Sorry for the delay, people!
I was being derpy again. But, um, thanks to 8 awesome people who reviewed on chapter 1:
-Harueve
-zeorphix
-FANG ee
-Rinkushido
-Kitty (HelloKitty55443)
-odede15
-3 (Guest)
-eve (Guest)
And of course, thanks to the people who followed and favourited who I don't know and I'm too lazy to go check so.../shot.
Anyway, sorry if we didn't reply to your review, we were a bit busy. ^^"
.::Guest replies::.
3: We're glad you like our story. I'm reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllll llllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy sorry that I took forever to type this chapter.
eve: Well, um, it's not finished yet...I just took a really long time to type this chapter...
Chapter 2
Aisha's mouth was agape so wide, her jaw basically just fell off its hinges. She didn't say a word; she just stared at the boy. Aisha had completely forgotten that Rena was beside her.
Rena nudged her and Aisha was snapped out of her shock. Aisha turned to her friend and was about to say something, but she instantly forgot once she saw the look on Rena's face.
"Oh gosh, what is it this time?" Aisha asked, grimacing, knowing she'd regret asking.
"You seem to really like this Savior guy," Rena said, suggestively. Aisha mentally face palmed herself
"No, it's not like that, Rena," Aisha protested. Rena only hummed.
"Sure it's not," Rena said nonchalantly. "Look, Aisha, the key to a guy's heart is –"
"I TOLD YOU, IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Aisha shrieked, blushing fiercely, and drawing unwanted attention to herself in the process of denying her friend's statement. Aisha glanced around and buried her face in her hands, her face turning brighter than a tomato.
"Okay, okay, yeah, I get it. A spazzy girl is very much interesting, but obviously, I'm cooler, right?" Elsword's voice projected from the microphone. Majority of the girls Aisha's age squealed and giggled, replying with, "Of course you are, Elsword-sama!"
Aisha peeked out between her fingers, noticing that everyone's attention was drawn back to Elsword and the mayor. She sighed and removed her hands from her still-red face. She sent a furious glare at Rena, who replied with a clueless, "What?"
Aisha didn't dare to open her mouth. She was afraid she'd start ranting really loudly and become the center of attention again. She only continued glaring at her friend. Sometimes, she didn't even know why she was friends with people like Rena.
When the presentation ended, the sun was high in the sky, leaning towards the east a bit. Chung placed his hands casually behind his head as him, Rena and Aisha strolled.
"Wow," Chung said, fighting the urge to laugh. "What was that all about, Aisha?" Chung asked.
"What do you mean?" Aisha asked, confused.
"Your random outburst back at the presentation," Chung said. Aisha groaned and hid her face in her hands again.
"Ugh! Don't even remind me of that, Chung!" Aisha muttered. "It was so awkward and embarrassing and the list goes on!" Chung patted Aisha on the back.
"There, there, child, you'll be alright." Chung said. "So – AH!" Rena and Aisha laughed at Chung's girlie scream when Eve jumped on Chung's back. Chung struggled to get whoever the person is who jumped on his back, but Eve simply dodged his flailing arms.
Eve giggled and pecked Chung on the cheek. Chung utterly freaked out, flipping Eve off his back.
"I have a girlfriend!" Chung shrieked, panting from all the effort he tried in getting Eve off him. Chung's face instantly paled once he saw who he had flipped.
"And good boyfriends don't flip their girlfriends off their backs," Eve said, rubbing her head.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry, Eve!" Chung apologized, helping Eve up. "I didn't know it was you! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Eve said, brushing the dust off of her clothes. "I almost lost you back there in the crowd,"
"What!" Chung blurt. "I told you to stay home. I said I'd deal with these kind of things,"
"And I said I'm not utterly defenseless," Eve said, putting her hands on her hips.
"I know that, but I don't want to risk you getting hurt! You could easily get mugged or something!" Aisha sighed.
"Well, I'll leave you two love-birds to Aisha here," Rena said, walking off while waving.
"What! Hey! NO! Don't leave me with them!" Aisha shouted.
"I'll be late for my job if I don't," Rena called back nonchalantly. Aisha fumed.
"Your job sucks! And it's not even legit!" Aisha retorted heatedly. Rena merely walked away like she hadn't heard Aisha. Aisha angrily blew a strand of hair out of her face while the two lovers continued their quarrel. Rena was always like this – whenever Eve and Chung would begin arguing Rena would just walk away and leave Aisha to deal with their arguments.
XXX
Aisha grumbled, waiting for their argument to end; waiting for their lovey-dovey stuff to happen and end the argument. All of their arguments ended either with a hug, a kiss, or a really long lecture from Eve.
So will it be the kiss, the hug, or the lecture today, Aisha asked herself, kicking a small rock. It tumbled and rolled towards Chung and Eve. Aisha glanced up at them, seeing them hugging. She always felt so out of place whenever things like this occur. Eve had Chung, or vice versa – she had to admit, Chung isn't as physically strong as most other guys in Sander. Rena had Raven, despite the fact that they were merely friends with benefits, they seem to genuinely care about each other. And who did Aisha have? No one. And to top it off, her friends were constantly affectionate towards their significant other. It was like they were unconsciously rubbing it in her face.
"Guys, I hate to kill the mood, but we should head home now, it's getting late," Aisha said, gesturing to the pastel-coloured sky. The sun was just dipping into the horizon, but in Sander, it was best to get home early. Chung groaned and Eve giggled.
"Well in spite of your attempt, you utterly destroyed my happy moment," Chung grumbled. Eve elbowed him playfully.
"Who said it was only your happy moment," She remarked, grinning. The trio began heading home, but Eve and Chung were side by side and Aisha was awkwardly trailing behind the two. Chung's stomach suddenly let out a grumble. He flushed out of embarrassment. Eve stifled a laugh.
"So, do you guys want to stop by a restaurant for dinner first?" Chung asked.
"Yeah, sure why not," Eve replied, still a little giggly.
"Forever alone," A familiar voice whispered, eerily into her ear, making the hairs on the back of Aisha's neck stand. Aisha replied with a shriek and jumped away from whoever was behind her. Chung's head whipped around. Eve's grip tightened on Chung's hand, staring at the paled Aisha.
"What's going on?" Eve asked, nervously. She had never seen the strange girl before them. She looked strangely like Aisha, but she dressed…differently from what Aisha would prefer.
"Who are you, and what do you want," Chung demanded. He suddenly felt as if he were the strongest person on the planet. The strange girl giggled and floated around on her wand.
Sitting on her wand, floating in mid-air, was Aisha's cousin, Speka. Speka had a huge grin pasted on her face, fighting the urge to burst out laughing. Aisha pouted, blowing strands of her hair out of her face.
"That's not funny, Speka! You scared me half to death!" Aisha exclaimed, both hands over her racing heart.
"It so is funny," Speka said, breaking into a fit of laughter. "You just don't see it because you nearly wet yourself," Aisha's face instantly turned red from the embarrassment. Chung snickered and Aisha kicked his shin, glaring at him, clearly telling him to shut up.
"I did not," Aisha retorted.
"You know you did, just accept it, little cousin," Speka sneered, casually observing her nails. Aisha pretended she didn't hear that and continued the conversation, purposely changing the topic.
"Mother and father would like to know that you came to visit," Aisha said. She turned to her friends. "Sorry, but I have to head home early. You guys can still go to that restaurant though. I'll see you guys tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure, it's all okay," Eve said.
"Bye," Chung called. Before Aisha was out of their sight, Eve ran up to Aisha.
"Come over to our place later tonight, like at 10 or something, and just wait outside of Chung's house," Eve whispered. Aisha didn't really want to go outside so late at night. Plus, she knew those were 'party hours', everyone wandering the streets were either utterly drunk or they're out for your blood. But Aisha nodded, nonetheless.
"Okay, I'll see you soon," Aisha mumbled back. Eve smiled and ran back to Chung, waving goodbye as she ran. Aisha only hoped she wasn't making a decision that she'd regret for the rest of her life here.
XXX
Aisha was in the middle of the 'scenic route' to her house with Speka when she saw the Bulletin Board. She paused in front of the board, trying to procrastinate, scanning the pieces of paper, pinned to the wooden plank of wood. Aisha glanced at the sky. She could see the warm pastel colours of the sky earlier begin to fade, getting replaced by a soft blue sky. The first star wasn't even up in the sky yet, so Aisha started brushing pieces of paper aside, just randomly skimming the posters.
"Hey, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be leading me back to your place?" Speka asked, floating up to Aisha.
"Yeah, but you don't know my parents, it's best to procrastinate." Aisha said, momentarily looking away from the posters. When she glanced back, she saw a particular one that caught her eye. It wasn't exactly colourful or bright, but the large black letters definitely said something. In big bold letters it said: THE SAVIOR OF SANDER; ELSWORD SEIGHART – followed by a picture of him. Aisha couldn't help but admit he was rather good-looking.
Apparently, Speka also saw what Aisha was looking at.
"So," Speka said, suggestively, "you seem to have an eye for this 'Saviour of Sander' guy," Aisha groaned.
"I do not!" Aisha yelled, recalling the day's events.
"Oh, Aishie, you're so stubborn," Speka scolded. "You need to learn to accept things – like when you're in love with someone that's way out of your league," Aisha scowled.
"I am not in love, Speka," Aisha spat through gritted teeth, her hands unconsciously crushing the paper in her grip. Speka sighed.
"Come on, the sun's setting, we should go now," Speka said, slinging her arm over her younger cousin's shoulder. Aisha stuck her tongue out at her older cousin, walking ahead.
Speka rolled her eyes. How mature, Speka thought sarcastically. She increased her speed and floated next to Aisha the rest of the walk home.
XXX
Aisha reluctantly unlocked the door and stepped into the warmer building along with her cousin.
"Hey, Aisha," Her mother greeted the minute Aisha had stepped into the kitchen.
"Hi, mother," Aisha mumbled, wary of her father. Speka floated into the room shortly after Aisha had entered.
"Hey, Auntie," Speka murmured nonchalantly as she looked around the room.
"Oh, Speka, you should've told us you were visiting," Aisha's mother said, walking over to the girls. "How did you and Aisha meet?"
"We met in the worst way possible; her scaring me half to death," Aisha grumbled. Speka only laughed.
"I'll be staying here for a while, Auntie, so where should I be sleeping," Speka said.
"Oh, we'll lay out an air mattress for you in Aisha's room, alright?" Aisha's mother replied. "We're sorry that you have to sleep on an air mattress, but we don't have enough rooms or beds and unless you want to smell alcohol all night, I suggest you don't sleep on the couch," She wrinkled her nose.
"It's alright," Speka said.
XXX
It was 5 minutes to ten, and Speka was fast asleep on her air mattress, snoring extremely loudly. It was a good thing Aisha would be out for a couple hours, that way she wouldn't have to deal with Speka's snoring as much.
Aisha didn't pick out anything fancy. She merely wore what she wore everyday. The nights in Sander were surprisingly humid and warm.
She quietly slipped out of her room and down the stairs. Just as Aisha was about to open the door, she heard someone's voice.
"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" Her father demanded. Aisha's blood ran cold, but what made her heart stop was that her father was actually sober for once. Aisha turned around. He had his arms crossed and a stern look on his face, as though he was trying hard not to glare at her.
"A-ah, yeah, about that," Aisha stammered nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "I-I noticed that you were out of vodka, so I thought I'd go buy some,"
"This late at night?" Her father scoffed.
"Y-yeah," Aisha stuttered.
"Whatever," He muttered, sitting down on the couch, "as long as you come back with drugs or alcohol. If you don't have either or, don't even bother coming back," Aisha swallowed hard.
"Y-yes, father," With that, she ran out the door.
Aisha ran across her family's property to Chung's house. Eve was waiting at the door.
"Hey," Aisha greeted, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Hey," Eve replied. "What took you so long?"
"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," Aisha said, sheepishly. "I had a run-in with my father," Eve grimaced.
"I never liked that old man of yours very much," Eve said. "Anyway, we should get going," Eve walked down the sandy pathway and Aisha reluctantly followed her. She didn't actually know where they were going, but Aisha had a strong feeling that Eve was taking her clubbing with her.
XXX
"Hey, Lenphad," Eve greeted the man standing at the door, in front of the ridiculously long line to the door.
"Hey!" The man replied. "Good to see you again,"
"You too," Eve grinned. The man – Lenphad – lifted the curtain for Eve, but when Aisha tried to follow Eve in, Lenphad put in arm in front of the entrance, blocking Aisha from entering.
"End of the line," He spat. Aisha didn't bother trying to reason with Lenphad she just instantly began walking to the end of the line.
"Wait! She's with me, Lenphad, don't be so mean to her," Eve called. She grabbed Aisha's arm and dragged her into the club. Aisha honestly would've preferred waiting all night in the line.
Inside the club, it was jam-packed. Everyone dancing would always kick, elbow her or punch her by accident as she walked by. But it amazed her how Eve never got hit. As Eve led Aisha through the crowd, the music became louder and louder.
As they approached the man playing the music, Aisha could see that it was less crowed here. It was definitely deafening here, but there weren't many people. Once there wasn't a wave of people blocking her view from everything, she could see that beside the man at the music player, there was a tall girl smoking. She wore dark colours with a black boa over her shoulders, like a python ready to snap at you if you got too close.
"Ara!" Eve called. The girl's attention snapped to Eve and a smile appeared on her face.
"Hey, Eve," Ara said. She took notice of Aisha, observing her. "Who's…this?" Ara asked, gesturing to the paled girl.
"Oh, this is Aisha," Eve said. "Aisha, this is Ara, and that guy is her brother, Aren,"
"N-n-nice to meet you," Aisha stuttered, extending her hand for a hand shake. Ara threw her head back and laughed a high and pitchy laugh.
"Where're you from – Ruben?!" Ara chuckled. Aisha was about to answer, but Ara cut her off. "We don't do handshakes here, at least not in the club we don't," Ara slung her arm over Aisha's shoulder. "This is Sander at night, Aisha,"
Eve grinned, "It's not the Sander you've come to know so well," Aisha felt light-headed and dizzy. Her stomach was churning. This wasn't a good sign. It always meant something bad is about to happen.
Oh gawsh, I'm sososososososo sorry it took this long.
It didn't even turn out that great, but it was better than the previous draft of chapter 2, in my opinion at least, so whatever.
So, Ara is introduced in this chapter and Eve brings Aisha clubbing. What could go wrong? Just about everything. lol.
I hope it was worth the wait...maybe? maybe not? idk. R&R...if you're still reading this after it took me so long to update. derp.
-Kayuki
*Question of the Chapter: What do you think is the 'bad thing' that's about to happen?