Author's Note: I'M BACK!! Hey everybody! How ya been? Wow! It's been so
long! School's been a hassle for me, and since I was just kicked from the
swim team and all, well, I've gotten some time to finish the story. So,
from here on out, you're getting the rest of 'Foolish'! I'm sick of going
through disclaimers, but I'll be sure, when I get the time, to go through
this story and make a credits page. Ya get it? Ok, well, laterz!
~*~*~
The alarm clock went off early that morning. Mac rolled over to turn it off and ended up falling out of his bed, making a loud 'thump' noise and hurting the back of his head. When he stood up, he heard the sound of the shower on and figured Moby had a built-in alarm system in his body.
He walked out into the big room and turned the TV on and flipped through numerous channels. He stopped on Nickelodeon at the sight of Spongebob Squarepants. Even though it wasn't his favorite show, Mac would occasionally stop and watch it if nothing better was on at the time.
A nearby phone rang and forced Mac to get up and get it. When he picked it up, he groggily muttered, "Hello?"
"Mac, you're late! You're supposed to be in the boardroom right now getting ready for your schooling. Where are you? Did you just get up?" Rahzell bickered on the other end. He took a glimpse at the microwave clock, reading the time. It was 9:00 am. School was supposed to start at eight.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to. I'll be down in a few minutes." and hung up without saying goodbye. He rushed to the door and pounded on it furiously. "Moby! Open up, I'm late for my schooling!! OPEN UP!!" he proceeded to hit the door one more time, but it flew open, and instead his hand smacked Moby in the shoulder.
"What the heck was that for?! You bloody idiot!" Moby readjusted the towel around his waist and narrowed his eyes. His cornrows were still dripping wet and were a little frizzy. Mac pushed his way inside and shoved his roommate out.
"Sorry. Gotta take a shower. No time to stop." he said hastily, slamming the door in the Englishman's face.
"You'd better let me back in! I'm not done yet! I've still gotta shave and brush my teeth!"
Mac threw a razor and a toothbrush with toothpaste out the door, it landing beside Moby's feet. He took the items and cursed Mac under his breath before walking into the kitchen and finishing cleaning himself.
While he was doing so, Mac quickly turned the water on and jumped in, not caring that it was three million degrees below zero. He washed up and, in no time, got out and ran out of the bathroom to his closet without a towel. Moby screamed loudly. "Ahhh!!! I'm blinded! I just saw thing's I'm not supposed to see on another guy! Gah! Nightmares! THE NIGHTMARES ARE COMING!"
Mac chose out the first thing he laid his eyes on. A black t-shirt and cargo pants. He threw on a red plaid jacket and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder. He ran to the kitchen, picked up an apple and ran out the door, leaving Moby still complaining about his recent sightings. "Oh the horror! The humanity! THE SICKNESS OF IT ALL!!"
~*~*~
Mac skidded to a halt outside the door, panting heavily. Rahzell came out into the hallway and looked at his wristwatch. "Wow, five minutes. Not bad. But next time I expect you to be here on time, ready to begin. If not, you will be cut from practice. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." Mac muttered his reply and walked in. Kaori was already bent over her work, her head held up by her hand. She looked seriously stressed and that she needed a good nights sleep. Mac moved over towards her and pulled out a chair next to her. Kaori inched away from him, obviously angry.
"Kaori, what's wrong? Why're you mad at me?" he whispered, Rahzell giving him a dirty look.
"Go away. I'm trying to work." she hissed, waving him away. A tutor stepped over to Mac and handed him a packet of work. When he opened it, his head spun. Algebra problems and formulas scattered around the paper. He groaned and banged his head on the table multiple times.
"Divide the first side with the second side to get your letter alone." Kaori's small voice advised.
"I haven't done this in a while, so I'm a little lost."
"I've noticed." she clipped. Mac felt his face turn hot. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
"You know this stuff?"
She held up her paper, showing that she was well beyond knowing it. She lived it. "I'm in gifted honors, if that's what you mean. But, when was the last time you did this? Shouldn't you have learned this in school already?"
Mac turned away and picked up a nearby pencil and began putting down numbers in no particular order. His handwriting was very neat for someone of his personality and attitude. Kaori was looking over once in a while at his work. She played with her pigtails and continued to work.
At about three, both were dismissed to the practice course where everyone was already. Kaori carried with her the board with her as an anime character on the bottom. Mac had his uber board that he won at a recent snowboard contest. Both also carried a duffel bag full of stuff for their board as well as their own little first aid kit.
The whole trek was very uncomfortable and silent. Kaori was still angry at Mac and the way he snapped at her that night, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to say so.
"Kay, tell me what's wrong. I mean, I'm sorry, and I have good reason to have been mad at you yesterday. But please, what can I do to make it up to you?"
"You can start by leaving me alone and getting the heck away from me." she swished, walking ahead. Mac chased after her and pulled her backwards, causing her to fall over and taking him with her.
She stared into his olive colored eyes and stood up hastily in disgust, narrowing her Japanese eyes and storming off. Mac furiously made a snowball and flung it at her back, landing it square center. She yelped and dropped her board in surprise. When she whirled around, she saw Mac sitting, sprawled, in the snow, smiling happily.
Kaori retaliated by throwing her own snowball at him, missing him barely. It went back and forth like so, Mac usually always hitting her, Kaori normally missed. The whole scene helped to break the ice a little and Kaori softened up to Mac and vice versa. By the end of the whole ordeal, they were on the ground, gasping for air and laughing.
Kaori stood up, picking her board into her hands and helping Mac up. "Mac, you are nice. But if you think that this is making up for your rudeness last night, you're wrong." She frowned and steadied him before walking off.
When they made it up to the top, everyone stared at them while waxing their board. Kaori joined Brodi and they started to laugh before going to a more private location to talk more. Mac grimaced when he realized he was still standing alone. By now everyone had gone back to like they had before, but Moby was still eyeing him with scorn.
One SSX Official accompanied them and smiled. "Alright, alright! Listen up! This is the order you will all be in. The following people will start in race one. From lane one, JP Arsenault. Two will be Elise Riggs. Psymon Stark will be in lane three. Moby Jones will be in lane four. In five will be Zoe Payne and number six will be Brodi Ford. In race two, Eddie Wachowski will be lane one. Lane two will be Kaori Nishidake. Mac Fraser will be lane three and four will be Seeiah Owens. Next to her will be Luther Grady and finally Marisol Diez Delgado. Now, everyone from race one please get into positions so we can begin practicing."
Mac hoisted his leg up onto the nearby bench and started to stretch out. He put his head to his knee and held it there for quite some time, wincing a tad bit. When he finished, he switched over to his left leg.
While he did so, he reached over to his bag and took out his Walkman, setting the headphones snugly on his ears and pressed the play button. The sounds of his Blink-182 CD filled his head and he began to relax slightly.
Before he knew it, he was up in the practice run. He strapped in his feet and slid back and forth on instinct. Beside him was Seeiah who was arguing with Luther over something, probably something stupid and childish.
"On your mark . . ." the announcer came over the speakers. Everyone crouched down and got ready to go.
"Get set . . . go!"
The gates opened and the boarders bounded down the slope at speeds topping eighty miles per hour. The wind and falling snow whipped past Mac's ears, nipping at his cheeks and making them sting slightly. Of course, adrenaline caused him not to even feel it.
The course was short and it didn't take long for them to finish. Maybe a minute or two. Not long. When Mac reached the end, though, he was breathless and sweating under his beanie, despite the cold, December air.
Mac pulled his board off of his feet and exhaled slightly, leaving a small puff cloud hovering in front of him and it lifted upwards and dissipated. He slightly jumped when someone came up behind him.
"Mac, hey bro." Brodi greeted. Mac shrugged and smiled, showing not much was going on before Brodi even asked.
"Just chillin' around. Ya know, the usual."
"Yeah. I know how that goes. I heard that you were late this morning to class, or school, or whatever. Kaori told me."
Mac's heart seemed to pound a little harder when he mentioned Kaori. His mouth became dry and for some reason he was at a loss for words.
"Uh, yeah. Either I forgot to set my alarm last night, or Moby turned it off."
"Ah, the many down sides to a roommate. I have two. And one isn't too much fun." Brodi tutted.
"Get over it, Spirit Boy. You know I'm much more fun than newbie over there." a cynical voice cackled. Psymon.
Mac rolled his eyes and waved him off. "Psy, I'm younger, quicker, more agile. . . I outnumber you in any which way there is to outnumber you."
Psymon's hands were balled and his eyes bugged slightly. "I've probably been doing this much longer than you have. And don't call me Psy! Only Zoe's given permission to do so."
"Psy got a third grade crush?" Mac chirped happily. He knew he was getting under the Canadian's skin and it pleased him. Psymon growled and stalked off. He joined with everyone else who were grouped together, talking about something. Once or twice on of them would break off and look to Brodi and Mac's direction, their hollow eyes boring into his. It scared him so.
Brodi shook him on the shoulder violently. "Hey. We're all going to a nearby club tonight. It's right down the road. Usually we go there when we're here to visit. It's pretty nice. How'd you like to come along?"
The young boy shuffled his feet in the snow, digging a shallow hole and revealing a small patch of wet dirt, dirtying his Doc Martins on the toe. "What about everyone else?" he muttered just loud enough for the two of them to hear.
"Don't worry about them. Go and have a good time. Who cares about what others think about you? They're jealous of what you have. Use it to your advantage, friend."
It made the tips of Mac's lips turn upwards. "Oh, is Kaori coming?" the question surprised even himself. He never even thought of asking the question. But now that he had, he was anxious of the answer.
Brodi pondered it for a few seconds before replying. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that she is. Why?"
"Oh, no reason." he recovered quickly, picking his board from the ground and shaking a few snowflakes from his sleeve.
"Alright. Well, if I don't happen to go for some reason or another, have a good time.
~*~*~
The alarm clock went off early that morning. Mac rolled over to turn it off and ended up falling out of his bed, making a loud 'thump' noise and hurting the back of his head. When he stood up, he heard the sound of the shower on and figured Moby had a built-in alarm system in his body.
He walked out into the big room and turned the TV on and flipped through numerous channels. He stopped on Nickelodeon at the sight of Spongebob Squarepants. Even though it wasn't his favorite show, Mac would occasionally stop and watch it if nothing better was on at the time.
A nearby phone rang and forced Mac to get up and get it. When he picked it up, he groggily muttered, "Hello?"
"Mac, you're late! You're supposed to be in the boardroom right now getting ready for your schooling. Where are you? Did you just get up?" Rahzell bickered on the other end. He took a glimpse at the microwave clock, reading the time. It was 9:00 am. School was supposed to start at eight.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to. I'll be down in a few minutes." and hung up without saying goodbye. He rushed to the door and pounded on it furiously. "Moby! Open up, I'm late for my schooling!! OPEN UP!!" he proceeded to hit the door one more time, but it flew open, and instead his hand smacked Moby in the shoulder.
"What the heck was that for?! You bloody idiot!" Moby readjusted the towel around his waist and narrowed his eyes. His cornrows were still dripping wet and were a little frizzy. Mac pushed his way inside and shoved his roommate out.
"Sorry. Gotta take a shower. No time to stop." he said hastily, slamming the door in the Englishman's face.
"You'd better let me back in! I'm not done yet! I've still gotta shave and brush my teeth!"
Mac threw a razor and a toothbrush with toothpaste out the door, it landing beside Moby's feet. He took the items and cursed Mac under his breath before walking into the kitchen and finishing cleaning himself.
While he was doing so, Mac quickly turned the water on and jumped in, not caring that it was three million degrees below zero. He washed up and, in no time, got out and ran out of the bathroom to his closet without a towel. Moby screamed loudly. "Ahhh!!! I'm blinded! I just saw thing's I'm not supposed to see on another guy! Gah! Nightmares! THE NIGHTMARES ARE COMING!"
Mac chose out the first thing he laid his eyes on. A black t-shirt and cargo pants. He threw on a red plaid jacket and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder. He ran to the kitchen, picked up an apple and ran out the door, leaving Moby still complaining about his recent sightings. "Oh the horror! The humanity! THE SICKNESS OF IT ALL!!"
~*~*~
Mac skidded to a halt outside the door, panting heavily. Rahzell came out into the hallway and looked at his wristwatch. "Wow, five minutes. Not bad. But next time I expect you to be here on time, ready to begin. If not, you will be cut from practice. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." Mac muttered his reply and walked in. Kaori was already bent over her work, her head held up by her hand. She looked seriously stressed and that she needed a good nights sleep. Mac moved over towards her and pulled out a chair next to her. Kaori inched away from him, obviously angry.
"Kaori, what's wrong? Why're you mad at me?" he whispered, Rahzell giving him a dirty look.
"Go away. I'm trying to work." she hissed, waving him away. A tutor stepped over to Mac and handed him a packet of work. When he opened it, his head spun. Algebra problems and formulas scattered around the paper. He groaned and banged his head on the table multiple times.
"Divide the first side with the second side to get your letter alone." Kaori's small voice advised.
"I haven't done this in a while, so I'm a little lost."
"I've noticed." she clipped. Mac felt his face turn hot. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
"You know this stuff?"
She held up her paper, showing that she was well beyond knowing it. She lived it. "I'm in gifted honors, if that's what you mean. But, when was the last time you did this? Shouldn't you have learned this in school already?"
Mac turned away and picked up a nearby pencil and began putting down numbers in no particular order. His handwriting was very neat for someone of his personality and attitude. Kaori was looking over once in a while at his work. She played with her pigtails and continued to work.
At about three, both were dismissed to the practice course where everyone was already. Kaori carried with her the board with her as an anime character on the bottom. Mac had his uber board that he won at a recent snowboard contest. Both also carried a duffel bag full of stuff for their board as well as their own little first aid kit.
The whole trek was very uncomfortable and silent. Kaori was still angry at Mac and the way he snapped at her that night, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to say so.
"Kay, tell me what's wrong. I mean, I'm sorry, and I have good reason to have been mad at you yesterday. But please, what can I do to make it up to you?"
"You can start by leaving me alone and getting the heck away from me." she swished, walking ahead. Mac chased after her and pulled her backwards, causing her to fall over and taking him with her.
She stared into his olive colored eyes and stood up hastily in disgust, narrowing her Japanese eyes and storming off. Mac furiously made a snowball and flung it at her back, landing it square center. She yelped and dropped her board in surprise. When she whirled around, she saw Mac sitting, sprawled, in the snow, smiling happily.
Kaori retaliated by throwing her own snowball at him, missing him barely. It went back and forth like so, Mac usually always hitting her, Kaori normally missed. The whole scene helped to break the ice a little and Kaori softened up to Mac and vice versa. By the end of the whole ordeal, they were on the ground, gasping for air and laughing.
Kaori stood up, picking her board into her hands and helping Mac up. "Mac, you are nice. But if you think that this is making up for your rudeness last night, you're wrong." She frowned and steadied him before walking off.
When they made it up to the top, everyone stared at them while waxing their board. Kaori joined Brodi and they started to laugh before going to a more private location to talk more. Mac grimaced when he realized he was still standing alone. By now everyone had gone back to like they had before, but Moby was still eyeing him with scorn.
One SSX Official accompanied them and smiled. "Alright, alright! Listen up! This is the order you will all be in. The following people will start in race one. From lane one, JP Arsenault. Two will be Elise Riggs. Psymon Stark will be in lane three. Moby Jones will be in lane four. In five will be Zoe Payne and number six will be Brodi Ford. In race two, Eddie Wachowski will be lane one. Lane two will be Kaori Nishidake. Mac Fraser will be lane three and four will be Seeiah Owens. Next to her will be Luther Grady and finally Marisol Diez Delgado. Now, everyone from race one please get into positions so we can begin practicing."
Mac hoisted his leg up onto the nearby bench and started to stretch out. He put his head to his knee and held it there for quite some time, wincing a tad bit. When he finished, he switched over to his left leg.
While he did so, he reached over to his bag and took out his Walkman, setting the headphones snugly on his ears and pressed the play button. The sounds of his Blink-182 CD filled his head and he began to relax slightly.
Before he knew it, he was up in the practice run. He strapped in his feet and slid back and forth on instinct. Beside him was Seeiah who was arguing with Luther over something, probably something stupid and childish.
"On your mark . . ." the announcer came over the speakers. Everyone crouched down and got ready to go.
"Get set . . . go!"
The gates opened and the boarders bounded down the slope at speeds topping eighty miles per hour. The wind and falling snow whipped past Mac's ears, nipping at his cheeks and making them sting slightly. Of course, adrenaline caused him not to even feel it.
The course was short and it didn't take long for them to finish. Maybe a minute or two. Not long. When Mac reached the end, though, he was breathless and sweating under his beanie, despite the cold, December air.
Mac pulled his board off of his feet and exhaled slightly, leaving a small puff cloud hovering in front of him and it lifted upwards and dissipated. He slightly jumped when someone came up behind him.
"Mac, hey bro." Brodi greeted. Mac shrugged and smiled, showing not much was going on before Brodi even asked.
"Just chillin' around. Ya know, the usual."
"Yeah. I know how that goes. I heard that you were late this morning to class, or school, or whatever. Kaori told me."
Mac's heart seemed to pound a little harder when he mentioned Kaori. His mouth became dry and for some reason he was at a loss for words.
"Uh, yeah. Either I forgot to set my alarm last night, or Moby turned it off."
"Ah, the many down sides to a roommate. I have two. And one isn't too much fun." Brodi tutted.
"Get over it, Spirit Boy. You know I'm much more fun than newbie over there." a cynical voice cackled. Psymon.
Mac rolled his eyes and waved him off. "Psy, I'm younger, quicker, more agile. . . I outnumber you in any which way there is to outnumber you."
Psymon's hands were balled and his eyes bugged slightly. "I've probably been doing this much longer than you have. And don't call me Psy! Only Zoe's given permission to do so."
"Psy got a third grade crush?" Mac chirped happily. He knew he was getting under the Canadian's skin and it pleased him. Psymon growled and stalked off. He joined with everyone else who were grouped together, talking about something. Once or twice on of them would break off and look to Brodi and Mac's direction, their hollow eyes boring into his. It scared him so.
Brodi shook him on the shoulder violently. "Hey. We're all going to a nearby club tonight. It's right down the road. Usually we go there when we're here to visit. It's pretty nice. How'd you like to come along?"
The young boy shuffled his feet in the snow, digging a shallow hole and revealing a small patch of wet dirt, dirtying his Doc Martins on the toe. "What about everyone else?" he muttered just loud enough for the two of them to hear.
"Don't worry about them. Go and have a good time. Who cares about what others think about you? They're jealous of what you have. Use it to your advantage, friend."
It made the tips of Mac's lips turn upwards. "Oh, is Kaori coming?" the question surprised even himself. He never even thought of asking the question. But now that he had, he was anxious of the answer.
Brodi pondered it for a few seconds before replying. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that she is. Why?"
"Oh, no reason." he recovered quickly, picking his board from the ground and shaking a few snowflakes from his sleeve.
"Alright. Well, if I don't happen to go for some reason or another, have a good time.