Part 2

I went over the next day and Folken allowed me in. I smiled shyly and went in. "Thanks."
"Nice afternoon today." He said. "You want to go swimming till Van gets back?"
"Where is he?" I asked.
"Out with Millerna."
I let out a small groan. "Why can't he ever be here when I'm here??"
"Relax." Folken smiled charmingly. "We can do something while he's not here."
"Oh ok…" I somehow felt a little uncomfortable, but went on with it anyway. "We're swimming?"
"If you want."
"Some other time…I didn't bring a bathing suit."
"All right. We can hang out."
"Sounds great."

*********

We headed to the orchard by the gardens and walked around. "So Hitomi, tell me about yourself."
"What do you want to know?" I asked.
"Your favourite things."
"Oh ok." I grinned. "My favourite colour is green, my favourite food is...mm French fries! What else? My favourite holiday is Christmas…my favourite sport is track."
"You run?"
"Yeah."
He nudged me. "You fast?"
"Mm-hmm." I blushed.
"That's cool. All right. So tell me…what's your favourite place?"
"I don't have a favourite place…but I do want to go back to Japan and visit my relatives."
"Me, I'd rather stay here."
"How come?" I asked him.
"Well-" He started.
We heard the door open and I looked up. Van came in and stared at us. "I didn't know you were here already."
"You should know I come by everyday at 2pm." I notified him.
He raised both his eyebrows. "I'll keep that in mind, then. Uh…" He glanced at both of us. "Are you busy talking or can we start now?"
"No I'm coming." I stood up with Folken.
Van went up the stairs. I smiled at Folken. "It was nice talking to you."
"You too. See you."
"Bye."

*********

I ran up the stairs and hesitated to enter his room. He was reading a book on his bed. As I got in, he kept on reading and I felt really uncomfortable doing nothing. I stared at the messy room and had an urge to clean up the mess he made, but ignored it.
"So…can we start now?" I asked.
"Later." He replied.
"Come on, I don't have anything to do."
He threw me a book and fortunately I caught it. "Read."
I stared at the paperback novel. It was called 'The Outsiders' and I already read it a long time ago. I read the back and remembered many things about it.
"I've read this before," I glanced at him.
"Then read it again."
"Come on Van! Can't we just start studying??"
He put his book down firmly and sat up. "Let's start then."
"Ok…what subject do you need help on today?"
"Dancing."
"W-what??" I turned around and faced him. "Uh, what did you say??"
"I need help with dancing. Millerna told me to get lessons from you for the Prom. I gotta bring her and I don't know how to dance."
"You don't?"
"Nope."
"You don't seem too thrilled about it."
"Why should I be?" He snorted. "I don't like dancing, but I'll do it if I have to."
"Look, there's nothing to it. In a slow song, you put your arms around the girl's waist and you just move your hips. It's easy. And when the song is upbeat, you just do whatever you want."
He sighed. "You have to show me."
"Why??"
"You want me to get my brother up here so you could show me with him??" His voice sounded irritated.
"It's fine." I grumbled and moved a little closer to him. "What do you want to do first? The upbeat or slow?"
"Upbeat." He said it too quickly that made me think he wasn't too thrilled about having me in his arms, which was understandable, but…still.
"Do you have a radio?"
"Here." He turned on the radio and put in a CD.
The song was fairly loud, but upbeat. I showed him a couple moves I learned from some people and he imitated them well. It was pretty funny when he tried swaying his hips a little more free. Then we had to learn the slow dance.
"I-I'm not sure if I feel uh…comfortable doing this." I mumbled.
"We already think of each other as enemies. Nothing's gonna happen." He assured. "After this, we're done for the day."
"O-ok."
He moved closer to me, and slowly the space between us lessened to just a few inches. I could even feel his breath on the top of my hair, since I was looking down. I slowly looked up and met his gorgeous brown eyes. I felt weak in the bones, but managed to stay up.
I took his very strong arms and put them around my waist. "This is what you do." I instructed. I put my arms around his neck and stared up at him. "And this is what I do."
"I see." He murmured.
"Now, we just move our hips to the beat, slowly, and rhythmically."
We let the music go through us and at one time I kind of put my head his upper chest and breathed on the nape of his neck. I closed my eyes and I felt really protected, safe, and warm. I felt his cheek rest on the top of my head. And then…I pulled away slightly so our eyes locked together. He sort of leaned down towards me and I couldn't wait to feel his lips on mine…and we almost kissed until his mom opened the door.
I pulled away as fast as I could and he did the same. I turned so red and he did as well.
"What are you two doing??" Varie asked us, closing the door behind her.
"U-u-uh…" Van's voice seemed kind of tight.
"I-I was just teaching him, um, slow dancing." I mumbled.
"Ah, I see. I never knew you didn't know how to dance, Van!"
"Well I know now, mom." He said silently. "Thanks, Hitomi."
"N-no problem." I smiled weakly. "B-besides, I'm leaving now…"
"No! Stay for dinner!" Varie protested. "I already told your mom and she's fine with it."
"Oh ok." I nodded. "Thanks, Varie." I smiled.
"You're welcome, honey. Oh by the way, did you go on the bus earlier?"
I nodded again.
"Van, you're driving her home."
"Ok." I don't think he was even listening to the conversation.
When Varie finally left the room, I slowly turned around and faced him. "Uh, so…you know how to dance now?"
"Yeah. Uh, thanks." He stood up and offered a nervous smile. "A-about that, uh…do you think maybe you could just forget that ever happened?"
"I already did." I lied miserably.
"Good." He looked a little pained.
"I-I think Millerna's going to be really happy to know that you're good at dancing."
He sort of smiled. "Well, that's what she wanted."
"The thing is, you should let loose of your hips a little bit more. Don't be so stiff."
"Oh sorry. I'm not comfortable with…you know, dancing."
"Yeah I know. I'm not that comfortable with it either, but I've gotten used to it."
He nodded. "Let's…uh…go down and eat some dinner, huh?"
"Yeah ok."
I followed him down and we went to the living room first, because Varie and her maids weren't done cooking yet. I sat on the same couch as Van's, but there was a lot of space between us. I put my feet up and hid them behind me. Folken sat down and put an arm around my shoulders.
"How was the tutoring?" His head kept turning back and forth.
"Great." Van answered quickly. "Now, you mind? I'm watching a little TV here."
"Calm down, kid." Folken grinned at me. "I'll let you in on a little secret about Van here."
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
"Shut up, Folken!" Van stuffed his face with a pillow, so he couldn't say anything.
I started laughing at their quarrel. "I wasn't gonna say anything, I swear!!" He sounded muffled.
Van was laughing and his eyes were shining. That was the first time, I think, I really saw how good-looking he was…and very special, even though we fought a lot. Van finally let go of the pillow and flipped the channels. Folken breathed fast, pretending to be suffocating. His hair was in disarray, but he looked adorable.
He moved close to my ear and whispered softly, "Will you go out with me?"
I gasped. "Folken…"
"I like you…a lot and I want to get to know you more..."
At the back of my head, I wanted to say yes, but my heart was just plain out saying no. I saw Van at the corner of my eye and he was staring at us. I looked down at my hands and saw them shaking.
"You know, Folken? Not a lot of guys asked me out." I told him. "I'm not a fairly interesting girl."
"But you are!! I'm interested in you already!!"
I smiled. "The thing is, I'm not the person who goes out with people…I don't date."
"Aw…why not?" His face looked feigned hurt.
"Truthfully, I don't know. I guess, if my heart says yes, then I'm going. But right now, Folken, I think you're a really amazing guy and you're just…so nice and so fun, but…my heart is saying no."
He nodded. "Well, that's all right. I still want to be your friend though. It was worth a shot."
"I'm really sorry."
"It's ok." He grinned and hugged me tightly. "Can I still go out with you and eat something? Not in a date way."
I nodded. "That's fine."
"Ok good." He let go and we went to the kitchen to eat.

*********

I ended up across Van, with Folken beside me. The food was great and the dinner was just warm and nice. Sometimes it did make me feel comfortable when Van's mom would put Van and me in the spot and ask questions about the tutoring session. Folken just had to get in there and defend…I don't know why.
After that, I was getting ready to go. I hugged Varie. "Thank you so much for dinner. It was wonderful."
"Don't worry dear. It was my pleasure." She smiled happily.
I waited for Van to come out of the room. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Folken called to me.
I nodded and smiled lightly. "You will."

*********

Van emerged from his room and walked down the stairs. When he got to me, he opened the door and I waved to everyone and left with him. We went to the garage to his car and I entered the passenger seat.
"I appreciate you doing this for me. Thank you." I said quietly as I looked at my hands.
"I really had no choice, but no problem."
I stared out my window and looked at the houses. "It's a wonderful neighbourhood you live in."
"Yeah I know." He stopped. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." I turned back to him.
"Why didn't you just say yes to Folken?" He glanced at me.
"I thought you heard."
"I did, but…I don't get it. I thought you liked him."
"Well, you went on thinking that I wanted to date him. I was just...going with it. Besides, it's not like I would date a guy who's a lot older than me." I paused. "Unless I really loved him."
He nodded in understanding. "Folken's a good guy, though."
"I know. We just met and he knows more about me than you know about me." I almost smirked.
"Really now?"
"Yeah. He had the decency to get to know me. That shows that I was interesting for him!"
"That's weird."
"Why?"
"I don't know. A girl like you interesting to a guy like Folken."
"I don't get it."
"I didn't ask you to get it."
I growled under my breath. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Just not have an actual answer!"
"Easy. I do."
"Ugh, like that! You give off really stupid answers and that's so annoying!"
"I don't care if you think it's annoying."
"I know that you don't care."
"Then why do you even ask?"
"Because I at least want to try getting you to care!"
"Well…that's not gonna ha-"
"Shut up. I know." I stopped him and sighed angrily.

*********

After a few minutes, there was this part of the road that got shut down because of an accident. We were stuck.
"Great." He muttered.
"Can't you find another way to my house?" I asked him, trying to see the accident.
"Do I look like a map to you?"
"Could you stop with the sarcasm already? It's getting dry."
"Didn't ask for your opinion."
"Oh don't worry. I'm just giving it to you solely for the purpose of entertainment!" I cried out in frustration.
"You get so mad easily. You shouldn't be so tense. It's a turn-off for guys."
"Like you always say, I don't care. A guy I'll end up with won't care if I'm hot-tempered, because he loves everything about me, even the bad qualities." I mumbled, resting my head on the passenger seat. "It's getting cold…" I whispered.
Van seemed to be quiet for a little while. I watched his hands move some things and punch some buttons.
"What are you doing?" I asked quietly.
"Turning on the heater."
"Why?"
"Because you're cold."
I stared at him with gratitude. "Thanks."
He nodded. "I'll be back. I just want to see what's going on here, all right?"
"Ok."

*Normal POV*

Van got out of the car and headed to the accident. Many people were around. He saw a police officer and pulled him away from the crowd. "Excuse me, officer, uh, how long do you think this will take?" "About an hour more. This is a pretty serious accident. There's another highway you could take to go to the other side, but that'll take you a good 20 minutes, 'cause the houses are blocking it."
"No, that's not where we're headed."
"Then I'm sorry, young man. You'll just have to wait patiently."
"All right. Thanks sir."
He got ready to go back to the car when he saw a familiar girl hugging her body tight and was looking for someone. He sighed and gave out a smile.

*Hitomi's POV*

I got out of the car, because I was afraid of being alone. I went out and looked for Van, but I couldn't find him, so I started panicking. You should know that I'm a person who gets scared easily. I saw the throng of people crowding around something, but I was afraid of what I would see, so I didn't want to go near.
Suddenly, I felt someone's breath on my neck. I was ready to scream when I heard the deep voice. "Looking for me?"
I tried to keep my heart calm, but it just wouldn't do. I was all pink and then I turned around and stared at him. I impulsively hugged him. "Don't scare me like that!"
"What's the matter with you??" He asked, pulling away.
I let go and blushed even harder. "Nothing." I muttered.
"What is it?" He asked again.
"Nothing!" I held my head up high. "I must have been crazy hugging you like that!"
He shook his head. "Get with it. Why'd you do it anyway?"
"UGH!" I practically yelled, but I knew there was no way of getting out of it. "All right, fine. Since we are practically spending summer together…" I muttered. "I can't believe I'm telling you this."
"Stop it and tell me already!"
I squinted my eyes at him and then looked away. "T-there's something you should know about me…um…"
"What?"
"I get scared easily."
He started laughing. "Scaredy-cat?"
"Unfortunately."
"Then relax. Nothing's gonna happen to you." He said. "Why are you like that anyway?"
"Something happened in my childhood." I waved off the subject before I could even tell him anymore.
"What happened?"
"None of your business."
"Fine. I'm butting out."
"Now that I found you, can we go back to the car?"
"Yeah all right. The police said it'll take about an hour more."
"Did he say anything about another road or highway to get into?"
"Yeah, but it's headed somewhere else."
"Oh." I was somewhat disappointed, but glad that I had time to be with him. "Do you have a phone?"
"Uh, yeah." He took out his cell phone.
"Can I call?"
"Go ahead."

*********

I called my mom. "Hi mom."
"Hi, Hitomi. What's going on?"
"We're stuck in this accident thing, so I'm going to get there probably in a few hours."
"Your dad said that you should just stay in Van's house."
"What??" I was surprised.
"Yes. Sleepover."
"No."
"Hitomi, it's almost 10pm."
"So what? We'll get there by 12am and it'll be fine."
"I think it'd be best if you slept over. I'll call Jen right now, ok?"
"But mom-"
"Love you sweetheart! Goodnight."
"Mom-!"
She hung up the phone.
I let a mad growl and thrust the phone to Van. "What's the matter?"
"My mom said that I should sleep in your house." I said angrily.
"WHAT?? NO WAY!"
"Look, she did and she's calling your mother right now asking for permission! Either you get me home now or I sleep in your house!!"
"Aw damn!" He cursed. "There's no way out of here, I swear to you!"
After a while, the phone rang. Van answered it. "Van."
"Honey, you get back here with Hitomi, right now."
"No mom, I won't let her sleep over." He said, staring at me.
"You have no choice. You come here or I will get Folken to bring her here. You know he wants to."
"Come on mom!"
"Van…"
"Fine, fine!" He hung up the phone.
"I don't have a choice." He said helplessly. "I'm driving there."
"Oh…" I mumbled. Inside, I was actually a little happy. "Do you guys have an extra room?"
"No. Don't worry. I'll sleep on the couch. You get my room."
I shook my head. "No, it's ok. I'm sleeping on the couch."
He stared at me. "You're kidding, right?"
"What?"
"A girl…sleeping on the couch. That's a joke."
"Seriously, I don't care."
"No. I'm offering my room. Take it."
He wouldn't let it go. I smiled at him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He glanced and gave me a smirk.
We got to his house 10 minutes later and I was surprised to see the couch all set up. "I'm so sorry to bother you guys…it's just that…" I tried to explain.
"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for." Varie smiled. "Van, you're sleeping here. Hitomi, you get his room."
I nodded. She left the living room, leaving Van and me alone.
"T-thank you again."
"You don't have to say that all the time. I said it's fine already."
"Ok." I started to the kitchen.

*********

"Varie, could I borrow some of your clothes? I need to wash up." I said, blushing.
"Oh it's all in Van's room." She was very cheerful. "Don't be shy, ok? Ask me anything you want."
"Ok. Thank you so much."
"No problem, dear."

*********

I got up to his room and saw some clothes that fit me perfectly. It was a white nightgown that had spaghetti straps and flowing gown on the bottom. It was very pretty. I sat on his bed and stared at the bedroom. I curled up and looked up at the ceiling, just thinking of things.
I heard a knock on the door. I stood up and opened it. Van greeted me. "Oh, uh…" He looked at my clothes. "Y-you're wearing my mom's nightgown."
"Yeah, she let me." I smiled shyly. I opened the door wide and he was still standing there. "Van?"
"Huh?" He looked up at my face. "Uh, oh, uh yeah."
I smiled at his stuttering face.
"I just, uh, need to get something."
"Ok. You're entitled to your own room, you know."
"Yeah I know." He mumbled.
He finally found what he was looking for and started to walk out, but stopped. "Hmm?" I stared up at him.
"You look real nice when you put your hair down like that." He nodded and walked down the stairs.
I turned very red and closed the door. I fell into little giggles and buried myself under his blanket.

*Normal POV*

'Oh my god…she's so beautiful…' He couldn't get his mind off of her. Just seeing her wearing a nightgown…wow…and her face, she was like an angel. A beautiful angel she was. 'Oh no…oh no…I can't be falling in love with her. I just can't! She's my enemy and will stay that way…'
Folken sat on the other couch and looked at Van amusingly. "So you finally see her for what she is?"
Van glanced at his brother. "Ah, can't you leave me alone, Folken?"
"No. I want to get in there and just look at her in that-"
"One step in my room and you're dead, man." Van said seriously.
"Is it my own imagination or is my bro falling in love with his worst enemy?"
"Look, I'm not falling in love with her! I just care about her, that's all."
"Relax. I care about her too, you know."
"Then stop being so perverted! Geez!"
"Sorry." Folken muttered. He sighed and glanced at the watch. "I'm gonna go sleep."
"Night."
"Night."
Van watched as Folken walked up the stairs and opened his room. He almost wanted to punch his brother in the face, his eyes red and green with anger and jealousy.

*Hitomi's POV*

I opened my eyes and looked at the door. Folken was standing outside it. "Hey."
I sat up and smiled. "Hi."
"I just wanted to say goodnight."
"Goodnight."
"Night, kiddo."
He closed the door and I lied back down. I closed my eyes and started to sleep.

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