For the first time in weeks, Kayla slept rather comfortably, which was strange because when she woke up she craved oranges.
She stretched and scratched her arm with a yawn before getting up to brush her teeth. Toothbrush in her mouth, she came out from the bathroom to pick out what she was going to wear today.
Today was Sunday and Louisa wanted to watch a soccer match that was going to take place in school for her new book and somehow that translated to Kay coming too. She didn't want to attend any soccer games after Andy, but she had to go. For Loui. It had nothing to wanting to see Wyatt play and it certainly wasn't because Wyatt specifically invited her to come.
She opened her closet scanning the clothes. Her eyes spotted a blue top that if her memory served her right was on the floor. Speaking of the floor, she looked back and saw that there were no clothes on the floor.
"What the…" Kayla rushed to the bathroom, spat the toothpaste out of her mouth, rinsed it, and ran outside to see Loui reading a book sitting next to the kitchen Isle.
"Loui," she called out and the green-eyed girl looked up from her phone to see her best friend staring at her with furrowed brows.
"Good morning, why are you up so early? The game isn't for another five hours."
"Did you come into my room?"
"No, why?"
Strange. Did she sleepwalk and then arrange her room because she would never do such a hard task while in her right mind? If it wasn't for Loui, then who would have entered her room?
"Kay, what happened?"
"Well, the strangest thing happened this morning. I woke up and my room was clean, absolutely spotless. No clothes on the floor."
"You woke up and you found out that your room was clean?" Louisa gave her the 'really?' Look.
"I'm not joking, it was really clean!" she insisted and Louisa stretched out her palm and touched Kayla's forehead. "Are you well?"
"Louisa!" she swatted her hand away with a scowl. "I'm being serious!"
"Are you sure you didn't cast a spell when you were sleeping? You do know you sleep talk, right?" Her left eye twitched seeing her friend teasing her.
"This isn't funny! What if…" she leaned forward, whispering, "someone's watching me?"
"And I'm supposed to be the reader? Do you hear yourself? Let's say you're right that someone did break into our house and enter your room and the thing they do is to not steal but clean your room that seems like a tornado hit it?"
Listening to Louisa's sensible explanation Kayla began to doubt herself. Maybe she cleaned it and forgot because of her recent tiredness. Right! That must have been what happened.
However, something tugged at the back of her mind. Was that really what happened? Or did someone break in?
"Enough of that! What's for breakfast, I'm starving." Louisa whined snapping Kayla out of her thoughts.
She sighed. Maybe she was just overthinking things.
"I'm craving orange juice so I'll have to prepare something…" she walked further into the kitchen, "around that. There's this meal I've been wanting to prepare for a while," she said while bringing out the ingredients.
"Kay, can you borrow me an outfit for the game? Or do you know what I can wear?"
"I'll check for you."
"Oh that's right, did you hear?" Louisa put down her book. "Hear what?"
"Asher was in an accident."
"Asher? As in Asher Decker?" Kayla gasped still not turning around. When she was cooking, nothing could distract her. The kitchen was her haven.
"Yes."
"How did you know?"
"Asher called me and told me because we both can't go to the beach since the injury fractured her leg."
Kayla paused flipping the bread on the pan for a moment, "Since when have you and Asher become close?"
"It wasn't just me but Siao, Rory, Blaire, and Frena were all going to be there too." Louisa clarified but that made Kayla's grip on the spatula tighten. She wasn't invited but Frena their high school classmate she hadn't seen in two years was.
"And when where you going to tell me about this visit to the beach? After it happened?" There was an edge in her voice no matter how hard she tried to be cool about it.
"Don't be upset! We aren't trying to push you away or anything but this Saturday you are going to rehearsals and I would be left here, all alone."
She wanted to hit her head with the spatula. Louisa didn't like to be alone in a place and she forgot about that.
"Oh. That's fine then." she cleared her throat embarrassed. "How is Asher now, is she good?"
"Yeah yeah. She said Oliver was the one who took her back home and even prepared food for her. They seem pretty close. Rory says he's the only female Oliver can tolerate."
"Well, he must have had nothing better to do. It's not like he'd suddenly become a chef just for her or anything." She clenched her teeth an unknown feeling crawling in her heart.
"Why do I care? It's not like he means shit to me!?"
Then why did he treat her like that when he had someone he liked? She bit her tongue so that it almost bled. He was the biggest asshole ever and she would ignore him!
"Kayla." she pursed her lips in disapproval. "Why can't you just admit that he's a nice person? Would it kill you to admit it?"
"Nice? When did I ever not say he was nice!? He's an asshole but two can co-exist at the same time that's why we are all different people. Besides they are friends."
"I think they might both have something more going on. Amongst the Big Six, they are the closest according to what Rory says."
"And Rory just seems to know everything, doesn't she?" She didn't mean for her words to be biting.
Louisa eyed her as she placed two plates on the Isle. "What's wrong, are you afraid your favorite professor might have a girlfriend?" She wiggled her brows.
"He's not my favorite professor!"
"Are you sure? Because every time you come back from a class or we're having a convo, you bring him up."
"You're imagining things! I didn't bring him up, you did! Now shut up before I throw your plate in the garbage can!" Kayla huffed and Louisa giggled.
"Okay, okay. I won't mention your professor anymore."
Her professor. 'My professor.' Two words that sent a wave of pleasure and made her insides squirm. She had her back to Louisa, thankfully, because her cheeks reddened.
Kayla set down the orange juices and Louisa, perched her elbows on the Isle, awaiting for Louisa's explanation of the dish they were about to eat with bright eyes.
"So I call this, 'Honey PB&J! Instead of toast, I fried the sliced bread until it becomes golden but the inside the spread is PB&J, then I glaze honey on the fried bread. Ta-da!"
Louisa clapped happily. "Wow!" Under Kayla's expectant gaze, she picked up the bread, took a bite, and moaned in delight. "This is so good! I can't taste the spread and with the honey, it's just…. Oh my god!" she moaned again when she took another bite.
"Is it really good?" Kayla also indulged and took a bite. "Hmmm. It tastes nice!" She took a sip of the juice.
"If you enter the cooking industry, all the restaurants would go out of business from your amazing cooking skills!"
"Lucky for them, I'm never going to enter." Cooking was just a hobby for her but it did give her joy.
"How have you been, Loui?"
"I've just been super busy with this new book and classes, nothing much." She replied lightly.
"What about the other thing?" Kayla asked cautiously, watching the way her friend froze before eating again.
"I…. Um…. You know…. I'm getting there." Louisa didn't look up at Kayla, making the latter exhale sharply.
For Louisa, the injury would always be fresh so she couldn't push her too far to talk about it. Not now anyways. Death wasn't always a comfortable topic.