Mai's brand new Mercedes was the first thing I saw as I exited the
school. Damn, she really knew how to spend money; this was the hottest
thing out there. She smiled at me and Serenity as we came up to her car.
"Ready to go?" She asked. It was my birthday today, and I couldn't honestly think of a better time then to spend it out with all of my friends. My drunk-ass father would give me a present I'd rather not get, like a beating or a beer, and I never liked spending time with my mother, she made me too agitated.
"This my present?" I asked excitedly, knowing that it wasn't true, but it was all right to dream a little. Serenity chuckled.
"Of course, Joey, of course. Whatever you want." Mai said, passing me the keys.
"You serious?" I asked excitedly.
"No, dumbass, it's still mine. But I'm letting you drive it." She must've heard that I passed my driver's test a few weeks ago, cause I hadn't seen her between now and then. I hopped in the driver's side and Mai took shotgun, Serenity piling in the back. I couldn't help but act like a little kid as I fiddled with the seat and placed my hand on the wheel.
"Come on, Joey, pull out already. I love the car too, but we've gotta go pick up Yugi and the others at the Game Shop." I nodded, and pulled out, the sleek silver car was a standout, and I couldn't help but wave to some girls sheepishly while I drove out onto the road.
"Man, Mai, this must've been expensive." I said, putting on a pair of sunglasses.
"Not as much as you'd think." She responded, opening the window and letting the wind sweep her long hair back.
"Ah, so you stole the car?" I asked as a joke.
"Sometimes, Joey, you need to keep quiet." She joked back. I pulled the car into the Game Shop. Tristan was waiting outside, his hands jammed into his pockets.
"Happy birthday, asshole." He said, putting me into a headlock. I slipped out and smiled, I had no reason to retaliate, it was my day anyway.
"Yuge is just helping Grandpa make a few sales, he says it's been pretty busy today." I went inside, and found that Tristan had not exaggerated, the shop was busy today.
"Hello, Joey." Grandpa said from behind the register kindly. I waved to him as the other three I was traveling with came up behind me. Yugi was running the new cash register and handling sales as quickly as his grandfather.
"You gotta stop workin'." I said with a grin. "It's my birthday."
"I'll be just a second Joey." He said with a smile. I sat back and relaxed, I had nowhere else I wanted to be then with my friends, so I didn't mind a little waiting.
When Yugi finally finished, Grandpa reluctantly let him go. The store was still busy, but since my birthday came only once a year, and my seventeenth birthday only once, he caved in.
"You'll be fine, Grandpa, just make sure you pace yourself." Yugi said before bounding outside. Tristan and Serenity hopped on his motorcycle while me, Mai, and Yugi took the car. I got to drive it again to the restaurant. Mai had called ahead with reservations, and we got in pretty quickly and seated.
"Happy birthday, Joey." They said. At least the waiters weren't going around singing, I was embarrassed enough. We wasted the time; a normally forty minute meal went to around three hours. Eventually, the restaurant was closing, and we grudgingly packed up all of our stuff and left. I had gotten some pretty cool shit, but the real gift was the best time I ever had, away from the hell that was my life at home. I was going to stay at Mom's with Serenity, so Mai dropped us off and gave me a flirty wink as the new Mercedes backed out of our driveway.
"Man, she's something." I said, not realizing that I was talking out loud.
"I'm right here, Joey." Serenity said.
"Oh, uh, I meant..." I quickly tried to talk myself out of this mess. They couldn't know about my feelings for Mai. I mean, rationalize it, Mai's a mean bitch and acts like the best thing to come around since free wings. But still, that was hot. I mean, she had confidence, and she wasn't always mean.
"Joey, c'mon. You're feelings are evident enough to everyone, even Mai. Why don't you go for it." She said before going into the house. I watched her go inside, and then I looked to the moon, which was full tonight, and starting thinking to myself. Why didn't I? I didn't want to be forward, but things like that are all about risk. I decided to take a walk in the back for a sec. There were some woods nearby, and it opened into a clearing that seemed to be an intentionally planted garden because it had plants that I'd never even seen before. It was a place I liked to sit in and think, because not many people went there but me. I'd seen Mai there before, once, and she lad been looking at her reflection in the small pond there for an extended moment. It really confused me, but Mai was Mai, I'm sure if it were important, she would have told us anyway.
But as I walked there, I couldn't help but feel the air get really cold. It was much colder then the rest of the place, but there was no wind or anything. It almost felt unworldly, like a ghost was sneaking up behind me. But there was nothing there; nothing to suggest anything was out of the ordinary except the chill.
But when I walked closer, I noticed that there was a fountain in the middle of the woods. A small, stone fountain that was a scene of Cupid pouring water from a kind of pot. I walked over to it, was it something someone had put in recently. I didn't know, but it was interesting. Why would someone put a fountain in the middle of the woods? I was really thirsty, so I decided that it would be okay to take a drink of the water, I mean, it was just water. When I drank it, I got a strange dizzy feeling, like the entire woods started spinning like a top. The next thing I knew, I hit the ground.
"Is this the human?" I heard a female voice ask in my mind. "It seems that it doesn't have what I want right yet, but it is still early yet. There may be a chance for this one, and maybe we'll finally get what we seek." Her voice was slightly scratchy, but I got a definite picture in my mind. It was a tall woman dressed in a loose dress. Her skin was pale as snow, and she had teal green colored hair that billowed freely off of her head and down to her waist. The strangest woman I had ever seen, and that was the picture I drew from her voice. When I stood up and brushed the dirt off of my clothes, I noticed that the fountain had gone. What the fuck was happening, was I dreaming? I couldn't be, my mouth tasted like dirt and I still felt the dull thud from when I hit the ground. So if I wasn't dreaming, then what the hell was happening? Who was that woman, and what did she want? Those thoughts stayed with me as I returned to the house, got undressed, and finally shut my eyes.
"Ready to go?" She asked. It was my birthday today, and I couldn't honestly think of a better time then to spend it out with all of my friends. My drunk-ass father would give me a present I'd rather not get, like a beating or a beer, and I never liked spending time with my mother, she made me too agitated.
"This my present?" I asked excitedly, knowing that it wasn't true, but it was all right to dream a little. Serenity chuckled.
"Of course, Joey, of course. Whatever you want." Mai said, passing me the keys.
"You serious?" I asked excitedly.
"No, dumbass, it's still mine. But I'm letting you drive it." She must've heard that I passed my driver's test a few weeks ago, cause I hadn't seen her between now and then. I hopped in the driver's side and Mai took shotgun, Serenity piling in the back. I couldn't help but act like a little kid as I fiddled with the seat and placed my hand on the wheel.
"Come on, Joey, pull out already. I love the car too, but we've gotta go pick up Yugi and the others at the Game Shop." I nodded, and pulled out, the sleek silver car was a standout, and I couldn't help but wave to some girls sheepishly while I drove out onto the road.
"Man, Mai, this must've been expensive." I said, putting on a pair of sunglasses.
"Not as much as you'd think." She responded, opening the window and letting the wind sweep her long hair back.
"Ah, so you stole the car?" I asked as a joke.
"Sometimes, Joey, you need to keep quiet." She joked back. I pulled the car into the Game Shop. Tristan was waiting outside, his hands jammed into his pockets.
"Happy birthday, asshole." He said, putting me into a headlock. I slipped out and smiled, I had no reason to retaliate, it was my day anyway.
"Yuge is just helping Grandpa make a few sales, he says it's been pretty busy today." I went inside, and found that Tristan had not exaggerated, the shop was busy today.
"Hello, Joey." Grandpa said from behind the register kindly. I waved to him as the other three I was traveling with came up behind me. Yugi was running the new cash register and handling sales as quickly as his grandfather.
"You gotta stop workin'." I said with a grin. "It's my birthday."
"I'll be just a second Joey." He said with a smile. I sat back and relaxed, I had nowhere else I wanted to be then with my friends, so I didn't mind a little waiting.
When Yugi finally finished, Grandpa reluctantly let him go. The store was still busy, but since my birthday came only once a year, and my seventeenth birthday only once, he caved in.
"You'll be fine, Grandpa, just make sure you pace yourself." Yugi said before bounding outside. Tristan and Serenity hopped on his motorcycle while me, Mai, and Yugi took the car. I got to drive it again to the restaurant. Mai had called ahead with reservations, and we got in pretty quickly and seated.
"Happy birthday, Joey." They said. At least the waiters weren't going around singing, I was embarrassed enough. We wasted the time; a normally forty minute meal went to around three hours. Eventually, the restaurant was closing, and we grudgingly packed up all of our stuff and left. I had gotten some pretty cool shit, but the real gift was the best time I ever had, away from the hell that was my life at home. I was going to stay at Mom's with Serenity, so Mai dropped us off and gave me a flirty wink as the new Mercedes backed out of our driveway.
"Man, she's something." I said, not realizing that I was talking out loud.
"I'm right here, Joey." Serenity said.
"Oh, uh, I meant..." I quickly tried to talk myself out of this mess. They couldn't know about my feelings for Mai. I mean, rationalize it, Mai's a mean bitch and acts like the best thing to come around since free wings. But still, that was hot. I mean, she had confidence, and she wasn't always mean.
"Joey, c'mon. You're feelings are evident enough to everyone, even Mai. Why don't you go for it." She said before going into the house. I watched her go inside, and then I looked to the moon, which was full tonight, and starting thinking to myself. Why didn't I? I didn't want to be forward, but things like that are all about risk. I decided to take a walk in the back for a sec. There were some woods nearby, and it opened into a clearing that seemed to be an intentionally planted garden because it had plants that I'd never even seen before. It was a place I liked to sit in and think, because not many people went there but me. I'd seen Mai there before, once, and she lad been looking at her reflection in the small pond there for an extended moment. It really confused me, but Mai was Mai, I'm sure if it were important, she would have told us anyway.
But as I walked there, I couldn't help but feel the air get really cold. It was much colder then the rest of the place, but there was no wind or anything. It almost felt unworldly, like a ghost was sneaking up behind me. But there was nothing there; nothing to suggest anything was out of the ordinary except the chill.
But when I walked closer, I noticed that there was a fountain in the middle of the woods. A small, stone fountain that was a scene of Cupid pouring water from a kind of pot. I walked over to it, was it something someone had put in recently. I didn't know, but it was interesting. Why would someone put a fountain in the middle of the woods? I was really thirsty, so I decided that it would be okay to take a drink of the water, I mean, it was just water. When I drank it, I got a strange dizzy feeling, like the entire woods started spinning like a top. The next thing I knew, I hit the ground.
"Is this the human?" I heard a female voice ask in my mind. "It seems that it doesn't have what I want right yet, but it is still early yet. There may be a chance for this one, and maybe we'll finally get what we seek." Her voice was slightly scratchy, but I got a definite picture in my mind. It was a tall woman dressed in a loose dress. Her skin was pale as snow, and she had teal green colored hair that billowed freely off of her head and down to her waist. The strangest woman I had ever seen, and that was the picture I drew from her voice. When I stood up and brushed the dirt off of my clothes, I noticed that the fountain had gone. What the fuck was happening, was I dreaming? I couldn't be, my mouth tasted like dirt and I still felt the dull thud from when I hit the ground. So if I wasn't dreaming, then what the hell was happening? Who was that woman, and what did she want? Those thoughts stayed with me as I returned to the house, got undressed, and finally shut my eyes.