Going to have to use a sick day today

Fortunately, Ava wasn’t waiting for me outside the bathroom door. Unfortunately, Kenzie was waiting for me outside the bathroom door.

“You are going to have to use a sick day today.” Her face didn’t read as angry, but I had to imagine some rage hid under the surface after I’d blown up at her girlfriend.

“I’m not sure I get those. I’m an intern, not an employee.”

“Well, you need to find a way off. We’re meeting with Bethany today.”

“Bethany?”

“She makes our costumes. You need to get fitted; I think we can take down Cobra. Tonight, he has-“

“Tonight?! I haven’t even trained!”

Kenzie waved her hand dismissively. “Listen, this is a low-tier guy. From my understanding, he won’t even be carrying a gun. I have no intention of throwing a tough case at you yet. This is more-or-less to get an idea of what you’re capable of already.”

“Oh.” I felt a chill run up my spine. This whole thing was suddenly going from a fear into a reality.

“You’ll need to drive. I don’t have a license.”

“That’s fine, but my van… uh… sucks.”

Kenzie’s eyes twinkled. “Van? You do have a van….”

I waited for her to finish the thought, but she didn’t say anything more on the matter. After a quick breakfast, we loaded into my van. Kenzie did a walk around the vehicle before getting in, analyzing it. She was odd.

“Bethany is great. She does the costumes for the Hero Hosts. She’s the real deal, yes? I was very lucky to get in contact with her.” Kenzie bragged. She had her feet up on the dashboard. If this was a nicer car I’d probably be annoyed by that.

“And she’s… trustworthy? Like, won’t tell the Hero Hosts about us? I’d prefer to stay un-executed if at all possible.”

“No, she’s good. I pay her more than enough for her silence.”

I gave her a sideways glance. “I don’t know… I mean, how much money is worth risk of ****?”

Kenzie put a finger to her chin in thought. “Well, I considered one hundred thousand a costume to be enough, but if I need to give-“

I slammed on the brakes by mistake, startling my passenger. Kenzie, not wearing a seatbelt, slid into the floorboard like she’d been folded in half.

“ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FUCKING DOLLARS?!”

Kenzie pulled herself back up with an annoyed look. “Jesus, yes! What’s your problem?”

“What am I being paid?!”

“Do you need money? You never mentioned it before.”

“I didn’t know it was an option! I thought this was, like, charity work!”

Kenzie laughed. “Ah… no. I can pay you. Not as much as Bethany, but some. For example, I pay for Ava’s and Kate’s schooling.”

“I’m not in college.”

“You could be.”

“I….” Huh. College hadn’t even an option before. Even with egregious student loans, there wasn’t a chance of me pursuing higher education, so I’d never… huh. “Um… I’ll get back to you about my salary, I guess.”

Kenzie nodded. The idea of casually taking on another college tuition like it was nothing to her was insanity to me.

After some silence, I had to ask. “How do you have that much money?”

Kenzie didn’t answer for a second. “I… well… I don’t want to say at this very moment, if that’s alright with you. After the mission I will, yes?”

“Uh… okay.”

More silence. For how sociable Kenzie was, I was really finding it hard to talk to her.

“I’m not angry at you about the ordeal with Kate and her sister, by the way.”

I gripped the wheel tightly. Not angrily, but with a sense of ‘tense and nervous’. “That’s good.”

“Kate also isn’t angry with you. She’s… annoyed. And worried. But not angry. Well, okay, she’s angry, but at Caitlin.”

“Why? What happened?”

“I think this is another ‘after the mission’ question.”

Annoying.

“Speaking of last-night’s events… you had sex with Hana?”

I winced. “Ava told you?”

“She told everyone. You hurt her feelings, I think.”

“Fuck.”

“Yes. I don’t really understand, in all honesty. Ava and Hana aren’t together anymore.”

“Yeah, but even then they’re best friends.”

Kenzie shrugged. “And? Who cares?”

“I think… most people? I’ve never really been in this situation before, but movies and shows lead me to believe that would be the case.”

Kenzie sighed. “Yes, yes, I understand. It’s just that my religion is more free than how most of you people think, so I don’t completely agree.”

I nodded. “I picked up on that.”

“Sex is great, yes? Why is it treated like some taboo thing to be shared with so few people?” Kenzie huffed.

“It’s… you know, romance and all.”

“Romance and sex are intertwined, yes; but why is it considered a limited resource? Why must you choose a single partner?”

“Are you… poly?”

Kenzie shrugged. “Kate asked me the same thing when I explained my religion. I suppose if it helps you understand, then sure. I just consider myself ‘normal’.”

I’d never considered polyamory. To be fair, I’d struggled with monogamy for this long, so I didn’t really have much of a chance to try anything else.

“Weird.”

“Well, I find you weird.”

-

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