CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Blitzkrieg Boys had finally come home for lunch after practice at the recreation center. And Tala was not content. The last thing he needed to hear was that Mr. Dickenson had picked Dylan to be the captain of the BBA cheerleaders, overthrowing Ming-Ming in a matter of seconds for the position.

"Let's just be happy for her, alright?" Bryan advised at the lunch table.

"How the fuck can you be happy for her? The reason my parents sent her here in the first place was to get her away from Harbour's stupid cheer thing. Now she's just gonna act like she's the shit all the time,"

Dylan cast the redhead a look, "Um hello? I am the shit, Tala,"

"Dylan, you're a piece of shit,"

"If I'm just a piece, you must be an entire log,"

"You're the whole nutty-looking shit in the toilet bowl with pieces of recycled corn and spinach in it,"

While Ian opted to gag at his team captain's description, Bryan muttered something that sounded similar to 'for fuck's sake', and just like Dylan's first night in the house, Kai pushed his chair back and left the table, Spencer shoving away his plate in disgust. Shrugging, Tala reached for Kai's uneaten sandwich and had it for himself.

"Anyways," Dylan rolled her eyes, "I have to stay after school until 7 on Monday,"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" The redhead remarked, "No student needs to stay after school until 7. Schools close up at 4. If all this is about a guy then you don't need to sneak around; as long as it's not any of my friends and you don't come running to me asking to buy you a fucking pregnancy test, I don't care who you're seeing,"

"Me staying after school isn't about a guy, it's about an assignment that I have. And since you have absolutely no issue with me and boys, I'll be inviting Garland over for dinner this week," She smirked, "Unless of course you have some sort of problem with him,"

Ian creased his brow, "You already know whether they have a problem or not; I told you about it,"

"Did you?" The blonde looked towards the ceiling as if deep in thought, "Because I just can't seem to remember right now for some reason," She looked over at the redhead, "But I think it had something to do with Garland kicking your ass a couple of years ago? I am so sorry to hear about your loss, Tala, I really am. Maybe when he comes over he can teach you a thing or two?"

An awkward and uncomforting silence filled the table as Tala just stared at his plate and continued with his lunch as if nothing had happened. Of course that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't pissed off – he was furious. For the bitch to bring up something she knew nothing about was just...ugh. The thought of everything that happened two years ago made him angry: Garland, Boris, everything. She didn't have the right to make comments about that event or anything in his life.

She didn't know him like that.

Unlike her, he didn't just freeload off his parents, he had to work really hard for everything he had and everything he learned. He wasn't complaining that she led a luxurious life and he didn't, and he wasn't exactly mad at his parents for kicking him out of the house when he was only fourteen either – he deserved it. As a kid he was much worse than Dylan could ever have been: he was hanging out with older kids, he was experimenting with substances he probably shouldn't have even known about at such a young age, he was dating older girls, some of them three years his elder, and he was an all-round bad kid. And he would have been worried too if he caught his future son or daughter smoking up some of that good ole' Mary Jane before they'd even hit puberty. He could see why his parents were concerned.

Five years later and he'd cleaned up pretty well. He'd still enjoy a smoke or two – and a girl or two – every now and then, but what guy his age didn't? Besides, his parents had originally sent him here for a year; after a year he was supposed to go back to California and continue with his life. But after 365 days of punishment, he personally chose to stick around in Russia.

"Our first battle is tomorrow," Spencer killed the stillness with a change of topic.

"Yeah," Nodded Bryan, "We're against a local team and they're new so we won't have a problem. But we'll go over everything we need tonight," He looked over at the team captain for approval.

"Actually," The redhead said, "You guys will have to do that without me and fill me in tomorrow; I'm going out with Julia for dinner,"

"Barf,"

The lilac haired blader instantly sent Dylan a look, one that translated into 'that's enough'. He steered the conversation to yet another direction, "We still haven't fixed that dumb door," He nodded over to the basement.

Tala looked down at Ian, "You fix it,"

"I fix everything around here; last time it was the cable lines. You fix it," The indigo haired blader crossed his arms, "Unless you don't know how to,"

"Obviously she doesn't," Dylan agreed, fiddling with one of her dangly Chanel earrings.

The redhead glared at the blonde and his teammate before his gaze shifted towards the basement door, "I'll do it tomorrow after our battle."

Silly, silly, silly Tala – don't you know, sweetheart? Tomorrow's a day that never comes.

x x x

Julia, Mariah, Hilary, and – to the White Tiger's distaste – Emily, all crowded around the F-Dynasty blader in her hotel room. With a number of clothing laid on the mattress, including some on the chairs and the floor, the Spanish athlete turned to her friends for advice, "What should I wear?"

"I'd say just jeans and a nice top," Came Hilary's suggestion.

"Or you could do this," Emily pulled at a skirt on the floor, "Maybe even this," She added, nodding her head towards a dress.

Confused, Julia focused on the pinkette, "You've dated him before, you should know what he likes,"

Mariah rolled her eyes, "For the millionth time, Tala and I never dated,"

"Hm, just another one of his flings, then," Emily adjusted her glasses with the conclusion.

"Oh, you mean just like you were with Max?"

"Guys, just stop," Hilary interfered between the two foes. They never did get along and that always made things a little awkward for Julia and the brunette.

"Yeah, back to me," The blonde-brunette beamed.

"Actually I'm curious about this Dylan character," The All Star diverged the topic again. Though she'd seen the girl from afar at both the formal and the after party, she was too preoccupied with other people to actually talk to her. Besides, the Blitzkrieg Boys really didn't interest her as much as they did other girls.

"She's bad,"

"Really bad,"

"So bad,"

"I see," The ginger stated, "Well then, I have no business with her,"

"Good choice," Hilary nodded, "She kissed Tyson at the party and when we were all at that bar together,"

"Then why don't you," Started Emily, "just steal Tyson back?"

Julia snorted, "This idiot hasn't even told him that she likes him,"

The tennis player gave the brunette a pathetic look, "Then don't complain. If he's not claimed, he's fair game,"

The bad thing about Emily was that she was very straight up. The good thing about Emily was that she was very straight up. It was both an advantage and disadvantage. People like her – friends like her – were very much needed in every clique; it was the person you could trust to get an honest answer out of, and every once in a while, everyone needed that brutal honesty. If you looked ugly in something, she'd tell you, if you were treating your boyfriend like crap, she'd tell you, if you were acting like a moron, she'd tell you.

Unfortunately sometimes it was just too frank and not something your ears wanted to hear.

But Hilary knew Emily had a point: since she hadn't claimed Tyson, he was fair game. The only thing that made it so much worse was the fact that he was 'fair game' to a girl she highly disliked.

x x x

With an hour to spare before dinner with Julia, Tala plopped down on the couch and switched on the television. He flipped the channels a couple of times before stopping when he found Predator airing, the original with Arnold. From the scene in the movie, he assumed he'd only missed ten or so minutes. Making himself comfortable, he turned up the volume.

Out of nowhere, he felt someone literally jump into the seat next to him and shove something onto his lap. Looking over to his side, he found Dylan, a pink pen in her hands and her calculus textbook now on him. "I need help," She verbalized at last.

"With what?"

"With all the questions that are circled,"

Eyeing the page in the textbook, he frowned – he did not want to go through fifty questions of calculus with his sister. What sort of a teacher assigned that many questions anyway? Apart from that, he found it a little odd that she'd actually come to him for assistance; he was sure her first choice would be Ian or Bryan.

"I'm on this one," She pointed out the question she was working on currently, "I don't get it,"

"What don't you get?"

"Fuck, I don't know," She shrugged, "I just don't get it,"

"Do you know what differentials are?"

"Would I be asking for help if I did, retard?"

Giving her a look – which she'd ignored on purpose – he read over the question. Snatching the pen out of her hands, he began scribbling the solution to the problem in her notebook.

"Where the hell did the 5 come from? Julia's ass?"

"No, dipshit," Tala denied, "I got it from here," As he explained, she nodded a couple of times. While they had moved onto the next questions, Kai had come back to the main floor to get himself a snack. While he checked in the fridge for something, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation – if you could even call it that with all the unnecessary mocking and swearing – between the two Ivanovs'.

"Why is there a goddamn triangle?"

"How can you not know what the fuck that symbol is? It means delta,"

"Like the hotel?"

"You fucking dumb ass; no," The ripping and crinkling of paper was heard, followed by more details, "Since you're inexpressibly stupid, we'll use the letter 'd'; so 'dy' and 'dx',"

The discussion continued as Kai searched the grotesque appliance that was the fridge. Honestly, it was a mess in there: food rotting beyond recognition, half-eaten things, things that should have been covered up with saran wrap, things that nobody was going to eat, ketchup stains here and there, stains that Kai had no idea what the hell it was and would rather not know.

He slammed the fridge closed; he'd lost his appetite much like he did during lunch. Besides, it was nearly dinner time anyway and Bryan would make something soon. For now he could wait or have a beer. Deciding with the latter, he reached into the fridge all over again and as he did, he could hear someone stepping into the kitchen. Without looking back, he could tell it was Dylan; unlike every other person in this house, her footsteps were light and women-like.

That and the fact that it definitely didn't make the whole house shake like it did when some people walked around.

Truth be told he was surprised when she hadn't said anything to him, almost as if she didn't even notice he was in the kitchen. Regrettably he'd spoken, or thought in this case, too soon. It was unexpected, inappropriate, happened too fast, and quite possibly of S & M nature.

She had spanked him on the bum.

Straightening up and holding onto the fridge handle with one hand, he looked over at her hoping to scare her away. Instead, she took his staring to her advantage, "See something you like?"

"Unfortunately not,"

"Fantasizing, then,"

"Wrong again," And as she laughed it off, he let go of the matter as well, but not before commenting on an absent piece of jewellery, "You're missing an earring,"

She reached for her ears to find that sure enough, one of her golden Chanel earrings had gone astray. After eyeing the kitchen floor, she shrugged her shoulders, indicating that losing an earring wasn't that big of a deal – daddy could buy her another pair. Grabbing a beer, Kai searched the countertops and drawers for the bottle opener and in doing so, he noticed the blonde pour orange juice into two glasses. Of course that was odd in itself – why would she bother getting something for her brother? The even more bizarre story to that was her stirring the juice with a spoon. And she'd only done that to one glass.

Realizing she must have put something in one of the drinks, he looked on discreetly; was that drink for herself? Or for the redhead? As she left with the two glasses, he poked his head out of the kitchen and watched quietly as she set the drinks on the table, the one he suspected to be spiked with whatever towards Tala and the untouched one closer to her.

She couldn't possibly try to poison her own brother and kill him, could she? Yes, she was a bitch, no doubt, but to feed him something lethal would just be absurd. She was mean...but not a criminal, right?

Deciding against any sort of confrontation, he chose to observe the situation further. If anything were to happen, he'd have to take the team captain to the hospital. The redhead had taken a few sips of the orange juice already and so far seemed to be fine.

"So 'dy' over 'dx' means the change in 'y' with respect to 'x',"

Halfway through nodding, the blonde creased her brows in confusion, "...what?"

Tala yawned and looked over at the time, "I have to go pick up Julia in thirty minutes. Go ask Ian for help, maybe he'll explain it better,"

"And maybe if I tell mom and dad that you'd rather go out with some girl instead of help me with my calculus, they'll see what a dickless little wonder you are, cut off your funds, and take me back to L.A.,"

Ah, the beauty of blackmail.

Making a noise of frustration, the redhead began his clarification for perhaps the billionth time. And it was so ridiculously and painfully boring he caught himself yawning after every other word, feeling drowsy at just the sight of her math book. At last, she took the notebook and pen, "I'm gonna try to do a few questions. Tell me if they're wrong,"

From the kitchen, Kai continued to work 'undercover'. As pledged, Dylan did a few questions by herself, turning the notebook towards the redhead every so often only to have him nod or fix up a few mistakes. Ten minutes later, it appeared as if Tala was fighting to keep himself awake and another ten minutes afterward, he'd gone to sleep.

Going to sleep at 8 o'clock was very unusual for him. Putting two and two together, Kai could only assume what the substance in his drink was: sleeping pills.

At the forty-five minute mark when he should have left the house fifteen minutes ago to pick up Julia, his Blackberry rung on the coffee table. The slate haired teen watched as the blonde exchanged glances between the phone and the redhead before reaching for the communicating device.

"Hello?" She answered with a smirk, "How nice of you to call Julia, sadly he's not available to speak to you at the moment. Looks like he's just not interested in dinner. Or his date. Stop trying, hun. K-thanks-bye."

Disconnecting the call and switching the phone to silent, she casually grabbed her belongings and headed upstairs leaving behind a redhead knocked out by diphenhydramine hydrochloride and a witness in the kitchen.

Rating of this story. I've realized that some people reading this story are REALLY young! And there's going to be mature themes in this story so I'm going to change the rating to M (as soon as I figure out how to do that). If you still want to read it, by all means.

Slut question. Let's just say whatever Dylan does to Kai isn't entirely a fictional story...

Eat da poo poo. DID ANYONE SEE THIS VID ON YOUTUBE! If you did, you HAVE to tell me what you think about it! If you DIDN'T, then here's a little warning: the content is highly homophobic and if you're sensitive to such things, don't watch it. I understand that this is a serious matter and all but I found it intensely hilarious...it's even on my iPod (the autotuned version, check that out too if you're interested). The part at the end where he's like "As if that's not enough, he puts his hand DEEEPA!" cracked me up so bad.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS GUYS! You'll REALLY enjoy the next chapter!

sasukechica

ZuZu-Chan – Don't tell yourself you aren't cute! There's no such thing as not cute, not beautiful, not hot.

SouthernDragon – My brother drew a dick on my foot once.

Crying Sorceress – MCAT? Holy crap, good luck! Some of my friends wrote that and they said it was really hard! And ew to asexualism. And MS-Word is telling me that asexualism isn't a word...And yeah I know I'm not getting many reviews b/c of the frequent updates but I do it b/c I don't want the fandom to die completely :|

iEXIST – GUESS WHAT! NOW I KNOW YOU'RE A GIRL! :P I wish your dad was sort of like mine b/c mine's all over my ass about getting a boyfriend now. Apparently being single for 8 months is too long...wtf?

Darial Kuznetsova – Do you mean literally 8 kilos? I don't know how much 8 kilos is lol that's why I'm asking.

Waffles – LOL! Your story cracked me up hahaha! I pray to God that never happens to me :S

xxz0eyxx – You had the best answer for the kinky question haha! I will try that one day! When I need a favour! LOL!

CryMeOut

Just a girl – Wow 14 day holiday? Where did you go?

Native-kitten – Yeah the last chapter WAS shorter than the others lol. The longest was chapter 10. And you dirty girl! For making the guy jizz! Haha!

The Master of the Hobos – She's going to be nice at the end? Haha, I don't know...people don't change that fast :P