I wanna have the same last dream, the one where I wake up and I'm alive.
DLS21
As heavy rain plummeted downwards in the city of New York, everyone scurried to get under a shelter just like last time. Evian jogged towards a nearby Starbucks coffee shop, getting away from the cold, windy, wet weather. It had rained continuously for a few minutes, and already she was drenched head-to-toe. She really wished she hadn't run off like that, especially since she was wearing nothing but a pair of tiny jean shorts, a thin pink hoodie that did absolutely nothing to keep her even slightly warm, and a pair of white flip flops.
Everyone else had on their winter jackets and dressed accordingly to the weather. New York was very close to Toronto, which meant the weather for both cities were similar, and that meant it was cold in New York at the moment. The temperatures hadn't gone below zero yet, but they were close.
She shivered as she entered the coffee shop, taking in the warmth that was provided by the heaters. She seated herself at a table for two, one that was right by the heater. She placed her hands over the heater and then placed them on her cheeks. Oh how she wished she had at least dressed in something other than shorts today. She had dressed knowing that she was going to be indoors.
While trying to warm herself up, she scanned the coffee shop. Her mouth literally watered at the sight of all the baked goods displayed by the cash register in the front. The truth was Evian was starving. She only had half her breakfast and it was way past lunch time. But she had no money on her. Maybe she should have nicked a few bucks off her brother before she left, that way she could have gotten herself a fruit salad.
She caught a quick glimpse of the cashier looking at her weirdly. She understood why; no one else was in here sitting like a hobo in the corner by the heaters, soaked in rain water, dressed unsuitably for the weather, with nothing to eat. Once she realized that other people in the coffee shop were giving her strange looks as well, she felt uncomfortable. She felt unwanted. But she didn't want to go back outside; it was freezing.
She felt angry all over again. About an hour after she ran away, she expected Tala and her father to look for her. She purposely lounged close by the hotel region, knowing that they would look for her. But they didn't. And that's what angered her. So she let herself travel further and further down the streets until she was finally lost and couldn't find her way back to the hotel. She could always call her brother on his cell phone and tell him she was lost. But she didn't want to phone him and tell him that. She wanted him to feel guilty and come and look for her. And even if she wanted to phone him, she couldn't; she didn't have a quarter to use a payphone. Surprisingly, she wasn't nervous by the fact that she was utterly lost.
Suddenly, someone nearby gasped, "Oh my god! You're Evian, right?" A haze of blonde dashed by and seated herself on the other end of the table for two.
Evian eyed the stranger sitting in front of her and gasped. "Dakota?"
"Yup, the one and only!" The tousle-haired girl grinned, "Even though it's a common name." She ran her fingers through her hair, "I'm surprised you still remember me."
Evian couldn't help but smile, "Of course I remember you!" How could she not? This was the girl that her brother had fancied a few days ago. "What are you doing in New York?"
"Oh, we just got here last night from England. I am so tired and I had to walk down the street in a disguise because people were asking for my autograph. There were even people waiting in front of our hotel rooms, and I was like, okay, I'd like my fair share of privacy here." She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I saw you guys on TV and the BBA Daily and stuff. You guys won your thing against that team from India."
"Uh huh, and then your team faced them yesterday, right?" Dakota asked. "I saw on the BBA News this morning. But don't worry, I mean, they were a pretty tough team, you know."
"I guess," Evian shrugged, "Why are you in New York?"
"We have another match here in like, three or four days. Gosh, I'm so stressed, seriously. We got here last night, and everyone from my team boozed up. They were totally hammered, and Tyson was completely stoned, honestly, he was so high last night it wasn't even funny. I actually thought he was going to die. Hiro woke up in the balcony like, half naked this morning."
"Oh my god, I can totally relate." Evian rolled her eyes.
"Really? Man…" Dakota sighed, "I mean, I don't mind drinking occasionally, but jeez," She shook her head. "My team's insane. Anyways…" She trailed off, "Aren't you cold? You're like dressed for California or something," Dakota chuckled. "And you're all wet, it's like you decided to take a shower with your clothes on and then go outside."
"It's a long story,"
"Oh," The other blonde said, "Hey, where's your boyfriend?" She inquired.
"What boyfriend?" Evian asked with a perplexed expression.
"Y'know, that guy from your team; the one that was smart enough to lend you his shirt when I accidentally got you all wet. I swear it was an accident, Evian," Dakota let out a small laugh, "And I'm really sorry."
"It's okay," Evian shrugged it off. And then it hit her, "Wait, you think Tala is my boyfriend? You mean the idiot with red hair? He's like this tall…"
"Oh, I'm sorry; did you guys just break up or something?" Dakota asked; her steely grey eyes filled with concern and apology. Evian couldn't believe it – did her brother fall for a complete meathead this time?
Evian decided to just get to the point, "Tala is my brother…" The look on Dakota's face was incalculable, "We're twins…"
"No…" Dakota's voice was barely a whisper and she looked downright shocked.
"Yeah…"
"Are you joking?" The other blonde asked. "Girl, you are totally joking, right?"
"No, he's really my brother. We come from the same family."
Dakota's mouth hung open for a few seconds and then, "Oh, thank you god, thank you god, thank you god!" She grinned, "You have no idea how happy this makes me! Honestly, I thought you were his girlfriend! You guys look nothing alike! Holy shit! Oh my god!"
"I know, everyone says that. We don't even have anything in common."
Dakota grinned mischievously, "Nah," She said, "You guys have one thing in common: attractiveness! Really! You're as cute as a button and I love those dimples, I swear, and your brother is the hottest thing I've ever seen. I am so serious. He is so hot. Back in the stadium, I was like, whoa, someone turned up the heater in here, and I was being a dummy by singing that Nelly song, y'know, its getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes," The blonde grinned as she sung the lyrics to the hit song that was released a few years ago and let out a small laugh, "And then Tyson got mad at me."
Now it was Evian's turn to be blatantly astounded. Numerous things about Dakota surprised Evian, like her extreme openness, and the fact that she had a liking – a serious liking – towards her brother, and that Dakota was telling her all this stuff right in front of her, to her face.
Wow.
Evian smiled. She liked Dakota. She really liked Dakota. Not the way her brother liked her, of course, but as a human being, a companion.
"I'm so glad you're his sister, otherwise I'd back-off, because you know, I'm not a man-stealer. I'm a good girl," Dakota smiled, "He is single, right?"
"Yeah…" Evian answered.
"So where is he?"
"He's back at the hotel, I think."
"Does he have a cell phone or something?" She asked. Evian nodded. Dakota smirked, taking out her own cell phone from her pockets, "What's his number?"
x x x
"I am going to kill that bitch when I find her," Tala grumbled as he walked down the somewhat empty streets of New York.
"We'll find her, relax," Kai said.
"That's what you said three hours ago, dick," The redhead stuffed his hands into his pockets. "It's fucking freezing out here. She's gonna catch a cold or something; she ran out of the hotel dressed like a fucking whore."
"Would you calm down? Seriously. We'll find her. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but your sister isn't a dumb ass. Even if we don't find her, she can find her way back to the hotel."
"Yeah," Tala sighed, "But she won't live very long, because I will kill her." He looked around the streets frantically. The team separated to look for her and Mr. MaCaffery stayed at the hotel incase she came back. "Where the fuck is she? It's fucking five o'clock!"
Kai rolled his eyes at the worried redhead. With one hand, he held the umbrella, with the other, he checked the time displayed on his cell phone. It was four minutes after five o'clock and Evian had left the hotel sometime around nine in the morning. He sighed, "Your sister is crazy, you know that?"
"Hell I do," He said, "I hate her. She makes me feel like shit. I don't think she had any money with her either. She's probably really hungry. I feel so bad."
"You know you started it, right?"
"So you're on her side now?" Tala eyed the vice captain, "What? You have a thing for my sister or something?"
Kai looked at Tala with a look of dismay, "Stop fucking around, man."
"It was a joke, you little shit. Quit being all menstrual like Ev," Tala said. Unexpectedly, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pockets. "Maybe the others found her or something," He said to no one in particular, answering the phone anxiously. He looked at the number presented on the small LCD screen, "Who the fuck?" He made a face, "Hello?"
"Yo,"
Tala furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Who is this?"
"Your mother." The voice from the other line stated. It sounded like a girl, but it most certainly wasn't his mother.
But Tala really wasn't in the mood to be joked around with, "Who is this, man?"
He heard a giggle, "It's Dakota! Remember me? You know, we battled."
Tala's initial reaction was his mouth hanging open, attracting flies, and maybe even a few birds. "Oh shi -" The redhead stopped himself from cursing. Was that girl serious? Was it really Dakota? If it was, you just blew your chance, asshole. He thought. "Dakota? As in, the one from that team? From California?"
"'Course!" She laughed. "I hope you don't mind me calling you; your sister gave me your number. I asked her for it though."
"My sister? Wait, Evian's with you?" Tala questioned. Immediately he stopped walking and focused on the phone call. Kai looked at Tala questioningly, wanting some answers. "Where? Oh, Starbucks? Where's that? Down where? Oh…" There was a pause as Kai desperately tried to understand what was going on, "Alright, we'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks…k, bye," The redhead flipped the phone closed.
"That was Dakota?" Kai asked, "The Dakota?"
"Yeah, and apparently Ev's with her at Starbucks." Tala said, as he begun walking again.
"Which one?" Kai asked. "There's like a million Starbucks' in New York."
"The one downtown by some bowling alley. I can't believe Evian went all the way downtown, shit."
"We can't walk all the way there; we have to take a taxi to get there. And how the hell did she get your number?"
x x x
Back in the coffee shop, Evian was in the middle of an anecdote and Dakota was listening absorbedly, "- and I was like, no, and he was like, yeah, and I was like, oh my god, you can't like, do that, and he actually did! Can you believe it? I mean, that was totally unfair, and I also think that's like against the law or something," Evian rolled her eyes, taking out her lip gloss and applying it on her lips. Suddenly, Dakota giggled. "What?"
Dakota's steely grey eyes looked beyond Evian, but before Evian could peek over her shoulders, she felt something snake around her shoulders from behind her. She literally jumped in her seat in terror.
"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"
She'd recognize that voice anywhere, "No," She removed her brother's arms off of her, "Don't touch me."
"Too bad," He wrapped his arms around his sister once again, this time strongly, despite her warning, "You're my sister, therefore you are mine, and I can do whatever I want."
From the other side of the table, Dakota snickered, and Kai rolled his eyes at the stubbornness the twins possessed as he took a seat on one of the extra chairs.
"No you can't," Evian objected.
"Yes I can," The redhead protested.
"Nuh-uh," The blonde shook her head, but even when she was arguing with him, she felt a smile creep up to her lips. She didn't know why. Sometimes she couldn't help but smile even when she was getting into trouble, and why she smiled at times like these, was unexplainable.
"Yuh-huh," He placed a kiss on her cheek, "I'm sorry."
She grinned, "It's okay."
"Wow! You guys make up so fast!" Dakota commented in utter admiration. "Now that that's behind us," She eyed the redhead, "You planning to have a seat, sexy?"
That was an unexpected greeting. Nonetheless, Tala had no problem coping with the situation; he grinned, "Of course, baby." He grabbed a seat beside the tousle-haired blonde. "My sister bugging you?"
"Are you kidding? I love your sister, in fact, Evian and I should get married," Dakota chuckled, running a hand through her sand blonde hair.
"Nah," The redhead contradicted, "You should get married to me instead, trust me, I'll be more satisfying,"
Evian furrowed her eyebrows and wrinkled her nose; Tala and Dakota were openly flirting with each other; it was just a wonder they weren't already making out hardcore, just ready to rip each other's clothes off and have sex on the table or the floor, even though it had only been roughly five seconds since they started talking. Christ.
But she didn't interrupt them. Tala had already owed her a pending apology. She wasn't mad anymore, and he was free to do whatever he wanted, and that just happened to be playing around with Evian's brand new friend, Dakota. Aw, they look so adorable together.
"You're all wet; you're going to catch a cold,"
Evian turned to find the one who interrupted her trail of thoughts. The interrupter was Kai. Instead of looking at her straight in the eye, he kept his eyes glued to the table, the floor, the walls, and everything else but her face. He prepared to take off his jacket, shaking it off from his arms and situated it on the table, close to Evian, "Put that on before you get sick."
Astonished by Kai's sudden courteous, 'boy-next-door' mind-set, Evian didn't even realize she had already accepted the black brand name jacket as she willingly draped it over her shoulders. Even though it was two sizes or so too big for her, she didn't mind because it supplied her with newfound warmth…and it was a very good looking jacket.
"Thanks," The corn blonde smiled. He just shrugged and slouched back in his seat, jacketless.
He's so bi-polar, Evian thought, first he likes me, then he hates me, then he hates me even more, and now he likes me again. I think.
x x x
Yawning, Evian looked around the New York airport. Even at five in the morning, such an early hour, the airport was packed with myriads of travelers, among them were a few teams even, ones that Evian had never seen or heard of before. They were from various categories and countries.
Her own team sat in the waiting room closely together to ensure no one would get lost at such an important time. Their flight was in about an hour, and once on the plane, they would arrive in Las Vegas in roughly two to three hours, where they would check into yet another hotel, and go on from there.
Mr. MaCaffery engaged in a game of Crazy Eights with Mariah, Hilary, and Ray, but after losing a few times, Ray quit and decided to go off and look out the large window and watch as the airplanes took off and landed. Kai was worrying over the flight and like last time, he didn't want to go on board. Tala dozed off a while ago, using several seats and Evian's lap as a makeshift bed. And Evian herself? She was busy trying to spot a few hot guys. Alas, there were none…yet.
Well that wasn't entirely true. There was one. And he was sitting just a few seats away from Evian. But Evian knew it was useless thinking about him, because Kai belonged to Hilary. The good ones are ALWAYS taken, it's so unfair. Adam Brody is taken, Johnny Depp is taken, and so is Jared Padalecki, and Ashton Kutcher, and Tom Welling, and Jake Gyllenhaal and…
Her track of thoughts was broken up by an unexpected groan. Evian slowly turned her head in Kai's direction. He was sprawled on his seat with his hood over his head. Suddenly he looked over at her direction as well, and she nearly fell off her seat. Her cheeks heated up and her face turned as red as her brother's hair as a result of utter embarrassment. She hoped Kai didn't notice the fact that she was drooling over his extreme hotness.
This was so awkward. Why did awkward things always happen to her? Like the time she and Tala's girlfriend had an argument at school, and the next day, she came over while Tala wasn't home, or the time when Evian walked in on her parents making out in the kitchen, or the time her brother almost came into her room while she was changing and getting ready for school.
To ease the tension, she began playing around with her brother's cell phone. Within seconds, she had completely forgotten about Kai as she began fooling around with the ring tones. Her brother was going to kill her, but it was totally worth it! Before she could progress further with her wickedness, a small window popped up on the screen:
New SMS Message: View?
While she was curious, she didn't want to infringe on her brother's privacy and read the text message without his permission.
"Poo-face, you have a message," She shoved the redhead.
"I'm trying to get some sleep, Evian…"
"Look, someone texted you," She waved the cell phone in front of his face.
"Why do you have my cell phone?" He looked at her with one eye open. "Give me that," He snatched the cell phone out of her hands.
"Who's it from?" She questioned.
"Mind your own business, Blondie." He said, holding the phone at an angle, preventing his sister from viewing the message.
"Hey!" She furrowed her eyebrows, "You said that my business was your business, so that means your business is my business."
He smirked, "Too bad, that only works when men say it,"
She gasped, "Sexist!" She made a grab for the phone, but with no avail.
"Feminist." While trying to fight off the vicious blonde with one hand, he quickly read the message: hey sexie, have a safe flight nd dun b meen 2 mi evian. xoxo, dakota.
Tala grinned at the short text message. He was scoring big time with this girl! And he had literally only met her yesterday! And that was all thanks to his sister's tantrum-like behaviour. He should get his sister angrier more often.
"Give it to me!" Evian shouted, still trying to reach for the cell phone.
"Ew, Evian. I'm your brother. If I give 'it' to you, that's like incest, man."
That statement earned him a whack across the head, "I meant the phone, you sick moron!"
"You two, stop fighting," Mr. MaCaffery sighed. "Everyone's watching."
"He won't let me see his text message!" Evian complained, crossing her arms.
"If he doesn't want to show you, Evian, you can't make him. It's his cell phone and the message is for him."
"It's not fair. How come I don't have a cell phone?" She mumbled.
"Because you lost yours, Evian," Mr. MaCaffery reasoned, "And it was a very expensive one, double how much we paid for your mom's cell phone and your brother's."
"Because it was cute and pink and I like expensive things. Expensive things indicate quality." She articulated.
"And we made a deal," Her father continued, "When you get an eighty-average on your report card like your brother, your mom and I will get you another cell phone."
She exhaled out loudly, "So basically what you're saying is, I'll only get another cell phone in my dreams," She rolled her eyes. "I'll never get an eighty-average in real life, dad. You know that. I'm dumb."
"Don't say that, honey," Mr. MaCaffery objected, "You're very intelligent; you just have to put in some effort and use your brain."
"If she even has a brain." Tala snickered.
"Tala…" Mr. MaCaffery eyed the redhead sternly.
"I was just joking, god," The redhead defended himself. Mr. MaCaffery went back to playing cards with Hilary and Mariah, who seemed to be chuckling lightly at what Tala had said about Evian having no brain. Tala noticed his sister's sudden mood-swing. He felt blameworthy. "It was from Dakota." He finally said.
She lightened up a little, "What did she say?"
"Read it," He said, shoving the cell phone towards her. After reading the contents, Evian grinned.
"Oooh, she likes you."
"She does not."
"She calls you sexy,"
"That's because I am," He grinned, putting the cell phone back in his pockets.
She rolled her eyes, "Stop flattering yourself, Tala,"
He winked, "I'm sexy-licious,"
"You're gay,"
"But you still love me,"
"Not because I want to," She started, "But because I have to." The hour dwindled away, and The Skittles were finally at the departure gates. Trying to get Kai on the plane was like trying to push a cow off a cliff. In other words, it was a difficult task for the team. Once on the plane however, Kai wasn't the only person with issues.
For some reason, Evian had gotten extremely cranky. She'd behave like a five year old, throwing ten-second tantrums every now and then for no apparent motive, hitting Tala once in a while – talk about violent tendencies. A few times, he would hit her back, but not as hard because he had no intention of hurting her. Being equally aggressive as her would only escalate the situation to a worse level. And he knew that even though the reason behind her bad-temper wasn't crystal clear, there was a rationale. Maybe she was just getting sick of traveling so much – maybe she was a bit nostalgic. But that was only an educated guess. Even Evian didn't know why she felt so ratty. The only person that did know was Kai.
It stopped nevertheless, once they were off the aircraft. Mr. MaCaffery quickly checked the exhausted team into a nearby hotel, where another problem stirred up.
"There are lots of teams staying in this hotel from all over the world. I only managed to get four rooms for this team." Mr. MaCaffery started.
"Four rooms? That's way more than enough. We only need two, and one for you, dad." Tala said.
"That's the problem," Mr. MaCaffery said, "One is a single room that I got for myself, and that was the only single room left in the entire hotel. The other three are supposed to be shared with just two people."
"So what's the problem? Mariah and I will share a room. That means there are two more rooms left." Hilary stated.
"And that's where the problem begins," Mr. MaCaffery eyed his daughter. "I'll tell you what, you can either take the single room, and I'll share the other room with your brother, or you can share the room with your brother."
The blonde seemed troubled, not by the fact that she had to share a room with her brother, but by that fact that Mariah was siding with Hilary, "Why can't I share with Mariah?"
"Sorry, Evian," The pink-haired girl looked apologetic, "I'll share with you next time, I promise."
Yeah right! Evian thought. This feeling of unwanted-ness was starting to take a toll on the young adult. Only a few people on the team sensed the poisoned environment that was created.
"Why can't the three of you just share one room? I mean, you're all girls anyway," Kai shrugged, "Even if there's only two beds, someone can take the couch; you guys can rotate."
"No Kai; that would be a hassle." Hilary reasoned.
"How will it be a 'hassle'? It's so simple." The bluenette protested. "These hotel rooms are pretty big, there's lots of space. Just take her with you guys," He referred to the blonde. "It's not like we're staying here forever, we're only here for a few days."
"Why don't you take the big room, Evian?" Mr. MaCaffery suggested. "It will be like your own room."
No it wouldn't. Evian's room was spacious and familiar and she always left the door open so that the room wasn't completely dark. She couldn't do that with the hotel room; obviously she wouldn't be able to leave the door open.
"K, Evian's going to share with me and that's final." Tala cut in, getting slightly annoyed by everyone.
"It's settled then. I want everyone to get comfy for a while, and I know the climate in Las Vegas is very humid and warm, but we still have to train and go according to our plans. Today I want you to relax and get some rest, and we'll start training tomorrow."
Everyone nodded in understanding before heading off to their assigned hotel rooms. Once in her hotel room, Evian immediately dropped her things on the floor and threw herself on one of the beds and lied down on her tummy, face flat. She remembered doing this a few times before, all for various reasons. But this time it was because of something new, something she wasn't accustomed to: being discriminated and hated.
She had never experienced discrimination of any form, whether it was sexism, racism, or even ageism. No one disliked her because of her gender because she was considered pretty and she had never truly come across a male that detested her.
She was never hated by a black person, a brown person, or an Asian person because she was white; this was because she was friends with all kinds of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. She had black friends, brown friends, Asian friends, and white friends.
She was never loathed by elders because she was a 'crazy teenager with no respect' because she wasn't a 'crazy teenager with no respect'. Sure she was able to have fun, but she showed extreme respect towards elders.
She was never hated. She was a likeable person. Not everyone had that quality, likeability. Even Tala didn't have that value. He had just as many enemies as he had friends. But for her it was different, she never truly had an enemy, and even when she did, it didn't last very long, because eventually she and her 'enemy' became friends at one point or another.
But for some reason, no matter how hard she tried to be nice and make friends with Hilary, it didn't work. But Hilary wasn't the only person on the team that had an extreme dislike towards Evian, and that's what made things worse. People like Mariah and Kai who were initially nice to Evian were the opposite now. Even a well-mannered and carefree person like Ray didn't like her too much.
And the only question that kept drifting back was why? She hadn't done anything. She was taught to treat others the way she wished to be treated, and she did that. It always worked like a charm, until now. She had finally stumbled across an obstacle. She felt caught in a spider web. And she didn't like it.
She continued crying, sobbing into the pillow. But it wasn't the silent type of crying, it was the noisy kind.
She wasn't depressed.
She was frustrated.
"You know what? You need to stop being a fucking baby." Tala started, dumping all his stuff onto the floor. "You need to stop crying over stupid things. You're old enough to know what's worth crying over and what's not."
That didn't seem to stop her, in fact, it made it worse. The last thing she needed now was for him to bitch at her about things he didn't understand.
"Seriously," He rolled his eyes, "Ever since you've joined this team, you've been crying. And it's so predictable. It's okay to be sensitive, but not this sensitive. Get a grip, Evian. This is really fucked. All you've been doing is complaining about this team, complaining about the people on this team, running off like a fucking idiot and getting lost, crying over unimportant things, and just being plain annoying." He felt a pillow whiz across the air and fly over his head, "Yo! Don't throw shit at me, Evian! I'm serious!"
"Then shut up!" She demanded, sitting up on her bed.
"I'll shut up when you shut up." He said, tossing the pillow back on her bed. "Look, all I'm saying is," He paused and eyed the ground absentmindedly before looking at her, "Crying over Hilary isn't worth it. I know you're a bit emotionally sensitive and all, but what are you gaining by crying about something that's not worth crying over?"
"What am I losing?" She countered, wiping her tear-stained face.
"Your time and your dignity." He answered. "I don't know what happened over the years, but this isn't really the Evian I grew up with. Like yeah, you cried once in a while, but that was tolerable. But this is insane."
"How do you even know I'm crying because of Hilary? It could be something else. Maybe I gained half a pound or maybe I saw a spilt end in my hair today or maybe I lost my favourite lip gloss again."
"It's not."
"Well how do you know?"
"Because I do, now shut up." He ordered.
The rest of the day went by somewhat rocky for the team. After getting a few hours of sleep, Kai was woken up by Hilary because apparently they 'needed to talk'. Well that was never good, especially when it was coming from your significant other. And the team was somewhat aware that the conversation between the couple didn't go very smoothly since they literally stopped speaking to each other for the rest of the day, and Kai seemed kind of ticked off at whatever Hilary had said to him.
Apart from the couples, Tala and Evian would get into small, insignificant arguments that ended quickly and didn't bother anyone. But still, the fact that they were even getting into arguments so often these days, bothered Mr. MaCaffery.
Finally nightfall came, and having slept nearly the whole day, Evian didn't feel as drowsy as she was supposed to during nighttime. Nonetheless, she was still in bed, absolutely bored out of her mind. Tala had fallen asleep hours ago, and his snoring was making it worse for Evian to even attemptto get some sleep. But even if Tala wasn't snoring, she probably wouldn't get any sleep even if she tried. She wasn't accustomed to sleeping in such darkness. Tala liked to sleep in the dark, and his definition of dark was when every single light was switched off, and when all the curtains were shut, and there was absolutely no form of light in the room. He couldn't sleep even with the slightest bit of light. In order for Tala to get some sleep, the room had to be blacker than black and darker than dark, if that even made any sense.
This made Evian uncomfortable. She didn't like it when the room was this dark. It scared her. What if there were monsters in the closet? Or the washroom? Or…right under her bed? Frightened by her own thoughts, she pulled the covers a little more even though it was too warm for covers. It was so dark, she couldn't even see her own hand if she waved it in front of her face. She felt blind.
And she was too afraid to close her eyes. What if something happened? Like what if a gruesome looking monster did appear and eat her up or something? Oh c'mon, Evian. Those don't even happen in movies. Just close your eyes, relax, and try to sleep.
Upset by the lack of sleep and lack of light, she pushed the covers off her and sat up in bed. With her left hand, she reached for the lamp and switched it on, lighting up the hotel room. She moved strands of hair out of her face and looked around the room. Unlike her brother, her clothes were already creating a big mess in the room. She scratched the back of her head and looked at the clock that was hung up on the wall. It was nearly two in the morning.
She retreated from the bed and went to her belongings, searching for a spare pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As she moved her hands around her luggage, she felt something granule at the bottom, underneath all the clothing. She scrunched up her face as she pinched some of the sandy particle and examined it. She discovered pink dust, the same kind she had seen in Arizona. She blew the dust off her palm. Someone's playing a sick joke on you, Evian. It's probably Hilary or Kai or something.
After hunting down what she was looking for, she left the hotel room to have her treat.
x x x
"- and then she was telling me I shouldn't side with anyone else; she was telling me, not asking me, so then I got pissed off and then she got pissed off, and then I was like 'fine, whatever', and I think that pissed her off even more or something because she wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day." Kai paused to listen to what his mom had to say to him about his 'girl-trouble'. "Why should I apologize? She started it."
As he listened to his mom's suggestions and advice, he took a seat on the curb of the road and kicked a few pebbles that were on the ground. "So what if I'm the guy? It doesn't mean I should say sorry first." He protested, running a hand through his slate hair. "I'll say sorry if she says sorry. Yeah, I do like her, I think. So? Fine. Fine. Okay. Yes I'm going to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow, mom. Okay, goodnight mom. I am drinking enough water. Yeah…okay. I love you too. Bye, mom." Kai brought down the cell phone from his ears and flipped it closed. He sighed, exhaling out loudly.
Solving complicated math problems was doable, but trying to solve things between him and Hilary was undoable. If she wasn't being such a bitch, then I wouldn't have a problem, obviously.
He was getting ready to head back to the hotel and get some shuteye when he noticed something – someone – whiz past him, jaywalk across the traffic-less street, and sit on the curb on the other side. He furrowed his eyebrows in dismay once he realized it was Evian, who probably hadn't noticed him yet, or just avoided him on purpose.
She sat on the other side of the empty street, dressed in a white satin nightgown that ended an inch or two below her knees, revealing her glossy-looking legs. The upper part of the gown was made of tank straps and a low neckline, revealing a small amount of cleavage and the shape of her big breasts. Her pin-straight, lustrous corn blonde hair was the same as always, ending just at her collarbone.
Her blonde hair with the silk white nightdress, her pretty, smooth-looking skin along with her appealing face, and the light from the streetlamp which provided her with radiance, could have given someone the impression that she was some kind of heavenly or godly figure. At least that was the impression Kai received.
But that angel-like illusion was killed as soon as she lit up a cigarette and put it in her mouth. Kai scrunched up his face, not necessarily enjoying what he was seeing now. He liked it better when she looked like a virgin.
It's two in the morning, he thought, what the hell is she doing out here? He got to his feet, and instead of heading back to the hotel like he initially planned, he paced towards the blonde.
"It's not safe to be out at this time, you know," He made his presence acknowledged by speaking. He took a seat on the curb next to her, "How come you're not in bed?" To avoid talking to him, she shrugged in response, hoping he would just get up and leave. But he didn't. Instead, there was an eerie silence as he played around with the hem of his Coldplay band tee while she continued smoking, "Thought you said you were gonna quit soon." He finally spoke again.
"I will." She answered, trying to express her annoyance. She tapped the butt of the cigarette to allow the ashes to fall off. "You should go to bed."
He raised an eyebrow, "Is that you're way of telling me to fuck off?"
She gave him a momentary look before answering, "Maybe."
The answer amused Kai to full-extent. He liked playing around with her. It was fun. He laughed, indicating he was going to stay.
"Fine then," She tossed her almost-done cigarette aside, "I'm leaving." She got up to go back to the hotel.
"Nooo," He whined, "Stay. I'm bored." He seized her by the wrist and yanked her back on the curb she was sitting on. Evian didn't fight back only because she was too busy feeling awkward by his touch. He had never touched her before. And the fact that he wanted her to stay because he was 'bored' was reasonably odd also. Once seated, she expected to be released by his grip. But that didn't happen.
"Hey," She attempted to wriggle her right wrist free from his hold, "Let go."
"Why?"
"Because I said so." She used her other hand to discharge her hand from his secure but gentle hold.
"Well that's too bad, Blondie." He pulled her closer towards him, "I get whatever I want. My mom spoiled me. And I'm French."
"I get whatever I want too," She started, still concentrating on freeing her wrist, "And I want you to let go of me."
"What if I don't?" He challenged.
It took a few seconds for her to answer, "Then I'll bite your nose off," She threatened.
He grinned, "Yes, bite me." He provoked her. She smiled playfully as she really did try to bite him on the nose in a non-threatening way, kind of like how a five year old would play with their companion. Then she went back to try to break free from his grip, this time taking a lighter approach. She giggled as she tried every method she could think off to disentangle herself.
While all this was going on, Kai felt…weird. He liked what was going on, he was enjoying it. He had never gotten so close to Evian before, and being able to fool around with her like this was more than just fun; it was exciting.
He was fully aware, even at this stage, that it was wrong to joke around with another girl in this fashion. Technically, they were flirting. And the only reason he let himself do this was because he was mad at Hilary and didn't give two shits about what she thought of him at this point.
Besides, he was having fun and it looked like Evian was having fun too. Nobody was getting hurt, physically or emotionally. It wasn't like Hilary was here watching. In addition, this was something he could never do with Hilary – mess around and just enjoy life, even at two in the morning when he was exhausted and dead tired.
He suddenly flinched in pain as he felt something pinch him on the arm. He looked at Evian, who was now grinning ear-to-ear. "Ha, ha." She teased. It was funny how she could look hot and adorable at the same time. He liked it. He just wanted to…eat her.
"Okay Blondie, time to go to bed before Tala finds out I let you stay up past your bedtime." He withdrew from where he was sitting and yawned.
"I don't have a bedtime." She protested. "That ended when I was like, eleven years old. Besides, it's nice out here; I'm going to stay. You can go to bed if you want."
"Yeah, and find out in the morning that there's an Amber Alert because you were kidnapped." He rolled his eyes, "C'mon, it's late."
"I'm a big girl." She argued.
Being the intelligent person he was, he decided to use the same trick Tala used on her just a few days ago, "Fine then," He began strolling away from her, "But when that thing from House of Wax comes after you…" He trailed off.
"Oh my god, Kai!" She stood up immediately, terrified by the mention of the thriller movie she had seen at his house, "God, don't let me see the stars then." She followed the bluenette.
"The stars? Why would someone want to look at the stars?" He made a face, resting his hands on the back of his head as he continued walking towards the hotel.
"Because they're cool, duh," She rolled her eyes, "And I was trying to look for the Big Dipper."
He raised an eyebrow, "You know what that is?"
"I'm not stupid, you know."
"No, I didn't know."
"Well now you do." That ended the conversation and was followed by silence once again. They entered the hotel lobby and got to the twenty-first floor and paced down the hallway to get to their hotel rooms, which were right beside each other.
"Bye," Evian waved, pushing her hotel door open just a little bit.
"Wait," He stopped her and strolled towards her, "This is going to sound really weird, but…just make sure no one on the team finds out about anything. I'm not implying anything, it's just that, Hilary's not exactly the type of person who takes things lightly, and if she even suspects anything…"
She nodded, "Okay."
"I know she and I kinda had a rough day today, but its not like we broke up or anything, and I kind of want it to stay that way."
She nodded once again, understanding and not understanding the situation at the same time. She had never been in a relationship before; hence, she had absolutely no idea what Kai was really saying.
He sighed in relief, "Thanks."
She smiled, "No problem." She set one foot into her room before being interrupted once again.
"And Blondie," He started, "This changes nothing between us."
She looked at him like he was insane, "You mean we're still not friends?"
"Are you retarded, Blondie?"
She flipped her hair in an egotistical way on purpose, "Whatever you say, Mister Vice-Captain-Sir." She grinned, "See ya."
"Yeah, goodnight." He watched as she entered her hotel room and locked the door behind her. He unlocked the door to his own hotel room, careful not to wake up Ray in the process, and crawled into the empty bed by the windows, knowing tonight was going to be one of those nights where he was too excited to get any sleep. He knew why he felt this way, but denied any suppositions.
Evian was just some blonde girl he liked to tantalize. She was nothing but just that.
But his guts refused to believe that.
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ATTENTION: Sort of. Evian is pronounced EVY-YEN, not EVY-on as I've heard some weirdos say it (not that I'm saying you're a weirdo if you pronounced it like that, I mean…kudos to weirdos…). Sorry for the long wait. It's just so time consuming to type in in the address bar, and then click login, and then click this and that and omfg. It wastes like, 5 seconds of my life…
And now as promised…I will answer reviews from the last two chapters…
Crying Sorceress – Virgo guys are the cutest ever! Lol. I realized Tala would be a Virgo in this story after I created the date of birth for Evian, and then I'm like, shit, they're twins…haha, Tala is so not a Virgo. And yes I know, the part with Kai and Evian in this chapter was slightly odd, but that's what I did when I was with this really hot guy but I don't like him now because he's a jackass and I'm too pretty for him :D And he's a Pisces. We'd never get along.
Simply Sakura – God, I know. Lol. I hate it when my parents talk about me and stuff. It's really annoying. And sometimes embarrassing.
eMpTy-ShElLs – 'Across The Country Bond'…yes! It's really freaky. To be completely honest, when I first started talking to you, I was like, yeah whatever, this is someone from the internet…for all I know it could be a 40 year old perverted man or something. But then I started talking to you a lot, and I was like, wow, it feels good to talk to someone that can relate. I definitely agree on the across the country bond thing.
NightPredator – WTF! You told him you liked him and he rejected you! OMFG! You know what, maybe he has man boobies, and he's jealous because your boobs are bigger than his man boobies…
EAMR – Haha, yeah, once I went into a store, and I saw the hugest underwear in my life, and I was like…whoa, wtf.
Maji –Ooohh! Yay Indians! Lol. Indian as in South Asian?
AG329 – I know! It's been 19 chapters and Kai and Evian haven't even talked yet. I kind of screwed up in the story…you know the part where the team had to do something in order to get INTO the BBA tournament? At that time, the storyline was a little different, and then after I put in those chapters, I took a different direction. So that's what really messed things up, and that's why this story is as long as my ass crack (…well not really) and NOTHING has happened yet. I'm seriously trying to pick up the pace here, and…its working, sort of. And nooo! Tala's OC is not Evelyn! Lol. I think this chapter already gave it away.
Lyttlechickie – Nope, I don't watch Kenshin. I know its an anime though :S
Feeding Ground – Yeah I know! My brother's 12, and already he's acting like a girly bitch! It's really annoying!
Kasanara – Evian IS going to be with Kai. I knowwww, I'm sorry for taking too long (read AG329's comment for more info). And once I slapped by brother and I got grounded…
Crazy Rei luva – Indian as in South Asian! Lol.
DemonicStormFox – Yeah, Tala is mean and gay. Haha.
WhiteHikariWings – Tala actually does get his ass kicked like 3 or 4 chapters later. Haha. I am so cruel.
Merffles – Omfg, you have no idea HOW many stories I've read when I knew I should be studying for exams! I'm such a dick-head.
And thanks to…
Bloodstainedmoon
Monchan
Lamanth
BluePhoenix01
Sugar911
Kesata harika 09
CrazygirlHaley5555
Yasashii Tenshi
Whatevergurlx0x
XxMookinexX
Death-star-angel
Cybanne-Chan
DarkRavenOfNight
Yazzrich94
Lady-Nikki
Once again, this IS a Kai/Evian story (and Tala/OC, and I think you guys know who the OC is now) and I know things are going REALLY slowly. Read AG329's comment to find out why it's been a little blah. I'm trying to get things moving a little faster, which is why the chapters are turning out so disgustingly long. I will ASSURE you, the next chapters are GREAT – that's where the REAL stuff happens, for example:
Tala gets his ass kicked.
Evian gets her bit beast.
Evian gets attacked.
Kai gets injured really badly…
R and R! And send in songs for the soundtrack! If I have the time, I'll post a rough soundtrack on my profile, so check it out.