Rage sighed as he sat back in his chair. Walt was absolutely clueless about why Emi was mad, just like him. He picked up a random object and fiddled with it. No girl had ever gotten made at him before. At the Disco Zone, it was normal for a guy to be with a different girl every week until he found a girlfriend. He thought about his past 'almost girlfriends' and walked to his bed and collapsed, dropping his brush. He looked out of his window for a while.
Everything here was so different.
The Disco Zone was always alive with lights, music and people. It seemed like the people never slept everyone was ready to show off their bright, fancy clothing and boyfriends and girlfriends of the week. For Rage, it seemed he was always with a different girl, and when they left, it didn't matter much since their dates were focused on the style the other had, and there was not normally emotions attached to these relationships.
He thought back to a girl he had been with a year or so earlier. She was like Emi: Shy and cute. He smiled, remembering how attached to him she was, then it disappeared when he remembered her reaction to their 'breakup'.
"What is with these girls?" he asked no one, rolling on his back to stare a the ceiling. For a moment, he thought his eyes were closed, then he realized it was night. He looked outside again and was reminded that the Burning Zone wasn't as active at night like the Disco Zone. Cursing to himself, he fumbled for the table lamp and nearly knocked it over. Finding the switch, he flicked it on and looked around his room. His shelves were full of CDs he burned and some that still had to be burned . His stereo was on the floor, next to his desk where there were piles of magazines (for the articles!). He found his cell phone and picked it up. Turning it on, he waited for the buttons to glow, then was mildly surprised when the face of his phone went dark. Looking around, he found his charging cord and plugged his phone in.
When his phone was charged, he picked it up and in his address book, he called a number she should have committed to memory already. Tracy picked up on the first ring.
"Hello?" she asked. Rage smiled at his sister's voice.
"Hey! What's goin on Tracy?" he asked. He heard her snap her gum on the other side.
"Rage, why did you call?" she asked. Rage did a fake gasp of astonishment.
"Can't a brother call his sister without being accused of wanting something?" he asked, pretending to be hurt. Tracy sighed.
"Nothing is wrong with it if you were the type who was close to his sister, but since you're not, there is something up. she said. Rage sat down heavily and sighed. Tracy heard the sigh. "What's wrong?" she asked, more sympathetic.
"What in the world is wrong with you girls?" he yelled into the receiver. Tracy was silent for a moment, then asked slowly,
"Rage, what happened?" she asked. rage sighed and told Tracy about Emi, the practices, and how she slapped him for no reason at a diner in front of his double date.
"Double Date?" Tracy asked. "You mean you and a friend took a girl out?" she asked. Rage snorted.
"No, I took two girls out. Double Date, DUH" he impatiently told his sister.
"Uh huh...did you treat this girl like you cared for her?" she asked.
"Of course!.....not...." he paused, unsure. "Wait, what do you mean by 'care'?" he asked. Tracy paused, listening to the tone of her brother's voice.
"Rage, it sounds like you hurt her. Now don't say anything yet" she said quickly before Rage could object. "Rage, things in the Disco Zone and the Burning Zone are different. I mean, the money is different for one thing, then there are the relationships which you just messed up." Rage was silent.
"Relationships?" he asked. He had been in plenty, or was he?
"Those are more like flings than actual relationships. If what you said is true, which is rare for you dear brother, then this is the longest and closest thing you've had to a relationship ever." she was about to say more, when Rage cut in.
"Relationship? Why do you girls have to be so serious about everything? I was with tons of girls and-"
"-you never actually cared for any of them, just being with them made you look better. You better apologize to that girl Rage, or I'll come down there, drag you by your ear and force you myself!" then Rage hung up on her.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea overcame him. Lurching to the kitchen, he opened his refrigerator and looked inside, but he didn't feel hungry. Looking in his cabinets, Rage found that nothing that would make him feel better. He went to sit on his couch, tuned on the TV and flicked through the channels. Staring at the TV, but not seeing anything, suddenly something clicked in his mind.
'Guilt' he muttered. Suddenly he opened his eyes, and noticed it was morning. He stretched and sat up. Noticing the television was still on, he decided to watch it, the threw the remote at the TV finding out it was a Soap Opera with a similar theme as his problem. Still not hungry, Rage went into the parking garage to practice and smiled, seeing Emi dance on the right side of the 'stage'. Rage jumped on his side and danced to the song on the radio. After the song was over, Rage turned to say something to Emi, but she ignored him and chose another song, then began dancing, but didn't seem to put any heart into it .
"Hey Ems, where's your hat?" he asked innocently. She stared straight ahead and danced. Rage sighed and turned it off. "We don't dance good like this. Wanna have breakfast first?" he asked. Emi glared at him.
"No thank you, I had breakfast already." she said slowly and coldly. Rage looked down at her.
"You look cuter when you're happy" he said. Emi punched him in the chest and he suddenly hugged her close. "I won't let that happen again Emi. I promise" Emi nodded, burying her face into his chest. Suddenly, he leaned down and kissed Emi. The world around them broke apart as a car crashed into another.
Rage fell off of his couch, hugging a pillow to his chest.
"Just a dream...I never kissed Emi..." he repeated this to himself for a few moments, then got up to meake oatmeal, which eventually burned and set off the smoke alarm. "It was just a dream!" he yelled, just before a neighbor knocked on his door to help with the alarm.