Chapter Five: Honest Questions Part Two (Calleigh'S POV)
Thank you so much for the feedback. I'm glad to know that you like the story. I have a couple things to tell you at the end of the chapter. HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL! And, in case you hadn't noticed, I changed the original character's name to Calleigh from Alison. There is a reason, but you'll probably think it's stupid.
~~
Never before in my life had one person amazed me as much as Jin had over the past month. I couldn't stop thinking about him, and if, by chance, I did for even a split second, my mind somehow managed to get back to him. He understood me, and everything about me. And, no matter how discouraged I was, he always told me I could do anything. He was like my own private children's TV show, all wrapped within a five-foot-nine, well built body. Now, that's the kind of children's TV show I want on the air. He helped me train, and I'd gotten almost everything down pat…and he wasn't going to give up on me until I could do everything I wanted to. I loved that.
Sure, Jin was great as a coach, but as a friend, he was a million times better. He was so much fun to be around, and his personality matched mine almost perfectly, with a few things to give us the perfect amount of contrast. He comforted me when I was down, laughed with me when I was up, and I felt so good when I was around him. It was like the comfort that you get when you know you can trust someone with your life, or something like that. We'd never referred to each other as the other's best friend, but I don't think it needed to be communicated. It was one of those unspoken companionships that everyone around you could just see.
Everything wasn't always perfect, though. My father hated Jin with a passion, so I needed to hide the fact that he was my friend. I'd briefly mentioned his name in conversation one day, and my father nearly ripped my head off. It baffled me how anyone could hate someone as compassionate and caring as Jin Kazama, but I guess my father hadn't had the opportunity to see his gentle side. He probably only knew him from tournaments. Something he'd mumbled the other day had bothered me, though. He'd said something about Kazuya Mishima, Jin's father, being the devil. I shrugged it off as my father's ignorance, though, and just rolled my eyes.
It was odd, though, because I felt like Jin was hiding something serious from me, and I wanted to know what it was. I wasn't going to bug him, though, because I didn't want to risk losing him as a friend due to my curiosity.
~~
He once again pulled me onto the rock, due to my shortness, and we climbed to the branch, then started to eat lunch. "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, though. Normally I can pull off all those moves, without a hitch, too!" I complained, before taking a drink of water.
"Don't give up, Calleigh…you're a really good fighter, and you know it. You're just having a bad week, that's all…" he sounded like a cheesy moral session on the end of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
I flashed him a dismayed glance. "Jin…don't ever do that again," I pleaded with him. "I think you've been watching too much Sesame Street, or something…" I laughed, then looked at Jin, who was wide eyed. "Ooh, did I hit a nerve? Does Jin need his educational TV?"
Jin gently shoved me. "No, I don't," he stuck his tongue out. "Not until I have a kid, anyway…" he snorted a laugh, and then his face turned solemn. "But, yeah…anyway, what's up?" he changed the subject.
I hated that. Whenever we got into a conversation about family, whether it be past, present, future or wishes, he'd always say a sentence or two then change the subject. I normally chose to shrug it off, but today, for some reason, it made me extremely angry. I shook my head and looked away from him.
"What's the matter, Calleigh?" he asked, putting his hand gently on my shoulder. I hated getting mad at him, because he always made me feel awful about it by being caring and sympathetic.
I shook my head. "Nothing, nothing…it's no big deal," I shook my head. "Don't worry about it," I had always been a terrible liar. Everyone could see right through me, and it made me mad.
Apparently, Jin could see through me, too. He just gave me a condescending glance, trying to make me tell him what was on my mind. "Come on, Calleigh. You know you can always tell me what's up. That's what I'm here for!" he tried to comfort me. Normally he could have, but right now, I was really angry. Angrier than I'd been since I'd met him. Normally it was him that cheered me up, but not this time.
"You wanna know what's wrong? I'll tell you, then. I tell you everything. Maybe sometimes reluctantly, but I DO tell you EVERYTHING, and what do you tell me? NOTHING! And when I try to bring something up you could tell me, you change the subject!" I glared angrily at Jin, who seemed slightly unprepared for my attitude change. "I don't HAVE to tell you everything, but I do!"
Jin may have been surprised at my tone, but he didn't seem at all surprised by the subject of my complaint. "You're right about one thing, you don't have to tell me everything…" he was a lot calmer than I thought he'd be. "But you do anyway, and I appreciate that a lot, but unlike you, Calleigh, I'm not an open book."
I took a lot of offense to that. I was not an open book. There were very many people that I knew that didn't know a damn thing about me, and the fact that he'd even think that I was an open book made me even angrier. "I am not an open book, damn it!" I scoffed, my eyes narrowing. "How can you say that?"
"You tell me a lot about you, so I assumed everyone knew what I knew," he sighed. He had the lowest self-esteem in the world. I don't think he thought anyone could trust him more than they trusted anyone else.
Even though I was mad, I felt terrible for him because of that. "Jin, I tell you more than I tell anyone else. I would entrust you with my life, and I wouldn't even do that with my father. It bugs me that you don't trust me like that…"
He sighed deeply. "You wanna know about me? Ok, I'll tell you…" From that sigh, and the tone in his voice, I knew I was in for a hell of a night…
~~
Do you know my story from the start?
And do you know my like you've always told me?
Do you see the whispers in my heart against your kindness?
My eternal blindness, do you see?
Do you see a brighter day for me? Another day, a day?
Do you wonder what's in store for me? The cure for me, the way?
Oh, look down, and see the tears I've cried,
The lives I've lived, the deaths I've died.
You died them too, and all for me, you say:
"I will pour my water down upon a thirsty barren land,
And streams will flow from the dust of your bruised and broken soul.
You will grow, like the grass on the fertile plains of Asia,
By the streams of living water, you will grow, oh you will grow."
~~ 'Honest Questions' – Verse Two – Written and sung by Daniel Bedingfield ~~