Chapter 7 First Date


What have I done to deserve this??? I thought, sitting in the passenger seat of Natsume's sports car. Of course, I knew perfectly well what I had done – I had agreed to have a photography contest with Natsume. Who knew that something so simple could lead to something disastrous???

"Yeah, two reservations," said Natsume into his phone. There was a beep and he said, "I'm getting another call," and hung up, only to put the phone back to his ear again.

"Hey Koko," he said, sounding wary.

I couldn't hear exactly what Koko was saying, but I heard a few muffled words like, " get the popcorn," and "waiting."

"Tell the guys I'm sorry, but I can't come."

There was silence on the other line for a few moments before I heard Koko saying, "…ok. You can come..."

"I don't think I'll be free by nine,"

There was another pause, this one longer.

"Yeah, I know I said that I could come before, but something important came up."

"OH MY GOD!!!! Natsume has a girlfriend, Natsume had a girlfriend," shouted Koko, loud enough that I could hear it. "Who is it?? Is it that Sakura girl?"

"Shut up Koko," he growled, hitting the end call button.

Fuming would have been an understatement to how I felt then. "You had plans, and you cancel them for me?" I asked, my eyebrow twitching.

"Who said I cancelled them for you? I never meant to go in the first place."

"Yeah right. I don't think you're the type of person to lie to your own friends."

"Wait a sec," he said, a smirk playing on his lips. "Are you telling me that you want me to cancel my plans for you??"

I rolled my eyes in disgust. "In your dreams."

Natsume finally stopped the car, pocketing the keys and his phone as he got out. I followed him reluctantly, wondering if I could make an escape.

I had no clue where we were. I squinted, trying to see through the blinding flash of lights. As my eyes slowly adjusted, I noticed the huge outline of a Ferris wheel and the spinning rides that were scattered around it. People bustled about, while a few (girls) stopped to point at Natsume, whispering and giggling with their friends. I could swear I heard the word 'hot' passed around at least a few times.

"They are so annoying," muttered Natsume, walking past with his hand in his pocket. I looked from Natsume, to the fan girls, and then back again, smirking. It was just so funny seeing the annoyed look on his face.

"I almost feel sorry for you," I snickered, catching up with him. "Almost, but not quite."

Natsume grunted, walking towards the massive metal frame of a roller coaster. The tracks twisted and turned until they were out of sight, going almost around the whole carnival before it looped back on itself. There were at least fifty people waiting in a line, almost all sweating and looking anxious. Near the back of the line, a large cardboard sign was painted black with red letters on it, made to look like dripping blood. A small booth was next to it, the woman in it handing out tickets. Another sign was stuck onto the front of the booth, painted in red, but saying the same as its counterpart. 'Killer'

I gulped. "Killer??? Why do we have to go on the worst ride in the whole carnival??" I asked, my palms sweaty.

"Why, are you scared???? If you want, we can go on one of the baby rides," he sneered, pointing to the small train tracks where little kids were running around, shouting "Choo-choo!!!" at the top of their lungs.

"I am not afraid," I growled. Yeah, more like terrified. I walked to the ticket booth, calling over my shoulder, "Are you coming, or not?"

Natsume was suddenly at my side, asking for two tickets. The lady looked up, and instantly her eyes grew wide. She started fumbling around with the roll of tickets, her eyes on Natsume the whole time. I stared at her, and then at Natsume. Was he really that good-looking?? Unfortunately, he was. The lady handed us the tickets, stuttering something like "have a good time."

Natsume's crazy fans didn't leave us alone either. The moment we got into line, gasps erupted among the males and females standing in front of us. (The guys were only gasping because they couldn't imagine Natsume going anywhere, especially with a girl. Not because they were gay. No scratch that. For all I knew, they might have been gay.) The girls crowded around us, leaving their boyfriends looking dumbfounded.

"Natsume, you can come on the ride with me!"

"Why would he want to go with you? He obviously wants to go with me!"

"Natsume, don't listen to them! I'm the one you want!!!"

The squealing, screeching and wailing continued, and before long, most of the girls were involved in a fight. They were so busy scratching and screaming that they didn't even notice Natsume take my arm and lead me to the front of the line and onto the black, menacing coaster.

I gulped again as the metal bars slid over my head to stop before my chest. "It's ok to be scared," said Natsume mockingly.

"Yeah right. Me?? Scared??" I said, wiping my hands on my jeans and trying in vain to calm down my racing heart. More like terrified.

Natsume snorted, but I couldn't hear it. All I heard was the squeal of the wheels on the track as the coaster slowly made its way to a long, dark tunnel.

"Oh my god!!! That was awesome!!!!" I screamed, waving my hands in the air.

Natsume grinned. "Didn't think you would make it through the whole ride without crying or something like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, punching him lightly in the arm.

He didn't seem affected, but instead just grinned wider. "Exactly what I said."

I rolled my eyes. It was true that I was frightened half to death most of the ride, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Frankly, I was just happy that I had enough strength to resist holding on to his arm and squeezing my eyes shut. Wait, was that the point of taking me on this death ride?? Nah…even Natsume wouldn't sink so low…would he???

As we walked down from the platform and into a throng of people, I heard people screaming all over. "Oh. My. God…Its Natsume Hyuuga!!!" I looked around, and instantly dodged away from the throng of girls that were desperately clawing to Natsume.

I emerged next to a cotton candy stall, covered in scratches and my hair tousled. Then an idea struck me. What if I managed to sneak away??? If Natusme couldn't find me, then he couldn't control me, right? But first, I thought, I had to get some cotton candy.

"One, please," I said to the stall owner. I rummaged in my bag for change and was about to hand it to him, when an arm darted past mine and plopped a dollar on the counter.

I looked up, and saw that the hand belonged to Natsume. "Hehe," I giggled nervously. "I was just about to come look for you…" I muttered, snatching the cotton candy from his hand.

He didn't seem affected, except for the look of indifference as he dragged me from the cotton candy stall. "You know, you're still my slave."

"You just had to remind me," I muttered gloomily.

"Where are we this time?" I asked, turning around. We were in some sort of alley that was lined by rusted metal sheets on one side and an old, dilapidated brick wall on the other. The moonlight shone through the narrow gap above me, illuminating the scene in a creepy way. Natsume didn't reply, walking forwards like I hadn't even talked. He stopped after about a few yards, taping on a wooden door set into the brick. Above it was a neon sign that said 'Welcome to Hell'.

The door creaked open slightly, the light from inside pouring out into the alley. "Who art thou?" asked a raspy voice.

Natsume just rolled his eyes. "Just let us in Ryuu. You're only making a fool of yourself."

The door opened wide, and a guy stepped out. He wasn't much to look at. He was tall but gangly, with bronze hair and a pale, pasty face, the kind you get when you sit inside too long. All he needed was glasses, and he might as well have 'NERD' stamped on his forehead. "Natsume!! Is that you're girlfriend?" he asked, not using the raspy voice anymore.

"Just shut the he –"

"None of your business," interrupted Natsume, dragging me inside. I gasped in awe and instantly forgot about my plans to drown Ryuu in a toilet.

Unlike its outside appearance, the room was pretty big, but that wasn't what was so amazing about it. It was the fact that it was simply filled every type of gaming system imaginable. Everything from the latest game on the Wii to an old, rusty pinball machine was there, including an unavoidable assortment of nerds. But not all of the people there were nerds. In fact, there were quite a few guys (and girls) who looked like they belonged more kicking a ball then playing with videogames. The nerds gave them space, walking around them like there was an invisible barrier preventing them from walking within a three-foot radius of the 'cool' kids.

As I watched, a big, burly guy wearing a jersey that plainly revealed his muscles picked up a smaller dude in front of him by the collar. Lifting him up until he was eye length, the guy raised his fist as if to punch him. I growled. I couldn't stand this anymore. Cracking my knuckles, I approached the burly guy, coughing to get his attention. He looked down at me, the small guy in his arms looking at me in relief and gratitude.

"What are you doing?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and tapping my foot in resentment.

"Oh look, your little girlfriend's come to help," he sneered.

"She's not his girlfriend. And I suggest you put him down, or else you're going to get it from me," said a voice from behind me.

The big guy looked over my shoulder, and his smirk faltered, becoming something more like alarm. "N-N-Natsume," he stuttered, releasing his captive, who fell to the ground on his butt.

I lowered my hand to help him up, but instead of taking it, he just stared at me in awe. I just rolled my eyes and grabbed him up from the floor to set him on his feet. "Stop staring at me like a goldfish," I said, irritated. He instantly shut his mouth, turned around, and started to whistle tunelessly. What a weird dude.

As I turned around to face Natsume, I saw that almost everyone in the whole place was silently staring at us. Actually, only the guys were silent. The girls were squealing into their phones, saying, "Yes, The Natsume Hyuuga," over and over again.

"I think we should leave before we get stampeded," I whispered to a wide-eyed Natsume.

He turned to look at me. "Yeah, we should go."

We both hightailed it out of there, managing to make it back to Natsume's car before we got run over by girls who were carrying Sharpies around and trying to get Natsume to sign on their body parts. (Who the hell carries sharpies around??)

I snickered, climbing in the car. "What's so funny?" asked Natsume, looking aggravated. (I would be too, if freaks chased me around every time I went out with my girlfri – wait…I am not Natsume's girlfriend.)

"Nothing," I replied, mentally kicking myself for the slip-up, even if I hadn't said it out loud. "It's just so funny that you're always being chased like that. Don't you ever get tired of it?"

He accelerated, the car tires squealing at the sudden burst of speed. "Are you kidding me? I got tired of it the moment it started!!" he grumbled, clutching the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles became white.

"I give up!" groaned Natsume, slamming his foot down on the brake.

"Who knew so many people could be at the park?" I agreed, though not with as much annoyance as Natsume. "Or the movies, or a restaurant or a –"

"I get it," he growled, opening the door and getting out. I followed him, getting my dorm keys out.

We had spent who-knows-how-long going around Central Town, trying to find a place that wasn't flooded with fan-girls. Of course, I got happier every minute we wasted. More fan girls meant less Natsume, something I was totally fine with.

"I hate to admit it, but I had fun," I smiled. It wasn't completely a lie. I had tons of fun laughing at the various expressions Natsume made when he was mad.

He snorted. "Well, who wouldn't have fun going on a date with me?" he asked, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I whirled around to face him. "I said I had fun. I never said this was a date."

His expression turned disbelieving. He walked towards me, and stopped when we were barely half a foot away. "Don't lie to yourself," he said. I blinked, trying to remember what I was supposed to say. It was just so…intoxicating with him so close…Close enough that I could just tilt my head up and…I blinked again, this time with more fervor. I couldn't let my thoughts stray. "I know that you know that this was a date."

"Well I know that you know that this wasn't a date," I said with a little confusion.

"I know that you know that I know that this was a date." He smirked, watching my expression turn into confusion.

"I know…that you know… Oh, who cares!" I groaned. I couldn't even understand what he was saying, let alone able to retaliate. "Besides, why would I know something that isn't true?"

"Ughh," he groaned. "How do I say this?"

"Say what?" I asked, confused.

"I'm trying to figure out how to get through that thick head of yours."

Before I could reply though, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then closed the rest of the distance between us without any apparent hesitation. My hands got sticky, and I could swear that everybody within a mile radius could hear my heart beating. His hand lifted my chin up slightly, bringing it even closer. Although many guys had tried to kiss me before, they had all gone away with need for serious medication. I had never felt this way with any other guy. Or for that matter, any other person.

He halted when we were an inch apart, a calculating look on his face. Suddenly, he smirked, and turned my head slightly to the side, so that the kiss landed on my cheek. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer. (if that was even possible)

"Remember when I said that I always get who I want?" He didn't wait for my answer, and it was a good thing, too. I wouldn't have been able to talk even if my life depended on it. "What if its you?"

I froze. I didn't how I did it, but I managed to say, "Haha," sarcastically before I wrenched myself from grasp, hurtling through the dorm and into my room. The moment I closed the door, I slid down to the floor in frustration, my head in my hands.

Even though it wasn't even a real kiss, I was still confused. (Well, it was the first time anyone but my parents had kissed me. And even then, I had only allowed them with great reluctance.) Why hadn't I been able to slap him like I had every other time some guy tried to kiss me?? Was it because this time, it wasn't just someone trying to kiss me, or was it because the person who had kissed me had been Natsume? I refused to believe it. Why would I freeze up like that? It was probably just because I had never been close with a guy (someone I don't consider a friend) before, that's all.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Hotaru's worried face. I knew that she would want to know what was happening. Too bad I didn't know myself.


I'd like to thank my friend who helped rewrite this chapter, but who didnt make an account yet (GRRRR)
And umm....hehe.....reviews??? anyone???