Kiara Lyon

“And you would be correct.” Atty chuckled softly, he scratched the back of his head as he took a good look at the tree. Granted, it could be an easy climb for anyone that knew the right moves… he still couldn’t shake off the worry from what would happen after a fall to the ground. He’d already had his fair share of disasters when he was younger. “Teamwork. Great.” He smiled gratefully at Kiara as she agreed, kneeling down and offering his hands out so she could safely make her way up. “It sounds like we could benefit from that rock climbing wall at the community center.” He replied with a light in his eyes.

Kiara took Atty’s hands and made her way onto her shoulders. Truth be told she hadn’t done that in a long time either, sitting on somebody’s shoulders. It made her feel like a child again without a worry in the world. “Rock climbing would be fun. Last time I did it though I could barely make it to the top.” She grinned. “Wow. Totally new perspective from this height. But I am gonna need you to walk a little closer to the tree.”

“Right? See, with wine, every disaster can be turned into a work of art. Let’s tap into our Property Brothers mindset and turn this around!” She laughed before biting her lip in thought, remembering she had actually seen that trick in an Instagram story some while back. “You might be right… ooooor we could always throw another rug over it or a nice plant?” Bella started looking all over the room for a movable thing when Kiara’s words got to her. “This is why you’re my girl.” She smirked, handing one of the bottles to her so they could toast together. “Cheers! To pinning this on the next sucker that walks into the room!”

“Oh you know how much I love a good home reno,” Kiara smiled. She had spent hours watching Property Brothers and thought about how much better hardwood floors would look in the place anyways. “Good idea! They’ll never know what hit them,” Kiara grinned, clinking her bottle against Bella’s and taking a drink. She’d definitely need it for what was to come. “Now we just need to find the perfect suspect.”

Ris glanced down to look at the cupcakes and grinned right along with the other woman. “Oh, yeah, we can’t hurt the cupcakes.” She chuckled. “I’m Arista, or Ris, whichever you prefer. It’s nice to meet you, Kiara!”

“Nice to meet you!” She looked down at the cupcakes herself, not sure what to say. She was pretty bad with first interactions. “So what do you think you’re going to get? At the bakery that is.”

“Okay, explain and I’ll try my best to pretend that I believe you.”

Kiara felt like the pressure was most definitely on this time. “Well, maybe I’ll just explain why I’m doing what I’m doing, instead of trying to make an excuse for what I’m doing.” She said, sitting next to the car’s now flat tire. “This guy has been dating my friend for about five months and has been cheating on her with three different girls. So I thought, since he likes new things so much, maybe he could treat himself to three new tires.”

“Bueno… then this is me definitely not helping you out.” Miguel spoke as he tried to suppress his chuckles, snatching a discarded can of spray paint from the floor before following Kiara’s footsteps. “If anyone was going to take the initiative to do something nice about it, I’m not surprised it was you.” He nudged the girl before focusing back on the wall. “What do you say we turn this into a… let’s just say it’s a snowman that fell down.”

Kiara was beyond thankful for the help. She was never the artistic type, especially when it was something on this large of a scale. “Hmm,” she put on her best ‘art critic’ face, tapping her chin. “Yes, I’m seeing the potential now that you mention it. You ever done this before? Because I figure it’s pretty obvious, but I haven’t and I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Bella peeked over the jacket, her sight joining Kiara’s on the floor before them; her mind raced a hundred miles an hour. “Well, if it counts, you still can say your success rate on douche evasion is a healthy 150%.” She chuckled nervously, looking around. “Alright, babe, I see one of three ways out. We pray no cameras have seen us and bolt, make some vinegar or club soda appear out of thin air, or…” She reached out for one of the discarded and half-full bottles of wine on the table. “We make this whole sucker a nice pink.”

Kiara laughed at her friend’s suggestion. “Y’know, I think pink would look pretty nice with the walls,” she shook her head, “But that would be way too easy to get caught. Does club soda actually work? I thought that was like a bad Five Minute Crafts hack that makes it worse.” She caught Bella’s hand before she could put the wine back. “Wait, we’ll definitely need this for moral support if we’re gonna try and get the stain out.”

The brunette stared at the other, taking in her words. Sometimes she forgot these town actually had some good, pure people. Like, not just neutral good, but good good. “Oh cool. Thanks, sorry I freaked out a little.” She replied a little sheepishly. “I didn’t gather that from, you know, the distance.” 

Kiara felt relieved that the girl believed her. “Trust me, I’ve had people take my drinks in the past so that they wouldn’t have to pay for their own, so I totally get it.” She felt awkward being caught in the act. She didn’t like feeling like a hero, especially not when other people acknowledged it. “Anyway, let me get you a new one.” She smiled.

He placed an arm around her with a smirk.”Yep, that was your mistake. To believe in me.” He laughed. “I’m sorry, I’ll get you a new one. Does that seem fair?”

Kiara couldn’t help herself but to laugh. She loved the back-and-forth teasing that her and her brother had. She faked a pensive look. “You know what? I think that would make us even. Maybe I can even convince you to get something new for yourself!”

He placed an arm around her with a smirk.”Yep, that was your mistake. To believe in me.” He laughed. “I’m sorry, I’ll get you a new one. Does that seem fair?”

Kiara couldn’t help herself but to laugh. She loved the back-and-forth teasing that went on with her brother. “You know what, I think that’ll make things even.” She decided, faking a pensive look on her face. “Maybe we can get you something new too while we’re at it!”

“Should we?” He asked sincerely. “I could imagine the least they need is something that sounds like a pra– oh.” Atty took the bag and looked at Kiara with slight alarm. “M-maybe I should climb up there, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Yes, the cat wasn’t that far up but he wouldn’t allow anything– not even a scratch, to happen to Kiara. “I could hoist you up on my shoulders? That way you don’t have to worry about gripping on anything and I’d help stabilize.”

Kiara turned and smiled at Atticus; he was always looking out for her, even if he didn’t need to. “Something leads me to believe you haven’t climbed a tree in a very long time,” she grinned, getting a foothold at the base of the tree. She turned to him and sighed. She didn’t like to make him worry. “Yeah, okay, that sounds like a good idea.” She got back on the ground, waiting for him to help her up. “If I’m being honest, I haven’t climbed a tree in quite a while either.”

“Well you know sometimes you have to see it to believe it, sis.” Sam teased her a little more before placing an arm around her with a grin. “How dare thee acuse me, your beloved brother, of such a hateful act.” The young man asked in mock despair, passing her a couple of napkins and trying to help pat her dry.

“How dare I? You’ve done it a million times before,” Kiara responded, laughing and accepting her brother’s help. “Although you haven’t done it in quite a while. I can’t believe I thought you changed,” she mocked, throwing a hand against her forehead dramatically.

“Alright.” Viv replied, leaning back and crossing her arms, a smirk on her face. “Explain…” 

“Well...” Kiara started, feeling very awkward after having been caught. “I know it looks like I was taking your drink while you were away, but that’s not all!” She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “I saw a crowd around the table and was worried somebody may have slipped something in your drink, so I was going to get a new one for you just in case.”

“Then explain! I need to be in on this so we can share the blame.” Bella urged Kiara as she sat down, trying to cover her best friend and the… issue, with her jacket. “What’s the success rate on stuff like this?”

“Success rate? Next to none,” Kiara paled, looking down at the mess she had made. “Some guy was flirting with me and being super inappropriate, and I got mad, or stressed or whatever. I tried to throw my drink in his face but... most of it missed his face and hit the carpet.” The white carpet was stained with bright red wine.

Jane nodded, even if she was planning on taking the original hike, whether Kiara was ready or not. “Oh!” she perked up, “There’s so many wonderful things. This island is a wonderland of ‘cool things.’ I bet we’ll see some gorgeous birds, and there are falls, beautiful ones. You’ll love it.”

“That sounds amazing!” Kiara smiled. “It definitely makes the hike worth it. I’ve been on a hike or two with friends in New York where the only thing we ever saw was trees, rocks, and plenty of mud,” she went on the trip expecting an adventure and was met with a pretty tame experience, but this trip seemed like it would be exciting.