Star Eater
Chapter Sixteen

Kai was not awake. He certainly wasn’t prepared for the way Link rushed up to him at his locker, and pulled him into an empty classroom. Link was freaked. In the empty classroom, Link still looked wildly around and then leaned in close. He smelled of deodorant and boy. He was close enough for Kai to see the two-day stubble and memorize the detail of his lips.

Kai was suddenly wide awake, wondering, Am I dreaming?

“Did you see the news last night?” Link asked. He glanced around nervously, totally unaware of the effect he was having on his friend.

“No,” Kai said blankly. His dick became semi-hard and he shifted as he tried to tell his body to calm down. It didn’t listen. Then Akuma’s cold spread out as the demon tried to help. Kai winced in pain.

“We were on the news,” Link said. He remained unaware of Kai’s internal conflict as he kept glancing towards the door.

“What?!” Kai yelped, louder than he intended. Outside, a few kids milling passed glanced in, but no one stopped. “That’s impossible,” Kai said. He pushed Link away. He was way too close. Link seemed to realize it and walked over and shut the door. Then he began pacing.

“Not our faces, thank God,” Link said. “The security camera in the fast food place was broken. Nothing recorded.”

Kai relaxed a notch. Of course, it was broken. Video cameras and digital cameras malfunctioned around him. Not even the jewelry store’s equipment, which had been super high end, had recorded Kai and Akuma’s entrance years ago.

“Did you know it was broken when we went in there?” Link asked.

“You were the one that dragged me in, remember?” Kai asked.

Link’s face took on understanding, and he nodded. “So it was just luck,” he said, relieved. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“I didn’t bomb that place,” Kai said.

“Well, the police think we did,” Link replied, gesturing between them. “And now they’re looking for us. My dad will kill me if they find us, not to mention what the cops will do to me.”

“They won’t,” Kai said and shrugged. “We won’t go back there, and we’ll avoid that area. It’ll die down.”

Link studied him, hard. Kai returned the look steadily.

“We didn’t order anything,” Kai reminded him. “And I doubt anybody in there was eyeballing us.”

Unless someone else had noticed how good-looking Link was. Kai’s stomach churned at that thought.

It’s L.A., Akuma pointed out. Everyone is good-looking.

The demon had a point, and Kai relaxed again. He continued comforting his friend.

“They probably don’t even have a clear idea of what we look like,” Kai said. “So without the video, they only know there were two kids, maybe they know one is Asian and one is Black.”

“Biracial,” Link corrected, shoulders slumping a little. “But you’re right, they’ll just see a Black kid. It’s the Black kids that see half a White kid.”

Kai frowned. This was obviously a touchy point, but Kai had no idea how to go about it. He went for practical.

“Regardless of what color, neither of us has the material in our homes needed to bomb said bathroom. They literally have nothing.”

“That’s not true,” Link said, slowing his pace. He sat on top of a desk.

“My parents are bomb experts,” Link said. “Well, they were. That’s how they met. Both of them are out of the army now. My dad runs a private security consultation business. He’s got… stuff in our garage.”

Kai immediately thought of the Tupperware full of white powder in his backpack. He was going to need to get rid of it. First, he was going to need to find out what it was.

“Okay,” Kai said. “Well, unless you plan on bombing another bathroom, they have no reason to look at us.”

Link inhaled deeply. “I may have understated the trouble I got into in my old school.”

Kai paused. “What happened?”

“I did bomb a bathroom,” Link said. “As a joke. No one was in there though.”

Kai nodded. “No big deal.”

“And we stole the school mascot, a panther statue. And blew that up in the middle of the football field.”

“You seem to blow a lot of shit up,” Kai said.

“I may have stolen one of my mom’s manuals like years ago. Turns out, it runs in the family.”

Kai studied Link. The other boy looked well and truly freaked. He didn't seem like a maniac.

“Are you planning on blowing anything else up here?” Kai asked.

Link shook his head. “The thing is,” he glanced around the room and lowered his voice. “Look, it was just all for stupid fun. Jeff would come up with the plans and I would… figure out how to go about it. We never hurt anyone. We just got caught. Like twice. And then the weed thing and...”

“And your mom freaked,” Kai said.

Link nodded. “Said she couldn't control me and shipped me off here. Now I’m not allowed to speak to anyone from home and…” He waved at the hallway, taking in the present.

“Is it that bad?” Kai asked, glancing outside.

Link considered and then shook his head. “Yes. No. I don’t know. It’s not what I’m used to,” he shrugged uncomfortably.

Kai understood that feeling. He’d gone from home-schooling to middle school and that had been a hard transition. Three years later and he really only had one friend besides Link, and he wasn’t sure Ava was talking to him.

“I understand,” Kai said, sitting on the desk beside him. “I was home-schooled for a while. Everything here is different from what you expect and that’s enough to throw anybody. But, look—no one is going to find out. So, really what you should be trying to figure out is what you want your end game to be.”

“What do you mean?” Link asked.

“Clean slate, Link,” Kai said. “You have the chance to be totally normal or, I don't know, a cool kid. No one here knows you. You don’t have to be… the half-Black, half-White kid.”

Link stared at Kai, who wondered if he’d said the wrong thing.

“That’s always going to be a thing,” Link said quietly.

Kai shrugged. “Maybe. This is L.A. though. La La Land. Anything can happen.”

It was true that Link had noticed Los Angelans were different. They lived at a slower pace. They seemed more concerned with their skin regiments and their frozen yogurt and their sprinklers before 5:00 a.m. than bigger problems, especially in the neighborhood his dad lived in. And Kai was right. It had never occurred to Link that he had a chance to reinvent himself. He had been so focused on being pissed off about the move, it had never come through that this could be an opportunity.

Yes, he missed his friends and Philly food and even rain, to be honest. He missed Jeff, and the way they understood each other, and his church. But Kai was cool and the weather was beautiful. And maybe he could find other pieces of L.A. that he liked. He had to think about it. Link turned his attention back to Kai who had started talking at some point.

“—won’t blow anything up. You won’t blow anything up. We will be the non-blowing up people.”

Link let out a shaky laugh. Kai’s way of driving right to the point was one of the best features about him. Link realized he was completely calmed down.

Sensing this, Kai straightened and the tension left his own body. Not all the tension, of course, but the stress-related kind. The kind associated with Link and his lopsided smile and his sparkling eyes—that was going to be there forever.

“You look pretty awful,” Link said, noticing.

There were bags under Kai’s eyes and he reeked. Kai winced but didn't argue. In his annoyance, Akuma had landed Kai nearly six miles away from anywhere in the middle of the night. Kai was pretty sure the demon was searching for star food on his own. It would be convenient if he found some.

“I went pretty far last night,” Kai said. “Took me an hour to get back to the secret base.”

“Christ,” Link swore. “No wonder you look exhausted. You ran for an hour?”

“Sadly, not the first time,” Kai said with a shrug. “But it’s been a while.”

The warning bell rang and they both looked up.

“Thanks for, uh, talking me off the ledge,” Link said. “See you at lunch?”

Kai nodded. He didn't know what he’d done. Having real friends was odd. Not unpleasant, but odd.

Let’s go sleep, Akuma said. Kai sighed. He needed a shower first. Looks like he was skipping French. And maybe geometry. Maybe the whole morning. He definitely needed a nap.

Mason searched the hallways as the warning bell rang. Where the hell did that kid go? Then he spotted him halfway down the hall, leaving a classroom behind another taller kid. Vague recognition flashed through Mason’s memory. That’s right, didn’t the assistant principal point him out to Mason the other day? Something about him being interested in karate?

The two boys, Mason’s target and the new kid, smiled at each other and then parted. Friends, Mason decided. Maybe more. An idea bloomed. Sometimes the best way to get to know someone was through mutual friends. Mason glanced at his target and saw him enter a classroom. He took note of the classroom and the teacher so he could cross-reference later. Then he turned his attention back to the new kid, who was headed right towards him.

“Hey,” Mason said, his authoritative voice making underclassmen scuttle out of his way. The new kid glanced up, and then realized Mason was looking right at him. Mason sized him up. He certainly seemed athletic. He had a good build to him. This might work out. “You’re new, aren’t you?” he asked.

The kid nodded warily, eying the confident way Mason held himself.

“I’m Mason Wright,” he introduced himself.

“Link,” the kid said, shaking his hand. “Link Palmer.”

“I’m the head of the karate club,” Mason said. “We’re looking for new members. I heard you might be interested.” The second bell rang. Mason ignored it.

Link glanced up, clearly not ignoring it. “Uh, yeah,” he said. He didn’t seem interested. “I gotta get to class.”

“Find me at lunch,” Mason ordered. It seemed to work. Link nodded and hurried away. Mason moved slower. He didn’t care if he was late.

For the first time in a while, Mason smiled. He texted Cole that to accomplish his uncle’s mission he’d need to stay after school. He got a prompt reply that the car would be waiting at six. The smile faded into a grimace. Mason hated not being able to drive himself places. But one problem at a time. A thought occurred to him that if the kid was a freshman, Ava might know him. He texted her asking about it and then went to class. By the time third period was over, she still hadn’t answered.

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