Don't look, Jeniliya! Don't. Don't look! Don't look!It's no good, morbid curiosity is eating away at me. I know whatever they've written is going to be bad, but I can't help myself needing to know how bad. It's like when I was seven and I skidded across concrete on my bike. All the colour drained from Priya's face when she saw my leg but it didn't hurt until I saw the blood running down my leg and soaking into my frilly white socks.I know I'd be better off not seeing what's been written and the cruel comments posted by the public, but for some reason, I can't stop myself.Checking that Kenji is still asleep beside me, I give in to temptation and grab my phone. I don't even need to search, somehow my phone knows I'm trying to torment myself and has it under the headlines that may interest me. Who is Jeniliya Kaur? Kokoro singer's mystery lover revealed!I breathe out a sigh of relief at the article, it's not great, but it's more factual than anything else, my name, my age, where I g
Yesterday was a bit of a shit storm, but once Jenny came off her social media and sorted stuff out with her sister, she relaxed considerably. Fred's dealing with the major news storms, but all in all, we're waiting for it to blow over and I cannot deny that I'm actually enjoying it.It's like the best kind of holiday for me right now, I know that's an odd thing to say for someone who travels for work, but I don't get to really enjoy myself when I'm there for work. This… this is everything a good holiday should be, swimming, alcohol and lots of sex. Jenny is trying to study or write her assignment or whatever it is she needs to do for her uni course and I'm doing my best to leave her to it, but there's only so much I can do to distract myself from touching her when she's right there."Give me two hours, I swear I'll be all yours then until four o'clock." She moans when I slide my hands under her t-shirt, stroking the smooth, warm skin of her stomach. She's only wearing her pyjamas, so
Who knew I'd enjoy being housebound? Enjoying it so much in fact, that I'm reluctant to pack a bag for the week Priya and I promised our parents we'd spend with them over Christmas. I actually considered faking an illness, but Priya pointed out that wouldn't help because knowing Amma, she'd turn up on the doorstep to look after me here instead."I've promised Kira and my parents I'll stay home for a bit too, then hopefully something else will have happened so the paps won't still be camped out outside here and we can get back to a normal life." Kenji tells me, although I notice he's yet to release his arms to allow me to leave the bed and get packing."I know. And I know it's just a week. I hate myself for being this girl." I roll my eyes, pushing against his arms which tighten, pulling me closer to him as he rolls above me, his hair still scruffy from sleep."I love that you're being this girl." He leans down to kiss me. "It makes me feel better about missing you as much as I know I
I'm roused from a particularly lovely dream when I feel something shift beside me. Sleep tries to lure me back again, but a sharp jab to my ribs has me opening my eyes with a start."Good, you're awake." My sister's grinning face looms over me. "Are you going to invite Jenny over to meet the family?""Why are you in here? What time is it?" I groan, reaching for my phone to check the time. "Kira, it's barely four in the morning.""I know. So, are you bringing Jenny over today? I'm out with Lottie and don't want to miss her." She says, as though it's perfectly reasonable to wake someone up at the crack of dawn, but for her I guess it is."No, I wasn't planning to. Can I go back to sleep now?""God, you're so grumpy in the morning." She bounces onto her feet, waving as she heads towards my door. "I'll see you tonight, have a nice day. If you change your mind about her coming over, let me know please.""Where are you going at five in the morning? I know Lottie won't be awake yet, she's mo
My parents are pretending Kenji doesn't exist. He's become a taboo subject in my house without anyone officially announcing the fact, but any time my cousin's mention his name, they are silenced and the subject is quickly changed. On Christmas Eve, Danny comes to visit and my parents dote on him as though he is royalty, but even his passing question about whether Kenji would be visiting was quickly diverted by my Amma piling our old photo albums onto the table in front of him, insisting she go through each one with him so she can point out whether it's Priya or I in each one.While we're sitting there quietly, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket and seeing Kenji's name on the screen, I excuse myself to talk to him in the privacy of my own room."Hey." My stomach flutters like it's filled with butterflies when I hear his voice."Hi, how are you?" I whisper back, locking my bedroom door so no one walks in while I'm talking to him."Are you at home? Can you talk?" He asks and he's wh
I've never been more excited about a work event than I am about tomorrow night and it's not even because of the event, it's the ability to be out with Jenny without the constant stress of having to hide from her family.I haven't seen her since Christmas Eve, we've spoken on the phone but it's all whispers on her end. I don't know who ever said sneaking around was fun, but they're a bunch of liars. It's annoying, frustrating and generally just shit. I thought she'd be able to get away for at least a day this week, but Christmas is apparently a bigger deal with her family and they've kept her busy with something practically every minute of every day. Part of me is wondering if they're actually pretending not to know what we're up to and are doing it on purpose just to keep us apart, but that is probably just frustration turning into paranoia."Hey, Ken, get your head out of your ass, you've just missed your cue for the third time now." Harrison tosses a pick at me, pointing at the othe
"Are you sure I look ok?" I ask my friends, turning my body left and right to look in Rory's mirror. Tonight is Kenji's work party thing and I spent a small fortune on a dress, dragging my friends along and also texting pictures to Akira to get her approval too.It's a figure hugging black dress that reaches my knees, with a v neckline and sheer long sleeves, then, just because it's a music party, the entire thing looks like it's been doused in glitter. I loved it in the shop and everyone agreed it was perfect, but now I'm dressed and ready to leave, I'm not sure if I should be wearing something entirely different. I might be underdressed or even overdressed.If Kenji turns up wearing jeans, I'm changing!"You look stunning." My sister tells me, holding out the silver necklace that I chose from Shane's mum's collection earlier and everyone else voices their agreement, but my nerves are making me doubt everything."Listen…" Rae takes my hands in hers and pulls me away from the mirror.
The work event was wonderful and getting to fall asleep with Jenny beside me made it pretty much perfect, it reinforced my desire to have her in my life permanently and it was on the tip of my tongue to ask her to come visit the house with me today. Luckily she has a full day at uni, so left with her bag straining under the weight of all her books. I stretch out in her bed, not wanting to get up yet but knowing I have to if I want to look presentable for this estate agent.The house is unexpectedly and unnaturally quiet as I head downstairs, it's not often that every one of Jenny's housemates are out at the same time, but I guess with the new term they're all out studying somewhere, or that's what I assume until I hear the high pitched scream coming from the kitchen.Instantly I take off running, thinking someone's slipped or cut themselves or something, but what I didn't expect was to see Priya, scantily clad, being held down by a guy in a black balaclava."Help, please, someone." S