Okay, this is my first story, so please, bear with me!
Protect My Heart: Chapter 1
"I don't give a shit who started the fight, who hit who first, or what lead up to it! I want you out of this house by tomorrow!" My hateful mother screamed at me, throwing my things out the door.
"Gladly! I'd rather live on the streets than in this shit-hole!" I grabbed my things off the ground.
"I bet your real parents knew you would be trouble; that's why they abandoned you with us!" I froze, then looked at my moth- er, I mean, Olivia. What did she say? I'm…adopted? What the hell?
"What? What did you say?" She gave me a baleful look as she threw yet more of my clothes on the dusty ground.
"What, you deaf now too? Your real parents obviously didn't want you; they dumped you here on us, hell, we didn't want you either, but they gave us six thousand dollars to keep you. Seems the only person who actually wanted you was your mutt of a brother," she sneered as she explained my past.
"That boy, what was his name…Jounouchi? Such a strange name, of course, your family was strange, at least they named you something a little bit normal, Jessica Yuki." I flinched as I heard my middle name, but other than that, I felt dead inside. I'm adopted? Why didn't my parents want me? I have an older brother? Did they even try looking for me over the years? Do they think of me? Do they want me now? So many questions, no answers for them whatsoever.
"I'm….adopted?" I just couldn't wrap my head around that fact. I'm not really related to this shitty family? I have a brother? I've always wanted an older brother! A sharp smack that resonated throughout the garage dragged me from my inner thoughts.
"You look at me when I'm talking to you, understand? Or are you just plain dumb?" I touched my now throbbing cheek, and looked up at my newly-found foster mother. Once she knew she had my full attention, she calmed down some. She cleared her throat, straightened up her shirt and hair, and took a deep, calming breath.
"I'll let you stay here for one more night, then, you are out of here!" And with that, the fire-breathing witch turned around and twitched off into her home. I flipped her off until I heard the door slam. Then I began to pick up my things from the ground as I called my best and only friend in the world, Yugi Motou. He and his grandfather had come to America from Domino, Japan for a summer vacation. I first met them at a mall.
Yugi was walking around in the game shops, and looked kinda lost, and I was looking for a game. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this boy with spiky black hair, with purple tips. He also had blonde bangs, and when he turned around, I saw the coolest eyes ever! They were the colour of amethysts when they are cleaned till they shine.
His whole look just screamed innocence. He even had that child-like look I had always wanted! He was a little bit taller than me, maybe five-foot-three or so. I smiled at his expression. He was pouting slightly and his forehead was scrunched up, and he had this confused look, I honestly found it adorable and giggled.
At the sound, his head snapped up and towards me, making me blush and look down.
'He probably thinks I'm weird, or crazy, or both.' I sighed at this thought, getting depressed again. I'd been depressed ever since I was around six or seven, I'd just turned thirteen in May. I'd been friendless for a long time, so long that I gave up on trying to make them.
I was shocked when the boy came up to me and smiled shyly. I was pretty sure I looked like an idiot, what with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide.
"Um, excuse me, but c-can you help m-me find a g-game? I-I don't really know h-how to read English y-yet, but I can s-speak it." I nodded, trying to force the blush from before down.
"Sure, um, are you looking for any game in particular?"
"Uh, y-yes, I'm looking for Super Smash Bros. Brawl?" I smiled, I pass by that game so many times I could find it in my sleep. I motioned him to follow me, and lead him to the aisle.
"So I never caught your name? I'm Jessica." I said, hoping against hope I could actually make a friend. He became flustered, "I-I'm sorry! How rude of me! I'm Yugi Motou, it's nice to meet you Jessica!" I giggled, then asked after I shook his hand, "So where are you from? That accent isn't from around here."
With a blush he replied, "Domino, Japan." I did a double take and almost dropped the game.
"Japan? Wow, that's a long way…What are you doing here?" He laughed and took the game I held out to him. "My grandfather and I came here for summer vacation, we're going back in August I think. Right now, we got a house in Strawn." I grinned widely, this was just getting better and better.
"Are you serious? That's awesome! I live in Strawn, looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other," I said with a smile. Then I thought about what happened to the last person who tried to be friends with me. My hopes dropped when I realized that Yugi probably wouldn't be my friend after everyone talked him into staying the hell away from me.
Yugi noticed my expression grow sad, and touched my arm with a concerned look. I jerked back, terrified for a split second, before I realized it was Yugi and not my father. I guess you could say I kinda don't like people touching me. I smiled apologetically at Yugi, he seemed hurt and more than a little confused when I spazzed out.
"S-sorry, I just…don't like people touching me. Not your fault," I hurriedly apologized. When he smiled and nodded, I almost wanted to cry, he was the first one to accept the no-touch rule and not give me a look that says 'Your insane!' I could have hugged him right then. To break the awkward silence that followed, I asked questions that had been on my mind since I first saw him.
"Hey, are your eyes that natural amethyst colour, or are they contacts? And is your hair normally gravity-defying and those three colours?" Yugi smiled and looked down a few aisles we passed before answering.
"Yeah, I was born with purple eyes and spiky hair, that's tri-colored."
"That's awesome!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down. He laughed, and said something that made me feel amazing inside.
"I'm glad I met you, Jess, you are cool and funny. Plus, you're a little bit insane, which is good. I can tell we're gonna be best friends." With a wave of my hand, I said with a sniff, "All the time, my 'friends' think I need a strait jacket, therapist, and medication." We laughed, and soon after, became the best of friends.
Now, at fourteen, we were still the best of friends. I smiled at the memory, but came back to reality when Yugi's voice along with music played through the phone.
"Hey, gumibea! What's up?" I smiled at the Japanese word for 'gummy bear', that was my nickname for Yugi, the same as "Baby Panda" was mine for him.
"Not much, Panda… Um, could you and Grandpa come get me? With the truck?" I asked, closing my eyes and biting my lip. There was silence on the other end, then Yugi said with a little bit of confusion, "Sure, but…why the truck? Whatcha moving?" With a sigh I replied, "My things…They finally kicked me out, Panda." I moved the phone away when I heard Yugi's outburst.
"WHAT? THEY KICKED YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE? I SHOULD GIVE THEM A PIECE OF MY MIND!" How can a boy who's so quiet have such a loud voice? Is that even possible?
"Yeah, they kicked me out; apparently they are 'tired of my attitude, and the fighting, and the disrespect.' I have one more night in the goddamn house before I'm homeless. And owww King! You got a fucking loud voice!" I said with a wry smile. "So, will you guys come get me? And can I stay there for a while?" I heard a giggle on the other end. "We are already almost there! And Grandpa said that you could, besides, we need to tell you something, I don't know how you'll react to it; we'll talk about it later, ok, Gummy Bear?" Shaking my head, I laughed as I looked for the distinguishable electric blue Ford F150 that Grandpa Motou drove. As I waited, I pulled my iPod out of my pocket and put in the earphones, I played one of the songs I made with help from my laptop to create the music; I must say, "Missing" sounds good so far! Yugi nearly cried when he heard it, he then glomped me and cried that he and Grandpa would always be there for me. I thanked him, and we sat there for a while, then played a game, Yugi won of course, I call him "The King of Games", it suits him, he is the King; whereas I am the Queen. We could play any game against each other and it would always be either a tie, with us trying to kill each other to win, or one of us would win, and the next game we played, the other would win. Competitive doesn't even begin to describe us.
Speaking of music, I thought, turning around and going into the hell-hole house. I went up the stairs, making as much noise as I could, just to annoy my adoptive parents. I walked down the hallway, then turned right at the second door. Without even looking at my room, I grabbed my laptop, the charger, my songbook, my iPod charger, and my wallet. I then turned back and grabbed my knife case I bought and treasured. Now I got everything I need, After this thought, I heard honking.
Knowing it was my second family, I hurried down the stairs and practically ran to their truck, where Yugi was struggling to get out to meet me.
Shaking my head, I joked, "Yugi, I thought we talked this over: The seatbelt will stay strapping you in until you push the little button where the strap clicked in. Hey Grandpa!" He gave me a glare, and mixed with the pout he gave, he looked like a little kid. Grandpa laughed and proceeded to help Yugi unbuckle himself, then groaned as he stepped down from the truck. I pretty much ran over there and helped him down the rest of the way.
"Grandpa! You should be more careful about your back! You could hurt yourself!" Scowling, he waved me off, muttering some Egyptian or Japanese curses under his breath, most likely about me worrying too much. Then he narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. I had dubbed this the 'Your-in-trouble-and-you-know-it' look. I ducked my head in shame and guilt; I always felt like shit when he gave me that look.
"Jessica! You know you never have to ask to stay with us! And why did they kick you out?" I helped Panda put my things in the back of the truck as I answered Grandpa's question.
"The bitch said that they are tired of my disrespect, behavior, and the fighting, oh, can we stop by the bank? I gotta get all of my trust fund before they make up an excuse to cut me off." I loaded up my laptop, and then I said, "Ok, I think that's every-Wait!" I sprinted toward the garage, leaving my second family standing there with a confused look on their faces. I soon returned carrying a covered cage in one hand and a fish tank in the other.
Once Yugi saw them, he let out a laugh, then walked around to my right side to grab the cage. I snickered, "You still squeamish about my little Sasori? I don't see why you don't like him; he's not poisonous or anything." I reached into the tank and pulled out my boa. He wasn't that big- just two feet right now. I found him by a creek that Yugi and I were playing by. He had a cut so I decided to take him home and help him. Yugi had been skittish around him, for reasons I didn't understand.
"G-Get that th-thing away from me! I'm serious, Jessica! Stop it!" He shrieked, running to the truck, my cage never leaving his hands. "Oi! Be careful with my baby! She's sleeping! For Ra's sake Yugi, I didn't do anything! He needed some air, it's getting a little too cramped up in his tank, isn't it?" I put Sasori around my shoulders, giggling as Yugi's face took on a greenish tint.
He shuddered, then put the still silent cage in the back seat of the truck. Grinning, I put Sasori and his cage next to it, then turned, about to say something, when I was nearly tackled by him with a hug.
"Oh, Jess! I'm so sorry this happened! It's so unfair!" The amethyst-eyed teen cried, raising his tear-filled eyes to mine. I shook my head, then wiped the tears from his cheeks that had sneaked out.
"Hey, hey! No crying now! I'mma live with you guys for a while, heh, maybe Grandpa could adopt me!" I joked, trying to get the pouting boy to smile, which he did, but there was something hiding behind his eyes. I put an arm around him, "Okay, spill it, something's wrong. Whoever did it, just give the name and I can take care of them." At this he laughed, throwing back his head in mirth. Then he shook his head and said, "No no, nobody did anything to me, but me and Grandpa have something to tell you when we get back to the house."
My curiosity piqued, I hurried to pack my things, then looked for the elder Motou. He was just coming out of my old house, carrying a bag that he didn't have with him before. Whistling a tune, he put the bag with my stuff in the back, then got in the driver's seat. He started the truck up, and Yugi and I just looked at each other, shrugged, and raced each other to the passenger seat.
I stuck my tongue out, then climbed into the seat, laughing when Yugi sat on my lap.
"Yugi! Get off! Gah, my legs went numb!" He stuck his tongue out and stayed where he was. We always fought over this seat, and whoever lost thought it fair if they got to sit on the other's lap. I finally pushed him off onto the middle seat, then immediately messed with the radio as Grandpa pulled onto the road. I settled on Kiss XM and turned it up. The Script's "Nothing" just ended, and Rihanna's "California King Bed" started.
"Ooh, sing this song, Jess! Grandpa listen to her, she's amazing when she sings!" I blushed, but began singing just as the lyrics came up:
Chest to chest;
Nose to nose;
Palm to palm; we were always just that close.
Wrist to wrist;
Toe to toe;
Lips that felt just like the inside of a rose.
So how come when I reach out my finger,
It feels like more than distance between us?
In this California King Bed,
We're ten thousand miles apart!
I've been California wishin' on these stars,
For your heart, on me,
My California king..
Eye to eye;
Cheek to cheek;
Side by side, you were sleeping next to me.
Arm in arm;
Dusk to dawn;
With the, curtains drawn, and a little last night on these sheets,
So how come when I reach out my fingers,
It feels like more than distance between us?
In this California King Bed,
We're ten thousand miles apart!
I've been California wishin' on these stars
For your heart, on me,
My California king..
As I sang, I looked over to Yugi and Grandpa; Yugi had his eyes closed with a content smile on his face, and Grandpa had the same smile, except his eyes were open.
Just when I felt like giving up on us,
You turned around, and gave me one last touch.
That made everything feel better,
And even then my eyes got wetter,
So confused, wanna ask you if you love me,
But I don't wanna seem so weak!
Maybe I've been California dreamin'!
Eh hey hey heeeyy!
In this California King Bed,
We're ten thousand miles apart!
I've been California wishin' on these stars,
For your heart, on me!
My California king..
My California king..
In this California King Bed,
We're ten thousand miles apart!
I've been California wishin' on these stars,
For your heart, on me!
My California king!
There was silence for a few seconds, "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj came on, and neither of them had said anything yet. I was getting a little worried, but a few seconds later Grandpa said barely over a whisper: "That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard in my life." Yugi nodded, and beamed at me as if to say, 'See, I told you so!' I giggled, and laid my head on Panda's shoulder, sighing and resting my straining eyes. Soon I felt the truck stop, and lifted my head to find ourselves at the bank.
So how is it? Probably horrible beyond imagination, but please review and tell me how I did, give me some ideas, anything! I'll try to get the next chapter up as fast as I can!