Title: When the Inside Wants Out
Chapter four: Focus
AN: 1/11/10 Updated
"Did you enjoy your little chat with River?" I smirked.
"What were you doing, spying on me in the shower?!" Liz yelled, and I took a step back in shock. As I regained my balance, I stepped forward once more.
"Like you were in my room last night?!" I countered, and suddenly, the color seemed to drain from Liz's face. I knew instantly I had said the wrong thing. I pulled away regretfully, and sighed.
"No, not like that," Liz growled under her breath, although I could see the tears welling in her eyes. "Not like that at all,"
As soon as I opened my mouth to apologize, she turned around and burst out the front doors.
"Oh come on Liz!" I shouted after her, but she turned a deaf ear.
"Liz!" I called again as I ran through the doors after her.
Instantly, I expected her stop, but instead, Liz continued to run harder, as if she'd do anything to get away from me.
'Fine. If that's the way you want to play it Ricarro…' I smirked and darted behind a bush.
Liz looked back and when she saw I was gone, came to a stop in front of a park bench plopped herself down. For a moment, she just sat there with her head in her hands, crying, it seemed to me, but as I listened more closely, her "sobs" turned into angry growls.
"Stupid…stupid…Takeshi…" she muttered.
It seemed like I couldn't go anywhere without being reminded of how much she hated my guts. With a frown, I stood up from my crouch to confront her, but just as I did so, a familiar face came into view.
"Cunningham!" I blurted, and then ducked again as the brunette looked up from his spot in front of an ice-cream cart.
Cunningham scanned his surroundings briefly before his eyes finally settled on Liz. With a smirk, he purchased a vanilla ice-cream cone and took a seat beside her. It wasn't long before I saw his lips start moving. With a soft curse, I shuffled closer so I could hear the conversation.
"…bothering me," Liz said testily. Cunningham chuckled and focused his eyes on his cone.
"….stupid…immature….you know. I'm just trying to….here," he smiled.
I groaned. It was impossible to hear anything from my position, and they were speaking too softly to read lips. Normally I wouldn't have given a damn, but the combination of Liz and Alex was so bizarre I had to see where it was going. The last thing I wanted was Cunningham starting to join in on her badmouthing or even worse, for him to start picking info out of Liz before they raced one another again.
"I don't need…jerk," Liz put one hand on her hip angrily.
I grinned. 'Yeah that's right…you tell him…whatever you're telling him.'
"….Takeshi…you…on…" Cunningham took a lick of his ice-cream and gave Liz a teasing look that irked me.
What happened next made my blood boil. Liz dropped her hand from her hip and folded both together on her lap. A bright red blush spread across her cheeks. For a minute she seemed flustered and innocent. I nearly fell over at the sight.
'WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?!'
"…afraid…leave me…but you…I shouldn't tell…stupid." Liz began looking at Cunningham's ice-cream cone, and pointed suddenly as the vanilla cream began melting against his palm.
"Oops," he said clearly.
I watched him quickly lick the trails away, and then start back on the top of the cone, but Liz looked more interested than I was. It made me want to gag.
"I know I shouldn't…I'm…-reacting….acting dumb."
I watched as Cunningham sighed and then draped an arm over her shoulders. He moved closer to Liz, looking both serious and determined.
'That's his game face. Definitely,' I recognized it instantly, and shifted behind the bush. I knew from watching him with his fans and even at IGPX banquets that his game face wasn't just reserved for his races. Girls came running when he gave that look. I could only imagine how muss ass he'd gotten in his lifetime from a simple smirk or even just running his hand through his hair.
'But Liz isn't that stupid…is she?'
"You're not. …got…heart. You've gotta let it…that's… art…being…cunning. I'll tell you about it," he flashed a crafty smile and removed his arm.
All of a sudden, Liz stood and her hands went back to her hips. However, this time she was smirking.
"Are you ….on me?" she asked, and I cursed myself for not getting close enough to hear the full sentence.
Cunningham looked at the rest of his ice-cream cone, and offered it up to her.
"Lick?" he asked, unresponsive to her previous question.
To my dismay, Liz grabbed the cone from his hand and licked it quickly across the top.
"You're not helping," she said teasingly and threw the cone in the garbage.
Liz started off in the other direction, and just as Cunningham was about to follow, I sprang up to cut him off. However, someone else got to me before I had the chance to do so.
"Takeshi? What in the world are you doing?" Fantine popped up in front of me, rapping me lightly on the head with her parasol.
"Oh…uh…I…" I blushed, but found myself staring off in the direction of Liz and Cunningham. They were standing awfully close….
"You've got leaves everywhere, Takeshi…you're such an odd duck," Fantine giggled, picking leaf after leaf from my hair.
However, I couldn't bring myself to focus on her. All I could think about was what could be possibly going on with Liz.
"Is something troubling you?" Fantine asked suddenly while smoothing down my cowlick.
As Liz disappeared from my sight, I plopped down on the bench.
"It's Ricarro," I said distastefully, and crossed my arms over my chest.
Fantine wrinkled her nose slightly but took a seat beside me.
"Liz?" she asked.
"Yeah! First she shows up in my bedroom in the middle of the night with no explanation, practically bawling, and then the next day she's testy running all over the place just trying to get away from me!" I exclaimed.
Fantine frowned. "Oh really?"
"Really! And that's not the worst part! This morning I saw her in the showers with River, and then just now in the park with Cunningham! There's something fishy going on…" I nodded to myself. "Very….fishy."
Fantine giggled softly, and pecked me on the lips.
"Take your mind off Liz, Takeshi…won't you?" she took a seat on my lap and I snapped out of my daze.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make it sound like—
"—of course not, Takeshi," she interrupted. "But how does skipping lunch sound?"
Fantine's eyes sparkled with mischief, and instantly, I realized just what kind of a mood she was in. Maybe I could take my mind off of Liz…
"Maybe we could find a love hotel?" she whispered in my ear, and my cowlick sprang back up.
"Sounds good," I smiled, and laced my fingers with hers.
'Sounds…Liz…'
"You're home late," my little sister Yuri was eating dinner in front of her laptop when I entered in the kitchen. My mother lifted an empty pot from the stove and smiled as she saw me.
"You look tired," she announced, and I shrugged, passing by without a proper greeting.
Quickly, I headed up to my room and flopped down on the bed. I couldn't think properly. A few hours with Fantine would do that for me, but then, more than ever, I wanted to focus.
Still breathing heavily, I swung my feet over the side of the bed, and ran a hand through my hair. It was then that I felt her hand on my back, curling into a small fist.
"Are you still thinking about her?" Fantine whispered from the bed, her bare chest heaving underneath the sheets.
I uttered no response. I couldn't think of anything that would sound appropriate.
"You infuriate me sometimes Takeshi…" she snapped.
-- It was the first time I had ever heard her speak that way.—
"It's not like that Fantine," I said quietly, and turned to face her.
-- Or was it? Was it 'like that'…? --
Slowly, I lifted a hand and slowly caressed her cheek. Soft and smooth…perfect. Fantine closed her eyes and her fist slipped away from my back. She let out a shuddering breath on my shoulder as I kissed her neck, forcing her to forget.
"Ta…takeshi…"she whispered, and grabbed blindly for my hair.
I lost the ability to brace myself, and fell down on top of her. Fantine giggled softly and I watched her had disappear beneath the hotel sheets. I closed my eyes with a smirk, awaiting the inevitable. But when it came…I lost my focus.
"Liz," I choked, and my eyes snapped open.
"Get out," Fantine snapped her eyes narrowing to slits. Perfect slits.
I started to speak when she flipped me off her and face down in the mattress.
"I said go," she growled.
I lifted my head and stared into her eyes.
"Fantine, I'm sorry. I don't know what I was—
"—didn't you hear me…?" her whisper was deadly quiet as she pointed towards the door.
"Damn," I mumbled into my pillow, and curled against the sheets. "Why the hell did I say that?"
With a groan, I rolled over and onto my back.
"This is all your fault, Liz," I glared at my ceiling. "You and Cunningham…and River."
Although I knew my anger was aimed at the wrong person, it felt right. If she had just never been in my room…I wouldn't be so… worried.
"She doesn't have anyone…" I whispered. "Is that why I'm so concerned?"
"Is that why she's upset?" my bed creaked softly as I sat up and faced the stack of playbooks on my desk.
They had remained untouched since last night. Suddenly, a flashback of a crying Liz came to mind, but I quickly shook it off.
"Girls…" I muttered, and rolled my eyes. "They throw off your focus."