~ Hello Readers!
Sorry I haven't written in forever! And I still haven't really written anything, I just rewrote this chapter cause I felt a lot of it was too out of character. Anyway, I'll have another chapter up soon, I promise! ^^ Hope you like it!
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I sat up and got out of bed. It felt strange to get up before my alarm clock went off. It was still a little dark out; the sunlight was just peeking out over the hillside.
Sense work wouldn't start for an hour at least, I decided to get ready and go downstairs to find something to eat. I was surprised to see that the lights were on and Colleen was already at the counter.
I made my way into the kitchen and started making toast and fried eggs. I got board waiting for them to cook and started day dreaming. I dreamed about getting my farm started. I was really eager to get my first goat. Yes, goat. Not horse, not cow… goat. I don't really know why, but I like goats a lot. I dreamed of actually waking up in my own house instead of the inn or the clinic (more often the clinic). A loud SLAM! Woke me from my reverie and I looked out the window to see that it was light out now. I glanced at the toaster to see that I never pushed the lever down. Boy, am I smart or what?
I pushed in down and checked on the eggs. I was just about to flip them when Chase raced into the kitchen and slammed the door behind him, his back pressed against it. I was so startled I almost dropped the eggs.
"What's up!?" I asked annoyed as I set the pan back on the stove.
Chase looked worried. "Don't let Maya know I'm here!" he whispered urgently.
"Wait, wh-?" I began, but stopped when I heard the doorknob behind Chase turn and he raced over and pressed himself to the wall next to a cabinet. I looked back to the door to see Maya walk in with… um… I'm not really sure what she was carrying.
"Akari, have you seen Chase? I wanted him to try the Apple Pie we made yesterday," she asked innocently.
I smirked. Chase was lucky I didn't bust out on the floor, laughing. That Apple Pie was probably the most toxic thing on this island, and it was hysterical to think of innocent little Maya trying to give it to someone as a gift. I walked over to the cupboard Chase was hiding behind and opened the cabinet to get out a cup. Chase stared at me wide eyes and mouthed the word 'please'. I should tell Maya he was here, and I could watch Chase eat the most disgusting pie in all of history, but I was in a good mood today. I giggled and closed the cabinet. Shook my head at Maya, "Nope, haven't seen him."
"Well, sense I can't find him, would you like to have it with me?"
My smile faded quickly after that. "Um, no thanks Maya, I… I just had breakfast." Or I would have if I paid any attention to toasters. Luckily for me, she didn't notice the eggs on the stove.
"Alright," she said cheerfully and walked out of the kitchen.
I breathed a sigh of relief and heard it echo from the cabinet. I glanced over and saw Chase slide to the ground with his back pushed up against the walk. He sat with his knees up and one hand on his stomach. He looked pale. I smiled and walked over to his hiding place. I looked down at him, "You owe me."
He just nodded, his face still white and eyes wide. I could see sweet on his forehead.
I glared at him. "Jeez, it's just Maya. She's nice." Sure, her cooking was awful, but she meant well.
He looked up at me. "Have you ever tasted anything she made?" he questioned.
"I'm glad I haven't," I answered and turned back to the toaster to see the toast pop out. I grabbed the two pieces squatted down in front of Chase. I handed him one and he looked at me skeptically. "Don't worry, Maya didn't make it," I smiled and he took a slice, but didn't eat it right away. He just held it in his hand and looked at it. I stood up and went back to the stove.
"So why were you so afraid of Maya? So she wants you to taste something that's awful, big deal."
He set the arm that was holding his toast on his knees and looked up at me. "I didn't see you tasting it."
"But I'm not the one who bust into the kitchen and hid behind a cabinet."
He looked away, "I don't have to explain myself to you."
I stopped what I was doing and folded my armed across my chest, "Yes you do, because if your excuse isn't good enough, then Maya will be finding her first taste-tester very soon."
Chase looked up at me with wide eyes, "You wouldn't."
I smirked, "Wanna bet?"
He sighed and looked away. "I… I have a medical condition," he was looking at he ground.
I just looked at him like he was an idiot.
"What?" he asked annoyed.
"That's seriously the best you can come up with? I've heard that stuff a million times. So what's this condition called anyway? Mayafoodophobia?"
He glared at me and tried to suppress a smile at the same time. When he failed, he looked away, "I guess you could call it that."
"Well, if that's all you got," I began, heading for the door. "I'm off to find Maya."
"No you're not!" Chase grabbed my ankle and I tripped. Luckily I didn't fall on my face this time because my hands were free.
I rolled over and glared at him, "Let me go!"
"You are NOT going to get Maya," he said sternly.
"Then start explaining!"
"Why do you want to know so badly!?" he asked exasperated.
"Because if the only reason you don't want to eat Maya's food is just because you're a big jerk, then I'm gonna make you eat it anyway!"
He glared at me a little while longer before finally letting go of my foot and folded his arms together on top of his knees. I folded my legs together and sat next to him. He sighed heavily and rested his head on his arms, looking straight ahead at nothing in particular.
"I've had a weak stomach ever since I was little. Me and Maya grew up together, and she always wanted to eat everything I cooked. I guess she liked my food so much that she wanted to make me something. If you think her cooking is bad now, just think about what if would be like with no experience at all," Chase shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. "Anyway, I was bedridden for about a week. Yolanda was curious as to why it affected me so much. She even tried some of… whatever it was that Maya had made, and she was perfectly fine. She asked Irene to come by the next day and she… ran a lot of test on me," I noticed Chase shiver a little as he told be this. "She told me it was probably genetic."
Chase looked at me and tried to smirk, "Anyway, I can't eat any of the things Maya cooks. If she finds me and makes me try her food, then I usually say something insulting and she runs out and I can spit it out when she's gone. Sometimes her cooking is worse than others, and sometimes it's harder to get away from her, but I usually try to avoid it all together if I can."
"Doesn't she know?" I asked.
He shook his head, "I can't tell her. I insult her about her cooking all the time, but if she knew about… well, she'd go and tell everyone on the island… And I don't really want anyone to know." He placed his head back on his arms.
"Then why are you telling me?" I wondered. Why should I know?
He turned sideways to glare at me with hate filled eyes, "BECAUSE YOU MADE ME!!!" He turned his head so his forehead rested on his arms and he was looking down, "Anyway, Irene doesn't really know what it is. The best explanation she could come up with was I had a weak stomach."
I looked up at the window, "But don't your parents know?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chase tense a little. "I mean Irene said it was genetic, right?"
"She thinks it's genetic," he corrected, his eyes were closed.
"But…" I stopped. I turned back to see Chase looking at me with a strange expression. He looked sad, annoyed, slightly angry, nostalgic, and a bunch of other things put together.
Chase rose from his seat on the floor. "I should be going."
"What about Maya?" I asked as he walked towards the door.
He grinned without joy and his eyes were hard. "I'll be fine," he said and walked out the door.
I sighed and stood up. I looked over at the stove to see that the eggs were overcooked. I sighed again and threw them away. I wasn't really hungry anyway…
I looked at the clock to see that it was 11 o'clock. How long had we been hiding from Maya?
I turned to the sound of the front door opening to see Calvin walk in. He stepped over ot me and sat down at the counter.
"Hello Akari, how's your nose?"
I raised an eyebrow at him for a minute until I remembered what he was referring to. I reached up to feel that the cast was still on my nose.
"Oh, it's fine," I lied.
Calvin pulled his hand out from behind his back, "I brought you these." He held out a bouquet of tulips to me. I blushed.
"They're beautiful! Thanks you Calvin." Why the heck did I say beautiful? I never say beautiful, or thank you. It's always thanks! Calvin made me feel so uptight and nervous.
I reached for the tulips, "I'll go put these in some water." I went over to the cabinet and searched for a vase to put them in.
"I'm glad you like them," he smiled. "Are you sure you're alright?"
I nodded and I set flowers next to the sink. Calvin's nice, much nicer than Chase…
"In that case, I should probably be going," he rose from his seat.
"Good bye Akari," he waved.
I waved back and I finally started breathing again once he was out the door.
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