"Mystery flavor, huh?"
The man in front of her smiled sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders.
Tez smirked. "You know, the last time I trusted your cooking, I regretted it."
"I'm getting better now! I promise, this will at least be palatable." He held the spoon out to her with a hand cupped underneath to catch any potential drips.
She sighed and leaned forward to take the bite she was being offered. The saltiness hit her taste buds immediately, and she grimaced.
"You lied to me," she said bitterly, barely swallowing the liquid.
"What? I think it's good."
Tez shook her head. "Jax."
"Well, Josine liked it."
"She likes any soup you make for her."
Jax laughed and set the spoon on the cluttered counter. "Okay, how would you fix it, then?"
Tez raised an eyebrow. "That?" She gestured to the pot. "There's no fixing that."
Jax groaned dramatically.
"Oh, you know what would be good for next time? Add some sugar to the tomatoes and cook them down before you put them in the soup. Trust me, Jo will love that."
"Mommy?"
Tez and Jax instinctively looked down. A small child with curly silver hair stood beside Tez. His tiny hand was curled around the bottom of Tez's shirt, and he seemed troubled somehow.
"What is it?" Tez asked gently.
Razi retreated further behind Tez's arm and mumbled something incoherent.
"I'll start cleaning up," Jax announced. He lifted the pot from the stove and walked it over to the sink, leaving Tez and Razi on the other side of the kitchen.
Tez crouched down so that she and Razi were eye level. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders, and smiled comfortingly at him.
"Tell me what you're thinking, Razi."
Razi avoided Tez's gaze. He seemed to grow more upset with each passing moment, until tears threatened to fall.
Tez rubbed her hands on Razi's arms. "Hey, it's alright. If you can't tell me, why don't you show me?"
He finally looked at Tez. Reluctantly, Razi nodded and reached for one of Tez's hands. Tez stood and allowed her son to lead her out of the room. She and Jax shared one last curious glance before she entered the dining room.
As they passed the table, Razi coughed lightly, stumbling a moment as he did.
"You okay?"
"Mhm."
The sound of someone crying entered Tez's attention. It got louder as they approached the doorway to the living room.
"What happened?" Tez asked.
Razi froze at the doorway and looked back at Tez. He was still clearly upset. The grip he held on Tez's hand tightened.
Tez squeezed his hand in return before stepping around him. Razi whimpered, and grabbed Tez's arm with his other hand.
As Tez peered into the living room, she noticed a broken item. The pieces lay scattered on the orange rug, and standing over this item was Mihdia. Josine, who had settled just behind, looked just as worried as Tez felt.
"Are you two okay?" Tez questioned. "What happened?"
The two teens looked up at the sound of Tez's voice. Mihdia's crying paused momentarily before she noticed Razi hiding behind Tez. Her expression darkened as more tears fell. Razi desperately clung to Tez now, and she could feel his tears against her arm as he began to cry as well.
"Mihdia's snow globe is broken," Josine explained.
"Razi broke it," Midhia sniffled. "He did it."
Josine frowned. "You know he didn't mean to."
"I'm sorry," Razi cried. His small body trembled as his crying rivaled Mihdia's. "I'm really sorry."
Tez instinctively moved her hand over Razi's head. Her fingers gently pulled at the curls of his hair as Tez assessed the situation.
"Jax?" Tez called out loudly.
Several moments passed before Tez saw Jax approaching from the kitchen. He walked across the dining room to meet Tez where she stood.
Tez gestured to the scene in the living room. Jax looked stunned.
"Apparently Razi broke one of Mihdia's things. A snow globe?"
"Oh. Oh, no." Jax looked down at Razi, who only cried harder.
Tez instinctively stuck an arm out in front of Razi.
Jax tried to smile at Razi reassuringly, but the expression didn't reach his eyes. "It's gonna be okay, Razi. No one's mad at you."
"It was an accident, so I would hope not," Tez snapped.
Jax gave Tez an apologetic look before he entered the living room.
"Go away," Mihdia growled.
Jax looked down at the broken pieces and sighed. "Be careful of the glass."
"Oh, thank you so much for the warning. I had no idea that glass is something I should avoid."
Josine grabbed Midhia's arm gently. Her expression was melting from worry to hurt. "Mihdia…"
Mihdia glared at Josine momentarily before yanking her arm away from her grip.
"Why are you acting like this?" Josine asked. The desperation in her tone was enough to make Tez feel bad for Josine instead of Mihdia.
"She needs some time," Jax said to Josine quietly. "Give her some space."
"You think you know what I need?" Midhia shouted. "What I need is for this to never have fucking happened!" Mihdia gestured the rug. Her tears still fell from her eyes, but it was easy to see they were now fueled by a different emotion entirely.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I need dad."
The sudden calm of Mihdia's voice was jarring. Jax took a half step backwards and cleared his throat.
"He… he won't be back until tomorrow. You know that."
"Then I'm leaving."
"Midhia, please."
The entire room paused to look at Josine after the words she managed to throw in during the argument. She looked scared.
Mihdia exhaled shakily. "I need to be alone right now."
She glared sharply at Jax for a moment before she rushed to the stairs. They all listened to her as she left. The sound of a door slamming pulled them out of the daze they were in.
Tez released the air she had been holding. She met Jax's gaze for a moment before she looked between the two remaining children in the room.
"Are you alright?"
Josine shook her head, indicating that she wasn't. At some point during the commotion, Razi had wrapped his arms around Tez's waist and buried his face in her shirt.
Jax took a few careful steps towards Josine and opened his arms to her. She fell forward into the hug and began to weep quietly. Jax held her tight, as if he was the only thing holding her together.
"Mommy, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
Tez's attention was turned back to Razi who now looked up at her, his face tear stained.
"It's alright, sweetie. It was an accident."
Razi sniffled and tried to wipe his face with his hand, but Tez stopped him before he could. She searched the room for her bag, and once located, she led Razi over to it. She hastily began to remove the many items contained within until she found the wipes.
"Is Mihdia mad at me?" Razi asked nervously.
"No, she's not mad at you." Tez lifted Razi's head by pushing his chin up and began to clean his face with the wipe.
"Am I-" Razi closed his mouth as Tez wiped it. "Am I in trouble?"
"No." Tez stuffed the wipe in the side pocket of her bag.
"Is Mihdia gonna tell mama?"
Tez froze. She opened her mouth, but her voice felt stuck. Razi noticed this, and whimpered.
"No, of course not. Mama won't know," Tez declared.
"She's gonna be mad…"
"She won't, because we won't tell her."
Razi silently watched Tez with wide eyes, still looking unsure.
"How about tomorrow we could say we're sorry to Mihdia."
Razi nodded.
"We could… we could bring her some cookies. You wanna help me make them?"
Razi smiled. "Can we make the puppy ones?"
Tez grinned and leaned down, motioning Razi to come closer. "I don't know," she said quietly. "We might attract the cookie bandit if we do."
Razi giggled. "We can share!"
"Oh, but he wants all the cookies for himself!"
She grabbed Razi's sides to tickle him, which caused Razi to squirm and laugh.
"Okay." Tez lifted Razi up to one of the dining room chairs and sat him down. "I need to go check on Jax and Jo, so you stay here, alright?"
Razi nodded.
"You wanna color while I'm gone?"
Razi nodded again.
Tez smiled and removed the book and crayons from her bag. She carefully set them down in front of Razi, before she leaned down to kiss him on top of the head.
"I love you, mommy."
"Lots and lots?"
"Mhm."
"I love you, too."
-
A bang at Razi's door startled him out of the trance he'd fallen into. He hastily pulled the headphones from his ears and looked away from his textbook for the first time in an hour.
"Razi? Can you come out here?"
"Yeah, one second."
Razi draped his headphones around the back of his neck as he stood from his desk. He stumbled a moment when the wheel of his chair caught on the rug behind it. Razi caught himself by grabbing the desk.
When he finally reached the door, he noticed his music was still playing loudly. Razi pulled his phone from the front pocket of his hoodie and paused the song that was playing as his other hand turned the doorknob to pull the door open.
In front of the doorway stood his father, Michael.
"Hey, you have company."
"Huh?" Razi gave Michael a confused look, but followed him out to the living room anyway. He paused at the end of the hallway as his gaze swept the living room. He finally noticed the two people standing by the front door.
"Oh, there you are," Galatea said.
"Took him long enough," Arvid grumbled.
At the sight of Galatea, Razi felt his face burn, and he looked down to double check his clothing. Arvid rolled his eyes and leaned against the closet door behind him.
"What are you… doing here?" Razi asked nervously.
"What are we-?" Arvid sighed.
"You forgot, didn't you? I can't believe you, Puppy," Galatea teased.
"Forgot… what?"
"Our plans today? I blew off Izan for this, and now you're saying you're not even going?" Arvid glared at Razi.
"I didn't… um…"
"Oh, he's going." Galatea smirked. "Go get ready! We'll wait."
Razi glanced over at Michael, who only shrugged and left for the kitchen.
"Okay, I'll… I'll be back."
Razi left for his bedroom, feeling a little confused. He didn't remember making any plans today. He paused in front of his door and traced his fingertips across the handle nervously. Maybe this is a good thing, he thought. Getting out for the day might help with this feeling.
-
Razi rolled the cord of his headphones between his fingers as he watched the world pass outside. Arvid had taken control of the music and was playing the sixth Simple Plan song in a row, but Razi didn't complain. He listened absently as Galatea teased Arvid.
"Where are we going?" Razi asked suddenly.
"Dude, where have you been this past week?" Arvid leaned his head back against the seat.
Galatea's gaze briefly left the road to glance at Razi in her rearview mirror.
"Did you have an idea? We can change plans if you want."
Arvid looked at Galatea in disbelief, but she ignored this.
"Anywhere is fine, I guess," Razi said.
Galatea turned the volume down on the music. "What?"
"I said, um… anywhere is fine. I didn't have any ideas." He paused. "I don't know why I don't remember… making plans?"
Arvid sighed and readjusted his seatbelt.
"Just pick a place," Galatea said. "Wherever you wanna go."
Razi sat in thought. A minute passed before Arvid looked back at Razi. He gave Arvid a pleading look, which signalled to Arvid he needed to jump in.
"What about the arcade?" Arvid suggested.
Razi paused for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, let's do that."
Galatea didn't seem convinced. "Razi, you don't play video games."
There was a moment of silence.
"Well, I wanna try it. To be honest, I've been feeling…" Razi exhaled. "Maybe doing something different than normal might help."
"So, the arcade it is!"
Galatea glanced at Arvid briefly. "Sounds fun," she added. However, she still seemed unsure.
Razi stuffed his hands into his hoodie pocket to find the pack of gum he needed to calm down. He unwrapped the stick and put it in his mouth quickly before he turned to look out the window once again.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt his phone vibrate. He saw it was a message from Arvid, and unlocked his phone.
Razi glanced up at Arvid. He seemed to be typing more, so Razi left the conversation open.
"Thank you."
It was several moments before Razi realized he said this out loud. He frantically began to type out an apology to Arvid.
"Sure," Arvid replied. He awkwardly reached for the volume on the music and turned it up to fill the silence.
No one spoke the rest of the ride. The gum in Razi's mouth finally lost its flavor, and Razi removed it to put it in the wrapper it came from. He still felt on edge. There was a moment where he considered taking out another piece, but before he knew it the string of his hoodie was in his mouth. He chewed on it and returned his gaze to the window just in time to see Galatea drive past the arcade.
He looked in her direction, but decided not to point this out. Either she had a reason, or she just missed the turn and would correct it.
The drive continued for another five minutes. Both passengers were curiously watching Galatea for any clues about their destination. Arvid seemed ready to ask the question, but Galatea put on her signal before he could.
"We're here!" Galatea said in a singsong voice.
"Where is here?" Arvid asked bitterly.
Razi observed the building as they pulled into the parking lot. His gaze fell on the sign, and he felt his heart skip. Arvid seemed to come to the same realization at the exact time Razi did.
"Planetarium?" They both said it, but their tones conveyed opposite emotions.
"Lame," Arvid hissed.
Razi finally removed the string of his hoodie from his mouth and felt a smile take him by surprise. As Galatea parked the car, she reached for her phone which had been previously placed in the cup holder.
"If I'm remembering correctly, they have a showing in about half an hour." Galatea grinned. "Still wanna go to the arcade, puppy?"
Razi shrugged his shoulders. Arvid turned in his seat to look at Razi as well.
"This seems fun," Razi mumbled.
"Of course it does." Galatea reached out to the backseat and ruffled Razi's hair playfully. "You know I have the best ideas."
Arvid scoffed, but otherwise offered nothing to the conversation.
"You'll have fun, too, Arvie." Galatea smirked at the death glare Arvid gave her from the use of his nickname.
"Let's just get this over with," Arvid sighed. He unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed the door handle to exit the car. The other two followed his lead.
As he left the car, Razi could barely contain his excitement. For the first time that week, Razi's mind didn't feel so foggy. He noticed Galatea and Arvid watching him and felt his face burn as he walked quickly to follow them into the building.
The entrance was a lot more crowded than the parking outside indicated. Razi moved in closer to Galatea and Arvid, trying to resist the urge to reach out and grab them.
Galatea paused and turned her head towards the younger two. "Wait here."
Razi nodded. Arvid only folded his arms over his chest and looked around the area. Razi decided to observe his surroundings as well, and began to memorize the area.
A bump to his shoulder brought Razi back. He looked at the source; a stranger had run into him accidentally. He smiled politely and murmured an apology, but the stranger gave only a passing glance before continuing towards the door.
"Why didn't you apologize? Motherfucker," Arvid growled to himself. "I hate people."
Razi laughed nervously in response. The conversations from the strangers around him seemed to get louder until their voices all blended together into an overwhelming noise. Razi didn't realize how close he was getting to Arvid until their arms were touching.
"Dude." Arvid took a small step backwards. "Are you alright?"
"Mhm." Razi returned his hoodie string to his mouth and began to chew on the material.
"You two ready?"
Razi looked up as Galatea approached them. She seemed to notice something was off, because there was a flash of worry in her expression.
"I…" Razi frowned, moving towards Arvid again.
Arvid looked between Razi and Galatea. For the first time that day, he looked visibly concerned.
"What's wrong?" Galatea asked.
"I need to use the bathroom first," Razi announced. The sound of his own voice made him pause, his expression reflecting his shock.
"We'll wait for you," Galatea replied.
Razi nodded and hurriedly turned away to locate the bathrooms. He wasn't sure if he was going in the right direction, but he didn't want to be there anymore. Razi felt the tears leaving his eyes as he searched. He felt scared. He still wasn't sure where these feelings were coming from, and that scared him even more.
It wasn't long before Razi gave up his search and made his way to the exit instead. He covered his face the best he could to ignore the strange looks he was being given. As Razi exited, he felt a gust of wind cut through his clothes and make him shiver. The tears on his face were suddenly very cold.
He wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his hoodie and moved as far away from the door as he could. He leaned himself back against the building and pushed his hands into his front pocket.
He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. It didn't seem to be helping, though, because the tightness in his chest only got worse. Before he knew it, the sob he'd been fighting off suddenly surfaced. Razi put a hand over his mouth to muffle his cries, but it didn't help much.
"Stop," he forced out between his tears. "Stop… crying."
A memory flooded his mind. His mother. Her smile. Her smell. The sound of her voice. He felt his body trembling as his crying worsened.
"Razi?"
Razi pressed his hand harder against his mouth. He couldn't breathe. The feeling of someone's hands on his shoulders finally helped him pull in the rattling breath he needed to further fuel his breakdown.
It wasn't until Razi felt arms around him did he finally open his eyes. The blue hair in his face was unmistakable. Razi's breathing was quick and shallow, and the tears didn't stop, but he finally removed his hand from his mouth to return the hug Arvid had pulled him into. He buried his face in Arvid's shoulder, whimpering as he trembled in Arvid's arms.
It wasn't long before he felt another set of arms around him from behind. He exhaled and melted into the hold his friends had on him. When he finally felt safe to let go, Razi stood a little straighter and lifted his burning face from the comfort of Arvid's shoulder to face the chilly air.
Arvid and Galatea released Razi and moved backwards to give him some space. Razi could tell they had questions, but he couldn't bring himself to formulate an explanation.
"Do you… need to talk?" Arvid asked.
Razi made a small sound to indicate that he didn't, but it resembled more of a whimper. The other two still looked concerned.
"No," Razi whispered finally.
"What do you need?" Galatea questioned.
He didn't know the answer to that. He didn't know what he wanted to do, or where he wanted to be. He didn't know what to say. At that moment, Razi didn't feel like he belonged in a state of existence.
The beginning of a headache made itself known as a small sharp pain. Razi winced and placed a hand on his forehead.
"Is…" Arvid seemed unsure about going forward with the question he wanted to ask, but this uncertainty only lasted for a moment. "Is this about Avery?"
Razi paused, feeling his heart sink. He lowered his arm to rest at his side before nodding, though it was barely noticeable.
"And mom…" The words felt like ice in his mouth. "I miss them…"
Arvid raised an eyebrow as he shot a glance towards Galatea. He wanted to ask, but Galatea shook her head at him and mouthed the word "don't."
"Well, Avery's coming back," Arvid said. He slowly returned his gaze to Razi. "That's something to look forward to."
Razi shrugged.
"We're here for you until he does come back," Galatea added. "We won't make you do anything you don't want to, either. I can take you back home now."
"I wanted to… do this," Razi sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Nothing." Galatea smiled. "Nothing's wrong with you. Stuff just happens."
"You both wasted your time on me and I let you down." Razi felt the tears in his eyes again. "I'm sorry."
"You didn't."
"I'm so sorry…"
"Don't apologize, Razi." A pause. "Hey, look at me."
Razi lifted his head to meet Galatea's gaze.
"I have one more idea. A backup plan, if you're up for it."
Razi didn't respond. He slowly followed Galatea's gaze up to the sky.
"We could go somewhere and watch the stars together. Just the three of us. You could talk, but you don't have to." Galatea paused. "Maybe that would be easier for you."
Razi sighed softly. "But I don't want to waste your time anymore."
"We're fine, Razi. This isn't about us," Arvid cut in.
"Come on, puppy. Worst that could happen there is we get eaten by a bear." Galatea lowered her voice. "We'll use Arvid as bait."
Arvid punched Galatea's shoulder and glared at her.
Razi exhaled a laugh. "You would be good bear bait."
Arvid groaned and turned away from the other two.
"So? What do you say?" Galatea asked, tugging on Razi's sleeve.
Razi nodded.
"Hell yeah." Galatea removed her car keys from her pocket.
"But… wait."
Arvid and Galatea turned their attention back to Razi immediately. Razi lowered his gaze to stare at his purple sneakers as he felt his face get hot again.
"Um… thank you."
Arvid only nodded in response before walking back towards the car. Galatea pressed the button on her keys to unlock the doors, and smiled at Razi.
"You know, you owe me for those tickets."
Razi gave her a questioning look. Galatea jerked her head slightly towards the building.
"Someday, you're coming back here with me. When you feel better. I know you're gonna love it."
"Yeah…"
"Yeah," Galatea responded affirmatively. "You let me know when you feel up to it."
Razi smiled nervously. "I will."
"You better. Now, let's go."
