A/N: Revisited. Rewritten. Revised. Three years in the making.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
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Math's Nightmare
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Chapter One: Green and White Socks, Homework, and Dirty Magazines
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Chewing on a wad of notebook paper, I smirked at Tidus. He returned the gesture as I swiftly pulled a red straw out from my pocket (left over from lunch) and dexterously shot the piece of saliva-coated paper into the braided golden hair of the girl seated in front of me. The blonde froze before she reached back and touched what had hit the back of her head. She shrieked. Just listening to her acrimoniously call out my name made me feel a sense of accomplishment. The sense of accomplishment didn't come from the fact that she practically had flames shooting up all around her…No. It definitely came from the idea that one, she actually knew my name and that two, I had gotten her attention…not that that sort of attention was the good kind…but it was attention nevertheless.
I air-fived Tidus and flashed a coy grin to Rikku, feigning bashfulness, pressing my index finger to my lips.
"You are such a meanie!"
"That will be quite enough out of you, young lady," the literature teacher warned, lowering his thin, wire-framed glasses expectantly.
"But he shot a spit wad into my hair!" she whined, tightly gripping her orange pencil with her slender fingers.
His patience was fading quickly. Immediately, I sat up straight and tried my hardest to look serious. A wadded up, wet piece of notebook paper hit me on the side of my face. I completely lost it and busted a gut.
"Mr. Valentine! Mr. Zanarkand! I will see you two after class," he growled. "I don't expect another word from you two for the rest of the class period."
That night, Riku was coming over to stay the night and I was stupidly excited about it. We hadn't been spending much time together since he and Kairi had started dating. This "woman-creature" seemed to be taking up all of his time, whether he actually had any free time or not. They were always doing their homework together, eating lunch together, going to school together, going home from school together, having dinner at each other's houses and always going on dates. It made me wonder if I would be like that if I got a girlfriend---If I'd completely ignore my best friend like he was nonexistent.
On that note…Riku and I had really grown apart over the last few months. It was to the point where I was hanging out with Tidus. I mean, not that there was anything wrong with that…We had always been really good friends…but I missed Riku. A lot.
The bell rang. Fourth period and I was home-free. However, before I could hit math, I had to speak with the English teacher. I approached the desk, after Tidus, grumbling to myself about various topics including how I hated English, how there was always too much homework and how he expected so much out of me. "You needed me sir?"
Tidus whirled around before he walked out the door and began sending me strange hand-signals. I was fairly sure that they meant, "I'll see you Sunday night after Riku's done with you! Havea good time and you'd better not be late on Sunday!" At least...that's what I hoped he meant. Actually quite unsure of what he was saying, I smiled apprehensively and waved a petite wave before approaching the large desk before me.
"Sora, why have you been so reckless lately?" he interrogated, taking a sip of his coffee out of his chipped, white coffee mug.
"Beats me. I guess Irvine has been rubbing off on me cuz you know, it's been just he and I lately," I retorted, glancing back at Riku.
"I see. I suppose in a twisted manner, I half-expected to hear that," he frowned past me to the boy standing behind. "Riku, can you wait outside, please?"
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, voice oozing with sarcasm. He slammed the door behind him, causing the blinds to crash into the window.
"Little punk," the teacher grumbled semi-under his breath. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about your life, Sora. I realize things haven't been going well at home. My being with Mom in the hospital is stressful for everyone. Can you try to keep your anger out of the classroom?"
"Dad…" I sighed, "Why can't we talk about this at home?" He always blamed things on 'anger' or 'hormones'. He never even once considered the fact that I liked attention. Especially from Rikku. And I needed a daily reminder that she knew who I was. I didn't know why, but that was just how it had to be.
"Riku will be over."
"Dad?" I questioned, "Why do you dislike Riku?"
He glanced down to the overly organized stacks of paper on his desk and shook his head in that way parents did when they were disappointed with their children. "We won't get into this at school. Get to your next class son. See you about five."
"No. Seriously, Dad. Tell me."
"Son. Get to class. Now."
"Why?" I spat, frowning. I hated when he pulled that that 'I'm your parent so I'm your superior' crap.
"Because I am your father and you will respect my wishes. Riku's probably outside waiting for you."
"Fine," I curtly replied and walked out of the classroom, mirroring Riku and slammed the door behind me.
It was as if all of my animosity toward my father dissipated the second I stepped out of the classroom. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was angry during class. His class at least... Regardless, the moment I stepped out, I looked around for Riku. I looked to the left, to the right, up, down and forward. That platinum-haired guy was nowhere to be found. He probably saw Kairi and ran off after her, like the whipped man he was.
Disheartened, I went on to math and listened to the teacher tell his lame jokes about 'Gee-I'm-a-Tree' and 'Algae Bras'. His voice was monotone and nasally. And he always talked about how he went out dancing with his girlfriend, which we were sure was a man, and how he had bought this new car and la-dee-da. I felt like he talked about everything except math. And that didn't help those who were exceptionally terrible at math, like me.
All that aside, I was stoked that it was the end of the day and Riku was staying the night. I had a pretty good idea as to what we were going to do. First, we'd eat cookies and watch TV. Next, we'd play videogames and finally hit the sack. It sounded like a grand plan. But...my thoughts of after school slowly began to melt away...
I started to doodle out a picture that soon resembled Rikku. I couldn't seem to make her disappear from my mind. She was pretty cute. The more I added, the more it looked like her. I happily sighed and put the finishing touch on the notebook paper sketch: the beads lacing through her braids. For a brief moment, I completely spaced that I was in class. I proudly smiled and held the fairly accurate picture upward so I could look at it.
"What's that Sora?" inquired that agitating nasally voice.
My face turned beet red as the picture was snatched from my hand by none other than the Math Man himself. I slammed my head down on my desk a couple times. "Ugh…"
"Wow, that's really good Sora. Everybody! Look at this!" He exclaimed, revealing it to everyone, including Rikku. And unfortunately, she sat behind me. That factor made matters so much worse.
Laughing nervously, I got up from my seat and snagged my artwork back from him. I quickly stuffed it in my binder and smashed my head into my desk again. Girls were definitely stupid. Especially Rikku. She was hyper and ditzy. And she sat behind me. And she poked me. And she bugged me about seeing the picture. And she talked to me throughout the rest of the class period. And I gavein and showed her the picture. And she was kind of cute. And she prattled on about how I had her every detail memorized. And I blushed.
And boy was I happy when the final bell rang.
I quickly got up and briskly walked out of the classroom, running smack-dab into the last person I wanted to see.
"Heh, sorry about that," I bleated and bent over to pick up my binder.
"It's been a while, Sora," he smiled that lecherous smile he liked to give me. Luckily, the hallway was emptying quickly. Everyone wanted to get as far away from the school as possible. Nobody liked to hang around after school on Friday. Nobody liked to be within a one-hundred foot radius of it.
"Yeah…" I blanched. I begged, subconsciously, that he wouldn't bring that up. But you know Murphy's Law. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
"So, did you have fun last weekend?"
I hung my head in an embarrassed fashion.
"I figured you would have. You're really cute when you beg."
As Murphy's Law likes to build on the trouble that it had already created, things went from bad to worse. Riku happened to actually show his face for once as Axel lifted my chin, looked deeply into my eyes and laid his firm lips upon mine. "Sora, you got it memorized?"
"What?" Riku inquired blinking in a confused manner, observing the position we were in and appearing mildly disgusted by the fact that I had just been kissed by another guy.
"Sora was over last weekend, got it memorized?" Axel promiscuously beamed, snaking his arm around my waist.
Disgusted, I pulled away from him, slugged him as hard as I could in the arm and turned to my best friend, cringing slightly. "It's not what it looks like!"
"Oh yes it is…" He drew out his voice, a smirk now playing at the corner of his lips. "Sora and I had a jolly good time last weekend in my bedroom, if you know what I mean."
"Axel…" I moaned, slapping my hand to my forehead. "Do you really have to make things more awkward than what they already are?"
"That's what I'm here for, got it memorized?"
I sighed in defeat, face falling and shoulders drooping. Riku sent a questioning look my way. "What went on last weekend?" he interrogated, thinking he very well knew exactly what had gone on…though Axel made it sound worse than what it actually was. Riku had always been very presumptuous.
"Can we talk about this later?" I plead, biting my lip.
"I'd rather talk about it now."
Axel looked on at the scene unfolding between the two of us, amused, that lecherous smile finding its way back onto his rosy lips.
Rikuglanced to the tall redhead before turning his attention to me. He gave me an odd look. "Never mind. I don't want to know," he interrupted and grabbed my hand, dragging me down the hall, away from the perverse, smiling upperclassman.
Home was in a small community called Destiny Islands. It was a very nice neighborhood in comparison to other areas in town, to put it mildly. The homes had some pretty good space between them and there were only ten or so homes in the community. The houses were all roughly about the same size with slightly varying architectural appearances but were all uniformly made up of river rock and stained wood. Each and every one had a perfectly manicured lawn, an ivy-covered, wrought-iron fence and an elaborate garden.
Riku, on the other hand, wasn't as fortunate. He lived with his uncle, Cid, in a run-down mobile home park. His house was maybe a quarter of the size mine and was made top to bottom of green painted tin. He lived in Hollow Bastion Mobile Home Park which was considered "The Slums" of our small city. The people there were usually heavily into drinking or into drug-dealing. The roads throughout the trai---mobile home park were cracked. Everyone's 'lawns' were either littered with debris or were made completely out of gravel and animals ran rampant. I didn't really go over to his house much. I felt safer with him coming over to mine.
All that aside, I fumbled with my house key and opened up the door. He followed me in and, surprisingly enough, Irvine home rather early. I waved at him, grinning. The smile was not reciprocated.
It suddenly dawned on me that Selphie had left town that morning for the weekend. I decided to leave it alone. Riku led me up to my room. The first portion of my plan was out of the question. Didn't want to bug Irvine. No baking cookies.
"Riku?"
"Hmm?" he quietly responded, searching through his bag for something.
"Want to watch TV?"
"Nah. Let's study. Finals are coming up soon," he answered, pulling out his biology book.
I sighed in defeat and pulled mine out. Replacing cookies with homework was no fun at all.
He abruptly turned his head toward me, teal greeting my cerulean. "What did you do last weekend with Axel?"
That was blunt. The sheer bluntness of his statement caught me off guard, broadsided me like a train. I fumbled for the right words to say before I declared, "That's none of your business!"
"Tell me or I'll go home."
"And that's different from any other weekend how…?"
The silver-head's eyes narrowed. "Touché."
"And besides," I began, a mischievous smile forming upon my lips, "I could always invite Tidus over instead."
"I've noticed you two are hanging out a lot," he offered.
"So you've noticed he's slowly replacing you? I thought you were too wrapped up with Kairi and forgot all about me," I teased playfully.
"And I've also noticed that you and Axel are getting mighty close…"
"We hung out last weekend."
"So tell me...What exactly did happen?"
Knock, knock, knock!
I drew in a deep breath and bit my lip. I couldn't believe that I was at Axel's house. And what I was there for was nothing any dignified man would ever admit to. Kairi wouldn't help me out…She was too busy with Riku. And I definitely didn't want to ask Tidus. He'd enjoy himself too much...Then again...Look who's doorstep I was standing on. Tidus might've been the better choice.
After what felt like an eternity, the door swung open and a tall red-haired man opened the door. "Why hello there…"
I glanced up and smiled nervously. I had never met Axel's father before.
"You here to see Axel?"
I nodded and swallowed the thick coat of mucous that had built up inside my throat.
He turned around briefly exclaiming, "Axel! Some kid's here to see ya! Get your ass down here now!" His attention turned back to me, a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips. No doubt, Axel was his father's son. "The name's Reno." He extended his hand out to me.
"Nice to meet you, sir," I replied, firmly shaking his hand. It was a sign of good-character, Dad always said, to shake hands with a firm grip. Made you seem like a business man or a man that meant business...or something like that.
Axel peeked over his father's shoulder, a silly grin on his face. "So you did decide to pay me a visit, did you?"
"Yeah…" I answered, rubbing the back of my neck, suddenly finding my dirty shoelaces quite intriguing.
"Please excuse me, boys, but I have some very important work to get done," the taller of the two redheads stated, maneuvering around his son. He glanced back and waved, "It was nice meeting ya!"
After his father had retreated to his lair, Axel gave me a devilish smirk. "You gonna stand there on my porch all Saturday afternoon or are you going to come inside?"
I felt a certain nervousness bubbling up from my stomach into my throat and stepped inside of his house. He closed the door behind me and motioned for me to follow him. Our short trek ended in his bedroom; he flopped down backwards in his large armchair and pulled his feet up to rest on his ottoman. I just sort of stood there, looking around. His walls were plastered with various photographs and posters. But the rest of his room was more than organized. It was rather surprising.
"You gonna stand there or take a seat?"
I chuckled nervously and sat down on his bed. It was rather bouncy. "So…uh…can you…ya know…help me out?"
A lecherous Axel-smile crossed his lips as he intertwined his fingers behind his head. "You sure you want this?"
I nodded, suddenly finding anything but Axel very interesting. This was going to be very awkward.
Just thinking about it sent shivers up and down and all around my spine. And not in a good way either. "We hung out and well…" A heavy blush crossed my cheeks. Could I really admit what I had done with Axel? "We…"
"…Yes?"
"Axeltaughtmehowtokiss," I slurred, nervously twiddling my thumbs.
"Oh?" he quirked an eyebrow.
My eyes averted from his and my lips shifted to just right of my nose. "…"
"Why?"
"I don't know. I wanted to learn."
"I could've taught you!" he declared, slamming his fist into his hand.
"Why do you care? It's not like you've been around much since you started dating Kairi. So how would you have been able to teach me how to kiss?!"
"Sora…" His eyebrows knitted together as he continued, "Why didn't you ask me first?"
"Like I said, you haven't been around," I mumbled, rubbing my two shoes together.
"Sora…"
"What?"
"I thought…" he allowed his voice to drag out in a playful manner.
"Thought what, Riku?"
"I thought that you were straight!" he taunted, poking me in the chest.
"I'm bi. So what?"
"You know…I'm insulted."
"Why?" I questioned.
"Because you know I'm a better kisser than Axel. Therefore…I would've been a better candidate for a teacher," he concluded, an ear-to-ear grin spread across his face.
"But you have a girlfriend."
Riku shook his head, chuckling and continued with his bio homework. "Let's just drop it."
"So how about them Yankees?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Don't watch football."
"They're baseball."
"Shut up."
I walked through the bedroom door, closing it behind me. Dad was home and in the kitchen. Right where I needed to be. "It's now or never," I murmured, drawing in a deep breath before traversing down the staircase and into the yellow-painted kitchen. "Dad?" I quietly inquired, approaching him from behind, "Why don't you like Riku? Will you tell me now that we're home? Please?"
"He's a bad influence on you," he nonchalantly replied, bringing a rather large knife down on a poor, defenseless onion.
"How so?" I frowned, pondering what he meant.
"He drinks, smokes and parties," Irvine intervened, waltzing in from behind.
"Jerk…"
"It's true and you know it Sora. He really is a bad influence on you," he finished and took his glass of water back into the living room. He gave me a look that totally said, 'You have a secret and I know all about it.'
"What got your panties in a knot?!" I huffed and began searching the cupboards for Mom's pineapple cookie recipe. "It's not like you don't!"
"And you're mister perfect?!" Irvine shot back.
"Knock it off, both of you. Sora, if you're looking for your mother's recipes, they're under the cupboard next to the stove. Irvine, quit taking your anger out on Sora. And boys, behave. I'm going to visit your mother here in a couple hours."
"What's the point? It's not like she can hear you anyway," the pony-tailed brunette spat. "She's in a coma if you don't remember, Dad."
"That's enough!" Dad bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Don't disrespect your mother."
I decided against making cookies and retreated to my room. We definitely weren't having cookies. Too many roadblocks. "How goes the study guide?"
"Well…"
"Well…?" I closed my door and flopped backwards onto my over-sized bed. "How far along are you?"
"Just about done."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Want to see?"
I knew that something was up. He couldn't have finished his study guide that quickly. I had barely finished the fourth question! I snatched his paper and read his answers. I started laughing. Well...until I got to the bottom after he finished his little rant about how I was a, quote, sexy, unquote, dumb ass. The very last read, 'Kiss me!' in big, bold letters.
I looked from what he had written, over to him and back to what he had written before rolling my eyes. Playfully, of course. "Now that the cat's out of the bag, you're going to bug me about it, aren't you?"
"Maybe."
"You have a girlfriend and I already like a certain someone right now!"
"This certain someone?" he queried as he picked up the small collection of Rikku-Portraits I had done during the last couple of weeks of math.
"…Yeah…"
"Tsk, tsk, Sora. She and I share the name and you pick the female over me? Shame, shame..."
"…So?"
He proceeded to dig through his night bag. "Want to take a nap?" he asked, briefly looking up and eyeing the bed.
"Not really," I answered.
"What do you want to do, Mr. Socks?"
"Mr. Socks?" I questioned. That couldn't have been a new nick-name for me; he was looking at something in his bag.
"Yep! I brought you over a pair of socks!" he happily exclaimed, pulling them out.
"O-Kay?"
"Here! Put these on!"
I took off my shoes and stuck my foot into one. They were green. Like his favorite color. And they had white circles on them. Polka-dotted socks…kinda weird. They looked like they came out of the girl's aisle…
"…Alright…why did you want me to put these on?"
He shrugged. "I saw them in Wal Mart. Thought that you'd like them."
I shook my head, a small smile playing at my lips. He was always thinking of me, spending his spare change on me instead of his girlfriend. After I put the second sock on, I noticed that it had becomesilent downstairs. "I'm going to bake cookies for real this time." I was very bent on making those cookies. My craving for pineapple cookies was comparative to that of a pregnant woman's craving for pickles dipped in mayonaise.
"Alright," he replied. "I'm going to do the study guide for real this time."
I nodded, walked out of my bedroom and looked over the balcony, double checking that they were really done arguing. It appeared that Irvine had vacated the premises. The coast was clear.
I descended the stairs to the kitchen and pulled out the recipe book. I preheated the oven to 350° and began mixing the dough. Thoughts of Rikkubegan to spring up all over in my mind. I felt kind of guilty over what I had done to her earlier in English. I was surprised that she was able to forgive me as quickly as she had. I know that Kairi would've eaten me alive and used my bones to pick her teeth. But Rikku...she still talked to me and seemed pleased with me during math...If I could manage to get my hands on her, she'd be one heck of a catch---forgiving, beautiful and grossly sweet.
After I put the cookies into the oven, I brought soda and chips up to Riku. I peered over his shoulder to be sure he was actually doing his homework. He, to my surprise, was. I smiled at him and ruffled his hair.
"You know, I spent some time on my hair today."
"Don't you always?" I teased, tapping him on the nose. "I've gotta watch my cookies. Just though that I'd bring you up some snacks."
"Thanks," he responded, scribbling an answer down on the piece of paper.
My cookies were baked to perfection. I put them on a cooling rack and smiled to myself. They smelled very good. While waiting for them to cool, I checked on Dad's stew, stirring it and taste-testing it. To ensure that it was up to the standards, of course. Not to snack on for no good reason.
Riku descended the stairs and came into the kitchen, eyeing the cookies. "Well, don't those look tasty?"
"Yeah. But they're for after dinner."
"What's for dinner?"
"Dad's famous beef stew," I responded.
"Is it edible?"
I socked him in the arm. "You've always liked Dad's cooking. Don't be a jerk."
"I was just kidding. It smells good," he amended, rubbing his arm. "Better than---"
"TV dinners and microwave cooking?" I finished, chuckling.
"Yeah…"
"Well…I, personally, consider TV dinners a luxury. I never had one until you and I got to be friends." I continued, "I've always had home-cooked meals. Never knew what a 'Spaghetti-O' tasted like until I met you. I missed out on all of those delicious delicacies during my childhood."
He began to chuckle, a genuine smile upon his visage. "When I heard that you had never eaten Spaghetti-O's, I remember how absolutely astonished I was. I thought your family was crazy and that you were a very deprived child."
"Well Mr. TV Dinners, you're stuck here with me for the next two and a half days. Guess you have to deal with home-cooked food!"
"That sucks," he sardonically replied, rolling his eyes. "I think I'm going to go back up to the room and finish my homework."
A few minutes later, I followed him up to the room with a bowl of stew in each hand, a plate of pineapple cookies balanced on one arm, a huge cup of strawberry milk tucked between my other arm and body and a huge cup of chocolate milk delicately balanced between my hands and the bowls of soup.
Riku looked up from his homework, a wide grin plastered to his face. "You look goofy. Need some help?"
"That'd be great!"
He took one bowl and the chocolate milk and set them on my desk before taking the strawberry milk and the plate of cookies. "Thanks for dinner, Sora."
"No prob! Not like I cooked tonight."
He laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world and slurped up the contents of his bowl. "That was really good. Can I have a cookie now?"
I nodded and sipped my chocolate milk. After he took a bite, I grinned at him. "Know what kind of fruit that is?"
"Pineapple." he replied.
"Paopu."
"What?!"
I snatched the cookie from his hand and took a bite. "We're sharing paopu!"
His face turned bright red. "Why?"
I laughed more.
"What's so funny?"
"You should've seen the expression on your face. They were pineapple cookies!"
"You shouldn't tease like that, So-ra."
I sat down on my bed and drained the remainder of the contents from my bowl. Glancing over to my biology book, I decided that I would definitely just copy Riku's homework and that we should definitely play videogames. "So...What do you want to do?" I asked, knowing very well what I wanted to do.
"What did you have in mind? Halo?"
I smiled and nodded. "Want to set it up?"
"No."
I frowned and pouted my bottom lip. "Pretty please...?
He offered me a glass of soda while we played Halo. I graciously accepted and gulped it down. "The soda has an odd taste to it," I suspiciously stated, noting how it burned my throat.
"Want some more?" he casually replied.
"Why not?" I nodded and picked up the plasma rifle that happened to nonchalantly be laying on the ground before my character.
He poured me another and before I knew it, I no longer had any coordination and my speech started to go downhill. I yawned. "What kinda alcohol did you put in this drink Ri?" I carefully articulated. I was doing my best not to slur my words because that would mean that I was drunk. And I most definitely was not drunk. Not after two drinks.
"Vodka."
"Figures," I responded, throwing my controller down on my carpeted floor. I pointed at him and frowned, "You shoulda saved that til Irvy went to sleep. He's on to me drinking."
"I can't believe you're already drunk. You are such a lightweight!"
"I can't believe you didn't wait'il later. And I'm not drunk."
"Dude, your shit-faced after two drinks."
"You obviously have a higher liquor tolerance than me," I declared, crossing my arms. "And I'm not drunk."
He continued to laugh. "You're funny when you're drunk man."
"Ri?" I asked, "Can I have another pretty please? So I can get drunk...?"
He shook his head at me. "You've had enough."
"But Ri, I'm not drunk yet! And I'm going ta stand up and walk and prove it to you!"
"Go for it."
So I did. I stood up, stumbled a little and walked in what I thought to be a very straight line, turned around and approached him, a proud smile plastered on my lips. "See? I'm not drunk."
"Right. You just deemed yourself drunk by stumbling across your room. Here. Eat this," he handed me the bag of chips and my waterbottle. "This will help settle your stomach for the morning."
"I'm not drunk yet. But snacks sound really good right now," I grinned, cramming a handful of chips into my mouth. I stumbled over towards my bed and tripped face-forward into Riku's pile of stuff. I looked through it and found magazines. "What're these?"
"Open one up."
I opened the one on top up and giggled when I found it to be one of those...dirty magazines. There were a bunch of girls touching themselves. It kind of turned me on. I liked the one that sort of looked like Rikku. She was really, really cute. I imagined Rikku in her place. I continued to flip through the magazine with Riku over my shoulder. Which was a little weird. Looking at porn with your best friend was definitely one of those things that you shouldn't tell anybody. Ever.
"Ri?" I inquired.
"Sora?" he replied.
"I think that I want to lay down now. Wanna lay with me?"
"Sure."
We got up on my over-sized bed and laid there for a minute. A very small smile crossed Riku's face. He looked at me, crawling closer. He snuggled up against me. I hadn't seen this side of Riku…well…ever.
"So-ra?"
"What?"
He firmly pressed his lips to mine. And, as Axel taught me, I brushed my tongue against his lips, begging for entrance. And, fairly quickly after this, I found myself beneath Riku and ran my fingers through his long, silky, silver hair as his tongue dipped into my mouth. He tasted like warm honey. At least…that's what my drunken brain told me.
I pulled his body closer to mine and wrapped my arms around his neck, a low purr escaping my throat. He pulled away, searching my eyes for something. "Why're you stopping?"
A small smile crossed his lips and he shook his head. "I can't do this with you while you're drunk."
"But I'm not drunk!" I insisted, beginning to unbutton his shirt.
"Sora. You'll regret this in the morning." He got off of me and laid down next to me, in his usual spot to my right.
"Ri-ku! I'm not drunk! And I love you!"
His eyes widened momentarily before he closed them, shaking his head. "Sora. You're my best friend. And you don't love me like that. We're best friends. Nothing more. And you're drunk."
"But Ri!"
"And besides…I have a girlfriend. I shouldn't be doing this." He turned over on his side, away from me.
"Ri-ku…" I quietly articulated, before falling into deep slumber.
The phone rang obnoxiously loud. I woke quite abruptly and realized the position I was in. I blushed and he stirred. "What are you doing Sora?" Riku groggily asked.
"Answering the phone."
"No…" he protested, wrapping his arm around me. "You're my teddy bear. And you're staying right here with me."
"It might be important," I responded.
"Alright…"
I got up and picked the irritatingly noisy object off the receiver. It was Dad. And he sounded uncharacteristically happy. "Sorry for calling you so late Sora!"
"What's up, Dad?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, yawning.
"Mom's waking up."
It took me a moment. But as the reality of what he had said settled in, my eyes opened widely. "Seriously?"
"Yes. She responded to my hand in hers and began talking to me."
"That's great news!"
"What is?" Riku inquired, stretching his arms out wide.
"Mom's waking up!" I excitedly exclaimed, covering the mouthpiece of the phone with my hand before glancing over to my alarm and realizing that it was four o'clock in the morning. As thrilled as I was about the news, drowsiness settled back in and hit me hard. And my head was pounding.
"You'd better get back to sleep, Sora. It's late."
"Alrighty Dad…" I yawned again, "I'll come over first thing when I wake up. Maybe she'll be completely conscious by then…?"
"Hopefully," he replied. "Get some sleep, son."
"Good night, Dad." I hung up my phone and looked back over to my best friend. "What time did we go to bed?" I puzzled.
"About seven-thirty."
"That early?"
He laughed. "Yeah, we got drunk. Rather…you got drunk. I drank twice as much as you. I was barely tipsy."
I nodded and yawned, crawling back into bed with Riku. Then everything, aside from the whole Mom thing, really hit me. Reality felt to me kinda like how a finch would feel if it were smacked upside the head with a bag of bricks.
"Riku…" I was afraid to ask why we were in bed cuddled up to each other.
"Hmm?" he ran his fingers through his cool grey hair and turned over onto his back, pulling the blanket up over himself.
"You kissed me." I sank into the covers. "You have a girlfriend. Kairi. Our friend since forever."
"I know…"
"You cheated on her. With me. You cheated on Kairi with me. With me. Me!" I was in shock. I didn't know what to do. Or say for that matter. Oh man was Kairi going to eat me alive. She was going to tear the flesh from my bones and drink up all the blood spilled before pulling apart my skeleton and picking her teeth. I was dead. And I wasn't even the one who provoked it. I felt bad for Riku.
"Yeah. I know." For a brief moment in time, I was sure that I heard a guilty tone in his voice. I knew he was about to change the subject; he began to laugh. "Sora, you're so funny when you're drunk."
"I wasn't drunk…"
"Know what else?" he turned on his side to face me, head propped up on his hand.
"What?"
"You were the one who seduced me."
"Was not!" I exclaimed, vaguely remembering what had happened. "You were the one who initially laid your lips on mine!"
"So you do remember…" he asserted.
I felt my cheeks heat up. I shifted in bed and turned my head toward the wall so he wouldn't look at me. So I wouldn't look at him. So he wouldn't see me blush. So I wouldn't have to blush.
"Look at me Sora."
"No!"
"Fine. I'll just have to make you…" I could hear the smirk in his voice. And after a few seconds of being tickled, he persuaded me to look him in the eye. "I fucked up."
I nodded. "Are you…ya know…gonna tell her?"
He shook his head. "No way. I'm not. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Or me. Or you."
I nodded and moved so as to face the wall again. The room grew quiet. The light being emitted from the television screen we never turned off gave everything in the room an eerie glow. And my imagination started running rampant. Before I could decide that aliens were going to come in through the window, I turned over to face my friend. "Hey Riku?"
"Hmmm…?" He had fallen back asleep.
"Thanks."
"For what?" he grumbled.
"Not letting it go any further than what it did…"
"Yeah…"
It grew quiet again. And this time I was sure that Big Foot was going to break into my house and raid my refrigerator. "Hey Riku?"
"What, Sora?" He sounded slightly aggrivated.
"…I'm not gay."
A chuckle rumbled from the blanket. "Whatever."