Chapter Text
‘Boring,’ Kaveh thought, ‘boring, boring, boring.’ His mind had dominated his actions, causing him to stand awkwardly in a corner. Why was he here, again? Oh, right - people here actually like him. Well, 99.9% of them for that manner. ‘What a prick!’ He gazed his eyes on a person he was familiar with: Alhaitham. Now, you could think he was nice all you want, but to Kaveh? Say goodbye to nice thoughts about Alhaitham. Kaveh HATED him. Well, not really hated him, but whenever he thought of Alhaitham, he couldn’t help but scowl.
“You have that look on your face again.” His friend Tighnari mentioned it to him. Tighnari hoped to get an explanation as to why he looked like this sometimes, but I guess you could only hope for so much. Kaveh looked over at his friend, “It’s boring here, Tighnari. Can’t you see it, too?” Tighnari raised a brow at his confession. ‘Stupid parties’, Kaveh’s mind wandered again, Stupid Alhaitham, ‘why does he go to every single one?’ Kaveh’s thoughts got interrupted by Tighnari, again.
“Just live a little, Kaveh. You do this every time. Why don’t you come and get a drink with me?” he offered. Kaveh gave a confused look, “They have drinks at school parties?” he asked, and Tighnari laughed, then quickly calmed down to answer Kaveh, “No - NO, Kaveh, I’m not talking about alcohol, I’m talking about over there.” Tighnari pointed over to a table. It had some food on it, along with some drinks; juices, and pops. Kaveh let out a dramatic sigh. “Orange juice? Fruit punch? 7UP? Tighnari, no offense, but those options aren’t really to my liking.” Kaveh explained. Nevertheless, he walked over to the table and got a cup full of 7UP.
“Are you happy we graduated?” Tighnari asked, almost in a whisper. He sounded the slightest bit sad. It would make sense, though. They’re all going to college next year. Growing up was tough. ‘What a pain…’ Kaveh then thought of Alhaitham, which led him to get mad at himself. It was stupid, it was like he was obsessed. ‘I meant growing up, not Alhaitham… Dumb brain,’ he cursed. Kaveh got back to reality and stumbled for words, “I guess. At least we’ll all be together.” Kaveh thought positively. He smiled at Tighnari, and Tighnari gave a smile back. “You’re right, Kaveh. Thank you.”
-
An hour went by, and this party was still on. What time is it anyways? Kaveh took out his phone, it read 11:48 PM. Kaveh sighed, ‘Just a few more minutes.’ He thought, and headed over to where his other friend, Nilou, was. “Hey, Kaveh!” She smiled, and Kaveh smiled back. “Hi, Nilou.” He greeted back. They talked for around 20 minutes before Dehya, their mutual friend, busted into their conversation. “Hey, you two.” her eyes sparkled. “Hi Deyha… Are you okay? You look more manic than usual.” Kaveh questioned, and Nilou gave a little giggle.
“Do you want to play spin the bottle X 7 minutes in heaven?” She grinned.
“Isn’t that a little 7-8th grade sort of game?” Kaveh scoffed.
“Maybe so, but come on! Don’t be a buzzkill.” Deyha turned to Nilou, “Nilou! You’ll come join us, won’t you?” Nilou nodded, “Sure, sounds fun. Come on, Kaveh.” Nilou held out her hand for Kaveh to hold onto. ‘This is stupid,’ Kaveh wanted to scoff audibly, but he didn’t want to be rude. He held onto Nilou’s hand and got dragged about, before getting lost into his thoughts again. ‘My luck is horrible, I’m probably going to land on Deyha or something…’ Kaveh sighed aloud, as they finally reached their point. Their friend group were in a circle, along with Candace, too. Kaveh sat next to Nilou.
“So - Are we using a plastic bottle or..” he laughed slightly, but his tone died down as he saw Alhaitham join them in the circle. ‘Why, just why? I’m sorry, Alhaitham but you’re friends with nobody here, you might as well just go.’ He frowned upon seeing Cyno and Tighnari greet him. “Kaveh, are you okay?” Nilou leaned over to whisper in his ear. Kaveh nodded, “Yeah, couldn’t be better.”
“Okay, guys! Here’s how to play-” Dehya started and got cut off short by Kaveh. ‘The faster the game starts, the faster it can end and so I can leave.’ He assured himself. “We already know how to play, Deyha.” Out of sheer coincidence he looked over at Alhaitham, and scarily enough, he was looking back. “Well I don’t.” Alhaitham admitted, to which Kaveh laughed at. “Hilarious. Aren’t you supposed to be smart? You don’t even know the rules of a simple game.” Kaveh mocked him, and before Alhaitham could reply in that smooth and dry tone of his, Dehya intervened. “Kaveh, shut up.” Kaveh looked at her like he did nothing wrong.
“Anywho, Alhaitham - This game is very simple, as Kaveh rudely said. Basically one person spins the bottle, and whoever it lands on, you have to spend 7 minutes in ‘heaven’ with them. Either in the hallway or something. Oh, you also have to kiss ‘em if the bottle lands on them.” She explained with a snicker. Kaveh’s jaw dropped, ‘What, this is not how I remember playing. She added that last part.’
“Who’s going first?” Nilou asked, and in response, Dehya threw the plastic bottle to Nilou. “You can, girl.” She smirked. Nilou nodded, and spun the bottle, watching it carefully as it landed on Kaveh. “Oh.” Kaveh murmured. Was it just him, or was this game rigged? Dehya and Tighnari smiled, giggling amongst themselves. “Our ship is finally gonna sail!” They said to each other.
Kaveh turned to Nilou, who was already looking right at him. They awkwardly kissed, no tongue, it wasn’t a deep kiss either. Just a soft kiss. Kaveh felt immediately disgusted, as did Nilou. But everyone else in the circle, especially Dehya and Tighnari, started to cheer. “Okay you two lovebirds, go into the hallway.” Tighnari raised both of his eyebrows, and gestured the pair to the hallway.
-
Kaveh and Nilou stood there. “That… was awkward, and weird.” Kaveh said quickly. “I’m sorry, Nilou.” Kaveh apologized, unsure what he was even apologizing for, but he did so regardless. “No, Kaveh, it’s okay. I felt pretty awkward kissing you, too. You’re like a brother to me.” She laughed awkwardly, for a brief amount of time. Kaveh nodded, agreeing with what she was saying.
Over the course of seven minutes, instead of standing and doing nothing, they chatted about the most random set of things. Their conversation sadly ended as Dehya rounded them up to come back. “Okay, guys. Come back now.” She walked into the hallway, leading them out. Kaveh and Nilou followed and sat back into the circle.
“Kaveh, your turn.” Dehya told him, but Kaveh shook his head. “No thanks. Let Cyno go or something.” He could hardly care who went next, so long as it wasn’t him. There was now no way that he could get Alhaitham now.
-
45 minutes had passed now. First it went Cyno and Tighnari, then Tighnari and Dehya, then Dehya and Candace, and finally Candace and Nilou. Nilou smiled as she got handed the bottle. “Oh! My turn, again!” She spun it around. Kaveh hoped it wouldn’t land on him again. Fortunately, it landed on someone else. He looked up, it was Alhaitham who Nilou had landed on. “Oooh!~” Kaveh whispered as Nilou stood and met with Alhaitham. He smiled, meeting Nilou, and kissed Nilou. They then proceeded to the hallway. Kaveh sighed, and Dehya started talking again.
“Okay, let’s do one more round after this. I think the party ends around 1 AM.” She told everyone there. Everyone agreed. ‘Phew, I can’t wait to go home.’ Kaveh thought.
-
Nilou and Alhaitham were walking back after Dehya told them to. Nilou giggled as she and Alhaitham parted. Kaveh looked over at Nilou, not only mortified but confused. Nilou caught him looking at her and smiled. “Oh, Kaveh! He’s so funny, I really enjoyed my time with him.” She whispered to him as she finally sat down. ‘There’s no way Alhaitham is any of those things.’ He rolled his eyes and focused on the game. “Okay, Haitham. It’s your turn.” Tighnari told him. Nilou rolled the bottle over to him.
He spun the bottle, it felt like it was forever spinning, the anticipation Kaveh felt. Who would be so unlucky to get Alhaitham?
The bottle stopped spinning, finally.
“Oh.” Kaveh echoed himself from earlier. Of course he was the unlucky one Alhaitham HAD to land on. Kaveh looked at Alhaitham, and as usual, he glared back. ‘This sucks.’ Kaveh thought to himself. Everything sucked today. For Kaveh at least. Kaveh got brought down back to earth and stood up. He wanted to protest, saying that he shouldn’t, but he knew it’d just embarrass himself. There was nothing bad about kissing your enemy. Right? Just gonna be in and out, quick and easy.
Kaveh walked over two steps and met Alhaitham’s eyes. He shouldn’t be so nervous. “I bet you’re going to taste like books.” It made absolutely no sense what Kaveh said. It was supposed to be an insult but it sounds incredibly weird to use the action-verb ‘taste.’ Alhaitham rolled his eyes, and Kaveh stepped a step forward, wrapping his arms around Alhaitham’s neck. ‘Why, why, why. WHY did I just do that? It’s just a simple kiss and I’m making it more romantic than it should be.’ He scolded himself. But Alhaitham didn’t even care, and Kaveh received no reaction.
Alhaitham, instead, leaned his head slightly down to kiss Kaveh. Kaveh embarrassingly took his hands away as their lips met. Curiosity struck Kaveh and he licked Alhaithams lips. For some reason, Kaveh thought it tasted somewhat good, and maybe Alhaitham liked it too considering he grabbed Kaveh’s chin to bring him closer.
Kaveh pushed off quickly. He didn't want the kiss to last too long, nor did he want it to be weird… Although he might’ve made it weird for him and Alhaitham already. “You tasted like orange juice.” Kaveh murmured. Alhaitham just glared at Kaveh. ‘Is he even going to say anything?!’ He couldn’t help but get mad at Alhaitham. “OMG! New ship, Nari!” Dehya squealed, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Heck yeah!” Tighnari agreed.
“Well, anyways, you two! Go, go, go on now!” Dehya practically pushed them out and into the hallway.
-
“Soo-” Kaveh started, but Alhaitham quickly cut him off. “What were you trying to accomplish, Kaveh?” He stared at Kaveh, straight into his eyes. ‘What did he mean? Was he talking about the kiss?’ Kaveh couldn’t ask anyone else, but himself. “It was just a kiss, why are you getting so worked up?” Kaveh scoffed, but he knew exactly why he was upset over it. “You were more intimate kissing me. Why?” He asked Kaveh, keeping a straight face while talking. That ticked Kaveh off. ‘Is he emotionless or something?’
“I don’t know. Why do you care, anyways?” Kaveh questioned, but Alhaitham replied with a shrug. “It’s always good to gain knowledge. You should know this.” he explained, which Kaveh thought was a stupid answer. ‘Whatever, we can just stay silent. As I’ve always been told, “talking is silver, silence is gold.”’ Kaveh settled on that decision and stayed quiet. Alhaitham went on his phone, like always.
It was silent for about 3 minutes before Kaveh started talking again. “Alhaitham.” he said. Getting his attention, Alhaitham looked up from his phone. “What, Kaveh?” He put his phone away into his pocket, showing he had full attention on Kaveh. “You’re a prick.” Kaveh insulted, receiving an even colder stare from Alhaitham. “What? Why are you telling me this?”
Kaveh shrugged, it almost seemed like he was mocking Alhaitham. He then grinned, “It’s always good to gain knowledge,” He mimicked Alhaitham’s past words, “isn’t that right?” he added. After Kaveh had mocked Alhaitham a whole bunch, he could’ve sworn he saw a smirk form on his face, but Alhaitham quickly turned for the door, his expression no longer able to be seen by Kaveh. “That’s right,” he agreed, nodding his head, “for the record, though, Kaveh. You tasted awfully like 7UP.” he added before finally leaving.
Kaveh scoffed, moron- Kaveh thought, his mind only thinking about Alhaitham. That moron is mocking me! He rolled his eyes, obviously angry about the situation that had just occurred. Kaveh shook his head, ‘no - I won’t let my thoughts be consumed by Alhaitham!’ He told himself, but he knew in the back of his mind, he was still thinking about Alhaitham.
-
“Yeah! And then he left, just like that!” Kaveh explained to Nilou. Nilou nodded, disturbed as to what she just heard. “Uh-huh, and that’s why you hate him?” Nilou raised a brow, Kaveh knew it was a dumb reason, but he obviously hated Alhaitham before all this happened. Kaveh drew his eyes off of Nilou and sighed, staring out of the car window.
“Kaveh, we’re here.” Nilou parked the car, and Kaveh nodded. He and Nilou got out of the car, almost at the same time. “Thanks for letting me stay with you, Nilou.” Kaveh thanked, and he pulled open the house door for her. “It’s no problem, Kaveh!” She answered with a soft smile. Kaveh smiled back. As Kaveh and Nilou got settled in Nilou’s house, Kaveh asked a question. “Want to watch a movie?” Nilou’s face perked up, her eyes gleaming. “Sure! Can we watch The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe?” She asked, but already knew what the answer was.
Kaveh nodded, and went to find the movie on the living room TV.
Over the course of 1 hour, Nilou and Kaveh both fell asleep on one another. Blanket hardly covering them, and the TV making a racket.
What a day.
– 1 month later –
It was a sunny day. Perfect for the beach, walks, and bike rides. Kaveh’s friend group, Nilou, Cyno, Tighnari, and Dehya, all decided to go to one of those ‘mini-cities’ that are close to the beach.
-
THE GANG 101
------
Dehya >
Kaveh, Nilou, we’re outside.
Kaveh >
Okay.
Nilou >
Alrighty! Be out in a minute!
We’re getting the last of our things.
-
After Nilou sent the message, they both hurried to get their bags and made their way out. Dehya rolled down the window, “Hurry up, slowpokes!” she rolled her eyes, but that was hardly visible when she had sunglasses on. “We’re going!” Kaveh replied, hurrying into the backseat of Dehya’s car. Nilou joined, too. Tighnari was there as well, and Cyno was sitting in the front next to Dehya. “Okay! Let’s get this show on the road!” Dehya whooped, and put her food down on the pedal.
It only took 10 minutes of driving until they got there. Kaveh opened up the backseat door, and jumped out. Nilou and Tighnari followed. “...Was supposed to meet us here…” Cyno muttered, and Dehya shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon… or not - He’s so mysterious.” She answered, her tone sounding like she was admiring the unknown person. “Who-?” Kaveh rudely got interrupted by Tighnari, “Let’s go, go, go!” he pointed his finger to the ice cream shop, slowly walking into that direction waiting for everyone else to follow.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait - We need our stuff, Tighnari.” Dehya stopped him from going any further. Tighnari sighed, arching his back forward in a mope. Kaveh turned to go and grab his stuff, but Nilou already had it in her hand, “Here, Kaveh.” She smiled, handing Kaveh’s bag to him. Kaveh grabbed it, smiling back. ‘Nilou’s so sweet…’ He thought, ‘maybe I should buy her ice cream… if I can afford it.’ Cyno and Dehya grabbed their own stuff, too. Cyno walked over to Tighnari and tossed his bad at Tighnari’s moped up back. “Your stuff, Nari.” he sighed.
Kaveh and company then made their way over to the ice cream shop. Tighnari ran in first, eager to get his ice cream. Cyno followed second, Dehya, Nilou, then Kaveh.
-
Tighnari, Cyno, and Dehya all placed their orders, so now all that’s left was Nilou and Kaveh. Kaveh tapped on Nilou’s shoulder, “Hey, Nilou, I was thinking… How about I treat you to some ice cream?” Nilou gave a careful glance, doubting herself if she truly wanted to use Kaveh’s money, but gave a quick smile anyways. Kaveh must’ve noticed as he kept blurting out stuff, “You know? Because you do a lot for me?” He choked out a nervous chuckle. Nilou put a hand on his shoulder. “Kaveh, that’s awfully sweet, but you don’t have to. Okay? I was actually planning on buying you an ice cream.” She assured, but Kaveh’s stare faltered, he sighed. Then gave a hug to Nilou.
“I love you, Nilou. Thank you!” he smiled, and Nilou hugged him back, also smiling. “You’re welcome, Kaveh. I love you, too.”
They eventually stopped hugging as they realized they were holding up the line. Kaveh turned around to look behind him, only to receive a pissed look from the lady behind him. “Ah - Sorry, Ma’am.” he apologized quickly, embarrassed. Kaveh and Nilou moved forward, and ordered what they wanted. Nilou obviously paid, and Kaveh still felt guilty, BUT, she was offering.
-
Kaveh had got chocolate ice cream, and Nilou got lemon. They made their way outside of the ice cream building and met up with the rest of the group. “Okay guys, what’s next?” Dehya asked, throwing out her ice cream. ‘Wow, she ate that quickly.’ Kaveh thought, and shrugged at Dehya’s question. Dehya seemed to have been thinking to herself, since no one else answered. “Why not the beach?” Nilou asked, brows furrowing slightly, awaiting Dehya’s answer.
Dehya turned to Nilou, “We’re going to the beach later. I want to explore around here, so what else could we do?” She answered, but it just brought the same question. “Hmm, why don’t we just walk around. We might find something along the way.” Cyno suggested, shrugging slightly. Dehya debated that suggestion, squinting her eyes before coming to a final decision. “Yeah, sure.” She nodded, and they started to walk around.
-
While walking and talking at the same time, they made their way to an arcade. “Do you guys want to go in and play some games?” Dehya turned around, to face everybody. Tighnari jumped excitedly. “Yes! I call dibs playing with Cyno.” he turned to Cyno with a big smile plastered onto his face. He grabbed Cyno’s hand and ran inside with him. Dehya looked over at Nilou and Kaveh. “You two can go together, I'm going to wait here for…” Kaveh didn’t hear the last word, since Nilou held onto his hand, looking up at him, smiling. “Come on, Kaveh!” she ran inside, pulling Kaveh along the same way Tighnari did to Cyno.
Kaveh laughed, and ran along with Nilou while Dehya stood there in front of the entrance, on her phone.
-
Nilou obviously bought the card to play games, adding around 1,000 credits onto it. “Nilou…” Kaveh sighed, watching the screen process the $100 getting used onto the card. Nilou swiped the card and turned to Kaveh, “Kaveh it’s okay. Let’s have fun, okay? It’s not like we’re going to do this all the time.” She reassured. Kaveh frowned, why was he so broke? Nilou grabbed Kaveh’s hand and they began to walk around the arcade, looking for a game to play.
While being dragged about again, Kaveh thought about who Dehya was waiting for. Was it the same guy that Dehya and Cyno were talking about? He decided to ask Nilou. “Hey, Nilou. Who’s going to meet us here, do you know?” Kaveh asked, and Nilou slowed down her pace. Either going to answer, or she found a game to play. “I don’t know.” She answered, “Maybe Candace? I’m unsure on who else would come, we don’t really have anyone else in our friend group.” Nilou walked up to a claw machine game and swiped her game card. Kaveh decided not to care about the unknown person and their arrival, and decided to do as Nilou said. ‘Have fun,’ he repeated in his mind.
-
Nilou kept pressing her luck on all the claw machines and Kaveh watched. Watched her constantly win every single time. “Nilou, can I try?” Kaveh asked, her hands were piled with all types of prizes. Nilou nodded, throwing the card at Kaveh, who caught it with surprising luck. “Alrighty.. Let’s try this thing out.” Kaveh whispered to himself, wiping the card. He aimed for the prize he wanted and pressed on the drop button. The claw hardly touched the prize, earning nothing from the try. “What!” Kaveh sputtered, “I was so precise, too! … My luck is horrible.” he moped, and Nilou patted him on the back. “It’s okay, Kaveh! Let’s play something else.” She smiled, and so they did.
-
Game, after game, and they still had 763 credits left. Kaveh followed Nilou and hardly played any games. Nervous to mess up, along with the guilt of using her money… again. While Nilou played some more of these rigged games, of course not for her, Kaveh looked around as if it could entertain him. “Oh there’s Dehya. And Alhaitham.” he pointed out before gasping. “Alhaitham?!” he repeated in a louder tone. Alhaitham looked over and Kaveh ducked out of his view. “Kaveh calm down, it’s just Alhaitham. Let’s go greet him!” Nilou finished her game and walked over to Dehya and Alhaitham.
Kaveh had no other option but to follow her. He wasn’t nervous, per se, but annoyed that his friends invited Alhaitham. Not that they knew that Kaveh and Alhaitham very much disliked each other. As Nilou hurried along to greet Alhaitham, Kaveh went over to Dehya. “Why him?” Kaveh scoffed, and Dehya laughed. “Kaveh, why are you so mad? It’s just Alhaitham.”
‘Everyone says that, ‘it’s just Alhaitham’ this, and ‘it’s just Alhaitham’ that…’ “Plus you guys kis-” Kaveh kicked Dehya before she could finish, “No! Don’t bring that up. I regret that very much.” Kaveh tried not to yell since he didn’t want to make a scene. Dehya rolled her eyes, smiling at Kaveh. “Okay then.” She blankly replied, and that was that. That was the end of their conversation.
Kaveh watched Nilou and Alhaitham talk, and it pissed him off. Alhaitham was the biggest jerk as far as he knew. Why could no one else but Kaveh see that? Kaveh had a scowl on his face as he stared at Alhaitham.
“Kaveh, you have that look on your face, again.” Tighnari brought up his face, again. Kaveh jumped. Tighnari jumpscare. He thought, looking back at Tighnari. “It’s…” he started slowly, looking back at Alhaitham, squinting his eyes with a scowl still plastered on his face. “Nothing! Listen, I have to go to the restroom.” Kaveh excused himself and ran to the restroom.
“What was that?” Cyno asked as he made his way over to the group.
-
“Ugh, stupid Alhaitham. Why is he even here?!” Kaveh muttered to himself, entering the men’s restroom. He didn’t even have to go, so he just stood by the sink. He turned on the sink and washed his hands to pass the time. “Who needs enemies when you got a good ol’ pal! like Alhaitham?!” he sarcastically said to the sink. Obviously, Alhaitham was his enemy, and it would forever stay that way. ‘I wish he wasn’t even here. He’s ruining my ti-’
Kaveh’s thoughts got interrupted, this time not by Tighnari, rather someone new. Someone he didn't expect. “That’s cliche, Kaveh.” a familiar voice spoke. You could practically feel the smirk grow on their face. Kaveh yelped as he realized who it was, and drew his hands from under the water quickly. Water got all over the mirror and on Kaveh.
Kaveh turned around, “What the hell, Alhaitham?” he yelled, “Did you follow me into the restroom?” To add more drama to the foreign situation, he visibly gave a disgusted look. Alhaitham gave a bored stare back, almost as if he was taunting Kaveh. “Nothing of the sort. I was coming to get you.” Alhaitham explained, earning a scoff from Kaveh, as if it was anything new.
“I’m not going to waste my breath talking to you.” Kaveh said, making up his mind. To his surprise, Alhaitham replied in the most driest tone Kaveh’s ever heard. ‘Actually, that’s not really surprising…’ “Okay.” is all Alhaitham said, and that just pissed Kaveh off more.
He walked out of the bathroom, not looking back at Alhaitham.
-
“Kaveh? What’s wrong?” Nilou asked, her face full of worry. Kaveh didn’t respond, too mad to care, too mad to talk. “Kaveh?” she repeated, “You’re worrying me.” she added. Kaveh sighed, and tried to put on a happy face, or at least an okay face. He looked around for Alhaitham, and luckily he wasn’t there. He saw Dehya, Tighnari, and Cyno instead, all looking semi-worried, but not as worried as Nilou.
“It’s just Alhaitham. He makes me angry.” Kaveh explained, almost cringing at his childish words. Nilou sighed, but her expression lifted up. “Oh, Kaveh. He’s really nice and sweet once you get to know him! You both got off on the wrong foot!” Nilou smiled, and the others nodded in agreement.
Kaveh’s eye twitched. ‘Nice, sweet? Really Nilou?! You don’t know him like I do.’ Kaveh snapped in his mind, obviously not out loud. He didn’t want to upset Nilou, or freight his friends. Kaveh instead, faced Nilou and nodded. “Yeah.. you’re probably right.” He agreed, but there was no real enthusiasm or promise in the agreement. Just blank nodding.
Kaveh sighed. ‘I hope this day ends sooner than it started.’