11. The Pot & The Kettle

"Your total will be twenty nintey-two," Mrs. Cortez politely said from behind the counter as she continued bagging my endless mountain of trash food into small bags. My heart felt heavy as I slid twenty-one dollars across the counter toward her.

Kyra had just gotten back from their "surprise" visit to see her had early this morning, and if her sobs that overtook her words as she spoke to me were any indication, it hadn't gone well. I just didn't know why or what happened. All that I knew was that she said that she really needed me, so I was going to her house stocked with her favorite snacks and a vinyl of the newest album from her favorite band named The Abyss from another store called "The Rock" for her to add to her ever-growing collection, though I was sure that she'd already streamed it a million times since its release two weeks ago.

"Thanks, Mrs. C," I said as she handed me my change and bags.

"No worries, Addison. Tenga un buen día (have a nice day)!"

"Tenga un buen día tambien (hace a nice day too)!" I called over my shoulder before I pushed open the door and thrust myself back onto the busy New York streets. It didn't take long until I was knocking on Kyra's familiar front door. I bounced my leg as I heard muffled movements from inside, ants of anxiety moving within me as I tried to piece together what could be the matter.

When the door opened and the girl in front of me was not the girl I recognized as my girlfriend. Her eyes were puffed and her skin was tinted a red that only hours of crying could produce, a shade of red that my Padre had made me familiar to when his father passed. Her clothes were disheveled and her hair was messy, but not in the organized mess that it usually was, but pure chaos. The way her chin trembled as she looked at me broke me and within a moment's breath, the bags that I'd been carrying were on the ground and my arms were tightly wrapped around her.

As if my touch broke a dam within her, tears flowed from her eyes and her body violently shook in my arms as heartbreaking sobs were pulled from her chest. I didn't bother whispering sweet nothings into her ear like "it's okay" or "I'm here", I'd come to realize that she hated stuff like that, especially when she was emotionally bent out of shape. When she was done, I held her in my arms, not putting any space between us until she wanted to.

"It's so bad, Addi. It's so, so bad," she whispered as she pulled away and looked up at me, her eyes glassy and red.

"What is, piccola (baby)?" I softly asked as I gently swept her tears away with my thumb.

She shook her head. "Not here. I'll tell you inside."

I nodded as I gathered my dropped bags in my arms before I turned my back to her and bent down. "Hope on, princess."

I didn't have to be facing her to see her grin before she slowly climbed onto my back. As I carried her into her house, I could feel a tension in the air that wrapped around me and squeezed like a boa constrictor. The light aura that usually ran rampant in her halls had been brutally killed and replaced by an impenetrable darkness. It honestly scared me, especially when I didn't see her mom in the kitchen or watching bad reality TV in the living room like I usually did.

I carried Kyra up to her room and gently set her on her bed. Her curtains were drawn, giving her room a darkness that matched its aura, which she never did unless something very very bad happened. "What do you have?" she asked, her voice weak as I kicked my shoes off and turned toward her.

"All of your favorites," I said as I dumped the bags' contents on her bed. "Candy, soda, chips, gummy bears, tea. I got the works. Oh, and I got you the vinyl to that awful band that you listen to."

She weakly punched my shoulder. "The Abyss is great, and don't you dare slander their holy name," she joked, though she lacked her usual joy. She took the record from me and set it on her nightstand. "Thanks, Addi. You know me too well."

"That's my job. Kyra's boyfriend: to know her too well," I lightly joked as I kissed her forehead.

"Yeah," she softly said as she opened a kit kat bar, her favorite.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" I asked after a few silent minutes of her nibbling at her candy bar without actually eating it.

She mutely nodded. I took her remote and searched for something for us to watch, feeling uneasy about Kyra's new state and her lack of expression. I wanted to make everything okay, but how could I if I didn't know what was going on?

After a few minutes, we settled on "The Emperor's New Groove". We watched it in an awkward silence for about thirty minutes, laying there without a single part of our bodies touching, foiling the way our legs were usually tangled up in each other's while her head was on my chest. Her lips would even be on me sometimes too, but at that point, neither of us were focused on the movie. But now, we felt like strangers.

We'd barely made it thirty minutes in when she abruptly sat up and paused the movie. "My dad cheated on my mom," she suddenly said, her eyes boring into mine.

"What?" The word flew past my mouth before I could stop it, triggered by having such a big statement suddenly thrown at me all of the sudden. I shook my head. "I'm so sorry, Ky. That's terrible, I can't imagine."

She shook her head as her attention dropped to the Kit-Kat wrapper she was ripping apart in her hands. "I can't believe it. Every time he was around us he acted so love with my mom then he just..." she trailed as moisture built up in her eyes which she quickly blinked away before her eyes locked with mine. "My mom and I were going to surprise him at his hotel. I was the first one in and you know what I saw? He was balls deep in his assistant." My heart dropped and ached for her. As cliche as it sounded, stuff like that happened far more often in real life than people expected. I just hated that Kyra had first-hand experience.

"I'm so sorry, Kyra."

She scoffed. "Me too. It's one thing to physically catch your dad cheating, but it's a completely different thing to catch him cheating and find out he's gay at the same time."

My eyebrows shot up so far so fast I was surprised they were still on my face.

She nodded, reading my expression. "His assistant was David. It was awful." She shook her head as tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. "But the worst part was the look on my mom's face. Seeing the strongest woman I know crack to pieces right in front of me was something I'll never forget. I swear, a single tear fell down her face but she didn't say a single word. She just grabbed my arm and pulled me out all while he was yelling for us and trying to apologize while trying to detangle himself from his assistant. He shattered this family, Addison. I still haven't fully processed it and my mother is shattered. Ever since we've been home, all she's done is cry and cry and cry. She doesn't deserve that. Neither one of us do; having someone that we love betray us so badly."

I gathered her in my arms as a new wave of tears ripped through her, though I couldn't help but feel an ice pick of guilt chipping away at my heart. No matter what I tried to do to stop it, I felt like I was guilty of the same betrayal. Though I hadn't done anything physically, I was semi-emotionally cheating on Kyra with Tyler, and no matter how much distance I tried to put between us or how amazing I felt with Kyra, it didn't stop my heart from skipping a beat when he was near or the nervous butterflies that invaded my stomach when my name slid past his lips. And I hated that I liked it so much.

"It's not fair to either of you," I softly said, my throat tight with guilt as I spoke. I felt the cold edge of the two-sided sword slowly slice into my stomach, urging me to spill my guts to Kyra and tell her the mountain of secrets I was keeping inside, but I refrained. "Neither one of you deserve it and I'm so sorry you've been going through this. It's terrible when someone who's supposed to love you does this to you. He had a great family, and you and your mom will continue to be great, no matter what happens."

"Thanks," she weakly said before she pressed a soft kiss to my lips that only lingered for a mere moment before she pulled away and buried her head into my chest. "That's why I'm so glad to have you, Addi. I know you wouldn't ever do anything to hurt me that badly. I trust you. You're a good man."

I pressed a kiss into her hair and held her tighter. "I'm glad to have you too," I whispered.

I wondered if she could hear how fast my heart was beating or feel my body shake under hers.

***

Black lives matter. No if, ands, or buts about it. We matter, and our voices deserve to be heard.

I just wanted that to be the first thing in my author's note because the multiple deaths of black people at the hands of the police are disgusting and heartbreaking as a black person myself. And though I'm too young to vote, I still have a voice and I try to use it through my writing and social media. There are endless petitions and donations that are available to everyone in order to show your support to the movement and the betterment of the world through the betterment of the treatment of black people. Don't be silent on this issue. As Desmond Tutu said, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

On to somewhat "happier" news, the next chapter is available on Inkitt and it may or may not involve a kiss between Tyler and Addi...hm, I guess you'll have to read and find out. As always, my inkitt profile is linked at the bottom of my Wattpad bio and you can read the next chapter one week early for free on Inkitt or wait until next week when I update it on here. It's also a longer chapter to make up for lost time.

I hope y'all have a good rest of y'all's weeks, and if you're protesting, please please PLEASE be careful. I stand with you and am thankful for you, just please be careful.

Love y'all- Jordan