you two,” Atlas said when he returned, studying Xiomara’s face lovingly. The two drinks were placed in front of her. “Ever get bored you can always stop by here, Xio honey.”
“Yeah whatever thanks Atlas.” She rolled her eyes, taking her cup and digging around in her pockets for her money. She would pay for hers at least. Kai couldn’t refuse her that right.
Kyle dug around in his pocket for some change, finding enough to pay for both of the drinks and handed it to Atlas before Xio could protest, "Nope, this is me saying thank-you for before, okay?" He hoped she knew what he meant.
He gave her a small look before grabbed his drink and handed the other to her, "You can get the next one." He shrugged, a small mischievous glint in his eyes as he took a sip of his drink.
Atlas snickered. Xiomara stood still for a moment, frowning. “No fair.” She finally said, waving goodbye to Atlas and rolling her eyes as he blew a kiss in return. The guy was such a lady killer.
“Hold up,” She said, grinning at Kai. “Did you just say the next one?” Maybe she wasn’t so much of a stranger now.
“You know what, if you hang out with me again I’ll let you get whatever you want. If we go to a place like this that is.” She hoped it was enough to feel him in. Xiomara was really starting to like this magical boy.
"Fine. Deal." Kyle actually did't mind hanging out with Xio. He was starting to consider her a definite friend so hanging out with her again sounded nice.
Yet there were those doubts that she was just using him and was going to cast him aside once she got bored of him but he didn't think about them right not. Instead he focused on the smoothie, the sun and the girl beside him.
Xiomara beamed from ear to ear. She nodded to a table near the window, laughing at her own excitement. “I can’t wait.”
She sipped on her smoothie, flopping down in a chair in the sun and humming happily. She felt wonderful, almost like she could stay in this state forever and never be bored.
“Who knew something so simple as a smoothie can be so fun?”
Kyle nodded and took another sip of his own as he sat next to her, "I only started having smoothies last year, you know." He admitted, shrugged a shoulder.
Him and Maria could never afford them, and then he wasn't allowed them at his last foster home but Giselle made them when she could. It wasn't often but it was enough for him to still like them a lot though.
