Kaiya was holed up in Rylee's room, reading a book.
She'd headed there as soon as her parents had brought her home, wanting comfort in the memory of her brother.
She had refused to let her parents turn his room into something: if it wasn't for her interference, Rylee's room would already be a second floor swimming pool.
It was helping a little, being in his room made her feel like Rylee was still around.
Sunny sat quietly on his bed.
That girl, Lemongrass or something stupid like that, managed to hunt him down to return his phone. A nice gesture, sure, but one thing bothered him immensely.
How did she know he was there?
Kaiya flopped on her back, looking at the ceiling.
"Why did you have to go, Rylee? I need you so much. Sunny needs you."
Did she stalk him?
How did she know the phone was his?
How come the guard let her in?
Sunny.
Kaiya was worried again.
He was still in jail, wasn't he?
She hated that.
She was the one who killed Colton.
She was the one who should be in there, not him.
The door swung open once more, not evoking a response this time.
"..Sunshine?"
Sunnys head shot up at the pet name. his grandmother stood at the cell door, cheeks stained with tears. Her light bounce orange hair seemed faded and droopy. He studied her face feeling his heart drop. His mother was identical to her mother, and now looking at his grandmother for the first time in a decade, it was more evident than ever.
"Nana?"
A knock on the door made Kaiya sigh.
"Hey Kaiya?"
"Go away, Dad."
"We want to talk to you."
"Well I don't want to talk to you."
His grandmother reached her hand through the bars of the cell, beckoning him closer,
"Look at you- you've grown so much."
She hastily wiped her glossy eyes before taking a breath,
"Come home Sunshine, we've missed you."
"Kaiya, please. Something's wrong and you need help."
"I don't need help. I'm fine. Go away."
"Please."
"Leave me alone."
The car journey home was completely silent, except for the small rattles from the bumps on the road. Sunny noticed one thing in particular, his Grandfather wasn't here.
He assumed he had stayed at home, afraid to face the monster he created.
"We're here, Sunshine."
Kaiya grabbed her phone, debating whether or not to text Sunny.
She decided that she had to.
«Hey, Sunny. What's happening with you? They told me that you had to take a polygraph test. I feel really bad. I told them that I killed Colton but I don't know if they believed me.»
Sunny sat in his old bedroom, watching his phone light up.
He knew who it was, and what they wanted, but he wasn't in the mood. Despite this, he hates people being left of read;
<I'm fine.>
«There's no way that you're fine. This is a stressful situation, even to someone like you. I know I'm not Rylee but he would want us to be there for each other.»
<Rylee's dead, what does it matter if he wanted us to stick together.>
«He might be dead but that doesn't mean that he's not still there. Would he want you to forget about him? Do you want to forget about him?»
<Maybe I do. Maybe it's his fault, ever think about that, huh?>
«His fault? Sunny, he didn't make me kill Colton. I did that. He had nothing to do with it. Colton had it coming. He has for years.»
<Maybe not, but it's hard not to think if Rylee hadn't killed himself, things would be fine.>
«I don't think they would be fine, but I think they would be better. I think it was always leading up to Colton's death. Maybe not his death per se, but at least to him stopping. I just didn't think it would happen like this.»
<I have to go; dinner>
«Yes, eat. But I don't want us to just…ignore each other. We've been friends for so long that it shouldn't be broken apart by this. I would hate myself if that happened.»
Sunny didn't look at his phone after the last text. He was angry, furious, that Kaiya had gotten him into this mess. He thought about all the strange characters that he had seen that day.
Carson.
Colton.
That lemon girl.
He wasn't a big believer of "things happen for a reason", and this event really just supports his ideals.
"Sunny?"
He was interrupted by his grandmother sticking her head in the door,
"Dinners ready. I hope you don't mind, we have some guests.
A knock came on Kaiya's door again.
She sighed and got up, opening the door to find her butler.
She smiled when she saw him, pulling him into her room.
He smiled back as he placed Kaiya's food on her bedside table, planting a kiss on her lips.
"Mason, I fucked up," Kaiya said to him.
(btw, Mason is only like 19/20. and he's kaiya's secret boyfriend that only rylee knew about)
Sunny's socked feet made a heavy thunking noise as he descended the stairs.
I was only when faced with the expressions of his frightened family members did he realise the situation he was in.
He's been accused of murder, yet his relatives line the walls of the room, watching him carefully.
The first person to greet him was his aunt, who had travelled all the way from New Jersey just to see him again.
"Hiya bub! How are you??"
"Uh-I'm good thanks, Aunt Jerry."
Next was her husband, Uncle Christian, the lawyer of the family. He gestured for the boy,
"Come with me, son. We need to talk."
"Kaiya, you could never fuck anything up."
"No, Mason. I did. Colton tried to attack me and then Sunny came because he was worried when I didn't show up to class. Sunny tried to protect me and Colton knocked him out. I grabbed Dad's gun that I stole and then I shot him. He's dead, Mason. And Sunny's getting the cop for it even though I keep telling them it was me."