10

Lle had been awake since ungodly hours of the morning. He remained in bed because he didn't have enough motivation to get up and start his day. It was one of those days where he felt completely down and demotivated.

Usually Kárri would help him with his internal battles but he couldn't find it in himself to call her. He knew she was busy and if not, she was most definitely not awake. He just had to thug it out.

He stretched his arms and groaned, grimacing when the sun rays shone through his windows as he rose up from the bed. He reached for his phone on the dressing table and shook his head to get someone special out of his mind. It was too early to even be thinking of what she's up to.

He switched his Wi-Fi on and tossed his phone on his bed so that the notifications would come through while he was in the shower. When he finished, he got dressed while listening to the voicemails from the SRC group. He rolled his eyes when Emily's voice message played next.

"Good morning, you lot. I agree with Nicklaus when he said we need to finalize the school-leaving fundraiser. So I thought we could meet up at my house at, say, 3 o'clock? Great, I expect a lot from you today. Unlike last time, ugh. I'll text you guys my address shortly. See ya!"

He picked up his phone and like she said, he saw her live location on his screen. Without even thinking it through, he tapped on Sophie's contact and FaceTimed her. It wasn't long before her brown hair came on his screen. He grinned when he saw her wince from the sun and tried to cover the phone with her hand to read the contact name.

"Good morning, Sophie."

"Oh, hey! What's up?"

"You didn't read the name, did you?" he chuckled. She fixed the camera to show her face as she sat in the shade.

"Why are you calling me half-naked?"

He looked down at his chest before giving her a sly smile. "Sorry. Are you going to Emily's place later this evening?"

"Ugh, yeah. I missed the last meeting so I kind of have to be there, ya know? Are you?"

"I am now," he said, watching her roll her eyes. "What were you doing before I called?

"I was working on our science project," she said in a voice that made it clear he should have known. "What topic have you chosen? I didn't ask you that last time."

"Genetic Engineering," he said, knowing that that was the same topic she had chosen. He first wanted to take Life In Space but then he changed it last night when he asked around and found out that she was doing her final project on GE.

"Oh, cool! Me too. What do you have so far?" she asked, now interested. He pressed the power button on the printer and switched his laptop on. Then he entered the topic in the search bar.

"Uhm, just a few pictures here and there," he said as he wirelessly connected his laptop to the printer and selected a lot of images and text information to print.

"That's it?" She asked suspiciously.

"Some information on the topic, too," he lied, selecting PDFs to print.

"Alright. Do you have plans today, aside from Emily later?"

"No, why?"

"I thought you could come over and put what we have together. Or I could come over, I don't mind."

"No, no. I'll be there in twenty minutes," he rushed out.

"Alright, calm down," she chuckled. "See you soon."

He couldn't help but punch his fist in the air when she ended the call. He quickly packed the printed papers into a zipper binder before placing it into his backpack along with his other school stuff. He then applied some cologne and made sure he looked and smelled good before walking out of his bedroom and downstairs where he heard his parents talking in the kitchen.

"Good morning guys," he said as he stopped in his tracks to see what they were up to. They both looked up, surprised that he was out of bed so early. Kiano glanced at the clock just to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"Do you have a fever?" Jane asked, going around the island to feel his forehead. He chuckled, giving his mom a look.

"Where are you going?" his dad asked suspiciously as he sipped on his coffee.

"Yes, where are you going looking and smelling good?" his mom asked, sniffing him. He looked at what he was wearing: a navy blue v-neck long sleeve shirt, black ripped jeans and black Air Max and his Patek Philippe watch that he got from uncle Cameron for his 18th birthday in June.

"Do I look good?" he asked, ignoring the look his dad was giving him.

"Mhmm, now tell me, where are you going?" Jane pressed.

"I'm going to work on a project," he said, slipping his hand in his pocket and shrugging.

"Oh, with whom?" his dad pointedly asked.

"Sophie Lucas," he said, his ears turning a light shade of red which his mom was the first to pick up.

"Oh, I remember little Sophie," Jane said, glancing at Kiano. "She was always here when they were in elementary school. I didn't know you guys were still friends since she hardly comes over. I assumed you guys drifted apart."

"Yeah, well, we have kind of reunited and we're working on our science project today. I'll be home before midnight," he said, already walking away before his mom could question him further.

The drive to Sophie's house was short because of the lack of traffic. He got to her house and the gatekeeper let him in. He parked his car under the tree and shut the engine. He stared into the distance as his mom's words played on his mind.

Have we all really drifted that far apart? They definitely have if his parents noticed that they were no longer around. Does he even know them now? What if they no longer related to the same things? His thoughts were interrupted when he felt his phone buzz with a new text.

Sophie: So you're just gonna stay in your car?

He looked up and saw her standing by the entrance door dressed in a long knitted hoodie and shorts. He smiled, quickly typing in a response.

Me: I'll be there shortly. had a few things to think through

Sophie: come on in and tell me what's on your mind.

'you' he wanted to type back but he erased it and simply wrote, 'alright ma'am'