Page 91 of Zero Happily Ever Afters

I kept close as the two of them worked separately, content being in the same space. I found myself drawn to the otherminds across Chicago that worried about The True Witch’s magic, about her return, about the ocean that lingered in their nightmares.

If I continued training my telepathy, truly mastering it, I would be able to find her no matter where she’d gone underground. I’d make certain of that.

Gael sat on the floor of his bedroom crisscrossed while he played a video game. The headphones he wore to chat with his gaming team matted down his spiky hair, something he still kept up with even if he’d allowed his dark brown roots to grow out.

Based on the rips on the furniture of his bedroom, I gauged that he preferred scratching up the hardwood floors. Honestly, the tears paled in comparison to Charlie and Carlie’s claws of destruction for everything I owned, but I understood how it was something Gael was self-conscious about. Always worried if he didn’t watch his every breath, it might hurt someone or something.

Though that protective overthinking didn’t concern him now. Kenzo lay on Gael’s bed, reading a book. His legs hung off the edge and wrapped over Gael’s broad, spiked shoulders like Kenzo was hugging him with his feet. He wasn’t, though. They were training Gael’s observational skills even in this casual, affectionate way.

Gael had to be completely self-aware of each of his spikes, redistributing them elsewhere as Kenzo occasionally shifted his position, brushing the heel of his foot one way or the other. It was impossible to remove the sharp prick of the spikes, but he could change their size and location with proper focus. Even the ones that seemed to have vanished from his arms had simplyshrunk so small they were basically the tiny, hairlike barbs found beneath the larger spikes of a cactus.

“Oh my fucking god, you stupid dumb bitch just shot your load for nothing.”

My face fell flat, baffled by how Gael shouted at his game.

“Get fucked, poser. Coming…coming…coming. Gotcha.” He shook his head, no fury, just this bizarre cathartic satisfaction. “Looky looky at your little buddy out for my ass. He’s not getting it.”

I couldn’t place it. I’d never seen him like this.

“Yeah, bitch. Came up right behind you and fucked you,” Gael growled. “Thought you were something, didn’t you? This punk ass team’s got nothing.”

Wow. This was… I had no words. I’d seen Gael play classroom games, always so happy and giddy for everyone involved. I’d seen him play games on his phone, always so polite and quiet. Right now, his thoughts raged in the mayhem, delighting in the war his team fought. I’d never believed it was possible for someone who spent his every waking minute at school finding ways to cheer up others could also relish in the blood of his victims. Granted, these victims were on a screen and pixilated, but goddamn.

“Get it out of your system, porcupine,” Kenzo said, his surface thoughts adding a bit of context to the stress release Gael found when gaming. “Start saying your goodbyes to your basement-dwelling loser friends.”

“What’re you talking about?” Gael tilted his head back, then jerked right back to the screen. “Not you. What’re you doing walking in like that? Back in formation. Shot. Shit. Shoot. Shoot!”

“You’ve got ten minutes left of gaming.”

“That’s a school rule.” Gael jabbed the controller buttons, thinking profanities in English and Spanish. “School’s out for like ever. Maybe. I dunno.”

“You don’t know because your brain is turning to mush.” Kenzo thudded Gael’s chest lightly with the heel of his foot. “School might be out, but learning never is. Where’d you put that book you were reading?”

“I dunno.” Gael stared at the screen. “Get him. Fucking missed. Where’s he at?”

“Gael, if I have to look through your junk…”

“It’s not here.” He huffed. “Not you. Focus!” Gael craned his neck, Adam’s apple bulging as he locked eyes with Kenzo. “It was in my locker at the academy, which is now poof.”

“You should’ve just said that to begin with, porcupine.” Kenzo scoffed. “You’re so damn difficult.”

“You’re one to talk.” Gael snarled into his microphone, then muted himself to avoid further confusion. “I see you’re still not mentioning how you buddied up with Caleb, buried the hatchet—and shockingly not in his head—but like, did you?”

“Excuse you?”

“I’m just saying, I didn’t hear an ‘I’m sorry’ during that demon fight. And Kitty Kat keeps me up to date.”

“One, she doesn’t know shit.”

“Yet, you call her know-it-all.”

“Two, why would I apologize?”

“Do you really wanna have this conversation?”

Kenzo didn’t reply.

Gael had this obnoxious ability to pry out Kenzo’s feelings, his words, his unresolved everything. Kenzo had never experienced something so goddamn frustrating, and he loved it.

---