TO GO, PLEASE
Chapter 9: Change of Plans
Rating: PG13
Author: Adrial
TO GO, PLEASE
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't want it.
Hey! I'm back! This chapter is not really that eventful, but
we finally get into the origin of the 'Hikari Gem' and it's not
what you may think...
Enjoy!
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"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Rei screeched into her cell phone,
her free hand making a sharp right into a shopping complex.
"That's not what you--but-I thought--," Her eyes were
blazing with irritation, and Jason and I exchanged glances.
When she'd offered to pick us up from our afternoon
classes, I had no idea that meant fearing for my life while
she drove like a road maniac on the freeway, screaming bloody
murder into a piece of plastic.
"Who in the hell makes a dress code change two days
before the event?!" She rubbed her forehead with two fingers and
sighed, "Fine."
She stayed on the phone for a few more minutes, mumbling
answers, before flipping her cell closed and growling.
There was a pitiful 'beep' as her head collided with
the steering wheel.
Jason rubbed her back in comforting circles, "Rei?
What's wrong?"
She lifted her head, looked at him for a second or two,
and I swore she would have started to bawl from the look in her
eyes.
Instead, she twisted around and smiled tightly at me, "So,
Ami-chan? Ya feel like shopping?"
Apparently ball apparel didn't quite appeal with MTV
audiences, so the new theme was "Less is More."
It was beyond me how anyone could wear anything off of
the rack Minako was shuffling through frantically. She had asked
(begged) her agent to allow us to raid Glamour's wardrobe room and
(permanently) borrow a few outfits.
The entire experience was worse than having all four of
my wisdom teeth pulled in the ninth grade and then breaking my arm
the day after.
Rei had decided to look at the bright side: Free clothes.
"Gimme that one, Minako," She eagerly took the black halter
from Minako's hands and held it up to her chest.
"Too trashy?"
Affirmative nods all around.
"I'll take it!" She exclaimed, tucking it under her arm
and sifting around for a pair of jeans to match.
"Rei, since when is looking like a two dollar ho your
style?" Makoto inquired.
Rei turned to her and said slowly, "Fifty grand, Makoto.
Fifty grand."
Seeing her point, Makoto shrugged and stuck out her tongue
at a hot pink mini skirt Usagi handed to her.
"How 'bout NOT," She said, shoving it away.
Usagi, disappointed, took the skirt herself.
"It's going to be hell trying to return my dress," She
sighed and forced me to take a baby blue see-through blouse from
her hands.
Rei offered, "Don't worry about it. If I win, I'll pay for all
of your dresses," and greedily took a red suede skirt from Minako.
"You better," Makoto added.
I thought longingly of the pain I'd gone through to find
my own dress; I was still upset that I wouldn't be able to wear
it, but I was sure there would be other opportunities.
"Oh, come ON, Ami-chan!" Minako yelled.
"NO."
"Geez, stop being so modest! This is 2004, hon, not 1937."
I stared at my reflection with a nauseous feeling in the pit
of my stomach, which, by the way, was extremely exposed in the bare
mid-drift halter top I was wearing.
Before I could stop them, three pairs of hands shoved the
dressing room door open and pulled me out.
Puffing with indignation, I tugged the shirt down as much
as I could, a little unnerved at being under the microscope.
Minako slapped my hands away, "You'll stretch it out, Ami."
I gave her a "Do you think I care?" look, which she promptly
ignored and placed a denim mini skirt up to my hips.
I went for my last defense. "Are you aware of the fact
that this is the middle of DECEMBER?"
Rei and Minako stared at me as if they weren't sure what
my point was, and I sighed in defeat.
"Ames, you have to admit," Rei adjusted the halter at my
neck, "With those legs, and this skirt, you're going to kill
at the show."
My legs? Since when could they kill anything?
"Can I at least try on some jeans or something?" I looked
longingly at the full rack of Juicy hip huggers standing a few
feet away.
Makoto, Minako, and Rei eyed each other, deliberating my
request with their eyes.
I fingered the hem of the skirt, wondering if they'd
notice if I made a mad dash for the exit and never came back.
Before any such action could take place, however, they
turned back to me and begrudgingly nodded.
"But they better be low-waist!" Minako warned, "It's about
time you lived a little."
Feeling as if the world was finally going my way, I
pounced on the cart and began filing through while the trio
scrutinized Usagi's knee length white, strapless dress. It
was cotton/spandex and thin, hugging her curves like they'd
been made for her alone to wear.
"Something's missing," Minako declared and immediately
removed a denim Fred Segal jacket from a hanger behind her, placing
it over Usagi's bare shoulders and standing back to admire her
handy work.
"Makoto, hand me that turquoise pendant necklace," She
requested as if they were performing surgery.
"Necklace," Makoto handed it to her.
Biting her lip, Minako snapped her fingers, "Beige sling
backs!"
"One pair of feet-killers coming right up," Rei scurried
off to retrieve said feet-killers, while Minako waited (im)patiently
for her to return.
Usagi fiddled with her necklace, eyeing herself in the
mirror with a critical gaze.
When Rei had finally gotten the shoes, Usagi slipped
them on and twirled for a 360 degree look.
"Perfect," Minako clapped her hands together, and
Usagi beamed.
"You should dress me more often, Minako," She adjusted
the jacket on her shoulders, and Minako waved a hand dismissively.
"What kind of fashion apprentice would I be if I didn't
share my impeccable taste with my girls?"
Rei "accidentally" tossed a shoe at her butt and whistled
innocently at Minako's glare.
"You break it, you bought it, Pyro."
Makoto chose that moment to exit the dressing room,
sporting a pair of sandblasted jeans and a rather conservative
white button up blouse. Minako fixed the 'conservative' aspect
of it by unbuttoning the first four buttons, then exuberantly
shoving a pair of tan boots in her hand.
I, on the other side of the room, had picked up the
first pair of jeans I saw, which happened to be dark denim and
low cut (for Minako's benefit, not mine).
Seeing that I'd finished, she nodded approval of the
jeans and handed me a crocheted white halter to match.
I grabbed it from her, saying with my eyes that I wanted
to get the hell out of there before they even thought about handing
me a matching pair of--
"Ami needs feet-killers!" Rei yelled over to Usagi.
I groaned audibly.
"Don't be a baby, this is MTV. You have to look like you
were made to be there," Minako said.
Begrudgingly, I forced the white stiletto heeled boots
on, gasping at the $900 price tag that poked out of one of their
sides.
"Alright, are we outta here?" Rei checked on each of us,
stuffing a couple of accessories and purses into her bag.
Minako nodded, folding her garment bag over her arm.
Inside was the golden leather tube top she'd discovered underneath
Rei's "Hell NO" pile of clothing and a matching skirt.
And so we headed out, finally.
I idly watched the white lines on the road go by as Rei
zoomed down the highway.
We were late.
"Luna's going to kill us," Usagi said.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Rei growled, "We'll
deal with the fur balls when we get there."
We still hadn't discussed the battle from two days
before, and I was eager to get to it.
"Hey! Don't call Artie fur ball! You know he hates
that," Minako yelled from beside me.
Artemis also hated when Minako called him 'Artie', but
that was another story all together.
Usagi turned on the radio and proceeded to do her horrible
rendition of "In Da Club" by that guy, 75 cents, or whatever
his name was.
"Usagi, if you want to see the light of day again, I
suggest you stop-SINGING!" Rei screeched, nearly veering off
of the road. Usagi crossed her arms over her chest.
"Grouch."
"Klutz."
"Pyro."
"Odango."
"Mrs. Jason Ronweld."
"USAGI!"
"Bye, Minna-chan, and remember," Makoto slammed the
door and poked her head in through Usagi's open window, "I want
to know everything later tonight."
Rei waved her off, "Yeah, yeah, Makoto, we know. Now get
going before we're all even more late."
Makoto smiled, "Ja!"
"Good luck, Mako!" Usagi yelled.
Today was Makoto's culinary midterm, and she tried to
juggle her bag full of cooking supplies as she threw open the
door to the lecture hall.
Making sure she didn't fall and hurt herself before
they left, Rei hit the gas after the door closed behind her, and
we were off...again.
Usagi sighed, "Why didn't I pick culinary arts as a
major?"
Rei scoffed as if the answer were blatantly obvious,
"Because first: you'd blow up whatever you were baking, and
second: you'd eat everyone else's food, therefore failing
them and yourself."
"And when was the last time you cooked anything that
didn't come in a box, PYRO?"
Minako's head fell heavily on my shoulder, "If they
keep this up, I'm going to have to throw myself out of the
window."
I nodded and placed whose ever headphones were sitting
beside me over my ears, not really caring what was in the CD
player as long as it drowned out the bickering voices that were
pounding into my head.
The mystery was soon solved as streams of acoustic guitar
lulled me into a state of semi-consciousness.
Could have been worst I thought.
"It's about time," Luna's cinnamon eyes were blazing
with irritation.
The four of us entered the sitting room of Rei's temple,
heads bowed as if we were on death row.
"Sorry, Luna," Usagi mumbled, and we nodded in agreement.
Luna merely scoffed and flicked her tail. She seemed to
be on edge about something today.
Artemis smiled meekly from beside her with an apologetic
look in his sapphire eyes, and Minako dared to scratch him behind
his ears.
"Hey Artie," She cooed, forgetting for a second that he
was her guardian. Artemis nipped at her hand, "Don't call me Artie!"
Taken aback, Minako looked at her finger with a frown, "Who
pissed in your catnip this morning?"
Luna scoffed again and sat back on her hind legs, "We have
important issues to discuss, senshi. Let's get started."
We plopped our bags in a corner of the room and took
seats on the giant throw pillows that littered the floor, Luna and
Artemis in the center of our square.
Luna's eyes were grave, "What happened two days ago must
never be allowed to happen again."
I bowed my head, remembering the pain filled faces of those
who were lost and those who had lost.
Luna continued, "There were no signs of any energy
loss across the city, so we can assume that this new enemy is
not after that. The question is," She turned her eyes to me, "Where
did they come from, and what do they want?
I swallowed, suddenly feeling parched, and wrung my
hands in my lap, "The youma did say something about there being
a Hikari Gem," I offered, immediately reaching for my palm pilot
to search for any such gem and chastising myself mentally
for not doing so sooner.
Luna's eyes widened for a moment. She and Artemis exchanged
glances and she stepped closer to me.
"What exactly did the youma say about it, Ami-chan?"
I felt as if I was being interrogated by the F.B.I. all
of the sudden; even though I'd only been asked two questions, the
gravity in their voices weighed down on me. I set down my palm
pilot.
"Just that it wanted it...and the one who possessed it," I
furrowed my brow, wondering if there was some part that I'd left out or
forgotten.
Minako piped in, "The youma thought we were hiding her.
Do you think it could be Usagi?"
Luna shook her head and sighed deeply, "I'm afraid not,
Minako."
"Then...who?" Rei asked.
Artemis rose, "Luna? What do you remember about a Hikari
Gem in the Silver Millennium?"
She stared at him, not really seeing him it seemed,
and I nearly bit my nails in anticipation of what she was
going to say. For some reason, I had a feeling it had to
do with me.
When she'd had enough time to collect her thoughts, she
turned back to us and sat back again.
"The Hikari Gem is more than a stone, senshi. It was the
pivotal point of Mercury's power before its demise."
Three pairs of eyes flashed over to me before settling on
Luna again.
She continued, "Before any of you were born, Queen
Aiya, your mother, Ami-chan, was to be wed to King Sarius of
the planet Flanar. Queen Aiya, however, had already given her
heart to another man," She paused, narrowing her eyes to grasp
the memory that threatened to slip away.
"He-he was a nobleman on the Moon, and their relationship
had been extremely secretive. Only her sister, Alana, knew. When
Sarius learned of her deception, he was outraged. He ambushed
Mercury and stole the Hikari Gem from the palace."
Usagi moved to speak, but Luna held her back, "With
his already formidable power as the ruler of Flanar, Sarius was
nearly invincible with the Hikari Gem's. Only nearly, though."
Artemis urged to go on when she took a pregnant pause,
and she closed her eyes, "The Hikari Gem was not meant to kill,
and when he manipulated it to destroy countless Mercurians it
began to resist his power. He used the last of its power to
kill Queen Aiya, and it began to deteriorate."
I swallowed over the lump in my throat. My mother had
died that way? I cringed at the thought of what she must have
suffered that night.
Luna cut off my thoughts as she continued, "It is believed
that he killed one more after her without the use of the gem--your
father, Galah, Ami-chan. But it was never proven. He was found
in his home, unscathed and with no traces of foreign energy
in his body."
Both of them? I forced down a tear, surprised at the
self-control even that took.
Usagi's hand found itself on my back and rubbed
comfortingly.
"When he returned to Flanar the gem had finally finished
deterioration and self-destructed, destroying Sarius and his
planet within seconds."
I couldn't absorb the information she'd just given us
like all other knowledge I stored away as if it were easier than
breathing, and I fought to grasp pieces of it as she released it.
"You mean...he destroyed Mercury?" I furrowed my brow,
"But...then how was I born if he killed my mother?"
Luna explained, "That is the strangest part, Ami. When
Sarius killed Aiya, you were still in her womb. And when Alana
arrived on the moon, she was carrying a child--you, Ami-chan."
"No one is sure how you were transferred into her body, but
Aiya must have used some sort of magic to ensure that you would be
safe," She finished with a weary look in her eyes.
"And the Hikari Gem?" Minako questioned, "How could it
still exist after self-destructing itself?"
Artemis chose to answer, "It left behind a seed of itself,
in a way, and that seed was said to be planted in its true keeper. To
this day that person hasn't been found."
"Do you think it could be Ami?" Rei uttered, looking at me
as if I was completely different.
I looked at Luna, and she spoke, "Her ability to heal
is definitely a stem from the gem's powers, but all royal
Mercurians are equipped with that ability. I would think that
if Ami did possess the gem, we would have known by now."
I nodded. There was no way I could be the gem's true
keeper. I still couldn't fathom the deaths of my parents in such
a heartless way, and my head pounded from the amount of
information being jammed into it at once.
"If this new enemy is a descendant of Sarius, would
she be more powerful than Galaxia, Luna?" Minako asked, failing
to hide the tinge of worry behind her words.
Luna nodded solemnly, "Flanar was a dark, all-powerful
planet at the time. If he/she is from there, then there is no
telling how destructive they may be."
"So until we find the Hikari Gem, we're sitting ducks,"
Usagi concluded.
Rei rose quickly, "I'm going to do a fire reading. Maybe
there's something it can tell me that we don't already know."
Luna nodded, and we all sat in silence until she returned,
twenty minutes later.
Rei collapsed to her knees on the floor, sweat dripping
down her forehead. She breathed heavily and stared blankly at
Usagi.
"What did you see, Rei-chan?" Usagi helped her remain
sitting.
Rei took a few more deep breaths, "It-it said the evil
lies in...Usagi."
The entire room was enveloped in startled silence until
Usagi herself broke it, "Me? How could that be possible?" She
searched Luna's eyes for her to agree that the idea was ludicrous.
"Are you sure, Rei?" Luna inquired.
Rei nodded, "All it kept saying was Usagi. The evil is in
Usagi."
Before any more was spoken, I broke out my scanner and
instructed Usagi to lay down flat on her back.
She hesitated before doing so, but finally lay down.
I hurriedly found her biological data in my computer's
memory and loaded it for comparison.
A few, tense moments passed, and everyone's eyes remained
on Usagi and me.
"Nothing," I stated succinctly, "She's going to have the
flu next month, but other than that, nothing."
Usagi rose in her place and scrunched her nose, "Thanks
for the heads up, Ames."
Luna sighed, "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious,
minna. For now, we have to stay on guard. Whatever attacked two
days ago is going to be back, and we must be ready. Casualties are
unacceptable and must be prevented at all costs."
Waving goodbye to our guardians, Minako, Usagi, Rei,
and I followed each other into the kitchen. I wasn't really hungry
at all.
The next hour or so passed by slowly. Rei ordered pizza,
and Matt came by for a while after dropping off Makoto. With him
there, there was no way we could fill her in on what Luna had told
us, so we decided to shove it off until after he left.
When, finally, Makoto shut the door behind his back and
we had cleaned up the mess after dinner, we all settled down in
Rei's room and listened as she and Minako took turns recounting
Luna's story.
Makoto's eyes were wide throughout the ordeal, and she
turned sympathetic eyes to me when they had finished. I felt sincerely
uncomfortable having all of the attention drawn to me, but it was
quickly averted after Rei informed Makoto of the fire reading.
By the time we had finished, my head was throbbing, and I
popped a few Advil into my mouth, settling onto my futon to sleep.
In the dark, Usagi let out a tired yawn, collapsed on
to her pillow, and turned to me, softly smiling.
"It'll be okay, Ami-chan. You won't lose anyone else."
I leaned over to give her a hug and whispered my thanks.
Sleep claimed my body reluctantly that night as I lay
awake, gazing at the ceiling. Eventually, I managed to push
all thoughts of the Hikari Gem and my lost parents to the
back of my cluttered mind and let the gentle hands of sleep
carry me into a dreamless slumber.
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"AMI-CHAN! AMI-CHAN!"
My eyelids cracked open slowly, closing just as
quickly when an air-borne pillow collided with my face.
"Wake up, sleepy-head! It's almost 11!" Minako stood
at the foot of my bed, dressed and perky as usual. You could
never tell that 1/5 of the weight of the entire universe's
well-being rested on the Senshi of love's shoulders.
"I'm up, Minako-chan," I mumbled. Groggily, I stretched
and rose from the bed.
"I'm starving. Please tell me Makoto cooked," As if
to agree, my stomach growled noisily and Minako giggled.
"Duh, Ami-chan! When is that girl not in the kitchen?
Now, hurry up and get dressed--you look like hell," With
that, she bounced out of the room leaving a trail of
merry sunshine in her place.
"Gee, thanks, Mina-chan," I replied to the empty
room.
After a few minutes of washing, I slipped into
a pair of jeans and a sweater I'd brought from home. Picking
up the nearest hairbrush on Rei's dresser, I tugged it through
my tangled blue locks and suddenly missed my chin length hair.
I had let it grow out over the summer (now falling just above
my shoulders) and it was a pain in the neck for someone who wasn't
used to actually having to work with it.
The radio dully played in the background as I
slipped on some socks to warm my chilled feet and padded
down the hallway.
Makoto's laughs filled my ears as I entered the
kitchen. Usagi stood stunned with a pile of flour perched
on her nose.
"That oughta teach you to stay out of the food before
everyone's up," Makoto laughed again.
She turned to me with a forgotten hand-full of
flour and smiled.
I flinched, "Um, I think I'd like to eat my
breakfast, not wear it, thank you."
She eyed her hand and laughed, "Sorry."
"No way, Rei-chan! I totally had you!" Minako
furiously tapped away at the PS2 controller, moving with
the race car as if it'd actually make it maneuver any better.
"Whatever," Rei said dismissively.
"Does Yuuchirou know you're playing his games?" Usagi
asked, obviously annoyed at not being able to play first.
"He doesn't care. He'd probably give it to me if I
asked him," Rei said. Rei and he had dated over the summer.
It was short-lived, to say the least, and they were all the happier
for it. Yuuchirou was quick to learn that Rei was much more likely
to hurtle potentially fatal objects in his direction when they
were a couple than when he was merely her assistant at the temple.
"Food's done!" Makoto announced and placed a steaming
plate of eggs and sausage on the table.
"YES! FOOD!" Usagi pounced onto her seat and
greedily filled a plate.
I joined her, yet not as animal-like as she, and
filled my own plate hungrily.
"No way, if I eat that I'm never gonna fit
into my outfit for next week," Minako said, and Rei
nodded in agreement.
"I can't look bloated on TV," She poured a cup of
orange juice and nibbled a piece of dry toast, eyeing Usagi.
"Odango, if you don't slow down, Mamoru'll
never be able to fit you through the door," She scoffed.
"Shut up, Rei-chan," Usagi mumbled beneath a
piece of sausage.
I was too hungry to care at the moment whether
or not I could fit into a stupid pair of jeans. The image of
a porky Usagi squeezing through the entrance doors
filled my vision and I nearly choked on my orange juice.
"You OK, Ames?" Minako asked half-concerned/half-amused.
I laughed slightly, "Yeah, fine." I had to stifle
a giggle as Usagi packed another pound of food into her
mouth--or black hole as we liked to call it.
"Ami-chan, Zach is gonna shit frisbees when
he sees you in that outfit tonight." Usagi said.
That did it. The image of Zach popping frisbees
out of his rear-end sent me into an uncontrollable fit
of giggles.
"I'm f-f-fin--I'm, my stomach hurts," I
clutched my middle and wished I hadn't eaten all
that food.
After I regained my composure, the girls
were busy containing their own giggles.
"Wow, Ames, I've never seen you this
giggle-y before. What's up? You and Zach haven't...
have you?" Rei asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.
"NO! No, Rei-chan," I blushed profusely and
hid my face behind my glass of juice.
"Well then he MUST be a good kisser,"
Minako said bemusedly.
Rei only laughed, "Yeah, well if Jason tries to
kiss me one more time I just might have to-"
"Kiss him RIGHT back."
Rei jumped at least five feet in the air and screamed.
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE?!" She was
beet red and breathing hard.
Jason laughed loudly and pointed to Yuuchirou
behind him.
"My buddy, Yuuchirou, here let me in," He
beamed at her.
"Yuuchirou, what did I tell you about letting
stray DOGS in here?" Rei was glowering over them.
Yuuchirou cowered back slightly.
"Sorry, Rei-chan, I'll just be um...going now,
see ya!" He zoomed off before she could do anything more.
"Ouch, Rei, that hurt me," Jason tapped his
hand over his heart.
"But, anyway, I came by to pick up my CD player. I
think I left it in your car yesterday," He stood expectantly,
flashing his thousand dollar grin.
Rei eyed him speculatively for a moment and sighed,
"Oh, come on."
She brushed past him, glaring as if he was the last person
in the world she wanted to be alone with at the moment. We, of course,
knew otherwise.
Usagi and Minako exchanged glances once the two had
disappeared through the front door before hurtling themselves out
of their seats and to the window.
"Move your elbow, Minako! I can't see!" Usagi pouted.
I swallowed my protest at their childish behavior, gathering
from experience that they wouldn't listen.
"Look! I think he's asking her if he can be her date
tonight!" Minako exclaimed, making room for Makoto.
"Aww! Look, she's blushing!"
"Damn, they're coming back! Hurry!" Minako scrambled
from her perch on the couch and plopped back into her chair,
twiddling her thumbs innocently.
Usagi and Makoto made a mad dash for the same chair,
falling on top of each other in a struggle for dominance.
Usagi ended up kissing tile, and Makoto triumphantly
laughed. Growling, Usagi picked herself up and hopped into
the chair opposite me.
I idly sipped my juice, guilty of nothing, and watched
Rei walk through the door, Jason (smiling smugly) in tow.
She ignored us, stomping to her bedroom and coming out
with a slip of paper. Quickly she scribbled down something and
shoved it into his hands.
"Here. Now LEAVE," She folded her arms across her chest
indignantly.
Jason eyed the slip of paper with a scrutinizing gaze
and handed it to Makoto.
"Is this legit?"
Makoto recognized the number as Rei's and laughed, nodding.
Rei scoffed and practically shoved him out of the door.
"Goodbye, sayonara, adios, GET OUT."
Jason raised his hands in silent cheer, "Oh yeah,
I knew you were into me," He looked at her and leaned
close to her face, "Does this mean I get that kiss?"
SMACK
Jason rubbed his shoulder, "Damn, you sure aren't a
morning person. You're lucky I like feisty chicks."
"UGH! GET OUT!" She shoved him roughly out the door.
As Jason stumbled down the stairs he called,
"I'll be here at six! See ya later!"
She huffed back into the room and plopped on
to her chair, red-faced.
"Why did I say yes to him?!" She put her
head on the table.
"Because you are into him," Usagi said
matter-of-factly.
Rei was silent for a minute.
"God, help me--I am," She put her arms
around her head.
"Aw, don't worry, hon, we understand,"
Minako patted her back.
"But you keep abusing him like that and he
just might stop trying and file a restraining order," Minako
nibbled her toast.
"I guess I should call Mamo-chan and tell him
to pick me up here as well," Usagi beamed and left to make
the call.
Rei called after her, "They're sending a limo to pick us
up at 6:15!"
"I gotta go tie up some stuff with my agent before the
holidays," Minako gathered her purse, "I'll be back around 3,
OK?"
The rest of us followed after her, all agreeing to meet
at 3.
"Bye!" Rei waved to us as we descended the temple
steps.
I had the strangest urge to hear Zach's voice, and I
walked as fast as I could without looking abnormal to get to
my apartment.
All the way I couldn't shake the feeling that something
big was going to happen that night--good or bad, I couldn't quite
decipher--but somehow I knew that if I talked to him, I'd feel
better.
"Hi, Mom." I swiftly walked past her in the kitchen,
grabbed the cordless phone, "Bye, Mom!", and scurried off to
my bedroom.
"Hello?" A groggy voice that clearly said "I stayed up last
night getting drunk off my ass and now I'm suffering the consequences."
answered.
Stifling my laugh, I asked for Zach and waited while the
hung-over person on the other line went to get him.
"Ami-chan?" Zach's voice startled me, and I couldn't
stop the smile that spread over my face. The cloud of worry in
my stomach was kicked to the side as the familiar swarm of
butterflies came to life in its place.
"Hey Zach..."
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REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
I have to know what you like/don't like! Be gentle though!
Adrial
TO GO, PLEASETO GO, PLEASETO GO, PLEASE