The Punishment

Not much to say. I'm very pleased with all the positive feedback I'm getting. I've read a lot of FF and some of them are really good. Especially with their wording...then I find out the people are either in college or have a writing major xD I might take writing as a minor when I hit college...still have a few more years until then though.

Thanks to all my lovely reviewers...I've been meaning to make a list of people but haven't had time...might do that when I end the story. So, that's all I've got to say this time. Please enjoy the story.

P.S. 3rd person PV is like a narrator in the story. So they know what's happening even if the characters don't. Also, they know how the other characters feel, think or do even if the other characters aren't around. So kind of an all-knowing voice. Hope that doesn't confuse you too much. Also the words like Sam, he, his are italicized because Samantha is a girl but Kaoru thinks she is a he...hope that doesn't confuse you too much...I just wanted to help the readers to understand which one is being talked about during the 3rd person PV.

Thoughts

In English

Japanese/regular talk

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC

Chapter 11: Switching and Dates

(3rd Person PV)

Samantha Frost was not one to avoid people. Well, at least not until now. The day after the Halloween/Christmas party Sama grudgingly got out of bed and got dressed for school. She came home right after the kissing incident and locked herself in her room. Seth, being the eldest, tried to talk to the girl but she refused to open the door. In the end she talked to Seth through the door.

Sama chewed on an apple while trying to come up with the best way to avoid a certain someone. Isao stood near the sink washing Seth's dishes. Seth had eaten early and gone off to morning classes.

"Samantha?" Said girl turned to look at her brother, Steve. They barely talked to each other after the argument. In truth she missed talking to her other brother. Seth refused to take sides and told them to sort out their problems on their own.

"Good morning, Steve." She said evenly and went back to eating her apple while watching her dark haired brother walk over to a cabinet. Steve peeked inside and grumbled something about not wanting cereal again.

"Isao, can I have an omelet with mushrooms and cheese?" The old butler nodded and headed off into the main kitchen. Steve straddled a chair backwards and glanced at his only sister. There was an awkward silence between the two. The only noise was Sama eating her apple and the faint clanging of pots and pans in the next kitchen.

"Sama-"

"Steve-" Both siblings looked at each other. Then they both simultaneously opened their mouth to talk and closed them again. Sama gestured for Steve to talk.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like I was taking mom's side. It's just that she worries about you a lot. Especially after...well you know."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have blown up like that. Just because you're my brother it doesn't mean I should take my anger out on you." The short-haired girl ran her fingers through her damp hair and sighed. She tossed the rest of her apple in the nearby trash before standing up.

"Also, you're right. It is kind of my fault that Sam is gone. I should've done the right thing but I just wasn't thinking back then..." She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts. They still had a hard time talking about the missing member of the family. Even though a year had passed since that time, Sama still felt the pain in her chest whenever she thought of her twin.

"I have to get going. Dad said he would drive me to school. Don't worry he knows about the bet. He thinks it's hilarious as long as mom doesn't find out." The siblings gave each other knowing smiles. Their father was more relaxed than their mother. Of course if Mr. Frost were to be caught by his wife, for letting their daughter parade around as a male, he would be in hot waters.

Waving farewell to Steve, Sama grabbed her bag and headed outside. A black Volvo waited for her, the engine already on. Her father waved at her as she came out.

"Ready to go, kiddo?"

"Yup." She smiled as she buckled up and the car started to leave the house. Mitch Frost was a happy man. He worked most of the time but enjoyed the rare moments he got to spend with his family. The man was tall and well built but not overly muscular. His face was dotted with freckles for as long as he could remember. He had his red hair cut short and his blue green eyes sparkled when he laughed. All in all Mitch Frost was a very friendly man.

"So, tell me, how is being a boy in school working out for you?"

"It's okay. I mean, two people already found out. The girls in the school think I'm really handsome and I have a fan club." Sama made a face at the thought of her fan club. She found out about her little fan club a few weeks ago. A group of girls had given her freshly baked cookies and a note that read 'From your adoring fan club ❤' and Sama nearly choked on her spit. Kaoru and Hikaru thought it was hilarious. Of course every other host had a fan club as well. Sama really wanted to tell the girls to not make a fan club for her but Kyoya told her that they would be daily customers for her and the Host Club would make more money. So in the end the fan club stayed.

"Some random girl asked me for a piece of my hair. I told her 'no' and she started to cry. So I gave her my handkerchief to shut her up." Mr. Frost laughed heartily as he looked at his daughter's face. She had wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"I never knew you would be so popular with the girls. Steve and Seth weren't even that popular in high school, if I remember correctly." A small smile appeared on the girls face. Just thinking that she was more popular with the girls than her brothers and she wasn't even a boy, made her want to laugh. Her father knew how to cheer her up. They made it to the school and Sama didn't want to leave. Turning to face her father she thought for a moment before asking him a question.

"Dad, what do you do if you had to kiss your friend because you were under the mistletoe?" Her father raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

"Well, I guess if you don't like them in any way except friendly then you have to let them know. Why?"

"Uh, I had to kiss one of my guy friends during the party last night and I feel really awkward about it."

"Ah. Well you do have a problem. The young man you kissed, does he know that you're a girl?"

"No, not that I'm aware of."

"Well tell him you didn't mean anything by it. Just don't avoid him, though. It will make it worse than it already is." Sama frowned. She had made a plan to avoid Kaoru until he either forgot or until they both graduated from Ouran and would never see each other again.

"Don't worry, bambini. I'm sure you'll resolve everything." He gave her a kiss on the forehead as she got out of the car. Waving good-bye Sama headed into the building.

Okay time to avoid Kaoru...sorry dad but I can't face him yet. That kiss wasn't my first but it felt...different...maybe cause I haven't kissed a boy in a while...yeah that's probably it...

(Samantha's PV)

Avoiding Kaoru was harder than I first thought. He and I shared almost every class together. I sat next to Haruhi and sometimes with Hikaru to avoid him. Haruhi felt sympathetic toward me and allowed me to hide. She did tell me I should talk to Kaoru though; I threw that idea out the window when she suggested it.

I even resorted to sitting with my fan club. It was the worst thing ever. I could feel them staring at me the whole time. I later vowed not to do that again no matter how desperate the situation would be. Right now I had cooking class with Hikaru. Haruhi and Kaoru had a different class from us. Hikaru was reluctant to be my partner but I have gotten better at cooking. I still burn a lot of the food still but at least I didn't set them on fire anymore.

I heard someone pull out the chair next to me. Today we would be writing an essay on how to cook salmon without making it too dry. I usually left that to Hikaru while I researched a good recipe to use later on.

"So, Hikaru, I think we should do a simple salmon dish." I looked over at him waiting for his input. I blinked as I stared at him. The twin I was talking to was not my partner. My mouth opened and closed as I struggled for words.

"Kaoru?" I managed to finally to say. Everyone else didn't seem to notice that the wrong person was in our class. Then, again people can't seem to tell them apart. So tricking the teachers wasn't a hard thing to do.

"Sam I think we should talk." His face was serious. I had tried so hard to avoid this situation. I glanced around the room. People were busy with their work.

"Talk? About what?" I tried to ask in an innocent voice. I could pretend I had no idea what he was talking about, not that it would work.

"About what happened at the party." I chewed the inside of my cheek as a silence fell on us.

"I think I need to tell you that I don't, uh...well like you...in that way," he said nervously. I was slightly surprised. Did Kaoru think that I liked him like that? I wanted to laugh out loud but just smiled.

"Well, I'll tell you that I don't swing that way, either." He seemed to relax. I felt better. Maybe dad was right; I should've told him in the beginning instead of avoiding him. I chuckled at my own silliness.

"You know this could've been resolved if I hadn't run away. Sorry about that, but I really had no choice but to kiss you. It was the only way for everyone to get away from us." I smiled at him while he stared at the topic for today. Kaoru turned back to me and gave me a small smile.

"That's what Hikaru told me. Anyways I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship." I smiled bigger. I felt warm knowing that the Host Club thought of me as a good friend. I've only been to the school for a few months and they readily accepted me. Even Kyoya liked me a little.

"I'm glad you still want to be friends." Kaoru had a strange look on his face as I smiled and then looked away.

He coughed and said, still avoiding eye contact, "Sorry I stole your cooking partner. I bet Hikaru is having the worse time in my history class. Today was supposed to be lecture day."

I laughed loudly. Everyone stopped to stare at me. I didn't really care. Hikaru switched places with Kaoru but ended up in a boring class. Cooking class wasn't that boring.

"I bet he regrets switching places now," I said after calming down. I could just imagine him bored to death as the history teacher droned on about some topic.

"Aren't you glad you're here then?" I nudged his arm. His eyes danced lightly with laughter. The awkwardness had completely disappeared. I felt so relieved that I didn't have to deal with any drama.

I'm glad I came to Ouran...gosh did I really just think that?

(3rd person PV)

Kaoru Hitachiin glanced at the dark haired boy. Sam was studying a cookbook. Kaoru was stuck with writing the essay for class, not that he really minded. Kaoru had been nervous when he had confronted Sam. He had assumed that there would be some kind of awkwardness between them. Kaoru was surprised when he had readily agreed that they could still be friends.

I just thought the way he kissed me was strange...he doesn't like me in that way...

For some strange reason Kaoru felt slightly disappointed but instantly shook that feeling away. He should be glad that Sam didn't feel anything for him. When Sam had run off Kaoru was left there with an open mouth. He spent the rest of the night wondering what he should do. Someone would say he was blind if he didn't notice how Sam avoided him most of the day.

He convinced Hikaru to switch class with him. Hikaru had cooking class with Sam. The only reason Hikaru agreed was because Haruhi also had that class with Kaoru. Too bad Hikaru didn't ask what they were doing in history today.

Kaoru felt a smile tug on the corner of his mouth. He looked back at the no longer blank sheet of paper. The last time he had looked at the paper it only had Hikaru and Sam's names on it. The writing was small and neat. He looked over to the dark haired boy. He smiled at the confused look on his face.

"I saw you staring off into space so I just wrote the essay. Hikaru usually has it done quickly but since you don't have this class I didn't think it was fair to let you do all the work." Sama gave him a light pat on the shoulder. Kaoru felt himself stiffen slightly at the contact but then relaxed as Sam looked back to the cookbook.

If he looked at his side profile Kaoru could see that the young boy had some girlish features. His chin length hair had grown slightly out. The dyed blue tips had faded and now it was just all black hair. He had really long eyelashes for a boy. Kaoru also noticed how thin the boy was compared to the others. He was also kind of short, taller than Haruhi but shorter than a lot of the other guys in the school.

His skin is kind of pale and he has sharp cheekbones. His fingers are long like a girl's. His mouth is...

Kaoru's eyes widened when he realized where his thoughts had been going. Why was he staring at Sam, a boy? They were just friends. Kaoru felt nothing for the American transfer except friendship. Then, again he was thinking about his lips.

"Kaoru?" He blinked and nearly had a heart attack. The dark haired boy was very close to his face. He felt his face get hot. A light blush was evident on his face. Samantha didn't seem to notice that or the unease Kaoru felt.

"Class is over. We should get to the Host Club. I bet Hikaru will be there ready to kill you." Sama gave a bright smile as her eyes sparkled with laughter. Kaoru felt his stomach flip as he stared at her.

"Uh, w-we should go." Kaoru stepped back hastily almost tripping over his own feet. Sama gave him a confusing look. He stepped forward and stared at the gold eyed boy. Kaoru felt his face grow hotter.

"You okay? You're face is kind of red. Are you sick?" She pressed her palm against his forehead and frowned. Kaoru just wanted to run away.

"You're forehead is hot. Maybe you should go see the nurse." Concern flashed through her blue green eyes. Kaoru hastily stepped back.

"I'll be fine. Let's just get going." With that Kaoru walked away. Sama frowned at the auburn haired boy. He was acting strange. Kaoru was fine but then suddenly he didn't look very well. Sama shrugged and followed the quickly retreating boy.

Hikaru was mad at Kaoru but didn't say much. The lecture, as Samantha found out, was about World War I. Sama liked history so she didn't see what the problem was. Today Sama was hosting three girls. They were all from her fan club. Samantha wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

"Sam-kun?" Sama looked up at one of her customers. A red haired girl with cat like brown eyes looked at her timidly.

"Yes?"

"Would you...would you like t-to go with m-me to the Christmas E-eve carnival?" Samantha blinked at the girl. Was she asking her out on a date?

"Uh...are you asking me out on a date?" The two other girls gasped. The red head flushed and looked away.

"Yumi, you're so brave!" One girl said

"I wish I had thought about that!" Another squealed.

She sighed. Samantha didn't want to go out on a date, let alone with a girl.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." All four people turned around to look at Kyoya. He smiled politely to the girls. Sama glared at the dark haired boy.

"I think the Host Club should all go to the carnival. Each member will have a date to take." Samantha groaned. This was just another money making scheme.

"Ladies, may I have your attention. Please buy a number and we will see who will get a date with each host." All the other girls suddenly got up and started to crowd around Kyoya. Sama shook her head and sighed.

"He'll do anything for money," Samantha mumbled to herself.

"Sam-kun, does that mean w-we're going on a d-date?" Sama looked at the girl. She would have no choice, Kyoya would force her to do it anyways.

"Of course we are." She forced a smile on her face. The girl squealed with joy.

Kyoya you...arg I hate you so much!

Happy April 1st everyone.

Kitkat d(^.^)b