This chapter is going to be from the perspective of Kai's friends to spice things up a bit :)

Kai has been acting extremely weird the past couple of days.

For starters, he never ignores texts or calls, and if he misses them he always, and I mean always calls back or replies later.

And it's not just that, after telling me about his family, he's never been a closed-off person, but today he was acting defensive and dodging all of my and Zay's questions about what happened over the weekend

Zay's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I knew he wasn't oblivious towards Kai's weird behavior. And I may be blond but I'm not dumb, I knew something was up.

We all got out of my car and Zay and I were ahead of Kai, he was walking really slowly today. I turned around to look at him and could see the weird way he was limping, wincing with every step. It was a little different from how he limps when he gets hurt during fights.

Zayden followed my gaze and then ran back towards Kai, "Dude what's up with that limp, your walking exactly how Nicole Sheave walked after she tried anal with Jason."

Kai stopped in his place as Zayden went on teasing him, "Awwww, did our Lil Kai finally lose his ass virginity? Or should I just say virginity since we both know you've never fucked anyone."

Kai looked as if he was a deer caught in headlights. His reaction almost seemed as if what Zay said was right.

After Zay slapped Kai's ass I couldn't help but burst into laughter as we walked through the doors of the school and into the halls. Sure Kai was acting weird, but it was kind of funny seeing him so apprehensive, he usually a pretty laid-back person

"Chill Kai," I told him, "He's just kidding. But seriously, why are you walking like that?"

Kai just grumbled, completely avoiding my questions once again, "None of your business."

"Yeah, you don't need to be so uptight, we know you're not into dudes. That'd be nasty." Zay was nonchalant in his words. But I was surprised, I had never heard him say homophobic things.

I don't like that.

But what was weirder was that Kai had stopped walking, he was staring at the ground with his brows furrowed, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

Even if Zayden's homophobic comment was unexpected, the look made it seem like what Zay said offended him personally, like it genuinely hurt him.

"What's up with you, you're acting weird today." I had to ask Kai, his behavior was too abnormal.

Kai was a consistent person, the things that made him mad, upset, uncomfortable, and happy never changed, not for the entirety of the three years we've known each other. His mood today was even stranger than when Gen Z decided to raid area 51 simply because they felt like it.

He quickly cleared his throat, shutting me down again, "N-nothing. I'm fine."

He's clearly not fine. But Zayden who looks like he knows somethings up is too stupid to do anything about Kai's discomfort. I don't know why but he's acting oblivious, but then again it might just be because he's dense.

I was becoming extremely concerned. I haven't known Kai as long as Zay has, but I've always been an observant person. Yes, I am observant even though my hair covers my eyes, I can still see.

The bell rang and we went our separate ways to class. I couldn't really focus on the lesson, my mind was too consumed by worry and I was trying to think of different ways I could approach Kai to figure out what was wrong. When something is wrong in Kai's life, that means something is very wrong.

I didn't like seeing him like this.

After 1st period was over I walked out of my classroom, Zay also coming out of his across the hall. We were walking together and Zay was going on about some actress. This boy was seriously girl crazy.

Kai was putting some stuff in his locker as we were walking towards him, but when we saw Lucas come up towards Kai, both Zay and I froze in our places, completely dumbfounded by the interaction between the two.

I stared, wide-eyed, as I saw the unbelievable event unfold. They were talking, not arguing, not bickering, not trying to pick a fight... but having a normal conversation.

I could hear Zay whisper next to me, "What the actual fuck?"

I glanced back at him, I didn't respond. I looked back at Kai and Lucas and saw Kai glancing around, it looked like he was trying to make sure no one was looking. But then we made eye contact.

He quickly looked away as Lucas held up a brown bag. Kai took it and the exchange quickly ended. I wish I could hear what they were saying.

Once Lucas left and the shock wore off, Zay started walking towards Kai again with me following right behind him.

As we got close Zayden aggressively asked, "What the hell was that? What did he give you?"

"Nothing," Kai brushed him off and then looked towards me, probably gauging my reaction, "Imma go to the bathroom, I'll meet you two in class yea?"

"Sure man," I said, wondering what the fuck is up with him.

He looked anxious, and his face was a little red.

As we watched Kai disappear into the bathroom down the hall Zayden turned to me and asked, "Why's he being so secretive all of a sudden?"

"I don't know man." But I wasn't okay with just letting him be.

I know Kai's a secretive person. He's told me some of the stuff about his family and all the things that have happened to him so I know that he isn't shaken by little things. If there really is something wrong, it must be serious.

And then there's that brown bag. Shit, I hope Kai didn't get into drugs. He's worked so hard to not fall into any substance abuse despite his past. Although his coping methods aren't exactly healthy since they leave him bleeding and bruised. Fighting is still a hell of a lot better than drugs.

I looked towards a puzzled Zay, "What if Lucas gave him some kinda drug?" I asked urgently.

Zay scratched his head, looking back at Kai with a slightly worried expression on his face, "I don't know, after everything with his dad I really doubt he would go down the same route."

Zayden was probably right, but I had to be sure, "Hey man, I forgot something in my history class, I'll catch up with you later."

I patted his shoulder as I turned around and started making my way towards the bathroom.

I waited until I saw Kai walk into the doorway, his hazel eyes scanning the area. Once he left I made my way inside the empty room.

I went straight to the trash can where I saw the brown paper bag. I was scared of what I would see inside of it.

What would I do if Kai really had started getting into drugs?

I grabbed the bag, unknowingly holding my breath, I slowly opened it and took out an empty box that was inside.

"Hah," All I could do was gape at the carton.

What?

Hemorrhoid cream??

Why the hell would Lucas give Kai hemorrhoid cream first thing in the morning?

Shit. OH SHIT! Oh my god...

The way Kai's been acting, avoiding talking about what he did with Lucas Friday night, being MIA all weekend, showing up with that weird limp, talking to Lucas with no hostility on either side... Lucas giving Kai hemorrhoid cream...

No. Fucking. Way.

Kai had sex with Lucas.

There's no other explanation, it fits perfectly.

I don't care if he's gay, Kai is one of my best friends. What I do care about is how much it's been affecting him today. His life is already hard enough, I don't want him to be stressed about what his friends think about his sexuality too.

I put the empty box back into the bag and put that into the trash. As I walked to my next class I decided I would talk to Kai during lunch.

---

As I made my way towards my truck I saw Kai leaning against the side on his phone. Kai, Zayden, and I always go off campus for lunch since the cafeteria will give you food poisoning every time without fail. Gotta love American school lunches, I mean, who doesn't enjoy eating some Galaxy Pizza where the main ingredient is rubber.

Kai gave me a 'sup nod as he saw me. I hopped into the driver's side as he climbed into the passenger's seat.

I heard my phone ding and pulled it out of my pocket to see that Zayden had texted the group chat saying that he would be another 10 minutes since his teacher was holding the class in for something.

Kai was still on his phone, not saying anything, but he clearly looked a little stressed.

"So you're gay?" I asked calmly.

Kai dropped his phone on the floor, his eyes wide as he looked at me and then back down to his phone, picking it up.

He rubbed his temples, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look," I paused, thinking about how to phrase this.

I didn't want Kai to feel uncomfortable, I wanted him to know that his sexuality didn't matter and that I didn't care who he slept with.

"I saw what you threw out in the bathroom."

Kai let out a humorless laugh, "Fuuuuck." He hit his head against the back of the seat and stared out the window.

"Kai," I started, "I don't care if you're gay, my little sister is lesbian."

"Oh?"

He looked at least a little more relieved than before. I'm sure it was because I wasn't homophobic. Kai doesn't let a lot of people into his life, so the few that he does are extremely important to him.

"Uh-uhm, do you think Zay is actually homophobic?" Kai was looking down at his hands.

"Honestly, I'm not sure."

Kai nodded his head slowly.

"I haven't known him as long as you have, but I don't think he's necessarily homophobic, I've never really heard him talk about his thoughts on LGBT people."

Kai didn't say anything so I continued, "If you do tell him, I don't think he would react that badly. He could be a little surprised and may need some time to get used to the idea, but I know how important your friendship is to him."

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, I'm sure Kai was trying to process everything.

He turned to the left and looked at me, awkwardly saying, "Thanks."

"Yea, no problem. And seriously, you need to chill out a bit, you've been acting off all day, and there's no way Zayden did notice too... But being gay isn't that big of a deal, you don't need to be so stressed out. We live in a pretty open-minded area too."

"Yea, I guess so," he replied, "It's just that this all kind of happened really fast. I've only really known about my sexuality for a couple of days, if that."

"To be honest I was kind of surprised. I mean you've never really shown interest in girls when Zay and I would talk about them. I was starting to think you were asexual or something."

"You're not that far off," Kai scratched the back of his neck, "I was never super interested in girls and I never even thought I could be interested in guys."

"So I take it you and Lucas fucked?" I questioned.

Kai sputtered, "W-what?"

"Come on Kai, it's not that hard to put together."

"But how?"

"You're seriously asking me how? Dude. Think about it." I pulled my hand up and started counting on my fingers.

"You didn't respond to any messages for three days straight after you got stuck with Lucas Friday night. When I picked you up to go to school you avoided the topic like the plague. Don't even get me started on that limp, Zay got you spot on. Then you had a normal conversation with Lucas. And Lucas literally gave you hemorrhoid cream."

Kai seemed to become a lot more relaxed, he could probably tell by now that I truly didn't care if he was gay.

"Yeah," he finally smiled, "I had a really crazy weekend."

"You wanna talk bout it? You look like you're going to go crazy holding it in."

"I'm not gonna go crazy, it's just that I don't know If I can talk about it with Zay since I don't know how he would react, and there isn't anyone else. I was honestly just planning on keeping it to myself for a while"

"Well, just let it all out, I was the first to find out about my sister and once she knew I was aware she was lesbian she spilled all her dirty secrets to me," I laughed, "I have that kind of effect on people."

"Yea? Okay, why not," It seemed like Kai wasn't acting too weird anymore. Honestly, I'm just happy it wasn't drugs in the bag, although the hemorrhoid cream was a little unexpected.

With his usual demeanor, he turned to face me a bit, "So basically Friday night Lucas was passed out drunk, we were both drunk, and I felt bad so I took him to my place. Then we kinda did some... stuff, and I liked it. He actually stayed at mine all weekend."

I nodded in understanding. "Ahah, so Lucas was your sexual awakening. I see." I teased him while laughing.

Kai punched my shoulder, "Oh shut up."

But it's okay since he was smiling too.

"We just hung out mostly, we basically just talked the whole time and he honestly isn't that bad, I'm not really even sure why I hated him so much," Kai told me.

I know why though, "It's because you two are so similar. You hated that he was just as cocky and arrogant as you are."

"Ouch," Kai drastically grabbed his chest, "Why you gotta come after me like that?"

"Am I wrong, I don't know how so much arrogance, ego, and pride can fit into one body."

"I guess that's true," Kai admitted, "Oh, by the way, I won Triple O, you are officially friends with the best fighter in California." Kai beamed. There were few things that made him happy, and I know that his motivation to fight wasn't exactly pure, but he did enjoy it either way.

"Oh yea and then we had sex last night."

I shook my head, a big smile on my face, even though I'd only seen him for a couple of hours this morning I felt relieved to see him being his laid-back self again.

I just hope Zayden isn't as homophobic as that one comment made him seem. He's a good guy, but if he can't accept his best friend then he doesn't deserve to be part of Kai's life.

------------------------

I bet they both think I'm stupid.

Well, I'm not. Okay, I am, but that's when it comes to academics. I'm not that oblivious that I won't notice how different Kai's been acting this morning.

I've known the guy since we were 10 years old, I probably know him better than anyone else.

I just choose to ignore it because I know that when he has a secret he will tell me when he's ready. That's what happened when he told me about his dad, then again with his brother, and again with Mad Dog.

That's not a pattern I'm going to ignore and I'm not going to force him to tell me something he isn't ready to share, especially not if it's related to all the emotional baggage he's carrying.

I have a feeling I know what this is about though. Look, I'm not a homophobic asshole, sure what I said was inconsiderate because I don't always think before I speak. What I meant was I find it nasty imagining myself doing it with another guy, I don't give a fuck if other guys do that stuff.

I've had a feeling Kai was gay since we were in middle school, call it a mothers intuition if you will. He's my son, and mothers just know sometimes.

Although now I can confirm that hunch. After Kai's reaction to that joke about Nicole trying anal with Jason and then about him losing his virginity through anal, I knew I was right.

And then I slapped his ass to lighten the mood, sue me.

I knew Jack could tell something was up, but it's Kai's decision in the end when he wants to tell people, and I'm not one to force it out. When he's comfortable with it himself I'm sure he'll tell me.

We are best friends after all.

My job has been so hard lately. It's just a summer job and I work as a camp counselor, but fr have any of you ever tried to enforce social distancing and wearing masks on 6-year-olds. Don't even get me started on getting the kids to not share things.