"Rebel With A Cause"

“What the hell are you doing?” Lisa hissed at Kayden, as he jumped down from the table.

“What do you mean?” he crashed past her, and into another room.

“What's he doing?” Lisa huffed, sitting down next to her best friend, Kelly.

“I don't know what's gotten into him,” Kelly answered, sipping her drink and slowly shaking her head. “And I don't know why you look after him so much.”

“I mother people I care about,” Lisa admitted, finishing her own drink in one big gulp.

“I still don't understand. He looks like a lost cause to me sometimes.”

“He's not,” Lisa muttered, knowing that somewhere under that black and red hair, hidden behind his deep brown eyes, there was someone worth saving.

“You alright, babe?” Joshua crashed himself down onto the seat next to Lisa and kissed her lips softly.

“Yeah. Haven't seen you for a while. Where have you been?”

“Upstairs. One of the boys that lives here has an epic new Xbox game.”

“Oh.”

Lisa had had enough of her boyfriend playing stupid games. It was always the same. He never asked, and he never just turned it off to spend time with her. He thought her watching him play Halo, or Battlefield was enough “quality time” for the two of them.

“Wanna see?” Joshua continued.

Before Lisa could answer, a loud crash came from the kitchen of the house, followed by two screams.

Lisa, among everyone else in the house, rushed to see what was going on. A loud gasp came from two of the girls that got there first, and as Lisa approached, she could see Kayden in a heap on the floor, with the light fixture shattered all over him. The plaster on the ceiling slowly dropped onto the floor around him, and it was obvious that he had attempted to swing from it.

“Kayden!” Lisa shouted, as she rushed towards him.

Dust from the peeling plaster above her head fell like snow onto her hair, and onto her face when she looked up to see the damage.

“Everyone out!” one of the boys that lived in the house screamed over the chatter of the people gathered. No one moved at first, as they all stared at Kayden, in his mess. “Everyone get out! Now!” the boy repeated, herding some of the crowd out. “Party over!”

As the room thinned of people, Lisa sat Kayden up. He had a cut on his head, and he would be bruised for a very long time, in the most sensitive of areas, but he was basically okay, according to her quick check.

“Are you alright?”

“No.”

“What the hell were you doing?!”

“You ask that a lot.”

Joshua and Kelly hovered over Lisa.

“What happened?” Kelly asked.

“I fell,” Kayden answered pathetically.

“You think, Sherlock?” Kelly asked sarcastically.

“Yep.”

“What really happened?” Lisa asked, voice and eyes full of concern. For the first time all night, Kayden looked into Lisa's face.

“Sorry.”

“What happened?”

Kayden just closed his eyes and placed his face gently onto Lisa's shoulder.

“Can we have a minute, please?” Lisa asked the others.

“Sure,” Kelly nodded, taking Joshua, saying to him, “Come and show me that game.”

Lisa smiled after her friend. Kelly always knew what to do, and what to say. She knew she wouldn't have to worry about Joshua for a long time now, and she also knew that she would owe Kelly big time – because she couldn't care less about this Xbox thing.

Lisa stroked Kayden's hair as he breathed deeply, unbeknownst to her, taking in the scent of her perfume. “Talk to me,” she whispered gently.

“I fell.”

“I know that much,” she lifted his head so he would have to look at her. “What were you doing up there?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Just answer me.”

“Rebelling.”

“Sounds more like attention seeking.”

“Isn't that what rebelling is?”

“Not really.”

“I was rebelling,” he confirmed.

“Rebelling against what?” Lisa kept her cool.

“Society. Life. Whatever.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“What?!” he looked affronted.

“Look what you've done!” Lisa pointed up at the ceiling, then around the room. “Look what you've done to yourself!” she pointed at his now purple-coloured arms.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“So what?”

“So tell me what's wrong!”

“Nothing.”

Lisa got up and walked to the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of water, and opened it. She took a drink, and walked back to Kayden, offering him some. He took it.

“There has to be something wrong, Kay. Or you wouldn't do this stupid stuff.”

“I haven't always done it.”

“I've known you for a long time now,” Lisa smiled softly, “I know this is a recent thing.”

“So what's happened recently?” he asked, passing the water back.

Lisa sat quietly for a while, thinking. “I don't know. You tell me.”

“If you don't know, I can't help you.”

“Why not, Kay? Come on!”

A long silence fell between them. Long enough, in fact, for Kelly to text Lisa, asking if everything was okay. Lisa ignored the text, for now.

“Just go,” Kayden said suddenly.

“No,” Lisa answered automatically.

“Why?”
“Because I don't want to leave you here.”

“You don't care.”

Lisa stood again, and threw the bottle of water across the room. Kayden's eyes grew wide as he stared at her.

“Don't you ever say that I don't care, Kayden Daniels! I have worked so hard to keep you happy! I've cared about you even when other people have given up, and I've put you before myself hundreds of times!”

Kayden looked at the floor, not saying anything.

“I care about you,” Lisa said more calmly. “I always have.”

“It just feels like I've lost everyone.”

“Who have you lost?”

“You. Kelly. Even Ally, Jayden, Alex and Alec have stopped talking to me as much.”

“You wanna know why the guys have backed off?”

“Why?” he looked confused.

“Because you've pushed them away. I've seen it with my own eyes. You were upset and acting out about something long before they backed off. And I know I haven't been there as much as I used to be since me and Joshua got together, but...”

Lisa stopped talking, because at the mention of Joshua, Kayden had looked at her with a sadness she had never seen before.

“It's him, isn't it? You don't like Joshua?”

“No.”
“No, it's not him, or no, you don't like him?”

“No, I don't like him.”

“Why not?!”

Lisa knew that Joshua had his downsides, but why would Kayden dislike him?

“He's just...” Kayden seemed unable to finish his sentence.

Lisa stood, and held out her hand for him to stand up. As he took it, she was going to guide him to a chair, to sit comfortably, but instead, he pulled her into a strong hug. Lisa hugged back, holding him gently, so as not to hurt him.

“Hold me,” he muttered.

She squeezed him slightly harder.

“Tighter,” he begged.

“I'll hurt you...”

“You can't hurt me any more than I already am.”

Feeling so bad for Kayden, Lisa held him so close that she began to lose the lines between them. She couldn't tell where she ended and he started.

“Thank you,” Kayden whispered.

“What for?”

“Looking out for me.”

“It's my job, silly,” Lisa smiled into his neck as he picked her up off the ground.

He chuckled lowly, “No it's not. It's my job to look after you.”

Lisa giggled, as she felt her feet moving back and forth and the loving embrace held her from the floor. “Why's that?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Just because.”

Another silence fell between them, before Kayden slowly let Lisa down. An icy chill took her, as his warm body stepped away. She glanced outside and realised just how late it was. Kayden's hand slipped into hers. With a small squeeze, he murmured, “You should get back to Joshua.”

“He won't know I'm gone.”

“He loves you.”

“He loves his games.”

“But you love him?”

“Not really.” Lisa had never admitted this to anyone before... she'd told Kelly that she'd been having doubts, but she had never even fully admitted it to herself until now.

“Then why are you with him?”

Lisa didn't know. But being with Kayden, she knew that she didn't love Joshua. She knew deep inside that she never had. She knew she could never run from who her heart had wanted all along...

“I don't know,” she replied.

“Did you ever love him?”

“I don't think so.”

“Did he ever love you?”

“I don't know.”

“You'd know if he loved you.”

“How?”

“Because love is everything. You wouldn't be able to miss it. Love is something that, if you're with someone, is obvious, because it's in the way they look at you. It's the way they touch you.”

Lisa's hand, where his skin met hers, tingled.

“And it's extremely difficult to hide. Believe me.”

“Have you ever hidden a love for someone?” she asked, her mind in a confused daze.

“I've been doing it all night.”

“So, you've been running away from it?”

“Yeah. By doing all that stupid stuff,” he scratched his head, looked at his fingers and noticed the blood from his cut. He laughed at his own stupidity, “I thought I could get away from the feelings I've been hiding.”

“What does it feel like?”

Kayden stopped to think.

“Let it out,” Lisa encouraged. “You can't hold that kind of thing in. I want you to talk to me until the sun comes up, and then I want you to go and find this love, and kiss them, and hold them, and tell them too.”

Kayden remained silent for a while, before blinking several times, and asking, “What time is it?”

“Half past four.”

“What time does the sun come up?”

“I don't know... about two hours?”

“Okay.” He paused again for a time, “It feels like nothing I've ever felt before. Every time I see her, my heart wants to jump out of my chest to greet her. My eyes want to be as wide as possible, to take everything about her in. My ears drown out the sound of everyone and everything else, so I can focus on her.”

Lisa sighed at this, wondering what that kind of attention would feel like.

“I lay awake at night, wishing she was with me, but knowing she was with someone else. I sleep to one side of the bed now, so if she ever wanted to join me, she could. I wake up, wondering whether she's awake yet or not. I stop myself from texting her every morning and every night. Every time I'm doing something, I wonder what it would be like if she were there with me. Every time I have something to say, I turn to speak to her, but she's never there.”

Lisa sat, stunned.

“I can't do this any more. What time is it?”

Lisa looked slowly at her phone, “Four forty-five.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“I can't wait. I can't wait to be this guy with you, or at least know for sure that it could never happen.”

Lisa barely realised what he was saying.

“I want to be with you, Lisa. I want to share my thoughts, my feelings, my bed, my life, my days and nights with you. I've been rebelling against my love for you out in the world, but inside, it's always beaten me. It's undeniable. This. This is what real love feels like.”

And with that, Kayden cupped Lisa's face and with such need and urgency, crashed his snake-bitten lips to hers. His passion for her flowed through his mouth, and into her body, making her feel something she'd never felt before. Never with Joshua, or anyone. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they pressed their bodies together, even closer than before. Taking a short breath of air, she returned to the kiss with as much emotional warmth as him.

She could understand so much more now. She understood herself. She understood that running away didn't work. She realised that it had always been him. And she knew she'd found the rebel's cause.

Kelly stood in the doorway of the kitchen, her phone out and taking a silent picture of the first day of her best friend's favourite years.