Tala wrapped his arms around himself as he walked down the cold Russian streets to his best friend's home. The snow was falling which only made the temperature drop more. Tala loved the cold, but at times, it was just over-baring. It was nights like tonight that made him daydreams. Visions on being on the beach with his friends flooded his mind. All the girls running around, almost nude and drenched in water, and playing a game of volleyball. The visions were nice.

Tala walked up a flight of stairs to the apartment with his hands shoved in his pockets. He twisted the doorknob and walked in. Bryan never locked the doors. The idiot would rather fight the guy who was robbing him instead of not having the problem at all. Tala just shook his head.

He shook the snow out of his red hair. The heat of the apartment was starting to take the red of wind burn out of his cheeks. He hated the wind for that. His white skin was almost transparent. The softest of winds cause his face to light up. It was quite a pain, really.

"Tala," the rough voice from the past spoke up.

"Kai," Tala replied.

It had been seven years since they last time they were all together. Right after the whole incident with BEGA went down, they all split up. Well, not all. Bryan and Tala stayed in Russia, a few blocks away from each other. Ian moved to a town a few towns away from they city they were in and still regularly came to visit. Spencer moved to Australia, living on the beach and in the sun that Tala dreamed about. Kai spent his time traveling and blading. Kai definitely had the more luxurious life of everyone. Tala and Bryan lived in small apartments with themselves. Ian lived with his girlfriend of two years. Spencer lived with a few guys he played Rugby with.

"How have you been?" Kai asked, voice shining among the other's boy's chatter.

"Things have been better, not by much, but they have been," he told his friend, taking off the snow covered boots(Bryan's house rule). "You've been living pretty good, or at least, that's what I've read."

Kai chuckled, "You could say that. Living in hotels and private jets really isn't the life, but I've had my company."

Taking off his jacket, Tala replied back, "Company? Countless numbers of hot girls climbing all over you is just company?"

"I never said that. I've only had once for the past couple of years, and I think, she does quite well," Kai told him.

Tala turned around to talk to Kai for the first time, but his eyes went immediately to the person sitting at his side. Frail figure with tanned skin sat looking straight back at him. Blue eyes that were different from his. While Tala possessed ice-like eyes, her eyes were dark like the ocean that he dreamed about and glittered like the sun shining into the rushing waves. She had good curves to her. They weren't like the ones in his day dream, but they were still curves. Brown hair wasn't really what he saw Kai with, but she had it. Nor did Tala ever see his friend with a curly headed girl. The brown curls were long, that was one thing that Tala always saw Kai being with.

"And this is her?" Tala asked.

"Sure is," Kai smirked. "Jessica Silas, this is Tala Valkov."

"Hey!" she smiled, voice being light and a bit of a squeak to it. "Kai tells me a lot about you."

"Hello," Tala said, nodding to her.

"She's great, Tala!" Bryan laughed, already having a bottle of Vodka in his hand and probably drank something else before now.

"Don't you say that about everything with breasts?" Tala questioned.

Bryan shut up as the boys laughed at him. Tala was caught off guard by the sound of a feminine laugh. She was laughing at it? Usually, girls got offended by that sort of comment. Anything about the chest, their period, or that seems sexist pissed off most girls. Tala didn't see why. It was just all good fun, but those were girls. This one… she was laughing at it.

"So what do you go by?" Tala asked the girl.

"What do you mean?" she asked in her odd accent.

"Jessica isn't a name most girl go by," Tala told her. "Do you like Jessie or something?"

She cringed, "Don't call me that. Its Jessica or Jess. Whichever one you can remember or spit out easier."

Tala raised his brow at the girl's strange reaction, "Alright, I will."

Kai grunted slightly, "You like her so far, Tala?"

Tala shrugged. Was Kai really asking him about his girlfriend? They weren't chicks. Most girls had to have their boyfriend analyzed by their friends before they could get serious or anything. Tala just was a bit disturbed by it all.

"I don't know her," Tala told him.

"Well, maybe, you should get to," Kai told him, "since you're going to be the best man in our wedding."

All the boys stopped their laughing at looked at Kai. Then, they all looked to Jessica's hands, placed lightly in her lap. The rock was a damn good size. Tala looked up to Jessica's face, a blush lightly forming under all that crisp skin. His eyes darted to Kai. An engagement without even telling any of them he had a girlfriend? Tala was disappointed in being the last to know about the girl, but what could he say? Kai was a grown man and he could make decisions on his own.

"Congrats, man!" Spencer cheered, slapping a hand on Kai's shoulder.

"Welcome to the family, Jess!" Ian smiled.

"Woo! Booze for all!" Bryan cheered, letting Tala know he was already drunk off his ass.

Tala's eyes wandered to Jessica's. He wanted to see if he could see something in her eyes. Usually, he could tell something about a girl by looking in her eyes. Something by being able to see into her soul or that was how Bryan usually put it. Tala kept trying to get her eyes for longer than a second, but she would look away.

"Tala," Kai's voice rang, getting his attention, "are you happy about this?"

"I don't know her, as I said, so I don't know," Tala told his friend a little more spitefully than he ever planned.

Bryan looked over at Tala, "What's not to like about her? She beyblades, she's hot as hell, she's funny, and she's not a bitch! Love her already, Tala!"

Jessica glared up at Bryan when he called her hot, as did Kai. Tala figured she didn't like him at all. Most girls did that when guys said they were hot and they hated them. Tala learned that over the years. Tala just sighed. The boys may like her, but that meant nothing. Bryan liked that Clarissa girl three years ago, and she ended up robbing him blind. Tala told them she was evil, but no one listened to him. They didn't know her for much longer than himself. This was suspicious enough.

"I'm not going to like her until I know her," Tala told them, looking straight at Jessica who was being given a shot of gin and tonic.

"Tala, you're being unreasonable," Kai told him. "You just think she's going to be bad because everyone you've met has--"

"Kai…that's far from the reason," Tala glared.

"Then what--"

"I think some of us might need some air!"

Tala looked to the only voice that wasn't deep. Jessica stood up from her seat by now and was looking at both Kai and himself. It seemed now that everyone was staring at her, and she was beginning to get nervous. Tala just glared at her. She hadn't a clue of what to do anymore.

"Good idea, Jess," Ian spoke up. "Why don't you and Tala go out to the store and pick up some food and non-alcoholic drinks."

"I like that idea," Jessica said, smiling slightly at Bryan's groaning.

"Whatever."

The two got back on jackets and shoes. Jessica kissed Kai good-bye, and the two were out the door. Tala shoved his hands into his pockets and noticed that Jessica had wrapped her arms around herself. He sighed. He might as well try to talk to her and lessen up to the tension for the night. He'd have to pretend to like her no matter what. He wanted a good time with his friends for the first night they were together.

"You have a strange accent," he told her.

"I could say the same for you," Jessica replied, looking up at the snow that fell.

"Well, it seems, my accent is normal here, if I was to speak whatever language you speak, my accent would be different," Tala said, looking over at her.

"I'm from America," she told him.

"You don't look Hispanic, but that fake bake tan does disguise it a bit," he commented, wanting to see how she told it.

"Go to hell," she glared over at him. "I don't fake bake, I sit out in the sun and give myself skin cancer. Its free."

"Its nice to see you aren't just another gold digger," Tala smirked.

"Its nice to see you're just another one of those ass holes," Jessica commented.

"Touché! So, where are you from?" he asked.

"North America," she said, "the United States."

"How did you meet Kai?" he questioned, knowing the other's wouldn't care enough to find out the personal questions.

"He was doing some blading thing at this conference," she told him. "My friend wanted to see him, and I lost the bet and had to go. Fortunately, a friend from high school was one of the security guards, and he let us go talk to him. We hit it off after that. It was pretty awesome."

Tala shrugged, "Its shocking to find out that he didn't just pick you up off the street corner before your pimp came."

"Ouch," she giggled, "that one has me there. Good job, you finally grew a pair and hit me good."

"So," Tala said, looking over at her sternly again, "why are you so interested in Kai? He's nothing but a spiteful bastard."

"I don't know," Jess told him, "I just…liked him. It was weird. We just sort of clicked. It wasn't like I normally click with guys, but it just…clicked!"

"Right…"

"That didn't earn me points, did it?" she questioned. "Damn it! I always screw up at that 'Never Repeat Words' rule in the Impress The Best Friend manual that they give all chicks when they're born. You know! The one we study and study so our fiancée's best friend can actually like us."

"You're a smart ass, you're overly sarcastic, you drink, and you aren't quivering under my sight," Tala listed off.

"So what?" she asked.

"Just pointing out the reasons why the others love you, and I can't seem to stand you at all," he smirked.

Jessica looked a bit annoyed at what he said. Tala figured that her 'smart ass' charm on guys wasn't working. Tala didn't buy it. It was just a shield. Having witty comebacks and a pretty face, it always hid something else. Tala wanted to know what she was under all that. He knew too many people that fell when that shield was cracked. He wasn't going to let some flakey girl fall on Kai and crush him.

"You're lying," she told him, still looking up at the sky.

"About what?" he questioned.

"You not liking me," Jessica told him. "You just want to say that because you don't want to like me because you might end up like liking me. Not in like, like liking me, but like liking me as in wanting to love me."

Tala raised a brow, "You are just like all the other girls in the world."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jessica asked.

"You!" he exclaimed. "You come off like a cool chick that all the boys like. You attempt to make yourself appear sexy so they already like you. You act like one of the guys and such, but when off with one of them, you turn into this major bitch with this huge ass ego."

"Ego?" she questioned.

"Yes! Ego! You suspect that any guy with eyes thinks that you are their world and they have to have you like mindless damn zombies! You just accused me of not wanting to like you because I don't want to love you!"

"Exactly," she said calmly, "because I've seen it happen before. It happened a lot."

"What the hell is your problem?" Tala growled.

"Whatever the hell your problem is," she commented.

"My problem is with your and your god complex," he growled at her. "You have nothing, but a smart mouth. You want to be like the boys. You can't handle being like the boys. Behind those comments and that make-up covered face lies deep secrets you never revealed to anyone. The thing about us is that we are completely honest with one another."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jessica asked as the two entered a store.

Tala smirked, "That means, you spill your secrets."

"What?" she said, fear and shock over coming her expressions.

"Exactly," he smirked, "you have to tell us everything."

"Does Kai know everything about you? Do you know everything about Ian? Or Spencer?" she asked him.

Tala knew she was good with that comeback. She had been backed into corners before apparently because she knew how to kick out. Tala couldn't say that he wasn't impressed by her, but he could still say that he didn't like her. He hated her right about now. She was showing that she did have something she didn't want to share.

"Not exactly," Tala told her. "You see, Bryan knows everything about me. Vice Versa. Then, Kai tells Bryan and I everything, and we share most things with him. Ian and Spencer exchange mostly, and we get some of the bigger things, but nothing is ever a secret with all of us."

"So what about me?" she asked him.

"Who do you want to tell everything to?" Tala asked her.

"I got an idea," she said, looking as if she was analyzing things over in her mind.

"Kai and I are going to be here for a month, and that's when the wedding is," Jessica explained to him. "Everyday, we exchange secrets about our pasts to each other, but on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sunday, we tell each other something bigger."

Tala looked at her. She had a good strategy. Tala was impressed by her once again. She wasn't a total idiot. She may have been a girl, a spiteful, small bitch, but she was smarter than the rest. Most girls relied on their looks, and when that failed, they just fell to pieces. More things were piecing together that spelt that his girl was messed up.

"Deal."