Rising Shards

Kalei sighed as decided on a decent enough place to sit. Lillia, Oka, and Zeta took places around her. They decided on going to Oka and Lillia’s room, so they didn’t have to tell Marmalade to leave, which would feel pretty rude.

Oka had the banner from inventory time in class (the one that she re-labeled to “the gayest Zeta and Oka in the district”) pinned on the wall next to her bed.

“Did you steal that banner?” Zeta asked.

“I didn’t steal it.” Oka said. “I’m just…OK, I maybe stole it. I’m not big on stealing, so please don’t be mad?”

“As long as you won’t get in trouble for it.” Zeta said. “I mean, it has our names on it, you kinda had to.”

“I kinda had to, yes!” Oka said.

“Your dad’s co-principal, it’s probably legally yours anyways.” Kalei said.

“More importantly,” Lillia said. “How are you holding up? I assume not well given the request to see us.”

“I guess I’m doing OK,” Kalei said. “Not super bad…but I’m just kind of a blur right now so I could use some time with you guys.”

Lillia got her console set up to play the group’s favorite kart racer game (well, everyone but Zeta’s, but she was slowly learning), giving Kalei something to do while she formulated her thoughts.

“I can’t believe her name is freaking ‘pee dee,’” Kalei said. “What’s she got that I don’t? A stupid-ass helmet, for one. And pretty soon I’m gonna have to see her…and Nikki…”

“I hope you haven’t been spending too much time looking at her accounts,” Lillia said.

“Who, P.D.’s or Nikki’s?” Kalei asked. “I’ve been trying to not look at Nikki’s. And I couldn’t find any of P.D.’s. Just those three pictures.”

“Staring at those probably isn’t good either,” Zeta said, giving up on the game after ramming into the side walls for the fifth time in a single race.

“Zates, we can’t go on to the next race until you finish.” Kalei said.

“Wait, what the frick! Seriously?” Zeta said. She tried to maneuver her kart poorly for a few moments before the race ended. “Hey, this ended just fine!”

Kalei snickered.

“You’re getting a little better!” Oka said.

“Don’t get too much better,” Kalei said. “A constant in my life is your gaming skills, Zates.”

“Pfft,” Zeta said. “Well, I gotta get a little better.”

“Have you decided if you want to text Risa back?” Oka asked.

“No…” Kalei said. “If I just had one of these things to deal with, I’d feel more…capable. But I got Risa, I got Nikki, I got that as weekend…”

“You’re doing the right thing hanging out with us, at least.” Oka said. “Cuz we got your back!”

“Yeah!” Zeta said.

“I didn’t even ask,” Kalei said, feeling a twinge of guilt. “Are you guys good, too? I mean, that weekend sucked for all of us.”

“It did, but don’t worry about me.” Zeta said.

“That’s dumb,” Kalei said. “We’re all in this together. I’m sick of venting about my crap. You saw Jeans again. And your dad.”

“It’s a lot…” Zeta said. She crossed her arms, her tail flicking around as she thought. “This didn’t hit me as hard as last time though. I wasn’t expecting Jeans or my dad…but I didn’t really have to interact with them.”

“I tried to spit on your dad when we were captured, by the way.” Kalei said, remembering the smug look on Zeta’s dad’s face when he gave Ovie and 09 the Sharai Daggers.

“Thanks for that.” Zeta said.

“I dunno how someone as cool as you came from someone as suckass as that, but life has many mysteries.” Kalei said. “Do we wanna just go around the room and vent it out? Lils, you got anything?”

“Me?” Lillia asked.

“Yeah, you’re part of this too.” Kalei said.

“I am not sure…I don’t have anything as dramatic as your weekend,” Lillia said.

“Well, I’m done talking about me for the moment, so come up with something we can have your back on.” Kalei said.

“Hm,” Lillia said. “I am a bit stressed about the play being on hold. I’m not looking forward to trying to pick up where we left off, presumably with new cast members who we haven’t worked with at all.”

“Yeah, what the heck!” Oka said.

“And I always get stressed around finals time, even more so now with the jumbled state of our classes with the imminent Wildfire Hearts event,” Lillia said. “Which honestly, I hope ends up cancelled at the last minute due to Principal Penteldtam’s lack of planning ability. No offense, Oka.”

“I would say the same thing! He sucks at planning!” Oka said.

“I’d say maybe we could all study together, but I think we might drag you down,” Kalei said.

Lillia shrugged. “You might be distracting, but I could keep us in line.”

“That came out so threateningly.” Oka said.

“That was the point.” Lillia said. “Are you doing alright, Oka? I can’t imagine having a family member go through what 09 is going through must be easy.”

“It’s not,” Oka said. “And it does make me kinda panic-y. But my new meds seem really good and I scheduled some time with my therapist to talk about everything. So I’m…alright.”

The four were silent, playing games for a bit as they mulled things over. Kalei had never felt as hopeless as she did during the business with Nikki and then the Sharai Daggers right after, but she made it through that. She hated the foggy feeling during the week, and knowing her friends probably felt something similar didn’t sit right with her.

“Alright, so we got my crap, Zeta with ex and family business, Lillia and Oka with the play, all of us with finals…and we’re all feeling like garbage. It just feels like everything sucks.” Kalei said.

“Yeah…” Zeta said.

“What can we even do about it?” Kalei said. “I don’t have a therapist like Oka does.”

“Hanging out like this helps a lot.” Zeta said. “We can figure something out for all this.”

“I guess I just want something to just take my mind off things,” Kalei said. “Something better than Farty Karty, fun as it may be. I mean, I wanna game a lot with you guys, too. But I dunno. I kinda need something else right now, I guess.”

Lillia squinted. “I may have something.”