A/N: Hello y'all! I'm sorry for leaving you hanging! I have been busy and personal issues have come up, but luckly I have had little time to update! I have been watching the news and I am very devastated by the earthquake in tsunami in Japan that took place last weekend :(

I have been wanting to go there since I was a little girl. My heart and prayers are going to everyone who have been affected there. I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that the country can recover and be stronger than ever.

PRAY FOR JAPAN!

"My parents tell me you're interested in Stanford, is that so?"

I nodded, shaking his hand. "Yes, sir. It's always been my first choice."

Mr. Wilson smiled, "That's good. Then I assume you will be applying there soon?"

"Oh... erm.. but I'm only in tenth grade, sir."

He chuckled, "Please... you can call me Paul."

"Okay... but there might be a problem, I'm not living in the states right now."

"Are you still a US citizen?"

I nodded, "Yes, but I'm concerned about something. How would I be able to take the ACT, the SAT tests, and the written exam? Right now me and my family live in Japan. Would I be considered as an international student since I'm not living in the country?"

Mr. Wilson squinted for a moment as if he was thinking, but then he shook his head a moment later, "I'll tell you what," He reached into his coat pocket and grabbed a small piece of paper. "If you want you can call me on weekdays or your mother or father can call for you for the information. Here is my business card. My cell phone number is on the back, just in case if you wish to call me yourself."

While putting the card in my clutch I smiled at the older man, "Thank so very much. I don't want to keep you from doing whatever it is you were doing."

"Very well then, it was nice seeing you Ms. Revon. Happy holidays!"

"Thank you! Have a happy new year, Mr. Wilson." I shook his hand once more and parted ways with the man. When I spotted my two cousins, they were both standing in the foyer with drinks in their hand. Annie and my other cousin, Sarah were laughing at something. I couldn't hear them because I was still trying to make my way through the sea of people surrounding me. I approached the two less than a minute later, "Hi."

"Hey cuz!" Annie greeted me, smiling with her glass of apple cider in one hand. My other cousin was twenty-one, so she was able to legally drink. I guessed she was drinking some wine because it looked red. It probably wasn't punch or apple juice. Heh. "You enjoying yourself?"

I shrugged, "It's alright I guess. I bumped into Mr. Wilson from Stanford."

"Oh yeah?" Sarah looked at me with her hazel eyes, her mascara-filled lashed blinking a few times. "How did that go?"

"Well it was fine, I couldn't talk to him about everything so he gave me his card. I think I'm going to call him next week when school starts again, you know.. more information about applying, the tests, all that shizz."

"Cool, what other schools do you plan on applying at?"

"Stanford is one of them... ummm, USC, UCLA, and Oxford in Enlgand. I read about their international program for first time freshmen students."

They stared at me as I began to explain the different career paths I was interested in, possible majors I was looking into, and other things, Annie laughed suddenly and that threw me off guard. "Calm down my dear cousin! You've got the rest of your sophomore year, the junior year, then you can decided whether you want to apply to those schools. Just study for those tests I told you about before, the SAT and the ACT. If you get a really really good score, then you'll have a better chance at getting into the universities. I think Sarah still has her review workbooks lying around somewhere in her home, right?"

I saw Sarah nod, "Sure. It's not like I threw them away... I keep a lot of stuff! I'll mail them to you when you get back to school."

"Thanks so much!"

She smiled at me, "Anytime my cousin. So..." She looked around observing the people and then back towards me. "Tell me more about this boy you're dating."

"We're not dating!" I exclaimed. I tried to sound convincing, but the tone if my voice wasn't help me. It made me feel like I was whining.

"Oh I think she's telling herself that, huh." Sarah laughed and took another gulp from her martini. "It's cute, really..."

Annie grinned devilishly towards me, "Well from all of the eavesdropping I've been doing recently since our dear cousin is here and all, It sounds like she's the more dominate one."

I felt my drink explode in my mouth and I coughed from genuine shock. My stupid nosy pestering cousin! "Excuse me?"

"Well isn't it true?"

"I dont know! Just shut up about it!"

"Oh, look!" Annie exclaimed. "She's turning red."

"How busy have you been with his boy, Anya?" Sarah suddenly changed her tone, it had gone from something carefree and funny to curious and concerned.

"Define busy," I mumbled.

"So you've made out with him?" Annie clapped her hands together and leaned closer to me. "How many times?"

"I don't know... and by the way, why is it any of your business?" I shouted. "I thought you had a boyfriend!"

"I don't, I'm waiting for a while. Right now I'm not what you consider the dating type. But I don't go and hook up with randoms daily, I'm just not interested in dating right now. But you're my cousin! You should at least fill us in on some action! Like... tongue battles, the occasional groping, some kinky stuff (if any), and who's usually on top? Those sort of stuff."

"WHAT? What makes you think I'm telling you anything at all!" I gritted my teeth, hands in fists. I honestly couldn't tell anyone how much I wanted to knock out my cousin. She was taking it too far for my liking.

Suddenly, she shrieked jumping up and down. "Ohmigod! Let's dance! They're playing my song!" Annie was shaking her little butt as she heard "Like A G6" in the other part of the mansion. My cousins dragged each other towards the dance floors in the opposite wing of the manor. For about ten minutes they played more song, I recognized them as: "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" then I heard "How Low" then some Ke$ha song I didn't remember, and before a slow song I heard Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream." Now a Bruno Mars song was playing: his smash hit "Just The Way You Are" and I couldn't help but smile inwardly and out as it made me think about my ginger-haired boy. I missed Kaoru a lot. Being at this party was okay during some points, but I just wasn't feeling it. I either felt like crawling into bed reading a book, watching the Hills, or even browsing the internet... that stuff. Comparing to this, those things felt the most normal to me. A year ago, I was just dying to come to these parties; the ones with dance floors, blaring music, cute looking drinks (alcoholic or virgin-style), mingling with the crowd... it sounded cool back then, really cool. It sounded like this It club, like you felt important just for even being there! Looking back, It isn't as appealing now than it was then.

It was amusing how I could still hear my cousin squealing at every song she's in love with; I inwardly groaned as I moved away from the wing towards one of the many buffet rooms (yes, there were many and I mean many people there). I was getting hungry too... So I grabbed a few slices of chicken meat, a bottled water, chips and dip, green beans, and a small bowl of soup. I looked at the soup and I suddenly remembered the ramen Haruhi made me try a month ago. It was actually pretty good. As soon as I filled my plate I found a loner table and sat there. I honestly didn't care if there wasn't anyone sitting near me, I kind of wanted some alone time. Some of the suffocation my cousins were giving me wasn't helping either because now I've been wanting to kiss Kaoru and kiss and kiss and kiss.

Damn it, people... Just leave me and my love life alone.

The Next Day (Anya)

"So you're coming back tomorrow?"

"Umm... well my flight is leaving tomorrow morning, but we're not leaving as early as we did before. We'll be back there before New Years Eve."

"Alright, well there's a party at our mansion..." Kaoru started, but let his brother continue with the sentence.

"... and since now we both know you'll be back just in time..." Now I could hear Hikaru through the speaker.

"We wanted to invite you officially!" Both announced in perfect unison. It has been a couple of months and I was getting used to the games they would play and it's funny in a way for me because I didn't like it at the beginning. Maybe I was changing and didn't realize it until now. "There's a dress code too."

I rose a brow and smiled, "So what does that mean?"

"Sexy dress! Sexy dress!" The two shouted. I couldn't help but laugh as I rolled my eyes... even though it did leave me looking pink in the cheeks. I heard Hikaru chuckling in the background saying something like, "I know for sure he would love to see you showing off that body of yours!" Then I heard something else. Was it Kaoru... I think so, but wait... was... he...whining? I wasn't sure, but he came back and said, "Why can't you stop teasing me? It's not nice and it hurts my feelings."

"And maybe if you get lucky you can get to see us preform one of our brotherly love acts in front of all the ladies," Hikaru announced.

"Oh wow, Hikaru." I couldn't help but laugh, feeling the need to make a funny sarcastic remark. "Leave your brother alone, it's obvious that you're embarrassing him."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. But it's just... so... fun! Isn't it Kaoru," I heard him speaking seductively to I presumed to be Kaoru. The whole thing made me want to chuckle in a corner all day. A minute later I heard Hikaru shuffling in the background, then I heard Kaoru on the other end.

"Hi!" I grinned, I loved hearing his voice. It felt so great hearing someone enthused and cheerful, I was looking forward to coming back already!

I smiled, jumped onto my bed and opened a bag of goldfish. "Well hello to you too, Kaoru. How's your vacation going?"

"Alright, but it could be better with you here though."

"But I am leaving tomorrow. So you'll see me right before New Years Eve... I hope me being away hasn't been torturing you a lot!"

I heard him laugh on the other end, "Well do you want me to be perfectly honest?"

I leaned further against the pillows and brought my bag closer to me, eating it while I heard him talk, "That would be nice, sure."

"I've missed you a lot since you've been gone. I know it's only been for a week but It feels longer really," He paused for a short moment. Then he continued, "I can't stop thinking about the way your hair falls so perfectly and I can't get your lips out of my memory because I want to kiss them so badly." Was this guy for real? I'm honestly trying to calm myself down from the blushing overload here! Who is he tying to portray himself as? Mr. Sexy Smooth Casanova? Please! Three months ago I would have shuddered at those words, but now I felt giddy, girly, and bubbly the more they repeatedly played back in my head. Well he did admit that he wanted to kiss me a lot, right? And my hair isn't that bad... wonder why he even brought that up. He continued a moment later after briefly pausing. "Do you want to kiss me? I know you want to kiss me." I sighed and closed my eyes as I was leaning against the headboard of the bed. He really was having fun with this, wasn't he? It was also kind of cute that Kaoru was acting flirtatious even over the phone. I had been used to seeing him wink at me two times and whispering in my ear often.

"I miss you," I said softly. "... And when I'm back, I'll make sure to give you the best kiss you'll ever have in your life... you are right. I do want to kiss you, Kaoru." My eyes opened and closed again while I tried getting my breathing under control. I could feel my hormones rising, even though there was no one else in the room. Being a teenager it was natural and normal... right? Maybe acting out a little bit wouldn't hurt so much. At the moment I was wondering, wondering if it was a good time to take some pictures. I had boughten new panties the other day with my cousin and I did end up bringing my black floral patterned tights. One of my old friends teased me about the tights and called them "sexy lace." They were made of black lace anyway. There was mural sized mirror across from the bed, big enough to take full body photos. I eyed my three suitcases: the largest one, then medium sized, and the smallest one (for accessories like hair spray, curling iron, straightener, and makeup) a few times, then my gazed turned towards the digital camera that laid on the desk beside the window. I took a deep breath and exhaled it, deciding what I wanted to do. Perfect.

I heard him chuckle slightly when my head was pulled me back down to earth. By now my cheeks were burning! "And I miss you... a lot. I can't wait for you to come back, then we can all celebrate and ring in the new year together. Anyway I'd better let you go, I don't want to keep you from any plans you may have for the rest of the day. We'll see you soon!" After I heard a faint click I ended the call and placed the phone on one of the pillows. I munched on more goldfish for a little while. I had swallowed my pill and washed it down with some water and my snack until a thought came up.

Wait... what did he say? Back then, before he hung up. Before saying that he'd let me go...

"... ring in the new year..."

"...Together."

Together? Well wait, maybe my hearing had gone loopy. But I thought I had heard him say it.

Yes, it wasn't my imagination. It was true.

That's what he said: Together.

A Little While Later...

"Okay! Goodnight mom, nite dad!" It was half past eleven and my parents decided to hit the hay, so I made the decision to wait an hour until I knew for sure they were sound asleep. There room was 3-4 rooms down the hall, so I knew they wouldn't wake up or come in my room. I closed the door of the room I was staying in. I spent half an hour curling my hair, touching up my hair with gloss and shine to make it even more nice, (even thought it was in the late evening), applying a fairly modest amount of makeup, and mentally arranging the different 'costumes' I was going to take photos in.

One hour after saying goodnight to my parents, I opened up my luggage and went through my lingerie. I had some of the panties from the other day peaking from the suitcase in the Pink bag.

Was I thinking twice about doing this? Sure, maybe for a second or some but I couldn't bring myself to discontinue something that was making me feel good. I felt this adrenaline rush as I began discarding the clothing that was on my petite body. First my pink long sleeved tee came off as I pulled it over my head and placed it on the edge of the bed. Then came my A&F pajama bottoms. I shimmied out of my sweats and kicked them somewhere. I was too distracted to even look where they landed. They could have landed by the wastebasket for all I care. Just the thought of what I was going to due made my heart pound. It was anticipation, the anticipation of having anyone walk in. The last thing I needed was my mom or dad walking in on me while I'm posing for my camera looking sexy with only a bra and a slim pair of underwear. The first picture I was going to take would have me only in my intimates. I pursed my lips a little bit and pushed my cleavage up a little bit and clicked the button on my phone, then my camera. I liked how it came out because of two reasons: 1) I looked slim around my waist, and 2) I looked damn hot. My push up bra really helped enhanced the size of my breasts. I couldn't help but feel like the hottest thing on earth, like I was a goodness or something. I felt incredibly fine.

The next picture I took, I was still wearing the same panties but I had discarded my bra; but instead of flashing my breasts I decided to tease by covering them with my arm. In the photo I was winking flirtatiously and in the background I was popping one of my legs up in a cute way. Then the next few photos I continued taking consisted of me in a few g-strings, a thong or two with only a few inches of cloth covering my breasts. More photos of me in panties, but this time I was wearing pumps, wedges and stilettos. I sat (or more accurately I was laying) on the queen sized bed with one leg in the air with the other one bent. This next photo I was wearing some Gucci pumps while I continued to show off how hot my body looked in very, very, very little clothing. I changed from thongs to cheeky panties to bikinis. I changed from Gucci to Jimmy Chou to Betsey Johnson. I changed poses that ranged from cute to sexy and from sexy to hot. I was still debating whether or not I wanted to show my breasts in at least one photo. I had all of these other seductive and suggestive poses from sitting to laying on the bed, from teasing to stripping while I had breaks to change. It felt like a photo shoot on it's own! Like I was modeling for a magazine. A few other photos showed me sitting on the floor with my knees spread while I had on white tights, and matching white lacy bra and panties to match. The last photo I remember taking before stopping for the night was that I was posing, but in somewhat of a different way. It felt more exotic? Erotic perhaps. But I decided to take off my heals first. After placing them on the bed I walked back to the mirror with camera and phone in hand. I looked at my hair, then at my black tights and the lacy ash colored underwear. After what felt like minutes in my head, I made up my mind and reached behind my back and unhooked the clasp.

A moment later I raised my camera in front of the mirror and pressed the button.

A/N: Now how interesting was this chapter? I never said my character was perfect lol... but it seems that Anya has embraced the art of photography, eh? I just hope this doesn't come back and bite her in the fanny! I honestly didn't have this drafted out or planned, it just came out. Anywho.. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now we're closer to the New Years Party where Kaoru and Anya are reunited! Stay tuned for more romance, drama, and angst in future chapters! Things will begin to get a little bit more steamy, so I'm just warning everyone! After this, I'm encouraging viewers who are 15/16 and up. But I will not be writing any lemons, the warning is based on language, some sexual situations, and (insert future cliffhangers) :)

Reviews please! :)