Hey everybody! I got to update one more time before I leave on my trip.
In fact, I leave in 4 hours. But enough about that, let's answer reviews.
PA and DA: Thanks! I didn't think I was talented. I had fun making up the emails. And why are you up at 3 in the morning anyway?
vialana: school? Now? Where do you live? Danny's trouble. He's modeled after a real guy who annoys me. So I made him the jerk in here. I don't know why I had Mimi and Justin together, but it's cool. I'm glad u like the plot. And I actually updated BEFORE I left. =D
Sillie: I don't like Danny either.....but oh well, when the story's done, I can burn him and bury him next to Kei. *evil grin*
Aero-Grrl: He does tend to be a bully magnet. Maybe it's cause he's cute and they're jealous. Glad you think it's cute.
Fell: you do now? What's going on then? Lol.
nEo-cHaN: yep, 2 weeks. I'll try to update while I'm down there. And as for the last part....no comment. But you're not exactly right. =D
CCPheonix: Tai's not afraid of Danny. Unfortunately, Matt can't kill him if he's on a different continent. But be my guest. You can kill him when this story is done. Thanks, I know I'll win. And enjoy myself. Tiger wants food, Tiger gets food right now. XD
Gay Witch: glad you liked MB and that you'll like this. As for a happy ending...not in this story I plan on making this a trilogy or whatever it's called. That's where the BIG happy ending will be.
Angel Chick: Thanks. Updated right now.
Ok, wow, I must be more excited to leave then I thought.
Ryamon: without the comments, just the chapter itself, you wrote 25 pages. o_0
Yep, so I hope you people are happy. Even though I'm not really happy with it. But you decide what you think. Enjoy yourself. I don't know when I'll be able to update next. Oh, and I added a key to this story.
Key: "Ryamon"- talking. 'Ryamon'- thoughts. _Ryamon_- empathizing words.
~*~*~*~*~*~- time change
Tai's POV
**************************************************************************** ** I didn't really get much sleep last night, and it wasn't just because of the time change. I know my eyes are probably swollen now from being a wuss and crying the whole night. I don't even want to get out of my bed today, and I don't want interruptions from anybody. Unfortunately, Mimi had a different idea.
"Hey Tai. Time to get up." She said cheerfully as she bounced into my room. I groaned and pulled the comforter over my face.
"Go away." I moaned and closed my sore eyes.
"No, get up." She instructed me and ripped off the covers. I curled up and buried my face into my pillow.
"Mimi, just leave me alone." I shot back. She sat on my bed and pulled my face out of my pillow and did a double take.
"What's wrong?" she asked me. I shook my head and shrugged.
"Look that bad huh?" I replied and sat up. She nodded and smiled sadly.
"Home sick?" she asked me. I shook my head again.
"Not exactly."
"Then what's up?" she asked in confusement.
"Matt sick."
"Matt sick?" she raised her eyebrow.
"Yea. I just miss him so much." I replied as my eyes watered again. She sighed and hugged my shoulders.
"Three months is a long time. But you'll see him soon enough." She reassured me.
"Sure."
"Oh come on. You'll be plenty busy here and those three months will go by like that." She snapped her fingers.
"Yea. Guess you're right." I gave her a small smile. Her grin grew wider.
"Now there's the Tai I know." She said happily and got off the bed.
"C'mon, champ. Mark wants to see you this morning." I shook my head and followed her out of the room.
"Tai, I meant _after_ you change clothes." She reminded me. I looked down and realized I was only in my boxers. I turned around and headed back into my room.
"Aren't those Matt's boxers?" she asked me as I opened the drawers in the dresser.
"What's it to you?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Nothing, just thought I would ask." She said carelessly. Then my mind processed what she had just said.
"How would _you_ know what Matt's boxers look like?" I asked accusingly.
"Because I've seen them before." My eyes widened to about the size of dinner plates.
"WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING AT MY BOYFRIEND'S BOXERS?!?!?" I yelled and glared at her. She just shook her head.
"You are so overprotective, you know that?" she said.
"I DON'T CARE!!! WHY HAVE YOU SEEN HIS BOXERS???" I demanded.
"If you must know, it was an accident." She rolled her eyes.
"How do you see someone's boxers on accident?" I asked as I slipped my shirt off of my head.
"He missed school one day so I decided to check up on him. And when he answered the door, he was wearing those boxers." She pointed at the boxers I was wearing.
"Ok. Just making sure you weren't sleeping with him or something."
"Of course not." She replied. I flashed her a grin and went back to looking for some jeans.
"Question is.....why do you have Matt's boxers?" she said slyly as color rose to my cheeks.
"That's really none of your business Mimi, so can you leave now?"
"Why? Too embarrassed now?" she teased me.
"That, and I want to get dressed and I really don't think you need to watch me change. Now leave!" I commanded her.
"Aye aye, Captain." She mumbled under her breath and shut the door. I started looking around for my pants again. That is, until I realized I couldn't find any.
"What the hell?" I said out aloud and started emptying my drawers and closet.
"Where the hell are all my clothes?" I started to panic now. This is not cool.
"KUSO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Watch your language, Tai." Mimi's voice came through the door. I walked across the room and opened it.
"Mimi, all my clothes are gone." I exclaimed as I poked my head out the door. Her look contorted into an expression of amusement and confusement. (A/n: I know confusement isn't a word, but hey...this is ME we're talking about here. XD)
"What do you mean your clothes are gone?"
"Just that, all of my clothes are gone! Not in the closet, not in the dresser, gone!" I leaned against the doorframe.
"What am I suppose to do now?" I moaned.
"Hang on." She replied and took off down the hallway.
"Mimi wait a sec!" I yelled at her retreating figure.
"Damn women." I cursed under my breath and headed back inside to wait. I started looking for anything, even a clean pair of boxers to wear. But they were also gone. I started to walk back towards the door when Mimi burst in suddenly, hitting me right in the face.
"OWCHIE!" I cried and brought my hand up to my face. My nose had started bleeding.
"Oh my gosh! Tai I'm SO sorry, I had no clue that you were standing right there!" Mimi exclaimed and entered the room.
"Well, that's why _normal_ people knock." Justin said from behind her.
"Oh, who asked you?" she snorted and snapped her fingers.
"Tai, get dressed. Justin, you go downstairs." She directed us.
"You'd think we were in the army or something." Justin whispered under his breath. I grinned and shrugged. He grinned back and handed me some clothes.
"Put these on until we find yours. We'll meet you downstairs." He said with a wave and walked towards the door.
"Actually, we'll meet _you_ downstairs. Mark wants to see him this morning." Mimi cut in.
"Then why are you going?"
"Because I'm his trainer." Was the reply.
"Yea, but I'm the boyfriend." He murmured and pouted. Mimi giggled and kissed him.
"Oh shut up. You know I love you anyway. Now go, we need to let Tai get dressed and his nose to stop bleeding." She said as she pushed Justin out the door. I shook my head at the closed door.
"Those two are so weird sometimes." I said to myself and got dressed. I walked out of the hallway and found it empty.
"Damn it. She said she'd wait for me." I cursed at her and started walking around. Wait, Mimi lives in this hallway.
"Number 182. She better be here or I'll have to hurt her." I said to myself and knocked on the door. I knocked again, with no response. I knocked once more.
"HOLD YOUR ASS!" A voice came from inside and the door swung open.
"Um....is Mimi around?" I asked her.
"Yea, hang on, Tai." She said and walked off. 'How does she know my name and I don't know hers?' I thought as I stepped inside the apartment. It looked a lot different then my apartment. Posters of music and movie stars all over the front room, teen magazines on the coffee table, and pop music blaring from the stereo in the kitchen.
"Oh, hey Tai. I didn't think you were done yet." Mimi said as she came out of a bedroom.
"Um, yea. Unlike you, I don't take ½ hour to put on jeans and a shirt." I said and looked around some more.
"Nice apartment."
"Thanks. Tyce and I decorated ourselves." She said as she put on her shoes.
"Who's Tyce?" I asked.
"I'm Tyce. Tyce Moore." The girl who answered the door replied.
"And you knew me how?" I asked curiously. She shrugged slightly.
"Mimi." Was the given answer. Tyce seemed nice, with her blonde hair and green eyes. She had an accent though and I couldn't figure out what it was. And Mimi didn't give me the chance to because the next thing I knew, she was dragging me out of her apartment.
"We'll see you later, Tyce." Mimi called over her shoulder. Tyce waved and shut the door. Mimi continued to pull me along behind her.
"Mimi, I _can_ walk you know." I reminded her and gently pried her off of my arm.
"Sorry about that. You know me, get too carried away in things." She replied and turned down a hallway.
"Tyce isn't from around here is she?" I said randomly.
"How'd you know?" she asked me. I shrugged and walked into the elevator.
"She doesn't sound like she's been here for long."
"She's been here for about 2 or 3 years. But she was born and raised in London, England. So she has the British accent." Mimi explained as the elevator doors opened again on the ground floor.
"Why does Mark want to see me?" I asked her as we walked down the new hallway. She shrugged slightly.
"I honestly have no idea. But while you're in there, you should probably tell him about your stuff being gone." She said as we entered Mark's office. She knocked on the door and opened it.
"Morning Mark." Mimi greeted him and I waved. He looked up from his desk and grinned.
"Morning guys. Sleep well I hope?" he said as he put away his papers.
"Yea pretty good." I replied while Mimi glared at me.
"Actually Mark, Tai got his stuff taken yesterday." Mimi informed him. He looked up in surprise.
"What stuff?"
"Just my clothes. I went to get some for today and they were all gone." I explained to him.
"How odd. Nothing like that has ever happened before." He said thoughtfully.
"Well, if they don't turn up by tomorrow, then I'll think of something." He said. I nodded and shrugged.
"Now, for why I brought you here in the first place. Obviously you know that you're here to model. And as a model, you have to model for different magazine ads and random pictures for the A&F catalogue." Mark started off.
"I remember Mark. What's your point exactly?" I asked him.
"You're one of those kinds of people who like to get right to things. I like that. Anyway, my point is, you have a photo shoot for the catalogue on Friday." Mimi looked a bit shocked.
"But Mark, don't you think that's kind of soon? I mean, it's already Wednesday." Mimi said.
"I think he's ready. What do you think Tai?" Mark turned his attention to me.
"I say let's go for it." I replied and grinned.
"Excellent. So, Mimi can you work with him for the next two days?" Mark asked her.
"Um.....sure." she said uncertainly.
"Great! Ok, so Tai, come back to my office on Friday and I'll take you down to your shoot." Mark said and stood up.
"Sounds good to me." I replied and stood up as well. (A/n: did I ever say he sat down? o_0)
"Very good. Now what do you say that we head down and have some breakfast?" he suggested and walked out of his office.
"I say that's the best thing I've heard all day." I said and followed him with Mimi following me.
"Tai are you sure you want to do something like that so soon?" Mimi caught up with me. I shrugged and grinned.
"Yea, why not? Not that big of a deal, Meems." I replied as we walked into the eating hall.
"Not that big of a deal? Tai, this is a _very_ big deal. I just don't know if you're ready to handle something like that." She sighed and sat down on a bench.
"Who cares? I'll learn." I gave her a goofy grin in hopes to cheer her up. She only shook her head and looked around. I started looking around also.
"Holy cow, are these all models?" I asked in awe.
"Of course not. Some of them are models, some are photographers, and some are magazine and catalogue editors. In training though, just like you." She said monotonously as she continued to look around.
"Are you looking for someone in particular?" I asked her. She jumped out of her dreamlike state.
"What'd you ask?" she blinked at me. Sweatdrop.
"I _said_ looking for someone?"
"Yea. He said he'd be down here."
"Justin?" I asked her. She rolled her eyes.
"No Tai, Santa Clause. Yes Justin!" she went back to looking for him. Suddenly I spotted him.
"OY! JUSTIN! YOUR GIRLFRIEND WANTS YOU OVER HERE SO SHE CAN SNOG YOU!" I yelled across the room at Justin. Laughter filled the air. And if looks could kill, Mimi would have murdered and buried me 12 times.
"Didn't know you knew how to use British lingo, mate." Justin said cheekily and sat down next to Mimi, who by the way had gone a brilliant chrinsolm color. (A/n: I can't spell and my spell check bites munkys. Forgive me!)
"Is that a new shade of blush, Meems?" Justin asked her innocently. Then we both cracked up.
"Tai, you do realize I will get you back for this." She hissed at me as more people laughed at the scene.
"Makes you love me all the more huh?" I grinned sweetly while Justin continued to laugh his ass off.
"I hate you both." Justin stopped laughing.
"Why do you hate me? I didn't do anything!" he exclaimed.
"You were laughing at me." She said pointedly.
"SO? It was funny, what'd you expect me to do?"
"Pretend that it never happened!"
"You know, I would have......but this is better!" he said cheerfully. Her only response was a growl and what sounded like "I'm not talking to you." He just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to me.
"So what'd Mark want?" he asked as he started in on his food.
"Talking about the model shoot I have on Friday." He choked on his orange juice.
"Already?" he gasped out.
"Well, yea apparently."
"Damn, Mark must really like you. I don't think I got my first shoot until about 2 weeks after I got here. And here you are getting one after 2 days!" he said, highly amazed.
"Only because he did a modeling contest for A&F in Japan. He won, and so Mark thought he'd be perfect for drafting." Mimi concluded.
"I thought you weren't talking to us." Justin raised his eyebrow. She growled again and ignored him.
"Well, Mark must think you're really good if you have a shoot already."
"Yea, I guess. That's kind of cool." I shrugged.
"Don't you sound all enthusiastic about it." Justin said sarcastically.
"Well, I don't know. What exactly I am suppose to do?"
"What are you modeling for?"
"The catalogue, I think."
"Then you have it easy. All you do is go down there and they practically place you in want position they want. Dude, you are so lucky!" Justin ranted on.
"If you say so, I don't know." I shrugged and continued eating.
"Don't worry about it." He replied with a grin.
"Don't worry about what?" a new voice entered our conversation. I looked behind me and saw a mess of blonde hair.
"Never mind. Where have you been anyway?" Justin said and picked up his sister.
"She was with me, Justin. Sorry about that." McKenzie replied for the little girl as she walked up to us. Justin just waved his hand and brushed it off.
"You weren't giving Kenzie gray hair were you?" he sternly asked Tess.
"No, why would I do that?" she said innocently. He shook his head and looked at McKenzie for a different answer.
"She's no trouble at all. Really Justin, I think you over-react about her sometimes." McKenzie said to him. He rolled his eyes and Tess stuck her tongue out at him.
"So where's Ryan?" Justin asked as McKenzie sat down.
"You know how he is before a shoot. If he even tries to eat anything-"
"It comes right back up." He finished for her.
"Does he really get that nervous?" I asked warily. McKenzie turned and just realized I was there.
"Oh hi, Tai. Didn't see ya there. And yes, he does get that nervous. He doesn't handle stress well." She said in one sentence.
"Then why is he a model in the first place?" I asked.
"Actually, he first came here for the photography program." She started out.
"But Mark had a different idea. So he's now a model." Justin finished for her.
"But he totally hates the shoots. Well, not really the shoots themselves, but just all the pressure and stress before them." Mimi added in.
"Sad. So where is he right now?" I asked them.
"Probably his training room." McKenzie replied.
"Training room?" I echoed back to her.
"Yea, his training room. It's where he meditates and escapes reality. Training his mind, really." She explained. She looked up and smiled.
"On the other hand, maybe not right now. RYAN!" she yelled to get his attention. I just stared at her and poked Justin in the arm.
"Is she always this odd?" I whispered in his ear. He shook his head and grinned slightly.
"Nah, she just has a thing for him."
"She likes him?"
"Yup. And he's the only one who doesn't know about it." He replied as Ryan sat down.
"Decided to join us for once?" Justin greeted him as he slid in next to McKenzie. He gave a small smile and shrugged.
"No, I couldn't concentrate. Danny was in the weight room next to my training room, doing anything possible to wreck my focus." He said.
"So why not tell him to bug off?" I suggested.
"Nah, he'd kick my ass easily." He shook his head and sighed.
"How you holding up, Ry?" Mimi asked him.
"I'm ok. Really." He replied, even though his voice was shaking.
"Whatever. We all know how you are before a shoot." McKenzie said teasingly.
"Shut up McKenzie. Just because you're little Ms. 'Look at me because I told you to' doesn't mean that the rest of the world is like that."
"That _really_ didn't make sense." She raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever." He shot back and took a drink of Justin's orange juice.
"Get your own." Justin exclaimed and grabbed the glass back while Ryan pouted.
"Aw, come on Just, I need something to calm my nerves." He whined.
"Ryan, you've been doing this for almost a year now. You shouldn't be nervous about it anymore."
"I know, but I can't help it!" he whined again. Justin placed another glass in one of Ryan's hands and the pitcher in the other.
"There ya go. Do it yourself, lazy bum." Justin said to him. Ryan glared at him and turned his attention to me.
"So, heard you got a shoot." He said casually while sipping at his glass.
"Yup, scheduled for Friday." Ryan nodded, then did a double take.
"Say wha?"
"Yup. That's what Mark told me."
"How badly did you suck up to him?" Ryan grinned.
"GAH! I DIDN'T SUCK UP! WHY IS EVERYONE ASKING ME THAT?" I yelled suddenly. Everyone burst out laughing.
"It's just funny to think that you did." Ryan shrugged.
"I didn't ok?"
"All right, whatever you say." He looked down at his watch.
"I better be going. See ya all at lunch." He said and got to his feet.
"I'll come with you. You coming, Tai?" Mimi asked me. I nodded and got up too.
"Might as well see what I'm getting myself into." I replied.
"See you later." Justin said. I waved and turned around. I walked over to where Ryan was waiting for me.
"I thought you didn't like eating before a shoot." I stated as I saw a couple of pieces of toast in his hand.
"I don't." he replied slowly.
"RYAN HARMAN I'M GOING TO GET YOU!" McKenzie's voice sounded throughout the hall.
"I just enjoy hearing that." He grinned and started biting into a piece.
"Ryan, did you steal her breakfast again?" Mimi asked as she walked out of the hall.
"Maybe." He said innocently.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and walked along the halls. We followed her around the building chatting about nothing really. We were climbing up the stairs when I suddenly tripped and fell.
"Tai! Are you ok?" Mimi asked as she walked back towards me.
"Yea, I'm ok. Ouch!" I winced as I tried to stand up.
"Maybe not. What did I trip over?" I wondered out loud.
"Hey guys, look at this." Ryan said and lifted up an invisible string. Except, you could see it when he was holding it up. Oh, you know what I mean!
"I tripped over fishing line?" I said curiously.
"Yea. Weird thing is, this wasn't here when I came downstairs for breakfast." Ryan said.
"Can you stand up?" Mimi asked me. I slowly got to my feet.
"It hurts a little though, but nothing's damaged badly." I replied.
"It's like someone was waiting for Tai to come up here so they could trip him on purpose." Ryan commented thoughtfully. 'This guy kind of reminds me of Izzy.' I thought to myself.
"Who would want to do that?" Mimi asked. Ryan shrugged.
"Who knows. But we better get going. If anything else happens to Tai, then we should probably tell Mark." He said and started off down the halls again.
"Can you walk on your own?" Mimi asked. I took a few steps and nodded.
"Let's go." I said to her.
"Damn it!" I stopped in my spot and looked at Mimi.
"Did you say something?" I asked her. She shook her head.
"No, why?" she questioned. I looked around and shook my head.
"Never mind. Must be hearing things." I said slowly and started walking again. We walked into the room and saw Ryan talking to Mark and the camera guy.
"Hey guys, I didn't know you were coming." Mark greeted us.
"Yea, Tai wanted to see what he was doing and I just thought Ryan would like to have someone around. You know how he is sometimes." Mimi said as she sat down on the couch.
"True, very true. Well, just sit back and what the heck happened to your ankle, Tai?" he changed the subject.
"I tripped on the stairs." I replied and eased myself on the couch.
"You should probably put ice on that. Let me go get you some." He volunteered and walked away.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Mimi asked again.
"Don't worry about me. I've had worse injuries then this." I replied as Mark came back.
"Here you go. Now, just sit back and watch." Mark said as he handed me the ice bag.
"Thanks Mark." He turned around and walked back to the camera guy and Ryan.
"Don't you think you should have told him that you tripped on a wire?" Mimi suggested.
"Nah, he doesn't need to worry about me. Besides, I think he has his hands full with Ryan." I smirked and pointed over to where he was. Ryan was on the verge of tears and Mark was arguing with the cameraman. But after all the struggle, they finally started the shoot. As I watched Ryan, I thought about how much I really wanted to do this. And how glad I am that I am doing this. Suddenly Ryan plopped down on the couch next to me.
"Are you already done?" I asked him.
"For right now. I'll probably have to come back in a few days. You guys wanna leave?" he asked as he got off the couch again. Mimi and I followed in suit and walked out of the room.
"So now where should we go?" I asked them as we wandered around the halls.
"I have an idea." Mimi replied and pulled out a bright pink cell phone. And when I say bright, I mean _bright_!
"Hey, what're you doing? Yea, we just left. Is Kenzie still with you? Uh huh. How about we go to your room, as in all of us? Yea. Ok, see ya." She hung up her phone.
"Going to Justin's?" Ryan asked.
"Yup." Was the reply given as we headed towards our destination.
"Hey, I'll meet you two there. I need to look for something in my room." I told them and headed down my hall.
"Ok, see ya." Mimi called behind me. I walked into my apartment and looked in my dresser.
"What? All my clothes are back." I said. 'That's really weird.' I thought as I walked into my bathroom. As soon as I opened the door however, a bucket of something dropped on my head. I yelped in surprise and pulled the bucket off. I finished up in the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Then I screamed.
"OH MY GOD!" I yelled and looked at my reflection again.
"DAMN IT!" I yelled again and ran down to Justin's apartment. I didn't bother knocking and just ran into it.
"Tai, what's going on?" Justin asked me as he came out into the room followed by Ryan. Then his jaw dropped.
"What happened to your hair?" he asked me and started examining it.
"I walked into my bathroom and this bucket of blue paint dropped from the door and onto my head." I exclaimed. Ryan walked over and started looking too.
"You know, it actually looks kind of cool." He commented.
"Ryan. Shut up." Justin said as he tried to figure out how to get the blue out of my hair.
"No it does! It looks like he put blue gel into his hair and streaked it." He said. The girls then walked in. McKenzie stared at me for a bit.
"Have you always had blue streaks in your hair?" she asked me. Ryan gave me a look that clearly said, 'told-you-so'. Mimi gasped when she saw me.
"What happened?" she exclaimed.
"The old 'place a bucket of water on the door and wait for someone to walk in so it drops on their hair', except it was blue paint instead of water." Ryan said. Mimi raised an eyebrow.
"Ryan, sometimes you put too much detail into things." She sighed.
"Guys, what am I going to do?" I whined.
"Looks like you'll just have to wait for it to wash out. It will.....eventually." McKenzie told me. I groaned and hit my head against the wall.
"Why me?" I complained and slid into a chair. If I only knew what was to come.
*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day was filled with even more fiascoes then the day before. First of all, I don't think I really looked at all of my clothes carefully when I realized they were back. I woke up and started getting ready. When I opened the drawers to get my clothes, I almost died. It was then I realized someone had tie-dyed (no pun intended on my name) all my clothes in pink and purple.
"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" I moaned and walked down to Justin's with a set of clothes in my hand.
"Justin, open up, it's me." I hollered through the door. He answered the door still in his pajamas.
"What's going on?" he asked me.
"I got my clothes back." I started out as I walked inside.
"That's good." He yawned.
"Did I just wake you up?" I asked as that thought dawned on me.
"Uh huh. How'd you guess?" He blinked and sank onto his couch.
"Because you're still half asleep. Plus you have bed hair, so that kind of gives it away." He started patting down his hair then gave up.
"So would you like to tell me why you woke me up?" he stifled another yawn.
"One, it's almost time for breakfast. And two, look." I showed him my clothes. His eyes widened and he burst into laughter.
"It's not funny. What am I suppose to wear and how do I fix them?" I scolded him.
"I'll let you borrow something and Mimi will probably be able to fix it." He said and got off the couch.
"What makes you think she will be able to?" I asked him as I followed him into the bedroom.
"Because she once dyed her clothes pink and Mark told her that she couldn't do that. So she had to fix them." He explained as he rummaged through his closet, throwing me a shirt, jeans and a pair of socks.
"And you're _so_ on your own for boxers." He added.
"Don't worry about it. Those are the only thing _not_ pink and purple." I said and walked out the door.
"Thanks. Meet ya at breakfast." I said. He nodded and turned around, probably to go back to bed. Oh well, if that happens I'll send Mimi after him. I walked back to my apartment and walked in. Only to run right smack into Danny.
"Watch where you're going, pipsqueak." He said harshly.
"Excuse me? Pipsqueak?" I glared at him.
"Yep. Like I said Kamiya, one toe out of line, you will regret it." He hissed and pushed me aside and shut the door.
"Jackass." I murmured after him. I don't have time for this. I got dressed as fast as I could and walked down to breakfast.
"And you're wearing Justin's clothes again because......?" Mimi trailed off.
"Because my clothes are now girly tie-dye. Pink and purple. All of them expect my boxers." I replied and plopped down on the bench.
"Where is he anyway?" McKenzie asked.
"Probably went back to bed." I said and started eating.
"Or not." Ryan said as he looked up.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." Justin said as he sat down next to Mimi.
"Did you ask her about the clothes thing?" he asked me.
"OH! Hey Meems, do you think you could help me change all my clothes back so I don't have to keep wearing Justin's stuff?"
"Sure, we will later ok?" I nodded and looked around the hall. Everyone was busy eating and talking to their friends. Everyone except one person. Danny glared at me then mouthed what looked like, "one toe and you'll regret it." I growled at him under my breath.
"Who you growling at, T?" Mimi looked up and saw Danny flip me off. She sighed in disgust and rolled her eyes.
"Dumb jock strap model." She said. McKenzie burst into giggles, Ryan shook his head and Justin rolled his eyes.
"What?" I asked in shock.
"Danny models A&F boxers." Mimi explained.
"So we started saying he modeled jock straps too." Ryan added.
"I really didn't need to know that. Definitely an over-share." I groaned and finished my breakfast. After breakfast we decided to walk around the building since none of us had anything to do that day.
"Anyone want to go outside to the courtyard?" McKenzie suggested.
"Courtyard?" I repeated after her.
"Yup. Come on." She said and walked outside. Nice area really, with benches and grass and such. It also had a flagpole with the American flag and........oh no.
"Tai? Aren't those yours?" Mimi asked me as she looked up to the flagpole.
"Oh my gosh....." I muttered to myself. Not only was the American flag on the pole, waving underneath it were my Scooby Doo boxers. I looked around and at the door.
"Cover me." I told the others and started scaling the flagpole.
"Tai get down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" Mimi called after me. I sighed and hopped down.
"Then what do you suggest I do, leave them up there?"
"Actually, they add a nice touch."
"RYAN! SHUT UP!" everybody yelled at him.
"Hey, why don't we just bring the whole flag down? Then you can detach your boxers and put the flag back up." Justin suggested.
"You know, that's not a bad idea. Cover me again." I said and started pulling the flag down slowly.
"Tai, someone's coming. Hurry up!" Ryan called out. I hastily pulled my boxers off the pole and raised the flag back up.
"What are you lot up to?" that same mocking voice came from behind me. I whirled around and glared at him.
"What's it to you?" I sneered.
"Oh nothing." He said calmly. Then he looked at my hands.
"What's behind your back, Kamiya?" he asked.
"Um....wait, that's none of your business!" I yelled at him. He reached around and yanked my boxers out of my hand.
"Well, look what we have here. Up the flagpole were they?" he smiled cruelly.
"Kiss my ass!" he smirked and shook his head.
"You know, I'd love too but I can't. I must find the person responsible for this. That way I can congratulate them for such a perfect prank. Later losers!" he called out as he walked back inside the building.
"WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT A JOCK STRAP MODEL!" I hollered back at his retreating form.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Danny knew something about all of this." Mimi said as we started heading in the opposite direction.
"What makes you think he doesn't?" I asked her, still furious about the whole idea.
"He'd be so busted by Mark, that's why. He'd get kicked out of the program and sent back home." Ryan replied.
"He'd get kicked out because of a couple of simple pranks?" Justin raised his eyebrow.
"I wouldn't call those simple. I mean whoever is doing this- and don't jump to conclusions Tai- has to be pretty damn smart to pull all of this off." Justin voiced his opinion.
"What do you mean?" McKenzie asked him.
"Well, think about it. They must be timing all of this just right. Like, how they got into Tai's room and stole his clothes. Or how they returned them without Tai noticing. Or the paint. I seriously don't think Tai would go a whole day and not notice a can of blue paint on his door." Ryan nodded.
"That makes sense. Same with the stairs. I know for a _fact_ that the fishing line wasn't there when I first went downstairs. Also, why did Tai trip? Mimi was in front of him. Therefore, she should have been the one to trip." Ryan concluded.
"Watch what you say, Harman." Mimi said threateningly.
"He's actually got a good point. That line would have had to been shot out across the stairs to trip Tai, but not Meems." McKenzie pointed out.
"Well, whatever's going on will just have to ride out until tomorrow." Justin said as we walked into the building.
"What makes you think this will all quit tomorrow?" I asked him. He looked at me and smirked.
"Isn't it obvious, Tai? Someone's trying to sabotage your chance to do a shoot." He explained and led us to his apartment.
"Why would anyone want to do that?" I asked as I opened the door. Suddenly something launched at me and landed on my face.
"Guys, what just happened?" I addressed my friends. McKenzie walked up and licked my face.
"Looks like you got hit in the face with a chocolate cream pie. Tastes pretty good too." She replied and started taking finger-fulls off my face.
"STOP THAT!" I whined and backed away from her.
"Well, I take back the sabotage your chances idea. Now I think whoever's doing all of this is just making fun of you." Justin said as he handed me a towel.
"Hey, check out the pie tin!" Ryan got our attention and handed it to me.
"Give up yet? Or you thirsty for more?" I read off the bottom of the pie.
"Whoa. Whoever's behind all this is _really_ good at timing stuff. Like, how did he know that Tai would be the first one to walk into the door?" Mimi asked.
"What makes you think a guy is doing this?" Justin answered with a question.
"Because a girl would have more creative ideas. Besides, what girl would do anything to someone as cute as Tai?" McKenzie replied. I looked over at Ryan and saw him glaring at McKenzie.
"Looks like someone's jealous." I whispered to Justin and tilted my head towards Ryan. Justin grinned and turned back to Mimi.
"Ok, so _he_ is too good at his timing to be coincidence. He must be practically following us around and watching Tai." He said as he sat down.
"Wouldn't we see him though if that was the case?" I asked him. Mimi shook her head.
"We would, unless he's using the passages." She said thoughtfully.
"What passages?" I questioned her.
"There are different places used for shortcuts. This place is built kind of like Hogwarts. You know, the school in Harry Potter. So maybe he's using the shortcuts to escape before we can see who he is." McKenzie suggested.
"Who knows? All I know is that you just better watch yourself Tai. No telling what this guy is capable of." Justin warned me.
"You've got a good point. But whatever, I can take this guy." I said cockily. Justin grinned and turned on the TV, causing everyone to stop worrying about it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Everything seemed quiet after the pie thing. Well ok, maybe not quiet, but normal. There hadn't been any more pranks since then. And I was ecstatic about it.
"Ha, what'd I tell ya? I knew he'd get bored with me soon." I said happily as we walked down to dinner.
"I wouldn't be too sure, Tai. I bet he's planning to get you later on tonight, when you're least expecting it." Ryan replied and sat down on a bench.
"Don't you _dare_ jinx me, Harman. Besides, what would he do?" I said and started helping myself to food.
"For once, Ryan's got a good point though." Justin cut in.
"Yea, for once I....hey, what do you mean for once?!" Ryan exclaimed as he realized what Justin was implying. Justin rolled his eyes and started eating.
"If all of this ends tomorrow, I'll be so glad. I can't stand the blue hair." I told them.
"I think it looks great, Tai." McKenzie complimented me. I grinned and glanced and Ryan. 'He's glaring again.' I thought to myself. Justin saw this too and changed the subject.
"What's everybody up to tomorrow?" he asked casually.
"I have a shoot." I replied.
"Meems and I are going to train the younger kids. Like your sister and her age kids." McKenzie said.
"What about you, Ryan?" Justin asked the young brunette. He didn't reply as he continued to toy with his food.
"Ryan?" Mimi called. Finally McKenzie sighed in exasperation and leaned over the table.
"Earth to Ryan Harman!" she said and waved her hand in front of his face. He looked up slowly and jumped. He fell out of his seat and landed on the floor. People around us started laughing as Justin pulled him up by the neck of his shirt.
"What?" he asked.
"You are such a dork you know that?" McKenzie said and started talking to Mimi again. His face faltered a bit but then turned into a look of anger.
"Bitch." He murmured under his breath.
"Anyway, what are you doing tomorrow, Ry?" Justin asked him. He shrugged and glared at McKenzie.
"I don't know. I'll probably just hang out at my apartment." He replied and shifted his eyes to his plate.
"Think someone's got a crush on Kenzie?" Justin whispered into my ear. I nodded and took a bite of food. Then I choked on it. I started coughing and gagging.
"Tai, what's going on?" Justin asked. I didn't respond and bolted from the table. I knew Justin and Ryan had followed anyway. I ran into the bathroom and continued coughing.
"Damn, what's he choking on?" Ryan asked as I clawed at my throat. Then an idea struck me. I stopped coughing long enough to stick my finger down my throat and threw up. That's when I caught a glimpse of something small and shiny.
"A marble?" I said as I gasped to get my breath back. Ryan peered over my shoulder and shuddered.
"Gross." He said softly and backed away.
"A bit squeamish are we?" Justin teased and walked over to me.
"How the hell did you choke on a marble?" he asked me. I shrugged and washed everything but the marble down the sink.
"It was in my food." I replied.
"Told you. The same person who's pulling pranks on you caught you off- guard." Ryan said and walked back over to us.
"Yea, but that time he went too far. What if Tai had actually choked on the marble?"
"Justin, I did choke on the marble." I sweatdropped.
"I know, but I mean, what if you didn't get it back out? What if it had cut off your air or something? Tai, something as simple as a marble could have killed you!" Justin said fiercely. We started walking back to the eating hall.
"He's right, Tai. Someone's really out to get you." Ryan added. I nodded and suddenly felt light-headed. I'm not sure what happened, but I didn't even feel myself walking anymore.
"Justin grab him!" Ryan yelled. Justin ran forward and caught me before my head hit the ground.
"You ok?" he asked. I nodded slowly and sat up.
"I'm fine. Just sort of light-headed." I replied and watched everything spin in front of me.
"Sure whatever. Ryan, help me here." He instructed. They placed their arms under me and basically dragged me back to the table where I collapsed again.
"Tai, are you ok?" Mimi asked as she jumped over next to me.
"What happened guys?" McKenzie asked us.
"He choked on a marble. We think the same person pranking him put it in there." Ryan explained as he handed me a glass of water.
"A marble?" Mimi repeated. I placed the marble in her hand.
"That's just going too far. He could have choked to death." McKenzie stated as she rubbed my back in small circles.
"I don't think whoever's pulling all this shit wants him dead. Just out of the way. But that is going too far. I vote we tell Mark or somebody." Justin suggested. The other 3 nodded in agreement.
"Guys, if he's just trying to stop my shoot, it'll be over by tomorrow." I said.
"True, but what if it doesn't stop there? What if they want to totally sabotage your career?" McKenzie said.
"It probably won't."
"Probably isn't good enough, Tai." Mimi backed her up.
"It's fine guys! Quit worrying!"
"I don't care what you say, Tai. I'm telling Mark." Ryan said and got up from the table.
"Ryan, wait a second!" I called after him, but he was already out of hearing distance.
"You sure you're ok?" Mimi asked me.
"Yea, I'm ok. I think I'm just gonna go to bed. Catch up with you guys later." I said and got up from the table.
"Ok, you need to visit Mark right after breakfast so don't forget about that. And I'll re-dye your clothes tonight." Mimi said to me.
"Thanks Meems. See ya later." I walked away from the table just as Ryan started coming back.
"Stupid nark." I whirled around. But no one was behind me. 'Must be even more tired then I thought.' I thought to myself and walked into my apartment. I walked into my bedroom and collapsed on my..........floor?
"What the hell?" I sat up. My bed was gone!
"Now how the _hell_ does someone get rid of a bed without anyone noticing?" I asked myself and walked down to Justin's apartment. He and the others were still down at dinner. 'Oh well, I'll catch up with them tomorrow.' I thought as I flopped down on his couch and drifted off.
*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tai. Tai, wake up." Someone poked my arm. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.
"Is it morning already?" I sat up and yawned.
"Yup. Mind telling me why you're in my apartment and on my couch?" Justin asked me as he sat down.
"When I went to bed last night, I realized I didn't _have_ a bed." He raised an eyebrow.
"They took your bed?" he said doubtfully.
"They took my bed. Although, it's probably back by now." I replied and got off the couch.
"Let's go look." He got off the couch and walked down to my apartment. He walked into my bedroom and suddenly stopped.
"What's the holdup?" I asked and looked around him. And screamed.
"NO WAY!" I yelled and attacked my bed.
"WHAT THE HELL? ANYTHING BUT HELLO KITTY!" I shouted and started ripping off the covers.
"Hello Kitty? Now I think they're just trying to embarrass you." He said and started helping me.
"I thought I escaped that damn kitty!" I growled under my breath.
"Huh?"
"My sister used to be _obsessed_ with Hello Kitty. All over her half of the room." I opened the window and prepared to throw the covers out the window.
"Wait a sec, Tai. These are my sister's bed sheets." He stated as he examined them closer.
"Tess?"
"Yup. Because here's the nail polish stain she got on them when she tried painting her nails." He pointed at a purple stain.
"So, do you think Tess has my covers?" I asked him.
"Worth a try. Let's go." He led me back to his apartment with Hello Kitty in tow.
"Where has Tess been anyway? She hasn't been in your apartment lately." I asked him.
"She's been spending the night in one of her friends' apartment. Besides, 'You get annoying after a while.'" He mimicked her.
"She said that?"
"Yup, but what could I expect? I'm just the older brother/parental figure." He walked into Tess's room.
"Um.....I don't think these are yours are they?" he asked me. I looked inside and launched myself at the bed.
"AGH! These _are_ my covers. But someone trashed them!" I exclaimed and examined my covers. They _used_ to be dark blue, and they still were. However, now they had words like, "loser" and "wimp" printed in red and neon orange paint.
"This is not cool. I refuse, absolutely _refuse_ to sleep in these." I informed him.
"Whatever, we don't have time. Breakfast, now." He said and dragged me out of his apartment and downstairs.
"Hey guys, about time you got here. Where was he?" McKenzie asked Justin.
"My couch." Mimi gave me a strange look.
"My bed was gone when I went upstairs last night." I said. More strange looks. Justin explained everything to them.
"Hello Kitty?" Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"Tess's bed sheets. Then mine were in her room and totally sabotaged."
"Oh well, we'll fix it later. You have a shoot today, just remember that." Mimi reminded me.
"I remember, don't worry." I started to eat breakfast. Everything was normal for once. Ryan and McKenzie were arguing. Today's subject was about which anime was better: Dragon Ball Z or BeyBlade. Mimi and Justin were talking about the weekend. I glanced at my watch and sighed.
"Hey guys, I better go. I'll see you all later, I'm already late." I got up from my spot and started walking.
"See ya. Take the shortcut through the courtyard it's short." Mimi called after me and resumed her discussion with Justin. That actually rhymed. I walked outside and enjoyed myself.
"It's too quiet. There's got to be something up!" I cried out as I got my foot stuck in something. The next thing I knew, I was hanging upside down from the flagpole.
"HEY! SOMEBODY GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
"This bites." I murmured to myself. I looked at my watch again. Damn, 10 minutes late already. Then I felt something in my pocket.
"Thank god Justin left his cell in his pocket." I dialed a number as the blood began to rush to my head.
"Hello?"
"Mimi, go outside into the courtyard. Now."
"Tai, what's going on?"
"Just go! Bye." I hung up and zipped the phone into my pocket. I watched the doors and soon saw my friends come outside.
"Tai, how'd you get up there?" Mimi yelled as she ran towards the pole.
"How should I know? I stepped on a rope or something and now I'm stuck!"
" It's like something in one of those cartoons." Ryan said in awe.
"RYAN JUST SHUT UP!" Mimi and McKenzie said at the same time.
"How do you think we should get him down?" Justin asked.
"Very slowly and carefully?" I suggested.
"Hey, why don't we pull the flag down? Look closer." McKenzie pointed at the rope. Sure enough I was attached to the flag itself.
"I'm on it." Justin said as he started to bring the flag down. When I was close enough to the ground, he untied me and I jumped down.
"Tai, you better go. You are _so_ late. I'll come with you." Mimi said and dragged me to the photo room.
"Mark, sorry we're late." I apologized to him as we burst into the room.
"What was the hold-up guys?" he asked as he led me over to the camera guy.
"I got attached to the flag pole." I said and explained what happened.
"Ryan told me some weird things were going on. I'll fix it tomorrow. But now, we need to start. Go put these on." He threw me a pair of jeans and a tank top. I looked at the shirt and looked at him.
"Mark? You might want to look at the shirt." I showed him. Instead of the white Abercrombie & Fitch label, it had asshole &......well, you know.
"Well.....I didn't see that there this morning. But luckily, I have another one." He handed me the second one and took the first. As soon as I was dressed, I walked back over to where Mark was talking to the camera guy. Except, the camera guy was a 16-year-old kid.
"Good, you're back. Tai, I want you to meet Jason. He's one of the best in the photography program." Mark introduced me.
"Nice to meet you." I shook his hand.
"Likewise. You ready to start?" he asked.
"Yup. Tell me what to do." I grinned. He returned the smile and walked over to me. He started positioning me until he was satisfied.
"Perfect. Hold it." He said and shot the picture. He frowned and shot it again.
"What's up?" I asked him.
"That's weird. I thought I had a full roll of film. But it says it's empty. Oh well." He shrugged and pulled a new roll out of his pocket.
"Try this again." He shot the picture and grinned. And the shoot went on for some time, perfectly ordinary.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*
The end of the day came sooner then expected. And I welcomed it with open arms. I didn't even bother with dinner and went straight to my room. As I entered the main area I ran into Danny again.
"Hey Tai, anymore pranks show up today?" he laughed at me.
"Piss off, Dalton." I said and walked towards my room.
"Whatever, Kamiya. But let me say this. You make a crummy flag." He said and shoved a photo under my nose.
"HEY! GIVE ME THAT!" He swiped it away before I could reach it.
"And miss the opportunity to totally mortify you? I think not. Sleep tight." He said and walked away laughing. At me.
"Grr.....evil jackass." I growled after him and flopped down on my bed.
"Looks like Mimi fixed my bed for me. I'll thank her later." I got up and wandered over to my dresser.
"Looks like she dyed my clothes back to normal too. Thank you god." I said and pulled off my shirt and jeans. Screw sleeping in pajamas, it's too hot. 'I'm definitely going to have to tell Matt about this week. He'll never believe it. Plus he'll laugh like a hyena.' I made a mental note and climbed into bed.
"If I can survive this week, I can survive anything." I thought aloud and drifted off into a peaceful, normal sleep.
****************************************************************************
This is the LOOOOOOOOOOONGEST chapter I have ever written for anything! 25 pages of model pranks. Like I said before, not sure when I'll update next, but it will be a chapter in Yama's POV.
Matt: About time too. Thought you forgot about me.
Ryamon: We tried.
Ryamon! Shut up! Anyway, that's all for now people. I'm leaving in..*checks time* 3 ½ hours. Wish me luck! See ya laterz!
PA and DA: Thanks! I didn't think I was talented. I had fun making up the emails. And why are you up at 3 in the morning anyway?
vialana: school? Now? Where do you live? Danny's trouble. He's modeled after a real guy who annoys me. So I made him the jerk in here. I don't know why I had Mimi and Justin together, but it's cool. I'm glad u like the plot. And I actually updated BEFORE I left. =D
Sillie: I don't like Danny either.....but oh well, when the story's done, I can burn him and bury him next to Kei. *evil grin*
Aero-Grrl: He does tend to be a bully magnet. Maybe it's cause he's cute and they're jealous. Glad you think it's cute.
Fell: you do now? What's going on then? Lol.
nEo-cHaN: yep, 2 weeks. I'll try to update while I'm down there. And as for the last part....no comment. But you're not exactly right. =D
CCPheonix: Tai's not afraid of Danny. Unfortunately, Matt can't kill him if he's on a different continent. But be my guest. You can kill him when this story is done. Thanks, I know I'll win. And enjoy myself. Tiger wants food, Tiger gets food right now. XD
Gay Witch: glad you liked MB and that you'll like this. As for a happy ending...not in this story I plan on making this a trilogy or whatever it's called. That's where the BIG happy ending will be.
Angel Chick: Thanks. Updated right now.
Ok, wow, I must be more excited to leave then I thought.
Ryamon: without the comments, just the chapter itself, you wrote 25 pages. o_0
Yep, so I hope you people are happy. Even though I'm not really happy with it. But you decide what you think. Enjoy yourself. I don't know when I'll be able to update next. Oh, and I added a key to this story.
Key: "Ryamon"- talking. 'Ryamon'- thoughts. _Ryamon_- empathizing words.
~*~*~*~*~*~- time change
Tai's POV
**************************************************************************** ** I didn't really get much sleep last night, and it wasn't just because of the time change. I know my eyes are probably swollen now from being a wuss and crying the whole night. I don't even want to get out of my bed today, and I don't want interruptions from anybody. Unfortunately, Mimi had a different idea.
"Hey Tai. Time to get up." She said cheerfully as she bounced into my room. I groaned and pulled the comforter over my face.
"Go away." I moaned and closed my sore eyes.
"No, get up." She instructed me and ripped off the covers. I curled up and buried my face into my pillow.
"Mimi, just leave me alone." I shot back. She sat on my bed and pulled my face out of my pillow and did a double take.
"What's wrong?" she asked me. I shook my head and shrugged.
"Look that bad huh?" I replied and sat up. She nodded and smiled sadly.
"Home sick?" she asked me. I shook my head again.
"Not exactly."
"Then what's up?" she asked in confusement.
"Matt sick."
"Matt sick?" she raised her eyebrow.
"Yea. I just miss him so much." I replied as my eyes watered again. She sighed and hugged my shoulders.
"Three months is a long time. But you'll see him soon enough." She reassured me.
"Sure."
"Oh come on. You'll be plenty busy here and those three months will go by like that." She snapped her fingers.
"Yea. Guess you're right." I gave her a small smile. Her grin grew wider.
"Now there's the Tai I know." She said happily and got off the bed.
"C'mon, champ. Mark wants to see you this morning." I shook my head and followed her out of the room.
"Tai, I meant _after_ you change clothes." She reminded me. I looked down and realized I was only in my boxers. I turned around and headed back into my room.
"Aren't those Matt's boxers?" she asked me as I opened the drawers in the dresser.
"What's it to you?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Nothing, just thought I would ask." She said carelessly. Then my mind processed what she had just said.
"How would _you_ know what Matt's boxers look like?" I asked accusingly.
"Because I've seen them before." My eyes widened to about the size of dinner plates.
"WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING AT MY BOYFRIEND'S BOXERS?!?!?" I yelled and glared at her. She just shook her head.
"You are so overprotective, you know that?" she said.
"I DON'T CARE!!! WHY HAVE YOU SEEN HIS BOXERS???" I demanded.
"If you must know, it was an accident." She rolled her eyes.
"How do you see someone's boxers on accident?" I asked as I slipped my shirt off of my head.
"He missed school one day so I decided to check up on him. And when he answered the door, he was wearing those boxers." She pointed at the boxers I was wearing.
"Ok. Just making sure you weren't sleeping with him or something."
"Of course not." She replied. I flashed her a grin and went back to looking for some jeans.
"Question is.....why do you have Matt's boxers?" she said slyly as color rose to my cheeks.
"That's really none of your business Mimi, so can you leave now?"
"Why? Too embarrassed now?" she teased me.
"That, and I want to get dressed and I really don't think you need to watch me change. Now leave!" I commanded her.
"Aye aye, Captain." She mumbled under her breath and shut the door. I started looking around for my pants again. That is, until I realized I couldn't find any.
"What the hell?" I said out aloud and started emptying my drawers and closet.
"Where the hell are all my clothes?" I started to panic now. This is not cool.
"KUSO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Watch your language, Tai." Mimi's voice came through the door. I walked across the room and opened it.
"Mimi, all my clothes are gone." I exclaimed as I poked my head out the door. Her look contorted into an expression of amusement and confusement. (A/n: I know confusement isn't a word, but hey...this is ME we're talking about here. XD)
"What do you mean your clothes are gone?"
"Just that, all of my clothes are gone! Not in the closet, not in the dresser, gone!" I leaned against the doorframe.
"What am I suppose to do now?" I moaned.
"Hang on." She replied and took off down the hallway.
"Mimi wait a sec!" I yelled at her retreating figure.
"Damn women." I cursed under my breath and headed back inside to wait. I started looking for anything, even a clean pair of boxers to wear. But they were also gone. I started to walk back towards the door when Mimi burst in suddenly, hitting me right in the face.
"OWCHIE!" I cried and brought my hand up to my face. My nose had started bleeding.
"Oh my gosh! Tai I'm SO sorry, I had no clue that you were standing right there!" Mimi exclaimed and entered the room.
"Well, that's why _normal_ people knock." Justin said from behind her.
"Oh, who asked you?" she snorted and snapped her fingers.
"Tai, get dressed. Justin, you go downstairs." She directed us.
"You'd think we were in the army or something." Justin whispered under his breath. I grinned and shrugged. He grinned back and handed me some clothes.
"Put these on until we find yours. We'll meet you downstairs." He said with a wave and walked towards the door.
"Actually, we'll meet _you_ downstairs. Mark wants to see him this morning." Mimi cut in.
"Then why are you going?"
"Because I'm his trainer." Was the reply.
"Yea, but I'm the boyfriend." He murmured and pouted. Mimi giggled and kissed him.
"Oh shut up. You know I love you anyway. Now go, we need to let Tai get dressed and his nose to stop bleeding." She said as she pushed Justin out the door. I shook my head at the closed door.
"Those two are so weird sometimes." I said to myself and got dressed. I walked out of the hallway and found it empty.
"Damn it. She said she'd wait for me." I cursed at her and started walking around. Wait, Mimi lives in this hallway.
"Number 182. She better be here or I'll have to hurt her." I said to myself and knocked on the door. I knocked again, with no response. I knocked once more.
"HOLD YOUR ASS!" A voice came from inside and the door swung open.
"Um....is Mimi around?" I asked her.
"Yea, hang on, Tai." She said and walked off. 'How does she know my name and I don't know hers?' I thought as I stepped inside the apartment. It looked a lot different then my apartment. Posters of music and movie stars all over the front room, teen magazines on the coffee table, and pop music blaring from the stereo in the kitchen.
"Oh, hey Tai. I didn't think you were done yet." Mimi said as she came out of a bedroom.
"Um, yea. Unlike you, I don't take ½ hour to put on jeans and a shirt." I said and looked around some more.
"Nice apartment."
"Thanks. Tyce and I decorated ourselves." She said as she put on her shoes.
"Who's Tyce?" I asked.
"I'm Tyce. Tyce Moore." The girl who answered the door replied.
"And you knew me how?" I asked curiously. She shrugged slightly.
"Mimi." Was the given answer. Tyce seemed nice, with her blonde hair and green eyes. She had an accent though and I couldn't figure out what it was. And Mimi didn't give me the chance to because the next thing I knew, she was dragging me out of her apartment.
"We'll see you later, Tyce." Mimi called over her shoulder. Tyce waved and shut the door. Mimi continued to pull me along behind her.
"Mimi, I _can_ walk you know." I reminded her and gently pried her off of my arm.
"Sorry about that. You know me, get too carried away in things." She replied and turned down a hallway.
"Tyce isn't from around here is she?" I said randomly.
"How'd you know?" she asked me. I shrugged and walked into the elevator.
"She doesn't sound like she's been here for long."
"She's been here for about 2 or 3 years. But she was born and raised in London, England. So she has the British accent." Mimi explained as the elevator doors opened again on the ground floor.
"Why does Mark want to see me?" I asked her as we walked down the new hallway. She shrugged slightly.
"I honestly have no idea. But while you're in there, you should probably tell him about your stuff being gone." She said as we entered Mark's office. She knocked on the door and opened it.
"Morning Mark." Mimi greeted him and I waved. He looked up from his desk and grinned.
"Morning guys. Sleep well I hope?" he said as he put away his papers.
"Yea pretty good." I replied while Mimi glared at me.
"Actually Mark, Tai got his stuff taken yesterday." Mimi informed him. He looked up in surprise.
"What stuff?"
"Just my clothes. I went to get some for today and they were all gone." I explained to him.
"How odd. Nothing like that has ever happened before." He said thoughtfully.
"Well, if they don't turn up by tomorrow, then I'll think of something." He said. I nodded and shrugged.
"Now, for why I brought you here in the first place. Obviously you know that you're here to model. And as a model, you have to model for different magazine ads and random pictures for the A&F catalogue." Mark started off.
"I remember Mark. What's your point exactly?" I asked him.
"You're one of those kinds of people who like to get right to things. I like that. Anyway, my point is, you have a photo shoot for the catalogue on Friday." Mimi looked a bit shocked.
"But Mark, don't you think that's kind of soon? I mean, it's already Wednesday." Mimi said.
"I think he's ready. What do you think Tai?" Mark turned his attention to me.
"I say let's go for it." I replied and grinned.
"Excellent. So, Mimi can you work with him for the next two days?" Mark asked her.
"Um.....sure." she said uncertainly.
"Great! Ok, so Tai, come back to my office on Friday and I'll take you down to your shoot." Mark said and stood up.
"Sounds good to me." I replied and stood up as well. (A/n: did I ever say he sat down? o_0)
"Very good. Now what do you say that we head down and have some breakfast?" he suggested and walked out of his office.
"I say that's the best thing I've heard all day." I said and followed him with Mimi following me.
"Tai are you sure you want to do something like that so soon?" Mimi caught up with me. I shrugged and grinned.
"Yea, why not? Not that big of a deal, Meems." I replied as we walked into the eating hall.
"Not that big of a deal? Tai, this is a _very_ big deal. I just don't know if you're ready to handle something like that." She sighed and sat down on a bench.
"Who cares? I'll learn." I gave her a goofy grin in hopes to cheer her up. She only shook her head and looked around. I started looking around also.
"Holy cow, are these all models?" I asked in awe.
"Of course not. Some of them are models, some are photographers, and some are magazine and catalogue editors. In training though, just like you." She said monotonously as she continued to look around.
"Are you looking for someone in particular?" I asked her. She jumped out of her dreamlike state.
"What'd you ask?" she blinked at me. Sweatdrop.
"I _said_ looking for someone?"
"Yea. He said he'd be down here."
"Justin?" I asked her. She rolled her eyes.
"No Tai, Santa Clause. Yes Justin!" she went back to looking for him. Suddenly I spotted him.
"OY! JUSTIN! YOUR GIRLFRIEND WANTS YOU OVER HERE SO SHE CAN SNOG YOU!" I yelled across the room at Justin. Laughter filled the air. And if looks could kill, Mimi would have murdered and buried me 12 times.
"Didn't know you knew how to use British lingo, mate." Justin said cheekily and sat down next to Mimi, who by the way had gone a brilliant chrinsolm color. (A/n: I can't spell and my spell check bites munkys. Forgive me!)
"Is that a new shade of blush, Meems?" Justin asked her innocently. Then we both cracked up.
"Tai, you do realize I will get you back for this." She hissed at me as more people laughed at the scene.
"Makes you love me all the more huh?" I grinned sweetly while Justin continued to laugh his ass off.
"I hate you both." Justin stopped laughing.
"Why do you hate me? I didn't do anything!" he exclaimed.
"You were laughing at me." She said pointedly.
"SO? It was funny, what'd you expect me to do?"
"Pretend that it never happened!"
"You know, I would have......but this is better!" he said cheerfully. Her only response was a growl and what sounded like "I'm not talking to you." He just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to me.
"So what'd Mark want?" he asked as he started in on his food.
"Talking about the model shoot I have on Friday." He choked on his orange juice.
"Already?" he gasped out.
"Well, yea apparently."
"Damn, Mark must really like you. I don't think I got my first shoot until about 2 weeks after I got here. And here you are getting one after 2 days!" he said, highly amazed.
"Only because he did a modeling contest for A&F in Japan. He won, and so Mark thought he'd be perfect for drafting." Mimi concluded.
"I thought you weren't talking to us." Justin raised his eyebrow. She growled again and ignored him.
"Well, Mark must think you're really good if you have a shoot already."
"Yea, I guess. That's kind of cool." I shrugged.
"Don't you sound all enthusiastic about it." Justin said sarcastically.
"Well, I don't know. What exactly I am suppose to do?"
"What are you modeling for?"
"The catalogue, I think."
"Then you have it easy. All you do is go down there and they practically place you in want position they want. Dude, you are so lucky!" Justin ranted on.
"If you say so, I don't know." I shrugged and continued eating.
"Don't worry about it." He replied with a grin.
"Don't worry about what?" a new voice entered our conversation. I looked behind me and saw a mess of blonde hair.
"Never mind. Where have you been anyway?" Justin said and picked up his sister.
"She was with me, Justin. Sorry about that." McKenzie replied for the little girl as she walked up to us. Justin just waved his hand and brushed it off.
"You weren't giving Kenzie gray hair were you?" he sternly asked Tess.
"No, why would I do that?" she said innocently. He shook his head and looked at McKenzie for a different answer.
"She's no trouble at all. Really Justin, I think you over-react about her sometimes." McKenzie said to him. He rolled his eyes and Tess stuck her tongue out at him.
"So where's Ryan?" Justin asked as McKenzie sat down.
"You know how he is before a shoot. If he even tries to eat anything-"
"It comes right back up." He finished for her.
"Does he really get that nervous?" I asked warily. McKenzie turned and just realized I was there.
"Oh hi, Tai. Didn't see ya there. And yes, he does get that nervous. He doesn't handle stress well." She said in one sentence.
"Then why is he a model in the first place?" I asked.
"Actually, he first came here for the photography program." She started out.
"But Mark had a different idea. So he's now a model." Justin finished for her.
"But he totally hates the shoots. Well, not really the shoots themselves, but just all the pressure and stress before them." Mimi added in.
"Sad. So where is he right now?" I asked them.
"Probably his training room." McKenzie replied.
"Training room?" I echoed back to her.
"Yea, his training room. It's where he meditates and escapes reality. Training his mind, really." She explained. She looked up and smiled.
"On the other hand, maybe not right now. RYAN!" she yelled to get his attention. I just stared at her and poked Justin in the arm.
"Is she always this odd?" I whispered in his ear. He shook his head and grinned slightly.
"Nah, she just has a thing for him."
"She likes him?"
"Yup. And he's the only one who doesn't know about it." He replied as Ryan sat down.
"Decided to join us for once?" Justin greeted him as he slid in next to McKenzie. He gave a small smile and shrugged.
"No, I couldn't concentrate. Danny was in the weight room next to my training room, doing anything possible to wreck my focus." He said.
"So why not tell him to bug off?" I suggested.
"Nah, he'd kick my ass easily." He shook his head and sighed.
"How you holding up, Ry?" Mimi asked him.
"I'm ok. Really." He replied, even though his voice was shaking.
"Whatever. We all know how you are before a shoot." McKenzie said teasingly.
"Shut up McKenzie. Just because you're little Ms. 'Look at me because I told you to' doesn't mean that the rest of the world is like that."
"That _really_ didn't make sense." She raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever." He shot back and took a drink of Justin's orange juice.
"Get your own." Justin exclaimed and grabbed the glass back while Ryan pouted.
"Aw, come on Just, I need something to calm my nerves." He whined.
"Ryan, you've been doing this for almost a year now. You shouldn't be nervous about it anymore."
"I know, but I can't help it!" he whined again. Justin placed another glass in one of Ryan's hands and the pitcher in the other.
"There ya go. Do it yourself, lazy bum." Justin said to him. Ryan glared at him and turned his attention to me.
"So, heard you got a shoot." He said casually while sipping at his glass.
"Yup, scheduled for Friday." Ryan nodded, then did a double take.
"Say wha?"
"Yup. That's what Mark told me."
"How badly did you suck up to him?" Ryan grinned.
"GAH! I DIDN'T SUCK UP! WHY IS EVERYONE ASKING ME THAT?" I yelled suddenly. Everyone burst out laughing.
"It's just funny to think that you did." Ryan shrugged.
"I didn't ok?"
"All right, whatever you say." He looked down at his watch.
"I better be going. See ya all at lunch." He said and got to his feet.
"I'll come with you. You coming, Tai?" Mimi asked me. I nodded and got up too.
"Might as well see what I'm getting myself into." I replied.
"See you later." Justin said. I waved and turned around. I walked over to where Ryan was waiting for me.
"I thought you didn't like eating before a shoot." I stated as I saw a couple of pieces of toast in his hand.
"I don't." he replied slowly.
"RYAN HARMAN I'M GOING TO GET YOU!" McKenzie's voice sounded throughout the hall.
"I just enjoy hearing that." He grinned and started biting into a piece.
"Ryan, did you steal her breakfast again?" Mimi asked as she walked out of the hall.
"Maybe." He said innocently.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and walked along the halls. We followed her around the building chatting about nothing really. We were climbing up the stairs when I suddenly tripped and fell.
"Tai! Are you ok?" Mimi asked as she walked back towards me.
"Yea, I'm ok. Ouch!" I winced as I tried to stand up.
"Maybe not. What did I trip over?" I wondered out loud.
"Hey guys, look at this." Ryan said and lifted up an invisible string. Except, you could see it when he was holding it up. Oh, you know what I mean!
"I tripped over fishing line?" I said curiously.
"Yea. Weird thing is, this wasn't here when I came downstairs for breakfast." Ryan said.
"Can you stand up?" Mimi asked me. I slowly got to my feet.
"It hurts a little though, but nothing's damaged badly." I replied.
"It's like someone was waiting for Tai to come up here so they could trip him on purpose." Ryan commented thoughtfully. 'This guy kind of reminds me of Izzy.' I thought to myself.
"Who would want to do that?" Mimi asked. Ryan shrugged.
"Who knows. But we better get going. If anything else happens to Tai, then we should probably tell Mark." He said and started off down the halls again.
"Can you walk on your own?" Mimi asked. I took a few steps and nodded.
"Let's go." I said to her.
"Damn it!" I stopped in my spot and looked at Mimi.
"Did you say something?" I asked her. She shook her head.
"No, why?" she questioned. I looked around and shook my head.
"Never mind. Must be hearing things." I said slowly and started walking again. We walked into the room and saw Ryan talking to Mark and the camera guy.
"Hey guys, I didn't know you were coming." Mark greeted us.
"Yea, Tai wanted to see what he was doing and I just thought Ryan would like to have someone around. You know how he is sometimes." Mimi said as she sat down on the couch.
"True, very true. Well, just sit back and what the heck happened to your ankle, Tai?" he changed the subject.
"I tripped on the stairs." I replied and eased myself on the couch.
"You should probably put ice on that. Let me go get you some." He volunteered and walked away.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Mimi asked again.
"Don't worry about me. I've had worse injuries then this." I replied as Mark came back.
"Here you go. Now, just sit back and watch." Mark said as he handed me the ice bag.
"Thanks Mark." He turned around and walked back to the camera guy and Ryan.
"Don't you think you should have told him that you tripped on a wire?" Mimi suggested.
"Nah, he doesn't need to worry about me. Besides, I think he has his hands full with Ryan." I smirked and pointed over to where he was. Ryan was on the verge of tears and Mark was arguing with the cameraman. But after all the struggle, they finally started the shoot. As I watched Ryan, I thought about how much I really wanted to do this. And how glad I am that I am doing this. Suddenly Ryan plopped down on the couch next to me.
"Are you already done?" I asked him.
"For right now. I'll probably have to come back in a few days. You guys wanna leave?" he asked as he got off the couch again. Mimi and I followed in suit and walked out of the room.
"So now where should we go?" I asked them as we wandered around the halls.
"I have an idea." Mimi replied and pulled out a bright pink cell phone. And when I say bright, I mean _bright_!
"Hey, what're you doing? Yea, we just left. Is Kenzie still with you? Uh huh. How about we go to your room, as in all of us? Yea. Ok, see ya." She hung up her phone.
"Going to Justin's?" Ryan asked.
"Yup." Was the reply given as we headed towards our destination.
"Hey, I'll meet you two there. I need to look for something in my room." I told them and headed down my hall.
"Ok, see ya." Mimi called behind me. I walked into my apartment and looked in my dresser.
"What? All my clothes are back." I said. 'That's really weird.' I thought as I walked into my bathroom. As soon as I opened the door however, a bucket of something dropped on my head. I yelped in surprise and pulled the bucket off. I finished up in the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Then I screamed.
"OH MY GOD!" I yelled and looked at my reflection again.
"DAMN IT!" I yelled again and ran down to Justin's apartment. I didn't bother knocking and just ran into it.
"Tai, what's going on?" Justin asked me as he came out into the room followed by Ryan. Then his jaw dropped.
"What happened to your hair?" he asked me and started examining it.
"I walked into my bathroom and this bucket of blue paint dropped from the door and onto my head." I exclaimed. Ryan walked over and started looking too.
"You know, it actually looks kind of cool." He commented.
"Ryan. Shut up." Justin said as he tried to figure out how to get the blue out of my hair.
"No it does! It looks like he put blue gel into his hair and streaked it." He said. The girls then walked in. McKenzie stared at me for a bit.
"Have you always had blue streaks in your hair?" she asked me. Ryan gave me a look that clearly said, 'told-you-so'. Mimi gasped when she saw me.
"What happened?" she exclaimed.
"The old 'place a bucket of water on the door and wait for someone to walk in so it drops on their hair', except it was blue paint instead of water." Ryan said. Mimi raised an eyebrow.
"Ryan, sometimes you put too much detail into things." She sighed.
"Guys, what am I going to do?" I whined.
"Looks like you'll just have to wait for it to wash out. It will.....eventually." McKenzie told me. I groaned and hit my head against the wall.
"Why me?" I complained and slid into a chair. If I only knew what was to come.
*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day was filled with even more fiascoes then the day before. First of all, I don't think I really looked at all of my clothes carefully when I realized they were back. I woke up and started getting ready. When I opened the drawers to get my clothes, I almost died. It was then I realized someone had tie-dyed (no pun intended on my name) all my clothes in pink and purple.
"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" I moaned and walked down to Justin's with a set of clothes in my hand.
"Justin, open up, it's me." I hollered through the door. He answered the door still in his pajamas.
"What's going on?" he asked me.
"I got my clothes back." I started out as I walked inside.
"That's good." He yawned.
"Did I just wake you up?" I asked as that thought dawned on me.
"Uh huh. How'd you guess?" He blinked and sank onto his couch.
"Because you're still half asleep. Plus you have bed hair, so that kind of gives it away." He started patting down his hair then gave up.
"So would you like to tell me why you woke me up?" he stifled another yawn.
"One, it's almost time for breakfast. And two, look." I showed him my clothes. His eyes widened and he burst into laughter.
"It's not funny. What am I suppose to wear and how do I fix them?" I scolded him.
"I'll let you borrow something and Mimi will probably be able to fix it." He said and got off the couch.
"What makes you think she will be able to?" I asked him as I followed him into the bedroom.
"Because she once dyed her clothes pink and Mark told her that she couldn't do that. So she had to fix them." He explained as he rummaged through his closet, throwing me a shirt, jeans and a pair of socks.
"And you're _so_ on your own for boxers." He added.
"Don't worry about it. Those are the only thing _not_ pink and purple." I said and walked out the door.
"Thanks. Meet ya at breakfast." I said. He nodded and turned around, probably to go back to bed. Oh well, if that happens I'll send Mimi after him. I walked back to my apartment and walked in. Only to run right smack into Danny.
"Watch where you're going, pipsqueak." He said harshly.
"Excuse me? Pipsqueak?" I glared at him.
"Yep. Like I said Kamiya, one toe out of line, you will regret it." He hissed and pushed me aside and shut the door.
"Jackass." I murmured after him. I don't have time for this. I got dressed as fast as I could and walked down to breakfast.
"And you're wearing Justin's clothes again because......?" Mimi trailed off.
"Because my clothes are now girly tie-dye. Pink and purple. All of them expect my boxers." I replied and plopped down on the bench.
"Where is he anyway?" McKenzie asked.
"Probably went back to bed." I said and started eating.
"Or not." Ryan said as he looked up.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." Justin said as he sat down next to Mimi.
"Did you ask her about the clothes thing?" he asked me.
"OH! Hey Meems, do you think you could help me change all my clothes back so I don't have to keep wearing Justin's stuff?"
"Sure, we will later ok?" I nodded and looked around the hall. Everyone was busy eating and talking to their friends. Everyone except one person. Danny glared at me then mouthed what looked like, "one toe and you'll regret it." I growled at him under my breath.
"Who you growling at, T?" Mimi looked up and saw Danny flip me off. She sighed in disgust and rolled her eyes.
"Dumb jock strap model." She said. McKenzie burst into giggles, Ryan shook his head and Justin rolled his eyes.
"What?" I asked in shock.
"Danny models A&F boxers." Mimi explained.
"So we started saying he modeled jock straps too." Ryan added.
"I really didn't need to know that. Definitely an over-share." I groaned and finished my breakfast. After breakfast we decided to walk around the building since none of us had anything to do that day.
"Anyone want to go outside to the courtyard?" McKenzie suggested.
"Courtyard?" I repeated after her.
"Yup. Come on." She said and walked outside. Nice area really, with benches and grass and such. It also had a flagpole with the American flag and........oh no.
"Tai? Aren't those yours?" Mimi asked me as she looked up to the flagpole.
"Oh my gosh....." I muttered to myself. Not only was the American flag on the pole, waving underneath it were my Scooby Doo boxers. I looked around and at the door.
"Cover me." I told the others and started scaling the flagpole.
"Tai get down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" Mimi called after me. I sighed and hopped down.
"Then what do you suggest I do, leave them up there?"
"Actually, they add a nice touch."
"RYAN! SHUT UP!" everybody yelled at him.
"Hey, why don't we just bring the whole flag down? Then you can detach your boxers and put the flag back up." Justin suggested.
"You know, that's not a bad idea. Cover me again." I said and started pulling the flag down slowly.
"Tai, someone's coming. Hurry up!" Ryan called out. I hastily pulled my boxers off the pole and raised the flag back up.
"What are you lot up to?" that same mocking voice came from behind me. I whirled around and glared at him.
"What's it to you?" I sneered.
"Oh nothing." He said calmly. Then he looked at my hands.
"What's behind your back, Kamiya?" he asked.
"Um....wait, that's none of your business!" I yelled at him. He reached around and yanked my boxers out of my hand.
"Well, look what we have here. Up the flagpole were they?" he smiled cruelly.
"Kiss my ass!" he smirked and shook his head.
"You know, I'd love too but I can't. I must find the person responsible for this. That way I can congratulate them for such a perfect prank. Later losers!" he called out as he walked back inside the building.
"WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT A JOCK STRAP MODEL!" I hollered back at his retreating form.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Danny knew something about all of this." Mimi said as we started heading in the opposite direction.
"What makes you think he doesn't?" I asked her, still furious about the whole idea.
"He'd be so busted by Mark, that's why. He'd get kicked out of the program and sent back home." Ryan replied.
"He'd get kicked out because of a couple of simple pranks?" Justin raised his eyebrow.
"I wouldn't call those simple. I mean whoever is doing this- and don't jump to conclusions Tai- has to be pretty damn smart to pull all of this off." Justin voiced his opinion.
"What do you mean?" McKenzie asked him.
"Well, think about it. They must be timing all of this just right. Like, how they got into Tai's room and stole his clothes. Or how they returned them without Tai noticing. Or the paint. I seriously don't think Tai would go a whole day and not notice a can of blue paint on his door." Ryan nodded.
"That makes sense. Same with the stairs. I know for a _fact_ that the fishing line wasn't there when I first went downstairs. Also, why did Tai trip? Mimi was in front of him. Therefore, she should have been the one to trip." Ryan concluded.
"Watch what you say, Harman." Mimi said threateningly.
"He's actually got a good point. That line would have had to been shot out across the stairs to trip Tai, but not Meems." McKenzie pointed out.
"Well, whatever's going on will just have to ride out until tomorrow." Justin said as we walked into the building.
"What makes you think this will all quit tomorrow?" I asked him. He looked at me and smirked.
"Isn't it obvious, Tai? Someone's trying to sabotage your chance to do a shoot." He explained and led us to his apartment.
"Why would anyone want to do that?" I asked as I opened the door. Suddenly something launched at me and landed on my face.
"Guys, what just happened?" I addressed my friends. McKenzie walked up and licked my face.
"Looks like you got hit in the face with a chocolate cream pie. Tastes pretty good too." She replied and started taking finger-fulls off my face.
"STOP THAT!" I whined and backed away from her.
"Well, I take back the sabotage your chances idea. Now I think whoever's doing all of this is just making fun of you." Justin said as he handed me a towel.
"Hey, check out the pie tin!" Ryan got our attention and handed it to me.
"Give up yet? Or you thirsty for more?" I read off the bottom of the pie.
"Whoa. Whoever's behind all this is _really_ good at timing stuff. Like, how did he know that Tai would be the first one to walk into the door?" Mimi asked.
"What makes you think a guy is doing this?" Justin answered with a question.
"Because a girl would have more creative ideas. Besides, what girl would do anything to someone as cute as Tai?" McKenzie replied. I looked over at Ryan and saw him glaring at McKenzie.
"Looks like someone's jealous." I whispered to Justin and tilted my head towards Ryan. Justin grinned and turned back to Mimi.
"Ok, so _he_ is too good at his timing to be coincidence. He must be practically following us around and watching Tai." He said as he sat down.
"Wouldn't we see him though if that was the case?" I asked him. Mimi shook her head.
"We would, unless he's using the passages." She said thoughtfully.
"What passages?" I questioned her.
"There are different places used for shortcuts. This place is built kind of like Hogwarts. You know, the school in Harry Potter. So maybe he's using the shortcuts to escape before we can see who he is." McKenzie suggested.
"Who knows? All I know is that you just better watch yourself Tai. No telling what this guy is capable of." Justin warned me.
"You've got a good point. But whatever, I can take this guy." I said cockily. Justin grinned and turned on the TV, causing everyone to stop worrying about it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Everything seemed quiet after the pie thing. Well ok, maybe not quiet, but normal. There hadn't been any more pranks since then. And I was ecstatic about it.
"Ha, what'd I tell ya? I knew he'd get bored with me soon." I said happily as we walked down to dinner.
"I wouldn't be too sure, Tai. I bet he's planning to get you later on tonight, when you're least expecting it." Ryan replied and sat down on a bench.
"Don't you _dare_ jinx me, Harman. Besides, what would he do?" I said and started helping myself to food.
"For once, Ryan's got a good point though." Justin cut in.
"Yea, for once I....hey, what do you mean for once?!" Ryan exclaimed as he realized what Justin was implying. Justin rolled his eyes and started eating.
"If all of this ends tomorrow, I'll be so glad. I can't stand the blue hair." I told them.
"I think it looks great, Tai." McKenzie complimented me. I grinned and glanced and Ryan. 'He's glaring again.' I thought to myself. Justin saw this too and changed the subject.
"What's everybody up to tomorrow?" he asked casually.
"I have a shoot." I replied.
"Meems and I are going to train the younger kids. Like your sister and her age kids." McKenzie said.
"What about you, Ryan?" Justin asked the young brunette. He didn't reply as he continued to toy with his food.
"Ryan?" Mimi called. Finally McKenzie sighed in exasperation and leaned over the table.
"Earth to Ryan Harman!" she said and waved her hand in front of his face. He looked up slowly and jumped. He fell out of his seat and landed on the floor. People around us started laughing as Justin pulled him up by the neck of his shirt.
"What?" he asked.
"You are such a dork you know that?" McKenzie said and started talking to Mimi again. His face faltered a bit but then turned into a look of anger.
"Bitch." He murmured under his breath.
"Anyway, what are you doing tomorrow, Ry?" Justin asked him. He shrugged and glared at McKenzie.
"I don't know. I'll probably just hang out at my apartment." He replied and shifted his eyes to his plate.
"Think someone's got a crush on Kenzie?" Justin whispered into my ear. I nodded and took a bite of food. Then I choked on it. I started coughing and gagging.
"Tai, what's going on?" Justin asked. I didn't respond and bolted from the table. I knew Justin and Ryan had followed anyway. I ran into the bathroom and continued coughing.
"Damn, what's he choking on?" Ryan asked as I clawed at my throat. Then an idea struck me. I stopped coughing long enough to stick my finger down my throat and threw up. That's when I caught a glimpse of something small and shiny.
"A marble?" I said as I gasped to get my breath back. Ryan peered over my shoulder and shuddered.
"Gross." He said softly and backed away.
"A bit squeamish are we?" Justin teased and walked over to me.
"How the hell did you choke on a marble?" he asked me. I shrugged and washed everything but the marble down the sink.
"It was in my food." I replied.
"Told you. The same person who's pulling pranks on you caught you off- guard." Ryan said and walked back over to us.
"Yea, but that time he went too far. What if Tai had actually choked on the marble?"
"Justin, I did choke on the marble." I sweatdropped.
"I know, but I mean, what if you didn't get it back out? What if it had cut off your air or something? Tai, something as simple as a marble could have killed you!" Justin said fiercely. We started walking back to the eating hall.
"He's right, Tai. Someone's really out to get you." Ryan added. I nodded and suddenly felt light-headed. I'm not sure what happened, but I didn't even feel myself walking anymore.
"Justin grab him!" Ryan yelled. Justin ran forward and caught me before my head hit the ground.
"You ok?" he asked. I nodded slowly and sat up.
"I'm fine. Just sort of light-headed." I replied and watched everything spin in front of me.
"Sure whatever. Ryan, help me here." He instructed. They placed their arms under me and basically dragged me back to the table where I collapsed again.
"Tai, are you ok?" Mimi asked as she jumped over next to me.
"What happened guys?" McKenzie asked us.
"He choked on a marble. We think the same person pranking him put it in there." Ryan explained as he handed me a glass of water.
"A marble?" Mimi repeated. I placed the marble in her hand.
"That's just going too far. He could have choked to death." McKenzie stated as she rubbed my back in small circles.
"I don't think whoever's pulling all this shit wants him dead. Just out of the way. But that is going too far. I vote we tell Mark or somebody." Justin suggested. The other 3 nodded in agreement.
"Guys, if he's just trying to stop my shoot, it'll be over by tomorrow." I said.
"True, but what if it doesn't stop there? What if they want to totally sabotage your career?" McKenzie said.
"It probably won't."
"Probably isn't good enough, Tai." Mimi backed her up.
"It's fine guys! Quit worrying!"
"I don't care what you say, Tai. I'm telling Mark." Ryan said and got up from the table.
"Ryan, wait a second!" I called after him, but he was already out of hearing distance.
"You sure you're ok?" Mimi asked me.
"Yea, I'm ok. I think I'm just gonna go to bed. Catch up with you guys later." I said and got up from the table.
"Ok, you need to visit Mark right after breakfast so don't forget about that. And I'll re-dye your clothes tonight." Mimi said to me.
"Thanks Meems. See ya later." I walked away from the table just as Ryan started coming back.
"Stupid nark." I whirled around. But no one was behind me. 'Must be even more tired then I thought.' I thought to myself and walked into my apartment. I walked into my bedroom and collapsed on my..........floor?
"What the hell?" I sat up. My bed was gone!
"Now how the _hell_ does someone get rid of a bed without anyone noticing?" I asked myself and walked down to Justin's apartment. He and the others were still down at dinner. 'Oh well, I'll catch up with them tomorrow.' I thought as I flopped down on his couch and drifted off.
*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tai. Tai, wake up." Someone poked my arm. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.
"Is it morning already?" I sat up and yawned.
"Yup. Mind telling me why you're in my apartment and on my couch?" Justin asked me as he sat down.
"When I went to bed last night, I realized I didn't _have_ a bed." He raised an eyebrow.
"They took your bed?" he said doubtfully.
"They took my bed. Although, it's probably back by now." I replied and got off the couch.
"Let's go look." He got off the couch and walked down to my apartment. He walked into my bedroom and suddenly stopped.
"What's the holdup?" I asked and looked around him. And screamed.
"NO WAY!" I yelled and attacked my bed.
"WHAT THE HELL? ANYTHING BUT HELLO KITTY!" I shouted and started ripping off the covers.
"Hello Kitty? Now I think they're just trying to embarrass you." He said and started helping me.
"I thought I escaped that damn kitty!" I growled under my breath.
"Huh?"
"My sister used to be _obsessed_ with Hello Kitty. All over her half of the room." I opened the window and prepared to throw the covers out the window.
"Wait a sec, Tai. These are my sister's bed sheets." He stated as he examined them closer.
"Tess?"
"Yup. Because here's the nail polish stain she got on them when she tried painting her nails." He pointed at a purple stain.
"So, do you think Tess has my covers?" I asked him.
"Worth a try. Let's go." He led me back to his apartment with Hello Kitty in tow.
"Where has Tess been anyway? She hasn't been in your apartment lately." I asked him.
"She's been spending the night in one of her friends' apartment. Besides, 'You get annoying after a while.'" He mimicked her.
"She said that?"
"Yup, but what could I expect? I'm just the older brother/parental figure." He walked into Tess's room.
"Um.....I don't think these are yours are they?" he asked me. I looked inside and launched myself at the bed.
"AGH! These _are_ my covers. But someone trashed them!" I exclaimed and examined my covers. They _used_ to be dark blue, and they still were. However, now they had words like, "loser" and "wimp" printed in red and neon orange paint.
"This is not cool. I refuse, absolutely _refuse_ to sleep in these." I informed him.
"Whatever, we don't have time. Breakfast, now." He said and dragged me out of his apartment and downstairs.
"Hey guys, about time you got here. Where was he?" McKenzie asked Justin.
"My couch." Mimi gave me a strange look.
"My bed was gone when I went upstairs last night." I said. More strange looks. Justin explained everything to them.
"Hello Kitty?" Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"Tess's bed sheets. Then mine were in her room and totally sabotaged."
"Oh well, we'll fix it later. You have a shoot today, just remember that." Mimi reminded me.
"I remember, don't worry." I started to eat breakfast. Everything was normal for once. Ryan and McKenzie were arguing. Today's subject was about which anime was better: Dragon Ball Z or BeyBlade. Mimi and Justin were talking about the weekend. I glanced at my watch and sighed.
"Hey guys, I better go. I'll see you all later, I'm already late." I got up from my spot and started walking.
"See ya. Take the shortcut through the courtyard it's short." Mimi called after me and resumed her discussion with Justin. That actually rhymed. I walked outside and enjoyed myself.
"It's too quiet. There's got to be something up!" I cried out as I got my foot stuck in something. The next thing I knew, I was hanging upside down from the flagpole.
"HEY! SOMEBODY GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
"This bites." I murmured to myself. I looked at my watch again. Damn, 10 minutes late already. Then I felt something in my pocket.
"Thank god Justin left his cell in his pocket." I dialed a number as the blood began to rush to my head.
"Hello?"
"Mimi, go outside into the courtyard. Now."
"Tai, what's going on?"
"Just go! Bye." I hung up and zipped the phone into my pocket. I watched the doors and soon saw my friends come outside.
"Tai, how'd you get up there?" Mimi yelled as she ran towards the pole.
"How should I know? I stepped on a rope or something and now I'm stuck!"
" It's like something in one of those cartoons." Ryan said in awe.
"RYAN JUST SHUT UP!" Mimi and McKenzie said at the same time.
"How do you think we should get him down?" Justin asked.
"Very slowly and carefully?" I suggested.
"Hey, why don't we pull the flag down? Look closer." McKenzie pointed at the rope. Sure enough I was attached to the flag itself.
"I'm on it." Justin said as he started to bring the flag down. When I was close enough to the ground, he untied me and I jumped down.
"Tai, you better go. You are _so_ late. I'll come with you." Mimi said and dragged me to the photo room.
"Mark, sorry we're late." I apologized to him as we burst into the room.
"What was the hold-up guys?" he asked as he led me over to the camera guy.
"I got attached to the flag pole." I said and explained what happened.
"Ryan told me some weird things were going on. I'll fix it tomorrow. But now, we need to start. Go put these on." He threw me a pair of jeans and a tank top. I looked at the shirt and looked at him.
"Mark? You might want to look at the shirt." I showed him. Instead of the white Abercrombie & Fitch label, it had asshole &......well, you know.
"Well.....I didn't see that there this morning. But luckily, I have another one." He handed me the second one and took the first. As soon as I was dressed, I walked back over to where Mark was talking to the camera guy. Except, the camera guy was a 16-year-old kid.
"Good, you're back. Tai, I want you to meet Jason. He's one of the best in the photography program." Mark introduced me.
"Nice to meet you." I shook his hand.
"Likewise. You ready to start?" he asked.
"Yup. Tell me what to do." I grinned. He returned the smile and walked over to me. He started positioning me until he was satisfied.
"Perfect. Hold it." He said and shot the picture. He frowned and shot it again.
"What's up?" I asked him.
"That's weird. I thought I had a full roll of film. But it says it's empty. Oh well." He shrugged and pulled a new roll out of his pocket.
"Try this again." He shot the picture and grinned. And the shoot went on for some time, perfectly ordinary.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*
The end of the day came sooner then expected. And I welcomed it with open arms. I didn't even bother with dinner and went straight to my room. As I entered the main area I ran into Danny again.
"Hey Tai, anymore pranks show up today?" he laughed at me.
"Piss off, Dalton." I said and walked towards my room.
"Whatever, Kamiya. But let me say this. You make a crummy flag." He said and shoved a photo under my nose.
"HEY! GIVE ME THAT!" He swiped it away before I could reach it.
"And miss the opportunity to totally mortify you? I think not. Sleep tight." He said and walked away laughing. At me.
"Grr.....evil jackass." I growled after him and flopped down on my bed.
"Looks like Mimi fixed my bed for me. I'll thank her later." I got up and wandered over to my dresser.
"Looks like she dyed my clothes back to normal too. Thank you god." I said and pulled off my shirt and jeans. Screw sleeping in pajamas, it's too hot. 'I'm definitely going to have to tell Matt about this week. He'll never believe it. Plus he'll laugh like a hyena.' I made a mental note and climbed into bed.
"If I can survive this week, I can survive anything." I thought aloud and drifted off into a peaceful, normal sleep.
****************************************************************************
This is the LOOOOOOOOOOONGEST chapter I have ever written for anything! 25 pages of model pranks. Like I said before, not sure when I'll update next, but it will be a chapter in Yama's POV.
Matt: About time too. Thought you forgot about me.
Ryamon: We tried.
Ryamon! Shut up! Anyway, that's all for now people. I'm leaving in..*checks time* 3 ½ hours. Wish me luck! See ya laterz!