Holy Christ, it's been a long ass time. Last time I wrote on this story, or anything for that matter, was before I came down to Ohio State. That was mid-September. ::counts on fingers:: Almost five and a half months. Sorry for keeping you all so long, but I sort of had a fallout of inspiration. Still don't, really, but I figured you deserved this much.
Well actually, it was more of an unfallout, if that's even a word. Over the weekend, I realized I could be friends still with someone. It sort of made me actually write again on this. But it's good to know we're just friends, heh. We just lead different lives, and in many ways I'm happy for the both of us.
AN1: The Ohio State University is the greatest school ever. Don't even say it isn't, especially if you're a Michigan fan!
AN2: I'd like to give a big thanks to all my reviewers I've ever had. It's good to know you all helped in my getting an A in Honors English last quarter. I got A's on all of my papers because you guys gave me incentive to write. And all the practice paid off, lol.
AN3: Same as last time: Check out Never Say Never by Witchyprincess, Just a Kiss by Sarah aka Vega. They're good.
AN4: Kublai Khan Beer: the choice for all OSU students (aka natty light, ugh)!
DISCLAIMER: "I wonder if you're listening, pickin' up all the signals sent back from within…" – Lostprophets, Last Train HomeGoo Goo Dolls, Iris
Sweet Dreams: Chapter 7 – Taking Risks
After everything was painted in the house, the girls and guys decided it was in the best nature to break in their house by none other than walking the whole hundred feet from the backyard to the beach. In all honesty, it was almost out of a dream, this house. An ocean view, three stories, it was honestly beautiful. One could only fathom how much it cost Bulma to purchase.
But for Goten, Bra, Britta, and Fender, that didn't matter at all. All that mattered right now was that they were done painting the entire place (a feat that took several days) and it was time to relax.
The four trudged down the sandy Pacific beach towards the lapping waves, donning swimsuits and holding their towels. Britta and Bra both had on red bikinis, leaving much to the imagination, while Goten and Fender wore Hawaiian print swim trunks.
Bra and Britta decided to lay out for a bit before taking a jump in the pool, since their tans had faded since arriving at college, but Goten and Fender decided that it was swimming time!
Bra and Britta watched the two guys frolic in the surf, quietly talking as for not the boys to hear.
"So, spill it," Bra said simply, grinning a bit at the now blushing Britta.
"Spill what?" Britta asked innocently, looking in the opposite direction from Bra's dwelling gaze. Bra just smirked.
"What happened the first day we were painting?" Bra clarified, "With Fender…?" Britta just smiled, covering the blush on her face with her hands.
"Oh god, I dunno," Britta said, grinning behind her hands, "He just kissed me. It's nothing big!" Bra laughed slightly, turning her gaze to Goten.
"It feels good," Bra said, not so much to Britta as to the boy she was watching trying to body surf, "doesn't it?" Britta grinned and nodded. Bra's faced softened, showing a hint of sadness.
I really shouldn't deny it anymore, Bra thought to herself, The whole jealousy thing, plus we're so close. But I don't know what's holding me back. I don't want to screw anything up. That would just kill me.
Britta noticed the small amount of depression creasing Bra's façade, letting her know what was on her mind.
"Bra," Britta said, breaking her out of her thoughts, "Let me give you a piece of advice my mother told me before I left for college." Bra turned to her friend with a questioning look.
"Advice?" Bra asked. Britta just nodded.
"My mother told me I was going to meet boys here," Britta started, "which I definitely have. Most are not really worth my time, but there is one I'm starting to get used to, even if he's a mumbling stooge every now and then. But she told me always to follow my heart, and live with no regrets." Bra smiled at this, for Bulma had told her something very similar to this.
Britta continued, "Life is definitely too short to live cautiously, so my mother told me to take risks when it comes to boys." Bra raised an eyebrow.
"Risks, hm?" Bra asked. Britta shook her head quickly.
"Not like that!" Britta said, "It's not like I'm going to turn into a little slut bucket or anything!" Bra laughed.
"She just meant I shouldn't hold anything back," Britta continued, "And that I should do what my heart tells me, even if there are risks involved. Risks like losing a friend." Bra finally realized what Britta was talking about.
"But!" Bra started, but was cut off.
"You never know what could have been if you never even try," Britta finished, giving Bra a soft smile. Bra knew what she had to do, but she was scared to do so. After so many years of fighting off beings set on ruling the universe, she was never so scared.
"So just follow your heart, Bra," Britta said, "And I'm sure everything will turn out okay." Bra nodded sheepishly.
"Now, how are we going to break in this house?" Britta said, changing the subject to lighten the mood. "I think we should have a party!" Bra grinned.
"Yeah!" She said, "A huge kegger! And invite everyone from campus!" Britta nodded in reply.
"That would be awesome! Imagine how much fun we'd have! I mean, people could go swimming and everything!" Britta said, adding more ideas.
"Sounds good to me," Bra said, "We'll have to talk to the boys about it. But now, I think we need to go swimming." Britta nodded and got up, running towards and unsuspecting Fender and tackling him into a wave. Bra did the same to Goten.
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Goten and Fender jumped around in the waves, making up for all the hard work they did painting. But they kept an eye on the two females lying on the beach, conversing. Little did they know that the girls were having the same conversation as them.
"What gave you the balls to kiss that fiery one?" Goten asked, diving head-first into a wave. Fender did the same and replied as he surfaced.
"I dunno, man," Fender said, "It just felt right. She didn't seem to mind though. Just a little blush and she got up. We went back to work, but it was electric." Goten nodded and jumped over the next wave.
"I know how that is," Goten replied, "The night of our graduation, Bra and I had a nice kiss on her bed. We stopped pretty much as soon as it started, though. I guess both of us knew we shouldn't have been doing that. But something felt so right." Fender laughed.
"You know you guys are honestly perfect for each other, right?" Fender asked, thinking Goten would agree.
"I dunno about that," Goten replied. Fender just gawked at him.
"Wow, and I thought I was blind and stupid," Fender said, chuckling. Goten just looked at him like he was talking gibberish.
"I don't understand, Fender," Goten said, not knowing whether or not he wanted to hear what Fender was about to say, but also secretly hoping it was exactly that.
"You two were made for each other," Fender said," It's obvious to everyone that knows you. As soon as I opened that capsule-thingy, and that stuff popped out, I knew you two had something. Britta told me that Bra has one just like that." Goten bodysurfed a wave before continuing to listen.
"She was wearing the gift you gave her for graduation when we went to that frat house," Fender said. Goten stood up in the water and stared at Fender.
"How the hell did you know about that bracelet?" He asked, amazed, "I didn't even tell her brother or her family about that." Fender chuckled.
"Yeah well, remember when I opened that capsule-gadget?" Fender asked. Goten nodded slightly, "Well, I guess Britta did the same thing to Bra. Guess which capsule-duder she opened?" Goten stared into the blue Pacific.
"I knew she wore it," Goten said, keeping his eyes on the horizon, "I noticed when I took her back to the dorm. I didn't want to say anything though." Fender looked at his fellow friend.
"Why didn't you?" He questioned. Goten dove underwater for a quick swim, staring at the fish before surfacing.
"Because when I gave it to her," He said, "It was almost as if she didn't like it. I mean, she said she did, but I'd never seen her wear it. Ever." Fender took a peek back at the two sunbathing women.
"Of course she liked it, Goten," Fender said, "Not only did Britta tell me about that bracelet, Bra told me about it, too." Goten looked sternly at the water again.
"When?" he simply asked.
"When I was trying to get her to stop drinking," Fender replied, "She held up her wrist, and I used it as a tactic to distract her. I asked her where she got it, and she said you gave it to her. She also told me that she never wore it because she originally thought it was too beautiful to wear, and that it might give you the wrong idea." Goten's face dropped.
"But," Fender continued, "she also told me that right before she wore it to the party, she realized that she was only trying to tell herself not to get the wrong idea." Goten's eyes opened a bit more as he looked quickly at his friend.
"Yeah," Fender said, "Now you get it." Goten smiled, but then frowned.
"Well," he began, "I think I need to have a talk with her then." Fender nodded.
"That might be a good idea buddy," Fender said, "Now, I bet you can't bodysurf for five seconds!" Goten laughed.
"Always in competition," he said before running into the waves. The two were soon tackled by a laughing Bra and Britta.
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After their swim, Britta and Bra talked to the boys about the possible party. The boys, obviously, were all for it. They decided the sooner the better, so the following weekend, the four threw a beachside sixteen kegger, inviting many of the people they had met in their few days on campus. And quite the party it was.
It was good for all the underage drinkers, too, as the house was far from beach patrols and police departments. It would have been a miracle to have such a party on campus.
Throughout the night, Goten kept trying to find Bra in the sea of people. He'd catch a glimpse of turquoise hair here and there, but never was able to find her. He didn't want to risk flying, either, since it might have cause a panic within the party, and it was always a natural understanding not to upset the herd of a party.
I really need to talk to her, Goten thought, and tonight I'm gonna do it. She means so much to me. I've known it all along, but never really faced the music. I need to tell her my heart tonight.
Goten was drinking his fair share throughout the night while his search was going on. He took several trips out to the ocean to look, only to find several couples sitting around a small bonfire on the beach. A few were even swimming and most likely skinny dipping.
"Where the hell is she?" Goten asked aloud, more to himself, as he walked back inside his house. He was stopped by a small hand though. He spun around hoping to see Bra, but was met by the gaze of Britta.
"She's in the kitchen," Britta said, grinning, "Go to her." Goten smiled, rubbing the shorter girl on the head before walking backwards.
"Thanks a lot!" Goten said, but he suddenly bumped into someone, knocking them into the sand.
"OW!" Goten heard, noting it was definitely Fender who was lying ass-first on the ground.
"Oh shit, sorry man!" Goten said, picking his friend up a bit hastily before running into the house. Britta and Fender just watched Goten run, smiling like crazy. Fender was the first to break the silence.
"Hey," he said softly, "Wanna go for a walk?" Britta smiled at the man.
"Sure," Britta replied, just as softly as Fender had spoken, "I wanna talk to you about something anyways." Fender smiled down at the brown haired girl.
"Oh yeah?" He asked, "About what?" With a quick gaze to the ocean, they started walking.
"About taking risks…" Britta replied, smiling as they walked down the beach.
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He was horrified. There was nothing else he could've explained it except for that word. Horrific. Even so, horrific seemed like the understatement of the year. The scene he saw as he stepped into the kitchen was unbelievable. She was there all right, but with someone else. And kissing someone else, for that matter.
He knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up, but he couldn't have helped it. It always happened this way in high school, too. When he thought he was doing well and everything was going okay, he crashed. Crashed and burned. And he was burning like crazy right now.
He tried to back out slowly, but it didn't work. He tripped over a stool sitting there, falling to the ground. Bra broke the kiss and quickly turned her gaze to Goten, looking up to her with the most hurt gaze she'd ever seen. It made her hurt so badly just looking at him.
"Goten!" Bra gasped, but Goten had run off.
End Chapter 7
Hahaha cliffhanger. Good comeback, ne? Read and Review!
