Thanks for the review and the advertising, Super_Saiyajin no Ouji ^_^. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.
Dragonball
FT, The Black Thorn Saga
Chapter 6: Questions Unanswered
Saturday came and with it more questions for Xavier. He and Jane almost always
went to a movie or something on Saturdays, but tonight, Xavier heard nothing from
her. She always called him, since the time they left was always dependent on
when she could leave. Even when they didn't go out, Jane would certainly call,
just to talk for a little while. Tonight was different. No one called, except
for his mother, who was once again working late. Amanda's mother had taken both
Amanda and Lydia, Xavier's sister, somewhere. Rather than take the initiative
to find something to do, Xavier crashed on the couch in front of the TV for
most of the night. Finally, around ten, Xavier got bored of mindlessly flipping
through channels. He got up off the couch, grabbed his coat from his room, and
walked out the door. He walked down the hall and began climbing the stairs (the
elevator was still out of service). He didn't stop until he had reached the
roof of the building, fifty stories above the street. Xavier always liked to
come up here when he needed to think. When he got there, Xavier walked to the
edge, pulling his coat tighter around him in the wind, and rested his elbows on
the metal safety bar. He was deep in thought, trying to make sense of
everything that had happened to him in the past week.
Something really fucked up is happening lately and I have no clue what it
is.
"All your questions will be answered soon enough"
Xavier turned around quickly. "Who's there?" He demanded, but no one answered
him. Xavier slowly turned back around and was again standing with his elbows on
the railing. While he was gazing over the city skyline, he had a revelation.
That voice! I've heard it before! That's the same voice that stopped me from
killing Chris when I had the chance!
Xavier remained there for almost an hour after he heard the voice. He tried to
piece everything together, even though he knew that he would not be able to
understand anything any better than when he had walked up there.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sunday
came and went, and then it was Monday. Xavier woke up and went through his normal
morning routine. He walked out of the apartment and started towards the stairs.
He hadn't taken three steps when he remembered about the red-haired girl. He
walked back towards her apartment and when he got there, knocked on the door.
At the exact moment that Xavier stopped knocking. He came to a startling
realization.
I don't even know her first name! What am I going to do if someone else
answers!?!
Xavier held his breath as he heard someone unlocking the chain lock on the
door. The doorknob turned and the door opened just enough so that a face could
be seen. Xavier breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the emerald eyes and red
hair and was about to say 'hi,' but was beaten to it.
"Hi, I'll be out in a minute," said the girl and quickly shut the door again.
Xavier stood there frozen for a moment, mouth still half open from his attempt
at a greeting, when he snapped back to reality and continued to wait. Two
minutes later, Xavier watched as the door opened, giving him his first good
look at this unnamed girl. She was roughly 5' 6" tall and was of an
average build. She was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a dark blue fleece
pullover which covered a green shirt which could barely be seen around her
neck, under the fleece. She pulled the door closed behind her and stated "OK,
I'm ready."
The two of them began walking down the hall at a relatively leisurely pace.
When they got to the stairs, Xavier looked at his watch. Oh shit!! We're
going to miss the bus if we keep going at this rate. He thought.
"I'm
sorry to have to rush you like this, but if we don't hurry, we'll miss the
bus." Xavier told her apologetically.
"That's OK." the girl responded as they stood at the top of the staircase. A
sly smirk appeared on her face, and an instant later, she started hurrying down
the stairs. Xavier stood there confused, but for only a second. Then he heard
the now familiar voice from the first landing below their floor as it called up
to him, "Race you!" As soon as she had said it, the red-haired girl was
hurrying down the stairs once again. Xavier immediately took off down the
stairs after her. They were both laughing all the way down the stairs and, when
they reached the street, they both burst through the doors of the building at
the same time.
This is the first time I've ever had fun walking to the bus. Xavier
thought as they walked towards the bus. By running down the stairs, they had
given themselves enough time to walk to the bus stop, albeit at a relatively
accelerated pace. When they neared the stop, Xavier noticed Jane waiting there.
SHIT!! I forgot about Jane! Damn, damn, damn. After what I saw Friday, I
don't really want to talk to her now! Xavier thought. He could do nothing
to avoid the eventual meeting. He thought about going o a different stop, but
deemed that worthless, however, since they would have to ride the same bus,
eventually. Hell, she probably didn't even see me on Friday. I just won't
bring it up. That way, I can worry about this at a later time that's not so
early in the morning. Xavier thought as he and the red-haired girl arrived
at the stop.
"Hi,
Xavier!" Jane said, in an unusually cheerful mood.
"Hey, Jane." He replied, not so enthusiastically. A short pause then ensued.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Jane asked.
Once again, Xavier was brought to the realization that he didn't know what the
red-haired girl's name was.
"Oh, right," Xavier started. "Jane, this is..."
"Emily." the red-haired girl cut in, extending her hand. "It's nice to meet
you," she continued as she and Jane shook hands. As the two girls finished
their greetings, the bus arrived and the three of them entered. They took their
seats in the back, and Jane started talking to Xavier:
"I'm sorry I didn't call you Friday or Saturday, but I really wasn't feeling
good. I don't know what it was, but I could barely talk. I think I had a really
bad frog in my throat." Jane apologized.
"That's OK," Xavier replied. "I wasn't really in any mood to go out this
weekend, anyway." While he said this, Xavier thought to himself, I guess it
would be kind of hard to talk on the phone with Chris' tongue down her throat
all weekend, you goddamn liar.
The rest of the bus ride was spent mostly in silence, between Xavier and Jane.
Jane spent most of the trip talking to Mark and, every once-in-a-while, turned
to Xavier and tried to start a conversation, but Xavier wasn't in any mood to
talk to her, and he didn't want to start asking Emily about her past with Jane
right there. When they got off their bus near their schools, Xavier said his goodbye's
and began walking towards his school. He had just turned his back to the two
girls, when he heard Emily.
"Hey, Xavier, wait a sec." She called to him.
"Yeah?" He asked as he turned around. No sooner was he facing Emily, when she,
standing on her toes, kissed him softly of the cheek.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"For being such a nice guy." She replied. She then turned and started walking
down the street towards her school. She had taken a few steps, stopped, and
then walked back to where Xavier was still standing and asked him "So, do you
think you can show me what busses to take home? I know I'd have to change
busses at a different stop, but I don't know which one."
"Sure, as long as you don't mind waiting around here for an hour 'til I get out
of work." He replied.
"No problem." Emily said. "Where should I meet you?"
"Umm...how about on the front stairs over there?" He said while pointing at the
front stairs of his school.
"Great, see you then." Emily responded as she turned and walked away.
Xavier was left, once again, wondering to himself: What the fuck just
happened?