Rose's POV
I saw Layla a second before she pulled me in a bone-crushing hug.
"I have some crazy shit to tell you", she said.
"Yeah, me too"
"My place?"
"Fine by me"
We smiled at each other. She frowned at my attempt of a smile, that obviously looked incredibly sad, and pressed her lips together. I shrugged and she pulled me back in a tight hug.
"If you keep that face I'm gonna have to squeeze you harder"
I laughed. I was so lucky to have her as my best friend. She winked at me and turned around on her heel.
"I'm sorry, mister", Layla tried to call one of Ultrrians, "Mister! Hi!"
He turned to us finally acknowledging her. With an amused look, he smiled. He looked about my father's age, but much hotter with his black hair and brown glowing eyes.
"Yes, dear", he said.
"If you could share with us the crucial information that answers the question of great importance that is where our ride is, we would be forever grateful", she asked and smiled sweetly. The man laughed briefly. I frowned. That sounded awfully familiar.
"Today, you'll stay at our court. New bus will come tomorrow"
"What happened to the old bus", I asked.
"It drove your friends home, young lady"
Layla opened her mouth to say something when the guy looked behind our back and smiled widely.
"Boys", he yelled. I looked over my shoulder and saw Adrian and Kayden. Adrian awkwardly waved at him and Kayden rolled his eyes.
"Come here", the man said.
"Do we have to?" Kayden yelled back. Adrian gave him the look and Kayden huffed.
"Uncle", Adrian greeted him. I'll be damned.
"Adrian...Kayden, let me see you", guy said, "You have grown so much. You know, you look just like your father"
"Vaughn... you look older. Aging does you no good", Kayden said seriously.
The guy, Vaughn, decided to think of it as a joke so he laughed. Maybe that is the best way to deal with Kayden. They continued talking as Layla and I moved away.
We carefully exited the school and went to our bench. It was completely clean and polished, but it still held memories.
"So, what happened", I asked her after a moment of silence.
She took a deep breath getting ready to spill. I knew how she felt as I felt the same way. I tried not telling her everything and it broke me. Sharing worries and lousy experiences with a best friend somehow makes them less scary. If I was not to tell her what happened that would make it a secret and some secrets put so much weight on your shoulders that you're not able to carry by yourself.
"Well, I was just trapped with Kayden for a few hours. He is claustrophobic, you know, and he had... anyways, that is not the point. Long story short - he kissed me"
I looked at her waiting for her to burst into laughter. When she didn't do it I shook my head still not believing. She's joking, right? Maybe she was preparing me for something a bit less stupid and not so life endangering. I gave her a questioning look and she replied with a toothy grin.
"What the hell Layla", I screamed. She shushed me and gave me an angry look.
"Shut up and let me finish"
"No, Layla", I whisper-yelled, "I can't when you lack careful consideration of the possible consequences of an action that is kissing a psychopath"
"Calm down", she said with her hands raised in surrender, "Let me tell you what happened"
I nodded and she licked her lips preparing for a long complaining session.
"So after that happened, you know what he said? He said it had to be done... what asshole says that?"
"Kayden", I said and she ignored me continuing her rant.
"I slapped him and he laughed. Like really? He laughed. You know how hard it is to slap him? Striking him is like punching a wall and he just laughs at my effort to prove him that he's an ass by hurting myself more than I hurt him â but it's worth it because he does feel some pain, right? Well, sometimes I think he's made from steel or some other very hard material which thing can definitely be useful in some other situation..." she noticed my glare and coughed, "anyways, I decided to ignore him and sit on the other side and as I turned around he spanked my ass. Like what? So I turn around and gave him a death stare and you know what he does? He smirks and shrugs. Because my hand hurt from the last time I slapped him, I just moved as far away as possible which is like a feet away, literally"
She stopped talking, probably because she ran out of breath, and looked at me with a weird expression.
"What happened next", I asked her not distracted by that funny expression.
"Well, he was bored or whatever so he teased me for like... until we went out. On one point, I tried to break the wall or whatever and I made a hole. So I show that hole to him and he asks which hole..."
"You didn't", I said and she chuckled.
"He basically made it too easy"
"That joke is way too old to be funny", I said.
"You should've seen his face"
She started laughing.
"And..."
"Well, he didn't know what it means. I was explaining what does that's what she said means to him for a awfully long time and when he figured it out he just kept teasing me"
"He is a mentally disturbed child", I said. She laughed.
"How was it?" I asked few moments later.
"How was what?"
"The kiss. How was it?" I asked once again.
"Well..."
"You didn't like it, did you?"
"Well..."
"Layla!"
"What can I do? He is very, very, very like seriously very good kisser and it lasted only for a second..."
"No! God no! Gross", I said trying to forget what she just said.
"Changing the subject â what did you do?"
"I will never sleep again...that sentence will haunt me forever"
"Stop staling Rosemarie Adams"
I looked at her and then at the grass. She distracted me from thinking about today's events.
"Adrian told me that he said what he said because he wanted me out of his life because he liked me too much. Although I think he was pitting me because I was crying... again", last words I spat with angrily.
"Why were you crying?" she asked worried.
"I don't know", I just said.
She gave me a side hug and I leaned my head to her shoulder.
"Girls", deep voce echoed in empty schoolyard, "Time to go"
We got up and entered one of those weird cars that work on hydrogen or something. They also warm up their houses with some plant... Miscanthus x Gigantheus, was it? They say our atmosphere is way too precious to be constantly tortured with pollution.
I agree on that. At least they do something good.
Car started and we went through the town. It was beautiful. Ultrrians were serious about contamination problem. There wasn't a single water bottle or even a small paper in sight.
Soon we stopped in front of gorgeous castle-like building. That was new.
We left the car and stood in front of it.
"Wow", Layla said.
Adrian's POV
I was sitting on the chair in my room just thinking. Kayden was lying on my bed also deep in thought. The slight scent of burned herbs was filling the air.
"You should get one of those ceiling-mirror-thingies. They're amazing", he suggested out of blue.
I chuckled at the randomness of his statement and so did he.
"But for real. It is very useable when there is a girl in your bed"
The picture of strawberry blond hair scattered on my pillows flashed in my mind making me uncomfortable. I squeezed my jaw as I realized I didn't want that thought to go away. One of those pillows flew through the air and it hit my head.
"You're unbelievable", I said rolling my eyes.
"That's what she said", he murmured. I frowned.
"What?" I asked confused a moment later. He smiled and moved his gaze from the ceiling to me.
"I'll tell you one day"
Silence filled the room and stayed there for a quite some time. It was weird - Kayden keeping himself quiet, but I didn't question it.
"Do you remember the day I left", he asked suddenly.
"Yeah", I said slowly dragging the words, "You ran away and hid in the park"
"Do you want to know what happened after that?"
I straightened my back in the chair and looked at him confused again. Somehow I felt entirely sobered up.
"Like what happened to you here?"I asked wondering what made him open up to me after weeks of me trying to find out and him changing the subject.
"Yes, that exactly" he said with emotionless look in his eyes. I nodded and he started telling his story.