Hello all !
Thanks for all the support. I'm slowly untangling all the pieces to this story I wrote 10 years ago. It's more complicated than I thought, I don't understand my teenage writing. Feel free to leave a review to tell me what you think.
Just a heads up, chapters will be longer from now on.
Mom was pissed when she got home. Of course, she got a call from school saying that I ditched the 2 last periods. But that was quickly forgotten as soon as she saw the cute cat family on the sofa. She even went to get pet supplies for them so they can feel ''more at home'', as she put it.
The next day, I woke up with a bad cough and headache; probably from running in the rain for so long. Mom insisted that it was a fever and that I stayed home from school for today. I didn't fight it, my head hurt too much to fight. Mom was lucky to get a day off from work to take care of me, but I feel bad about it; she shouldn't have to miss work for me, but she said that she wanted to make sure I was ok. But deep down, I know she just wants a day off and cuddle our new guests.
I spent the whole day in bed coughing and wheezing. I slept most of the day, but I did get occasional visits from momma cat, who went right up in my bed and rub herself up against me. I think she even slept beside me at one point.
At around suppertime, Mom woke me so I could eat. She made me a hearty minestrone soup with tons of veggies.
"By the way, your friend came by today,'' my mom says as she served herself a bowl '' I think he came to give you his notes from school for the day.''
"A friend?" I repeat, a bit surprised. No one at school knows where I live.
"Yeah, you know; tall, dark, handsome… Not very talkative.'' My mom describes vaguely, but I know exactly whom she's talking about.
"What was he doing here?'' I think angrily ''I thought he didn't want to have anything to do with me.''
My mom didn't say anything else, sensing that I was deep in thought and not to be disturbed. She only pointed out the black binder that was on the kitchen counter, the one my ''friend'' left.
I quickly finish my soup and grab the binder. Once in my room, I grab my own school binder to start rewriting Kai's note into my own notes. His writing is very neat and elegant; it was almost too pretty to be a man's writing. He left post-it arrows where his notes start and left small comments in the margins, as if only for me since all the other previous pages had none.
I felt very touched at this moment but only made me confused as to who Kai was and why he was this way.
I can feel a thousand pairs of eyes looking at me as I walk in the school courtyard. I can hear hush tones and whispers buzzing in my ears as I walk in the hallways. I can sense everyone's judgement as I enter the classroom. No one was trying to hide their stares, no one seemed to care if they were heard or not. I all tried to do is hold my head up high and ignore everyone.
The sound of the shrill bell rang across the school and everyone hurries to their classes and seats. Kai was already sitting in his designated seat when I got to class, still as serious as ever. As I sit down, I give him his binder and quietly thank him. He says nothing, only listening to the teacher with a bored expression as he takes the binder from me.
In the middle of class, I get a note thrown on my desk. I look to my right, seeing Simon looking at me with a hard and serious expression. I open the note and it read:
What the hell happened? What happened with Kai Hiwatari? Why were you not at school yesterday? Did he do anything to you?
I look back to Simon and shake my head. I write in turn on the note:
Nothing happened! It's a long, boring story; it's not even worth telling, trust me.
I wait for the teacher to turn his back before handing Simon the note back. He reads it quickly, writes something else and throws it back to me:
Do you have any idea what is going on right now? The school is going crazy over this! I've heard every rumour unimaginable. You are so in trouble! You are never going to live this down!
I shrug my shoulders at him, not really knowing what else to write. I know that I'm going to be the center of school gossip from now on if this morning was any indication. But seriously, why are people freaking out so much? I mean, Kai is like any normal guy. People just need to chill out. So what if he's the best beyblader in the world? Guy has a life too.
All I wanted to do is help cats, yet I get this.
The day up until lunch was chaotic. The staring, the whispering and the gossiping went on. I could not go a step without feeling like I was being watched. Then, Aiden came into the mix, asking 474893413839 questions.
"Seriously, tell me what happened! I'm your friend right?'' Aiden asked again
"As your friend, I'm telling you that absolutely nothing happen!'' I tell him with annoyance in my voice.
"Lay off, Aiden,'' says Simon ''she's already the school's hot gossip, let her breath.''
"Honestly, I don't get what the big deal is! Why is everyone making this a huge deal?'' I ask in a discouraged tone.
"1. It's Kai Hiwatari,'' Aiden starts numbering off "2. He's famous; 3. He never talks to anybody; 4. He's gorgeous, according to the female population… Did I mention he's Kai Hiwatari? "
"Don't remind me…'' I sigh, hitting my head on the table that we were sitting at in cafeteria.
"But in all seriousness, nothing bad happened, right? "Simon asks with a worried look in his eyes.
"No, don't worry.'' I reassure him.
"So… Are you and Kai friends now?'' Aiden asks curiously, almost in a hopeful tone.
"Yeah, right, "I snort as I roll my eyes "Ice King and I are best buddies…''
Aiden sticks his tongue out at me as Simon laughs at my sarcastic comment. I'm glad they're not bothering me too much with all of this. Even if I did explain to them what happened between Kai and me, it wouldn't really matter; we're not friends, Kai made it obvious. I would just be wasting my time telling the story. I doubt Simon and Aiden are interested in knowing about the cats anyways.
As we lounge at the cafeteria table, I see a group of people coming toward us from the corner of my eye. As it comes closer, I realise that it's a group of girls; most have intricate hairstyles, have sophisticated makeup and sport the latest designer accessories. One girl stands out, taking the role of the leader of the group. Out of all of them, she seemed to be the most beautiful and well done-up.
"Oh shit,'' Simon whispers as he hangs his head down "I knew this would happen. It's the Kai Hiwatari fan club.''
Aiden simply laughs and shakes his head in defeat, knowing there's was nothing he could do to stop this cataclysm.
"Hey, new girl,'' the leader calls out to me "who do you think you are?''
"And that matters because…? " I ask
"Look, I know you don't know how things work around here,'' she starts saying with a smug expression "but Kai Hiwatari is off limits.''
"Off limits? Is he private property or something?'' I ask.
"Aren't you a little smartass? "She snarls at me.
''Just saying he as his basic human rights and he has the rights to his own existence.'' I say bluntly, legitimately meaning it. Who are they to decide whom he's with or not?
''Ugh seriously,'' she huffs "Just stay away from him! "
"Why? Do you have ownership over him? He can do whatever he wants! I doubt he cares about what you think!'' I exclaim, pulling myself up and slamming my hands on the table to emphasise my point. Now, I'm just annoyed.
''And don't worry, Kai and I are not even friends.'' I add as I gather my things and leave the table, leaving the group of gawking girls and the 2 shocked boys behind.
"This school is crazy," I think as the bell rings.
Beyblade club never fails to cheer me up. Everyone there is so nice and friendly. Talking and watching everyone battle made me feel better about my day. It was just relaxing not to think about it. And maybe I'm just weird, but the sound of beyblades spinning is almost soothing. Anyhow, it made me forget about all the gossip and encounters of the day.
As I exit Gym B, I walk along the side of the building to get to the path to the courtyard. As I walk in the light wooded area, I suddenly hear footsteps behind me. I don't pay much attention to it since most club activities end at this hour and students go home but then I get harshly pushed to the ground, falling face first to the ground.
''You thought you could give me attitude and get out of it, new girl?'' I hear a sinister voice say behind me.
I turn myself lightly to see the girl from earlier with a couple of people from her posy. They were all looking down at me with a vicious look in their eyes.
"I don't care who you are and what you think," she says "Kai belongs to me, he always has. No one has dared to take him from me-"
"Wait a second you psycho,'' I cut her off abruptly "I'm not taking anyone from you!"
" I still have to make an example of you." She replies as she cackles evilly
" What kind of dreamland are you living inside your head,'' I scream at her, having enough of her nonsense "Do you think that Kai's your boyfriend or something? Are you that disconnected to reality?''
She unceremoniously spits in my face in retaliation
"You little brat,'' She hisses "you'll pay for saying that.''
Her cronies come up from behind her and stalk towards me. I get up quickly to get ready to run or to defend myself, but one of them manages to slap me hard, feeling scratches from her nails. The other one pulls my hair and punches me in the jaw. I can hear the leader laugh at my pain and struggle while the others try to hurt me more.
However, everything stops suddenly and I feel the warmth of a body at my back and an arm around my hips, holding me protectively. I can see a hand grabbing at one of the girls fists to stop the swing of a punch and the other is slowly backing off. Meanwhile, the leader had a shocked expression on her face.
I slowly look up to see the face of my saviour, only to see Kai's serious and angry face glaring at the group of attackers.
''Get out of here!'' He says menacingly with a killer glare.
"Kai…'' The leader calls out in a soft voice, almost apologetic.
''You're a nuisance. Get out of my sight.'' Kai adds more forcefully, ending whatever she wanted to start.
She gasps as if surprised by his response. She starts crying as she runs towards where she came from with her posy in tow.
And here I am: all beat up and left dumbfound in Kai's arms.
I didn't ask for this.
I feel myself in and out of consciousness due to shock and exhaustion. I give up and just let the darkness take over. Today really sucked.