CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

A virtual game of Sudoku on his iPhone kept the phoenix preoccupied while lying in bed. He was just about finished the round when he heard footsteps exiting from the Ivanovs' room, just what he had been waiting for. By now he had familiarized himself with the sibling's nightly snack routine. He was also able to differentiate between their footwork: Tala was a little reckless, his steps loud even at this time of night followed by a thud as he jumped off the third or fourth stair step to hit the ledge on the ceiling with his hand on the way down. But it was Dylan, her strides quiet and feminine, almost inaudible.

Exiting the gaming application, Kai withdrew from his mattress and quietly creeped out of his room and made his way downstairs. He found her in the kitchen, her back towards him as she stood by the counter with an obvious cup of milk and an open packet of Oreos lying close by.

She remained entirely unaware of his presence even as he stopped right behind her, practically an inch away. Maybe less. He was sly, the Abbey having taught him the trait expertly. Her hair had been pulled to one side, exposing her shoulder blades. Her night chemise was a satin material and hot pink in colour, cut too short and styled too 'sexy' to be wearing around in a house full of dicks.

Literally speaking.

Taking a deep breath, he blew on her hair. She jumped about ten feet into the air and her mouth was open, ready to give off a high pitched scream and wake up the entire continent. He clamped a hand over her mouth before it could happen, her back backed against his chest.

For a moment he wondered what would have happened if this was a real attack against her by an intruder. He doubted she'd be able to fight anyone off. She was very skinny in typical cheerleader form, though in a fit and healthy way. Her body reminded him of a straight road with a speed bump: thin all the way through and then woop, there they were, a decently sized chest and a small tight round chunk of meat for her behind. She was light weight, probably about 70 to 75 pounds lighter than himself he estimated, something he could pick up. And hold against a wall.

Finally she pulled his hand away and turned around, amusing Kai with her facial expression; he'd never seen her frightened before. Nonetheless, she regained her composure within seconds, her default persona kicking in, "Ah, looking for an excuse to feel me up, I see," She hopped onto the counter with a smirk, "Did you enjoy it?"

"Hn," He stood before her with his arms folded over his chest, "That's wishful thinking," He placed his hands firmly on the ledge of the counter, "I'm here to talk,"

"You? Talk?" She chuckled, "Are you dying, Kai?"

"Look. What you did at the movies was out of line,"

"It's hard to stay within the lines with a big fat marker," Her knee rubbed against his crotch, "Don't you think?" He spread her legs apart, situating himself in the middle only to frown when he felt her wrap them around him, "You look fucking hot when you're annoyed,"

"That's nice. Now listen up, this, it's over,"

She faked sorrow, her bottom lip pushed forward to portray such, "Are we breaking up?"

"Yes,"

"What a tragedy,"

"When it comes to Hilary, I don't need your help and I don't want your help. Are we clear on this matter?"

"Crystal,"

"Good. Now let go, I'm going back to bed,"

"Alright, Superman," With that, she twisted the Oreo cookie apart and licked the half with the cream suggestively, "Sweet dreams."

x x x

The booklet of about three or so pages, stapled together, fell on her desk upside down. Dylan grimaced as the teacher continued down the aisle of tables handing out the marked calculus tests from a week ago. She looked across the room, Luka mouthing a 'what'd you get?'. The corner of the test was lifted slightly and fearfully, a red inked grade of 49 percent visible along with a note:

Parent/guardian signature required.

What that really translated to was suicide. The blonde glanced over at the brunette with a shake of the head to signify she hadn't done well. The class was dismissed thereafter, the students shoving out of the doorway like animals.

"Mrs. Petrova?" It was when the room had emptied out that the Californian approached the instructor, "Can I talk to you?"

"Do it fast," The wiping of the chalkboard carried on, "I have to go,"

"I studied really hard for this test," Not really, "And you gave me a 49,"

"I did not give you 49, you give yourself 49," She looked over her shoulder, her rounded glasses lowered on the bridge of her nose, "If you study you do well, if you do not study, what you think?"

"But I did,"

"Not enough,"

"I failed just by one mark. Can you please at least bump me to a 50? I'm at risk of being kicked out of any extracurricular activities I'm in,"

"You get what you get, my mark is final. Now I have to go," Mrs. Petrova hastily collected her things before marching towards the door, "See you next class, Dylania,"

Luka, Edward, and Vika were waiting in the parking lot by the time the cheerleader exited the building, "Hurry up!" The other blonde whined, "We go for movie!"

"Actually you guys go ahead. I have to go home,"

"It was your plan to go out after school," Edward voiced.

"I know but I totally forgot that I had to go home because my parents are expecting call,"

Luka's face fell, "You are sure?"

"Yeah," The matter was waived off, "Go ahead. I'll see you guys tomorrow,"

The three nodded and while the rusty Toyota raced out of the parking lot, she began her walk home. A detour was made on a random bench on the street. The seat was cold – it froze her butt. Small stores littered either sides of the street, some of them coffee shops, pastries, restaurants, and gift shops. There was a line up of people a few feet away, all of them carrying luggages. A bus approached soon after. The first passenger held up a piece of paper – a ticket – as he boarded with his suitcase, the others following.

For a moment her mind wandered off in an attempt to picture possible scenarios. She could go home and have Tala sign her test, only to be grounded afterwards for failing. She could go home and not have Tala sign her test, which would earn her a phone call home from school and then Tala would find out and ground her anyway. Either way, the threat of being kicked off the team was still looming. But none of those amounted to the fact that going back home was completely out of question at this point.

The American stood up and searched her pocket and wallet for change. It came to a few dollars. With the money in hand, she scanned her surroundings before jogging towards the bus. Just in the nick of time, she stood behind the last passenger preparing to get inside. There was writing on the digital panel that changed every few seconds, but she was unable to decipher. She surmised the message portrayed the location and route.

A honk of a car ripped through the air followed by her name, "Dylan!" The black Benz, parked a few cars behind the bus, was spotted as was the driver's head poking out of the window. His dual coloured hair was unmistakable along with his face. Alden held out his hand as if to tell her to hold on before he drove closer, attempting to park behind the bus itself, "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

"Getting on the bus,"

"You are going to St. Petersburg?"

"...yeah,"

"Alone? By yourself?" Alden raised a brow, "Does Tala know this?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting him there. He took the early bus,"

"That is impossible. I just came from your house; your brother opened the door," Booked, "Dylan, get in the car," The order was obeyed as the blonde took a seat, her pink backpack sitting on her lap, "What are you doing?"

"I was just going out,"

"With who?" She shrugged at the enquiry, "Did you tell your parents?" Her head shook in decline, "Are you okay?"

"Are you gonna tell my brother?"

"No,"

"Because I'll get in trouble if you do,"

"I will not tell him," He began driving, swerving away from the back of the bus and stopping at the red lights ahead, "You want to talk, Dylan?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'll get in trouble for that too,"

"We will not talk about Kai today," The driving began again, "We will talk about you today,"

"There's nothing to talk about, I just wanna go home,"

"Okay, I can drop you off at -"

"No, I meant home as in L.A., like to my parents and stuff,"

"Ah, I see," He nodded, "I don't know if I can help you with that,"

"I don't think my parents want me back,"

He chuckled, "That is the most ridiculous thing. Of course they want you back. You are their child,"

"Then why the hell would they send me here? I didn't do anything to them. They just got rid of me like I was something they can refund at a store,"

"It's not easy to be a parent, you know Dylan? We will always want the best for you and the funny thing is most of the time you will take it another way, but we still do it because we know in the end it will be for your benefit and that is all that matters,"

"I don't really get how it's my benefit by being in some random country where it's really cold and living with my brother and his friends and going to school where nobody speaks English,"

"Maybe you don't know now but you will know later. So, are you hungry?"

Her shoulders moved up and down, "I guess a little,"

"Will your brother be worried about where you are?"

"Nah, I told him I was going to the movies after school,"

"Okay," Alden offered a light laugh, "I know a very good place,"

This 'good place' ended up being a home. A really big home. It was definitely larger than her parent's property in California which was already considered to be large by the standard and lifestyle of the west coast. The car pulled into the driveway and came to a halt. They stepped out, Dylan holding onto her backpack by one strap, her toque with another as she looked upward at the home, "Do you live here all by yourself?"

"Yes, myself," He confirmed and walked up the steps, the cheerleader following closely behind. The door was opened with the slide of a card, not a key, granting them entrance. Inside, there was tons of open space and the home was spotless, her sock-clad feet just gliding on the wooden floors. There was another man in the house, introduced as Viktor, the housekeeper. While a meal was being prepared, Alden urged her to continue following him around, "This is the living room," He stated as they walked by the vacant room made up of couches and chairs, even a modernized fireplace. The kitchen was pointed out along with the dining area. The stairs were taken to the second floor, "This is the library,"

"You have a library in your house?" She strolled in after him staring at the stacks of books on both sides of the walls. A book with a bookmark sitting on the small round table by a chair was picked up.

"That one is very good," Alden praised, "It's about the –"

"– universe," She finished, "Kai is reading the same book. I saw it in his room,"

"Really? He is also reading this?"

"Yeah," There was a small smile on her part as the book was placed back on the table, the gesture reciprocated by the 36 year old. An office was shown next – the table was messy, full of papers and files, but the rest of the room was rather tidy.

"This one is my room," He pushed open another door, "And that is basically it,"

She nodded, "Pretty cool," Her eyes wandered to the room with the door slightly ajar next to Alden's, "Who stays there?"

"Nobody," He sighed. The palm of his hand connected with the wooden door, pushing it open further to reveal a room that was more...adolescent. All the furniture in the room – a desk, shelf, and the bed frame – were deep oak wood. The walls were painted pale blue. While no one inhabited the room, according to Alden, the bed was still made, the bedding in all shades of blue. A basketball sat in the middle of the room atop the beige carpeting. There were a few figures made out of Lego on the shelves alongside old school Nintendo games. "This used to be Kai's room,"

Both her brows rose, her mouth parting slightly into an 'O' to express her obvious surprise sans words. Words just wouldn't cut it, to be honest. Seeing Kai's room from when he was a kid was kind of like seeing into his past. It was hard and strange to picture the now-asshole as an actual child or tween. The fascination of his old room seemed to rank higher than the fascination in his pants.

"I still keep it like this in case he ever wants to come back," Alden said, "But I don't think he will come back," Then his emerald eyes settled on her, "How is his room now?"

"It's...nice," She shrugged, "Just like a normal guy's room. More mature looking, I guess,"

"He keeps it clean?"

"Yeah, he's usually tidy," The opportunity was taken to provide the longing father with a bit more detail into his estranged child's life, "He likes to read sometimes, watch stuff on YouTube, and he plays a lot of video games. Sometimes he goes out with his friends, like Tyson and them," But he didn't need to know what they did during their outings – she didn't think Alden would approve of his son going out every now and then and getting high with his buds, "He goes to the gym three times a week. That's pretty much it. Kai's a very quiet person – he keeps to himself and he doesn't bother anyone,"

"Yes, that sounds like him," He agreed and guided her back to the living room, "So Dylan, tell me, why were you trying to go to St. Petersburg today?"

"Oh," She grinned sheepishly, "I don't know, I was just being dumb. I thought if I left then Tala wouldn't have to sign my calculus test. He'll literally kill me if he sees it," She plopped down on the couch and fiddled with a cushion, "And I don't want to be stuck in grade 12 all over again,"

"Where is your test? Let me take a look,"

She didn't seem very comfortable with the idea, her nose wrinkling to illustrate this, "I didn't do very good..."

"That's okay," The crinkled test was pulled out of her backpack and handed over. However, it wasn't scrutinized. Instead, a pen was brought out. Soon Alden's signature became visible from where she sat, "There. Now it's signed. I also included my phone number in case your teacher calls,"

"Wow, thanks," She gained possession of the test again, staring at his signature unconsciously. Then, "Alden?"

"Yes, Dylan,"

"I know a way you might be able to talk to Kai..."

"What?"

"Remember how I told you he goes to the gym?" She jogged his memory, "I know which days he goes, what time he goes, and what time he comes back. I know where the gym is, too. He usually goes by himself or with Ray or my brother, but when he goes alone I can call you now that I have your number and let you know. You might be able to catch him then."

x x x

Hanging upside down on the sofa in boredom, Tala flipped the channels on TV. He paused at an old episode of Beavis and Butthead before he felt his phone vibrate on the coffee table before him. He reached for it in his awkward position like a moron, the continuous vibration of the Blackberry mocking him in response.

A little further, almost, aha!

"Hello?" He answered quickly without checking the caller ID, though he assumed it was Julia.

"Hey man," But it wasn't Julia, "What's good?"

"Just watching TV," The captain of the Blitzkrieg Boys was surprised to find Ray on the other end of the line, "What's up?"

"We're going out for wings and pool, you coming?"

"Who's 'we'?"

"Well Kai's coming too,"

"Oh," Tala sat up straight, "I guess, yeah, sure,"

"Alright cool, we'll meet you there! Coordinate with Kai, okay?"

"Sure, see you there,"

"Peace!"

Telling Kai that he'd been invited to hang out with the ex Bladebreakers had earned a priceless look from the phoenix, one Tala wished he'd captured on camera to post on Facebook. Alas, it had happened too fast. They took the Beamer, some deadmau5 in the background. The ride was approximately fifteen minutes in length and as they entered the bar, the redhead grinned, slapping his teammate on the arm, "Hey, Hilary's here,"

Kai wasn't too surprised; Hilary had earned the right to hang out with the ex Bladebreakers and having her join them from time to time wasn't anything new. What was new, however, was Mariah who was only visible once they came up real close to the table.


I AM SORRY! Actually I'm more embarrassed, really. I worked on this chapter EVERY single day since the last update and I know that sounds like a lie considering the last update was 6 months ago. This chapter just wasn't moving and/or flowing. Also, it was supposed to be longer but I decided an update at this point took precedence over the length of this chapter. So, there you have it. And NO, my next update will not be so fucking ridiculously delayed. I promise.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE CURIOUS...I have been doing very well! Here is a recap. In August my manager hired a new girl at work – she was his relative. She was a fucking bitch from the start and on her 3rd day of working, $1, 091 went missing from the till. Of course with her being the relative, the manager blamed me even though I didn't work the shift that night. When I told him I had nothing to do with it and that he could check the cameras in the store, his response was "Find it or it's coming out of your pay". So I called the cops while I was in the store and walked out of that mess, not having to pay a fucking penny. I also quit the same day. But, the very next day I got a ridiculous government job offer.

Yeah.

I have no idea how I got it. The fact that this happened the very next day was just...holy shit. The pay was out of this world, I couldn't even imagine that amount of money in my dreams and neither could my parents. So I went for the interview. I was 15 minutes late. On top of that, my reference ended up saying a lot of shit about me too. I thought I lost this opportunity right there. 3 hours after my interview, I get a call saying I was hired. Don't ask me how. I have no fucking idea.

So...120 people got hired and it was a contract job, with the company looking to hire only 10 from the 120. I was late 13 times in the job during my 4 month contract. I got called into the manager's office twice about my lates. Within the 4 months people had been getting fired and I knew I'd be getting fired soon too. I knew I'd never make the cut for the 10 they were going to hire either.

Meanwhile, I don't know if any of you remember (it was written in an AN for my other story Dirty Little Secret), but I got kicked out of university in December 2009. I decided to re-apply this year, knowing they wouldn't take me back.

Back to the job. There was this other girl who got hired with me who kept telling me that I'd never get the job because I sucked. She always scared and insulted the hell out of me. The day the contract ended, I get pulled into the boss's office and I knew he was probably wishing me farewell. Suddenly, he smiles and holds out his hand for a shake and says, "Welcome to the team. You're permanently hired".

My fucking God.

I sat there like a moron for a good minute or two, wide-eyed, and staring at him like what the fuck? I was one of the 10 out of the 120? At the same time, I get a call from my university: "We offer you readmission to the university. You may continue to pursue your Bachelor of Commerce this January". I got this call while I was at work. I started crying. Like bawling my fucking eyes. Mascara and eyeliner everywhere. I've never cried out of happiness – this was the first time. I know it may seem like a dumb thing to be happy about, but my university education is REALLY important to me. It's the pedestal to my future career.

As great a job as I have right now, I think I'm going to let it go and continue my university.

2012 has been the greatest year in my entire fucking life. You have no idea.

Oh, and by the way, the girl that was always up my ass about me not getting the job? She didn't make it lol.

PLEASE REVIEW! AND PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU HAVE BEEN! LOVE YOU ALL! MERRY XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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