Harem Mode - ON Ch. 04

"Yes, Mr. Fring!"

The comic caper ended with a shot of the two cooks sweeping up the floor with mops, covered in bandages and holding ice packs to their sore heads.

"Heh heh. I love Breaking Bad," Kayla sighed at the rolling credits, having gotten some of the day's stress out of her system.

Just as the show ended, reality kicked in with the sudden sound of rattling keys, and heavyset footsteps tromping on the front porch.


"Eep!" Kayla gasped, just barely managing to get her short shorts back on herself.

"G'day, Sydney. Oh good you got the mile," Kayla's father said, looking at the neatly stacked mail on the dining table.

"That fuckwit home?"

"No, daddy. It's just you and me tonoyt."

"Good, I brawt Choineese. Had to go outta mah way tru Raw-chessa' (Rochester Plaza) to pick it up. Brawt 'nuff for three, but if ol' Joshie-boy ain't comin', Ah'm eatin' his shey-uh too."

===The following dialogue has been translated into a more sensible form of English===

Kayla looked at her father holding up a bag of takeout.

"You want to eat now?"


"Well, I'm not here to fuck spiders, sweetie."

"Oh daddy, if I spend too much time with you, I'll lose that Yankee accent that I worked so hard to assimilate into."

Kayla eyed her father with mock petulance, helping him set the table. It was spacious with just the two of them sitting across from each other.

"Good. I hope the day comes soon. You know why I call you Sydney, right?"

"Because you and Mum met in-"

"The Big Smoke, exactly. And even though you're the youngest, we wanted to give it to you for your middle name as a special gift to remember our love. Not even your sisters have that."

"Aww... Daddy, you big sook."

Mr. Martin blinked then smiled. "Sook? I'm surprised you could remember that one."

The two of them went on eating. Alone with just her father, Kayla did not hesitate to chow down her chow mein. Swimming had worked up an appetite in her, and there was no need to feign modesty here.

"Anything interesting happen at school?"

"No!"

"Okay, I won't ask then."

Mr. Martin was the first to tear into the unopened boxes intended for Joshua. Citrus Chicken AND Sweetfire Chicken. They tasted the damn same. But the boy would only ever eat his sugar-fried chicken and no vegetables. He warned the kid about it too, but Joshua never heeded his advice. AND he clogged their toilet once. What a lovely conversation that was.

"Leave some for me, daddy! Leave some for me!!" Kayla whined.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear."

"Control your diabetes, Dad."

"I-"

The egg fried rice was the fastest to disappear, due to its double-duty as a palate cleanser and as greasy carb staple. Soon, the two started to slow down.

Still, they cleaned it all out. Two giant white boxes stood voided of their contents. The little kernels of corn, egg bits, peas, and diced carrots were all carefully picked and scraped clean. A half-dozen smaller boxes had only sauce stains. Kayla's dad always did tell her she ate like a man.

"Aahh. Finally, a full meal. You wouldn't believe the kind of diet these sissy-men at the office keep." He unbuckled his belt and let his gut settle comfortably on his lap.

"Aahh," Kayla playfully mocked him, pulling up her T-shirt slightly to puff her stomach out like a beach ball. He laughed, half-embarrassed, half-amused.

You cheeky shit.

Not one to settle for just one laugh when there was a bigger one potentially on the way, she patted it with her free hand. "Meet your grampa, Joshua Jr."

"Kayla!" Her father cried out in shock horror. She leapt out from her seat as if he were about to chase her, but he just stood with his hands on his hips.

"I'm just teasing, daddy. You know we've never done anything," she said indignantly and with more than a little contriteness.

"Well, if you are doing something, he better get a diamond the size of a goddamn goose egg if that's the way you two plan on breaking the news to me."

The tomato-red patriarch started to simmer down. He knew he could trust her to be honest with him, but she had been getting more playful these past few days around the subject of sex, which wasn't a very comforting thought. He really hoped it wasn't because of that wanker Josh pushing her. He decided to change the subject.

"So, have you finished your homework?"

"Yep. English was a bit of a chore, but the rest was a breeze."

"That's good. You've been doing a good job keeping your grades up, Sydney. I'm proud of you. I know you really love your swimming and all, but you have to think about the future too." He was slightly worried that she would throw away her chances at a good school just to be with her boyfriend.

"Of course, dad. I want to get good grades too and get into Plymouth, you don't have to lecture me again."

"I won't," he backed off immediately, remembering the screaming matches he had with her older sisters in the past. "Just keep up the good work."

"I will," Kayla said as she yawned. She got up and cleared the table dutifully, feeling the muscles in her leg and back start to sag. She put the paper boxes in the sink, planning on giving them a quick soapy rinse so they'd be clean enough to recycle, while throwing away the used napkins.

She came back for the chopsticks when she realized that they hadn't touched their fortune cookies.

The taste wasn't anything to write home about. She was more interested in the fortunes themselves. It was on some level just a little game, but Kayla was a bit superstitious when it came to these things. Once she had claimed hers' and Joshua's, she'd leave her father's cookie alone.

She'd bring the two with her to school tomorrow and read them with Josh at the same time. Some people envied Josh for having a cute girlfriend who enjoyed doing dumb things like that with him.

Kayla's dad had already left to go up to his 'study', which was basically a large, refurbished bathroom adjacent to the master bedroom, which he didn't use. Inside was a large electric massage chair that folded out, which he preferred to sleep on, and a desk and cabinet for his workspace. It bothered his daughter that he spent so much time in such a cooped up space, but it was one of the few places he found comfort.

Kayla turned off the lights in the living and dining rooms, then climbed the creaky steps, her twin plastic-wrapped fortune cookies rubbing against each other in her pocket. She brushed her teeth, then shut the lights off in the bathroom as well. Every flick of the switch made the house seem quieter and emptier.

Kayla walked past Charlotte and Sophie's room, which was converted into storage space with a single spare bed for guests (or for when they occasionally returned for a week or two). Bits and baubles peeked out from the crack of the slightly open door, but she wasn't interested in revisiting old memories tonight.

Likewise, the master bedroom where her parents used to sleep in was empty and dark. Ever since her mother passed away, her father moved into the study and never slept inside the big bed again. He preserved everything from the last night she lived in it, and now the whole master bedroom was a museum of their married life. Kayla tried to help her father move on, but could never bring herself to throw out her mom's old effects either.

Both Kayla and her dad hated roaming around their big empty house at night, so she took on the responsibility of turning the lights off to spare her father the trouble. All was left was her own room now.

"Good night, Dad!" She cried out.

"Good night, sweetheart!" He yelled back. He'd stay up and work on his project until he fell asleep in his chair around 2 in the morning. He trusted Kayla to go to bed on time.

Kayla put on a clean pair of sleeping socks and pajama bottoms. She always made her bed after getting up, so entering it was a simple matter of peeling back one of the corners of her flat, uncreased blanket. Before she did so, she opened the door a crack so Mr. Ruffles could get in when he wanted to. Rodney was already asleep in the living room like a good guard dog.

She grabbed Bananas, the stuffed chimpanzee, from her hope chest and threw it on the bed before climbing in. It's always easier to fall asleep if you're holding something, especially if you slept on your side. She tucked his legs between her knees and hugged him, as innocently as she did when she was a little girl.

His beady eyes and the red patch that made up the perpetually smiling mouth nestled into her bosom. Her cold nipples poked through her thin T-shirt, and she shivered until her body warmed up the thick, heavy blanket above her and firm, springy mattress below. Her mind melted into a dreamy blackness.

———

Morning came with the quiet rubbing of eyes and a deep, despairing yawn as Kayla crawled over to the side of her bed and grabbed the alarm clock.

7:14

She reached over to the back and deactivated the alarm before it could go off. It was awfully loud when it did, and her body trained itself to wake up just a little early to avoid the shock.

"Oooh, not enough!!" She moaned to herself, bemoaning the lack of sleep. Her dreams revolved around a certain pair of impudent boys fighting over her.

She glanced at the wicker cat cave next to her bed. Mr. Ruffles was sleeping soundly. "Lucky bum," she muttered in a cranky mood. Kayla plodded to the bathroom in bare feet. At some point during the night, she had kicked off her socks and pajama bottoms, even though the morning was cold. She walked up to the mirror for her daily inspection.

Her wavy, shoulder-length dirty blonde hair was messily wrapped around her head, stray locks outstretched in every direction. She sighed, knowing a haircut was due soon. She grabbed a brush before plopping her bare butt down on the toilet to pee. The seat was cold, but as a swimmer, Kayla had been desensitized to coldness. All it took was a flex from her toned buttocks and everything was fine.

She brushed her hair with her right hand while holding up her discarded panties for inspection with the left. A few drops of dried period blood stained the inside. She tossed the dirty undergarment into the laundry nonchalantly, and reminded herself to change the tampon that was inside her.

The bleeding was pretty easy to manage by this point, and was actually kind of a relief, since it meant an end to the annoying pre-menstrual symptoms, like the delightful bloating, cramps, acne, and constipation, which somehow came at the same time as diarrhea.

Jennifer's PMS was way worse, and to people who didn't understand, seemed to just be a part of her bitchy personality. But Kayla knew better. Her symptoms were never as debilitating as Jennifer's, even when she took into account how much harder it made being a student athlete, but they were shitty enough that she could understand where Jenny was coming from.

They could also bond over how little their boyfriends understood or cared, and how it seemed that all the boys at school just wanted them to be sexy and attractive all the time. There were probably guys fantasizing about her body right now, masturbating at a computer, not wanting to think about this gross, boner-killing shit.

7:31

Kayla reached up into the pantry and pulled out a toaster strudel. She popped it into the toaster and scarfed down an apricot while she waited. When it was ready, she took the strudel and made a zig-zag pattern with the white icing. She normally made a series of concentric hearts, but the hassle didn't seem worth it this morning.

7:44

Kayla left the house in the same denim jacket as yesterday, and a pair of skinny jeans. She cracked the windows down in her car, and turned on the front windshield defroster. There was a bit of mist hanging in the air on her way to school.

Oh fuck, I'm going to see Chet again, Kayla groaned. It had just been yesterday that he basically saw her naked. A blush creeped back onto her cheeks at the memory.

I really hope that stayed between the two of us.

8:01

The parking lot was nearly full, but she managed to find a spot between an old Chevrolet Gremlin and an AMC Pacer.

Who still even drives these things?

She buttoned her jacket some more in the car before stepping out into the cold air again. Students were filing into the building for first period. She quickened her pace, which was easy in her sneakers. Homeroom was going to start in just a few minutes.

Kayla gulped, hoping Chet hadn't beaten her inside. It was already going to be awkward enough to see him again after her exposure. At the very least, it would be easier if she were already sitting down when he entered the room, rather than vice versa. That way she wouldn't have to actively ignore him on the way to her seat.

Entering the doorway, her eyes quickly scanned the room, looking at every possible seat, full or empty, and comparing it to her mental map. Seeing no signs of Chet, her lips arched up into a smile which instantly dropped as she double-checked his desk and found that he was indeed there, only hunched over, face-down over crossed arms.

Is he tired, or depressed or something? was all she could ask herself before walking past him and toward the empty seat next to Jennifer. He strangely seemed to take no notice of her.

She opened her backpack and pulled out her notes on Pride and Prejudice for Lit class. Today's homeroom was mostly just going to be study time, after announcements were made.

"Whatcha doing? You usually finish all your homework before school starts, K," said the perky, popular brunette.

"Oh, I'm just catching up on my lit notes for the pop quiz. It was a really boring book, so I need to go over it again."

Jennifer smiled wryly. "It's not a 'pop' quiz if you know about it in advance. Just admit you didn't do the assignment. It's fine! I didn't do it, either."

"You got me," Kayla pretended. She had actually finished the homework last night. She just wanted to be left alone this period. Kayla took out her pen and book and started making bullet-points and jotting down half-nonsense on a blank piece of paper.

"Ethan made me a copy of his answers. I can let you borrow it, if you're good at paraphrasing."

"It's fine, I can finish it on my own. Ethan's not that bright, anyway. Besides, I kind of want to read the book myself."

"But you just said it was boring!"

Kayla just continued doing her homework in silence.

"Ugh, fine. Let's talk more at brunch, okay?" Jennifer frowned before resuming her texts.

"Sure, Jenn."

The whole room started to quiet down. The first set of midterms was coming up in a week, so a lot of people were studying. Kayla decided to abandon her "unfinished" homework assignment and switch over to her science notes, but she couldn't help but glance at Chet from time to time. When he wasn't keeping his head down, he was resting it in one of his palms. Even from behind, it was easy to tell he was despondent.

Did something else happen to him yesterday?

Finally, Tony, the guy sitting next to him, turned to face Chet and seemed to be asking him if he was okay. Tony was usually a quiet guy, so he must have had the same concerns to be the one initiating conversation. Kayla strained her ears to eavesdrop on the two of them. The conversation was innocuous enough that Tony didn't have to whisper or anything.

"How's it going?"

"Good."

"..."


"..."

"How about you?"

"Things have been going good for me too."

"Damn it," Kayla inwardly sighed in frustration."Learn to have a real conversation, you miserable drones."

"..."

"Weather's been cold, lately."

"Yep."

"Damn cold."

"Uh huh."

"..."

"..."

Kayla decided to tune them out and go back to her notes. The speed of her handwriting picked up once she returned her focus to her work.

"Pardon my curiosity, but I think I saw you walking home with Anna yesterday."

"What?"

Kayla's pencil tip snapped. Luckily, it was mechanical so she could easily restore the lead with a couple of clicks.

"Oh yeah. We got partnered together for a woodshop, I mean, workshop project. So we spent a couple minutes after school discussing some ideas. Turns out her house isn't far from mine."

"Did she let you in?"

"Yeah, we did some homework together and she gave me a glass of ice. She keeps a surprisingly tidy room."

"A glass of ice, eh? Chester, you dog."

"Whoa, Tony. This is the first time I've heard you talk like this."

"I'm just saying, man. She lets you into her house, offers you a drink..."

Chet knew what Tony was getting at. And to make things worse, there was truth to his insinuations. Looking back on yesterday's events, there was actually quite a bit of silent flirtation, even if Anna was too shy at the time to be overt about it.

"...an icy drink to cool you down..."

"It was literally hot!"

"It was indeed!" (troll-face)

Chet was starting to worry that others might overhear their conversation.

"I get what you're saying, Tony. But, ehhh. You know."

"Know what? She's cute, isn't she? Single too, right? You seemed down in the dumps this morning, my friend. I don't get it."

"Ah, well that's something else. Unrelated. Not worth getting into."

"That's alright, my friend. That's your personal business. Just glad to know you're doing okay. Damn. Anna. Ha!" Tony shook his head and laughed.

Kayla continued to write more of her notes, but with a deep frown. Her pencil tip on her 0.5 mm kept snapping off, so she tossed it back in her stationary bag with dramatic flair.

ZIP!

The noise was enough to get several heads, including Chet's, to turn back in her direction. Kayla realized she was being loud, so she immediately stopped what she was doing. She gave an embarrassed smile, and everyone stopped looking at her.

With the exception of Chet, who just looked up above her head curiously, before mouthing a disbelieving "forty-five?" and turning back around. Some of his previous depression seemed to clear away, but he still looked pensive and introspective.

Again with that, what does he keep looking at that's behind me? Grr...

===SECOND PERIOD===

Chet rubbed his sore testicle through his jeans when no one was looking. It had painfully pulled up into his abdomen during a cold shower and got stuck there for a while. It was an embarrassing condition he hoped no one would find out.

But it wasn't why he was feeling down.

He continued to swirl his beaker around in circles, long after the crystals had dissolved in the acid.

"Cheeetttt," came a sickeningly sweet voice to break him out of his reverie.

"What's the damage, Becky?"

"I don't know how to dissolve the crystals," she replied bluntly.

"Lower the pH to at least 5. You have litmus paper, just keep adding acid."

"I'm afraid I'll put in too much," she swayed childishly. "Could you do it for me?"

Chet's furrowed brows pressed against his rubber goggles.

Can you do fucking anything by your... No. It's easier to just help her.

The pained look on his face only made the 'helpless' girl laugh.

"Just this one time. You have to do the other solutions yourself."

The girl laughed and agreed as she drew him away from his work station for the third time today. Helping her like this earned him no experience points, but it did at least take his mind off things.

When he got back, Chet noticed a folded slip of paper on the ground. He picked it up and unwrapped it.

Oh of course, it's this piece of shit again, he groaned.

He held it for a while with a mix of contempt and sorrow, not sure whether to keep it or toss it in the trash.

29 16 11 4 57 36

He folded it up and placed it back in his pocket.

Even if it's ugly, I need to remember this.