CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
"DILL PICKLE!"
Kai's ear twitched at the disturbance and his nose picked up on a faint fruity scent. It was familiar but not something he had expected. And man was he was about to find out that there was a lot he was not expecting. He leveraged himself on one arm, eyes enlarging as his best friend's missing sibling lay underneath him. The separator pillow? That was discarded from the looks of it, sitting at the foot of his bed like a useless piece of shit.
It was unclear who invaded who's side, the two taking up the center of the mattress. They'd been spooning. Sort of. Instead of being side to side, he was on top of her with his other arm tucked under her. It had travelled inside her tank top and rested between her breasts, the tips of his digits just barely reaching her collarbone. And really, it just got worse, the inappropriateness intensifying as he took in that his morning wood had been pressed up against her ass.
Their left legs had tangled together in an awkward, but oddly snug way and he presumed his head must have been situated somewhere on the back or side of her neck and hair, justifying that brilliant smell of raspberries and oranges and vanilla and all things mouth-watering. Despite his body weight enveloping her thin frame, she looked to be quite comfortable. And warm.
Nonetheless, the commotion outside of his bedroom had infiltrated her slumber too as she lifted her head slightly before rolling on her back, now coming face to face with the phoenix. At first she looked confused, but as her regular persona kicked in, she stretched suggestively and winked, evidently content to be situated beneath him, "Morning, Superman,"
"DYLAN?"
Her smile faded and the finger that had been caressing his biceps recoiled.
"We have a problem," Kai whispered flatly.
But as the doorknob began turning, there was simply no time. They would have to improvise an escape plan. No way would they get out of this by pinning it on Hilary. Kai moved to give her enough room to slip away and as he lay still on his bed pretending to do something on his phone, she concealed herself behind his door.
The door creaked as it swung open slowly, letting in a bright heavenly white light. Well not exactly, but close enough for the dramatic situation at hand.
"Kai?"
A panicky Tala entered the room, his hand still placed on the door knob. One slight push further and it would bump into the blonde. Both hands covering her mouth, she remained as still and silent as possible, probably holding her breath in the process for added safety. She looked horrified, her eyes shifting to the left like she could see the redhead on the other side of the fragile wooden door.
"I can't find Dylan,"
"Hn," He remained fixated on his phone but when Tala took another step forward, dangerously cutting it close where from this angle Dylan could see one horn of his hair, the duo-haired athlete knew silence would not get rid of his team captain, "She is at school,"
"It's not even 8. She didn't tell me anything about going to school so early,"
"Given that you had to take a prodigious amount of shits last night, I presume she did not have the chance to tell you,"
"Hey! I was sick last night!" Tala reasoned, though thankful that today he felt like his usual self. Must have been something he ate. Then, "Wait, how do you know she went to school?"
"She discussed it with Mathilda last night; something regarding a calculus assignment. I overheard their conversation," Kai glanced over at the redhead, irritated, "Any more questions?"
"I -"
"Email it to me,"
"Asshole," Tala muttered and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Dylan exhaled out loudly in relief with a hand on her chest. Kai tossed his phone aside, standing up, "We have to get out of here,"
"Okay, well I have to pee, Kai,"
"You cannot be seen in this house. Relieve yourself outside,"
"Yeah, that's not happening, hun," Her hands were planted at her hips, looking at him as if to tell him to come up with a better solution. He frowned prior to sticking his head outside of his room. With the coast clear, he forcefully yanked at her arm, towing her into the washroom with him. The door was locked and as he bluntly stood there in front of the toilet staring at her, she looked at him like he was an idiot, twirling her index finger vertically, "Like, do you mind?"
Amethyst eyes rolled and Kai turned around, facing the door instead. Nonetheless, he expected some sort of sound, if you will, but there was none, "What is taking so long?"
"I can't go. You're going to hear me pee,"
He whirled around in time to catch her mortified expression, pulling down at her tank top to hide...things...though he didn't know what difference it would make. It wasn't like things could get any worse for them in terms of lines being crossed.
"I'm going to take a shower," He stepped inside and closed the curtains before changing out of his clothes. The shower would serve as noise cancellation and give her ample time to do the rest of her morning routine. Minutes later they'd both freshened up, ready to sneak out of the washroom. The corridors were scanned with Kai pushing and motioning her to go back into his room. She had followed his instruction, but furrowed her brows when she realized he hadn't followed. He didn't take too long, however, entering the room and throwing some of her clothes at her.
"Get changed,"
She eyed the clothes that were not her school uniform, "Aren't you taking me to school?" While it had gone unanswered, she had quickly occupied herself with something else, "Wow Kai," She pinched the lacy bra he had snuck out of her room along with her clothes, "Guess blue really is your favourite colour,"
The beyblader paid no heed, looking into his closet to select his own clothes and giving her the opportunity to change into her things, only, she hadn't taken full advantage of the short term privacy. A slate brow rose as she walked over to him attired in the matching blue bra and panty set. She stood in front of him and turned around, the bra unfastened. Her dirty blonde hair was lifted with both hands as she teasingly glanced over her shoulder, "Could you hook me up, please?"
Seriously?
Kai took a hold of parted bands in unmistakeable exasperation and lapped one end over the other, his dick automatically commanding him to look a little lower in typical guy fashion, briefly appreciating the arch of her back and how it met with the meat of her ass. The hooks were inserted in their respective nooks. Then, just as vengeance, he pulled the enclosed band back with one finger, letting it snap back and making her jump, "I said get changed,"
At last they were clothed, which only brought them to their next dilemma: "How am I going to leave? I can't use the front or back door,"
"Hn," Kai pulled the handle on his window and opened it all the way, prompting both of them to stick their heads out, "This is your exit,"
"That's fucked up,"
"What's the big deal?" His arms crossed over his chest tauntingly, "Never snuck out before?"
Dylan gave the bluenette a pathetic look, "Shut up," She continued studying the view out the window, which, from the second floor of his room was a ways down. The ground below was icy, another hazard, "I'm going to break my -" She paused, looking around the suddenly empty room – where did he disappear to so quickly?
"Jump,"
His voice seemed to come from outside, making her look out the window again to find him right below. The lighter blue of his hair peered out of the grey beanie on his head, a nice contrast to his unzipped black jacket.
"Hurry up," He proffered his arms and looked upwards at her, "I'm going to catch you,"
One leg was stuck out, straddling the window while she looked down again. She swivelled carefully, swinging the other leg over before sitting and holding the ledge in fear.
"Just trust me,"
At last, she disengaged herself with the ledge and within seconds it was all over, the phoenix having kept his word. He caught her vertically, one arm around her back and another under her bum. The proximity gave him front row seats to her hilarious expression of simultaneous panic and relief – her nostrils were flared while her lips tugged downwards, her eyes wide and fixed to the ground just over his shoulder. It was novel for him to see her feeling genuinely out of place and he found himself quite amused.
"First time for everything,"
Turquoise orbs peels off the ground, "I've snuck out of my house plenty of times okay," She squirmed out of his grasp and hopped off, strolling around the perimeter of the house while he followed with a smirk.
"Really,"
"Yes, really," She glanced behind her with an eye roll, "We just don't have to deal with snow in California,"
The slate haired blader lifted the garage door revealing the M3, "Oh really,"
"Whatevs,"
He started the car once they were both inside, but his lavender eyes lingered on the cheer captain in entertainment. For once, in whatever game they seemed to have been playing since their initial encounter, he had the upper hand.
x x x
With one towel around his waist and another over his hair, Miguel stepped out of the washroom only to be shelled in the face by a pink skirt.
"Sorry," Mathilda apologized while Miguel removed the article of clothing from his face and tossed it back to his teammate. He cocked a brow at the unusual mess all over their hotel suite consisting of the hedgehog's wardrobe. There were clothes everywhere: on the floor, on all their beds, and some even piled up on bedside tables.
"Uh..."
"What do you think of this," The pinkette held a top against her upper half and then a pair of jeans below, "and this?"
The blonde shrugged, "I don't know. It's fine, I guess,"
Mathilda made a noise of frustration, discarding the items, "What about this?" Another outfit was displayed, fishing for her team captain's approval which had been earned by a nod.
"Are you going out with Dylan tonight?" Miguel rubbed the towel over his hair, "Are you guys finally a thing? Is it happening? Did you two make out and shit yet?"
"Miguel!"
As another t-shirt hit him, on purpose this time, he rolled his eyes, "I was joking. It would be hot though,"
"I'm not going out with Dylan tonight,"
"Miriam, then?" When she shook her head in decline, he tried again, "The other girls?"
She fidgeted her fingers, "Ian asked me out..."
"Ian?" Miguel's eyebrows had rose so high, they disappeared into his hairline, "Ian of the Blitzkrieg Boys?"
"Can you stop saying it like that!"
"Ian Papov?"
"Stop!"
Miguel scratched his head, still dazed by the newfound information, "I did not see that one coming,"
"You think I did?" Mathilda plopped down on the edge of a bed and when she sighed in what appeared to be distress, he gave her a quizzical look, "Miguel, there's a problem,"
"You said 'yeah' to him when you really meant 'no'?"
"No, not that. When he asked me out, he told me not to mention it to Dylan,"
"Yeah, I'm not surprised. He probably knows she'll have something obnoxious to say about it, that's why,"
"How am I supposed to keep this from her? She's my friend but Ian is kind of cute and they live in the same house and Tala and Ian are friends so there is a chance he might find out and Tala is Dylan's brother and -"
"I get it," Miguel silenced her with a raised hand before squinting, "I think," And after giving it some thought, he looked at his teammate, "Well, what are you gonna do?"
"Maybe I should tell Dylan..."
"If you tell Dylan, you'll lose Ian," He evaluated before giving Mathilda the other side of the obvious double-edged sword, "But if you don't tell Dylan and she finds out about Ian, then you'll lose her."
x x x
Exchanging her cash for five coffees, Mariah made her way back to the table occupied by Julia, Hilary, Emily, and today, even Salima. The redhead was sporadic when hanging out with them, the group deeming her a 'floater' akin to Miriam. Besides, these days she was busy with Johnny...
"– he had my legs spread so far apart –"
Mariah was immediately amused by another Salima-Johnny sex tale, the other girls equally eager for the remainder of the dirt.
" – just had them pushed open like this, like I was some kind of Romanian gymnast – " A small demonstration was provided, earning an 'oooh' out of Julia, a fit of laugher from Hilary, and an eye roll from Emily who appeared more interested in her coffee than how wide Salima's legs could spread, "Anyway," And as the Psykick's story ended, her eyes trailed to Hilary, "What's with you and Tyson so far?"
"Like I've said a hundred times before: nothing. And nothing will ever happen," The brunette downed some coffee, "He's not interested in me,"
Salima was unbothered, "Go for one of the Blitzkrieg Boys. Go for Spencer,"
Mariah wrinkled her nose, "Spencer and Hilary? That is so weird,"
"Not to mention he'd crush her in bed," Julia snickered.
"And he's seeing Ming-Ming," Emily added.
"Ew," The redhead displayed distaste before naming another contender, "Kai, then. He's gorgeous and you know him,"
The ginger nodded, "I can see that happening,"
"Really? You think so?"
"Give it a try," Salima suddenly smirked, sticking her tongue out at Julia teasingly, "Or be a bitch and steal Tala," While Hilary raised her hands muttering a 'definitely not my type' with an enthusiastic shake of the head, the Latina had shrieked.
"Hey!"
Emily adjusted her glasses, appearing to agree with the joking suggestion, "You're taking too long to put out so he's fair game,"
"Me? He's the one all 'lemme get to know you' and shit,"
The White Tiger was sceptical, "Even when you make the first move?"
"I've been making all the first moves and nothing. What do you think, Mariah? You know him the best out of all of us,"
"He seems..." Mariah paused, re-thinking everything she knew of the redhead in question. It sounded so out of character for Tala to refuse what no male species would ever refuse. She pondered some more before coming to a conclusion, "He seems unsure,"
"What?" The cry was loud enough to garner attention from the rest of the coffee shop, "That's impossible. He's not 'unsure'. He had me half naked in bed last night and we definitely would've gone all the way if Mathilda hadn't walked into his room,"
The others were consumed by the new piece of information while an awkward sensation washed over Mariah.
"What the heck was Mathilda doing at their house?"
"Ian asked her over for dinner,"
"The hell?"
Despite the juicy gossip at hand, Mariah's mind swirled at the idea of her friend being partially nude in the same location where she had also been in the same state, or more, totally naked – his mattress. Her stomach churned; she hadn't expected to feel this way. But she was feeling it. And it wasn't going away. In fact, it was getting worse for now she was left to wonder why Julia was half naked and what Tala was doing with her.
Had he touched her? Had she touched him?
This feeling, whatever it was, was awful, immobilizing, and she realized she had lost her appetite for even something simple as coffee. Their hangout ended following another hour or two and Mariah found herself in the comforts of her room. She lay on her bed raising a five-pound dumbbell in a lazy workout while watching some cooking show on television. As commercials began to air, her gaze wandered off to the ceiling, then her pedicured toenails, and then to something sticking out of her dresser. She sat up, the dumbbell casually being dropped on the mattress with a light bounce. Crawling over her bed, she got a hold of the navy article of clothing and yanked out Tala's stolen pullover.
Her feline eyes fell to her cell phone and before she knew it, she had been scrolling through her contacts in search of Red Bull. She stared at it for a while, the angel on her shoulder telling her not to do something stupid, the devil advocating the opposite. Her thumb grazed over the 'call' option but she came to her senses in time to disconnect the line.
What the hell was she doing? Her fingers raked through her pink strands in frustration before the vibration of her phone snapped her out of it. She gasped as Red Bull flashed across the screen along with two options towards the bottom of the screen: answer or decline. Her hands shook as she picked up the device, temptation taking over as she eventually selected the former.
"Hello?"
"Did you just call me?"
Mariah mouthed a 'shit' upon realizing her initial call had actually gone through.
"Mariah?"
"Yeah, I..." She clutched the attire, "Your hoodie! I found your hoodie!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I was cleaning up and found it under the sofa,"
"Okay. You want me to come pick it up?"
She shrugged, "If you want,"
"K, be there in fifteen,"
But he'd gotten there in five minutes, her application of lip gloss cut short by the knocking on the door. She let him in and closed the door behind him, not even bothering to bring up his obvious speeding this time. For sure he had earned another ticket for his reckless driving.
"Where is everyone?"
"Ray's at the gym," The redhead casually tagged along with her to her room, "Lee is training with Gary and I think Kevin's out with one of the Psykick's," As he nodded, she picked up the neatly folded pullover, "And here is your hoodie," It was offered to him with a small smile, but when he only eyed it and raised a brow, she was left feeling confused, "What?"
"I knew you had this,"
"Well yeah," Her shoulders moved up and down, "You kinda left it here,"
He chuckled, "No I didn't,"
"What do you mean?"
"You took it that day, didn't you?"
"Why would I do that?"
"So you'd have an excuse to get me to come over again,"
Tala's accurate calculation submerged her in tremendous embarrassment, her coral face betraying any composure she meant to retain. Of course he had figured her out, the flaw in her plan being her absurd underestimation of his intelligence. His turquoises remained trained on her as her propaganda crumbled like a shortbread cookie. She knew he wouldn't utter a word of this to Julia, so what the hell did he want now? Was it just to humiliate her? Expose her as a slut? Make her feel uncomfortable? Stupid, perhaps?
"Well, here I am, Mariah,"
It hit her then that he did not come here to debase her. In fact, despite knowing what she had done, he had ultimately taken her bait. That could only imply that his presence was now acting as her bait. Was this really happening? Her guts tingled and she peered through her lashes, her apprehension vanishing as a green light flashed over his head urging her to 'go'. She took it. His garment was chucked off to the side where it landed on the floor somewhere before she elevated herself on her toes.
The redhead had taken the hint instantly as his arms unfolded over his chest and his palms connected with her waist. He tipped in towards her to eliminate the leftover distance. Having been outside, his lips were cold but she had warmed them up against hers'. His ringing phone went ignored and stopped after a few seconds, but when another call came through, Mariah broke the kiss.
"You gonna get that?"
He reached into his pocket and fetched his phone before looking at her like the decision was the most obvious thing in the world, "No,"
She was curious though, "Who is it anyway?" He only turned the screen in her direction to show Julia's name and number on display. A searing anger tore through her at the sight of her best friend's name making the pinkette snatch his cell phone, discarding it just like she had his pullover. She had been careful to throw it on her bed at least, preventing any damage. Then, she got right back into it, pulling him by his jacket into another lip lock. He moved forward instinctively whereas she took a step in reverse, her back eventually hitting the wall and sandwiching her between it and the incredibly hot redhead. He tasted familiar and so good, she was afraid she'd disgustingly slobber all over him!
"Fuck Tala," She breathed in between the make out, "You're gonna make me come just from kissing," She heard him laugh, his ego obviously inflating thanks to her generous statement.
And perhaps it would have happened...if it wasn't for Kevin who had obviously come home and passed by her room looking nothing less than disturbed as he pointed at them, "AHHHHHHH! MAKING BABIES WITH YOUR MOUTH! GROSS!"
OMG! :O What do you think? :P
EXPLANATION – In the last chapter, some of you were confused about the laxative part. Dylan put crushed laxative tablets into Julia and Tala's food...which obviously worked wonders because their date was cut short :P
OTHER STORY – I have another story out called '3 Wishes' that you guys might enjoy. It is a TalaxOC story and entirely different from Exiled. Check it out and leave feedback.
XOXO TO...
Zeratheliger – We all look back at our young selves and wish we could've kicked our younger self's ass. You are absolutely right about all the things you learned (I learned the EXACT same things!). Especially the part about undercover nice guys. I find there are more of those than dickheads. When do you plan to update some of your stories? It would be so cool to have more older authors back!
Mistress of the Arts – Hey now, you can't just say you went through what Julia went through and leave it at a cliff hanger :P Lmao! What's the story behind it? Btw, Kai dying? Pssh, he's a lot smarter than that!
Guest – The laxative thing is explained! I put a note for it :D As for DLS, I have no idea. Its hard to say. That story was started 10 years ago and I have grown up so much from that time. It's as if Exiled is the updated version of DLS in a strange way, I can relate to it a lot more than I can with the characters of DLS!
Xxz0eyxx – I think Dylan and Kai teamed up to handle the Tala bursting in on them pretty well! Haha! I have been alright. Well, trying to be. Life hasn't gone the way I expected them to in any aspect (boys, work, school, etc) so I've kinda given up on expectations and going with the flow. Sort of expected to be married by now to be honest.
Salinaa
Rahxe1182 – Haha 3 nights! That is fast! Thank you! And yes, I did know that his dad's name was Susumu, but in season 1 we are told that Kai grew up in Russia so I wanted to make it more fitting by giving him a Russian father. I'd be so weirded out if my name was in the story haha!
