Chapter 4- Conundrum

I played for probably the better part of 2 hours practicing everything I knew from rock to metal to blues to folk. Things were always so simple when it was just me, the guitar, and my music.

Finally I gave up playing when my fingers were so sore that I could no longer finger the frets. I looked at my clock on the nightstand, 5:30...damn where is mama? She had probably had a board meeting of some kind that night. My mother held one of the most important positions in her company: Regional Advertising Director for the Destiny City Times. It was a job that paid her quite well but also came with another side effect…stress and lots of it. On more than one occasion in the last three years she had come home completely burnt out and sick of life. Her cure for that was alcohol in mass amounts. Bottles of wine never lasted more than a day at my house, often times they didn't last more than a few hours…and that was on a good night.

I decided to take a walk seeing as how it was such a nice night. Very typical Destiny City late summer…not terribly hot but not cold enough to warrant a jacket. The weather was just the right mix of breeze, sunlight and cloud. It always made for amazing sunsets that painted the sky amazing shades of pink, red, orange and yellow all swirling around in shades and layers that would take a person's breath away.

Walking down the street I ran into Kairi, who was taking her puppy, Princess for a walk.

"Hey Kai", I said waving to her.

"Oh hey Wakka what's up?" she asked flashing me the smile that could launch a thousand ships.

"Just takin a walk, had to get out of the house ya know?" I said leaning down to pet Princess.

"Us too…she got antsy so I figured I'd run her ragged a little so maybe she'll sleep" she replied "so how do you like school so far?"

I laughed a little bit "School is what it is…I've never liked it".

"I know what you mean" she said back rolling her eyes a little.

"So how things with you and wonder-boy …areerr Sora?"

She giggled a little "Oh he's so great…I can't wait till we get married".

"Married?" I switched to my best black accent "slow down!"

We both laughed at that, but the truth was that her and Sora were gonna get married; it was just a matter of time until he pulled the trigger.

"Well when and if you two get that far…I'm gonna be the DJ. I'm callin it now."

She just smiled and shook her head "Is that all you ever think about Wakka is music?"

"Hey… it's the only thing that's never let me down" I said looking up at her.

"What about your ex…aren't you guys gonna fix things up and get back together?"

"Who Yilliam? Fuck no. And even if I did still like her I could never bring myself to trust her again."

She looked at me confused. Yea wonder-boy has never hurt you that bad has he…you're too nice Kai.

I grinned. "Some of us haven't found true love yet Kai".

"Hey now" she said picking up on the sarcasm.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for both of you, you'll turn out ok I'm just sayin…it ain't that easy for all of us."

"Well what about Lulu, you like her don't you?" she asked innocently.

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Lulu is so far out of my league Kai you don't even know."

"No she isn't…I bet if you just sat and talked to her you'd be surprised."

I looked down the street as if in a daydream. "Not every love story has a fairy tale ending Kai".

Princess barked. We both looked up and noticed a squirrel running up a tall oak tree across the street. The puppy pulled at the leash, almost tugging Kairi across the street with her.

"Princess no" she said in a commanding voice. The little dog persisted, determined to catch the gray rodent in the tree. Kairi however eventually won the battle and got her to heal.

I smiled at her "Been workin out much?"

"She's a handful" Kairi replied fixing her grip on the leash.

I smiled unable to pass up the opportunity for another joke. "Its good training."

She narrowed her eyes and stared at me "Training for what?"

I laughed "Duh, for when you and Sora have kids…I mean real ones that don't bark."

"Oh shush Wakka." Her phone went off in her pocket, "Well that's Sora…he wants to go to dinner…later Wakka." She turned and guided her dog…I looked at Princess as their firstborn…down the street.

"Peace Kai" I figured it was time for me to head home too. I wonder what Tidus is up to I figured I'd find out when I got home to call him.

Walking down the sidewalk I spotted a boy and girl walking the opposite direction as me. They obviously were boyfriend and girlfriend. Although they looked quite happy together I couldn't help but think to myself Just wait you two. One of you will break the others heart and then you'll wish you never knew each other. It was sad really and I didn't much like the thought. But it was the truth. Everything ended. I had come to realize that from hard and happy experience alike.

I stared at the girl for a little and decided that she was pretty hot. Lucky bastard. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and hit speed dial 5.

"What's up?" asked Tidus when he picked up.

"Dude I'm bored. What are you up to".

"Same thing I'm bored off my ass."

"Let's go find something to do" I said walking more to my car.

"Like what?" He obviously didn't have any ideas.

"Hell if I know. Let's find a party or something." Now I was starting my car. I was going to Tidus's anyway.

"Uhh ok. You on your way?" he asked.

"Yup. Make some calls and I'll get at you when I get there."

"Aight peace." He said hanging up.

When I got to his house I left the car running and went to the door. Tidus was already walking out and talking to someone on his phone. We walked the few feet back to my car and climbed in. A few seconds later he had hung up.

"So?" I asked driving off.

"To Trevors", he said pointing out my front window.

"Right on. He usually has good beer", I said trying to remember how to actually get there. The last time I was at Trevor's I had woken up next to some brunette in his parent's bedroom. That was a good night…I think I thought to myself grinning. Tidus picked up on my grin and asked "What are you grinnin' about?"

"Just remembering the last time I was at Trev's for a party", I replied going back to a straighter face.

"Oh dude I don't even remember that night", he replied laughing.

"All I remember is waking up next to some hot brunette on the floor of his parent's bedroom."

He laughed a little more and said "Oh dude that was uhh…fuckin what's her name…Sarah."

I smiled. Now there's a victory. Sarah was one of the hotter girls at school, but she was really quiet. You'd never tell from her shyness that she was really a party animal.

We turned left down Cedar Ave. and arrived out front of Trevor's house. There were a few cars parked out front, but no one I really recognized. We headed in and grabbed a couple brewskys. It was so great when Trevor's parents were out of town because they would just leave him the house. They trusted him completely that he wouldn't throw any wild parties. So of course he did. It was a little twisted, but that's just how the world turns I decided. After a while everything became a blur. All I remember was waking up the next morning after being passed out on his couch. Oh my fuckin head… I looked around. The place was a mess. The floor was a sea of empty beer bottles, cans, pizza boxes, bras, and various other articles of clothing. I grinned and thought to myself that's just how we do. I was sure that I had probably danced, made out with, or some combo of both, with a girl that night, but at the moment I wasn't even really sure where I was.

Just as I was stretching an attractive and obviously younger than me blonde walked over and greeted me. "Hi baby," she said smiling.

I looked confused. Hi baby? Uh oh…