CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Kalila was snuggled up on the white leather sofa in her living room, her feet curled up against one of the fluffy black pillows. It was the following Sunday and she hadn't been able to sleep all night; her thoughts buzzing too loudly for her to doze off. Her stomach grumbled loudly but she was too lazy to move from where she had been sitting for the past five hours or so.
The sun was slowly creeping up outside; the darkness of the night surrendering to pale orange streaks. She hadn't slept all night and was faintly surprised it was morning. How did the time go so fast? One minute it was 9pm and she had come down to eat Nutella on toast and the next she had been lulling over her boyfriend's words until it was 4:28am.
Slightly delirious from the lack of sleep â and probably due to all the Nutella consumed â Kalila reached for her phone. She had never really been an impulsive person before but there was a first time for everything. Without a second thought or considering the time, she flicked it on and rang Alex.
By this point she was sitting up straight, her knee bobbing up and down with nerves. He picked up after exactly four rings, easily awoken from his slumber.
"Kalila?" he asked, his voice thick and groggy. She could imagine him pulling himself up in bed with his eyes half closed and messy hair. The thought made her smile widely until she remembered those bloody pink Disney princess pyjamas and burst into giggles instead.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding incredibly confused which only fuelled her laughter.
Taking a deep breath and remembering why she had called him in the first place, she stopped laughing and spoke with all seriousness. "Nothing. Sorry, I haven't slept and I rang toâ,"
She heard him yawn from the other side and paused. "My god, it's almost five in the bloody morning!" he exclaimed, his voice much more awake now. "Why the heck haven't you slept?"
She shrugged and then remembered he couldn't see her. "Dunno, I was just thinking. I didn't even notice it had gotten so late. Or early, depending on how you look at it. And I called you because, well, I realised something."
Alex yawned again, swinging his legs around until he was sitting up in bed. He never had been an early riser but it was too bad Kalila was. Running his fingers through his thoroughly messed hair, he replied. "What did you realise Lila?"
Kalila got up and stretched, her phone lodged between her ear and shoulder. With her heart thudding loudly, she pushed back the curl of hair that had come loose from her messy bun and spoke. "Well, Iâ urm, kinda, well I..." she trailed off, a sudden loss for words. She almost smacked herself in the face when she realised how stupid she sounded.
"Go on," Alex mumbled, his voice cracking slightly through the phone.
Grabbing hold of every last bit of bravery she had, Kalila quickly spat it out. "I love you too." She could feel her ears burn; something they always did when she was embarrassed.
He didn't say anything for what felt like an eternity and Kalila bit her lip anxiously waiting; she didn't know what his silence meant. "Okay," he said, the smile in his voice evident through the one word. "I love you too."
She let out a deep sigh of relief, resisting the urge to squeal rather like a constipated cat. "Kalila?" Alex said in a serious tone, pulling her out of her thoughts. She hummed in acknowledgement, waiting for him to finish what he wanted to say.
"In case you forgot, it's five in the bloody morning!"
Kalila laughed. How was it possible to feel so much warmth and happiness spread inside her veins just from his voice? "Goodnight Alex," she murmured. "Goodnight."
--
Melissa walked with her head lowered, letting her rather messy hair fall in front of her face like a thick curtain. It wasn't enough to protect her from the whispers floating around the school however, the taunts were following her every step. Their accusations stung like sharp blades and for the first time in her entire school life, she felt completely lost.
"Told ya, you could do it!" Emma said to Alex and Kalila on the other side of the hallway as they walked to their second lesson Biology. Alex chuckled, it was the millionth time she'd mentioned it and Emma sounded so pleased as though it were her who had gotten the interview to Central Saint Martins.
Kalila tiptoed and ruffled her boyfriend's hair affectionately, slapping his hand as he tried to stop her messing it up. "All thanks to this boob here!" she giggled.
Alex was about to groan at that stupid not-so-nice nickname that she'd picked up from Lacey when he caught sight of Mel shuffling along. He almost didn't recognise her! Her skin was ghostly pale, lacking her usual glow and her hair was in front of her face in rough waves. Her usually perfectly concealed eye-bags were hollow and such a stark mauve, they could almost be mistaken for bruises.
It didn't take a genius to figure out the cause of her fall â the spiteful whispers had reached his ears the moment he'd rushed into his form class in the morning. Alex couldn't believe how ridiculous people could be with their stupid accusations. Mel was many not-so-nice things but she sure as hell wasn't a murderer!
Alex nudged Kalila out of her gossiping about Tyler Posey's butt with Emma and gestured towards Melissa. "Hey, look," he murmured. Kalila too had heard all the stupid rumours made up and no matter how many times she interrupted people's conversations to deny them, it seemed like nobody believed her. Or wanted to believe her. Half of these people had been Melissa's close friends but she had realised they were like vultures, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and bring her down.
Kalila sighed quietly, hating the dynamics of high school. Alex pushed her forwards, knowing his girlfriend wouldn't be happy until she put an end to the shit people were saying. Absent-mindingly shoving her books into Emma's hands, she confidently walked towards Melissa.
When the spiteful taunts of her former friends stopped suddenly, Mel looked up slightly â her hair falling to hide most her face. She flinched when she realised Kalila was in front of her, her hands on her hips as though she meant business. The only other time she had seen her with that much confidence was when they were seven and had argued for the very first time. Kalila had ended up pulling a chunk of her hair out that time; something nobody had ever believed. As introverted and quiet Kalila was, Melissa knew there was a whole load of strength inside her to be used against injustice. If ripping Mr Snuffles the bear's head of was enough to get her ass kicked by her incredibly shy former best friend, Melisa was fully expecting much more for apparently trying to kill her.
Fully aware of all the gossip-hungry eyes watching her every move, Kalila took a tiny step forward until she was directly in front of Mel and hugged her tightly. "It's okay," she whispered as Melissa stood there shocked, her arms hanging limp by her sides before she gave a tentative squeeze back.
Alex smiled to himself as he watched the exchange â knowing that his girlfriend did that just to shut everyone up with their ridiculous rumours. Nobody could say Mel had purposefully tried to kill Kalila to get to him if half their class had seen them hug and be friendly with each other.
'Bloody genius, she is,' Alex thought before quickly explaining his thought process to Emma who looked outraged. She hadn't been so forgiving with Mel for making her best friend have to skip school and subsequently leave her all alone in her Physics class with nobody other than that weirdo Greg to keep her company.
---
"C'mon, hurry up you lazy git!" Tyler groaned, forcibly dragging Alex along by his arm as Lacey rolled her eyes at her best friends. "I'm bloody starving!"
Their Maths teacher hadn't turned up so they decided to celebrate not having to do parametric equations by walking to the closest kebab shop â an idea which, of course, was decided by Tyler's stomach rumbling loudly.
They chattered for a while about random topics, the conversation flowing seamlessly. That was the thing about their friendship â they had been through so much together over the years that their thoughts were almost in sync with each other. Tyler and Lacey had been his friends for so long that they had become part of his family by now and he had no idea what he'd do without them in his life.
Thinking of all this brought such a strong wave of nostalgia over Alex that he stopped ripping apart his Naan bread and blurted out his thoughts. "I'm gonna miss you lot loads next year!"
This statement was so profound that it even stopped Ty munching his kebab roll to reflect on it âcertainly no easy feat. They were in their last year of school and soon they were all going to split up and move on with their lives by going to different universities and getting jobs and growing up in general.
Things were changing and as much as Alex was looking forward to it, he was also reluctant to accept that change.
"This past years been crazy eh?" Tyler said with a sad smile, his fork still suspended mid-air. Both Alex and Lacey simultaneously sighed â the memory of Alice's passing fresh in all of their minds. It had been the main occurrence of the year and had made such a massive change to all of them in different ways.
Shoving a lone cucumber slice in his mouth, Alex grinned at his friends. "Thanks for stickin' with me guys. I know it weren't easy," he said quietly, reflecting on just how much they had been there for him over the years.
"She'd be so proud of you y'know," Lacey murmured, her eyes glossy as she thought about her best friend.
Things had changed a lot for Alex this year - he had changed. Before the loss of his sister, it had seemed as though the only thing surrounding him was shallow people and their never-ending drama. In her death he had learnt the value of being around those that truly mattered: the little family he had left and his closest friends.
And Kalila.
He couldn't help the widening smile on his face as he thought about her and the difference she had made in not just his life, but also the lives of all his friends.
She was the girl that had come to mean so much to him in such a short space of time, the girl that had given him an extensive list of reasons to live but most importantly, she was the girl that had saved his life. Sure, he knew that his nightmares wouldn't just magically disappear and he'd always have moments of falling apart and missing his sister but it would be okay. He would never get over it but he sure as hell would get through it â especially with her by his side.
She had not only saved his life by handing him those Skittles on the very first day, but also every day since.