Page 61 of Little Paper Games
“I don’t know,” she yawned, stretching against me and waking up.
“If you could eat anything. Anything in the world right now, what would it be?” I asked in all seriousness. I’d get her anything she wanted that was in within my power.
“Double pepperoni and olive pizza from Nico’s and crab Rangoon from Hira’s Palace.” My jaw dropped at her quick response.
“You sweet, seductive temptress, that’s the best thing I’ve heard in a long, long while. Stay right there, I’m ordering it now.” I kissed the top of her head and went searching for my phone.
“Seriously? You’d be down for that? Ordering from two places?” she looked at me, sitting up in bed almost astonished.
“Why the fuck not? It sounds delicious and would make me happy and make you happy. So it’s win-win!” I explained. I glanced at my phone, wincing when I saw the number of missed calls from my parents.
“Fan-fucking-tastic,” she grinned, leaning back into the pillows.
“I’m going to step out for just a second, and I’ll be right back. Need anything else?” I asked, throwing on a pair of shorts quickly.
“Some water would be good,” she agreed, snuggling back into my sheets.
“You got it.” I stepped out of the bedroom and made my way down the stairs, pressing the call button for my mother at the same time.
“Jude, thank God. Are you okay? Is Kenna okay? We haven’t heard from either of you in hours!” My mother was catastrophizing and normally I would call her on it. Not today, though.
“We were sleeping, Mom. She was in really bad shape after her mom called. I helped her. She just needed some time to process,” I explained as kindly as I could.
“You’re a good boy, Jude. Thank you for caring for her. I can’t even imagine what that poor girl is going through. Your father and I are both losing our minds over it all. But how she must feel? I can’t even wrap my head around it.” My mother started blubbering, and I shushed her gently, not wanting her to get worked up again. Emotions were running very high in light of what was happening.
“Don’t try to imagine it, Mom. Honestly, it’s brutal on her, whether or not she’d ever admit to it. I literally can’t think on it for too long or the grief weighs down on me so heavily. That’s just a what-if scenario for me! This is her reality.” I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck.
“What do you two need?” She asked calmly.
“Nothing that I can think of. I’m about to order dinner, and then get back to Kenna. Is there any new news?” I asked with great hesitation. On the one hand, we needed to know. On the other, I was afraid that any worse news would send Kenna into a deep depression, and I wasn’t sure I knew how to handle that.
“No news yet. He’s hanging on for now, but it doesn’t look good. Why don’t you let me order the two of you food and you just go be there for Kenna, that poor girl.” There would be no arguing with his mother over this. For today, he was okay with it.
“Sounds good, Mom. We want pepperoni pizza from Nico’s and crab Rangoon from Hira’s Palace.” I prattled off the exact order for her.
“That’s quite a combo.” she chuckled.
“Don’t judge,” I teased right back.
“Oh, no judgement, honey. I’m just filing it away for myself! Utter brilliance!” It was good to hear her laugh.
“Thank you, Mom. I’m going to get back to Kenna now, okay? I love you.”
“I love you, too, Jude. Take care of each other.” With that, we hung up, and I made my way back to my room. Kenna was curled up in the blankets, a faraway look on her face.
“Kenna?” I asked softly, joining her on the bed again. I got comfortable sitting cross-legged. She immediately put her head in my lap.
“It feels like too much to wrap my head around,” she whispered quietly. I ran my hands through her wavy hair, thinking about how to respond.
“It does,” I answered somewhat lamely.
“Especially since we are stuck here.” The weight in her voice, the depth of hurt, made my own heart hurt.
“That’s the worst part,” I agreed quietly, busying myself with the curls and wayward strands of her hair.
“Did you know that he’s why I bought that stupid couch?” she admitted randomly.
“Mitch picked that couch out?” I asked, surprised. It didn’t seem like her parents’ style at all.
