WORD COUNT: 5,425
NOTE: It's been a month, and with only two reviews! It's very disappointing...but thankfully we've had to great reviewers to make up for it. Thank you Naru-chan13 and , Kreative and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
DISCLAIMER: We (Kreative Kathryn and I) do not own Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. If we did...this story would be real!!!
Chapter Two: Eating Plates and Secret Dates
In a family-oriented restaurant—the type that had old-fashioned and interesting things bolted to the walls— seated in one of those red plastic-leather booths sat four teens talking. To a normal observer it looked like a first double date for the young couples, the way that conversation was accompanied by minor awkward movements. A waiter came up and gave them menus and took drink orders, leaving a small basket of popcorn in front of them.
"So..." Dez began while twiddling her thumbs slowly. Somehow things had worked out that she was sitting next to Kaoru. At first she had protested, using her left handedness as an excuse to sit with Katie, or at least sit in the outer spot. She had spotted Katie and Hikaru already settled down across from her and gave up, "What exactly did bring you guys to the US?"
"Like we said, Mother wanted the seclusion." Hikaru took a sip of the different American soda. Katie had told him to try Root Beer, and it was quite tasty.
"We wanted to get away from Japan," Kaoru continued as his brother drank.
"Plus it's summer. It's not like we're gonna stay." Less than a millisecond later he realized that those words coupled together were not something to mention around the girls. Both girls were crushed by the choice in words, remembering that the boys couldn't be with them forever.
"But I seem to be finding more reasons to stay by the minute." Kaoru quickly added. He winked at Dez, "If you know what I mean." He glanced at his hands for a moment shyly when the girl next to smiled and blushed.
Katie leaned toward Hikaru and whispered behind her hand, "Is it me or are they being completely obvious?" She looked at the couple across from her with the older twin; both were staring avidly at each other. For some reason there was no awkwardness about it. It was comfortable staring...which was odd because most people didn't like being stared at.
"Undeniably," he chuckled under his breath so that only Katie would hear him.
"Hey Dezy?" Katie leaned on her arms.
Dez pulled her gaze from the handsome redhead next to her and looked at her best friend, "Yeah Katie?"
"Why do they always give you popcorn when they know no one's gonna eat it?"
Dez picked up a piece and examined it with an inquisitive sapphire gaze. "So you can do this." She flung the kernel at Katie's face, bouncing it off her nose.
"Ah! I've been hit!" Katie clutched her face as if the popcorn had caused some horrifying wound.
"What the—?" The twins shrugged and started in on the popcorn fight. In a matter of minutes there was popcorn all over the table, some on the floor and even a few pieces in laps or in hair.
"Excuse me; I'm going to have ask you to leave it you don't stop." A very angry looking waitress glared at them over her tray and the teens traded a few sheepish looks before starting to clean up their mess.
"So, Dez-kun, what do you like to do?" Kaoru leaned an arm on the table and caught the girl's gaze.
"Well, I have a lot of hobbies really. I go through phases were I completely drop one and go overboard with another sometimes. Usually during the summer. I'm artsy all over I guess."
Kaoru cocked an eyebrow, "How so?"
"I read and write, I play several instruments and like to sing too...And I love my craptop, er, laptop. I'm on it a lot." She bit her bottom lip nervously, wondering why she couldn't shut up. That was all she needed to do, let her mouth run like a cheap pair of panty hose. Not.
Hikaru's head rested on his arms which were crossed and laying on the table. He was watching Katie very intently as she hunched over a napkin and drew furtively. His gaze zoned out but was still completely on her.
"Hey...Hikaru-kun?" Dez looked at the younger boy curiously, "Are you okay?"
"What?" He jerked up and met the older girl's eyes, "Oh, oh yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
"Um, is she okay?" Kaoru noticed what Katie was doing.
"Who, Katie?" Dez smiled fondly at the artist. "Yeah, she's fine. This is entirely normal. If it's paper she'll draw on it. She carries those pens of hers everywhere. Hey Katie!" She almost laughed at the velocity Katie raised her head. "What ya drawing?"
Katie dropped the pen and quickly slapped her hands over the napkin, "N-nothing!" She blushed and didn't meet Dez's eyes. Oh why couldn't she control the color of her face in times like this? It was so not fair.
"The way you say nothing makes me think that nothing is a something." Dez raised an eyebrow.
"I-it's just a doodle! I do doodle. You too! You do doodle too..." She blushed. "And no, you can't see it yet! I-I'm n-not done!"
"Oh really? Setting restrictions, huh?" Dez smirked impishly. "Hey Hikaru-kun, do me a favor?"
"Hmm? Sure, what?"
"Tickle Katie."
Katie jerked and glared at Dez, "No! Don't do that!"
"Then show us." Dez crossed her arms over her chest.
"N-no!"
Hikaru began to poke and tickle Katie's sides after Dez nodded to him. Just the barest of touches were eliciting squeals from the artist. 'Why am I doing this? Oh well, she makes interesting noises...'
Dez snatched the napkin, 'Ah...music to my ears.' She peered down at the sketch, "Now, what do we have here?" She blushed as her eyes glided over the inked drawing.
"What is it?" Kaoru leaned closer to Dez to look and blushed as well.
"Hey! Let me see." Hikaru stopped tickling Katie and tried to take the napkin away from the girl across the table.
"Ah, jeez. I just wanted them to see how ridiculous they look."
Dez slowly spread the napkin out on the table. Hikaru gawked at the picture of Dez and Kaoru staring at each other (very obviously) and blushing. He was fighting to keep himself from laughing out loud and quite uncontrollably.
"Well, um..." Kaoru's face was tinged pink.
"At least it's good." Hikaru shrugged, finally in control of his laughter.
"That's Katie for you." She raised an eyebrow at the younger girl, "But I think she might have been exaggerating a few things." She stifled a sigh, 'I doubt they would ever feel like that about us. They are infamous for flirting and not meaning anything by it.' She picked up a menu and flipped the center pages back and forth. "What should we eat?"
"Food would be good," Katie grinned at her sarcastic remark.
"Ha ha, very funny."
Hikaru opened a menu and stared at the images of food, "The pictures aren't really helpful either."
Dez slapped the menu down and traded a few silent looks with Katie. There was a shrug and a wink thrown in for good measure. When they opened their mouths, they spoke in perfect unison. "That works."
"What works?" Both twins asked simultaneously. They didn't think it was odd when they talked in unison, only when others did. Besides, they at least used words. Those two hadn't made a single noise.
"Here they have a ton of little appetizers and you can order combinations of them. We could order a few and sample a lot of what they have in larger portions as a real meal and then if we ever come back we'll know what's good." Dez smiled, "That and we won't have to worry about having to finish something we don't like. Everyone has different tastes, so that way all the food will be eaten."
They discussed for a while what they should pick out of the selections and order. Nearing the end of the meal Dez glanced at her watch and her eyes widened.
"Oh, carp! Katie, weren't you supposed to be home a half an hour ago?"
Katie squeaked and jumped up, gathering the doodled-on napkins, "Mom is going to kill me!"
Kaoru glanced up at the hurrying girls. "It's only eight..."
"Katie's still in school. She has finals to pass tomorrow!" She grabbed Katie's arm and began to drag her out. "Sorry guys, see you 'round?" The girls disappear from view quickly.
'Around where?' Kaoru thought. He shrugged and looked at his twin after setting down a few bills to cover the tab. "Hm."
"What do you think, Kaoru?" Hikaru stood and slowly stretched. He hadn't sat still in so long.
"Well..." Kaoru stood as well and started toward the parking lot with his brother, "They'll make our time here interesting for a while at least. It can't hurt, can it?" He glanced back at the table and something caught his eye. He picked it up and smirked. On a napkin was a picture of all four of them laughing and having a good time. It was signed with Katie's scrawl, but under that was a different hand with two numbers and the girl's names next to it. Dez had known that one of them would have seen it. She could be tricky when she wanted to be.
Hikaru took the picture from the younger twin and stared at it. "Yeah." He smirked, "Let's go get our bikes and follow the girls."
"Good idea."
- - -
Dez's foot slowly pressed the gas pedal lower to the floor. 'Crap crap oh crappity crap! I hope she doesn't get grounded! I was going to take her to Rockland for a few days!'
Katie's eyes are glued to the speedometer. "Uh, D-Dezy...you d-don't have to drive so f-fast!"
"Huh?" The older girl jerked from her frenzied thoughts and saw how over the speed limit she was. She let her foot off the pedal and coasted until she was near the limit again. "Sorry. I just hope your mom won't be mad."
"I think she'll be madder if she has to pay a hospital bill!"
"I said sorry!" The jeep slowed quickly and turned sharply into Katie's drive. "Want me to pick you up tomorrow?"
"Nah, I can take the bus. Besides that Dez, don't you have to work early?"
"Damn...I hate it when you're right."
"I'm right a lot of the time."
Dez grinned, "I know but so am I. That's why we never fight." She shifted the jeep into reverse. "Love you! See you tomorrow."
Katie waved, "Thank you."
Dez rolled her eyes and she left, 'She always says 'thank you'.' Twenty minutes later she pulled into the small parking lot of her apartment. She mentally winced as she got out of the jeep. She grabbed her purse and spotted a napkin on the seat with two similar phone numbers with foreign area codes on them. 'Maybe these are the twins' numbers. Hmm...Maybe they are planning something?'
She walked up into her tiny apartment and picked up the phone to call Katie's house and tell her mother where she had been. Well, mostly. Katie was with her, and that was the safest place for Katie to be. She prayed that Katie's mom thought that they went to her apartment and studied for the next exam.
'Pfft, as if. Katie makes too much fun of my apartment. Like I would bring her here when she'd only tease me about how small it is.' She flopped onto her bed and drowned herself in sleep.
- - -
Katie glared at the finally finished exam in front of her, thinking desperately, 'Geometry should die!' She almost ran to the front of the room to turn it in and left. The bell had rung a minute ago, and she had only just finished. Her brownie eyes looked everywhere outside her class all the way down to the food court, 'Dez isn't here...?' She stepped outside and looked around for a moment. 'Oh yeah! She's at work. Gotta find that bus.'
A half an hour later Katie stepped into the blissfully air-conditioned bookstore and headed straight for the manga section. Her eyes landed on Dez, who was sitting on a little stool and reading the backs of the manga she was supposed to be shelving.
"Hey Dez, see Hikaru-kun or Kaoru-kun yet?"
Dez jumped suddenly and after a volley of clumsy juggling, tossing and near-dropping, set the books down on the stool she had once occupied. "Not yet." She hugged her friend furiously and only let go when she thought that Katie's face might have started changing color.
"Oh." She pouted slightly, making Dez turn away quickly as if the shorter female just remembered she had books to shelve and not a puppy-dog pout to get guilted by. "Maybe seeing them again just wasn't meant to be. Maybe they were just playing us."
"I wish they had played us longer." Dez sighed wistfully and giggled when Katie gave her a 'look'. She grabbed another armload of books off of the cart and gawked at the top book. It was the latest Ouran book. After some cautious shifting, she handed the book to Katie. "Go read this, maybe it'll cheer you up. You done with finals yet?"
Katie ran a hand through her black cherry hair, "Just one more tomorrow."
"Did your mom okay the trip?"
"Yup!" Katie began to smile. "Maybe this will keep my mind off of them."
Hikaru turned the corner and popped up behind Katie, making both girls jump visibly. "Them who?"
"Wah!" Dez nearly dropped her books again, only to have Kaoru come up behind her and wrap his arms around her and the books in her arms. "Wh-where did you come from?"
"Outside of course." Kaoru's voice was silky by Dez's ear. He retained the chuckle that wanted to burst out when he heard the girl in his arms swallow nervously.
"Now, what is this trip you were talking about?" Hikaru took Katie's hand, not noticing that she had just slipped the Ouran book onto the shelf, and kissed it. "Are you trying to get rid of us?"
Katie blushed furiously, "N-no! It's n-not that. We just have p-plans."
"Those plans can include us, right?" Kaoru leaned away from Dez slightly and he turned her face toward his, his golden eyes boring into her currently blue-gray ones.
"I-I guess so. We're going to be staying at my grandparents' cottage for four days."
"What?" Katie squeaked, she had not known some of the details of the trip. "You didn't tell me it was going to be that long!"
"Oh, okay. Katie, it's going to be about four days and three nights. Maybe a little more."
"Thanks Dez." Katie didn't sound thankful at all.
Dez giggled, "You're welcome."
"When do we leave?" Both boys raised an eyebrow.
"After Katie's last final."
"What grade is she in?" Kaoru finally let go of Dez so she could put the books down and look at him to answer.
She looked at Katie for a moment, as if she was assessing her friend with her gaze. "In America, we have four years in our high schools, whereas you have three. So she'd be a first year in Japan, which makes her a sophomore."
"And you are a second year?" Hikaru guessed.
"Pfft. Nope." She grinned, "I was a third year by your standards. I just graduated. This is my last summer to have real fun."
"What do you mean by real fun?" Kaoru asked her.
"Oh...you know. The kind of stuff that would scar Katie for life. The not-so-legal side of entertainment." She looked at the shocked faces around her, "What? You thought I was serious? I was only thinking bonfires and fireworks and going mudding and sprinklers. Jeez, you guys don't know me at all."
'Of course they don't Dez,' Katie groaned in her head, 'They just met you yesterday. I've known you for a few years, but even then you have a few nuts up your sleeve.' Katie returned to the conversation, "Sparklers too?"
"I don't see why not." Dez tapped her chin thoughtfully, "And maybe I can teach your guys how to sail a boat. There's a lot of seafood to enjoy as well. This is Maine after all!"
Katie smiled with a glint of impishness. "But Dez, don't you hate seafood?"
"Yeah, yeah...I'm not fit to live in Maine. I know what you're saying underneath that giggling exterior." She poked Katie's sides a few times and watched the girl giggle and squeal. "I can always try it again, and if I don't I still like haddock, tuna and calamari!" Her phone started to ring out loud enough for all of them to hear, "Sore ga bokura no love stye, tai no katachi da love stye. I need you, I want you...forever, Kore ga futari no love stye, doko madde datte lo-vu stye. You are mine, I'm-a yours. Only you, love you." She jumped and dug around in her pocket before it continued. She blushed when she answered it, hoping that the twins were too occupied to know the words.
Katie watched her friend flip open the phone nearly fast enough to break it in half and answer it. She wondered who was on the other line, but soon she found out.
"Yes? ...Oh, sorry. I thought it was someone else... Yes, Mom..." She didn't sound really happy at the moment. Of course she wouldn't be. She was on really bad terms with her mother as of late. She cringed slightly at the loud voice in her ear. She didn't dare pull it away from her ear in fear that the others would hear. "It's where? ...Oh. Yeah, thanks... Tomorrow... Yes... Yes, I know that. I'm not stupid... As if... I told you, I know, okay? Drop it... Whatever. Bye."
The snap was loud. 'How much longer will her phone last if her mom calls her on a daily basis?' Katie decided that it was better to not know.
"What was with that ring tone?" Kaoru asked.
"What? It's a good song." Dez blinked and looked passive on the outside, but on the inside she was freaking out and hoping that the twins hadn't caught on.
"It's in Japanese." Hikaru remarked. He left out the part that the singers sounded oddly like them, but not quite. If this was some fangirl thing, he really didn't want to know.
"It's just a song of the soundtrack from—"
"A movie. She watches weird movies. I doubt we'd ever see it. Ever." Katie subtly emphasized the last word to catch Dez's attention.
'It's obvious that their hiding something...' Kaoru glanced at his brother and knew that he was thinking the very same thing.
"O-oh yeah! Katie, don't you need to buy your book? C'mon." She glanced at the twins, "We'll be right back." She snatched Katie's hand and dragged her off between the shelves.
"Do you think they're hiding something?" Kaoru stared at the retreating backs of their new companions.
"Oh no shit, Kaoru." The older twin sounded exasperated.
"What do you think it is?"
"How the hell should I know?" He paused and suddenly smirked, "We should look into it. It could make these four coming days with them a lot more interesting."
"Naturally."
"Fine, you take the Shorty and I'll go after the six-year-old in the first year body." Hikaru grinned devilishly. "I hope they keep surprising us for a while. I don't want to have to look for a new toy so soon."
"I dunno, Hikaru. I think I kinda like them."
"Kaoru-san!" Dez headed back toward where she could see the tops of the boys' heads as Katie dawdled along behind her.
"Are you in or out, Brother?" Hikaru narrowed his eyes.
"Fine, fine. I'm in."
Dez bounced up happily, "Hiya." She was contagiously cheerful. It was like the flu, without the miserable feeling. It was nearing too-chipper, but as the boys would soon find out, she was never like that unless she was really mad about something.
Katie hardly looked up from her book. She only paused to whisper, "Hi Hikaru-kun," before locating a chair with her peripheral vision and flopping onto it.
"So you two are going to come then, right?"
Kaoru shrugged, "We've decided it sounds interesting enough." He bent over slightly and leaned closer to her until their faces were inches apart. He knew how to tease this particular girl that stood shivering slightly in front of him. He glanced down at her mouth, just to toy with her head before whispering, "And it seems to catch my attention more and more every minute."
Dez blushed and stumbled back until her back rested against the pillar near the shelves. She braced her back and hands against it as her knees gave out and she slumped to the floor.
'Oh no, not again.' Katie shook her head slightly, just noticing that she had read the same sentence a few times over. 'If this is all that'll happen I'm gonna get a good start on my book...I mean, it's ridiculous! Kaoru's being more flirtatious with Dez than he is with Hikaru...and he's bi!' She flipped passed the forward, 'Whatever. I'll just wait it out.'
Hikaru wandered over to Katie and sat on the arm of the chair she was in. He leaned toward her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders so that he wouldn't fall over. "What are you doing over here and alone? Why aren't you over there and talking?"
Katie blushed under the attention and weight of his body. "That's 'cause I'm reading."
"What are you reading?"
"Howl's Moving Castle." Her voice sounded a little happier when she said the title of the paperback novel in her hands.
Hikaru leaned back a bit to study her face, "Is it any good?"
"Yeah. I would know. This is my twelfth time reading it."
"Twelfth?" His eyes widened and he couldn't believe her. Who would read a book twelve times? Wasn't once enough?
Katie blushed harder, and her voice was tense with annoyance. "Yes."
"Why read it twelve times?"
"Because it's a good book!" She was getting peeved that he wouldn't let the subject drop. She just wanted to read her book. What did the world have against her reading today? Earlier that week she had a teacher take away her book during the exams.
"Well then." Hikaru smirked and slid his hands underneath her and scooped her up into his arms long enough for him to steal her chair and set her down on his lap, "I hope you don't mind me reading over your shoulder?" His smirk turned into a grin when Katie blushed and stuttered that she didn't mind. "Good." He rested his head on the delicate shoulder of the girl and began to read along.
Dez's eyes wandered over the guy next to her through the bangs that had fallen into her face. 'He really is good looking,' she thought as she chewed on her bottom lip slowly. Out of nervous habit she tugged on one of her fingerless gloves that stretched up her forearms and hid under the sleeves of her white button-up shirt. 'Maybe I'm just pushing my luck with all of this...' She sighed.
Kaoru stopped talking when he noticed the slight change in Dez's demeanor. "Is everything alright?"
"Huh?" Dez snapped her head up to look at him and nearly threw herself off balance at the same time. "Oh!" She blushed softly. 'Dammit, why am I blushing so much? It's not like I'm Katie!' She shook herself mentally and forced an answer out of her lips, "I'm just dandy."
"Then why did you sigh?" Kaoru cocked his head to the side 'innocently'. He knew a simple move like this could get anything out of most girls.
Dez bit her lip a little harder, 'Dammit, why does he have to look so cute like that? Did Katie confide in him my puppy-eye weakness?' She broke their eye contact quickly. "I was just thinking..."
"About what?"
"Nothing really." She changed the topic, "Hey Kaoru-san?" She fiddled with the glove again, "Wanna help me with something?" Her eyes, now a pale blue to reflect her emotions, skittishly moved up to meet his gold ones. They locked together and her breath hitched slightly.
Kaoru smirked; he could see the way she reacted to him easily. "That depends on what you want me to do."
Dez's eyes widened and the shock broke the spell for the moment. "Gads, nothing like that!" She chuckled, "At least, not yet." If he was going to shock her then she would do it right back. It couldn't hurt, right? As long as he never found out, she'd be safe.
Kaoru knew his face was attempting to shift to a pale pink tint and he did his best to hold it back. Now was not the time to be blushing around a toy. 'Holy crap, can you say forward?' He paused in his assessment, 'But, attractive. Definitely attractive-forward.' He pushed a hand through his hair on the side that mirrored his part. "What do you want me to do?"
Dez jerked her thumb toward the bookcase; both of them knew that Katie and Hikaru were behind it reading a book cozily in each other's company. "As you've probably noticed, Katie's a bit...er, taken by your brother."
"Pfft." He snorted, "A bit?"
Dez rolled her eyes as her arms crossed themselves over her chest. "You know what I mean," she huffed; she tapped her foot on the floor in a failed attempt to be intimidating toward the taller boy.
"Yeah, yeah. Where are you going with this?"
Her arms slid away from each other and she moved them behind her and twisted her fingers together nervously. She rocked back on her heels and tried to mumble out what thoughts were niggling at the back of her brain. "Do...do you think Hikaru-kun could possibly—under the right circumstances—be able to harbor any...feelings for her in return?"
Kaoru shifted uncomfortably and shifted his eyes toward the couple reading from the vantage point he had over the bookcase. "I don't know." His voice was uncertain. Personally, he doubted that these girls had what it took to be promoted in any way from toy status. He thought back to the friends he had left behind in Japan. Friends. Well, he had been wrong before. Maybe his brother could fall in love, but would he even notice those feelings before it was too late?
"Look," something in her voice altered abruptly, "I'm just looking after Katie, okay? Just...make sure he doesn't let her down hard okay?" She smiled at him. It wasn't a happy smile; even an idiot could tell that this face had a lethal contender underneath. The chipper tone in her voice belayed her true feelings, "If he does I'll hunt both of you down, and give him a vasectomy with a rusty machete and no anesthesia."
Kaoru winced, "O-okay." He decided that a swift topic-shift would be the greatest plan at the moment. He took her hand and bowed over it, "Your wish is my command, Désirée-kun."
Dez gave him an honest and sweet smile this time. She just barely controlled the blush that wanted to leak out onto her features as his lips brushed against the soft skin on the back of her hand. She watched him straighten and he released her hand.
"Now, maybe we can talk a little more about us..." He went to look at her only to notice that she wasn't there anymore. "What the—Hey!"
Dez bounced up next to the chair, hoping to jump one of them. They had seen her coming out of the corner of their eyes and she sighed, "Hey there." Her voice was still overly-happy sounding.
"Hiya Dez." A small frown was in her brownie eyes when she met her friend's stare. She was about to ask when she realized that in front of the twins might not be the best place to inquire about the shorter girl's problems.
Hikaru glanced up from the page that he had been reading, "Hey." He quickly turned back to the novel that was in Katie's hands, with his casually covering hers.
Dez wondered why Katie wasn't blushing. 'Maybe she got used to it after a while.' Something tightened in her chest and she knew she was slightly jealous. 'He better not hurt my Katie or I'll...I'm going to have to show him how to be someone good enough for her.' She tapped Hikaru on the shoulder, "Hikaru-kun, I gotta take Katie home now."
Hikaru's golden eyes were sharp when they locked onto the hesitating girl hovering above the seated couple. His attention was finally caught for more than five seconds, "But why?"
Dez wrapped an arm around her middle so she could rest her left elbow in her palm and playfully tap her bottom lip as she pretended to think. "I have to help her pack. She can't really go anywhere without clothes now, can she?"
"Says who?" Hikaru muttered under his breath, eliciting a scandalized blush from the girl who had yet to move from his lap.
Dez shot the boy her ultimate death glare, "What was that?" She kept her voice low, but it was heavily laced with ire.
Hikaru's eyes widened slightly and knew that this kind of voice was not one he wanted to hear often, "Nothing!" He blurted hastily.
Dez unleashed one of her misguiding smiles, "Good!" She dragged Katie out of Hikaru's lap unceremoniously and placed herself between the teens. "We'll leave tomorrow. I'll call and give you directions, okay?"
"Okay. That's fine by us." The twins responded in unison.
"See you tomorrow!" The happy-go-lucky-with-a-dagger tone was slothfully edging out of her voice.
"Bye-bye." Katie stepped forward and took her book from Hikaru gently and waved. A moment later she jerked forward as Dez hauled her away by her hand.
Kaoru sat on the arm of the chair and watched their retreating backs with his brother. A devious smile started only as an inkling, but began to spread as the girls got farther out of sight. He glanced at his brother and discovered that his expression was the same.
"We're just going to scare them senseless by showing up at Katie's, aren't we?" Hikaru stood slowly and stretched.
"Of course." Kaoru took his bike key out of his pocket and stood as well.
"Remember how to get there?"
"That's the easiest part."
"Do we have any of that horror movie make-up left?"
Kaoru paused to think, "Yes...but we might be out of fake blood."
"That's easy enough to get. We can just send someone to get it for us when we get back." The boys headed out to the parking lot and began to plot.
--
Katie leaned forward in her seat as she followed the second hand on the clock at the front of the room. She was glad that she had been the first student to get to the room, besides the teacher, so she could grab the seat closest to the door. She bounced slightly in anticipation. She had turned her last final in almost ten minutes ago and was so excited that she couldn't even draw. It was horrible! She had sat in her seat, unable to listen to her music, and stared at the clock. She had observed that glaring at the second hand didn't make it move any faster.
'C'mon, you stupid clock! Can you go any slower?!' The second hand stuck for a moment at five seconds of noon and she almost face-palmed herself. She held her breath until the shrill beep echoed through all the halls. She jumped up suddenly, nearly knocking her seat over and ran out the door.
'Dez would fall behind and get run over if she was running with me,' she giggled. She used the advantage of her long legs to keep ahead of the crowds and once she was outside she jumped up onto a marble bench and hollered, "FINALLY! It's summer!" She whooped and leaped down and sprinted toward the guest parking lot where Dez idled in her jeep.