Hey guys, sorry I have updated in a while. But I've been feeling really
shitty lately and haven't felt like writing more of this story. But
whatever. I'm writing now, right? Right. Here's the chapter.
Note- * means that some time has passed. I can't get the formatting to
work right, yet. So this is how it'll go.
*"Jesse called me. He said you guys were coming to find Brian." He says softly. You might want to know how he knows Brian. Seth and he are brothers. No one knows this except me - not even Jesse and he had dated Seth. But Brian knew about Jesse so that's the reason he was so nice to him. Whoa, wait. Did he say that the team's going to Miami to find Brian?? Oh shit. This is not going to be good.
"You're joking, right? I just imagined that you said that's the reason my siblings are going to Miami. Please be joking." I whine, only to hear him sigh. "I'll take that as a 'No I'm not joking' sigh." I mumble, leaning heavily against the back seat of the Nissan. I ignore the look that Mia shoots me, telling me to shut up with her eyes, and let out a deep breath.
"Yeah Reikai, that seems to be the reason. Why? What'd they tell you?" He asks and I roll my eyes when I remember what Dominic had told me yesterday.
"They said we were going to Miami 'cause the racing's so much better there than it is in Baja. Fucking retards." I mutter, kicking my sister's seat harshly and glaring at her when she looks back me with a warning glance. "Just a sec, man." I tell him and he says okay. I cover the mouthpiece before screaming at Mia. "What the fuck is up with you?? You said we were going to Miami because the racing's better there! It would've been easier to tell me that you wanted to see O'Connor!" I shout at her and she swerves to avoid hitting someone as she swiftly turns her head to give me a death glare.
"Who the hell told you that?? You know Dom would never agree to go in the same state as Brian!" She yells at me and I roll my eyes again.
"Yeah right! You probably convinced him that O'Connor took care of all the charges you were going to have!" Her eyes widen and I smirk at her. "Whoops, I said something I shouldn't have, didn't I?" She glares at me and I match her look. "Yep, he sent me a letter a while after he disappeared. Told me that all charges were dropped or paid for by him. Also said that he had to spend half a year in jail to keep Brother Dearest out of it. He was so fucked up that he was let out early- he was supposed to be in Lompoc for a year. Said not to tell anyone about the letter or anything that was in it. Some secret keeper I am." I tell her and she swallows slowly, watching the road carefully with a painful grip on the steering wheel.
"I didn't know any of that, Kai." She says quietly and I shrug, going back to my phone call.
"Sorry Seth. I had to set something straight with Mia." I whisper and he snorts.
"Yeah I heard it. Bri told me about the letter he said, but regretted not sending it to Mia instead. She's gonna be pissed when she meets all the chicks he hangs around now." I chuckle and shake my head. "So when do you think you're gonna get to the Sunshine state?" Seth asks me and I shrug before realizing that he can't see me.
"I dunno. We just left this morning, the second you called. I think we're outta California by now though considering Mia's been speeding way past the limit." I mumble, running my hand through my ear length, stringy black hair and figuring that I need to shave the sides again soon- it's getting too long around them. It's weird style but I like it- the top of my head is covered with hair and the sides are shaved, but the hair's so thin that you can see the shaved parts.
"So, about two weeks maybe?" He asks me and I think. 'We're traveling across the country; it'd be a big feat for us to be in Miami or even Florida in two weeks. But considering how the team drives, we could probably get there in that amount of time.'
"Yeah, probably. You wanna meet somewhere?" I question and I can tell he's shrugging his shoulders.
"Sure. But why don't you call when you get here? Okay?" He asks me and I look at my sister before answering.
"Uhmm..., yeah. We'll do that. What's your number?" He tells me and I store it in my mind. "Talk to you later man. I gotta go- We stopped at a restaurant." I tell him.
"Bye Reikai. Be careful." He hangs up and when I hear the dial tone, I do too. As I get out of the car, I store Seth's cell phone number into my memory, running into Dominic's chest seconds before I look up to see where I'm going.
"Ahh... Dom, not now. I don't wanna fuck with you." I whine and he grabs my shirt, pulling me to the Charger and pushing me to sit on the hood of the car. I raise an eyebrow at him and wait for my lecture. Mia must have told him about the discussion we had in the car.
"Reikai, what the fuck makes you think you can disrespect your sister like you did in the car??" Yep, I was right. She told him. I shrug and he growls at me, rubbing his brow. "You need to get over what ever the hell is in your twisted mind before we se- get to Miami. I'm not going to let you fuck things up there." He catches himself from saying something he doesn't want me to know about.
"Oh, don't worry Dom. I know we're going to Miami because you want to see Brian and thank him- or beat the shit outta him- so don't worry about hiding things from me." I say to him and he gives me a confused look. "I'm not stupid. And I have contacts too you know." I get off the car and walk to the small café. "And Dom? I'm not the one that fucks things up most of the time- you are." I tell him before walking into the small building. Jesse, Leon and Vince are in one booth while Mia and Letty have the one next to them.
"Reikai? What the hell was that all about?" Letty asks me and I shrug at her, sitting on the opposite side of the booth she and Mia are sharing, only to groan loudly when Dom sits next to me seconds later.
"Nothing. Just Dominic being his usual controlling self." I mumble, laying my head on the table. Dom goes to smack my head but I grab his hand before it can get anywhere near me without looking up from where my head is. "Please don't touch me right now brother." I tell him softly and he pulls his hand out of my grip, my cast leaving a white scratch on his wrist. Dropping my hand to the table, I lift my head just a girl who must be about 16 walks to the booth and asks what she can get for us.
"A Coke and ham sandwich for me. No cheese please." Mia tells her and I pretend to gag making my brother shoot me a warning glance.
"I'll have cheeseburger with everything on it and a 7 Up." Letty says next making me fake puking. Dominic glares at me before telling her what he wants.
"Turkey and ham with Swiss cheese and Pepsi." I stick out my tongue and Letty looks at me and I shrug at her.
"Just a Sprite please." I tell the girl nicely with an innocent smile making Letty roll her eyes at me as she leaves to tell the cook our orders.
"Flirt." She mumbles under her breath and I stick out my tongue at her. "Keep your tongue in your mouth unless you intend to use it Reikai." She jokes and I roll my eyes.
"Not on you. Dom would finally finish what I've been trying to do since I was 12 years old." I tell her and she snorts while Dom mutters a 'Damn right.' to us. "Chill out Dom." I mumble, leaning back against the booth. A chill runs down my spine when a breeze flows through the open windows of the café. "Where are we anyways? I wasn't paying attention in the car." I ask them and Dom grunts.
"Yeah, you were too busy badgering Mia on why we're going to Miami." He mumbles and I glare at him.
"We're in New Mexico, Kai." Mia tells me softly and I think a second.
"Nope, don't know anyone from here." Leon snorts at me from the other table.
"Of course not Dipshit. You've never even been to New Mexico." He tells me and I flip him off.
"Fuck off Sanchez. Ever hear of a little thing called Yahoo Instant Messenger? AIM? MSN Messenger?" I ask him smugly only to be slapped upside the head by my brother just as the waitress brings us our food. I smile sweetly and thank her only to have her smile at me shyly before leaving to get some other orders taken care of.
"As I said before- flirt!" Letty shouts at me jokingly and I smirk. Leon stares at me sourly as I take a sip of my drink, smirking at him the whole time.
*Dom finishes eating first and I slip out of the booth after he does, saying he has to go to the bathroom. Walking past the counter, I leave the café and lean against the wall, pulling out my last cigarette and a lighter before lighting it up and inhaling deeply.
"You're gonna get cancer if you keep smoking those things." My eyes widen when my smoke is pulled out of my mouth and stomped into the ground with a thick heeled boot. I look at the owner of the boot to see the girl who served us, staring at me with an accusing look. I finally get a good look at her and let me tell you, I approve. Black hair with dark blue streaks that aren't really visible in shady areas, green cargo pants, short black- gray t-shirt that says 'I got bit in Transylvania' and combat boots. She has a bunch of rubber bracelets on one wrist, a spike bracelet and pyramid bracelet on the other with a choker collar with spikes. A hoop lip piercing and bunch of piercings in her cartilage and ear lobe. Her stomach is taut and muscular and I see a tattoo of a fairy on her hip, slightly covered by her pants.
"Shit. That was my last cigarette, damnit." I mumble only to have her glare at me. "Sorry." I mutter, stuffing my hands into my pockets.
"Yeah sure you are." She teases and I smirk. "I'm Andria- Andi for short." She tells me, reaching out a hand that I shake while telling her my name.
"Reikai- no nicknames except for Kai." I tell her and she cocks her head.
"Then that's what I'll call you. Wanna go for a walk? I have some energy to burn." I shrug, walk to my sister's car and open the back door so Atticus can get out of it to get some exercise. He runs to Andi and sniffs her hands before licking them and she pats him on the head. "Hey buddy." She gets onto her knees and gives him a rubdown. "What's his name?"
"Atticus." I tell her and his ears perk up at the mention of his name. She smiles and stands up with my dog following seconds later.
"He's a magnificent beast, if I do say so myself. I love animals. I don't have any dogs but I do have a few horses. Micro, Dolby and Sweet Tea." She tells me and leads me to the back of the café. We walk for a few minutes before reaching a large barn with nickering horses and a few people walking other's to paddocks and riding rings. "Wanna meet them?" She asks and I shrug. I'm okay with horses but I've never been around them before so I'm a little apprehensive when she leads a huge black stallion out of a stall towards me. "This is Micro. He's 5 year old Friesian out of some very rare blood lines but he's a nutter if you ask me. Bit high-strung and temperamental but very sweet once you get to know him. I'll go get Tea and Dolby, just hold onto Micro for a sec." She tells me and I swallow the knot in my throat as the giant animal sniffs my face before resting his chin on my shoulder heavily.
"Whoa, uhmm... Hey Micro." I pat him on the neck as Andi returns with a large bay colt and a pure white mare. Andi chuckles when she sees me and Micro, leading the two horses she has behind her to a small paddock with me pulling the stallion with me.
"Okay, well. The bay is Dolby and he's not even a year old yet. He's a pure Irish Draught, and is being trained in jumping. The white is Sweet Tea, she's a pure Camarague that's about 3 now and is a school horse. A few kids have lessons in riding with her and she loves doing it. Micro is the horse I ride most. He is broken in Dressage, but I don't ride him in that- I suck at Dressage really- I mostly just ride him on trails and for a bit of cross country riding." She explains and I nod.
"Cool." I tell her and she asks me a question that completely throws me off guard.
"Do you wanna go for a ride?" She asks me sweetly and my eyes widen as I look from her to the animal beside me.
"What?? Oh, I don't know how to ride. I'd kill myself probably Andi." I tell her and she pouts. "I've never ridden a horse in my life. This is actually the closest I ever even been to a horse." Andi's lip trembles and I give up. "I'm riding Sweet Tea, I guess." I mumble and her face lights up.
"Thanks Kai! Neither of them has been exercised in a while. This'll be fun!" She pipes and I sigh, looking at the white mare I'm going to be riding. Tea whinnies softly as Andi pulls her out of the paddock to the stables and ties her to a wall. She goes into a room and comes out seconds later with a saddle and bridle.
*"I'm never riding a horse again! Never!" I shout, walking back to the café less than half an hour later.
"Oh come on Kai. It was funny! Tea doesn't rear a lot and when she does its never around the creek! Stop whining!" She tells me and I glare at Andi as she opens the door to the café for me. I had just put Atticus back in the car a second ago, grabbing a dry pair of clothes from my bag. The stupid horse bucked me into the water and I had landed flat on my ass, making Andi crack up and turn Micro around to wait for me to stand up.
"Yeah right. Never again. I'm never riding a freaking horse again!" I yell, walking past the booths where the teams are still sitting. Leon laughs at me and Jesse holds back a smile as everyone else shakes their heads sadly. "Go fuck yourself Sanchez." I mumble, going into the bathroom and changing my clothes in a stall. After doing that, I walk out only to run into Andi.
"I'm sorry Kai. Don't be mad at me." She pouts and I roll my eyes, sling an arm around her shoulders and lead her out to the car. She smiles at me and bounces around, tripping over a rock but getting up seconds later with a grin. "Meant to do that." She tells me and I roll my eyes her with a smile. She walks up to me and leans against my chest, facing me. The team comes out seconds later and I hear her sigh softly, turning to go back into the café.
"Reikai, we're gonna go. Who are you riding with?" Mia asks me softly and I shrug, pulling a Sharpie from my pocket- one that I didn't know I had in it until a few seconds ago- and grab Andi's hand. I write my cell phone number on her hand and smile at her as she walks back into the café. I get into Mia's car and lean back as she starts it up, speeding out after Dom and the team.
*"Jesse called me. He said you guys were coming to find Brian." He says softly. You might want to know how he knows Brian. Seth and he are brothers. No one knows this except me - not even Jesse and he had dated Seth. But Brian knew about Jesse so that's the reason he was so nice to him. Whoa, wait. Did he say that the team's going to Miami to find Brian?? Oh shit. This is not going to be good.
"You're joking, right? I just imagined that you said that's the reason my siblings are going to Miami. Please be joking." I whine, only to hear him sigh. "I'll take that as a 'No I'm not joking' sigh." I mumble, leaning heavily against the back seat of the Nissan. I ignore the look that Mia shoots me, telling me to shut up with her eyes, and let out a deep breath.
"Yeah Reikai, that seems to be the reason. Why? What'd they tell you?" He asks and I roll my eyes when I remember what Dominic had told me yesterday.
"They said we were going to Miami 'cause the racing's so much better there than it is in Baja. Fucking retards." I mutter, kicking my sister's seat harshly and glaring at her when she looks back me with a warning glance. "Just a sec, man." I tell him and he says okay. I cover the mouthpiece before screaming at Mia. "What the fuck is up with you?? You said we were going to Miami because the racing's better there! It would've been easier to tell me that you wanted to see O'Connor!" I shout at her and she swerves to avoid hitting someone as she swiftly turns her head to give me a death glare.
"Who the hell told you that?? You know Dom would never agree to go in the same state as Brian!" She yells at me and I roll my eyes again.
"Yeah right! You probably convinced him that O'Connor took care of all the charges you were going to have!" Her eyes widen and I smirk at her. "Whoops, I said something I shouldn't have, didn't I?" She glares at me and I match her look. "Yep, he sent me a letter a while after he disappeared. Told me that all charges were dropped or paid for by him. Also said that he had to spend half a year in jail to keep Brother Dearest out of it. He was so fucked up that he was let out early- he was supposed to be in Lompoc for a year. Said not to tell anyone about the letter or anything that was in it. Some secret keeper I am." I tell her and she swallows slowly, watching the road carefully with a painful grip on the steering wheel.
"I didn't know any of that, Kai." She says quietly and I shrug, going back to my phone call.
"Sorry Seth. I had to set something straight with Mia." I whisper and he snorts.
"Yeah I heard it. Bri told me about the letter he said, but regretted not sending it to Mia instead. She's gonna be pissed when she meets all the chicks he hangs around now." I chuckle and shake my head. "So when do you think you're gonna get to the Sunshine state?" Seth asks me and I shrug before realizing that he can't see me.
"I dunno. We just left this morning, the second you called. I think we're outta California by now though considering Mia's been speeding way past the limit." I mumble, running my hand through my ear length, stringy black hair and figuring that I need to shave the sides again soon- it's getting too long around them. It's weird style but I like it- the top of my head is covered with hair and the sides are shaved, but the hair's so thin that you can see the shaved parts.
"So, about two weeks maybe?" He asks me and I think. 'We're traveling across the country; it'd be a big feat for us to be in Miami or even Florida in two weeks. But considering how the team drives, we could probably get there in that amount of time.'
"Yeah, probably. You wanna meet somewhere?" I question and I can tell he's shrugging his shoulders.
"Sure. But why don't you call when you get here? Okay?" He asks me and I look at my sister before answering.
"Uhmm..., yeah. We'll do that. What's your number?" He tells me and I store it in my mind. "Talk to you later man. I gotta go- We stopped at a restaurant." I tell him.
"Bye Reikai. Be careful." He hangs up and when I hear the dial tone, I do too. As I get out of the car, I store Seth's cell phone number into my memory, running into Dominic's chest seconds before I look up to see where I'm going.
"Ahh... Dom, not now. I don't wanna fuck with you." I whine and he grabs my shirt, pulling me to the Charger and pushing me to sit on the hood of the car. I raise an eyebrow at him and wait for my lecture. Mia must have told him about the discussion we had in the car.
"Reikai, what the fuck makes you think you can disrespect your sister like you did in the car??" Yep, I was right. She told him. I shrug and he growls at me, rubbing his brow. "You need to get over what ever the hell is in your twisted mind before we se- get to Miami. I'm not going to let you fuck things up there." He catches himself from saying something he doesn't want me to know about.
"Oh, don't worry Dom. I know we're going to Miami because you want to see Brian and thank him- or beat the shit outta him- so don't worry about hiding things from me." I say to him and he gives me a confused look. "I'm not stupid. And I have contacts too you know." I get off the car and walk to the small café. "And Dom? I'm not the one that fucks things up most of the time- you are." I tell him before walking into the small building. Jesse, Leon and Vince are in one booth while Mia and Letty have the one next to them.
"Reikai? What the hell was that all about?" Letty asks me and I shrug at her, sitting on the opposite side of the booth she and Mia are sharing, only to groan loudly when Dom sits next to me seconds later.
"Nothing. Just Dominic being his usual controlling self." I mumble, laying my head on the table. Dom goes to smack my head but I grab his hand before it can get anywhere near me without looking up from where my head is. "Please don't touch me right now brother." I tell him softly and he pulls his hand out of my grip, my cast leaving a white scratch on his wrist. Dropping my hand to the table, I lift my head just a girl who must be about 16 walks to the booth and asks what she can get for us.
"A Coke and ham sandwich for me. No cheese please." Mia tells her and I pretend to gag making my brother shoot me a warning glance.
"I'll have cheeseburger with everything on it and a 7 Up." Letty says next making me fake puking. Dominic glares at me before telling her what he wants.
"Turkey and ham with Swiss cheese and Pepsi." I stick out my tongue and Letty looks at me and I shrug at her.
"Just a Sprite please." I tell the girl nicely with an innocent smile making Letty roll her eyes at me as she leaves to tell the cook our orders.
"Flirt." She mumbles under her breath and I stick out my tongue at her. "Keep your tongue in your mouth unless you intend to use it Reikai." She jokes and I roll my eyes.
"Not on you. Dom would finally finish what I've been trying to do since I was 12 years old." I tell her and she snorts while Dom mutters a 'Damn right.' to us. "Chill out Dom." I mumble, leaning back against the booth. A chill runs down my spine when a breeze flows through the open windows of the café. "Where are we anyways? I wasn't paying attention in the car." I ask them and Dom grunts.
"Yeah, you were too busy badgering Mia on why we're going to Miami." He mumbles and I glare at him.
"We're in New Mexico, Kai." Mia tells me softly and I think a second.
"Nope, don't know anyone from here." Leon snorts at me from the other table.
"Of course not Dipshit. You've never even been to New Mexico." He tells me and I flip him off.
"Fuck off Sanchez. Ever hear of a little thing called Yahoo Instant Messenger? AIM? MSN Messenger?" I ask him smugly only to be slapped upside the head by my brother just as the waitress brings us our food. I smile sweetly and thank her only to have her smile at me shyly before leaving to get some other orders taken care of.
"As I said before- flirt!" Letty shouts at me jokingly and I smirk. Leon stares at me sourly as I take a sip of my drink, smirking at him the whole time.
*Dom finishes eating first and I slip out of the booth after he does, saying he has to go to the bathroom. Walking past the counter, I leave the café and lean against the wall, pulling out my last cigarette and a lighter before lighting it up and inhaling deeply.
"You're gonna get cancer if you keep smoking those things." My eyes widen when my smoke is pulled out of my mouth and stomped into the ground with a thick heeled boot. I look at the owner of the boot to see the girl who served us, staring at me with an accusing look. I finally get a good look at her and let me tell you, I approve. Black hair with dark blue streaks that aren't really visible in shady areas, green cargo pants, short black- gray t-shirt that says 'I got bit in Transylvania' and combat boots. She has a bunch of rubber bracelets on one wrist, a spike bracelet and pyramid bracelet on the other with a choker collar with spikes. A hoop lip piercing and bunch of piercings in her cartilage and ear lobe. Her stomach is taut and muscular and I see a tattoo of a fairy on her hip, slightly covered by her pants.
"Shit. That was my last cigarette, damnit." I mumble only to have her glare at me. "Sorry." I mutter, stuffing my hands into my pockets.
"Yeah sure you are." She teases and I smirk. "I'm Andria- Andi for short." She tells me, reaching out a hand that I shake while telling her my name.
"Reikai- no nicknames except for Kai." I tell her and she cocks her head.
"Then that's what I'll call you. Wanna go for a walk? I have some energy to burn." I shrug, walk to my sister's car and open the back door so Atticus can get out of it to get some exercise. He runs to Andi and sniffs her hands before licking them and she pats him on the head. "Hey buddy." She gets onto her knees and gives him a rubdown. "What's his name?"
"Atticus." I tell her and his ears perk up at the mention of his name. She smiles and stands up with my dog following seconds later.
"He's a magnificent beast, if I do say so myself. I love animals. I don't have any dogs but I do have a few horses. Micro, Dolby and Sweet Tea." She tells me and leads me to the back of the café. We walk for a few minutes before reaching a large barn with nickering horses and a few people walking other's to paddocks and riding rings. "Wanna meet them?" She asks and I shrug. I'm okay with horses but I've never been around them before so I'm a little apprehensive when she leads a huge black stallion out of a stall towards me. "This is Micro. He's 5 year old Friesian out of some very rare blood lines but he's a nutter if you ask me. Bit high-strung and temperamental but very sweet once you get to know him. I'll go get Tea and Dolby, just hold onto Micro for a sec." She tells me and I swallow the knot in my throat as the giant animal sniffs my face before resting his chin on my shoulder heavily.
"Whoa, uhmm... Hey Micro." I pat him on the neck as Andi returns with a large bay colt and a pure white mare. Andi chuckles when she sees me and Micro, leading the two horses she has behind her to a small paddock with me pulling the stallion with me.
"Okay, well. The bay is Dolby and he's not even a year old yet. He's a pure Irish Draught, and is being trained in jumping. The white is Sweet Tea, she's a pure Camarague that's about 3 now and is a school horse. A few kids have lessons in riding with her and she loves doing it. Micro is the horse I ride most. He is broken in Dressage, but I don't ride him in that- I suck at Dressage really- I mostly just ride him on trails and for a bit of cross country riding." She explains and I nod.
"Cool." I tell her and she asks me a question that completely throws me off guard.
"Do you wanna go for a ride?" She asks me sweetly and my eyes widen as I look from her to the animal beside me.
"What?? Oh, I don't know how to ride. I'd kill myself probably Andi." I tell her and she pouts. "I've never ridden a horse in my life. This is actually the closest I ever even been to a horse." Andi's lip trembles and I give up. "I'm riding Sweet Tea, I guess." I mumble and her face lights up.
"Thanks Kai! Neither of them has been exercised in a while. This'll be fun!" She pipes and I sigh, looking at the white mare I'm going to be riding. Tea whinnies softly as Andi pulls her out of the paddock to the stables and ties her to a wall. She goes into a room and comes out seconds later with a saddle and bridle.
*"I'm never riding a horse again! Never!" I shout, walking back to the café less than half an hour later.
"Oh come on Kai. It was funny! Tea doesn't rear a lot and when she does its never around the creek! Stop whining!" She tells me and I glare at Andi as she opens the door to the café for me. I had just put Atticus back in the car a second ago, grabbing a dry pair of clothes from my bag. The stupid horse bucked me into the water and I had landed flat on my ass, making Andi crack up and turn Micro around to wait for me to stand up.
"Yeah right. Never again. I'm never riding a freaking horse again!" I yell, walking past the booths where the teams are still sitting. Leon laughs at me and Jesse holds back a smile as everyone else shakes their heads sadly. "Go fuck yourself Sanchez." I mumble, going into the bathroom and changing my clothes in a stall. After doing that, I walk out only to run into Andi.
"I'm sorry Kai. Don't be mad at me." She pouts and I roll my eyes, sling an arm around her shoulders and lead her out to the car. She smiles at me and bounces around, tripping over a rock but getting up seconds later with a grin. "Meant to do that." She tells me and I roll my eyes her with a smile. She walks up to me and leans against my chest, facing me. The team comes out seconds later and I hear her sigh softly, turning to go back into the café.
"Reikai, we're gonna go. Who are you riding with?" Mia asks me softly and I shrug, pulling a Sharpie from my pocket- one that I didn't know I had in it until a few seconds ago- and grab Andi's hand. I write my cell phone number on her hand and smile at her as she walks back into the café. I get into Mia's car and lean back as she starts it up, speeding out after Dom and the team.