Still Healing – Chapter 1
So anyway, this is my first fanfiction! YAY! I was that creep who surfed around on the fanfic net for MONTHS before finally making an account, but now I've decided to try my hand at writing them myself. First chapter! This will be a romance fanfic, but there's not much lovey-dovey in the beginning. Enjoy! PLEASE rate and review!
It all started at the beach.
We were having the best time – Kid, Liz, and Patty had suggested we head out to a beach over summer vacation, so we rented a small house where all the girls shared a room and the guys had a separate room. It even had a central area with a kitchen and a television, plus some couches and chairs. The first day of our vacation we hit the nearby town and went shopping, and the second day we took a really long hike in some nearby forest.
It was the third day that the trouble began.
Ironically, even though we were on a beach, we hadn't actually been swimming until that third day. So we were all getting ready to soak up the sun and I was having a fight with Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki.
"Maka, come on, you have to wear it!" Liz whined, looking devastated at my less-than-excited reaction.
"No. No way. No way am I ever wearing that!" I ground out through my teeth.
The 'that' in question would be a swimsuit. Not just a swimsuit, but a skimpy, strappy bikini. While it was admittedly pretty as it was in my favorite shade of green that would perfectly accent my eyes, it covered a lot less skin than I wanted it to. Yeah, no way was I wearing that.
"But Makaaaaa…" Tsubaki pleaded, "We found it the day we were shopping and it was just perfect for you…"
Patty and Liz both nodded quickly. "Come on, you know it would look so great on you!" Liz said, smiling at me.
I abruptly turned serious. "Look, I'm sorry girls," I began, "But I really will not wear that. I prefer to have my stomach covered." Actually, I had to have my stomach covered, but they didn't know that. "Don't worry guys, I have a one-piece that I brought."
"Yeah, but one-pieces are so-"
"Okay, Maka. Sorry for trying to force you," Tsubaki said, cutting off Liz's remark. I sent a smile towards the beautiful black-haired girl, thankful she sensed that I wasn't going to move on this position. Ever.
We changed into our swimsuits (I had a one-piece that was a pretty ocean-blue color with ruffles all over it). Liz was in a red bikini, while Patty was in a bikini with a swim skirt with - what else - a giraffe pattern. And Tsubaki was in a white bikini with a yellow star on the left breast.
I felt a little out of place.
Luckily for me, we were all wearing cover-ups, so I could hide my embarrassingly modest swimsuit under a white sundress. Okay, it wasn't like I didn't want to wear that bikini, because yes, I would have looked killer in it, but I just couldn't. Nobody had ever seen it, and I wanted to keep it that way.
Outside of our room Kid, Soul, and Black*Star were waiting in their swim trunks and tee shirts.
"Geez, took ya long enough," Soul said, looking disinterested. "Do you know how long we were waiting? Waiting is totally uncool, by the way."
I gave him a look. As usual, he was completely laid back about everything. He was wearing a shirt with a soul graphic on it (go figure) and black and red swim trunks. His white hair was held in place by his usual 'soul' headband.
"Yeah, well, we took forever because we were trying to get Maka to wear this-"
"Anyway, we're ready now, so let's go!" I nearly shouted. All the guys gave me a weird look and Patty glared at me for cutting her off.
"Yeah, let's go," Kid said. He walked outside and we all followed him.
"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Black*Star yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran towards the beach as soon as it was in sight. Without even bothering to stop, he flung off his shoes, discarded his shirt, and jumped into the blue waves.
"He's ridiculous," Tsubaki shook her head fondly. She set down the bag she had been carrying and took off her cover-up, shouting at Black*Star as she did. "Black*Star! Wait for your friends!"
Patty and Liz also took off their cover-ups and jumped into the waves. Kid took off his shirt, leaving him in perfectly symmetrical skull-patterned trunks, and proceeded to arrange the towels on the warm sand. Symmetrically.
Soul sat down on one of Kid's towels and removed his shoes. Then he took off his shirt.
Okay, I'm not gonna lie. Soul had a great body. He could be a freakin' model if he wanted to. Well, I wasn't drooling, but I'm pretty sure I was blushing red as a tomato.
And then, of course, Soul just had to turn and look at me.
I blushed harder and turned towards another towel and sat down. Reaching inside my bag, I pulled out a book and cracked it open to my bookmark.
"Seriously? You just gonna read while you're at the beach?" Soul stood up and walked over next to me.
I glared at him over my book. "Well, some of us don't really like swimming, Soul. Why don't you go join those goofballs?"
Soul sent me a shark-toothed grin then ran over to the water and tackled Black*Star into the waves. I shook my head at the two of them and continued reading.
Some minutes later, Tsubaki and Liz came up onto the beach.
"Maka! We're about to pass a beach ball around in the water! Wanna come?" they asked as they wrung out their hair.
"Alright, sure. I'll be right there." I bookmarked my page then took off my sundress, trying not to be self-conscious.
"A one-piece?" Soul asked incredulously from right behind me.
"Agh!" I jumped in surprise, then turned around angrily. Shoving him out of my way, I stalked off into the water. Liz raised her eyebrow but said nothing, and Kid said my bathing suit was perfectly symmetrical. Soul tossed a beach ball to us, and we passed it around for a while. It caught Black*Star unaware and hit him in the side of the face, which caused Soul to double over with laughter.
"ALRIGHT! WHO THREW THIS AT THEIR GOD?!" He yelled, then his eyes alighted on Soul. "SOUL-" He jumped for the crimson-eyed boy as we all backed up a little from their tussle. We all laughed as they messed around until Black*Star sent Soul staggering backwards. Right into me.
I let out a little yelp as I fell backwards into the water. But of course, my embarrassment couldn't end there. The back of my swim suit got snagged on a rock. No, it didn't fall off. It ripped. Right down the back, all the way to my butt. My freakin butt.
I sat in the water like an idiot for a second while Soul turned around and offered me his hand. I just mutely shook my head as my face flamed up.
"What? Are you okay, Maka?" he asked, his brow furrowed in concern when I didn't grab his proffered hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, my voice unnaturally high. "Umm… Tsubaki? Could you come here?"
Tsubaki splashed over to me. "What's up, Maka? Are you okay?" She asked, her voice filled with concern. I smiled, tight-lipped, and motioned for her to bend down by me. She knelt down and I whispered in her ear.
"Patty, go get a towel from the beach," Tsubaki called. "Don't worry Maka, there was a bathroom just up the beach. You can change there."
Patty ran up to the sand and returned with a towel, causing Kid to have an OCD attack because she messed up his 'symmetry'. Tsubaki wrapped it around my shoulders and I stood up, careful to keep it tightly pulled around me.
"Maka's just had a clothing emergency, she's going to go change now," Tsubaki said to the three confused-looking boys as I began to trudge up the beach. Patty and Liz came with me and Tsubaki followed behind. I turned to go towards my bag and my sundress, but suddenly Tsubaki stood in front of me, a very un-Tsubaki-like smile on her face. She looked almost… devious.
"Don't worry about your stuff, Maka! Hurry up to the bathroom. I'll bring your bag."
I gave her a curious look but acquiesced, missing the huge smile on Liz's face.
I went into a bathroom stall and took off my swimsuit, hanging it over the door. I heard the girls walk in and called out to let them know where I was. Liz began giggling, which should have tipped me off right there, but I ignored her.
"Tsubaki, can you hand me my sundress?" I called over Liz's giggling, which had turned into full-blown laughter. What was so funny out there?
Then, before I knew it, the swimsuit I had left hanging over the door was gone and in its place was that little green bikini from hell.
"TSUBAKI!" I yelled angrily. "What is this doing here?! I asked for my SUNDRESS!"
"Please, Maka, just try it on!" She pleaded from outside the door.
"Yeah Maka, It'd look so great on you!" Patty added.
"Guys, I really… just… can't wear that. Please." I said, all of the fight suddenly gone from my voice.
"Okay, we'll make you a deal," Liz piped up. "You just show us how it looks on you, and we'll give you your sundress as soon as you come out. Promise."
They're my friends, I told myself. It's okay. You can trust them. Besides, you don't have to tell them about that… Just lie again.
I slowly grabbed the swimsuit, smiling a bit as I heard their victory whoops from the other side of the door. I dresses as slow as possible, until finally I couldn't put it off any longer.
"Alright, I'm coming out," I called, "But you'd better have that sundress right there."
"We do!" Tsubaki answered cheerfully.
I took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom stall, prepared for anything.
Tsubaki's hands flew to her mouth, hey eyes opening wider than I thought possible. Liz just stared at me. Patty stopped coloring the giraffe she had drawn on the wall, took one look at me, and said, "See? It looks good!" before turning back to her vandalism.
"Maka… What happened? How did-" Tsubaki sounded choked up.
"Oh, it's nothing," I lied breezily. "An accident a few years ago, that's all. A nasty fall onto sharp rocks." No matter how many times you say the lie, it's still not true, I thought sadly. "But now you can see why I have my stomach covered, right?"
Tsubaki nodded mutely, tearing her eyes away from my stomach to meet my eyes. "Umm… Your sundress is hanging there."
She pointed to a hook outside the bathroom stall and I turned around unthinkingly to grab it.
"Maka!" Liz gasped.
Shit. Shit. Shit! I thought. That was one thing I hadn't planned on showing them.
Ha ha! Take a cliffhanger on my first chapter! Anyway, Chapter 2 should be out really soon, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!