Once again I fail to bring an update at a reasonable pace, but I think this chapter could make it up to you. It's not only long, but it has a lot of stuff going down in it. I won't keep you waiting any long so have fun reading.
I woke up irritated by the sound of my alarm clock and slammed the off button on it. As I rubbed my eyes getting out of bed, I realized today was the day. The school dance was tonight.
"After how the past couple days of gone, this one better be easier." I mumbled. "At least the rest of the day yesterday was good and Ian's back to his old self. There's just too much damn drama." I heard a knock at the door.
"H.A., are you up yet?" My mom asked opening my door. I yawned.
"Half way there…"
"Alright, just wondering. I didn't have time to make breakfast today so you can fix yourself something, O.K.?" She said. "I gotta leave for work early so make sure Shawn makes it on the bus with you."
"Gotcha." I replied and stretched.
"Thanks, have fun at school. Bye." She said closing the door.
"Bye." I stood up and headed to the bathroom. As I brushed my teeth, I had already forgotten to wake Shawn. So I headed over to his room and knocked on the door.
"Dude, it's time to wake up. Bus is gunna be here soon." I said.
"Five more minutes…" He mumbled. I opened the door.
"I'm not mom, so I'm not doing all the morning shit for you. Come on. Get up or I'll throw you out of bed."
"Sheesh! Fine, and I'm telling mom you swore." He said grabbing some clothes from his dresser. "Where is she?"
"She had to leave for work early. You're on your own for getting ready." I said walking back to the bathroom and finished brushing my teeth.
"Psshhh, I'm thirteen I think I can handle that H.A. I'm not a little kid."
"You are in my eyes." I said basically ignoring him.
"Shut up! I am not!"
"Whatever you say." I said, once again not caring.
"Grrr…I hate you sometimes." He said pouting.
"Love you too, buddy." I grinned as I left the bathroom to get some clothes. That's when I started thinking about the dance.
"Things haven't been peachy with Kari so far." I thought. "Between showing my feelings for her too soon and the differences she had with Ian, I'm surprised she's still so easily able to stick around. Hopefully I can get back on the right foot with the dance, but I've never been to a dance before. Hell, I didn't even know how to dance."
After realizing I just fell into a daze, I shook my head and finished getting dressed.
"Shawn! Are you almost ready?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm just gunna eat breakfast." He responded from his room. I looked at the clock one more time.
"We've got probably ten minutes before the bus comes still, alright." I said heading to the kitchen. I grabbed a box of cereal and Shawn did the same. As we sat down to eat breakfast, Shawn asked the most awkward question.
"H.A. Do you hate dad?"
I paused. "Why would you ask that?"
"I dunno. I was just thinking about Wednesday at dinner and how you two were fighting."
"Me and dad have always fought since I was old enough to speak." I started eating, hoping Shawn would just stop talking.
"Why?" He asked. I sighed.
"Isn't it obvious? He thinks I'm a freak, just like the kids at school do. I'm surprised you're not on his side."
"I didn't know there were sides." He said confused.
"Never mind Shawn, just finish eating." I said aggravated.
A few minutes later, the bus stopped by our house, and Shawn and I both hopped on. I was once again greeted by Ian and Dwayne.
"How goes it, buds?" I asked sitting down in the seat in front of them.
"Meh…I wanna sleep…" Ian mumbled.
"Awesome as always, man." Dwayne said giving me a fist bump. "I can't wait for this weekend. You guys are still good for meeting Trish right?"
"Yeah I'm still free this weekend. Ian?" I asked and got no response. "Yo, Ian!" I looked and he had already fallen asleep.
"I think he was up till like three something playing games, dude." Dwayne said.
"I'll wake him up." I said as I slapped him on the side of his face. "Hey! Get up!"
"Huh? What?" He said looking around.
"You in for this weekend at Dwayne's? His girlfriend is gunna be there." I said.
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Just let me sleep, dammit." He said shutting his eyes.
"Lazy-ass." I said.
"Stuck up loser." He responded. I just smirked and shook my head.
"Sooooo H.A. You ready for tonight?" Dwayne said with a smile. I sighed.
"Yeah, I hope so. Never been to a school dance before."
"It's just a dance." Ian mumbled. "Drink some punch, hang out with friends, maybe dance a bit. What's the big deal?"
"Well he's going with Kari remember?" Dwayne said. "This is huge for him."
"Bla bla Kari bla bla whatever man." He said. "She's just a friend. It's no different than going with either of us except she's a girl."
"Then why don't you two go together?" I laughed.
"Shut up H.A." Ian said.
"Sounds like someone's cranky today." I replied, trying to be as big of a dick as possible to him.
"Why you raggin' on me so much today?" He said in an irritated tone.
"You're fun to mess with when you get no sleep." I said laughing still.
"Well, quit fucking with me. I'm tired." He said closing his eyes again.
"Well, you're not getting sleep now, we just got to school." I said pointing out the window.
"God dammit." He mumbled. As we exited the bus, Dwayne and I fist bumped once again on successfully pissing off Ian for the millionth time.
"It never gets old, man." Dwayne said.
"He needs to be tired every morning." I said. "It always brightens my morning to see him like this."
As I headed to my locker, I noticed some people crowding around in the hallway by it. As they saw me they all ran off, and I just raised an eyebrow in complete confusion. When I opened my locker, all of my stuff and school supplies just piled on top of me.
"God dammit." I said picking things up. "They just love to rearrange everything in my locker don't they. Alright, better clean this up before class."
Kari walked up behind me. "H.A. what happened?"
"Bunch of assholes that's what happened." I replied. She sat down by me and started to help clean it up. "You don't have to, Kari. Don't you have morning announcements to do?"
" It's fine." She smiled. "I've got plenty of time to get to the office."
"Whatever you say." I said as we spent a couple minutes getting my stuff together.
"There, that should do it." She said wiping her hands.
"Thanks Kari. I'll see you in second period. Oh, and watch out for Ian." I snickered. "He's a bit cranky today."
"Wha?" She said but I had already ran off to class. The blue hedgehog shrugged and headed off to do the morning announcements. I had barely made it to class before the bell rang, and jumped in my seat before the teacher saw.
"Dude, what took you so long?" Dwayne whispered.
"The usual. Kids making my all stuff collapse on me. I still got here though."
"One day you'll get back at them bro." He said giving me a quick fist pump.
"Haha, that'll be the day." I chuckled.
Meanwhile, Ian was doodling in the back of his class. Kari came to class after finishing the announcements, and sat by Ian.
"So, I was told you're pretty cranky today." She said with a small smirk.
"Meh, a little bit. H.A. was giving me crap on the bus so it kinda messed up my mood. I'm doing just fine." Ian said stretching, but quickly went back to work on his doodling.
"Do you ever pay attention in class?" She asked.
"What's the point?" He said.
"Well, it'll help you learn dummy." She said.
"I do the homework, ace the tests and I'm done. Paying attention in class isn't gunna get me more points." He said back.
"I'm sure the teachers love you." Kari said sarcastically before turning around and began taking notes.
"And I'm sure you're the world's best teachers pet." Ian said with a small snicker. Kari just swung her leg backward and hit Ian in the shin.
"Ack!" He shouted and held his shin.
"Ian! Please be quiet!" The teacher said.
"…Sorry…" He mumbled and got closer to Kari. "You're the worst."
"I try, Ian." She said with a small laugh.
As first period ended, everyone headed towards their lockers. Kari was walking along before someone called out to her.
"Ah, Kari! There ya are!" It was Devon. "How's ya day goin'?"
"Umm..it's only been one period." She said.
"How it goes could set the mood for the whole day, right?" He said winking.
"Umm…sure." She said confused. Just then, Ian ran up from behind and held Devon up by his collar.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" He said in a raised voice. "I don't know what you're trying on Kari, but stay the fuck away."
"Ian! What are you doing?" Kari said.
"This guy is bad news, Kari." Ian responded.
"He's been nice to me so far. Devon told me that him and H.A. got into a bad fight and he wants to make it up to us."
"That's what he wants you to think." Ian said. "He almost got H.A. kicked out of school for faking a hospital visit and-"
Ian was cut off by Devon pushing him off and on to the ground.
"I'm tryin' to play nice, damnit!" He said. "I don't want to start anythin' here."
"You already did by talking to Kari!" Ian said getting up and trying to punch Devon, but he dodged it and threw Ian against a locker.
"Ya do know I'm a bit better at fightin' than you." Devon said. "It'd be better if ya quit while yur still ahead."
"I don't back down you asshole!" Ian said. "This is for everything you've done to H.A. and me!" He threw out his fist, and this time got a hit right on Devon's face.
"Now ya done it." Devon said cracking his knuckles.
"Damnit, H.A." Ian thought. "Where are you? I could use your help here."
Meanwhile, I stood by my locker looking around for Kari.
"Weird…she's normally faster than this. I guess I'll head to study hall without her. Hope she's not too late."
As I walked down the hall, I saw multiple students running in the opposite direction.
"What the?" I said confused. "Hey, you! What's going on?"
"Can it, freak." He said before running off. I just sighed.
"It's probably none of my business anyway. I've had enough trouble for one school year."
As I entered the classroom, I noticed that only Dwayne and some other people were there.
"Hey, do you know where Kari and Ian are?" I asked.
"No clue, man." He said shrugging.
"Weird…Kari never went to her locker and now Ian's not here." Suddenly, the bell rang. "And now both are late for class. I'd expect this from Ian, but Kari never misses a class, not even study hall."
"So you wanna wait around for them?" Dwayne asked.
"Oh no…" I just realized something. "I saw a bunch of people running towards the opposite side of the school. There's no way this is a coincidence." I ran out of the classroom and head in the direction I thought the kids went. Dwayne followed behind me. After a few minutes, we saw a crowd of people cheering in the hallway.
"Hey you, what's going on here?" I asked someone.
"Doesn't matter to you." He said. I grabbed him and brought him to my face.
"No bullshit, what's going on here, now." I demanded.
"Alright, alright. Devon got into a fight with someone. The guy looks pretty beat up."
"Fuck. Ian…" I said letting go of the kid.
"H.A.!" I heard Kari said as she ran up to me. "Everything just happened so fast…Ian is…and Devon just…I didn't know what to do."
"Slow down Kari. We'll figure things out." I said.
"Well if it ain't Mr. Two Tailed Fox!" Devon called out to me. I just gave him a glare
"What did you do, Devon." I said walking closer.
"Not my fault. He attacked me. Was all self-defense, yup." He said pointing behind himself. There was Ian, sitting against a locker covered in bruises and cuts.
"Ian!" I yelled and ran up to him.
"…Where the fuck have you been…" He said quietly. "I've been waiting for you to back me up…and you're nowhere in sight…asshole…"
"God damnit Devon." I said. "You didn't have to do this."
"What…should I have let the guy beat me up?" He grinned. "That wouldn't make much sense now would it."
"I don't have time to deal with you. Dwayne, help me pick Ian up." I said grabbed one of Ian's arms.
"…You pussy…fight him." Ian said looking at me.
"I'd rather get you to the nurse's office." I responded as me and Dwayne pulled him away.
"I don't care. Have Kari and Dwayne bring me." He said. "You go and fight that ass. He was trying to hit it up with Kari."
I stopped walking.
"I tried shutting him up…and I would've too if you were around." He said before grinding his teeth when a shock of pain went through him. "Now you're just gunna walk away. Thanks for the help."
"Ian…please stop." Kari said. "Devon wasn't doing anything to me. He just wanted to be friends."
"No Kari…Ian's right." I said cutting her off. "This is how Devon works. He always puts the charm on girls and get's them unexpectedly."
"Yup…" Ian said chuckling a little. "One minute you think you're friends and the next you end up waking in his bed after sex."
Kari gasped and slapped him.
"Ow! God fucking damnit what was that for! Damnit that hurt!" He yelled.
"You think I would fall for that?" Kari said crossing her arms. "Hmph! I'm too smart for that kind of charm."
"Whatever you say, Miss Perfect." Ian snapped back and started to laugh a little.
"Augh…can we just get him to the nurse's office so I don't have to talk to him anymore?" She whined.
"Alright, let's go." I said.
After we left Ian at the nurse's office, I sat outside the door thinking to myself.
"Hey H.A." Kari said sitting by me.
"Hey…" I said quietly.
"Are you O.K.?" She asked.
"I'm just thinking." I responded. "I mean…I could've avoided this."
"No you couldn't H.A." She said back. "How would you have known this was happening on the other side of the school?"
"I saw people running towards something. I just didn't want to get involved."
"Well…that's good. I mean think about it, H.A. What if you did help Ian out and fight Devon. You'd either be in there with him, or back in the principal's office for fighting and possibly getting kicked out of school."
"Maybe you're right, but something else bothers me." I pondered. "Why did he just let me go like that? Didn't even attempt to try and fight, or even stop me from going to a teacher. He's gunna be kicked out of school for awhile for this."
"Maybe he wanted to get you in trouble too." She said. "But, his plan didn't work cause you've gotten more patient, haven't you."
"Heh…yeah I guess." I smirked a little. "You're pretty good at this kinda stuff, Kari."
"Thanks, H.A." Kari said with a smile. "What about Ian though. You think he's gunna be alright?"
"He's tough and been through worse, trust me." I said. "That guy is the best person to have back you up in a fight. I know from experience."
"Well I better not get to witness that first hand. I don't want my friends hurt anymore." She said giving me hug unexpectedly.
"Uh…well…I'd love that too." I said hugging back. "But it's not easy when you've got me as a friend."
She sighed as she let go of me. "I thought things would've been easier since I moved here."
"Yeah…" I said quietly and felt a bit down about what she said.
"I just want things to be normal, ya know?" She continued. I started to feel a bit guilty and didn't respond.
"H.A.?" She said after a bit of silence.
"Hmm?"
"You think things will ever get normal for you?" She asked.
"Depends on what you mean by normal." I responded, standing up.
"Well…" She stood up as well. "What I meant was not having so much drama and fighting every day."
"Nope, never." I said without even thinking about it. "When you've got what I've got, there ain't ever gunna be an easy day."
"Oh…" She said quietly and looked away for a second.
"What is it…" I said.
"It's…it's nothing H.A…don't worry about it." She said a bit nervously.
"Kari…you can tell me." I said grabbing her hand.
"So you're saying that things will never change for you or your friends?" She questioned.
"Why are you asking this?" I said. "I really don't think things will get much different for me. It's always been this way for me, Ian, and Dwayne."
"I just…no I can't say it." She said letting go of my hand and walking away. My heart started to pound fast. I couldn't tell if this was going where I thought it was.
"Kari…just tell me." I said followed behind her before she stopped suddenly and turned around.
"I don't know if I can handle all this for a whole year." She said looking down.
"We'll help you through it don't worry. If Dwayne can handle it you ca-"
"No H.A." She said cutting me off. "It's more than that. After what happened to Ian…I just started thinking about when you told me you had feelings for me and...and then I thought of the dance."
"…What about the dance." I questioned. "And why does Ian getting hurt matter?"
"…I don't think I could handle being in his position." She said quietly.
"Kari what are you talking about?" I said in a slightly raised voice. "What you're saying doesn't make a bit of sense."
"I just don't know if I can say it without-"
"Kari just get on with it already!" I said loudly. "I don't know what you're trying to say here!"
"…I can't go to the dance with you." She said before closing her eyes and turning around. I just stood there without making any sound or movements. Everything just seemed to explode in my mind. This felt worse than when she turned me down yesterday. It seemed like everything I wanted was slipping away from me so fast. I just walked away. I didn't care about her reasoning or anything, but I knew Ian had something to do with it. As I walked by the nurse's office door, Dwayne came out.
"Oh man, H.A.!" Dwayne said laughing. "Me and Ian came up with the best joke ever."
I kept on walking. "Uh…H.A.? Are you there, dude? What's going on?" He said and started after me. "Dude! Say something!"
"We'd better get going or we'll be late to gym again Dwayne." I said. He stopped walking and looked around confused.
"…Did I miss something important?" He said scratching his head, but then ran after me. "Hey, man! Wait up!"
Back by the nurse's office, Kari was still standing there with her eyes closed, although small tears were falling from her face.
There you have it. More drama and violence. =D Hopefully the next will come sooner than this.