Yay! Another chapter! I must admit, though, I'm a bit disappointed with the reviews. Some readers are wonderful about this but I don't feel like I'm getting quite enough. If this persists, I may have to set a limit on the amount of reviews before I update. Yay for excuses! Anyhoo... enjoy!

Chapter 10: Yin and Yang

Brooklyn was trying to figure out how to secure our packages on the bikes (since he was not going to be on stage, he didn't need an outfit) and Tala was leaning impatiently on his bike with his arms folded. "Call and break up with your girlfriend!" I snapped. I was about to offer him my cell phone but thought better of it and stuffed it irritably in my pocket. He probably had his own phone.

The red-head threw a confused and astonished look at my back as I snatched the helmet off of the handle of Kai's bike. After he got himself semi-composed he asked, "Which one?" I stiffened. I had not seen this coming. I had unknowingly created a world of black and white where this was concerned and it was not panning out like it was supposed to. There was supposed to be yin and yang, good and bad, right and wrong. Suddenly things had been thrown out of whack and I, admittedly, was unsure of what to do. The clatter of the helmet on cement seemed distant and I stared uncertainly at my hands, still held out to support air.

"Casey?" The voice was reluctant and tinged with worry. It was Aya. "Casey, what's wrong?"

Anger welled up in me. Anger and indecision. I felt like I was going to explode. But I couldn't do that here. Not now. So I did the only thing I could think of. I bolted. Weaving in and out of the cars at full speed, working my muscles harder, and—in general—exerting myself felt good. I just poured my anger out carefully dodging traffic, parked cars, and pedestrians. Finally, I found myself faced with a chain-link fence halfway along the side of the building, blocking off the loading docks.

I skidded to a stop and rounded on the brick wall to my left. "Why am I getting so worked up?" I screamed to no one other than myself, emphasizing 'up' by punching the wall and immediately regretting it. Pain shot unmercifully up my arm and upon closer inspection I discovered several missing layers of skin on my knuckles. I hissed and angrily kicked over a nearby trash can, spilling recyclable bottles across the pavement.

I took a few deep breaths, slid down the wall, and put my face in my hands. "What is wrong with me?" I sat there a moment longer before standing up and righting the trash can, gathering the bottles, and tossing them carelessly inside.

The roar of a motorcycle engine reached my ears but I ignored it. It was probably just Tala demanding to know why I'd run off or Brooklyn or Aya trying to convince me to leave before anything else happened to set me off. What's going on? This is so unlike me. It's just stupid high school drama. I promised myself I wouldn't get wrapped up in this kind of thing. With a sigh, I threw the last bottle in the can and set the lid on top—slightly askew since it wouldn't fit properly.

"You don't have to like either of them, you know." I jumped violently. That wasn't Tala, Brooklyn, or Aya and it wasn't a persuasive or demanding voice. I turned to see Kai, arms folded as usual and face masked of any and all emotions. "There's not always a good-guy. Tala's not a saint."

I scowled and didn't answer, reaching to take the spare helmet off of the handle once again.

There was a grunt and Kai grabbed my arm, squeezing slightly. "If you don't get over it now, it's just going to get drug out and you won't perform well tonight." I was slightly stunned. I'd never seen or heard of him getting worked up with someone else in mind.

The moment passed quickly enough. "So those 2 idiots are cheating on each other! That's not my problem!"

"But you're acting like it is!" I was about to shout something back when it came back to me. "You're not responsible for everyone else's happiness…" I growled and turned away from his gaze. His grip loosened. "It's not your problem and you can't always fix it. Sometimes you have to let it work it's self out. …Now come on." He handed me the helmet and swung onto his bike, waiting for me to do the same. I smashed the helmet on my head. He's right. Paybacks are hell. They'll get what they deserve.

Once at Aya's house, she instructed everyone to change into their clothing and hissed a plan in Brooklyn's ear. Said boy grimaced slightly, as if foreseeing pain but nodded. Kai, Spencer, and Tala were pointed toward the bathroom and I was dragged into Aya's room.

"Here." She through the bag at me and rummaged around in her closet, causing several objects to cascade down from their hiding places in the process. By the time she had found whatever it was that she was looking for I was done changing, still picking unhappily at the shirt. "Hold this." She shoved what looked to be a tackle box into my hands and proceeded to change herself.

"What is it?"

"You'll see," she answered evasively. I frowned suspiciously down at it. I didn't like where this was going. "Okay! I'm ready." She rushed over to the door and motioned to Brooklyn who had been waiting outside. He entered the room, looking distastefully around at the mess but quickly averted his gaze to it after meeting my eyes with a cringe. "NOW!"

Suddenly both of them charged and pinned me to the bed. "What the heck, Aya!" Said raven-haired girl ignored me and opened the box full of…. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I began to thrash about, probably over-reacting, but Brooklyn held me relatively still while giving me an apologetic look.

5 minutes later I exited the room fuming to face 3 slightly nervous—but curious—boys that had heard my screaming. I grabbed Tala by the wrist and drug him into Aya's room to suffer the torture I had endured. One by one, they each entered the room, and one by one, faced their ordeals. Spencer, being as big as he was, put up the biggest fight—resulting in a few bumps and bruises.

Finally, the torture came to a close and 4 very unhappy teenagers were sprawled across the Yamaguchi's living room. "Come on," Aya groaned. "It's not that noticeable."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's make-up!" Tala screeched.

"It's just a bit of eyeliner! Besides, Casey had it worse! I put foundation on her and she didn't cry half as much as you!"

"That's because she a girl! She's supposed to do that kind of thing!" Brooklyn was all that was stopping me from taking a good, hard swing at Tala.

"Okay, okay. That's enough!" he grunted. "We have a show to put on. Everybody, back onto the bikes." We reluctantly did as told and rode in silence to the school where a large truck was parked with our equipment on it. Several men were unloading it according to the instructions that Kai had given them. We stole the guitars and a pair of drumsticks and went to practice out behind the school. It was like a private rehersal. We had finally gotten the song down pat and took nervous, deep breaths. We were finally ready. Half an hour and the talent show would be starting. We were to be the closing act. We had to out-perform all of the others. The pressure was starting to get to me.

"Stop worrying!" Aya snapped. "We're not here to win the talent show, we're here to prove to the girls that we don't just jump in without thinking. We're good and you know it. We'll be fine."

I took another deep breath. "I hope so."

The boy's stood up from their respective benches and waited for us to do the same before leading the way inside. For once, I could think about going our separate ways on Monday and get a hint of doubt. I actually felt a connection to them and I was suddenly confident that we would be fine.