Chapter One

Katanya and Taven are meant to be together... at least, that's what everyone seems to think.

The city looked small and simple to Katanya when it sat so many hundreds of feet below them. None of the angry voices of couples arguing could be heard, none of the homeless people’s starving faces could be seen, and the flickering lights of citizens entering rooms or shutting down for the night reminded her of the fireflies she used to catch in Grandma Lily’s backyard when she visited during the summer. Katanya’s favorite part, though, was the great expanse of water just north of them. The city lights glistened and sparkled within the crystalline liquid, refracting off the mirror-like ripples so that it looked just like the starry night sky above them. Sometimes, Katanya liked to imagine that she could see an entirely different city, just below the surface of the water, a carbon-copy of the one that she lived in, but with much more happiness, prosperity, and joy.

At that hopeful thought, she took her goggles off, let her bones jellify, and snuggled in a little closer to Taven. He was the one who owned the VR set, and he had made a habit of coming over to Katanya’s house every Friday to show her the city in this way. Months ago, he had taken it upon himself to fly his drown all throughout the city’s immediate atmosphere so he could go back and see it from the safety of her living room whenever he pleased.

Despite the fact that neither of them had actually said it out loud, it was no secret to either of them that the other had “feelings” for the other. Katanya had met Taven when they were both in third grade, and it didn’t take long for them to become best friends. Back then, Taven was rather awkward-looking, with teeth that were too big for his face and unruly hair that stuck up at odd angles. But now that they were both in their sophomore year, Katanya had to admit that the girls at school had good reason to stare, even the seniors. His hair was much shorter now, and a rich brown-color that complimented his eyes well, which varied staggeringly from pine-needle green to a striking, stormy gray depending on what he was wearing. He was only average height and kind of thin, but also apparently strong and muscular. He’d gotten glasses a couple of years ago, and it did look kind of nerdy, but in a dashing, Clark Kent kind of way. He hadn’t shaved for a couple of days, and at the moment, the lower half of his face was speckled with an attractive amount of stubble.

Taven, taking his goggles off, too, noticed her staring. “What do you think, Kat?” He asked. “Kat” was his adorable nickname for her. He’d invented it back in middle school, but had only recently gotten brave enough to use it regularly. Before that, in grade five, he called her “Katana,” because they both thought that was just the coolest thing. “Do you still find this beautiful?”

Katanya knew he was talking about the cityscape that was being virtually projected for them, but she didn’t put the goggles back on. She kept looking at her best friend. “Yeah,” she said. “I do.”

Taven smiled at her, and carefully put his arm around her. Katanya relaxed into his side, and with her hand resting on his chest, she could feel his muscles beneath his shirt. She felt good. She felt safe, leaning into the boy she had trusted for half her lifetime. Sometimes she felt herself getting jealous, with all the attention the other girls devoted to him, but it was times like these that Katanya felt truly, one-hundred percent, chosen by him.

“Kat?” Taven started to question, but before Katanya could even respond, the front door began to creak open, and the two of them instinctually broke apart. Katanya wasn’t entirely sure what either of them were afraid of; Katanya’s mother, Alyssa, absolutely adored Taven and already referred to him as her daughter’s boyfriend around her friends and co-workers (which always made Katanya blush), but they both still felt awkward about either of their parents actually seeing them act like a real couple.

But it was not Alyssa who was coming home after a long day of work at the local grocery store. “Oh,” Katanya said, readjusting her sitting position on the couch in her living room. “It’s just you.”

“Who did you think it was? A burglar who’s polite enough to use the front door?” James replied jokingly, swinging the door shut behind him.

“Well, I guess it’s just a James who’s rude enough to walk in without knocking.” Katanya was joking, of course. As far as she was concerned, her house was James’s house. He’d been staying with them off and on for several months now, since his parents had a nasty habit of, well, forgetting he existed, to put it blatantly.

“That is corr--” James, began, but he cut himself off when he saw Taven. He was trying to put his arm around Katanya again, but she didn’t want to cuddle up to him when James was there. Something about that seemed inconsiderate to her. And she already had a feeling that James didn’t like Taven for some reason. “Uh, hi, Taven,” he greeted in a voice that sounded more machine than man.

“Hey, James,” Taven said, his voice equally emotionless.

After a millisecond too much silence, Katanya cut in. “James, my mom bought stuff for sandwiches or salad, if you’re hungry. It’s in the�"actually, I should probably just show you. I swear, my mom reorganized the kitchen without even realizing it sometimes.” She stood up.

“Uh, Kat, do you want me to....” Taven pointed toward the door.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to�"“

“Alyssa’s going to be home soon,” James interrupted. “I mean, it’s Tanya’s house, but, I should just warn you.”

Katanya shot him a look, but she was more confused than anything. “I mean, my mom will probably be home soon, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave, Tay.”

“Nah, I should probably be heading home,” Taven decided, gathering his VR equipment and standing up. “I have that presentation in Monroe’s class tomorrow, and I haven’t even reviewed my index cards yet. I don’t want to screw that up, right James?” He punched him playfully on the shoulder, but in a way that also held some malice. It was no secret that James wasn’t exactly the best student, particularly in math, which is what Monroe taught. He wasn’t in the same class as Katanya or Taven, since they were both in Honors, but from what she had heard from other students, he had absolutely butchered that assignment in every way possible.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then, Kat?” Taven asked, halfway out the door, the familiar chipper-ness back in his voice. “At the coffee shop?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Katanya replied, trying her hardest to make her voice sound normal. She really, really liked Taven, but at the moment, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

“Bye then.”

“Bye.”

The door slammed shut behind him.

Suddenly, James turned to her, “What the f**k is his problem?”

“I don’t want to talk about him right now, James,” Katanya said exasperatedly, leading her friend into the kitchen. She’d only met James this school year, but because they both were in the drama club and had a couple elective classes together, they’d become fast friends. And since he’d started practically living with her, they were already almost as close as her and Taven had become over the course of seven years.

“Okay, that’s fine with me. But, God, was he being a dick.” He held up his hands apologetically. “Look, I know he’s you’re boyfriend and everything�"“

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Katanya interjected. She opened the fridge and started pulling vegetables out of the drawer.

“�"but, Jesus, you saw how he acted once I showed up. ‘Right, James?’ What the f**k is that supposed to mean?”

“James….” Katanya walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a loaf of bread.

“Huge… f*****g… dick. Ha, but hey, I guess I don’t need to tell you, right ‘Kat’?”

“JAMES!” She let the cupboard door slam shut. Both of them heard a drinking class inside shatter. “S**t!” Katanya cursed herself. “Why the frick does my mom put bread and glasses in the same f*****g cabinet!”

James’s eyes widened, finally realizing the extent of what he’d been saying. “Katanya, I can clean it up.”

“I don’t… f*****g… want you to f*****g clean it up,” she replied, leaning on the countertop and resting her face in her hands. She began massaging the temples of her forehead. “You know, James, you must realize that I was here, too. I already know that Taven was being an a*****e.”

“You know, he probably has reason to,” James admitted, stepping forward and putting his arm around Katanya. To her surprise, she didn’t feel like shoving him off. “I mean, I stay at your house practically every night, and… you guys haven’t even….” Katanya could feel him struggling not to make a dirty joke, and for some reason, it made her want to smile.

“You know, James, you’re a dick, but I love you.”

“Yeah, but I’m a good dick, right?”

“Huge… f*****g… dick.” Both of them started laughing.

After a moment of silence and holding onto each other, they broke apart.

“Um, I’m actually not that hungry… so, maybe I’ll clean all this up and then we can talk for a bit before I go to my prison cell?” James suggested. “Prison cell” is what the three of them�"meaning James, Katanya, and Alyssa�"called James’s makeshift bedroom in their basement. It honestly wasn’t that bad�"Katanya had spent a few nights there herself when James first came to stay with them, since it was more polite to let a guest have Katanya’s much nicer room. But once James’s company became a regular occurrence, it made much more sense for her have her room and for James to have his.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Katanya agreed. “I’m actually gonna step outside for a minute. Just get some fresh air.” Tears had been welling in her eyes, and while it was kind of James to not mention it, she never liked having her friends see her cry.

James gave her one last friendly pat on the back as Katanya made her way to the front door. She stepped outside and took a seat on the concrete steps that led up to it. She had been there about fifteen seconds, taking deep, semi-shaky breaths, before she noticed the shadowy figure standing several yards in front of her, where the grassy-green of her lawn met the cold pavement of the street.

Katanya stood. “Taven?”

The figure whipped its head around, and started trudging toward Katanya. It was Taven, Katanya realized, once he’d come close enough for the dull, yellow porchlight to illuminate his face. He advanced until his toes were only about six inches away from hers, and Katanya had to look up almost vertically in order to see his face. She was rather short compared to him, even for a female.

“So… you’ve just been standing here?” Katanya asked.

For the longest time, her words just hung there, and Taven made no move to answer. Until, finally, “I don’t like that he’s staying with you.”

It took Katanya equally long to answer: first she had to process his words, and make sure she had, indeed, heard him correctly. Then she had to think of how to answer that. It wasn’t even a question, but it still required an answer. However, if she said the wrong thing, she could ruin everything. But if she didn’t answer, she would ruin everything anyway.

“He needs a place to stay,” she explained. “You know what his life’s like; he doesn’t have the same kind of love and support that my mom gives me, and certainly not…” she hesitated before she said what Taven already knew she was going to say. “Your money.”

“Oh, so because I’m rich and he’s poor, because you’re mommy loves you and his parents are meth addicts�"“

“They’re not meth addicts….”

“Okay, then. Cocaine? It’s all the same, isn’t it? Because of that he gets to snuggle up in your bed and peek in your underwear drawer every night?”

“Oh my God, Taven, you know it’s not like that.”

“Oh, not like that? So he just feels himself as you walk around naked under your bathrobe after you shower every morning? Is that what it’s like?”

“He’s not like that.”

“Yeah, I know.” Taven’s eyes were wide and crazy. Beaneath his front of anger and accusations, Katanya could see that he was genuinely worried. “I know he’s not like that. And that’s why I f*****g don’t like that he’s staying with you. Because he makes dick jokes for hours, but at the end of the day, he’s good guy that knows just how to romance a girl and make her feel special and loved.”

“You make me feel special and loved.”

“The f**k with that.” Taven shook his head, he’d been wiping tears from his eyes, making sure Katanya didn’t noticed, but now he was just letting them slide down his cheeks. “The f**k with me.”

She waited a moment before making her last rebuttal. “Why do you just assume that he likes me?”

Taven couldn’t make eye contact with the girl he’d loved for as long as he could remember. “It’s not an assumption,” he replied, shrugging. “It’s f*****g obvious.” Before Katanya could even fully register what he was telling her, he turned around and walked into the night, taking long strides.

Before he was even to the next house, Katanya’s mom pulled up in her old car that ran just well enough that it, well, ran. Alyssa stepped outside and headed toward her house. Once she spotted Katanya standing out front, a dubious look on her face, Alyssa smiled. She looked over her shoulder and noticed Taven trudging hurriedly down the road, splashing through the mud puddles that had gathered earlier in the day.

“What are you doing out in the cold, Tanya?” her mom asked.

“Taven was… was just saying good night to me,” Katanya lied. She was trying to make her voice sound normal, but every word felt odd, like she was speaking with someone else’s vocal chords.

“Oh,” Alyssa replied. Then, her face lit up with excitement. “Oh, he did, did he?”

“Mom?”

“You know, he’s a good kid. I really do like him.”

“Mom, what are you…?” Suddenly, it dawned on Katanya that her mom thought that Taven had just kissed her. At first, she wanted to object, but it was a good cover, and it provided an explanation for why she might be acting strangely.

“Why don’t you come inside? It’s pretty cold out. Is James here?”

“Yeah,” Katanya replied, her voice still sounded unlike her own, as she followed her mother inside. James was no longer in the kitchen, and Katanya hoped he remembered to take care of the glass in the cupboard.

As soon as the door was closed behind him, Katanya spoke. “Hey, Mom? I’m gonna go to bed now, I think.” She wanted to make sure that her mom didn’t get any opportunities to ask about her daughter’s first “kiss.” Tomorrow, she would be able to come up with some false details about it, or better yet, invent a new lie that was a bit closer to the truth, but definitely not the truth, nonetheless.

“Okay, then. See you tomorrow morning,” Alyssa replied. She was obviously disappointed that she wouldn’t hear about the “kiss” yet.

“See you.” With that, Katanya headed down the hall and disappeared into her bedroom.

 

After about a half an hour, Katanya heard a knock on her door. Already, she knew it was James. If it had been her mother, there wouldn’t have been a knock. She set down the book she’d been reading, trying, rather unsuccessfully, to get her mind off things.

“Come in,” she answered, sitting up. Her door swung open, and James entered, wearing a loose gray T-shirt and a familiar pair blue flannel pajama pants.

“Hey,” he greeted her, climbing onto her bed and sitting cross-legged next to her. “Nice PJs,” he complimented. Katanya looked down at her own pajama pants, which were fuzzy and purple, with little white kittens all over them.

“Shut up,” she laughed. James’s mouth curled into a smile and the corners of his eyes wrinkled in the way they always did when he laughed. Katanya loved nights like these when James would come into her room, and they would just talk all night about the zillions of problems with the world, stupid or serious. It was like they were making up for all the silly playdates and sleepovers they would have had if they’d known each other back in elementary school. James was a year older, and the grades were much less separated in high school than they were in lower grades.

Also, it was nice that, because Katanya already had a “boyfriend,” she didn’t have to worry about her mom thinking that anything… weird was going on when James and her were alone together late into the night. Suddenly, she stopped herself, remembering Taven had said about James. Of course, she hadn’t forgotten, but it hadn’t felt real or in any way true to her until she was seeing this boy, sitting right before her. She felt her brow furrow.

“Hey,” James said, scooting closer to her and putting his arm around her. He probably thought she was still upset about Taven being mean. I mean, she guessed that still fell under the “Taven” category, but now feeling his arm around her felt meaningful and dangerous. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she still didn’t want to shove him away. In fact, even if James tried to kiss her, she wasn’t entirely sure she would be opposed to it.

“Do you want to talk? About anything?” He was asking her. They were both sitting up straight, backs against her pillow, not leaning into each other. To anybody who happened to barge into the room, they would’ve have looked like friends, and only friends, one of which was doing his best to comfort the other, or maybe siblings. Nothing romantic at all.

“It doesn’t have to be about Taven.” Katanya looked at her friend. Suddenly, she was aware of just how attractive he was. He was a lot shorter than Taven, maybe a little less than five-and-half-feet tall, but that was still about five or six inches taller than herself. His hair was shorter than Taven’s, all but buzzed, and a light almost-blond color, but if it were longer it would be undeniably brown. He had a thin nose, dotted with freckles, and a lot of stubble. He was thin, but also very muscular. More muscular than Taven. For the first time, Katanya understood why it might bother Taven that this young man had easy access to his girlfriend’s underwear drawer.

“Or… we don’t have to talk at all. I mean, I don’t know how you like to deal with this kind of�"“ Before James could finish, Katanya felt herself lean into him, placing her hand on his chest, like she had been with Taven less than an hour ago. Although he stopped talking, James didn’t jerk away. He sank further into her pillow, and lightly stroked her shoulder with the arm he had wrapped around her.

“Can you not go to your prison cell tonight?” she asked him, unbelieving of her actions or the words she was saying. This was entirely unlike her. What was she doing? She had a boyfriend. Well, not exactly, neither of them had actually said it officially, but it was still definitely a thing. Everyone at school knew about them, heck, even Katanya’s mom thought they had just had their first kiss. Katanya and Taven was something that everyone had been anticipating since they were both eight years old. It was the perfect, most adorable love story.

And, now, Katanya had thrown that all out the window.

“Please,” she reiterated. “Just stay here.”

“Uh… sure,” James replied. She could feel him swallowing, his arms shaking nervously. She was confused by how adorable it was to her. “Yeah, I’ll stay here.”

Author's Note

I'm so sorry about any weird grammar, spelling, etc. But please, let me know what you think!