So Surreal – So Real
Chapter One
The methodical slapping of cards on the table was the only sound permeating the concentration-charged room except for the occasional grunt or soft-spoken curse. All of a sudden, there was a loud explosion of laughter and plastic folding chairs crashing on the concrete floor.
"What the hell!" a gruff male voice roared as the laughter grew louder.
"Sorry, no more spoons. You gotta sit out now," another male voice, shaking with laughter replied.
"Hey! You never said anything about that!" the first voice argued indignantly.
"Hm… Really?... Nope, nope. We mentioned it before we started playing, I remember. One of the rules we all agreed upon." There was a pause as the smoother, careless voice's owner silently went over the aforementioned rules in his head. "Yep. And I quote: 'Most importantly, if you fail to gain ownership of one of these lovely white, cheep plastic spoons three times, not necessarily in a row – meaning you lose for three rounds – you will be eliminated from the game until a champion is named and a new game of Spoons is started up again. Then it's fair game and all are welcome, providing there're enough spoons…'"
"Oh."
"Yep. So, Yash," a new, edgy baritone voice joined the other two, "looks like you're out. And… seeing as how you're the first one… You can go on a beer run! Don't forget to buy the good stuff and not the cheep, crappy shit you like!"
The voice deigned 'Yash' mumbled something about shoving something up someone's ass, but a chair scrapped against the concrete ground and the sound of rustling fabric as 'Yash' moved across the nearly empty room was evident.
"Oh, Inuyasha!" The second voice called hastily before the first could yank the door open. "Could you pick up some food, too? Maybe burritos or nachos? Oh! And those crunchy cheesy things that turn your fingers orange! Please?"
"What am I? That wussy teacher thrown in jail for killing a diabetic horse from Half Baked?"
"…Yes?"
"Ah! Whatever! I'll be back in twenty minutes! Don't start another game without me!"
"I don't know 'bout that! I mean, it is just Kouga and me, and the final round in this game goes pretty fast…"
"Whatever, Miroku! I'll be back soon!"
A door slammed and an angry young man with long silver hair stomped away from the garage's side door, scowling at the sidewalk as he trudged down to the 7-Eleven on the corner. Inside the dimly lit storage space, the second speaker turned to the man beside him with a shrug.
"So, Kouga," he said casually. "Shall we use your spoon or my spoon?"
"Shut up, Miroku!" Kouga swiped irritably at the slobbery spoon dangling from Miroku's mouth and tossing it aside, slapping his own plastic spoon on the table. "Just pass me the cards!"
x
Rin Takawaki walked up the paved pathway to a grey-blue townhouse, smiling brightly. A yellow backpack was slung over one shoulder and she carried a portable amp in one hand and a bass guitar case in the other. Whistling a light on-the-spot tune, she leaned the case against the porch and opened the forest-green door, stepping into complete chaos.
The sight that greeted her was conducted in true Taijiya family fashion. Sango Taijiya, the eldest child, was running around, searching for her pick jar (if what Rin caught of the teenager's frantic muttering was correct). Kohaku, Sango's twelve-year-old brother, was rolling around on the floor in a gigantic wrestling match with his friend, Souta Higurashi, and a few other boys from the neighborhood, bumping and rolling into furniture that had already been pushed against the walls of the living room. Mr. Taijiya was just waking up, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he walked into the hallway in only a pair of faded, dark blue sweatpants. He would probably retreat to the shed in the back yard to work on some project or another later.
Smiling brightly, Rin cheerily called out a greeting before striding into the cheery, yellow kitchen to find Ayame Yuki already sitting at the round table, tapping on the worn wooden surface with her fingers, headphones attached to her ears. Sinking into the chair opposite her, Rin poured herself a bowl of cereal and dug in, patiently waiting for Sango to appear.
After a while, the eldest Taijiya child burst through the swinging door clutching a glass jar filled with multi-colored guitar picks to her chest. Rin glanced knowingly at the girl and continued rinsing out her bowl. Ayame cracked open a green eye and paused in her tapping to calmly observe the frantic brunette. Sliding her headphones from her head to hang around her neck, Ayame stood up, shoving her beat up iPod into her back pocket, still playing. Nodding at Sango, she walked to the door that lead to the garage and strutted in confidently. Rin smiled and picked up her equipment and followed after the redhead. A dazed Sango stumbled in after.
The three girls silently took up their positions, Rin plugging in her amp and unpacking her bright orange and yellow bass, thumbing the strings to make sure they were in tune. Ayame shook her head at the strangely colored instrument before twirling her drumsticks and pumping the bass and cracking the snare drums. Sango humbly hooked up her hot pink and black and white paint-splattered guitar, fishing around in her pick jar before extracting a purple pick. Once they were all set up, Sango nodded to Ayame, the redhead giving a whooping shout before crashing her sticks into the gleaming brass cymbals.
Rin beamed, thumbing out a steady beat, the deep chords resonating in the girls' chests. Sango's fingers glided smoothly over the neck of her guitar, the first few chords ringing through the lighted garage. Stepping up to the microphone, Sango took a deep breath before her voice came over the slow music, breathy and hushed.
As the song progressed, the music picked up speed and grew louder, Sango's voice rising and falling as she hammered on the guitar in her hands. Eyes screwed shut, she blocked out the rest of the world, letting the music consume her, pouring her soul into the liberating moment.
"I don't want to hear the words coming out of your mouth – Stop! Why don't you analyze your thoughts – Before you speak your mind – And make all this even worse than it really is!"
Rin and Ayame shared a quick smile before returning to their world of music. Starting Common Ground was definitely a good idea. They'd never seen Sango so happy since the what had happened a few years ago… Now, it was almost as if they'd gotten the old Sango back.
X
"Whop whopwhopwhop whopwhop whop whop whop…"
The raven-haired sixteen-year-old's chin slipped from its position in her right hand, propped up by the desktop. Jerking into shocked alertness, she whipped her head around in an attempt to regain her bearings. Realizing she was sitting in class and her English teacher was lecturing on… something, she sighed and slumped further down in her seat. Glancing down at the paper on her desk, her eyes widened at the lack of notes and the plethora of pencil-drawn doodles beneath a thin layer of drool. Shaking her head, she picked up her pencil and flipped open her binder to a blank sheet, attempting to catch up.
Twenty minutes later, she tottered out of the classroom door, clutching her backpack to her chest. Rubbing at her eyes blearily with the back of her hand, she allowed the crowd of high school students to carry her down the hall towards the cafeteria. Today was just not her day. Maybe pulling an all-nighter wasn't such a good idea after all…
"Kagome!" a voice called from behind her excitedly. "Kagome! Excuse me! Hey! Watch it! Pardon me! Kagome! Over here!"
A hand descended upon her shoulder and a body jostled into her, an angry curse said under the person's breath in her ear, warm breath fanning out on the back of her bare neck – causing goose bumps to rise on her arms. The hand shoved her into the girls' bathroom and she stumbled into the sink, her backpack spilling onto the floor. Gasping for breath, she turned to face the person who'd caused her papers to scatter all over the floor. Groaning softly, she knelt down to gather up the mess on the floor, shoving the other girl on the floor lightly.
"Yuka! Look what you did!" she chided, smiling behind her hand and ducking her head so as to not betray her amusement.
"I'm so sorry, Kagome! I didn't mean to! It was an acci –"
"It's okay, Yuka. Don't worry about it. You just startled me, is all. And I didn't get much sleep last night either, so, you know."
She waved it off and stuffed the crinkled papers into her bad, bending down to check if any had slipped under the stalls. Yuka peered at her back, eyes narrowed and nose wrinkled in concentration. Frowning, she shook her head but leaned back against the edge of the sink. Kagome snatched a paper from beneath a stall and moved on to the next, not noticing the look on her friend's face.
"All-nighter again, huh?" Yuka drawled. Kagome paused in her paper search crouched on the tiled floor. "You know that's not good for you. How many have you pulled this month? Five already? It's November! You're going to get sick!"
Kagome stood up and sighed. Brushing off her jeans, she moved over to the sink and gazed at her reflection in the panoramic mirror. She knew Yuka was staring at her and expecting an answer, but she just didn't have one.
"Yuka…" she finally sighed out. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. Besides, it's almost December and Winter Break's coming up. I'll catch up on sleep then, okay?"
"That's not what I mean, Kagome, and you know it! You barely eat anything, either!"
"That's what gorging at Thanksgiving's for!"
"You're such an idiot! Can't you see that Ayumi, Eri, and I worry about you! I don't even want to think about how terrified your family is for you!" Yuka yelled, pushing at her shoulder lightly.
Just then, a group of chatty freshmen walked in, shrieking and cackling loudly. The two girls just looked at them from the corner of their eyes, freezing the girls in their tracks, not even a foot inside the bathroom. Kagome could see cigarettes halfway out of gaudy little shoulder purses and mentally scoffed, not so much at the cigarettes as at the ridiculous handbags. The gaggle of girls quickly retreated, stuttering apologies and excuses, designer shoes tripping over each other's feet as they hastily backpedaled through the door.
"How can they worry when they don't know?" Kagome hissed at her, snapping her gaze to her friend once the coast was clear, pinning her with a glare that had her taking a step back in shock.
Yuka had never seen her long-time friend so volatile and it scared her. Scooping up her backpack, she turned to the door. Glancing over her shoulder at her rigid-backed friend, she sighed and pushed open the door.
"I'm sorry, Kagome. But I can't help worrying about you. I guess I'll see you around, then," she paused, waiting for a response. When none came, she sighed, muttered a soft "bye", and left the bathroom and Kagome behind, refusing to look back, despite the tears clouding her vision.
In the bathroom, Kagome sighed and rested her head against the cool surface of the mirror, bracing her body on her arms locked on the lip of the sink. Her fingers curled around the sink, knuckles turning white from her strong grip on the dark-grey tile. Eyes squeezed shut and jaw clenched, she tried to steady her breathing and heart rate, her arms shaking from the strain. Finally, she stepped away from the sink and exhaled through her nose. Running a hand through her long, dark hair, she yanked her bag onto her shoulder and exited the bathroom, heading in the opposite direction of the large communal cafeteria. She didn't have much of an appetite…
E
I couldn't help it. Inspiration hit and I had to run with it. This is the third or fourth draft I've written for this on idea and just felt right. Everything will make more sense later, but I just had to get this started. I hope you've enjoyed it so far, though. Oh, and just for the record, any song lyrics I include will be completely original. So I'm not borrowing anyone's ideas or songs. I like making up my own. Until next time! – Hope Swings