Chapter eight

“Go fish bitch!”

I and everyone around the small table in Aiden and Mia’s kitchen groan as I reach over the bowl of chips that Kayla sat out and pick up a card from the middle pile. It’s getting smaller and smaller by the minute.

I put the four of clubs in with the rest of my deck and Mia looks at me, Kayla, and then Aiden, knowing that it was now her turn. So far she’s the only one who’s having the worst luck out of all of us. She obviously didn’t grow up playing the game.

“I have to do this…”

She closes her eyes a little, pulling her deck closer to her chest for protection. She’s asked the same thing every time it was her turn. Plus I think she thought if she brought her cards to her chest it would help her.

It didn’t.

After a few seconds pass she opens one eye and peers at Kayla wearily.

“Three of diamonds?” Kayla looks at her cards and turns defeated. So far she has been killing this game. Mia lets out her breath, thinking she finally one upped someone,  and brings her hand out to get the card when Kayla smirks, brings her hand up, and points to the stack of cards.

“Go fish bitch!”

We all groan again and Mia turns her hand that was out around and flicks Kayla the finger and draws a card from the middle. It’s also the same finger she gave me when I guessed a three of hearts. She gave Aiden two fingers when he guessed the five of spades.

We all look back to our cards as Aiden takes his turn. Okay, even I have to admit spending your Wednesday night playing cards because you don’t have classes the next day is pretty lame. Usually we would be out doing something more adventurous. Or I would be at the library finishing up some assignment.

But, when Mia heard what happened at the club, from Kayla’s always moving mouth, she declared we were going to have a girls' night.

Apparently we all needed it after the long week we had. The fact that some guy tried to have his way just added to needing the night.

Since Aiden seems to have no life, he walked in half way through our game and sat down next to Mia and said that he was in. I didn’t even bother complaining because honestly? It wasn’t like he was going to make the game any more exciting.

Two hours later, and about twenty five games of Go Fish, and you have my life right now.

At one point, Aiden even tried to teach us how to play Rommé, but the rules were too complicated and Kayla was taking too long to figure it out, so back to Go Fish it was.

And since then she has been kicking our asses.

Everyone turns toward Aiden, waiting for him to take his turn,  and just as suddenly he holds up his hands and smirks at Kayla. “I’m not as stupid as I look.” He taunts before turning to me. Did I look that gullible? There is no way he could figure out the cards I currently have.

He nods his head toward my deck,a  confident look on his face. “Four of Clubs?”

I throw the card at his face and he laughs as he picks it up and puts it in his own deck nice and slow. I glare at him the whole time he does it, hoping the card would somehow magically combust right then and there.

Dick.

“Oh no, it’s Kayla’s turn!” Shouts Mia and everyone gets quiet. If we all could, we would run outside and throw ourselves off the railing. Because my sister was totally kicking some major ass.

Also it turns out we decided to make this round a little more interesting.

Whoever lost had to eat the mystery food that was in the back of Aiden and Mia’s refrigerator. I have no idea what it was, no one did, but by the green look of it, it didn’t look like something someone would want to consume.

Actually, I’m pretty sure scientists around the world would be amazed at what's in that container. The creature in the back refridgerator even had a name: Kelsey. They all laughed when they presented it to me, saying it would take years for someone to figure me out too, but I just smiled and threw the container on the floor.

The thing didn’t even move.

Oh, and to make things even funnier,  I was losing.

Big time.

Kayla grins and angles her body toward mine. My eyes get a little wide at her face and I shake my head, pleading her not to do this. She  dips her head, reaches for a card, and suddenly screams, “Get ready to eat green slime biotch! I just won the game!”

Mia bursts out into high giggles and Aiden slings his arm over the back of her chair and smiles sweetly at me, joy written all over his face. Kayla decides to join into the festivities and dance around the table like a lunatic.

Me?

Oh, I was just sitting there figuring out how I could kill them all and hide the bodies.

Let’s just say it involved the evil slime.

Mia stands up and swings her braid over one shoulder as she points toward the kitchen. I follow her finger to the refrigerator of pure doom and I swallow the lump in my throat. There was no way they were going to make me eat that. Friends don’t make friends eat slime.

It should be an official post card.

“Either we can do this here or in there. Either way Kels. You lost the bet.” How the hell did someone lose at the game of Go Fish?

Mia  raises an eyebrow in questioning and I sigh and stand up. A bet was a bet. Let’s just hope I don’t die by the end of the night. Though I’m sure they all would have a fit and laugh if it actually happened.

We all make our way toward the kitchen. Everyone has a big smile on there face as Mia heads toward the refrigerator. Mia brings out the bowl of mystery and sets it on the counter for observation.

She steps back and I just look at it. On the side there seemed to be some kind of white stuff and I put my hand over my mouth. I’m sure the moment I opened it the smell would be way worse than the looks.

“Who the hell made this?” I state in my hand and Aiden reaches over and wraps his arms around Mia’s waist from behind fondly. He lays his head lightly on top of Mia’s head and he smiles a little.

“It seems as if my kitten has no idea on how to work a kitchen.”

Mia just rolls her eyes but doesn’t say any differently. I should have figured she made this considering the condition it’s in. Mia never did know how to cook. She points to the green mush and looks at me seriously, amusement in the smile she was trying to hide.

“Eat!”

“Yeah Kelsey eat the Kelsey!”

“Tonight, Kelsey will become one of us!”

Three voices shout simultaneously.

Kayla leans toward the green slime and takes a big sniff,  blanching at the horrible smell. I give her a look and she holds up her hands. Even her fake bravado can’t handle what’s in store for me.

“It’s all on you.” I pull open the drawer that was under the cabinet and pick up the first fork I see. Everyone else seems to have their eyes on me while I have my eyes solely on what is about to be my death.

The truth was, I could have of easily of backed out and refuse to do it.

Sure, I would be called chicken or baby or some other mocking word, but sooner or later the teasing would have stopped. Then I would be well on my way to going to bed with a perfectly stable stomach.

I guess it is just who I am. How I grew up. When I was little I made the promise to myself that I would never go back on my word. So far, it’s been steady. Sure, I went back on something things, I’m far from perfect, but it was a deal I made with myself when I was eight.

A promise  I thought could take back the one promise I never did get to keep.

I was outside chasing Kayla, back when things were simplier. She heading into our tree house that our father built, the princess crown she always wore falling down the side.  I stood on the ground, my own crown discarded, and watched as she leaned her head out the window.

Tears streamed continuously down her face.

“Kayla, you have to come down!” I shouted up at her and she shook her head, the crown falling even lower on her head. When we were little she always had a tendency to run away from her problems. That moment was no different.

So as she wiped the tears away with her fingers, she looked right at me and said the words I could never take back. A promise that still hurt no matter how long I thought about it.

“Not until you promise me he isn’t leaving Kelsey. Just tell me that he is going to stay with us and I will come down.” I bit my lip and I just stood there. I had no idea what to even tell her.

Like I said, when we were little Kayla was always the leader. I just followed.

But when I looked up at her then, all broken and scared, I decided to lie to her. I knew for a fact that the promise was going to fall short, but I had to make her feel better.

It didn’t matter that our father was packing his bag in that instant. It didn’t matter that we could hear our parents still shouting from the back yard. It didn’t matter because my sister needed me and I would have done and said anything to make sure she didn’t have to live with what she was feeling.

“I promise you that dad isn’t going anywhere. I promise Kayla. Now, will you come down already? You’re scaring me.”

It took her a few moments to decide if I was telling the truth before she finally nodded, tears still falling down her face, and climbed down. I quickly ran up and  hugged her as long as I could.

A week later our father left us and Kayla was devastated. I remember the day it happened. He gathered up all his bags, and with Kayla and I watching, left without saying goodbye. I remember seeing the way her dark hair blew in the wind as she ran out the door after him.

I remember how it felt to watch her wrap her arms around herself as if nothing could hurt her again; so long as her arms were there. This time the tears were no where in sight. She already wasted them an hour ago.

“Kayla, wait!” I shouted while running up to her. If she tried chasing after our father there was no telling how far she would break.  She didn't even  stop for me and so I grabbed her arm and turned her around.

When I saw her red eyes and puffy cheeks, from scrubbing the tears away, I felt my heart break all over again.

“You lied Kelsey. You lied to me!” I opened my mouth, trying to say something to her, but no words come out.

What were you supposed to say when you break someone’s faith?

How did you apologize for giving someone hope and then taking it away?

A tear started to roll down her cheek and she swiped it away harshly and refused to even look at me. I had to stand there the whole entire time. I had to watch my words break someone elses heart.

“You promised he was going stay with us. You said wasn’t leaving and I believed you! I believed you Kelsey!” She choked out fiercely, fresh tears rolling down her face.  I took quick a step back at her sudden outbreak and tripped a little over my feet.

“Kayla, I’m sorry-” I tried to tell her but she wouldn’t listen. She just shook her head again, more tears falling down her face.

“I don’t want to ever see you again Kelsey. Do you understand!  I hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

Even know thinking about it, the words stung. She said everything I was feeling about myself in that moment and it hurt. So much.  She ended up walking away from me after that and I watched her go.

I felt tears falling down my face from what she said and when I looked up at the sky I swore to myself that any promise I made in the future, I would make sure I could follow through with. I would never have Kayla’s words thrown back at me.

Never again would I tell someone a promise and not keep it.

I have no idea why I was thinking of that while looking at the green mush in front of me, but with the fork in my hand and the slime in front of me, I knew I was going to do it.

A promise was a promise after all.

I look up at Kayla and she smiles at me, wrinkling her nose at the bowl again. I also swore that day that I would never let anything happen to her. Because if she didn’t look out for herself, then I was going to go through one hell of a job to do it myself.

I guess I wasn’t really doing a too hot of a job at that either, was I?

I sigh and tuck a piece of  hair behind my ear. Okay, I could totally do this.  I put my hand on the edge of the lid and I am about to open it, when Kayla suddenly reaches out and stops me. I look up, startled she got in the way,  and watch as she rolls her eyes and looks at Mia and Aiden.

“Can we make a new deal?”

“Depends on what it is.” Mia replies, confused just like me. I mean, she was the one who wanted to up the bet anyways. Why on earth would she want to make a new deal?! Kayla lets go of my arm and leans over to whisper in Mia’s ear.

I watch as Mia’s mouth tips up higher at one corner before her eyes meet mine, bright and full of humour. I could already tell she was liking what Kayla was saying by the smile on her face.

She nods and then she looks back at Kayla.

Aiden watches the whole exchange with his eyebrows furrowed and the more they whisper, the more I think I want to take my chance with the mystery food. At-least when it came to the slime I knew what I was getting myself into.

Mia nods her head and Kayla smiles, leaning back. She looks at us all and then she clears her throat like she was about to make a big speech. Maybe in her mind, she was. She turns and points at me seriously.

“We have a new proposition for you.” She says in a deep voice, making the deal sound more serious then I’m sure it was.

“And that might be?” I lean forward a little, wanting to know what it is, and she drops her arm and smiles. She knew better than anyone that curiosity gets the better of me.

“I have been thinking about this for a while. But, you see, you are so  stubborn and I knew you would never agree to such a thing. But now that you are faced with the option of…”

She looks at the food and wrinkles her nose again.

“Of death, I am here to make you another offer.”

“A brilliant offer,” Mia pipes in and Aiden cocks his head to the side a little, wanting to know what the new offer was just as much as me.

“Okay, what is it?”

“You have to promise you won’t get mad.”

“Oh my god, I won’t get mad. Just tell me what it is Kayla.”

“Not until you promise.”

“I promise okay?! Now tell me already!”

She sighs and  leans her hip on the counter, ready to state her offer. She looks at the ground nervously and then she looks back up at me and gives a hopeful smile.

“I want to set you up on five blind dates.”

Hell no.

I’m about to open my mouth, to tell her those exact words, when she holds up both hands in surrender.

“Before you freak, I have to say that Mia will be helping me pick out each guy you go out with. I promise you that they will be nothing close to what I find in a man.”

“And I promise that they will at least be decent, respectful men.” Mia adds in, smiling. I snap my mouth shut and  look at them, to the green mush, back to them, and then the green mush again.

Which one seemed worse?

On one hand, the mush might not be too bad. Sure, it might land me in the hospital, but look at the other option. Five blind dates? Five opportunites for something to go wrong?

That’s five guys I have never met, taking me out and us having to talk about our likes and dislikes. That’s five guy’s I’m going to have to flirt and look nice for.  That just didn’t seem too appealing to me.

Could I trust Mia and Kayla’s taste? I mean, Aiden doesn’t seem that bad, so I guess Mia wasn’t that horrible at choosing guys, but when I think about all the guys Kayla has been with , I want to plunge my fork into the mush and declare victory.

I sigh in defeat.

Five blind dates. It can’t be that bad, right? Maybe I could even find a nice guy who could end up being my friend? Some respectful fellow that could help me in life?

I wasn’t looking for a relationship or anything, but really…What else did I have to do with my life?

“Fine, I’ll take the five blind dates.” I announce and Kayla squeals as she wraps her arms around me in a hug and I end up staggering back.

Okay, I could do this.

It was just five blind dates.

What could go wrong?