Instincts

Upon entering fifth hour, Kyle discovered he was paired up with his unsavory desk partner for a group project. He had arrived late and received the last pick for partners. This was just great. Not only was he not paired up with his friends, who would make this project somewhat bearable, oh no, he had to be paired up with the anti-social Sophia.

Her long black hair hung in front of her face at times, hiding her eyes, instead drawing attention to her red highlights. Kyle disliked her, if only because she was an enigma. Why would she highlight her hair only to hide her face? Why would she try to be beautiful if she wasn't willing to flirt? He wasn't angry about it, but the confusion he felt made him uncomfortable nontheless.

Kai had an entirely different reaction. As he left Kyle's mind to study their new partner, he noticed something incredible. Unlike the mindspaces of most people, hers was coated in ice.

Her thoughts were steadfast and strong, frozen in the ice. The ice sculptures filling her mind had a certain beauty, light refracting and reflecting in a mystical manner. If Kai had to describe her headspace in one word, he knew exactly what it would be.

"Beautiful."

Kai was tempted to dive inside to appreciate the sight more thoroughly, but he decided to instead observe from the outside. Perhaps this human was special enough to remain untouched. His presence might taint the incredible uniqueness of her mind, and Kai was reluctant to disturb such an enchanting sight.

Instead, he gazed into her soul from the outside, appreciating the depth the frost added and the somewhat crudely sculpted thoughts in her mind.

Whether or not Kyle was happy about this group project, Kai was dying to get to know more about this girl.

Unfortunately he had arrived too late to class to get much done, so instead they exchanged numbers after class and headed on their ways.

~~~~

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Kai remained hidden in the expanses of Kyle's mind, practically invisible, resting. By the time Kyle arrived home, Kai felt refreshed. He was also slightly peckish, but the urge to consume was practically constant within him. His stomach could wait.

Kai watched as Kyle wandered up to his bedroom, sat on his bed, and stared at his wall. After a solid half-hour of this, Kai grew bored and decided to take the wheel. What was the point of letting Kyle have the body if he wasn't going to use it, or at least entertain him in some way?

Slowly shifting his form into one more human, he stepped into Kyle's body before merging with it once again.

He stood up and enjoyed a massive stretch. He heard pops and cracks as his bones recovered from settling for too long. If having a body was all stretching and no dealing with troublesome humans was involved, Kai would've wrested permanent control of the body from Kyle long ago.

Alas, the distaste for coddling those around him was great enough for even the thought to sour his mood. He gripped the door handle and walked down the hallway with a frown on his face. Enjoying some good food felt like a good way to spend his time.

He approached the steps when he felt a mind rapidly approaching behind him.

"Brobroooo!!"

Kai instinctively leapt out of Kyle and towards the tiny human, ready to do whatever it took to defend himself. He opened his mouth and dove towards her, ready to fill his stomach.

But then he paused. He remembered his first night on Earth. He remembered her kindness. Eating her somehow felt… wrong.

As Kai froze, taken aback by his instincts, the small girl's tackle pushed Kyle forwards enough for them to both tumble down the flight of stairs in a heap.

Kai dashed towards his preferred host faster than he had ever traveled before, just in time to reposition his limbs in a way that would cushion their fall. Apparently Kyle had no fear or sense of self preservation, as he had made no effort to slow his rapid approach towards the cold, hard floor.

Once again in control of the body, Kai sighed.

"Hannah, don't startle me like that! It's dangerous!"

She stared at him blankly.

"Dangerous?"

"Nevermind." The girl would never have known how close she had been to danger. She had only been spared because of Kai's memories of her kindness.

Without that chicken pot pie, he would have likely never realized the physical requirements of having a body… or at least wouldn't have noticed them in his first body. He would've not known basic human kindness.

No longer excited to enjoy good food, Kai returned Kyle to his bedroom with a sour taste in his mouth.

~~~~

Becca sat on her bed with her legs crossed. She had a stress ball in her left hand, and her phone in her right. She scrolled, scrolled, and scrolled through the internet.

She scrolled through pointless POV tiktoks that were not eye catching enough to distract her before giving up and moving to instagram. She scrolled long past funny cat photos and dog memes, still unable to hide from the overwhelmingly suffocating emotions she was feeling.

She opened reddit, scrolling past the posts faster than she could read them, trying to find anything to take her rage away. She scrolled, and then scrolled some more. She scrolled past 2am, past 3am, past-

}POP{

Suddenly her stress ball exploded across her bedroom, orbeez scattering across the floor.

Becca screamed. "F*CK!!"

Her hands began to shake, her legs grew weak, her head grew light. She lost control of her breathing, beginning to hyperventilate.

All she could think about was how angry she was with Kyle, Kyle, Kyle. All of it! If only he hadn't been enough of a dunce to accept her break up!

Why didn't he miss her!?

He should be on his god-damn KNEES begging to have her back!!

Why wasn't she good enough for him!? Was she nothing to him!?

F*ck! Did he never care for her!?

That bastard…

Suddenly Becca knew what would make her feel better.

Kyle. Dead.

Imagining his body on her floor in place of the stress ball, she was finally able to calm herself enough to go clean up.