Physical Attraction versus Chemical Reaction
disclaimer: No, I do NOT own Fruits Basket or any of the characters, but I do own Sam and Jessica. And obviously me.
"Slumber party!" Jess yelled as she whooshed through the doorway.
Sam's hard green eyes glanced toward Jessica. "Technically, it's not a slumber party, however…" Her face lit up and she grinned. "This is going to be awesome."
"Sam, must you always be right?" I just had to taunt her for her perfectionist ways and constant grammatical corrections. She caught my eye, her glare cool and dangerous as Sam's glare has a way of being. "Yes, Rebecca, I must. Got a problem with that?" she asked in her dangerously low and calm voice.
"No," I whimpered, and I scrambled up to get treats and drinks for my two best friends. When I returned, I found Sam reclining loosely in my computer chair, her eyes flicking rapidly across the bright screen and her long legs stretched out before her. Skinny little Jessica was sitting on the floor next to her, brown eyes pleading, begging for the other girl to find youtube videos of Yuki Sohma.
So that's what they were doing, looking for Fruits Basket videos. Fruits Basket is our favorite anime, and Sam, Jessica and I each had a favorite character. Mine was Shigure, the perverted author, Sam's was Hatsuharu, the one with dual-personalities (sort of creepy), and Jessica's was Yuki, the beautiful "popular boy."
But everyone in this anime was troubled by a curse, a disturbing curse that pertained to the animals of the zodiac. Each time a member of the Sohma family was hugged by a member of the opposite gender, they would transform into their zodiac animal.
When Sam pulled out of her slouch to lean forward and inspect the screen more carefully, my attention was caught and I realized she had found an AMV with Haru, Yuki, and Shigure in it.
"Nice one, Sam!" Jess praised her, and low-fived the taller girl, who paid no mind. Sam's eyes narrowed and she brushed her dark hair out of her face. "What's this…?" It was a scene of Shigure leaning against a doorpost, then, Yuki gardening, and finally, Hatsuharu running down a rainy, dark street. As if on cue, lightning sliced the sky outside our window and thunder boomed and shook the house. I loved thunderstorms, a wonderful excuse to sit inside and watch a movie while eating popcorn and drinking hot cocoa.
But lightning split the sky again, followed by louder and louder thunder, in quick succession. Sam turned away from the computer, brows drawn. "What the hell? This storm just came in, and it's firing up like crazy."
Oh great, I thought. There goes my hope of a normal sleepover with these guys. At every one of these things something strange happens. I just hope this one isn't as strange as that dare we made Sam go through.
"…Rebecca!" The harsh quality lying underneath Sam's straight-to-business voice snapped me out of it and tore my gaze away from the window. My computer screen was a swirl of multi-colors, spiraling in and mesmerizing Jessica. Sam was trying to tear her gaze away, but as soon as my eyes locked on the screen, the sky lit with lightning a final time, and we were falling…