Warning: Running out of left over chapters. The only reason updates have been frequent r because these were prewritten. Anyways, shout out time! Shout out to our first time reviewers: Jazira, StarlightWolf19, XxRackCityBitchxX, aaa17, imafangirlforever, OhshcRose, WatermelonForDays, 0hg0sh, and Sienna xoxo. Wow! Thank you ALL for your reviews! I can't thank you enough, you mean so much to me!
I lugged my suitcase down the hallway, still tired from waking up so early. I had been up all night on Tumblr.
Must…get to…deck…so I can get on…land…and find…coffee shop.
"Morning Rowan,"
I looked up to see Kaoru walking past me with…AN ESPRESSO! Sweet, sweet caffeine!
"Where did you get the coffee?" I asked excitedly.
Kaoru only smiled at my addiction and signaled me to follow, taking me back to the lounge. There was a coffee machine in a remote corner of the lounge that I hadn't noticed before. I dropped my suit case and booted it up right away.
"Aaah," I sighed in satisfaction, sipping down half the cup.
"Didn't know you were so into coffee," Kaoru chuckled.
"Are you kidding?" I said in between gulps, "I stay up late every night, I can't survive without this stuff!"
We both sat down on one of the sofas, me being the commoner I was, putting my feet up on the black marble coffee table. Coffee tables are for coffee? Pffft, nah they're for feet!
"So…have you talked to Hikaru lately?" I asked.
Kaoru seemed to look a little disappointed at this topic for some reason
"It's strange, he hasn't told me anything about the issue," Kaoru sighed, "He usually tells me everything,"
"Maybe he just wants to keep you out of all the drama," I suggested hopefully, "Besides, he and I already reached sort of an agreement,"
Kaoru looked up hopefully.
"Hikaru told me to never speak of it again and never to come near him again," I said coolly, taking another sip of coffee, "Which I totally agree with, the farther I'm away from him, the quicker I can forget this whole incident,"
"But," Kaoru brought me out of my caustic look.
"Then he hasn't learned anything…" he said sadly.
"What is there to learn?" I shrugged.
"Hikaru is pretty immature," Kaoru sighed.
"Yeah," I muttered under my breath.
"And he needs to understand that you can't just forget something," Kaoru said pensively, "You need to resolve it,"
"Well I apologized…" I said.
"But did he?" Kaoru asked, looking back to me.
"No…but it's not like I was expecting to get one," I pouted.
"Then he still needs to resolve it," Kaoru finished.
I wish we could just bury this in the past already. I groaned in my head. Like he'll ever apologize anyway.
"But…" Kaoru trailed off, "To make it up to you, I have a question to ask,"
-Scene Change-
Kadence POV
I can only stay away from my headphones for so long before putting them back on and blaring Skrillex into my ears. Before packing my bags, I decided to look for Rowan. Freaking girl was always running off. After checking everywhere for her (now I know she was in the lounge but she was in a tiny alcove, making love to the coffee machine), I gave up and went out on deck. It was still a few hours before we'd hit land so everyone was still in their rooms, meaning the deck was all mine! Propping myself on the top of the railing, I switched the next song to Rock N Roll by Skrillex. Through all the dropped beats and tunes in the song, I swear I could hear something…
"Kadence"
"Kadence?"
"Kadence"
"KADENCE!"
I flipped out at the sudden voice and fell back. It would've been a good drop into the ocean if Hikaru hadn't grabbed me by the arm. For a few moments, I held on by just a hand, over my death…or the death of my perfected hair.
"You baka," he grumbled, desperately trying to hold on.
He yanked as hard as he could, flinging me back on deck a breached seal. I hit the floorboards, my headphones clattering beside me, dubstep could be faintly heard from them.
"Jeez, how high do you have these things on?" he asked, picking them up.
I looked up, noticing he was about to put them over his ears.
"Wait!" I tried to stop him but it was too late.
"KUSO!" he swore, quickly pulling the headphones off. (Kuso is a Japanese swear)
I snatched the skull headphones away, switching off the music. Nobody but Rowan and I could endure headphones at full blast.
"Thanks," I said nonchalantly, slipping the headphones back over my ears.
Then I stuck my hands in the pocket of my hoodie and started to walk off. I really hated Hikaru but if I had learned anything about hate (and believe me, I knew a lot about it, I hate all 328 kids at our school, minus Winston and Rowan), it was to not show it. That would only lead to more drama and wars. The best thing to do was walk away. Rowan had it down fairly well but still snapped now and again, thus her ranting about the twins.
"Seriously that's it?" he asked.
"What?" I turned back around.
"I just saved you from a watery grave and all I get is a 'thanks'?" he mocked my monotonous voice playfully.
You lied about who you were over the internet to my friend, you're lucky all you're getting is a "thanks". I thought, biting my tongue.
"What more do you want?" I asked, taking my headphones off again.
"I dunno," he laughed, walking up next to me, "I was just messing with you,"
Why was he being so nice to me? I thought he hated Rowan and I!
"Okaaaay," I chuckled, rolling my eyes.
"You're are a lot calmer than Rowan," Hikaru smiled, "Sorry about being annoying to you. I mainly just wanted to see how far I could push you until you snapped,"
"Excuse me?" I asked sharply, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Hikaru blushed a little, "You just seemed like nothing ever got to you and I thought I could at least make you angry like Rowan but, wow! You're good!"
I couldn't help but blush a little myself. Never in my life had I been complimented for my tolerance! I just used it on all the little bitches at school but I never thought someone would recognize it! Was Hikaru leading me on too? No…that would only work anonymously over the internet.
"I've never had someone recognize my superb love and tolerance," I blushed, instinctively pushing a bit of my hair behind my ear.
"Really? Not even Rowan?"
"She's an exception," I shrugged, "She's one of my only friends back home,"
"Really? I thought someone like you would have more friends,"
"Pffft, as if!" I retorted, "Rowan and I are the lowest tier of our school's food chain. Even our friend Winston has some status in the Chess Club,"
"What is it like back in America anyway?" Hikaru asked out of the blue.
Wow, this guy wanted to know everything! Well… it'd be too hard to shake him off, plus he'd start teasing me if I did…besides, he wasn't so bad. I wondered why he was so mean to Rowan.
"Well…" I began, "Everyone drives everywhere, hardly any walking,"
"What about flying?"
"Most Americans have never flown their entire life. Rowan drove 11 hours to her grandparent's last summer. In fact, our plane ride here was our first ever flight!" I explained, "It was pretty sick (in a good way). Now let's see…we're addicted to coffee. Personally, I only like frappiccinos…"
"What are those?"
"Cold coffee with tons of ice cream mixed in, a Starbucks invention. Anyways, but even teens love it. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where Rowan is right now, chugging that gross stuff down her throat."
"What about prom?"
"What?"
"I always see weird shows from America about over the top Proms but I never understand why it's such a big deal," I groaned, thinking of all the 'Proma Drama' as I called it that the seniors went through every year, "To Rowan and I, it's just another dance, but your last one at high school and you wear a ball gown. But to every other girl in the USA, it's the biggest thing ever!"
"That is so weird,"
"I know right!"
Maybe Hikaru wasn't so bad after all. Maybe he just didn't like Rowan. MAYBE I could get him to be nicer to Rowan!
"Hey Kadence?"
"Hm?"
"To make it up to you for being a jerk, how'd you like to go on a date with me?" Hikaru asked out of the blue.
"…What?"
Quick Hikaru POV
Kadence was a lot nicer than Rowan. She didn't try to suck up to me like everyone else did but she wasn't overly mean like Rowan. She was level-headed, taking everything in her stride. I liked that. But I knew she wouldn't like me back if I never made up for when I was a jerk to her so I decided to do what Kaoru would do, ask her out on a date. That's what he did in Karuizawa after all.
Rowan POV
I waited at the harbor, looking for Kadence. Sipping down the last of my coffee, I checked the time on my phone. Aunt Cindy would be there in five minutes and I still hadn't found Kadence. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since we docked! It wasn't like I was looking forward to seeing her, after all, I had some awkward news to break to her.
"Rowan!" I heard her call.
Looking to my right, I saw the female Skrillex sprinting as fast as she could, her suitcase rolling behind her. She came screeching to a halt before me, looking like she could barely wait to tell me something.
"There you are…" I was about to gripe when she cut in.
"You'll never believe what just happened to me!" she beamed.
"Uh…what?" I asked, confused at her strange enthusiasm.
"Now don't freak out ok?" she said, "But Hikaru asked me out on a date!"
She might as well have told me she purchased an elephant! What the hell?! I opened my mouth to say something of disbelief but nothing came out. I just stood there, mouth opened wide like a codfish.
"Yes, I know it's out of the blue, but he's actually really nice," she explained, "Sort of how he was to you in Realmz…so maybe he really wasn't leading you on…but anyways, that's beside the point! I'm hoping that by getting closer to him, I can get him to be less bitchy to you! Brilliant huh?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose, not sure how she'd react when I told her my news.
"Okay, Kadence…uh," I fumbled with my words, not sure how I should break it to her, "Kaoru kind of asked me on a date too,"
A glint of sadness fell into Kadence's eyes.
"I think he has a thing for me…" I admitted.
"Oh…" she said.
Her first crush in the world and he didn't even like her back.
"But wait!" she exclaimed, "I have an idea! Rowan, you've GOT to do this for me because you're my friend,"
"Sure," I shrugged.
"Let me go in your place on the date, PLEASE!" she begged.
I liked Kaoru as a friend and it would be fun to hang out with him, but I would give my time with him to Kadence happily. I wasn't going to crush her dreams anymore!
"Sure," I shrugged again, "But what about Hikaru? Are you just going to stand him up?"
"No, you'll go in his place," Kadence said simply as if the answer was obvious.
She might as well have told me she purchased two tickets to Jupiter.
Kaoru: Next time, you guessed it: The Date Swap Part 2!
Rowan: I know I don't like Kaoru but a day with him would be way better than a day with Hikaru!
Kadence: Shhhh! We can't let them find out we're swapping their dates around!
Hikaru: Hm?
Rowan: Gah! Buzz off! Stop listening in on the ending preview!
Hikaru: -bites tongue-
Kadence: The two of you are bound to erupt...
