Page 31 of Perfect Chemistry

“Um… Something I should know?” I asked Jonas while Andie ran into the gas station to buy drinks somewhere near Nashville.

He chuckled and shook his head. “She is something else. If she wants to marry me, I’ll marry her tomorrow. If she says this is all we’ll ever be, I would take that too. She’s amazing, Katie.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “She is amazing.”

We detoured south from Nashville to Chattanooga to visit the Tennessee aquarium and tour some caves that Andie had read about. I didn’t care, I was enjoying the ride seeing all of the sites with my best friend. Before driving the final stretch to Lejeune, we stopped in Wilmington, North Carolina to walk along the beaches. It was cold as hell in January but another experience that I would not trade for anything.

Andie kept her word and hadn’t mentioned Kai the rest of the trip. When we finally stopped outside my new barracks to unload my gear, she still didn’t bring him up. I didn’t know if I was relieved or disappointed that she didn’t mention him again. Over the months that followed, Andie and I talked about everything under the sun, but Kai was not mentioned once.

Chapter 11

Kai’s Point of View

“How long has he been like this?”

I couldn’t understand what was being said.

“Since Friday.”

Everything sounded muffled and distant.

“Jesus Christ. Get him in the bathroom. If he doesn’t get his shit together, he’ll lose his scholarship.”

“What the hell happened?”

I felt like I had been hit by a bus. I tried to move but everything just felt heavy, so I drifted back to oblivion. It hurt less there.

“It’s been over a year, this needs to stop.”

I jolted awake when the cold water soaked through my clothes. “Ugh, fuck! Stop. Stop!” I grumbled.

“Get your shit together, Kai. Do you think you are the first dumbass to muck something up?” My mother yelled while she hosed me down with ice cold water. “You messed up and broke that girl’s heart. Why are you self-destructing? HUH?!? You feel bad? GOOD! You should, but messing up the rest of your life is not the way to move forward.

“Now get your ass cleaned up and come out when you don’t reek of booze, vomit and rotten gym socks. Your dad and I need to speak with you, and this will not wait while you pretend to take exams and skip more classes.”

I had no idea how long it took me to stand and get myself stripped and cleaned up under the ice cold water. When I finally came out of the bathroom, there were clean clothes laid out on the bed. I got myself dressed and went out to find where my parents were. I thought crashing at Bradley’s would keep me off of their radar but that was not the case.

“Kai, sit down.”

I looked up to see mine and Bradley’s parents seated at the table in the dining room. My mom was stone faced and my dad wouldn’t even look up at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked, knowing damn well this was an intervention.

“You’re about to lose your scholarship due to poor academic performance, Kai.” My dad was quiet. I was waiting for him to yell or threaten me, but he didn’t.

“We know that you have been hurting, but killing yourself like this is-” he stopped talking, his voice choking up. “What can we do to help you?” he asked.

I wasn’t expecting this. I was mentally prepared for yelling. Threats to cut me off, even violence, but seeing my dad like this broke me. It broke me in a way that I didn’t know could be broken. I finally hit the bottom of whatever hole I had been digging for myself. “I messed up,” I whispered out.

“How can we help you move forward from this, Kai,” my mom asked.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said honestly. I had no idea how to move forward. I felt like my heart was shattered when I realized how badly I had fucked things up with Kat. It made me sick to think of how I made her feel. I drank to numb that nausea.

“How about we start with speaking to each of your professors about getting your late assignments caught up. You won’t make the Dean’s list, but you may actually keep from failing. Do you need tutors?” My mom was the one to plan shit. She was the organized one in the house, and she would have me on a tight schedule from here on.

“You will also attend substance abuse counseling until cleared otherwise,” my dad said. I had been staring at the floor up to this point, but he had my attention.

“Dad, I don’t-” but he wasn’t hearing it.

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