Chaser
Tifany x Roy, Tiffany x Batsu (later)
Outside his classroom I waited. Class will be over in three minutes. "Today will be the day." I said to myself as I checked and made sure my clothing and hair are in perfect order.
Roy doesn't like it when his girlfriends look less than perfect. Being Roy's girlfriend, Roy's girlfriend, that's what I will be soon. I have waited years for him to ask me. I know it's customary for a girl to wait to be asked but I can't wait any longer. Three years and counting is far too long to be waiting.
Everything was in place; I wore a red shirt and black tight pants. My hair was all in place and I had my make-up down to an art form.
Nervously I rocked on my heels as the bell finally decided to ring.
The students began filing out of the room as I watched and impatiently waited to see him.
Spotting the object of my affection a smile crept up upon my face.
Roy Bromwell waltzed out of his classroom as if he wasn't just a mere student. He walked as if he owned the place, as if he was above the rest. To me he was above the rest. He was more than just some simple schoolboy or some elementary school crush.
"Roy!" I said immediately catching his attention before his small yet annoying fan club made their scheduled appearance.
"Oh hi Tiffany." He said as I could feel his eyes covering me from head to toe. I knew he liked the way I looked. I knew what he liked and so what if I used it to my advantage.
" Umm... Roy, I want to talk…"
" Nice outfit." He stated cutting me off.
" Thanks." I said slightly blushing and trying to hide a triumphant smile. " Hoped you like it. But I need to talk to you." I began again as I did my best to keep up with his long strides.
" About?" Roy questioned as we walked towards his locker.
" Well…about us."
Roy stopped at his locker, turned to face me and raised his eyebrow. " Us?" he asked as if it was something he had never heard of and was slightly confused.
" Yeah us, you and me, we. You know we've been doing the whole dating, going out thing for a while now and I was thinking that maybe it was time…it was you know, time to maybe…we could be like…"
"Be what?"
" Be boyfriend, Girlfriend, you know a couple."
If he was surprised, happy or even upset, he face never showed it. He just stared at me for a minute and then turned around and opened his locker.
" Well…what do you think Roy honey?"" I asked impatiently as I watched him take books from his bag, put them in the locker, take out different books, his gym clothes and put them in his bag.
"Well what?" he asked without turning to look at me.
" About us Roy." I said wondering if he had heard a word that I had just said to him.
"Oh" he said as he closed his locker and faced me again." I don't know, let me think about it, okay. Look I'm going to be late. See you later Tiff." He said casually as if we had been talking about the weather.
As I watched him sprint off towards his next class, he turned and his last words to me before I lost sight of him in a crowd of his admirers were " Oh yeah Tiff, You look great!"
Eyes wide, mouth open, I was at a loss for words. How could he say he didn't know?
How could he just dismiss me like I was one of his groupies? Heartbroken and confused, I lifted my head as high as I could and walked towards my next class. Totally bypassing the Mr. Shinji's language class and through the side doors, I left the school grounds. I was in no mood for the teacher trying to teacher me the proper ways to say" where is the ladies room?" or how to read that horrible advanced writing Kanji.
What I really wanted was a reason to why Roy said the things he did to me. Why couldn't he just say yes? I know I didn't do anything wrong. I wore the right clothes, his favorite perfume; I even wore his favorite color, which I might add I am not too fond of. Red just wasn't something I enjoyed having on but for him I wore it. For him I wore pants that I can hardly breathe in. I thought as I found a single booth in the local ice cream shop and picked up the menu.
I thought I meant something to him, after the years we have dated and years I been giving myself to him, emotional and physically. There was nothing I hadn't given him. I gave Roy everything I had; everything he ever wanted. I bent over backwards for him in more ways than one, just to make him happy. I even changed my look in ways to please him.
"Tiffany I don't like that dress your wearing, it makes you look like a slut." He said to me once and just for him I never wore it again. Even though it was one of my favorite outfits. One I had saved up my allowance to buy.
I spent countless hours sitting through those boring football games just to be near him and he just couldn't say yes. I thought along with many more thoughts of the things I have done to be with him, sitting in the ice cream shop gorging myself on strawberry cheesecake milk shakes and chocolate pocky. I would have killed for an Oreo at the moment but all the shop had had been this pocky snack. It wasn't an Oreo but it was chocolate and it had to do for the mean time.
I spent the entire school day in this shop. I think the owner thought there was something really wrong with me. Most of the time between orders for more milk shakes and chocolate sticks, I would break into small fits of tears. Then regain my composure and drown myself in ice cream.
I noticed how much time had passed only because the kids from school began pouring into the shop. By that time I had been on my seventh milk shake and stepped up to crushing the pocky into it and mixing it with my fingers.
I was interrupted by some of Roy's groupies. I could hear then talking and saw them trying to here best not to let me know they were staring and pointing at me. I know they think I don't understand what they are saying. I know they purposely speak their language quickly just incase I might not be as dumb as they think I am. Little do they know I have quite a grasp on the Japanese language that would amaze even them. I know more of it than even Roy knows but I never let on because Roy is the type of man, who doesn't like his woman to be smarter than him, so I played along.
" Hi, you're Tiffany aren't you?" I heard a girl ask me while I made it a point to ignore the groupies and found that stirring my drink was more important at the moment.
Slowly I raised my head." Yeah." I said dryly.
" I knew it. You don't remember me do you?"
Taking a good look at the girl in front of me, I indeed did remember who she was but her name was lost to me.
"Hinata, Hinata Wakabi. I go to Tayio High."
"Oh yeah I remember, the spinning kick girl."
" Yeah that's Me.," she said slightly blushing.
I never understood why the girls here did that. They blush for no apparent reason and seem to be too shy for their own good. Then again who am I to talk. I changed whom I am for a man who just couldn't say YES.
" Can we join you?"
" Sure why not…we?"
" Oh yeah I'm here with a few friends. If you don't mind can we sit with you? Besides all the other tables are taken."
"Greatttt." I whispered.
Hinata talked about how nice it was to finally get to know me and what not. I wasn't really paying her any attention but would agree and nod my head often enough to make it look like she had my full attention.
Her friends showed up shortly after she began talking about things that I cared little about. I had to frequently remind her, when I was paying attention, that she needed to speak slowly or it sounded like she was a mouse with really good lungs.
" This is Iincyo but we all call her Chairperson." She said pointing to a girl with long straight black hair and a yellow school jacket draped over her shoulders. " This is Batsu Ichimonji and yes he always looks that frustrated." Hinata said as Batsu gave her a look that gave new meaning to the phrase" If looks could kill, her head would have exploded." I said hello to all of them and went back wondering how many chocolate sticks I could crush into my milk shake before I wouldn't be able to use my straw.
" Oh and that girl over there arguing with the man at the counter is Ran. She'll be here soon."
"She does this all the time, He tells her every week he doesn't have that mango coconut flavor she keeps talking about." The Iincyo girl said. " Sounds absolutely gross if you ask me."
" Batsu can you go get her before she makes a scene again." Hinata said grabbing his arm and squeezing it softly.
Sucking his teeth, Batsu went and retrieved their seemly opinionated friend.
Much of their stay at my table was spent with them laughing and joking and being overly happy. Their joy was ruining the self-pity mood I was currently enjoying.
By the time they left I was more than happy to see them off. The boy in the group kept starring at me and was making me feel more that a little uneasy.
After the group of shiny happy people left I decided that I too needed to get home. I had spent too much time and extremely too much money on ice cream and chocolate.
As I walked home I thought more about Roy and it still didn't make any sense why he said what he did. I was so into my own thoughts that I didn't hear someone calling my name. I didn't see them running up behind me and take to walking beside me for more than a few blocks. It wasn't until I was standing waiting for the light to change at the corner that I noticed him.
" It's about time you noticed me. I was beginning to think you were ignoring me on purpose." He said with a smile as I looked at him as if he'd popped out of thin air.
" Batsu right?"
" Yeah."
" Can I help you with something?"
" No I was wondering if you'd like some company on the way home?"
" Why?" I asked skeptical of him. Most boys usually wanted to walk me home to see if they could get a cheap feel.
" Just because."
" There is not such thing as just because."
" Okay how about I noticed you weren't feeling okay earlier and wanted to know why so I quickly made up some line to tell my friends and followed you, hoping you'd let me walk you home and I could find out what was wrong and maybe be of some help."
" You're funny." I said trying my best not to laugh.
" Not really, so can I walk you home or what?"
" I guess so, it's a free country or at least I think this is."
We walked in silence for about two blocks before the silence got to him. " Are you going to tell me what has you looking like your world has ended or are we going to walk in silence the rest of the way?"
" No I was hoping you'd beat it out of me." I said trying again not to laugh and failing miserably.
" You're mocking me aren't you?" He said crossing his arms and scrunching up his face to the point where he looked like a pissed off five year old.
" Nope, sorry you just looked so frustrated. Like the silence was killing you."
Batsu gave me the same look he'd given Hinata earlier and he killed my self-control. My self-pity, woe is me mood was shot to hell thanks to this boy with a cross scar on his forehead.
"You know I have a good mind to just leave you here."
" Sorry, sorry." I said trying to stop the fit of giggles that I was in.
Batsu stood there on the corner of first, waiting for me to stop laughing. When I finally stopped I had to apologize again. He was giving me this look like I owed him some explaining and for a moment I felt like I was a child again. Caught with blue paint on my hands and all over the front of my dress, while my father asked me if I knew anything about the new paint job the living room had just received.
"Okay Batsu, right?"
" Yeah."
"Okay you wanna know why I looked like I feel like crap, right?"
" Yes that was the whole idea."
" Well I look like that because I felt like crap. I had a bad morning and decided to feel better I needed ice cream, a lot of ice cream."
" Did it make you feel any better?" he asked me as we continued to walk towards my house.
" No not better, fatter is more like it but not better."
" You're not fat." Batsu added quickly as if he thought I was one of those girls who thought I was fat and had an obsession with being skinny.
" I know I'm not." I added. " It was a joke, anyhow that's why I looked like that. Turn left here okay." I said pointing towards the block I lived on.
Batsu walked me all the way to my house, up the driveway and stood on my front steps with me for a while.
" Thanks for walking me home."
" Anytime…ummm Tiffany can I ask you something?"
'Oh great here it comes.' I thought. This is the worst part about being nice to a guy. They walk you home and say it's because they give a slight damn when in truth what they really want to a kiss or at the least a date. " Yeah sure, what is it?"
Batsu rubbed the back of his head a few times and bit the corner of his bottom lip for a moment before he spoke again. " I was wondering…" he stopped.
" You were wondering if I'd go out with you?"
" No." he said quickly.
" What you want a kiss for your wonderful deed of walking me home without me asking you too."
" No." he said shaking his head.
" Then what is it Batsu, I don't have time for this." I said sternly. I wasn't up for games. I really thought for a moment that he really was just concerned about me. For a moment I thought maybe he would be my first male friend in the place.
"I would get to the point if you'd stop treating me like some kind of lecher!" he screamed at me.
" Don't you scream at me!" I said annoyed.
" Well don't accuse me of things I had no intention of doing. I don't even know you like that. Is this how you treat everyone who tries to be nice to you?"
"And what you expect me to believe you're just being nice, out of the kindness of your heart. Come on I may be blonde but I'm not stupid."
" Then stop acting that way."
"Excuse me?! What did you just say?"
" I said then stop acting that way. "
" And what way might that be?"
" Stupid!"
" How dare you! I should kick your ass for that."
Sighing Batsu twisted his neck around and I could hear the bones cracking as he moved them. If I wasn't so mad at him, that would have been a turn on. What can I say I like macho type men, they're sexy.
" Look Tiffany, I don't want to argue with you."
" Too late for that."
" Okay, okay look I don't know where this turned into an argument but I don't want to fight with you."
" Then what do you want."
" I wanted to ask you if I could meet you tomorrow and walk you home again."
" Why would you want to do that for?"
"Just because."
" There's no such thing. If you don't tell me what you want the answer is no."
" I just want to walk you home so maybe we could talk some more, so maybe I could get to know you better, that's all."
" Well I'm taken." I said quickly. I knew it was a lie but maybe Roy would have come to his senses and then I would be telling the truth. Maybe there would be a message on my answering machine and it would be Roy telling me he was sorry for the way he spoke to me and he thought it over and wanted to be my boyfriend, maybe. " I only have room for one man in my life."
" That's okay, I never said I wanted to be your boyfriend, I just want to be your friend. That is unless I have some unforeseen motive I don't know about and only you can see."
Standing there I looked at Batsu, evaluating him. He hadn't shown me any reason to believe he was like the other boys I've met. He seemed genuinely pissed when I insinuated that he was after more than just my friendship. Maybe I could give him a chance, beside even if he did try something I could take him on. I wasn't some stupid blonde who needed a man to protect her. I could brawl with the best of them and still look good afterwards. Okay so that sounded extremely conceited but it's true.
" Fine, tomorrow meet me at the ice cream shop again."
" Fine then." He said as he turned to leave.
" Oh yeah Batsu, don't be late I'm not too fond of waiting."
" Whatever." Was the last thing he said to me before he reached the front gates and disappeared.
Going inside my house I smiled as I thought about what had just happened. I can't really explain why I was smiling but the whole thing seemed funny after the fact.
Dropping off my school bag I checked to see if Roy had indeed called. He hadn't called. Making up the excuse that he must be really busy with school and such I picked up the phone and sat it next to me for the rest of the night. Roy would call I told myself repetitively while I starred at the phone. Mentally trying to make it ring.
Maybe he was waiting to tell me at school. Maybe he was going to surprise me. Maybe I was just holding on to false hopes and dreams. Tomorrow I would find out which was true until then I will wait for his call. By the time I feel asleep the phone had not rung. Roy had not called me.
TBC...