Chapter one: Triple Dog Dare
"What to do…What to do" Zeno said to himself while walking home. There was no one on the sidewalk to see the various expressions that he seemed to be making to himself. He was tinkering with his IPod Touch all the way home, listening to Disturbed's 'Indestructible' Zeno seemed to feel much more alive when listening to rock which he preferably called heavy metal since it seemed that way to him most of the time. Thinking on his 'to do' list Zeno made a hand gesture reaching into his back pocket to pull out a letter he wrote for Rin Kagamine on a dare from his friend Gumo and his sister Gumi. Rereading what he wrote to Rin, Zeno giggled to himself lightly about the whole situation, "This is the last thing that I am writing to that girl…She's cute and I have always been attracted to blondes…but I'm after a greater prize than Rin Kagamine." Zeno smiled to himself triumphantly.
Luka Megurine.
Zeno thought about the strawberry-crème haired girl for several moments before turning right on the next block. On this block stood Len and Rin's house, their parents had been away for several months…so they were home alone most of the time. Walking down the street Zeno saw Len leaning outside the concrete gate of his house with his face buried in his IPhone. "Oh! Hello Len I glad to see you!" Zeno said greeting the young blond man, "I hope I didn't bother you or anything to that effect."
"No no…you didn't disturb me at all Zeno. You here to see Rin?" asked Len with a smirk on his face. "I just wanted to give her a letter that I wrote to her…it's quite private." Len putting his IPhone in his pocket turned to Zeno. "I know all about it Zeno…It's fun to see that my little sister has an admirer that is so noble." complimented Len and the compliment was a genuine one. "Well here." Zeno pulled out the letter to give it to Len, "Could you just give it to her then…I don't want her to know that I came by." remarked Zeno. Len smiled, "Hey don't worry about it, I'll just I got it from you earlier today…ok?"
"Thanks Len I owe you one." Replied Zeno smiling back to Len before continuing to walk home. Zeno home was small two bedrooms, one guest room, two bathrooms, living room, kitchen, and a computer room. Having unlocked the door to his house, Zeno took off his shoes, grabbed a bag of pretzels, and walking to the computer room, closed the door behind him. His parents weren't home and wouldn't be home for about three weeks. "Plenty of time to get some writing done." Zeno said to himself, the busy days of dealing with his parents didn't leave Zeno enough time to write and Zeno took precautions as to not waste the time that was given to him. "And the preoccupation with this dare Gumo and Gumi gave me has wasted even more time for me." He retorted.
Zeno wrote for three hours before finishing up what he wanted to write, he was exceptionally fast when it came to writing, and everybody was usually impressed by this.
His cell vibrated on the computer with near perfect timing. "Hello?" asked Zeno picking up his cell. "Zeno! Oh great you picked up!" replied Gumi on the other end. "Oh hello Gumi I didn't expect you to call at this time." Zeno said in a blank tone. "I just wanted to call and see how it went." Zeno tried to sound confused, "How what went…" "Did you give Rin the letter?" questioned Gumi. "I gave the letter to Len whose going to give it to her." Replied Zeno, "Oh! You should have gave it to her yourself Zeno, then she'll know you care."
But I don't that's the point. Zeno said inside obviously annoyed at Gumi for bring the whole subject up. "Gumi I don't care about Rin, She's nice and sweet, but I don't care for her in that way." This joke's gone too far. Zeno thought to himself, "And besides…" he continued "I'm done playing this game, I thought it was fun at first but it is getting annoying…I'm tired of being spit on by her for no reason…she basically despises me in every way and form because of this Gumi…this was the last letter I was to give to her and you two agreed remember?"
"I haven't forgot Zeno…I just don't think the fun should end." Gumi said through the phone in a calm voice. "Well the fun's over for me…okay." Said Zeno. "I understand Zeno I understand I'll tell Gumo everything that happened…everything went well though right?" asked Gumi one last time." "Yes everything went accordingly." Replied Zeno sophisticatedly. "Good" Gumi said before hanging up. Zeno put the cell down on the computer desk in frustration, "At least the joke is over I was beginning to tire of it very quickly." He said to himself leaning back in the computer chair. "I better put this stuff away." Getting up Zeno cleaned off the computer desk and picked up the bag of pretzels. Putting them back in the pantry, Zeno going into his room slipped on lounging clothes and sat on his bed looking out of the window onto the street. The night was cool and crisp and Zeno enjoyed the weather.
Closing the window Zeno took out his IPod Touch, which was fully charged, That's good Zeno thought. Pulling out the headphones Zeno inserted the IPod Touch into a set of Apple IPod speakers sitting on the nightstand next to his bed. Turning the speakers on, Zeno flipped through the songs on his music list. "I'll choose…this one." Zeno said, hitting the play button, deciding on 'Running Up That Hill' by Placebo. Zeno sat up against the wall next to the window, listening to the music…allowing the words to flow through him.
It doesn't hurt me.
You wanna feel how it feels?
You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me?
You wanna hear about the deal I'm making?
You be running up that hill
You and me be running up that hill.
And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh...
You don't want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder.
There is thunder in our hearts, baby.
So much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?
You, be running up that hill
You and me, be running up that hill
You and me won't be unhappy.
And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building,
If I only could, oh...
'C'mon, baby, c'mon, c'mon, darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
C'mon, angel, c'mon, c'mon, darling,
Let's exchange the experience, oh...'
And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
With no problems
'If I only could, be running up that hill.'
Zeno listening to the song with tranquil peace thought and dreamt about Luka Megurine and the deep infatuation he had with her. With the lyrics of the song running through his head Zeno fell to sleep soundly dreaming about his beloved Luka.
