Hey y'all! Sorry if this chapter keeps changing, I'm still trying to get a hang of posting. It should still be the same chapter, with just a few small changes. When I reposted this chapter with revisions I forgot to post my thank-you's. Thanks for all of your awesome reviews! Y'all are the best! The encouragement, critique, and advice really helped me out.
Alianne Cooper (You were my first reviewer!), Nolee of Stone Mountain, Queen Cake, Mango Sam, twilight-la-fae, Kelly Masbolle, Prowling Kit-Kat(There's a note for you at the bottom.), Kore Yan, Mustang Gal (the car or the horse?), oceanspike, Trickstergal33, The Final Stillness of Saturn, Lady Page, crystalambaia, ossini, sYaOrAnRoXmiSoX (what does that mean? lol), chicken-puffs, shinadagami, Rat Child G, and flashrider....(gasps for breath!). Again- Thank y'all SOOO much. Your reviews keep me going. So...without further babbling- I give you the next installment of what will hopefully become a story (with a real plot and everything!)...
You're Not a Little Girl Anymore- Chapter 2
"And what friends might these be, Meathead!" using the nickname given to him by his cousin: Domitan of Masbolle (Dom, for short).
"Well…I," he mumbled, obviously confused. Neal turned and actually looked at her for the first time since knocking her down. Kel placed her hands on her hips and flipped her hair so she could glare up into his face. "KEL!!" He pulled her in a strong bear hug, recognizing his best friend at last.
"How hard did you hit your head in battle, that you can't even know your own friend from a lady?" she joked with him.
"I know you'll deny it Kel, but I must stress that YOU, my dear friend, are both."
"Flattery won't save you from bruises on the practice court, Neal. Save 'em for Yuki. By the way, have you seen her yet?" knowing the answer from the happy look on his face.
"She met me when I arrived, Mithros bless. I don't know what I would have done without her sweet face to brighten my dreary world." While he was singing his praises of his beloved Yukimi, Kel slipped past him into the mess hall. Neal was her best friend, but his poetry couldn't best the smell of food from the dining hall. She slipped in line and got a bowl full of porridge and some cinnamon toast then turned around, looking for someone she knew to sit with.
"He's over in the corner," Neal said from behind her.
"Where…" she began to say, but caught herself. Her small crush on Dom was obvious, but she wasn't going to admit it. "Did it take you that long to notice I wasn't listening?" she said, trying to change the subject.
"Come on, my plate's already over there." He pushed her in the back and then led her over to the table. She saw many familiar faces, but one in particular was missing.
"Cheating on Yuki, Neal?" Dom's joking voice sounded behind them, "Who's the pretty lady?"
"You can't be serious." Kel said shocked. He took her for some noble lady, flirting with her, no less.
"I'm sorry, m'lady. Haven't you heard of our terrible flirting habits?" He said from behind Kel's seated form.
"I see it firsthand everyday." She decided to play along with Dom, whether it was a little game of his or he was confused.
"I don't doubt it, m'lady. Not being as pretty as you are." He told her, flirting as bad as possible. She put a sly grin on her face and turned around with her hands under her chin, in her best imitation of a girly pose. She then flipped her hair, for the second time that day, so he could see her face clearly.
"Really? You obviously don't get out much." She kept her grin calm as Dom blushed scarlet and the whole table laughed. Neal was laughing so hysterically that he fell off the bench.
"What? But, I thought…Mithros!" Dom muttered.
"I can't believe you did that." Neal told Dom, rubbing it in.
"Shut-up Meathead!" Dom said embarrassed. He sat down next to his plate.
"You shouldn't be talking Neal." Kel said, knocking him off his high horse. "You know you did the same thing." He blushed and looked up at her. She smiled then began to eat, finally.
" Hey, Kel," Merric, another of her good friends, called. "Twice in one day, doesn't that tell you something?"
"That I'm surrounded my blind morons?" she offered.
"Or, that maybe you HAVE changed." Merric told her. "People are noticing that you're not a little girl anymore." The Goddess! She didn't know if she should take that as a compliment or as Merric's way of asking for a beating.
"Stop it, Merric. You're making her…well not blush, but she's becoming the Yamani Lump." Neal used her nickname from when they were pages. Thankfully, Kel had finished her breakfast and had an excuse to leave this embarrassing conversation.
"I don't know about you guys, but I have places to be." Kel said as she stood up. "You BOYS have fun." They all looked at her as if she had insulted their family honor. She grinned at them and waved before she walked away to put her tray up.
Kel walked briskly to her room and changed into her practice clothes, consisting of a thin white shirt, breeches, and boots. She needed something to get her relaxed so she headed towards the practice courts, hoping to find someone willing to a match. She walked onto one of the courts to find it empty; she sighed and sat down on the grass pondering the conversation.
"They never talk like that, it was definitely a change." She thought aloud.
"So you admit things change?" Dom's voice came from behind her.
"Don't you know already? I never admit when I'm wrong." Kel replied jokingly.
"I can't believe I didn't recognize you." He said.
"Well I can't believe you flirted with me like some noble lady you were trying to catch." Kel admitted.
"Like I told you, we noble servants of the realm are notorious for it."
"Not all …" She said, "Don't forget I'm a 'noble servant of the realm', too.'
"I include you in the same category. You're just as bad as us."
"The Goddess! I never flirt with anyone."
Where is he going with this ridiculous argument? I wish I could just brush that piece of hair out of his eyes- wait! No, I don't! I wish I could beat him to a bloody pulp for talking such nonsense! She thought.
"Maybe you didn't use to, but even at breakfast this morning, you were flirting, and bad too. I wouldn't have kept going if you hadn't played along, and you know it." He said. Kel shrugged and stood up, trying to avoid the topic.
"Do you want to do some hand-to-hand combat with me?" Kel asked, needed some physical work and trying to change the subject.
"No thanks. I don't feel like dying for at least another ten years, but thanks anyway."
"Men are such babies!" she said. She turned around and walked towards the stables and her beloved gelding, Peachblossom.
Prowling KitKat was astute enough to point out my slight mistranslation from modern day English to pig Latin. As it turns out, we were both incorrect. I like to learn from my mistakes, so I looked it up on the web.
- Words that start with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) simply have "WAY" appended to the end of the word.
-Words that start with a consonant have all consonant letters up to the first vowel moved to the end of the word (as opposed to just the first consonant letter), and "AY" is appended. ('Y' is counted as a vowel in this context.)
So, there! You learned something today. Aren't you proud of yourself? Keep reviewing, and maybe I'll teach you some more interesting facts to know and tell.
Eviewray! Eviewray! Eviewray! And- May the rumors spread quickly through the hallways of your life. =o)