Kaylee's House

The car ride over to Kaylee’s house was in silence. She seemed content to listen to the radio. By her outward appearance, she seemed in a jovial mood. Our conversation didn't seem to weigh on her at all. I was quiet, thinking over the conversation we had over dinner.

My friend had a lot of things going for her. She was kind and compassionate. Not once had I ever seen or heard of her putting a guy down in a truly mean or vindictive way. Not like Zoe and a lot of other girls. We shared a lot of interests and had a similar world view. Yet when you really dug down deep, one of the most fundamental aspects of our identity was largely incompatible. It made me wonder how Dad had found Mom. Like me, he couldn’t go around openly talking about his beliefs or special situation, not without risking some serious repercussions. He wasn’t even ranked as high as I was on the fertility scale. He only mentioned it once, when he was showing me my real results before he burned them. My father was ranked as a B, a far cry from the double S I carried.

If he was caught, he’d probably have to serve a few years under the PPD as punishment. He might even be able to work out a deal to stay in the local area since his family was here. If I was caught? Locked away in one of their research compounds until the end of time.

Kaylee’s house was massive. Like all the other houses in her neighborhood, it was a modern design, blending expensive with impractical. The whole house made me feel like it was trying to show off how expensive it was rather than actually be livable.

Pulling her car into the driveway, she put it into park and killed the engine. “Come on,” she said, popping her door open. “I’ll go grab the packet so you can, ‘Check your answers.’”

Following her inside, it didn’t take long for me to run into her father. He beamed a smile at me. “Good evening Scott!” he said in an overly cheerful voice. “I just put dinner on.”

Kaylee waved him off as she headed for the stairs. “We already ate.”

Her father didn’t react to the news, as if he expected it. “Well, what about drinks? You want anything to drink?”

“I’ll grab him something later if he needs it. Going upstairs to do homework.”

“Homework eh?”

“Yes Dad. Homework.”

Her father and I shared a look. Smiling, he shook his head and disappeared around the corner. I hurried up after Kaylee. My eyes briefly ran over the pictures on the wall. Most of them were family ones. The higher up on the stairs I got, the older Kaylee appeared in the photos. Each one had the three of them, smiling happily. There was a familiarity between her and her mother. The eyes were a big one. The general shape of her face. Her hair too was only slightly lighter than her mother’s.

Kaylee shared nothing in common with her father though. Expected, since there was nothing biologically linking them. She didn’t know who her biological father was. Her mother probably didn’t know either. Not that Kaylee was in the slightest bit curious about that. Her father was her father, regardless of blood. Practically everyone on the planet operated like that.

Not me. I knew exactly who my father was. I couldn’t imagine not knowing.

“Here,” Kaylee said, handing me her packet as I entered her room. “Desk is all yours,” she said gesturing to the immaculately organized desk. Her entire room was like that. Everything had a place. Not once piece of chaos.

She flopped back onto her bed as I slid off my backpack and settled in. Her phone was in her hands before I had my packet out. Her fingers flew across the screen.

I tried to work on my packet, but it was difficult with Kaylee laying on the bed beside me. Her shirt had hiked up, exposing the toned muscle of her midriff. It didn’t help that her expressions kept shifting from joy to concern.

Eventually, it became too much. “Something up?” I asked, forcing myself to sound casual.

Letting out a long sigh, she dropped her arms to the bed. Her head rolled over to look at me. “Not really.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

She gave a sharp blow at the strand of blond and teal hair that fell over her face. “Just horny is all.” Her tone was no different than if she was telling me the weather, yet it was enough to spike my heart rate. “I don’t know why I’m so antsy tonight.”

My eyes ran over the exposed skin with not-so-innocent-intentions. I quickly snapped them away, lest temptation take control of me.

Kaylee continued, oblivious to my internal struggles. “Doesn’t help that Sean has been teasing me. “