Thanks for the review, Super_Saiyajin no Ouji. And to anyone else who's reading this fic (if there is anyone else o_O) Be sure to let me know what you think.
Dragonball
FT, Black Thorn Saga
Chapter 5: Some Sort of Bad Joke
Xavier walked into his apartment, still amazed at what had just happened. I
can't believe a girl that beautiful would even lower herself to talk to me,
never mind ask me for help of any kind. He thought, but then the pessimism
kicked in, That's it...I'm the only one from either school who lives in this
building. She probably figures I'm the only one who can show her what busses to
take. Oh well, so much for that moment of optimism.
Having walked across the room while he was thinking, Xavier stopped by the
phone to hear the message on the answering machine. It was his mom. She had
left the same message that she had on Monday, except this time, Lydia was
sleeping over at their aunt's apartment. Well, Xavier thought, at
least I don't have to watch Lydia tonight. It's a good thing that mom and Aunt
Mary get along so well, or Lydia wouldn't be up there visiting Amanda half as
much. After he had deleted a message, Xavier let out a yawn. I'm
exhausted...I better go crash for a while. He thought. With that, he walked
into his room, dropped his backpack in the corner, and dropped himself face
first into his bed. A few seconds later, Xavier was in a deep sleep.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*RIIIIIING, RIIIIIIIIING*
Xavier's eyes opened slowly.
*RIIIIIIIIING, RIIIIIIIIIIING*
Who the hell's calling this late at night? Xavier thought, until he
looked at the clock. Wha? It's only seven at night? Oh yeah...I fell asleep
after school. Xavier mused at his own mistake.
*RIIIIIING, RIIIIIIIING*
"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Xavier said to the unknown caller, as he walked
into the living room, towards the phone.
*RIIIIIIIIING* "Hi, you know what to do, *beeeeeep*." the answering machine
said to
the caller before Xavier could answer.
"Hey, Xavier," a male's voice started. "It's Matt. Just seeing if you want to
go shoot some pool. Call me back if you..."
"Hey, man," Xavier had picked up the phone, cutting off his friend's message.
"Hey...I didn't think you were there. You wanna go shoot a few games of pool?"
"Sure, I need to get out. When are you going?" Xavier responded.
"How's now?" Matt asked.
"Sounds good...meet you at the corner."
"K, bye."
"Bye." Xavier finished the conversation and hung up the phone. He walked into
the bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror. He tried to fix the mess of
hair on his head as best he could, but eventually gave up. Back in his room,
Xavier put on his sneakers and black baseball cap. He grabbed his old, worn,
brown leather trench coat off the back of his door. It was one of the few
things he had left that his father had given him. It was a birthday gift, the
last of Xavier's birthday that his father was alive for, and it almost always
reminded Xavier of his father. A small smile quickly appeared and disappeared
on Xavier's face. He liked remembering about his father, and the coat served as
one more reminder.
Xavier walked out into the kitchen, quickly scribbled a note for his mother.
Even though he knew he would be home before his mother, he always left a note,
just in case she did come home earlier. He checked his wallet to make sure he
had enough money to pay for the games of pool he would be playing shortly.
While his job at school helped pay for his tuition, his principal also paid him
fifty dollars a week, since he knew the financial situation of Xavier's family.
Once he was assured of his financial capabilities, Xavier grabbed his key and
walked out the door. He headed towards the stairs when he heard an unusually
loud door slamming shut. Turning around quickly, he saw no one else in the
hallway. Shaking his head at his childish behavior, Xavier continued on towards
the stairs. Once out of the building, he started towards the corner of his
street. A few minutes later, Xavier found himself at the corner of his street.
He glanced up at the street sign and smirked as he read it: "Satan Ave." read
the top sign (Xavier's street). Below that: "Gokuu Pkwy."(The street
perpendicular to his). Some people must really believe those stories they
tell us in that Local History class. He thought as he shook his head in
pity for the gullible. This intersection used to be one of the most high-class
areas in town and was named after two of the cities greatest "warriors," but
had, in the past century, fallen into disrepair.
As he
finished his thought, Xavier heard a voice from a few feet away on Gokuu Ave.:
"Hey, man. It's about time you showed up."
"Shut up, Matt," Xavier responded, "I know you just got here."
"Can't fool you, huh?" Matt replied as he stepped from the shadow of the
building he was in. He was tall, a few inches taller than Xavier, even though
Xavier was one year Matt's senior. He was also slightly heavier than Xavier, a
result of both added muscle and fat. He wore tattered blue jean shorts that
came down to just below his knees, and a black hoody. His blue hair was spiked,
as it always was.
"Shall we?" Xavier asked, a he motioned down Satan Ave., in the direction of
the pool hall.
"Let's." replied Matt.
They set out in silence. There was no need to talk, as they knew each other so
well. They were friends from as far back as either of them could remember. Both
of their families used to live in the same street in the suburbs. Xavier's
moved after his father died. Matt's family had moved when his father got a
better job and found a nice apartment within walking distance of it.
They had walked the two blocks to 8-ball's Pool Hall and were now just across
the street from it. Although the traffic signal was red, they began to cross
the street, as they saw no cars approaching from either direction. When they
were about halfway across the street, they heard the screeching of tires, but
thought nothing of it, as people were always doing that in their neighborhood.
Out of the corner of his eye, Xavier noticed something, a very large, very fast
something. From what he could see, it was a dark color, shone in the
streetlights, and heading right for them, driving on the wrong side of the
road. By this time, Matt had noticed the car too, but was caught like a deer in
the headlights. Acting completely on instinct, Xavier grabbed his long-time
friend by the back of the shirt and hurled both himself and Matt forward to the
side of the road. As the dark blur went past them, Xavier thought he could hear
the word "Damnit!" from someone inside it, but he wasn't certain. After quickly
getting up, Xavier ran back into the street and focused his eyes to try and
read the license plate. All he could make out was the first two letters: BT.
Xavier walked back over to Matt, who by this time, was sitting up with an
astonished look on his face, and asked, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just a couple of scrapes, but I'll be fine. What about you?"
"Maybe a bruise or two, but nothing major." Xavier replied. "Let's get into the
pool hall...I don't want to be here if they come around here again."
"No arguments here," Matt agreed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Matt and Xavier walked into the pool hall. A cigarette smoke haze hung over the
room, and Xavier coughed as the smoke hit his lungs. The lamps that hung over
the tables were the only lighting in the entire place and, combined with the
smoke, provided just enough light to be able to see to the other side of the
room clearly. The pool hall was only half-filled, it being relatively early,
but the sounds of billiard balls cracking together filled the room,
nonetheless.
Both were shaken by the events that had just happened, but neither wanted to
show it. Xavier, however, was even deeper in thought than Matt. It happened
again! How was I able to almost throw Matt out of the way? And did that person
try to hit us, or did I imagine that "Damnit"?
They got their usual table off in the corner of the room. Here, they didn't
have to worry about any passers-by knocking into their cue's while they were
lining up a shot. Matt racked the balls and Xavier broke. He was running the
table until he happened to look across the room. There, at the table against
the other wall, he saw something he thought he would never see: Jane was there
with another guy. Normally, Xavier would have cared less, after all, he wasn't
in control of her. But tonight was different. Tonight, Jane was sitting on the
lap of Chris, with her tongue down his throat. As the reality of what he saw
set in, Xavier, who had the eight ball perfectly lined up and his shot called,
scratched on a shot that any beginner would be able to make, and lost the game
that he had dominated from the start. Seeing his friend's strange behavior,
Matt asked, "Dude, are you ok?"
"Yeah," Xavier replied, "Just lost my train of thought for a second. Oh well,
I'll rack, you break."
Matt began the next game and it was his turn to run the table. During this
time, however, Xavier, who had sat down on one of the stool next to the table,
kept glancing up across the room. What the fuck is going on!?! Just the
other day, she tells me she hates him, and now she's trying to lick his molars!
I can't believe she would lie to me like this! What can she possibly see in...
"Earth to Xavier, it's your shot." Matt joked at Xavier, who had become
engrossed in his thoughts.
"Oh, right," Xavier replied as he stood up to take his shot.
"Your sure you're alright, man?" Matt asked as Xavier was lining up his shot.
"Yeah, just got a lot on my mind tonight, that's all." Xavier responded, as he
made his shot.
"Ok, if you say so." Matt finished the discussion.
The two friends continued to play pool for the next two hours before calling it
quits. Xavier did his best to ignore what was happening across the room, but he
still couldn't concentrate entirely on the game at and. At the end, they had
both won four games. They
walked back to the counter and paid for the time. On the walk back home,
neither of them said a word, and both kept glancing from side to side whenever
they crossed a street. Parting ways at the same intersection, they both walked
to their respective apartment. The entire way, Xavier was still consumed in his
thoughts. What's been going on lately? I feel like someone is having fun
fucking with my mind. After everything that's happened this past week, I
actually wish I could go back to the way things were before Monday.
These thoughts, and others like them, ran through Xavier's mind as he ascended
the stairs to his apartment. Xavier got to his apartment, half expecting,
half-hoping to see the red-haired girl again, and was almost disappointed when
he didn't. He walked into his apartment, crumpled up and threw out the note he
had left for his mother, who hadn't returned yet, or else the note would have
been gone. He then walked into his room and hung up his coat on the back of his
door. Xavier then sat down on the side of his bed and kicked his shoes off.
Although he had slept just a few hours earlier, Xavier once again found himself
completely exhausted. He flicked off the light and, for the second time that
night, fell face first into his pillow.
