Kyra wasn't sure what to think anymore. Of course, she could be mad, angry beyond answer, but really, she didn't feel anything at all. The club had been... interesting, to put it simply. The fact of the matter was that she just didn't understand it. Why would someone spend so much time on something so inexplicably pointless when they could be doing something much more practical? She couldn't comprehend it. The whole idea of the club just seemed senseless and a waste of time. She was better off joining a club that really did speak more to practicality.
And why did she want to go back so badly? Out of everything that she couldn't be thinking, why did she want to go back? Kyra had already decided that she didn't understand the club. She knew that it was a huge waste of time when she could be spending it working at her grandfather's station. She had her normal school work to do on top of all of that. And adding a club to the rest of that mess meant more working, more stress, and more of her grandfather breathing down her neck. Why in the name of anything would Kyra want that? And to top it all off, the cherry on the cake, was that Cleopatra Blackheart was invited too and Jasmine was beyond convinced that Cleopatra would join. It wasn't that Kyra and any explicit beef with the older girl, no major motive to hate her, but to be associated with someone with her record... Kyra couldn't really afford that, could she? Cleopatra had a track record as long as any kid could get, from what she'd heard from around, but to be in the same club as her? That could break her career if she wasn't careful. And if not with future employers then with her grandfather right now. Kyra would never hear the end of it from him. It wasn't really a matter of debate but those words echoed through her head anyway.
How about some real friends?
Why did that have to be the kicker? With a groan, Kyra glared down at her math problems and watched her pencil led snap under the pressure. The equations looked like a foreign language and the word problems sounded like a seance. Kyra had enough of those for one day. Another go at them would just drive her crazy. She pushed her math book aside and leaned down on the desk, letting her head fall into the safety of her arms. Life needed a guidebook, she decided. Nothing could prepare her for the feelings she was feeling now.
The answer was obvious. Kyra should just say no. She would say no. She'd never go back and that'd be the end of it. It was just as simple as that. If she were to do that, life would return to normal and she wouldn't have to worry about how she was going to juggle work and school. She wouldn't have to worry about emotions or disappointing her grandfather. Kyra wouldn't have to worry about what her grandfather would say and she had nothing holding her back from becoming the detective she wanted to be. The answer was easy, obvious, more simple than flipping a switch. And yet, it wasn't. Because now she was aware. Aware of her emotions, of her feelings, when she desperately wanted to forget them. Because when Mark asked her if she wanted some real friends, only then was Kyra painfully aware of how lonely she was. Thinking back on it, it was hard to recall a time she really ever felt like she belonged. But one thing was for certain. The last time she had ever felt like she belonged even just a little bit was all those years ago when she was seven.
The last night she'd spent a happy child.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"Do you wanna go outside or something?" Jasmine asked, leaning against the column on the porch, as she waved to Sasha. Sasha waved back to them as she got in the car with her father and left. The group was silent for a few seconds before Jasmine spun on her heels to look at Mark and Monet again with a small smile. "We could go down to the Warehouse and screw around for a bit. Or... or we could go to the roof of the house and watch the stars. Oh! Or we could watch another movie! Just as long as it's not another one of mine. We don't need to see another piece of trash like that again so soon."
"Jasmine! It's not that bad! Or bad at all! I thought it was a very good movie!" Mark protested with a laugh. Monet giggled under her breath and covered her smile with one hand, her other arm wrapping around her stomach as if to hug herself. Jasmine laughed, like she was going along with their joke, but shook her head in response.
"I think I get to be the judge of my own acting skills, thank you very much!" And with that, Jasmine pushed between her two friends and walked right back into the house without a second thought. Monet smiled and shook her head, following her into the house. Mark paused for a few seconds after, laughing at his friends but when they turned back, waiting for him to get into the house, he was forced to follow them inside as well. And then, Jasmine continued; "Okay, serious time. What are we going to do? Like, legitimately, we could do anything. We could even have a sleepover if you wanted. I doubt Aunt M and Uncle Henry will care."
"I don't see why we couldn't," Monet replied, shrugging her shoulders as she sat down on the couch. Her voice didn't gain any volume but it was a lot more confident now that she was with the same people she had grown up with. Rose shifted on the couch next to her but was quickly scooped up by Monet and nestled onto her lap. "I mean, I haven't had the time to do that in forever and I've got nothing going on tonight. It'd be fun."
"I'd love to. I just don't have any clothes for school," Mark replied, settling himself down in an armchair just off the couch.
"He's probably got some here still from another day," Monet suggested, resting her head on top of Rose's head and helping her younger cousin pull some clothes on the Barbie doll that was thrust into her hands. "He is over here more than me and I've left clothes here before, I have no doubt he has."
"Oh yeah! Mark, you did leave your clothes here last week when we went swimming! So you've got some. And Monet can just borrow some of mine. I think I have something that'll fit here..." Jasmine said, shrugging her shoulders and leaning forward to rest on the couch. "And I'm sure that Aunt M's not gonna care about any of this. Since y'all don't got a ride or anything." Mark nodded his head in agreement, leaning on the armrest of the chair.
"You would if my Dad was going to pick me up but he's 'busy' so I'm stuck here," Monet replied with a sigh, raising her hand up slightly to make air quotes around the word 'busy'. Jasmine chuckled and faked a heavy sigh.
"'Oh no! I'm stuck at my darling sister's house with everything I could possibly need and still have a ride to school in the morning. Whatever shall I do?'" To add to the dramatic scene Jasmine had just acted out, she placed the back of her hand to her forehead and turned around, fainting over the back of the couch. However, Jasmine miscalculated the force she'd need to fall over the back and she never stopped falling, tumbling over the front of the couch and falling onto the floor, her head smacking against the floor.
The room erupted into laughter, though more at Jasmine demise than at the actual action but it didn't seem to both Jasmine. If anything, she was laughing with them. Still, it didn't stop Monet from removing Rose from her lap and setting her down, helping Jasmine up from the ground. Jasmine stumbled slightly as she stood up, clutching at the back of her head, but she laughed and fell back onto the couch, not missing this time.
"Rosie, go get Jasmine an ice pack," Monet said gently, sitting down next to Jasmine on the couch. Rose nodded her head and ran into the kitchen, shouting something about needing an ice pack for Jasmine. The group laughed lightly and Jasmine slumped against Monet.
"Jasmine! Why's Rosie shouting about ice packs?" Henry shouted into the room from somewhere in the kitchen. Monet rolled her eyes slightly and wrapped an arm around her sister, holding her tight.
"Jasmine took a bit of a tumble! Nothing serious or anything!" Mark called back, turning to face the kitchen entryway. Jasmine chuckled a bit and sat up straight once more when Rose came running back into the room, her prized ice pack in her hands. Jasmine took it and set it against the back of her head as Rose climbed back into Monet's lap.
"Okay, okay, serious now," Jasmine said, clapping her hand against her thigh to draw attention to her once more despite not needing too. "So, like, Miss B, guys. Honest opinions?" She bit her lip-gloss covered lip, chewing it a bit nervously. Miss B was short for Miss Blumer and Mr. Jack, which happened to be the series that has started Jasmine's who career. Back when Jasmine was still eight years old and doing community theater, she had been asked to play Meredith Blumer, the daughter of the movie's main female lead. Ever since then, Meredith was Jasmine's most iconic role. Most people knew Jasmine as Meredith Blumer just as much as they knew her as Jasmine Ender.
Miss Blumer and Mr. Jack has started out as a TV show in the eighties, named Danteville's Detective Agency at the time, that lasted for a good ten years. In the early two thousands, they had made the first movie, Miss Blumer and Mr. Jack. Ever since then, they've had a new one coming out every other year. The show and the movies weren't all that different. It followed two detectives, Jill Blumer and Mason Jack, as they solved crimes in their small town. Since the show started out while Jill and Mason were still in high school, it was the best slice of life, crime, and comedy that most adults remember growing up with. It had Ocean 11 vibes to it, meaning that the viewer would follow the detectives throughout the entire case but would never know how it was committed until the very end of it. There were five movies out as of right now, with Miss B 4 being the first one that Jasmine had been a part of and Miss B5 being renamed Miss Blumer and Mr. Jack Jr.
Miss B Jr, as was lovingly nicknamed by the actors, was basically the same as the original show and movies, only this time, it followed Jill Blumer's daughter, Meredith, and Mason Jack's son, Joshua. That meant that Jasmine was still constantly playing Meredith and was always talking to her co-star on the movie, Kyle Revere. With the second one being filmed over the summer, the movie had been pieced together and at the request of Jasmine, been sent to her to review, as she normally liked to do with the movies she filmed.
They had only just finished the second movie's filming but Jasmine had let Mark and Monet in on the secret that they were only planning on making three Miss B Jr movies. Everyone, especially the cast, felt like the series was getting overused and finding new crimes to make a script over was getting harder and harder. While the fan base was pretty die hard, Jasmine felt like it was better to end the film early and with a product she knew the fans would like before continuing to make them and risking something that the fans hated.
"I honestly don't know how they do it, but somehow, they keep me guessing the whole time," Mark chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "It's crazy! I mean, I didn't see any of that coming! Plus, with the thing and the thing? There's no way you saw that coming either, Monet." Jasmine laughed slightly and relaxed against the couch.
"That's the Miss B charm for you," Monet said softly, shrugging her shoulders and helping Rose braid her doll's hair at the request of the younger girl. "But I'm still trying to get over the fact that Jasmine did her own stunts in that one scene. I don't know if even I would have done that."
"Oh yeah!" Mark exclaimed, shooting up once more. "Missy, that was insane!" Jasmine laughed and leaned over to help Rose with something. While Jasmine was technically Rose's cousin, it was easy to see that the two of them were more like sisters. And it was even more obvious that Rose was Jasmine's biggest fan, which was why she wasn't involved in this conversation. Jasmine liked to take Rose to see the movies in theater when they come out and so, Rose wasn't able to add her toddler opinion into the conversation.
"I bet Jas was the best Meredith again," Rose said, glancing up from her doll for a second to glance at the older kids in the room. When everyone agreed, she smiled and laughed slightly. "Didya know I'm gonna be Meredith for Halloween? Mommy told me I could and Imma get a costume an' everythin' for it."
"And you'll make an amazing Meredith Blumer," Mark promised, shooting Rose a smile. The young girl smiled back and shoved her toy back towards Monet, going back to whatever it was that children did when they weren't the center of attention anymore.
"Don't we have to plan out the next few months?" Monet asked, looking up from the toy in her hands to glance at her friends again, tilting her head to the side. Mark nodded his head and reached for his phone while Jasmine groaned and sighed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm home free all of September and October but I'm on a plane on the first of November," Jasmine replied, taking the ice pack off her head and setting it down on the coffee table. "I'm home on Thanksgiving and Black Friday but I should be heading back to set on that Saturday so I've only got those days. But the rest of filming should only be two, three weeks tops and that's it for a while. I'm free until... I think April or May but we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Mark nodded his head and started marking things down on the calendar app, knowing the two of them would be able to access it once it was finished.
"Well, I'm no Ender but I've got my martial arts competitions every other weekend starting next week," Monet said, resting her head on top of Rose's for a few second. Mark nodded his head absentmindedly and marked down those dates as well.
"I'll try to make as many of them as I can," Mark said finally, looking up with a smile. Monet offered him a shy smile in response before looking down again to pay attention to Rose once more. "I know that I've got a camping trip with my parents in two weeks, so that weekend is already busy. Plus, then there's the classic first of every month were I'm babysitting Julia, but it's not like my parents would object if you guys came over, so long as the house stays clean and you don't mind Julia tagging along with us."
"Do we want to continue the conversation from club before or do we not want to poke the bear?" Jasmine asked with a small laugh, leaning forward on her side of the couch slightly. Earlier, they had the mess of trying to organize a club event but nothing had managed to get accomplished. Since everyone was in so many different events, it was hard to get them to find a single time frame that they were all free, and that was without the new members.
"We'll leave it sleeping for now," Mark said with a small laugh. "But we do still need a day for us." He looked down at his phone for a second. "It looks like our Sunday's are all free until Jasmine leaves for her shooting. Why don't we pick Sundays this time? And for how long can just depend on what we want to do so we don't try to cram things in like we did last year." Monet yawned slightly and nodded her head, letting it fall against her free hand.
"So it looks like my Sundays are taken now," Jasmine agreed, nodding her head. "And when I leave for filming, we'll just do our normal 9-10 FaceTime, since it's basically tradition at this point." Rose started to shifted on Monet's lap, impatient and ready to do things now that the older kids seemed to be winding down their conversation.
"That works!" Mark said, nodding his head before looking down to write the dates on his phone as well, seeing as he was the most organized out of the three. "And we always have after school to hang out if you feel like our designated Sunday time isn't good enough for you. So it's not like we only need to do that one day, you know?" The twins nodded their heads in agreement but it seemed like it was Rose's chance to finally butt into the conversation.
"Can we, like, stop talking now?" Rose asked, throwing her hands out like someone had just offended her and her tone not doing anything to disprove that fact. Jasmine laughed and reached over to mess with her sister's hair gently. "I, like, wanna play. Please?"
"Yeah, yeah, Rosie. We can play if that's what you want," Jasmine said with a small laugh. She stood up and Rose jumped off of Monet's lap in response, forcing everyone else to stand up as well. After all, how could they say no to her? She was just like them when they were younger. They could have never said no to their younger selves either.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
It was too difficult. She had done so many cases like this before, solved too many crimes that were ten times harder than this one, and yet, Kyra was stuck. She had never thought it was possible, that someone who had solved as many cases as she had could break on such an easy case, and yet, she was completely and utterly stumped. The case had thrown her for loops and turns and twists and rabbit trails that no one could have ever expected. Her head was pounding, maybe for more reasons than one but she wasn't sure anymore, and her face grew hotter and hotter by the minute.
It was so terrible it was embarrassing.
Kyra was a really good detective. She had worked her whole life to get here. So why couldn't she solve this case? What was the purpose of her life if she couldn't solve this one case? She was better off dead than giving up. She knew that. Kyra was the newest embarrassment and disgrace to the entire detective community. All she needed was one more lead, one more answer. Everything else was there. It was just one detail she was missing and if she had it, everything would be sorted out. Everything would fall into place. But heaven forbid she could figure it out. Every time she came close to it, the answer would slip through her fingers and she was back at square one. Just one more lead, one more place, one more person until she was right back where she started. Kyra felt like a mad man, running herself dizzy in circles.
Kyra pushed the file away with a little more than a frustrated groan, a scream building up inside her throat before it died off, the file shattering like glass on the floor in front of her. She froze, staring at the picture frame on the floor in front of her that she could have sworn wasn't here. She wanted to tear her eyes away but she couldn't, her head reaching out to grab the photo in the middle of the mess of glass. Isolation meant being stuck by herself, in a room with nothing at all. This photo shouldn't be here. She was alone. She was a disappointment. How did she get this? She was supposed to work on the case until it was solved, no matter how long it took, and there would be no leaving until it was solved.
Kyra shook her head quickly and turned away from the photo, her fingers centimeters from touching the glassy covering, and sat down at the desk again. Think. She just had to think. That was all it would take. Just a little more thinking. The facts were all there. It was a simple murder and it should be an obvious answer. So why was it this hard? Kyra shook her head and tried to focus on the small divot in the wall, but it didn't help. She tried to think about it from a different angle but there was nothing. Why couldn't she place it? The answer was there, on the tip of her tongue. Kyra had never been at a loss for words before.
Angry tears streamed down Kyra's face and she felt that scream that had been building up before again. This time, she didn't hold it back. She shoved her chair back and screamed, louder than she'd ever screamed before. She slammed her fists down hard on the desktop and cried angry crying. Not the cute kind that people were so used to seeing. This was harsh, choked sobs that hurt to let out but hurt much more to keep in. Yelling, screaming, cursing, and she felt the top of the desk crack from another blow from her fists. She was such a disappointment, a horrible child who didn't deserve anything she received. Her grandfather was going to be so disappointed in her and sometimes, that was worse than him being mad at her.
Kyra groaned and sobbed, dropping to the floor among the glass shards and her gloved fingers fumbled for the photograph that she had been so hesitant to touch before. The photo burned in her hands, like the leather of her gloves was fusing itself to her hands but that wasn't the worst pain she'd ever felt. She held the photo close to her chest and threw herself back against the wall, ignoring the pain that shot through her head as her head hit the wall behind her. The photo burned her hands and the pain made its way up her arms, ever-expanding and growing. She screamed and cried until she couldn't, too exhausted to move the burning photo from her.
The lock clicked and the door handle turned.
And then, Kyra Kingsly woke up.
Kyra didn't exactly gasp, more like she choked, and she jolted into an upright position. Her heart hammered in her chest and her fists clung tightly to the blanket around her. She was awake, she was alive, and she was alright. There were no impossible cases that she couldn't solve, no one she was going to disappoint with her lack of incompetence, and there was no searing pain crawling up her arms anymore. She was completely and definitely okay. Because of course, it had been another nightmare.
Nightmares had been a part of her life for nearly as long as her memories went back. Kyra might have been used to the few hours of sleep she managed to snag and she could operate completely normal after a week of restless nights like it was no one's business, but she could never be prepared for the moment she woke. She wasn't ready for the feeling of her chest locking up or her rapid heartbeat still convinced that she was in mortal danger. She placed her hand over her heart, as if the action might tame it down, and leaned back against the headboard, pulling her blanket around her and taking in deep breaths. Kyra finally started to calm down then. She was alright. She wasn't in danger. She couldn't be harmed.
Not now, anyway.
"I'm fine... See, I'm fine..." Kyra whispered to herself, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths in to calm herself down. Her fingers curled around the fabric just a little bit tighter and pulled them up around her just a little more. "Getting frightened over such a silly thing is childish." She blew out a shaky breath through her lips and opened her eyes again, reaching over to get a drink of water from her nightstand. "And you, Kyra Kingsly, are not a child."
After taking a sip from her water, she felt a little better. She would think that after years and years of these, she would be used to this by now. But alas, there was nothing to be done. With a sigh, Kyra kicked her feet over the side of her bed and stood up, fumbling around in the dark to find her gloves on her nightstand. When she felt the leather on her fingertips, masked under the cover of the dark, she seized them and slipped them on, heading to the doorway. Another night of poor sleep wouldn't kill her but she was sure that if she had one more night of this, she'd surely be hurt by it. But for now, she could get more work done. Stepping to the other side of the hallway, she fumbled to find the lights in the dark. Once the flip was switched, she breathed another sigh of relief, letting the light illuminate the hallway. Light was the best comfort, after all.
A nice cup of hot chocolate would do me some good, Kyra thought to herself. Her eyes drifted down the hallway, starting to drift into deep thought. Then I can get to work on that case again. While most kids were focused on getting good at sports or keeping their grades up, Kyra was focused on solving one case after another. This was the first multi-homicide case since the Lockwood High case that she had gotten. Life was funny like that. She wasn't like normal children, was she? That thought was reinforced when she walked past her grandfather's room, realizing how empty it was.
"I guess he's still at the station." Kyra let out a disappointed sigh but she wasn't really sure why. She hadn't been expecting anything different and it wasn't like she wanted him to be here anyway. If he was here then she would have gotten in trouble for the nightmare but at the same time, she was sick of being alone. Her grandfather spent all of his time at the police station anyway. He ran it, after all. Why was she expecting that he would be here now? It's not a big deal, Kyra. Shake it off and go to work. And she did just that. She slipped into the office and grabbed her case file of her own desk before leaving again, closing the door behind her. Then, she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. Normally, she wouldn't stop to do something so unnecessary but when it came to these late nights, she found it a must.
Once her hot chocolate was finished, she sat down on the couch with her mug in her hand and the case file open on her lap. As much as she hated the nightmares and the late nights, she supposed it was nice to be able to work more on her job. When her mind ended up spinning like this, it was a good way to calm down and be able to breathe once more. Especially when it felt like everything was falling apart.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
For as long as he could remember, Mark knew that sleepovers with the twins were just as normal as any other thing they had done together. Back when they were seven and still living in the same apartment building, it seemed like they had another sleepover every other day, but they were only seven at the time. They had no idea what the negative connotations of the idea were. The idea never really processed as they got old either since the three of them had been doing this for years now. At this point, they knew a sleepover was just a sleepover. No hidden intentions, no "normal" teenage actions when boys and girls were left alone together, none of that. To them, it really was just a sleepover.
And a whole lot of screwing around.
That was one of Mark's favorite things about Jasmine, honestly. She always found a way to make this interesting and fun. It didn't matter what it was, either, whether it was math homework, chores, or anything in between, she knew exactly what to do to make anything and everything fun and exciting. She had a way with people that Mark just couldn't fully understand. Jasmine knew how to make someone laugh or smile, how to get an isolated child to participate they might not want to, or how to make just about anyone feel wanted. Mark really didn't know how she did it but she somehow managed. Jasmine was just a superhuman. That was the only explanation.
Just like right now. Jasmine was currently leading Tommy and Rose in a relentless pillow attack against Monet and himself. Now that they were bored of watching movies, despite them only having watched one and a half movies, Jasmine had gathered the two younger kids together and they launched a full-scale fluff assault on the two remaining humans in the room. While Monet was skilled at martial arts and other things of that assortment, she was not very good at defending herself from pillows. After all, who was trained in the art of defense against pillows? That was why Mark dragged her into the bathroom and locked the door, right? It's not like he had a crush on her since he was ten.
"Jassy, really? Come on! We need to leave at some point!" Monet groaned softly, leaning back against the door and sliding down it. She folded her arms over her chest and sighed but the only response she got from her sister was the sound of a pillow against the door, followed by two more and the sound of giggles from the children on the other side. Mark laughed quietly to himself and sat down on the edge of the bathtub, turning to face Monet. Monet offered him a small smile and leaned her head back against the door, groaning softly to herself. The situation might be ridiculous but then again, so did everything else they ended up doing.
"You do realize we could be here for hours, right?" Mark asked with a small laugh. Monet gave him a small smile and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms loosely around her knees and resting her head down on top of them. Mark smiled back and sat down on the floor, his back to the bathtub, copying her unintentionally. Monet brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and for a second, the two of them made eye contact. And for a second, Mark could have sworn that the sun had somehow found its way into the windowless bathroom because Monet seemed to glow. But then, embarrassed by the eye contact, the two of them averted their eyes and stared back down at the floor. Mark didn't want Monet to think that he had been staring at her for a specific reason because there wasn't one. Sure, she did have the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. And Monet might have the best smile he'd ever seen when she did give him a real one but she was still his best friend and he wasn't going to ruin anything between them by thinking that, right?
"Oh, I just realized I left my phone in the living room," Monet groaned softly, shifted a bit so that she was more comfortable on the floor. Gravity took advantage of her shift and decided that her hair wasn't going to stay in place. Instead, a lone strand, only a little longer than her choppy bangs, fell out from behind her ear and in front of her eyes. It was distracting, if only for a second, before looking back down at his hands.
"Aw, that sucks. But Tommy and Rose will get bored eventually, you know that," Mark replied with a shrug, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone.
"Yeah, but who knows with Jasmine. She could keep this going on for a long time. She's Jassy," Monet replied with a small laugh. Mark snorted and nodded his head.
"I mean, you bring up a good point," Mark chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. Monet smiled a bit and shook her head slightly, trying to shake the free strand out of her face. "Well, if you wanted, I could always call my Mom and have her come pick us up. If you wanted, I mean." Monet giggled and feigned a look of surprise.
"How dare you suggest such a thing," Monet replied with a shake of her head. Her voice, soft and quiet, lacked the force behind it to sound like she was anything but joking. "Us? Ditching Jassy on such a war-torn night? How completely insane. Even if she happens to be the enemy." Mark rolled his eyes and reached over to brush the strand of hair out of Monet's face, out of instinct more than anything. Monet flinched, recoiling in surprise the second his hand shot up in front of her and she blocked her face with her hands, barely peeking out from behind her arms. Mark pulled his hand away, mostly confused but a little concerned, but it only took Monet a second to come back to reality after tearing herself away from it momentarily.
"Oh... ah... I'm sorry..." Monet mumbled softly, bring her arms down and blinking a few times like she needed to ground herself into reality once more. "Your hand came out of nowhere and I have that eye thing so I couldn't see it and..." She trailed off, fumbling over her words to try to describe what she was trying to get across. "Martial arts does that to you. I didn't mean... I'm sorry..."
"Hey, no, it's fine! Don't worry about it!" Mark said quickly, cutting her off before Monet could apologize farther. "I get it. If I were in martial arts, I'd react that way too. But anyway, how is it going for you? I feel like we haven't had a chance to sit down and talk like this in forever." He moved back, resting his back against the back of the bathtub again, and relaxed. Between planning the club with Jasmine, babysitting his little sister, chores, and Monet's own wack summer schedule, they hadn't been able to just sit down and talk like this. Monet even hadn't had the time to come over despite them living in the same apartment building and that being a normal occurrence for the two of them since they were years younger. Monet seemed to be a busy bee when she was on her own and while Mark couldn't blame her, he did wish that she had some free time for the two of them to just catch up.
"If you mean besides the rest of my class being generally terrifying, yeah, it's great," Monet said with a small chuckle. She rolled her eyes and leaned her head back against the door that had been oddly silent for the last minute. "I just started in the advanced class, since I've been a black belt for almost two years now, and it's so weird. I had gotten used to the people in my class. I basically grew up with them, so now I'm the only fifteen year old in a class of kids nineteen and older and there's only one other girl there." She shrugged her shoulders slightly just a second before the sound of a pillow hit the door once more. Mark chuckled a bit and Monet smiled, knocking on the door a few times. It was some secret code that Jasmine and Monet had come up with way before he was ever around, something they called their sister code, and Jasmine responded with the pillows for a second. "Anyway, summer training to get into that class was hard, but I enjoyed it. You know all that though."
"I remember. You complained about it all the time when we did those FaceTime calls with Jasmine," Mark replied, chuckling at the memory like it was years ago instead of something that had happened only a few months ago. "It was probably the first time I'd ever heard Miss Knight complain about working out. Ever."
"Well, good sir, I think I'll make it known that I managed to put in at least fourteen hours a week this summer as a personal goal alone and not because I was required to so ha! At least I did something with my life this summer and didn't slack off like the other years," Monet protested, rolling her eyes slightly. Mark laughed again and shook his head.
"Fourteen hours a week is insane, Monet! How on earth did you manage that?" Mark responded, a hint of surprise in his words. Monet shrugged again and stretched her feet out in front of her so now her legs were touching Mark's.
"It's only two hours a day!" Monet replied, laughing when she heard Mark respond with; "Only two hours!" Before allowing her to continue. "And when you have audiobooks, music, and water, you'll be surprised by how much you're actually able to accomplish in those two hours." Mark shook his head, a mix of looking disappointed and impressed, but he knew that Monet put her heart and soul into her martial arts. He wouldn't dare even think about judging her for how much work she put into it. Not until it really started to hurt her.
"What about guitar?" Mark asked after a minute, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Have you played recently?" As far as he knew, she was. She had been working on a song at the beginning of the summer and had played a bit of it for him then but after that, he hadn't heard anything about it. Based on her summer, he shouldn't count on it but still, Monet was passionate about two things. Martial arts and guitar. She couldn't have just stopped it for that long.
"Yeah, I guess I've played a bit. I've been working on a few new songs but I haven't really touched anything of my own since the beginning of the summer when I showed it to you. I lost my motivation for it, I guess." Monet shrugged her shoulders a bit and looked down. "Anyways, anything new happening with you? I mean, I know Julia. The two of you have probably gotten into some trouble and have some good stories to tell." Mark chuckled lightly and shrugged his shoulders as well.
"I mean, I've got nothing that'll beat out the laundry situation and definitely don't have anything that can top the Great Mud War part 2, but yeah. I've got something," Mark said with a small laugh. Monet smiled and knocked on the door in response to Jasmine's pillow attacks to the door. They could be here for a while but honestly, Mark didn't really care. He was looking forward to this and being able to catch up with Monet. The summer had been long but this was a new year. "Okay, so, it started when my parents left for..."