Chapitre 9: Chapter 9
While they would describe a vast cloudy night as dull and murky, the stars overcast by heavy clouds as melancholic, I would fail to see the gloom of it all. To me, the sky was gentle. The clouds floating away in a delicate rhythm somehow took all my weight away. The sound of crickets chirping and other nocturnal animals drowning out the sound of water further away was perfect.
I was having my second Breezer, a strawberry one, when Kairn asked me, "You like it a lot, huh?"
"Yeah, and I didn't wanna have beer, so this is the best choice." I said, shaking my half full bottle.
I lay down on the grass and took another swig.
"Pfft, you really are a weirdo. Who drinks while lying down? What if you choke or all of it just falls on your face." He looked down at me and snickered.
Of course, I know he's just teasing me. I looked up at him and scoffed, "And you're a dork."
I mean yeah; I do some weird stuff like putting on a T-shirt inside out. By using its arm holes first, it's the right way when you put it on through the head hole after. Now you know how to put on a shirt inside out. I was too lazy to flip it around first, so I just started putting them on that way.
"Mango or strawberry?"
"What?" I asked him, confusion clear in my tone.
"Which one do you like more?"
"Mango. Always mango."
"Hey guys, we're going for a walk. You wanna join?" David called out to us.
"Nah I'm fine here."
"Yeah, same."
David just shrugged and took off. Duke, Liam and Ryan joined him for a walk around the park. Kairn brought a mango Breezer and sat beside me again. Felix, Ezra, Marvin, and Lance were still on the grass, a little farther away.
"I can't drink while lying down."
"It's easier when the bottle's half empty." He just smiled and shook his head in amusement.
"It's nice. Too sweet, though." Kairn said, raising his bottle.
He enjoyed his drink and I, the floating clouds, for a while.
Looking at Kairn, I thought of how close we've got. It took him a few days to even start talking to me at first. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Felix the first week I became friends with the guys.
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"Hey Felix, thanks for the organic chemistry notes. Can you help me with a few reactions later?"
"You're welcome and sure. So... how're you liking this school so far?"
"I settled in pretty easily, thanks to you guys. It's really fun with you guys. Well... except Kairn. He... he still doesn't really talk to me. Does he not like me?"
"Give him some time. You must've noticed he doesn't talk much by himself. And I think he likes you a lot, more than even the guys in the group. He's with us more often now. You must be in top five or three." Felix chuckled lightly.
“What- Pfft. Okay, thanks. Phew, I thought he didn't like me. He's pretty famous with the girls, huh? I see them trying to talk to him. Well, he is kinda cool."
"Yeah, he is kinda famous. He joined this school in 9th grade, so people don't really know much about him. Girls think he's like those mysterious bad boys, all cynical and closed off, because he doesn't talk a lot or joke around. Or smile or laugh a lot. But he's really just a sweet guy. Even though he talks to people if they talk to him, a few are actually close to him. He isn't really an open book."
"Huh, I never really thought about it. People just judge him, I guess. They expect him to be mysterious and cynical because he just looks the part." Well, I judged him too. He seems distant, but he doesn't want to hurt people.
And that's when I decided to get closer to him. I won't give up so easily, even though he doesn't really talk to me now.
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After a while, Kairn lay down beside me and gazed at the sky, too.
"They misunderstand you, don't they? They just judge you because of how you seem." I spoke my mind while my eyes followed a peculiar shaped cloud. I couldn't look at him. "I'm sorry. I did too. But not in a bad way." I was going to ramble.
"Huh?" He turned to me. I was still looking at the clouds.
"You aren't that mysterious bad boy who's all closed off and has secrets or something."
He scoffed as if it's something funny but offensive at the same time. "I'm not."
"I mean, you do have that e-boy appearance going on." I snickered.
"You did not just..." he fake gasped, trying to look offended. But his smile gave it away.
"How do you classify a bad boy, though? I've never seen one in real life. Do they have a lot of tattoos? Are they emotionally stunted? Or in a gang? Beat people up, no wait, are they bullies? Or... they smoke weed. They would stink a lot. Who would be attracted to them? Ugh."
Kairn was looking at me all this while in amusement. He just laughed. I joined him soon, and we got back to looking at the clouds.
"Yeah, they're a different species, aren't that easy to spot."
A cloud floating away distracted me.
"That looks like a unicorn on a dolphin."
"How? It looks like a carrot and a turnip to me."
"What? Pfft-"
"That looks like a heart to me." He pointed at one.
"Yeah it does."
There was a rich silence between us.
"I don't know how I got that reputation. It's just... I can't talk to people freely, especially when we've just met. I guess, I appear closed off and rude. I don't have secrets. To be honest, there isn't much to me."
"I think there's plenty to you. Just not in the way people think." I said, shaking my head while still following the clouds. I turned my head towards him. He was looking at me. I smiled.
"You always speak your mind. You don't twist your words. That day as well, I think it's very brave." He said with a serious look.
"I think you mean weird and stupid. It was so awkward for a few seconds. And thank God for clarifying, I really thought you didn't like me and that's why you were cold to me."
"What no. I was just scared to talk to you. You're just so... "
"Awkward?"
He gave me an 'are you serious' look.
"No. I mean sometimes." He snickered. I tried to give him an offended look, but that just made him laugh. Okay, you didn't have to say it out loud. He continued.
"But how do I explain? You're so open and easy to talk to. All the guys love your company. Us being friends, it's all you. It's like I'm the bland, clear vegetable soup and you're chicken tikka or tteok... tteokbokki. I was and still am scared you will see me for what I am, a bland, clear vegetable soup."
Both of us were silent for a few seconds, neither facing one another.
"So I'm awkward in a cool way?"
He scoffed, "That's what you got?" It was my turn to laugh.
"Pfft. That comparison is so stupid. You're seriously one of the coolest guys I've ever met. No one can compete with your coolness here or at my old place."
"Pfft, you sound like a child talking about his favourite cartoon character or something." He scoffed again. I chuckled. Then we both started laughing.
"You aren't bland. You're just... Kairn. And I very much like hanging out with Kairn. I don't see getting bored with him in the near future." I said seriously, amid the laughter. "And I can be spicy enough for both of us." I tried to waggle my eyebrows, but I suck. So I gave him a smirk, but it turned into a cheeky grin.
He laughed harder. "Did you just use... never mind." He just shook his head. But he had a smile on. I could see him relieved and eased into this situation.
"I really wanna try those again." I spoke up suddenly.
"Yeah, me too."
We gazed at the floating clouds again and pointed at unusual shapes. There were times when we would just silently lie there. Sometimes silence is more comfortable than words.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone