NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14: Good News and Bad News
Elliot and Jonas were both distracting themselves, pretending they had homework on their mind, but it was clear their heart wasn’t in it. Sitting on a bench in one of the many study lounges provided by the school, they exchanged notes and pretended to pore over them. It had been a little over a week, and Kira hadn’t heard much from her parents. Not after she’d told them in no uncertain terms that she didn’t intend to come home to conform to whatever plans they had in mind for her. Not, that is, until today. It was going to have to come to a head at some point, after all.
So she’d called her parents, with the school administration present. She’d left for the office before the first of the day’s classes, and it was already noon. Her two partners were eating themselves alive. Well, that, and a packet of unsalted peanuts way in over its head. In the process, they were getting some schoolwork done, if not a great deal. Jonas especially was having a really hard time not fretting about his girlfriend.
“Do you think she’s okay?” he asked, putting his pen down. Not that he’d actually written anything, but it had felt good to have something that made him at least feel like he was being productive. Elliot looked at him from the other side of the bench and rubbed her face. She wasn’t any less stressed, of course, but having someone else who cared about Kira as much as he did definitely helped. They had started taking turns being more worried, with the other offering support.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Elliot said. “Malena is with her, and so are the school counselor and the director of student affairs. She’s practically got herself, like, a whole-ass legal team, so she’s gotta be, right?”
“Right,” Jonas said. “Right.” Elliot was right, of course. The school had kept their promise and had repeated their offers of support. Regardless of what happened, she’d be able to continue her education at Crescent U. But that was only one part of things. Cutting out her family was a last resort kind of thing, and Jonas knew how hard that would be on her. The thought of losing that kind of thing was terrifying, even with other people to fall back on.
“Hey,” Elliot said, probably realizing it was her turn to reassure him, “it’s going to be fine. She’s got you. She’s got us, and the whole school behind her back.” She sighed and looked down at her notes, realized they were just word-soup, and then back up at him. “And once her parents realize she’ll be fine without them, it’s entirely possible they’ll walk back on what they said. My parents were fine after they realized that it was being supportive or not having me in their life.”
“Fuck,” Jonas said. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. Nine times out of ten, the best way for someone to stop being an ass about people like… well, queer people, is for someone in their family to come out to them. I’ve got hope her parents are gonna be like that.” She blinked for a moment. “That’s… not even getting into the part where she’s a plant now, I guess.”
“Hah!” Jonas leaned back, almost fell off the bench but barely managed to grab the table, and steadied himself. “Y-yeah. I don’t even know how they’re going to take that news.” He chuckled. “Do you think they should know about that first, or the fact that she’s got a boyfriend and a girlfriend?”
“Oh my god,” Elliot said, running her hands through her hair. “I hadn’t even considered that part.” She sighed. “God, this is going to be a handful, isn’t it?”
Jonas nodded with a little smile. “She always has been.” Even when they were kids, he’d been looking after her. He’d stood up to her bullies, he’d been to take her hiking. He’d been there for all of it. That he got to hold her hand now, or have her in his arms almost every day… it made sense. It made more sense to him than a lot of other things. She was, well, his, to take care of now. And Elliot’s, and that was okay too. As long as Kira was safe and happy, and he was more than happy for them to share their time together.
“Whattup nerds.” McKenzie sauntered over, somehow managing to make the ridiculously oversized summer hat she was wearing work for her, sat down, and took off her sunglasses. All she was missing was bubble gum.
“You can’t call us that,” Elliot said with an innocent little smile. McKenzie put her sunglasses back on just so she could look at Elliot over the rim.
“Excuse me? Is this new campus regulation? Because I will turn into a dog right now and eat your homework if you try to hit me with something like that.”
“No,” Jonas grinned, “it’s because you’re doing better than us in the hardest classes.” He retrieved the sheet of grades they received. “I figured you hadn’t looked yet, being too cool for school and all that.”
“Ah, crap,” McKenzie said, dramatically taking off her sunglasses a second time. “I’m one of them now. Honey!” Toby walked past and eagerly bounded over when he heard McKenzie’s voice. You could practically see his ears perk up when she called out his name. “I’m sorry, babe,” McKenzie said after a chaste-but-slightly-longer-than-neccessary kiss, “I’m a nerd. Will you still love me?”
“Of course,” Toby said, solemnly. “We’ll get through this tough time together.”
“I take it back,” Jonas said. “You’re both nerds.” Toby dramatically grasped his chest and fell to the ground, wounded and dying. “Also, you two are at the whole… uh… L-word thing already? That feels a bit… um…”
“I know it’s fast,” McKenzie said with a shrug, “but with our emotions heightened and a tendency to be a bit more…”
“Horny?” Elliot offered, her eyebrows raised.
“Pack-oriented,” McKenzie corrected, “it just sort of makes sense. Besides, if it doesn’t work out, I get to keep at least one of his jerseys. He promised.”
“I did,” Toby said from the floor when he sat back up. “She hasn’t gone shopping for something that won’t tear when she goes full puppy yet, and it’d really suck to leave her with that, yknow?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Staying with her is a sacrifice I am willing to make. For the greater good.” He saluted, and Jonas gave him a little salute back.
“You two seem happy though,” Elliot said, a little more genuinely. “I’m glad.”
“Yeah,” Toby said as he hopped back up. “We put a lot of effort into seeming happy, you know?” He walked over and kissed McKenzie on the forehead. “It’s a slog, but somehow we make it through each day.”
“Love you, baby,” McKenzie said with a big grin. “So yeah, what about the two of you? Still… you know…” She gave them both a meaningful glance.
“Dating the same person?” Jonas said. “Yup. Ask us how it’s going.”
“Never.”
“I’ll let you have a peanut.” Elliot held up the almost-empty bag.
“Deal,” McKenzie said, her eyes bugging out as she stared at the peanuts. “How are y’all dealing with the whole… with all of that?” She squeaked as Elliot gently tossed her the bag and poured the remains into her mouth;
“It’s going well, thank you for asking,” Elliot said. “Jonas and I get along swimmingly, and Kira seems happier than ever. We make sure to spend time separately.”
“Honestly, the biggest thing is getting our schedules synched up. Which is why I’m wanting to steal Toby away tonight,” Jonas said. “Elliot and Kira have a date night and I’ve got nothing to do but train, and I could use a spotter.” Toby was practically bouncing at the idea as he sat down next to McKenzie, but he also looked at her expectantly.
“Babe,” McKenzie said, “of course you can go. You don’t need my permission.”
“I’m not asking for permission,” Toby said, reaching into the peanut bag and pouting when he came up empty. “Just making sure you’ll be fine.” Elliot fished into her backpack and retrieved a second packet and tossed it to him. “Thank you!”
“I’ll be fine,” his girlfriend said, kissing his shoulder. “Dinner tomorrow though?”
“Deal.” Jonas smiled wistfully for a moment. He’d only known McKenzie as the kind of stereotypical cheerleader-type when they’d first met, but she and Toby seemed to be genuinely sweet to each other, and being near them he was reminded of how lucky he was to have found something like that too. He looked over at Elliot to see if she was thinking of Kira too, and then immediately straightened up and spun around when he saw her staring at the door, where Malena and Kira had just walked in. Elliot and him both stood up and approached them.
“I’ll take the one on the left,” he told Elliot, who grinned and approached Malena. Still taking things slow, they had shared a kiss at this point, and that meant Kira was all his, flowers in full bloom. Jonas walked up to Kira, his Kira, who bit her lip and started blushing when he wrapped himself around her. Her arms around his neck just made it easier for him to lift her ever so slightly and kiss her. “Hey you,” he said softly. “Good news, I hope?”
“I’ll tell everyone at the same time,” she said, “but yes.” The light in her green eyes, the light that had started burning so brightly ever since she’d realized she was Kira, was alive and happy. He gently lowered her down — if she wanted another kiss, she was going to have to stand on her tippy toes. To his delight, she did exactly that, and they briefly bumped noses as he smelled her now ever-present slightly flowery perfume.
“You are,” he said when she pulled away, “so beautiful.” Immediately, a few more flowers began to sprout in her hair, giving her a quickly-expanding flower crown, and her cheeks burned red. But it was the smile that got to him, that made him feel like the luckiest man alive. A smile of true, genuine happiness. He took a step back to let Elliot, who had slowly walked up, bask in it too, but turned to give them some privacy for their own shared kisses, and locked eyes with Malena.
“So, good news,” he said, half-asking. “Can’t wait to hear it!”
“Well, you’re going to have to,” Malena said with a smirk, “but I think you’ll manage.” The four of them walked back over to the benches. Toby and McKenzie scooted over, and they all sat down. “So, we have good news and bad news,” Malena said now that she had everyone’s attention. Kira sat between Elliot and Jonas and seemed to be holding two hands at once. “Well, two good news, but I want to start with the bad one.”
“Because you’re a dramatic bitch,” Toby said. It wasn’t an insult, more like a statement of fact. Malena nodded.
“Because I’m a dramatic bitch.”
“Lay it on us, coach.”
“Okay, so, bad news,” Malena said, clasping her hands together. “Kira’s parents will be coming over. It’s earlier than school administration expected, but we’ll have the place presentable by then. Kira is the bigger worry.”
“Yeesh,” Elliot said, rubbing Kira’s back. “I’m sorry, love.”
“It’s okay,” Kira said, “the good news is pretty good.”
“Well, don’t leave us in suspense,” McKenzie said. “What is it?”
“Well, good news number one is that I know some people in Portland and Corvallis, and they’ll be more than happy to take her in indefinitely after she’s done studying. It’s not an ideal ending,” Malena said, “but it’s better than having nowhere to go and all of you being forced to make financial decisions.” She tapped her phone. “I’ll give you the contact info.”
Kira took a deep breath and nodded. Losing her family would be awful, of course. But not being homeless when she came out of college was, y’know, good news. “What’s the other?” Jonas asked. “You said there were two.”
“Oh, right,” Malena said, and her mouth split into a wide grin. For a brief moment, Jonas was reminded of the fact that she once swallowed galaxies whole. He could imagine it, too. “The other good news is that I’ll still be the student representative when they come visit, and I’ll be speaking to them directly.”
“Oh dear,” Elliot said, blushing, pretending like she didn’t enjoy seeing Malena this way. There was a moment of silence around the table, finally broken by McKenzie, laughing with her mouth full.
“Hah!” she barked. “Hey Kira, your parents are fucked.”
