Page 45 of Solo Stan
21
Kai
11:48 p.m.
Kai bit his lip and stared at his black phone screen for a moment. He awakened it, and his finger hovered over the green call icon.
“Why’d you answer? Aren’t you still on your date?” Bobby asked as soon as Kai connected.
“Why’d I answer?”Kai echoed. “Why’d youcall? And it’s not a date…I don’t think.”
“I called to see if you were still out,” Bobby replied. The excitement in his voice was evident.
Kai looked around to make sure no one was listening, as if he wasn’t the only one in the bathroom stall. “I’m in crisis mode. It’s going way too well.”
“How can a date gotoo well?”
“I feel like I’m losing my mind,” Kai explained in a rushed whisper. “I’ve been trying to play it cool, but you know me; I amnotcool. I’m going to break any second, and he’s going to realize how uncool I am.”
“First of all, no one talks about my friend like that, even you. Second, I’m sure that’s what he likes about you. Where is all this coming from? This morning, he was your twin flame. This evening,he wasn’t. What is he now? You’re giving me whiplash.”
Kai left the stall. He leaned on the aluminum sink and hung his head. “If I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t even think I care. I just like what we’re doing.”
From the constant joking and acting out, it was now clear to Kai that Elias was genuinely a happy person who just didn’t get a lot of chances to be happy. They were both still kids, but it was evident that Elias didn’t get many opportunities to act like one. All Kai had wanted for years was to be noticed first, to be liked first, for someone to chase him for once—and there Elias was.
“I like you like this,” Bobby said. “Now get off the phone with me and go hang out with your new boyfriend.”
“He’s not— I’m too scared. How did you know that you liked Winter?”
“I’m still not sure I do,” Bobby whispered.
“I can hear you!” Winter’s voice sounded in the background.
“I guess it’s back to the farmers market for you, bro,” Kai said with a strained chuckle. “Why don’t you make me a pie with all those apples?”
“Only my nice friends deserve pie,” Bobby retorted.
“Yeah, whatever. Bye.”
He closed his phone and put it in his pocket. Anxiously, he tugged at the braid hanging in front of his face. He couldn’t help smiling to himself, but, because he was alone, he felt ridiculous, so he stopped.
“What am I doing hiding in here?” he asked himself. “Bobby’s right.”
When Kai stepped out of the bathroom, he was met with a light drizzle. He huddled beside a vending machine. Pulling a crumpled dollar bill from his pocket, he used the corner of the machine tocarefully flatten it before feeding it into the slot.
Coke in hand, he looked out over the Night Market as the rain got progressively heavier. Elias wasn’t where Kai had left him. He’d probably sought shelter like everyone else, ducking under awnings or into nearby shops, or making a run for the buses or their cars.
“Where are you?” Kai muttered as his eyes continued to comb the market, but it was hard to see almost anything.
He pressed his phone to his ear, but it went straight to voicemail.
“No signal,” he muttered to himself.
Panic began to creep in. He took a few deep breaths, steeling himself, then charged out into the rain. His clothes were instantly saturated, water streaming down his back, seeping into his mouth and eyes. Cold water crept into his shoes as he pinballed around the market, desperately searching for Elias. But the downpour was too much for the makeshift visor he’d created with his hand, and the squish of his waterlogged tennis shoes slowed him down with each step.
Retreating beneath a metal canopy at the entrance of a closed restaurant, Kai began emptying his pockets to assess the rain’s damage to his belongings. His phone, keys, wallet, and folded concert ticket were all soaked, but the deck of tarot cards remained safe, neatly wrapped in a plastic bag. He shook the water from his phone and tried to power it on, but it stayed dark.
He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t call Elias. He couldn’t go home. And he certainly couldn’t stay here.
