I didn’t really want to. Yes, I wanted to dress cute and look as pretty as I could to hang out with Kael, but at the same time I felt comfortable. Even with no makeup and wearing my favorite black scrubs, I did actually feel pretty.
“I can stay in this,” I told him, settling it.
This is what life must be like every day for people who are in love. Not that I was in love, but this was companionship that’s good for one’s heart and self-esteem. Kael thinks I’m cool enough to hang out with, and though I tried not to value myself based on other people’s opinions of me, his opinion mattered.
“I found like five bands I think you’ve never heard of. One is called Chevelle. I once knew this guy in basic training who would scream their lyrics over and over. They were from his hometown, and by the time we graduated, I knew almost all of their songs by heart. I don’t know if you’ll like them now, but if you had listened to them before you fell for Shawn Mendes, it might have been a different story.”
“Leave Shawn out of this,” I told him with a smile.
“I saw that poster in your room at your dad’s.”
Kael turned onto the highway as daylight was disappearing from the sky.
“He’s the John Mayer of our generation,” I argued.
Kael snorted. “John Mayer is the John Mayer of our generation.”
A few minutes later, he was quiet, and I was happy as we listened to music and drove down a long, curvy road that I had never been on before. I would always remember the way the sun and moon danced in the sky that night and what a sense of calm his silence had started to bring over my body.
I listened to his voice when he asked me random questions that he had clearly put some thought into:
“How many siblings do you wish you had?”
“Which is your favorite character on Friends?”
“How many times have you watched The Lion King?”
“If you could have dinner with five people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?”
I was starting to get too comfortable with him, there in the front seat of his Bronco. And yet I could almost feel the chaos brewing somewhere nearby. Everything was going too well. I was totally lost in his world now, impressed and moved by every thought he had. I loved the way his tongue wrapped words up to sound pleasurable and profound. The depth of his thoughts and the way he spoke were incredibly attractive; his mind at work was so appealing to me. I thought I knew what connection was like, but watching it play out on a TV screen was nothing compared to real life. There’s a joy here, a level of peace with Kael that I had not known in my twenty years on this earth. Being with Kael was like meditating; it was so good for my mind and my soul felt better when he was around. He was lighthearted and heavy, both at home and away. Biting whiskey and smooth wine. I loved the way he contradicted everything about himself—his purposeful silence, his wise youthfulness, his unexpected softness. He was a fascinating man, and I couldn’t wait to learn more about him.
We made it through an entire playlist and began to make a second one together. I quietly sang along to a Halsey song. We got to the restaurant early and sat in the car, talking through the next few songs. The place was a cool little Chinese restaurant with nicely decorated patio seating, hanging lanterns, and lush green plants covering the space. We were only fifteen minutes from my house, but I had never noticed this place or the cute fragrance store next door.
“This street is so charming—” I saw my brother’s name pop up on my screen. I thought about ignoring his call, but decided against it.
“It’s Austin, sorry.” I turned Kael’s radio down and picked up the call. Music boomed through his side of the line and his slurred words were tumbling through, becoming inaudible.
“Kareeee, come get me. Please? Fuck Katie, Katie and her boyfriend that I didn’t know she had. She said it was her ex-boyfriend, but they’re trying to jump me . . .” Austin slurred his words. “Kare, please come get me.”
I sat straight up in my seat. “What do you mean? Who’s trying to jump you? Where are you?”
Chaos. No longer brewing. It was here.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
I couldn’t say no. Austin gave me the location and I asked Kael to drive me straight there. He put the address in his phone and pulled out of the parking lot, the restaurant lanterns fading in the background as we drove. Thanks to Kael’s ability to drive in crisis mode, it took us only about eight minutes to get there. I called Austin once a minute until we arrived, but he didn’t pick up. By the time we pulled up, two guys were rolling around in the middle of the street; a red T-shirt and a black T-shirt were all I could see. There was a crowd watching. Another guy pushed through and hit the guy in the black T-shirt in the ribs. I recognized it was Austin as he grunted on the ground. I pushed past Kael and he grabbed my arm.
“Stay here.” He put his palms on my shoulders and moved me a few feet away before he disappeared into the crowd. There were three trucks parked in the cul-de-sac and about ten people huddled together, cheering and booing.
I tried to figure out where we were. The street was a row of similar houses, all quiet and with the porch lights on. There were a few people outside, yelling to stop the fighting and saying that they had called the Military Police. We weren’t on post, but we were right outside the gate, so if the cops came it would be Military Police, not civilian. It was the last place my brother needed to be getting caught fighting.
I scanned my surroundings quickly, on my way to find Kael and Austin in the crowd. I shoved to the front of the adrenaline-fueled chaos trying to reach Kael in the middle of the brawl. He pushed one of the guys off Austin and Austin swung at him in the air.
“Stop it!” I recognized Katie’s voice before I saw her. I beelined toward her.
“Come on, Nielson, let’s get out of here!” someone said in the background. A couple more lines of toxic encouragement were thrown out before I saw Kael block my brother from getting hit in his ribs again. I screamed.
“Stop it!” Katie yelled again. I reached where she was standing, close to the fight, her face streaked with mascara tears.
“What happened?” I asked, grabbing her by the shoulders. Kael was yelling Austin’s name, trying to break up the fight.
“My ex, and Austin—” She started crying hysterically. It was useless trying to talk to her and I kept moving through the crowd.
Sirens whirred through the air as Austin got his arms around one of their necks and brought them to the ground. Kael was shoving a guy with a bloody nose toward the crowd. They started to scatter, except Austin and the guy he was wrestling in the grass. One by one, the trucks pulled away, Katie with them. I locked eyes with her as she climbed inside the cab of one of the trucks. This had everything to do with her and there she went, driving away from the storm.
I yelled Austin’s name as she passed. Begging him to stop, to get up and get in the fucking truck! Kael grabbed Austin by the waist and tossed him to the side. He propped himself up on his elbow, sitting up, ready to go back at it.
“Austin, STOP!” I screamed again, desperate to connect with him, to snap him out of this before it was too late. If he got arrested again, he would be fucked. The siren cut off and the voices got louder. There was a small group of onlookers left outside now, mostly neighbors yelling and arguing all at once; it was complete chaos.