"Hilary..." I heard my name being called softly. I groaned and rolled over covering my head with a pillow. "Hilary..." I heard my name again. I cracked one eyes open from underneath my pillow to see Tyson, Mariah, Rei, Max, and Kai all around my bed.
"Happy birthday!" They all yelled loudly.
"Waagggghhhhh!" I yelled loudly as I jumped out of the bed and fell off the bed backwards. "Oww," I stated when my face hit the floor. My legs were tangled in the covers and my arms were trapped underneath me. They all broke out into gales of laughter, except for Kai who smirked.
"Shut up," I said pouting as I pulled myself up off the ground. "How'd you guys find out it was my birthday?" I asked curiously.
"Mariah called us last night," Rei said wiping a tear from his eye. I glanced at her. She smiled sheepishly.
"Aww, you guys are the best," I said with a smile.
"So anyways, you and me are going to go shopping today," Mariah said excitedly.
"Um ok," I said rubbing my cheek where I fell.
"Ugh girls and shopping. Anyway, come to my house tonight for cake." Tyson said.
"Not homemade I hope," I said catiously.
"Actually I was hoping to try out this new recipe..." My eyes widened. He laughed. "Just kidding. Rei's gonna make it." I sighed in relief.
(Later that Day)
"Remind me again why I'm so dressed up again," I said as Mariah and I made our way to the dojo. I was wearing a short black skirt and a white and pink stripped top. She had done my makeup too.
"Well it's your birthday," She said simply.
"Oh yeah," I grumbled.
"And," She continued. "You have to look totally perfect for Kai." I blushed a deep red.
"When did I tell you I liked him?" I asked quietly.
"Well, you didn't exactly tell me you liked him. You just kept talking about it last night." She said simply.
"Hey, I wouldn't be talking. You didn't shut up last night about Rei either," I replied slyly. This time she blushed. We climbed the stairs of Tyson's dojo and opened the door.
"Surprise!" A bunch of people yelled as the lights flicked on. I yelped and practically jumped on Mariah.
"Well that worked better than I thought it would," Rei said with a smirk appearing from the mass of people. I looked up and saw the PPB Allstars, White Tigers, Blitzreig boys, Barthez Betallion, and a whole bunch of my other friends in the room. I smiled widely.
"Oh you guys are the best friends anyone could ever wish for," I said as tears welled up in my eyes.
"Oh here we go," Tala said smugly.
"What I'm not allowed to be appreciative of my friends?" I asked wiping a tear away.
Later at the party, a few people sat on the ground playing truth or dare.
"OK Kai, truth or dare," Mariam said from her perch on the edge of the couch. He growled.
"Who said I was playing?" He asked as he leaned up against the wall.
"Oh come on, who doesn't like a friendly game of truth or dare?" She asked. He gave her a look, but relented.
"Fine. Dare."
"Kiss Hilary." I nearly choked on the orange soda I was drinking.
"What?" I managed after I had swallowed. Kai gave her another look, but leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. My eyes went wide, but I soon closed them. The kiss became deeper and he leaned in more. After about a minute someone coughed alerting us of their presence. I pulled away blushing profusely. Kai merely smirked and put his arm around me. I was still blushing, but leaned up against him anyway.
Everyone in the group smirked, but the game continued.
Even later that night all the girls gathered in a room in the dojo. It was about 2 in the morning and everyone was exhausted. The girls all had their sleeping bags arranged in a circle and were talking. "Shit, I forgot to leave my brother a note. Oh well I'll do it now," I said as I got up.
"You want me to come with?" Mariah asked from the ground.
"Naw," I said. "I'll be fine. Be back in a sec," I opened to door to the hallway, jumping over the sleeping bodies that lay everywhere." Unknown to me, two eyes watched me walk out the door. I quickly made my way up the road. The first few minutes were peaceful. I silently walked down the roads.
Before I knew what was happening, I was pulled into an alley. I gasped. "Alex, what are you doing?" I questioned as I backed away from him. He smirked and pushed me into the nearest wall, blocking my way out by his arms.
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm taking what's rightfully mine," He said as he pushed me up against the wall in a passionate kiss. I pushed him off.
"Take a hike, Alex," I said coldly. He glared at me, then pushed me up against the wall, harder this time.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" He asked as he slapped me. I fell to the ground. He jumped ontop of me and pinned me to the ground. "I'd watch what you do Babe, cause now that I'm out the gang is back together, we wouldn't want anything to happen to those little friends of yours now would we?" He questioned, an insane gleam in his eye. I swallowed. He leaned down to my ear. "Especially Kai," I gasped.
He smiled, leaned down and started kissing my neck. Tears started to make their way down my face. Suddenly, Alex was pulled off of me by a huge shadow. I gasped and backed up. The figure punched him in the face, then in the stomach. Alex looked up and punched the person in the face. It didn't even flinch before grabbing Alex by the shirt and throwing him into the wall. Alex fell down clutching his head.
"Don't you dare ever come near my girl again!" The figure yelled. Wait I know that voice...Alex got up slowly.
"Remember what I said Hilary," He said slowly before running out of the valley. I swallowed and started crying again. The figure walked into the light.
Kai walked over to me and kneeled down. He pulled the hair out of my face and looked at me. I closed my eyes, not wanting him to look at me.
"Look at me," He commanded slowly. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at him. "Are you okay?" I nodded. He looked over my body and picked me up. I didn't protest, I wanted him to hold me. I clutched onto his shirt not wanting him to ever let me go. He walked us out of the alley and up the stairs into my apartment where he sat me on my bed. "What happened with that guy?" He asked slowly. I looked up and him, then at my folded hands in my lap.
"I met him about 6 months ago at one of my friend's parties. We hung out for a while, but I didn't realize he was in a gang until it was to late. Things weren't going to well for me back then. My brother was barely getting by in the bills and I didn't have a lot of friends to talk to. After about a month we started going out. Everything seemed fine at first, then everything changed when he told me about his gang. He said..." I paused.
"Go on," Kai said softly as he rubbed my hand.
I swallowed and continued, "He wanted me to help with the gang. He wanted me to...to sell my body. He freaking wanted me to sell my body! I said no and he-he said he'd break up with me. I didn't want that to happen, so...I said yes." Kai bristled beside me. "One Saturday he took me to a hotel and I went into a room with this guy, but backed out at the last minute. He t-tried to force me down, but I fought back and nothing happened. And now," Bitter tears were running down my face at this time. "He says he's going to hurt you guys and I can't let that happen," I whispered softly.
"Hilary," He said taking my shaking form in his arms. He leant down and buried his face in my hair. "I'm never ever going to let him touch you again," He said firmly. I nodded and cried into his chest. His arms stayed wrapped around me for a long time until my tears subsided. He looked down at me and kissed my forehead. He stood up. "Come on, the girls are probably worried," He said holding out a hand to me. I gingerly took it.
On the way out I wrote my brother a quick note. We were about to reach the door, when Kai suddenly stopped.
"What is it?" I asked quizically.
"I almost forgot. Happy birthday," He said with a smile as he held out a small box to me. I took it and looked at the box. After a few moments he said, "Well are you gonna stand there all day or open it?" But his words were playful. I carefully removed the lid and gasped. Inside was a heart shaped ruby necklace.
"Kai, it's beautiful," I said gawking at it. "I can't take this," I said pushing it into his hands.
"Hey, who said it was free," He said with a smile. He leant down near my ear and whispered, "If you agree to be my girl, it's yours." I smiled.
"You don't need jewelry to know the answer to that," I responded with a kiss.