Disclaimer: I don't own any Beyblade characters. Only Jessy and Draiza.
Chapter 11
The next morning, at about five thirty, I awoke with a jolt. Unsure of what woke me, I decided to go to the kitchen for some coffee.
Kai was there when I walked in. He was already dressed and his suitcase sat next to the door.
"Leaving without saying good-bye?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow.
"It's easier this way."
"Tyson won't think of it that way," I warned him.
"He'll get over it."
I sighed and poured myself a cup of coffee. I added a splash of milk and three teaspoons of sugar, just how I liked. Sitting down, I wrapped both hands around the steaming mug.
"So what will you do?"
He was silent for a minute, as if deciding on whether or not to tell me.
"Go back to school."
"What?" I was not expecting that!
"I've been accepted into a school for people like me. People who have never had any form of normal schooling," he told me.
"Without blading?"
"Precisely," he conceded. "It's time I retired."
I looked down at my cup. Wow. I was a little dumbfounded.
"Well, I wish you the best," I finally said. "I'm sure you'll do great."
"Yeah," he sighed.
Before he left, he gave me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.
~~~One week later~~~
I was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper, when Tyson, Kenny, and Hilary (their new friend from school) came in.
"Hey, Jessy!" Kenny greeted me. "How are you doing?"
I smiled at him. The nerd had grown on me. He reminded me of Ian, though my Demo-Boy would hate it if I told him that.
"I'm alright," I replied kindly. "I was actually just finishing up here and was about to go for a walk."
"Alright! Dinner will be soon! Tell Tala, if you see him," Tyson said, throwing himself down into a chair.
"Sure thing. I'll see you guys later," I waved as I left the kitchen.
I wanted to avoid Hilary. I've never hung around other females before and she drove me crazy. It especially bothered me that she thinks beyblading is some stupid game. That gets under my skin. I could feel Draiza humming her agreement with me on this. Whenever Hilary comes around, I usually make myself scarce. It's like she thinks that since we're both girls we have to hang out together. Personally, I didn't have time for her petty interests.
I decided to go down to the river and get some practice in. I needed to work on my agility. I set up some cans I pulled from the nearby trash bin.
In the middle of Draiza dodging the cans, a white beyblade came out of nowhere and knocked her to the side. I caught Draiza mid-air and watched as this blade knocked over all of the cans I had set up.
I smirked.
"Show off."
Tala jumped down from the bridge above me.
"Sometimes, you need to be taken down a peg," he teased. He bumped his arm against mine.
"And you think you are strong enough for that?" I teased right back.
He pretended to huff, insulted. I giggled.
"Let's go for a walk, wolf-girl," he suggested.
So we walked. We talked and laughed like we hadn't in forever. In fact, we had never been allowed to be this free with each other. Our new-found freedom was still being tested. The things we could now say out loud were incredible and we still caught ourselves speaking in our minds, even when nobody was around. Habit, I suppose.
We circled the neighborhood and ended up across the river from where we started. We stood at the top of the riverbank, silently looking out at the flowing water.
All of a sudden, he tackled me, laughing heartily. I was knocked off my feet and we rolled down the hill. By the time we landed at the bottom, I was laughing, too. Breathless and dizzy, we lay on the ground, our limbs haphazardly twisted together. Untangling himself, Tala propped himself on one arm next to me.
In the setting sun, with his hair glowing like fire and his eyes sparkling like gasoline, I felt myself ignite. He wasn't doing anything, just watching me in that observant way of his. Still, I could feel the heat drape over me like a blanket.
He reached over and caressed my face gently, almost as if he was trying to imprint the feel of my skin. We locked eyes and I could not look away.
In that moment, we weren't children of the Abbey, borne of fear, hatred, and anger. We weren't scarred by our pasts. Being cold and hard was not who we were right now. It all just fell away.
As he leaned down, and pressed his lips to mine, I felt that familiar fire envelope me from the inside out. We were light years away from reality.
~~~Several weeks later~~~
Tala and I were sitting at the kitchen table one Saturday afternoon, sipping coffee and making conversation, when Tyson, Hilary, and Kenny burst in.
"You'll never guess what happened!" Kenny shouted. "Hilary and I were abducted!"
They proceeded to tell us about the strange men and the boat. Tyson's set of phone calls that he barely made it to in time. By the time they were finished telling us that story, I was definitely curious about everyone else.
"Have you heard anything from Max, Ray, or Kai?" I asked.
"Actually," Kenny answered. "Max and Ray have both had run-ins with mysterious cloaked bladers as well. Max sent me a video of their match and I scanned it. That blader had an invisible bit beast, too!"
"Do you think they could be connected to the men who abducted you?" I asked, puzzled.
"Yeah!" Hilary chimed in. "Some kind of international bey-thingy conspiracy plan to take over the world!"
I just barely held back rolling my eyes. Sadly, this was probably the best idea they could come up with.
~~~Later~~~
That night, I was sitting out back, by the pond, when Tala found me. His blue eyes looked almost translucent in the moonlight. I smiled at him as he sat beside me. I was trailing my fingers over the lily pads.
"You look distracted," I pointed out.
"I never could keep anything from you," he replied, sighing.
I tensed up and asked, "What is it?"
"The Demolition Boys need me. I just got off the phone with Bryan. He said the facility they're in would let them leave if I came back and got evaluated as well. Then, they would let us live in an apartment together. If I come back. I don't see any other option. They need me. I am their leader, after all."
I stayed silent, contemplating.
"Would you come back here?" I asked quietly.
"Probably not. They're not supposed to leave the country, and if I go back, we'll all have to go to therapy and shit regularly. BBA's orders. We would have to do that for a year before we would be allowed to enter any kind of beyblade tournament again. They're worried that we are a risk to others."
He cupped my chin in his hands, leveling his gaze with mine.
"But this doesn't have to be good-bye," he said firmly.
An idea hit me. I've done so much damage, I thought to myself, momentarily guarding my mind from Tala. Now, it's time to fix this. He couldn't know how I blamed myself. He felt guilty enough for everything he had done while under Boris' control. I didn't want him to worry about me any more than he already did.
"Of course it's not good-bye! Because I'm coming with!" I exclaimed.
At my response, he grinned.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he replied.