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“Be nice,” Briggs said in passing, releasing a hug full of chips onto the table. He began opening the plastic bags and dumping the chips into bowls as Thalia joined him.
“Must be hard being so serious all the time, T,” I mumbled, observing the cups still to ensure there were no other stacks to be switched around. She threw a vengeful cheese puff my way. I watched it boink off my shoulder and caught it before it fell to the ground, popping it into my mouth. I crunched loudly in her face, and she stuck her tongue out at me.
But her expression suddenly dropped, and her line of vision shifted from my face to above my head. She stared over me with a look of confusion, then thought, then…a smile.
“Kai, are those your friends?” she asked, nudging her chin in the direction of her gaze.
I didn’t turn around. Not yet. I needed more time to gather myself before I was once again placed in front of Jonah. “Is it a beast, a pretty girl, and a long-haired nerd?”
“No.” She crossed her arms, and her grin grew impossibly wide as she sank into one hip. “It’s a beast, a pretty girl, and someone I think you might like to see.”
I gave her a stink face to let her know I wasn’t interested, and she rolled her eyes. She placed two hands on my shoulders and turned me around, urging me to look at the new arrivals.
Beast? Check.
Pretty girl? Check.
Long-haired ne— What the fuck is that?
Beside my two normal friends stood the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen, beaming with bright light which exploded from behind him in rays. His black jeans and T-shirt of the same color hugged him perfectly as they always did. He wore the same beat-up sneakers he’d been wearing for years. But his hair…
His hair was gone.
I wanted to weep. Golden emotion flooded my chest, wrapping around me as the wings of imaginary butterflies sent my senses flying. This was not just a physical thing. It wasn’t just a crush or a possible hook up. I was staring at the love of my life.
I marched right up to Jonah to get a closer look. His hair, which had reached past his shoulders since the day I met him, was gone. It now hardly hit his ears, short all over with front pieces that fell perfectly above his face which I was now realizing could fully see the light of day. His cheekbones glinted in the sun and his eyes shimmered without the shadow of raven curtains surrounding them. He looked stunning.
“What the fuck did you do?” I asked as if I were pissed. It was my only defense, to keep being snippy with him.
Jonah tilted his head, hardly looking enthused by my reaction. “I take it you don’t like it.”
“Like it?” Like it? I loved it. As if the asshole wasn’t beautiful enough, as if it weren’t hard enough for me to accept that he wanted to keep distance from me, he went and got even more attractive?
God, do you exist? And do you hate me? What is the meaning of life and why did you make my best friend so you-damn perfect?
My mind was definitely not screwed into my head correctly, and I was likely producing the most ridiculous, gaping facial expression known to man. I wouldn’t have known. I wasn’t paying attention to that. But Jonah was. He stared at me for a few long moments but said nothing. This interaction had been nothing short of detrimental thus far.
His eyes flicked up to look over my head as I felt someone arrive behind me. I recognized that cologne and that energy. Aaron. Jonah surveyed him as he introduced himself first to Oliver, then to June. Finally, he reached my beautiful man.
“Kai,” Aaron said, taking Jonah’s hand for a shake. “You didn’t tell me he got even hotter since I saw him. Stiff competition.” He turned back to smirk at me as Jonah’s lips pressed flat. My face boiled, the fiery glare I sent Aaron’s way not nearly enough to capture what I was feeling inside. The last thing I needed on top of all this shit was Aaron and his stupid games. “June. Oliver. Come meet Briggs and Thalia.” Aaron flicked the side of my head as he walked away. “Jonah can stay here.”
A bit to my surprise, Jonah didn’t go with them. He stood in front of me, staring at me as I did him, rage tightening his jaw. I could see in his eyes exactly what he wanted to communicate. He did not like Aaron. At all.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, each word a forceful push as he attempted to hold back what he actually wanted to say, clinging to this morning’s truce though the outside world caved in on it.
“Is that really what’s on your mind right now?”
“If you…” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “If you continue to answer my questions with questions…”
I looked down at my feet. “You don’t want to hear my answer, Jo.”
“We are friends, Kai.” He stared at the ground as well, both of us facing our crowns to each other. “We are friends and for as long as I can remember we have told each other everything. I do not want to be the one you talk about with your friends. I want to be the one you talk to.”
I glanced up. “I told you yesterday. I haven’t told them a thing.”
“I want to be the one you talk to,” he repeated with a bit more fervor, catching my eye. He was so on edge I was worried he’d slip and fall right off. “How are you feeling? Are you feeling better since this morning?”
I shook my head. “No. Why did you cut your hair?”
