Blended Ch 26

Piper’s plans tend to be good ones, and when they aren’t, her luck usually makes up the difference. Once in a while, her luck runs out. Those times tend to hurt.

Today’s not one of those times. Just after she has hugged her friends and sent them on their way, Kayla arrives for her shift.

She spots Piper alone in the booth with a slice of pie and walks over suspiciously. “Who you waiting for?”

“You.” Piper pushes the plate across the table.

Kayla looks disdainful as she sits and pushes it back. “I smell that shit all day every day, Piper. It would make me puke.”

“Fair enough.” Piper picks up the fork. The diner is all but empty, but she lowers her voice anyway. “Me. Riley. Your mom.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Kayla is her normal self, not the raging hormone machine that she was this morning. She’s still pretty high-strung.

“Me, Riley, your mom. All women that Flynn Stackwell would be very happy to fuck.”

It all leaves Kayla’s face, like the air from a balloon. It’s just a small change in the muscles in her cheeks, but the effect is profound.

Piper goes on. “And you know that. You’ve always known.”

Eyes distant, Kayla nods slowly.

“So what, exactly, is going on with you?”

Kayla puts her hands in her face and sighs deeply. Ten seconds pass. She wants to cry, but she’s not going to do it. “He’s different.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

Piper thinks she does. It’s hard not to feel something, whether one intends to or not, after getting intimate. Especially with someone whom one actually likes.

Kayla does the thing with her mouth, moving everything to one side to hold back tears. “I think about dad. And the way all the other guys are.” She puts her hands on the table and makes a squeezing gesture. “And there’s this huge anxiety, just huge. Like this is my one shot. There is one guy like this. And I’m just so sure there’s never gonna be anyone else like him. And it’s all the time. It never stops.” She sweeps her hand from left to right. “Even if I smoke a ton of weed, I’m still thinking about him and us having kids and…” She shakes her head. “Stupid shit.”

She doesn’t talk about what it must feel like when she sees him with other girls.

Piper takes Kayla’s hand.

“And I don’t know what to do,” Kayla says. “I know it’s stupid. But it won’t stop.” She gestures toward her head. “It doesn’t help that I’m a fucking waitress. I don’t have college, I don’t have… Jesus. I actually have to go, don’t I?”

“You don’t have to make big decisions when you’re going through this shit. But yes. Eventually, you’re going to college, Kayla.”

“Um, babe?” It’s Ava, one of the other waitresses. “You coming on?”

“Give us a minute,” Piper says, giving her a look.

“I don’t know what to do, Piper. So I do nothing, and then I feel like shit because I know doing nothing cannot be the right thing.”

“There isn’t always a right thing.” Piper leans in.

“Gonna tell me to let him go?”

“I was gonna tell you to take your shot and then whatever happens, accept it. But OK; we can go with let him go. It’s not the worst idea I’ve heard.”

Kayla snorts and takes a deep breath. “I don’t even know what that would look like at this point. He doesn’t even notice me anymore.”

Moments pass in silence, and Piper studies Kayla’s face. There’s always an instinct to try to fix problems when one sees another suffering. Piper’s not immune to that. She grimaces. “Well, I can’t make him fall in love with you, Kayla. But if you need him to notice you—I know how to do that.”

She looks intrigued. “How? I’m already dressing like a slut and throwing myself at him.”

“Men make no sense and are difficult to understand. But at the same time, they are the simplest animals. These two seemingly contradictory positions are both true at the same time. I’ll tell you how, but you have to get to work. We’ll talk about it on your break.”

Kayla smiles. “Well, OK. Thanks, Piper.”

“Mmwha,” Piper says, blowing her a kiss.

Kayla rolls her eyes and leaves the booth. Piper gets out her phone. She’s only been half-present for that conversation; she can’t shake her worries about Riley. Mary did leave her in charge, but is it her place to step in and be Riley’s mom as well?

Should she stalk Meghan’s socials?

Or should she leave it alone?