I want sparkling grape juice...

5

Saturday really was one of the only days I had to run my tests on the Science building. I had to gather up my measuring tools and camera and get to it, no matter how I felt. Besides, this…this shouldn't be bringing me down so much. People went through it every day.

God, people went through it every day. And lived. I was going to live through this. Ugh.

At Ayako's worried noise, I begged her to leave it be and left with my eyes sore, but dry. At least I had my own pants on again. I'd thrown Naru's sweats in the corner as though they'd turned into a deadly viper. Maybe once I had done as much as I could, I'd ask Ayako to introduce my virgin liver to some booze and see how well that worked, though I wasn't too fond of the getting sick part I always heard. Maybe she would know some tricks. Too bad I'd left my cell phone behind at Professor Heartbreaks, I could have just texted her.

I had already wasted most of the day when I reached the nigh-empty science building and made my way to the west side to measure angles of wall junctions. I also had a stud finder and a screwdriver to test for wet spots or weakened drywall, as well as a little black baggy of other useful tools, such as a leveler. Those stupid doors that the president claimed kept opening and closing on their own were probably off balance.

I measured the two floor. First the other three sides away from the sinking corner. Each was at least a partial degree off. When I got to the side with the weakened corner, the sky had grayed outside and a light drizzle sprinkled across the windows.

"86 degrees?" I said out loud, rather amazed. "Frick, the whole building's going leaning tower of Pisa."

I found that keeping myself engrossed in work helped tremendously. Though the ache was always there, at least I wasn't thinking about it.

Once I'd looked over the numbers I had recorded for the walls, I turned to the doors with my handy dandy leveler. I had to kidnap a chair from inside one of the classrooms, but I was right about the doors. Hardly level at all.

"Man, Mason, have you been slacking?" Mason was a coworker of my boss, Jeff. While Jeff was the supervisor for the maintaining of the heat plant and maintenance room, Mason was supervisor of the overall upkeep of things such as level doors and leaning walls. Even so, he managed to balance out some of Jeff's laid back-ness, such as that time he gave me a subpar mask for cleaning a maintenance room still insulated with asbestos. It was odd seeing my always nice and smiley boss being told off by usually equally jovial Mason. Jeff had looked like a wilting tulip.

This didn't seem like him. If I had my phone on me I could've called Jeff for Mason's number and gotten his take on all this. Maybe he had already written a report on it and the president had just overlooked it. That would save me tons of trouble.

Frick, I was missing my phone more and more. I could have been even listening to sappy break up music and everything.

With that in mind, I skipped down to the first floor, assuming the walls were at least straight or at similar angles.

I had just gotten my handy dandy chair and my angle measurer into the first wall junction when a hush of rain and breeze opened and closed behind me.

"Mai!"

I turned about to see none other than the brown fluffy head of Chance, lanky in his youth and smile wide.

I mirrored the smile instantly. "Hey, stalker boy."

"Whoa, you're the one who didn't answer your phone. The Arby's was getting cold, so I just texted Ayako."

"Getting cozy with my roommate?"

"Don't you know," he ambled over closer till I could see the raindrops caught in his hair and sprinkling the shoulders of his leather jacket. "First step getting close to a girl is getting to know her friends."

I laughed, more out of surprise than anything. "And once again, you're openness is astounding."

"Hard to get embarrassed after—"

"Yeah yeah, don't you dare make me remember. You said you had Arby's?"

He nodded, face screwed in mock pride. "I've got the meats!"

And since I had been too, well, depressed and broken hearted to notice my empty stomach, I jumped down and happily joined him at one of the old fashioned no-nonsense couches that filled the welcome hall of the old science building. Taxidermies animals lined the walls, along with tanks in alcoves with living animals. Seemed I could only appreciate this when I had a mouth full of roast beef.

"At my grandpa's college, there's this huge brass pendulum in their science hall," said Chance. "I'd sneak away and screw with it and get random professors screaming at me that it was following the spin of the earth and I'd just ruined years of accurate swinging."

I chuckled. "Your grandfather is a professor?"

"Yeah, retired now, but when I was little he was the professor of music, voice, and woodwinds."

My eyebrows went high at that. "A musician."

Chance nodded enthusiastically through his mouthful of Arby's. Once he had swallowed he added, "He kind of started a trend in my family. Everyone can play an instrument and is at least basically trained in voice. I was in the choir when I was an altar boy."

"A high, beautiful soprano, of course," I said, smiling.

"Tenor, thank you very much," he said with much done up dignity, which he topped off with a ginormous bite of meaty sandwich.

"So, what instrument do you play?"

"Violin. A very manly violin."

"Wouldn't that be a viola?"

I found talking to him eased the pain in my chest, even by a little bit. My eyes watered a bit in relief at so little a rescue. If I had felt no endearment towards Chance before, I certainly did now.

Once we had finished eating, he patted his stomach, then considered me with an expression I remembered from the hospital.

"Your roommate said you weren't doing well," he said. "What's up?"

I hadn't expected that. But, in this safe place of friendly smiles and full of Arby's, I felt safe that my throat wouldn't completely give up on me.

"I got rejected," I said, nibbling on a crumb of curly fries.

"The professor guy?" Good job, kid. I didn't hear a bleep of hope in that statement.

"Yeah."

"You know he's an idiot, right?"

"You can't call someone an idiot for not returning a girl's feelings."

"I can if they're yours," he said, with a seriousness that was unnatural on a fourteen year old boy's face.

My neck grew hot. I put up a hand between us.

"No moves till you're legal."

He rolled his bright eyes. "You make it sound like I'm going to jump you. I'm trying to cheer you up."

I sighed. "There really isn't much that will work on a broken heart besides time."

He echoed my sigh. "Guess you'd know that better than me."

I snorted. "I totally pulled that out of my butt. I've never been in love before this, so you probably know just as much as me."

"No way, that sounded totally legit."

"Yes way."

We chatted for a bit longer. The rain outside increased till it became a dancing patter upon the roof and windows.

Eventually, Chanced checked his phone. "I better get going. Mom stuck a dinner time curfew on me." A long dramatic sigh. "So unmanly."

"You are fourteen."

"Not for long. Just watch. And you probably have to get back to your project. Sorry for creeping on you with Arby's."

"Hey, if you got the meats, you can creep on me whenever you want."

He laughed at that, crunching the empty Arby's bag into the pocket of his coat.

"I love you, Mai. I'll see you later."

He didn't stand around expecting a reply after that. Just got up and went, swaggering as only a lanky, disproportionate 14 year old could.

I stared after him long after he disappeared, feeling the pain seep back to a boil in my chest. A part of me wished he would stay, even if he had ulterior motives. It wasn't love, but is this what they call rebound?

With a deliberate pace, I threw myself back into my work. Soon I had the dimensions of the first floor, and with some trig I could find the dimensions of the other floors too.

Lastly, was the basement, where the maintenance room was.

Now I was in my element. There were few classrooms down here. There had been flooding in the pass, as proof by the yellow marked walls near the maintenance room. Using a copy of the key Jeff had given to me, I slid in and turned on the light.

I hadn't made it here yet to clean. Me and the other underlings of Jeff had stages to each room we went too. First and foremost was always the care of the heat plant. Once it had been cleaned top to bottom and its paint touched up (every pipe had its assigned color depending on what purpose it served, whether cold water, hot water, air, etc), only then would we move out to the other maintenance rooms which were connected to the heat plan via long, little tunnels. We weren't allowed in the tunnels quite yet, mostly because the tunnels needed less attention. But each maintenance room would undergo the same thing—deep cleaning and then a refreshing repaint.

This old science building, however, was on the opposite side of campus. We were still working in the humanities building's room. Thus, I walked into dust, cobwebs, and dirt familiar to an unseen to the maintenance room. Even so, I could pick out the hot water pipes, the cold water pipes, the engine pumps, air ducts, etc. The light had been changed recently, which was a relief. These rooms could be understandably dark and shadowy.

The thing I inevitably noticed first was the huge air duct that took up the majority of the west side of the room. It was tall and wide enough for a man to move around comfortably, and there was a door with a little window to look inside. All I saw was darkness, and I couldn't help but wonder what this thing did. While the walls were built like air ducts, I had never beheld one quite this large, and underground, nonetheless. Usually, they hugged the ceiling.

I popped out a flashlight from my little tool bag, but all I saw inside were layers of dust bunnies and insulation.

Ugh. That was going to be a pain to clean.

Using my flashlight, I found the corners of the walls, floors, and ceilings to take my measurements. Signs of flooding were more obvious here in signs of still damp cement floor and the smell of mildew. I found black dots lining the wall and plastic cover of pipe insulation in the west most corner, the lowest point in the building. I made sure to take pictures of them as well as the pronounced crack in the floor. I got down with my leveler to record just how uneven the broken floor was and took a picture of that too.

The industrial door handle clicked behind me. Assuming for all the world that it was Jeff checking in on me, or even Mason looking to fix something, I was thrown off guard when I saw Takigawa. The too-white lights paled him considerably, and that white face did not look happy. If anything, it looked distraught.

I hurriedly crawled myself out of the west corner, worry wearing against the heartache already there.

"Takigawa, are you okay? You're not supposed—"

"I'm not okay," he said, and his voice was ragged.

Ignoring the dust and grime that speckled me, I trotted to his side. My friend—

"You're head? Bad test marks?" Without thinking I reached up to feel the bandage on the back of his head. I had to stand on my tippee toes just to even brush it. "Do I need to beat up somebody?"

He made a weak smile at that. "I'm a big boy, I can fight my own battles."

"Says the guy who I had to shoot someone in the butt for."

The smile wavered and his eyes brightened. Usually so happy-go-lucky and funny, it was unnerving to see Takigawa distressed like this.

He reached up to take the hand that attempted to feel the state of the back of his head.

"Mai," he breathed, and once more there was that ragged edge. "Did you really promise to marry that little kid?"

Chill ran across my skin. "Chance?"

"In the likelihood you couldn't get the professor," he was staring right at me now, right into my eyes. "Did you promise him that?"

For some reason, I remembered the professor telling me not to tell Takigawa about this. My stomach clenched up painfully at the thought that I had brought that distress to the music major's face.

"I didn't think he meant it," I said. "I had just saved his life, and he—"

"So you said yes?" The grip on my wrist tightened a bit, although not painfully.

I lowered down to my heels. "Like I said, I thought he was just, I don't know, hero-glamorizing me? And he seemed like such an earnest kid. And he's just fourteen, he's bound to find someone better."

"Better than the woman who rescued him from molestation and certain death?" he said lowly, and he wasn't looking at me now, but to the side. "A woman who, I might add, is attractive, friendly, funny, charismatic, and smart?"

"Well, love is deaf and blind, not a comparison contest—"

"Then how come you gave into him so easily and won't give me even a chance?"

Now his grip had gotten painful.

"Dude, ow, lay off."

He loosened his hand, but he didn't let go of me. He was looking into my eyes now with a look I only remembered happening once before, back in the back hall of a chapel.

"If you're going to agree to fucking marriage to a kid," he half said, half whispered, "Can't you at least consider what I have to offer first? I was your friend before him, I was here first."

His words had started to make me panic. "Takigawa, it isn't like that! Please, don't sound so hurt, it didn't have anything to do with you. We're cool, I'm not shunning you."

"But you keep your promises."

He had lowered my hand to dangle between us. His other hand, shaking and white in the naked bulbs of the maintenance room, gently landed on my other cheek.

"The professor hurt you," he said, even more quietly, as though afraid I might bolt. "Why didn't you come to me?"

"I haven't even talked to Ayako about it, and it's not really your business," I said, flushed and beginning to shake all over.

"It is my business. I care about you, Mai. That includes when you're hurt." A faint, but still weak smile quirked his mouth. "I need a turn to shoot someone's butt for you too, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you would shoot the professor."

"True, I'm not going to go that far." He stepped forward, nearly eating the distance between us whole. That look was bleeding out from his gaze now, leaking into the rest of his features, intense, searing, and focused. "Especially since I should thank him, now that you can move on."

I could feel his body heat. The hand on my cheek had passed over my ear and run into my hair.

"You're eyes are still red," he whispered.

I looked away. I had too. The intensity was making me uncomfortable. "So I cried, girls cry, did you know?"

His fingers found the clip holding my hair up and undid it. Slightly damp, cold tresses fell against my neck. His warm fingers replaced the cold.

"I can make you forget," he said. "Please, let me make you forget. Let me show you what I have to offer, what…what I feel for you."

He had drawn me closer till my breasts had pressed up against his chest. The hand in my hair cupped the back of my head towards him.

When had I become so cold?

My eyes to the hollow of his throat, I said, "I don't want to hurt you. What if it hurts you?"

"You're too honest for that," he said. "You know what that priest told me? He asked me what happened to your arms because it was obvious your mouth was not use to lying. He didn't believe the skateboard story."

I could smell him now, like baked bread, some sort of male bodywash, sweat, and rain. His breath puffed over my face.

"I'm a big boy, Mai," he said, even as he drew near to close the distance between our mouths. "I can take care of myself."

Then he was kissing me, just as hard as he had the first time. His bruising mouth nearly ate mine whole, forcing it open. His front teeth pinched my lip before I felt his tongue brush in, flicking over chapped lips, teeth, and my own cowering tongue as though tasting fine honey.

I couldn't breathe, though he just breathed through his nose, stealing the breath from me. He had let go of my hand to press me to him, and his other hand had tightened around my hair, pulling it.

When he finally backed away, I gasped for air. He took that opportunity to press me up against that large, curious air duct, raising me to more his level and holding me up with a knee between my legs and his chest to mine.

"Wait—what was—you got to let me breathe—" I gasped.

"Sorry," was all I got before his mouth was back, forceful and hard once more. I thought I could taste blood.

I tried to breathe through my own nose and heard him moan as I took his warm breath. A hot hand found the edge of my shirt and ran up to the rim of my breasts, leaving goosebumps in its wake. His hands were rough, big, and scratchy.

When his fingers wiggled beneath my bra, I cried out and slammed the hand not pinned by him to his shoulder. But my protest came out muffled, and probably mistaking it for a noise of pleasure, the rest of his hand followed, squeezing my breast just as hard as he pressed against me. I cringed.

Warmth pooled in my lower gut just as tears prickled the corners of my eyes. It hurt.

I don't like this…

He wouldn't break the kiss anymore. I had to subsist on what I could sip through my nose and his breath, as he did the same to me, stealing my breaths almost as soon as I had them. My head grew light, and his other arm moved from around me to the waistband of my jeans. The metal of the air duct stung cold against my back where my shirt had rode up. His other hand left the crushing of my breast to wrap about my upper back, holding me as the fingers rode round to the front and unbuckled my jeans.

I wriggled and cried out again, fighting to find some kind of hold, but my light head made it come out weak and fluttering. The heat between my legs confused me and tantalized me, even as the pain of his kiss and touch made the tears pour faster.

Then his fingers touched a part no one was allowed to. Just as I tried a kick, my toes only just brushing the floor, those fingers dove in, deeper than I thought anything could go down there. I had never even used tampons.

And it hurt. His fingers were rough with calluses and his nails scraped the sensitive sides.

With all my breath I sucked in air, stealing, taking it all, and screamed.

Once more it came out muffled, and he still somehow mistook it for pleasure, as he started moving his fingers in time with his tongue, in and out, both nails and tongue and teeth scraping.

And, suddenly, Takigawa's face was away and I could breathe again. I just caught sight of someone in black yanking Takigawa back before I collapsed onto the floor, fighting past a sob for air. My heart fluttered and skipped, frightened, and shortening the breath I so dearly needed to clear my vision.

"What the hell—" started Takigawa.

But a lower, angrier voice blew over his. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

I had to look up to see who yelled, as I had never heard Professor Davis bellow so. He had his right hand in Takigawa's blond hair, bending him back, his left arm—the good one—holding Takigawa's wrist behind him at a painful, awkward angle.

"None of your damn business!" Takigawa barked.

"Don't you even see what you're doing to her?" growled Naru, yanking Takigawa's face to me even as I weakly tried to pull up my pants and put my bra back over my breasts, all while gasping for breath past my sobs. But he didn't give Takigawa long to look at me before he threw the taller man back with a ground-shaking roar. "YOU VIOLATED HER!"

Takigawa caught himself on the door. "I-I didn't mean—"

"Get the hell out of here before I break your arms!"

Takigawa looked behind him just to see Naru already taking a threatening step towards him. Wide, dismayed eyes met mine before he all but ran out of the door.

Leaving me in a very compromising position with the angriest man I had ever seen in my life.

My bra strap kept slipping from my trembling fingers. I had yet to button up my pants. I looked down to see more dirt than ever smeared all over me, but it was nothing compared to how dirty I felt inside. A small drop of blood dripped from my cracked lips onto my jeans. I hadn't exactly had moist lips when Takigawa had started with me in the first place.

I coughed, as both sob and gasp tried to come at the same time.

Beyond humiliated, I covered my mouth, fighting to regain some semblance of control. Nothing had happened. Nothing had happened. Takigawa was my friend, one of my best friends.

"Mai," I could hardly hear his voice after such a booming roar.

I hiccuped and coughed again, once more getting light headed.

He pulled my hand away from my face. "Breathe. It's alright, just breathe."

"I'm fine," I tried to say, now fighting tears at having Naru so close. My heart was bleeding. Did it have to be him?

"Of course not. Where are your tools? You're done for today."

I coughed again, this time it came down from the deep and took hold of me, disabling me from responding. Once the fit had finished, I clenched my eyes shut and focused on remembering how to use a diaphragm. In, out, in, out—I could be weepy on the outs. The intakes shook, but I managed to breathe deep enough to return my head to my shoulders.

Naru came back to a kneel in front of me, though I hadn't even noticed him leaving.

"I got your tools. Mai, look at me."

I had only viewed his knees from beneath my wet lashes. I looked up at his outstretched hand before reaching his face.

Something hot and dangerous still burned in his glacier blue eyes, but his mouth was thin, his eyebrows puckered up in painful concern.

"You're okay," he said.

That only made me sob my hardest yet.