I'm so sorry about the delay. I'm such an awful person. I know I've been out of town, and been pretty busy, and also, I've been going through this story, revising it, and revising it, and yeah. Sorry!
Also, blame fanfiction which was giving me a heck of a time getting this up. (shakes fist at fanfiction)
Knowing that you guys like it still amazes me, and I love getting your support. I'm sorry about being so slow :(
Recap: Mr. Lauzon offers Lea and the Host Club a chance to ride bikes.
Chapter Begin
I stroked the sleek black model in front of me. The smell of gasoline in the air made me reminisce over my childhood.
I couldn't ride the bike around while not letting the others engage 'cause that would be rude, and giving each person a ride was dumb because there was only one me and seven of them and that would take FOREVER.
I am an impatient little bugger.
It is now I present my solution:
"Well, there's no law saying you can't ride around my estate." I smirked, swinging my leg over the bike, making myself comfortable, and turned to the Host Club. "So, grab a helmet and a bike… that is, if you're brave enough." My taunt was duly noted; the Hitachiin's smirking and whispering to each other.
Ootori stepped forward, his eyes glasses flashing. "Do you think it wise that we do this?"
I smirked, "If you know how to ride a bicycle, you can ride a motorcycle." I couldn't help but patronize him. Who didn't know how to ride a bike?
He blinked, his face subtly etched with embarrassment.
Oh… Did Ootori really not know how to ride a bike?
Well… Now this made things a bit more awkward. I relaxed my position on the bike, scratching my cheek. "Um… Ootori?"
He raised a weary slender eyebrow. I jumped off the bike, and leaned in close to him. "Do you know how to ride a bicycle?"
Naturally I wouldn't state this out loud. I didn't want to give any one of his friends license to mock. Thinking back to my high school years, if my friends had any tantalizing information like this, I would have never of lived it down.
He subtly shook his head.
I held my chin, pursing my lips. Well, now what was I supposed to do?
A hand was placed on each shoulder. "Having seconds thoughts?" One of the twins mocked.
"Be nice Hikaru. Maybe she's afraid."
"Ne, just like I thought, she only talks big."
"Bite me." I hastily retorted.
This was promptly followed by a face palm. If my etiquette teacher ever found out that I utter that I would have had to endure the cruel and unusual treatment she referred to as "discipline." I had a better word for it; pain.
I shuddered, my mind running rampant with images of Ms. Obasan's disciplinary measures.
So absorbed in my thoughts, it wasn't until I felt something tickle my ear I was forced back to reality. "Your offer is tempting. Where should I bite?"
My heart started pounding fiercely. "Um… Why don't we ride those bikes?" I pushed past the Hitachiins snagging Ootori's hand. "And Ootori will ride with me because… Because I said so."
That was a plausible justification… not. I felt so lame and transparent. Jumping at the mere proximics these boys invaded, and becoming flustered. Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame.
This warranted a sigh.
"Colette-sempai?" Haruhi's looked at me, a white helmet in his hands. "I can't ride a bicycle."
The most interesting thing happened right then. Everyone sans Kyoya and Mori were fawning over Haruhi, pouring out their sympathies about his tragic childhood and how he was deprived.
"We're your parents too poor to afford a bike?" My inquiry cut through the fawning, causing a silence to settle in the garage. I thought it to be a valid question. Growing up in the states, I don't mean to be dramatic but it seemed like bikes grew on trees. Not that we had a lot of money, but buying a used bike, or even getting someone to give you one was fairly easy.
He shook his head. "When I was little I fell off. I scraped my knees pretty bad and never tried again."
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
Ootori's hand slipped out of my grasp. I blushed faintly realizing that I had been holding it all this time, and mumbled an apology.
"I do not need to ride. Let Haruhi ride with you." Ootori stated simply, a faint smile dancing on his lips. I couldn't help but study him; curious as to what was running through his mind. He was a fairly intriguing person.
If I were to spend more time with him perhaps I could figure what takes up his processing power.
"When you shift gears, remember. Shift up once, and then down. Every time you shift press the clutch, and slowly release…"
I could only hope nothing would go wrong.
Kaoru slid off the bike, taking his helmet off and standing next to Kyoya. He wanted to have a personal talk with the Shadow King, and get his opinion of Colette.
"Colette handles the bike too well to be an amateur." Kyoya stated, glancing at Kaoru. "She's rode one before."
"She seems to know a lot of things she shouldn't."
Kyoya's eyebrows drew together. "She's the heiress Lauzon Industry. It's suiting that she knows how to operate vehicles."
Kaoru looked off to the side thoughtfully. "Some of the things she says… some of her mannerisms, they're a little different, ne?"
A smirk flitted onto Kyoya's face. "Such as the statement: 'Bite me.' " Kaoru nodded, trying to suppress a smile.
The younger Hitachiin brother scratched his cheek, watching his brother chase Tamaki on the motorcycles. "What do you think she's attempting to do?"
The Shadow King closed his journal, and turned to Kaoru, giving him his undivided attention. "I'm not sure, yet. She's hiding something very important."
Kaoru observed his friend, then glancing back at the Lea and Haruhi. "How important?" Even if Kyoya didn't know the fine details, he was observant enough, intelligent enough to be able to assess the magnitude of it.
Kyoya's glasses flashed, a ghost of a smile flitting onto his face.
Haruhi's grip almost hurt. And the way he held me was… Feminine.
"Sempai?" He cried. Like a girl. This is seriously messing with my head.
"What?"
"Can we slow down?"
"I'm only going 40." That is 40 mph, which was nothing. Now when you hit 50 mph that's when it became scary. Mainly because you could feel your helmet trying to fly off. Wee.
"Slow down."
"Geez, okay, okay." The bike's gears shifted, the air cool air no longer rushing past us.
"Is 25 okay." I would hope considering this is like the max of a moped.
"Um… could we go 15?"
I sighed. "Yeah, we can go 15." Next time, we're using quads. If Haruhi couldn't handle that then he would be the girliest boy I know. Wow, talk about oxymorons.
With the daylight receding, it was easy to get everyone back into the garage. Considering the reduced visibility and the pain that would follow an accident seemed undesirable to everyone else I assumed.
Everyone was chatting about their expirences. As... um... interesting as it was to watch Tamaki sulk about his blight with driving and the twins laugh at the expense of Tamaki, I was itching to get everyone out of here.
I clapped my hands together once, and smiled what I thought was a charming smile.
"Well everyone. Thank you for coming over. I hope you had a good time." I was walking the crowd towards the front doors. The twins kept in step with me.
"What if we're not ready to leave yet?" The asked together.
Images of me tying up the host club and dragging them back to their respective homes brought a smile to my face. "Ah, um, why would you want to stay here. All I'm going to do is sleep."
The twins cheered, "And we'll sleep with you."
"No way. I don't share my bed." With boys. Haha, I love internal dialogue. They stopped me holding my chin.
"But haven't you ever had the fantasy..." One breathed on my neck.
"Of being embraced by two lovers?" And the other one whispered in my ear.
I pushed both of them away. "First off, that's sick, and," I gave them both a look. "I'm not interested." After taking a few steps I muttered as an after thought; "I believe in monogamous relationships."
Before I could get five steps further I was embraced by the two. "Ah, she's is absolutely adorable!" They proceeded to rub my face against theirs. Why me? "Did you hear that Tono, Kyoya, Haruhi! She's such a little saint."
"How long are you going to keep this up?" I sighed. They seemed relentless with their affections. Could they just hurry up and get bored of me already? I mean it's been a whole day and they were still hanging about.
"We already asked your dad if we could spend the night." Kaoru whispered.
"And he said yes." Hikaru finished.
Rawr, they're really getting on my nerves! "Do you need a ride home, because I can provide that."
"You're not a very good hostess." They whined.
I gave them a flat look. "I'm a fine hostess, is it perhaps not my hostess ability rather than my guests are over staying their welcome?"
Kyoya smirked, "It would be quite rude to kicks us out."
"I'm not kicking you out, I'm showing you the door." Loop holes, gotta love 'em.
"Then perhaps you should extend your invitation to a sleep over." He adjusted his glasses, a ghost of a smile gracing his face.
"I have a better idea. How about you go home, we can pretend we did the sleep over thing."
Ootori gave me a blank look. Ootori is a robot. Yes, that's what I believe, and right now he is attempting to compute the logic in my answer. His CPU should explode in 3…2…1…
Okay, maybe he isn't a robot.
The twins linked arms with me, forcing me to walk forward. "Why would we pretend when we can do the real thing?" They singsonged happily.
My attempt was a little too obvious. "Darn," I snapped my fingers. "Y'know, it's not fair to the other patrons of the club that you spend so much time with me. You'll make them all jealous!" Tamaki laughed, cupping my chin and winking deviously.
"Ah, but princess Colette, don't you see. We are your friends and-"
"Sempai, maybe we should leave her alone." Haruhi interrupted. "She obviously doesn't want us to stay anymore." And with that, he withdrew to a corner to sulk.
That's… really weird.
"Yay! We get to sleep over at Lette-chan's house!" Honey jumped, hugging Usa-chan.
"Ah! I never invited-" He paused, looking at me with huge brown eyes, brimming with tears. "Ah… " How does one say no to that face? It's… so… innocent and child-like.
Stay strong Lea. You can't have them sleep over, Colette is still here.
"I'm sorry Honey-sempai, it's just tonight isn't a good night." I bowed apologetically. How is it, this boy can make me feel remorseful?
And that was all it took. They didn't press the issue any further, and led them to the front doors. If only I had known that that was all it took.
I watched Host Club leave. Turns' out there little 'spending the night' was a joke by the twins. Ootori was playing along because of something I did while I was asleep... Whatever that could have been. I think if I agreed to let them though, they really would have.
I turned around to see Colette standing at the top of the stairs. Cue the Twilight Zone music.
Climbing the stairs, I shook my head. Dealing with the host club was more than I anticipated, and I was drained.
Colette smiled shyly, her head tilted down slightly. "You were phenomenal."
"Not really."
"But how did you get them to come here? I mean, all the girls have tried but they're so exclusive."
"I tried to quit the club." I bet they had to have ulterior motives.
"Really? And why wouldn't they let you?"
"Because I wouldn't tell them why."
"Oh. And why do the twins like you so much? They're very particular." She posed thoughtfully.
I snorted. "I won the which one was Hikaru game with a child's game and then insulted their mother." She gasped. "And they thought it was the funniest thing ever. After that they stole my brownies, and decided they wanted me to teach them how to make them."
She nodded, "They were good brownies…Wait a second." She grabbed my shoulder and turned me to towards her. "So let me get this straight. You tried to quit the club, and in turn, get the Host Club to become your friends."
"We're not friends. They're stalkers."
She laughed. "You've accomplished what every girl at Ouran wishes she could do."
"Gee, lucky me." I dead panned.
We walked in silence for most the journey to her room. "Lea?"
"Hm?"
"What's it like, being poor?"
My feet stopped, my head slowly turning to meet her. "Poor?" I have never been poor.
"Yeah, not having enough money to buy what you want; poor."
"Um…" Rendered speechless much? "I dunno." That is probably the most eloquent I have ever been… not. "Poor is defined by not having enough money to buy one's needs."
She blinked than "oh'ed"
I wonder how long she'll last in America if she keeps thinking like that? Probably not very long... without someone breaking her face. Or ego...
"Then, what's it like being a commoner?" She inquired as we entered the room.
I turned to her smiling, "You know as well as I do that money doesn't buy happiness. It's one's personal disposition."
She sat thoughtful for a long moment. "I've always been happy. That was, until Dad started prepping me for running the company."
"Care to elaborate?" How could someone who seemed content with life flare into rebellion?
"I…" Her cheeks flushed. I watched her, trying to look as if I didn't care, but curiosity was getting the better of me. "I'm not good with numbers, or bossing people around. I'm just not cut out for my father's company… If only I could…" She climbed off the bed, and picked up a small black instrument case.
She opened the latches, and pulled out a violin. The prettiest violin I had ever seen in fact. She placed the instrument in the crook of her neck, and with the bow, began to play.
It was a soft melancholy piece, but as she continued, her notes would get quicker, harsher, growing in intensity.
Tears glistened her cheeks, rolling down softly as her fingers glided across the piece with such precision.
Something tickled my cheek. I raised my hand to my cheek noting the moisture. I pulled my hand down to look at the tips of my fingers stained with tears.
I glanced up at the teen before me. The setting sun filtered into the room; Her tears were crimson, and her hair shimmered, forming a halo. Her skin glowed almost, almost as if it were on fire.
A trick of the light... Something unforgettable. My hand drifted for my phone, and I turned on the camera. Although I would never forget this, I had to have it, needed it.
Colette wasn't a very eloquent person. When she spoke, she had trouble conveying her exact meaning, her exact emotion, but with her violin, I knew exactly how she felt. This was how she communicated; I finally understood her anguish.
The last note left a bittersweet taste in my mouth.
She set her instrument in the case, softly stroking the face of the violin, before latching it up, and putting it away.
I turned my head to the window as Colette sat next to me. The sun barely showed above the horizon. The sky was a brilliant blue, red, and orange with streaks of pink highlighting the clouds. I breathed deeply, staring out into the sky. "Colette?"
"Hm?"
"What will happen after you come back from America?" I turned to face her, solemn.
She looked at her hands folded in her lap. "I'll go back to learning how to run the company."
I looked away, adjusting my position, folding my legs under me. "Did you want to play in the orchestra? Like as a profession?"
She sighed quietly. "Father says it's an absurd notion. He says that running the company will take too much time."
Maybe it would have been in my better interest to stay out of this, but I felt as if I had to speak up. "Just because 'Father says,' doesn't mean you always have to listen."
She looked at me, her mouth gaping. I grinned. "It's not always bad to adopt American principals; haven't you ever heard of the pursuit of happiness?" Despite the negative connotation America had received, we weren't bad. Our constitution rocked when applied properly.
She laughed, "Maybe I'll do just that." We both sat silently. "Oh, Daddy had a talk with the etiquette teacher and told her to arrange her sessions for early morning."
I groaned. I hated waking up early.
End Chapter
That's the end of Lea's first day as Colette, and quite a day it was. Tomorrow is her first day attending the Host Club, let us see how that pans out: meeting Renge and all...
I hope the ending wasn't annoying, but it did lay some ground work I needed. Also, sorry if the bike scene isn't that great, I wasn't happy with it so I changed it, and I'm still not happy with it but if I wait any longer I don't know when this chapter will get posted.
Shout Outs:
Shanise: Thank you. I'm glad you like my story, and yeah you can use my ideas just as long as you're not copying my story; y'know plagiarism and all. So I'm okay with that.
Do You Really Want To Know: You changed your name :) Aw, just cause you're so nice I will make sure I do my best. Thank you!
P.S: Please don't tell me to take my time or I really will (I'm awful like that)… Guilt makes me write… it's a little sadistic but it keeps the chapters coming. I thank you for your kind support. :)
Ohshcfan13: Another up date XP It is kinda funny that it crossed your mind, but fanfics do that occasionally with me as well. Thanks for the review!
Maximum Vampire: I know this is a little lame, but I do try, really hard, to make this story funny. Surprisingly, although I shouldn't reveal this, but then I would like to see what you make of it so I will, Tamaki will be the first one to discover Lea's real identity. As to how he discovers that, well that's for me to reveal later (sneaky sneaky).
Tamaki's roll will become more substantial as the story continues because I really want Lea and Tamaki to become friends. I agree that he isn't a homo side character.
Thank you for the support! I appreciate it so much, and again I'm so sorry about the delay in updating. Since I have been editing future chapters the next posting will not take as long as this one. I'm guessing within a one-two weekish period.
Stay tuned…
