"What photo?" I asked my mind, flashing back to the text she got earlier at my house, that must have been it.

"Oh dear, you must be Kiki's cousin, so nice to have you here in Calton, well she knows better how to explain herself," The very outspoken one of the pair who had been the one speaking all along replied, giving Kiki a wink.

"So just to be sure, you guys were just in right? How did you do that?” I asked so curiously that it almost gave me the ick.

There was an outburst of laughter from them both, and Kiki fighting to hold hers back in, until they both realized  I was being serious with my question.

"Hold on you haven't given her a rundown yet of how things are done in Calton??" The not very outspoken but confident girl who I would later come to know as Samantha finally speaks out facing Kiki now,  and trust me to be completely honest when I say I was relieved for a moment when she finally had her once really focused gaze away from me. She possessed such an intimidating presence, it was almost sickening, it immediately reminded me about the girl I once was. 

"Don't worry i will explain everything later, we have got a lot of time on our hands to do that anyway, there is actually a lot you need to know about the teenage circle at Calton Valley, a whole lot."

If I knew better like I did now, I would have taken Kiki's words seriously and maybe turned my clueless self back home, but if I had done that, how would I have met him?

***

Calton Valley was one of the pretty famous island towns among the several island cities of the Greater Antilles, sharing a close border with the Cuban islands. It was majorly praised for its one very beautiful island famously known as the tourist attraction, Valley Land, and also the several breathtaking beaches beautifully blessed with golden brown sands and crystal turquoise blue waters. Most importantly, the people at Calton are known to share a strong communal relationship which I applaud but mind you still do interpret as everyone being in ‘every one's business’

My ride down from the airport was indeed a breath of fresh air as I viewed the town through a much better glance and not just my Aunt’s initial description, or my Google search results. I immediately admired the slower and calmer lifestyle that was imminent on the faces and gait of the locals as they went about their day as opposed to the bustling city I grew up in where everyone and everything was always in a rush or done with a certain high level of speed. The undeniably cool, and serene energy the town exuded felt like a welcome of warm hugs and embraces upheld with promises to continuously heal the ache in my heart but even with the atmospheric peace Calton blessed me with on that day, there couldn't just be a magical or miraculous turnaround immediately, even with the change of environment.

We arrived at our new home and got warmly welcomed by my aunt, her suspiciously feminine husband and my sweet cousin Kiki, who happened to now live just beside us as neighbors.  

While it was a good feeling reuniting with them once again, all I could do was mourn the life I had left behind, and no matter how hard I tried to look on the brighter side of things, I just wasn't prepared for a change so drastic.

Immediately I was introduced to my room, I shut myself away from the empty chuckles and pitiful welcome pleasantries that were being carried out between my mom and her sister's family, and curled myself up into bed instead. I missed my cousin Kiki so dearly but I had full trust in her to be understanding enough to know that I pretty much needed some time to myself. We never expected our next reunion to be this way but life comes at you pretty fast.

The long nap I forced myself into after my long lost journey in thoughts, did not come to an end until it was really dark. I was not so surprised to wake up to the presence of Kiki who looked like she had been busy all the while, unpacking my bags, arranging my clothes and doing everything possible to wait beside me while I slept.

"Finally our sleeping beauty is up... not gonna lie, i’d almost thought you'd gone into a coma," She joked, immediately getting into the bed to lay beside me, her strawberry scented perfume immediately dancing through my nostrils.

 I was pretty sure she had a lot more to say but I was grateful she knew me well enough to understand the fact that I was tired of the dreadful talk about my dad  which made me appreciate her skillful act of pretense as though nothing was wrong or had gone wrong.

"My mom specially prepared your favorite. Although, you don't have to go out now if you don't want to, my parents are still out there with the never ending consolations and they don't seem like they are ready to live anytime soon. At this rate, I'm pretty sure your mom is going bunkers in her mind," She laughed and I joined in which finally ushered in the much needed ease from the engulfing feeling of downcast i felt.

"Kiki?" I whispered.

"Nella?"She turns herself completely to face me, matching my whisper and we both chuckle at that.

"Do you think we could play our favorite little game right now?"

"What game? Wait a minute!..you don’t mean our game of hide and sneak now, do you?" She asked and I responded with a positive smile, going out would do a lot of good for me now besides I had missed our little rebellious game. We only had the chance to do that whenever she came visiting in New York.

 "But you should rest and take time to take everything in, you just arrived at Calton today,” she continued, speaking more sternly. “You know I am always down to get crazy with you but this? no i don't support, its bad timing!"

"Oh wow! Who are you and what have you done to my cousin? where is she?" I teased, still slightly frustrated she wasn't giving in to my wish. I really needed some air as I was already missing the healing outdoor air I felt on our way down from the airport.

She smiled sweetly at me about to say something else but instantly got distracted by a text she had just received and I knew right away,  I just may have gotten an answer to my prayer when she lifted her face back up with a familiar grin.

"Alright that's it, I have been influenced and I think I may just have to grant your wish right now...Let's get out of here, I know the perfect place to go to,  but this I must warn involves a lot of drinks…are you down?"

"Oh you know damn well I am down," I responded sharply. 

I wasn't down, I wasn't in any way down but I had just responded with a pretty high spirit which was entirely fake as I was in no mood for a house party, guessing that was what she meant by ‘a lot of drinks.’

However, I would do anything just to be away for a moment from the choking air of my new bedroom.