Chapter 5 - Bench Boy

"FOOD FIGHT"

My eyes widened, it finally settling in. No wonder Kai left, that coward.

Someone stood up to leave through the exit but Carlos quickly threw the chicken wing he had at them.

Everyone roared and after that it was utter chaos.

Food was flying everywhere. I stood up to find somewhere to hide and some pasta came flying towards me, landing perfectly on my head.

I narrowed my eyes at Bella and Carlos smiling mischievously at each other. I smirked and grabbed the mashed potato bowl, rolling the creamy substance into balls.

Their eyes widened as I began to throw like a maniac. They ducked under a chair and I searched for Angie. I saw her hiding behind Josh and I rolled my eyes, couples.

I took the chance to make my escape, noticing that everyone was too focused on each other to see the entrance.

I ducked and headed to the door, not before getting hit a few more times by unrecognizable glops of food.

I finally pushed open the door, breathing a sigh of relief.

I heard a chuckle and my head quickly shot up to find Kai leaning on a wall near the entrance, smoking.

I crinkled my nose in disgust. "You coward! You could've told me that was going to happen!"

"Why? Didn't like it?" He said, breathing out some smoke.

I bent down to sit on the floor. "It's dirty" Kai said looking at the ground. I looked at him pointedly, gesturing towards the food stains on my clothes.

"Ah" he said, taking another inhale of his cigarette.

"Ew" I said scrunching my nose up again and fanning the air in front of me. "You're a soccer player aren't you? Should you be smoking?"

I asked.

"Don't care" he said, breathing out some more smoke. I rolled my eyes, it's his life anyways.

"Won't you get in trouble for messing up the restaurant?" I asked.

"I paid them extra for the cleaning charges, we do this every year anyways" he said. I nodded, no wonder everyone else there wasn't surprised.

We went silent for a few minutes, even the chaos going on in the restaurant seemed distant.

"Why did you say that?" I asked. Kai looked at me.

"Why did you say you weren't good at soccer? You're one of the best players there" I said, speaking up again.

Kai let go of the cigarette and smooshed it with his foot.

"I wasn't always" he said, staring out into the distance "I used to be the worst player there". I looked at him doubtfully, there's no way a person could become that good from practice alone.

He stared straight into my eyes "you can" he said "you can become good if you practice hard enough".

I shook my head "I don't believe you" I said. Anyone could say they were bad but that doesn't mean they actually were.

"Come to my house tomorrow" he said and my eyes widened. He picked up the cigarette off the ground, swiftly tossing it in the trash and walking away.

Just in time as well as suddenly the restaurant had gotten louder and everyone began pooling out through the door.

~~~~~

I couldn't believe I was really here. I stood in front of the huge house, it had a modern yet rich look to it. I walked through the path of flowers to reach the doorstep, hesitant to ring it.

What was I doing at my brother's best friend's house?

As I was contemplating the door suddenly swung open, revealing none other than Kai himself, half naked. His abs were on full view, glistening with droplets of water.

"You're early. Couldn't wait huh?" He said with a slight smirk, drying his hair with a towel. "Come in".

I blushed and averted my eyes, walking in through the door. The interior of his home was beautiful. White and black furniture were everywhere, following a trend. I stared in amazement.

Kai rolled his eyes, "follow me" he said. He started walking up the spiral staircase and I followed behind him. We reached the top floor and he stood in front of a door and opened it up.

His room was quite minimalistic with just the essential furnitures, but it still looked expensive.

It had finally settled in that I was in Kai's room with him standing a few centimetres away half naked. I looked away uncomfortably and Kai glanced at me, grabbing a shirt and slipping it on. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sit" he said.

"I'm not a dog" I said as I walked over to the bed and sat down. He ignored me and started digging through one of his drawers.

"There it is" he said pulling out what looked like a photo album. He handed it to me and I looked at it confused.

He flipped it open to a section that said 'Grade 8' and pointed at a picture of the soccer team.

I saw my brother right in the middle, sticking out peace signs and grinning from side to side. He had the same number on his uniform that he's always had, a big number 1.

I searched for Kai, seeing him in the corner of the picture. My jaw dropped as I noticed that he had no uniform on, he was a bench member.

"Did you miss the tryouts or something?" I said, still unable to believe someone that skillful didn't make the official team in grade 8. It wasn't even like the other members were good, a lot them hadn't made the official team this year.

"I just didn't make the team" he said. He took the album back and put it in his drawer again.

"So? What's your story? You made the team last year didn't you?" He asked, leaning against the wall.

"I didn't. But I was apart of the team" Kai raised his eyebrow at my words.

"I only got into the team because of my brother" I sighed "the Coach really liked my brother. He was the one that allowed Coach to experience winning the junior soccer tournament in all his years of working there. I guess he thought that I might have the same potential so he kept me on the team even though I wasn't as good as the other members".

It was the first time I was telling someone about this, not even my brother or Bella knew. Kai didn't say anything, he just nodded his head and grabbed my hand.

"W-wait!" I said as he dragged me out the door.

"Follow me" he said, as usual only speaking in short sentences.

He stood in front of a door and handed me a bag "change" he said nodding towards the door.

I walked into the room and peered into the bag. There was a huge Nike shirt with shorts in it. I opened the door and looked out but Kai was gone. Deciding this probably wasn't just a fetish of his, I slipped the clothes on.

They were slightly oversized but manageable. I walked out and was startled to see Kai standing right in front of the door, he nodded in approval and headed downstairs.

He opened a door towards the back of the house and my jaw dropped for the gazillionth time that day.

The backyard was huge, if you could even call it that. He led me towards the soccer field, it wasn't as big as the school field but it was still decently sized.

"W-what do your parents do for a living?" I questioned.

"Business." Kai said nonchalantly as he grabbed a soccer ball out of the bag.

"10 laps around the field"

~~~~~