TEN REASONS
Chapter 7 – Why the unit is absolutely beautiful
Yawning I awoke from my slumber to notice Tyson's foot subconsciously rubbing against mine. It was actually rather soothing. I peered up to his face and he slid his nose down my nose as if it was some kind of slippery slide and kissed my lips.
"Morning," he greets happily.
"Good morning," I reply empathising good.
"I think you made Tac jealous," I roll over and sure enough there is a black and white kitty sleeping with its back facing us, "Come on we gotta pack for Maxie's."
"Tell me Ty, what exactly is happening today?" I query.
"We pack, get ready, meet Kai, Hilary, Kenny and Cara at the airport and pick up Max and Emily, drive to the unit and we'll work it out from there."
"And the big party is?"
"Saturday night," he notifies.
"Let's pack then," I agree.
So we packed, showered separately. I changed into a mint green halter and denim shorts and wore my sneakers. I put my hair up into a high pony and put in my silver butterfly clip and matched it with my silver bangle. Ty wore his usual shoes; grey corded pants and a red and whit shirt. After breakfast we popped over to remind the old lady across the road that was trimming the roses yesterday, to feed Tac.
"Okay check if I've forgotten anything," Ty asks.
"Boardies?"
"Check"
"Towel,"
"Check,"
"Sunscreen,"
"Check,"
"Underwear, deodorant, toothbrush,"
"Check times three,"
"Car keys,"
"Err… anti-check?" he replies and scoots back in to get the keys. "Let's go! I can't wait to see Max and Emily!" He cheers.
"Same, it's been about five years since I last saw them. Hey Ty are we going to announce our relationship?" I ask as the thought of telling Max and Emily pops into my head.
"I don't know. To be honest I haven't really thought about it."
"Me too till just now." I state.
"Well Ray probably didn't think that when he said you needed a bed to sleep on that it would be mine."
I giggle a little, "Good point. I don't particularly feel up to it to tell Ray about us. How about we keep us a secret for now?" I propose.
"Yeah. I don't think I could stand Hilary's lectures either about us hooking us so fast. Besides they would probably faint if we broke the news to them," he jokes.
"I'd love to see Kai faint," I declare.
"I'll second that! You wanna learn how to drive a car?" Tyson asks out of the blue.
"That was random,"
"Well do you?"
"Yeah okay. How did you know I couldn't drive?" I query curiously.
"You said so in our acting class,"
"Oh, that's right,"
"Okay then, steering wheel…" he teaches as he points to the steering wheel.
"Duh," I state as I roll my eyes.
"You use the steering wheel to turn the car. You turn it left it goes left…"
"You turn it right it goes right…" I mock.
"Wow Mariah you must be a mind reader!" he jokes. "Accelerator, brake it's pretty obvious what they do." He informs this time more seriously as he points them out. "Hand brake, clutch and gearstick. What you are going to do today is change the gears. My car is a manual, meaning you have to change the gears manually, thus the name. Remember to change the gears you have to have the clutch in. Which I'll be doing. Now this is a five speed manual therefore it has five gears and if you look closely you'll see there are little numbers and a weird, wonky looking Nazi symbol on it, showing where you have to move the gearstick to achieve the desired gear. Grip your hand on it." He instructs.
I take hold of the gear stick and he places his hand on top of mine.
"Neutral is the horizontal line, meaning it's not driving or parked either. So if we didn't have the handbrake on and we were on a slope we'd be rolling down it much like a skateboard." He speaks as he tightens his hold of my hand on the gearstick and shifts it into neutral. I feel the car's engine move a little from underneath me and the car rolls slowly down the driveway. I panic, just a little and Tyson quickly puts the handbrake on. Once I had settled down he went through the other gears and explains when you have to change the gears.
"Now that you know all about the gears I'll entrust you in changing the gears," he entrusts and removes his hand from mine and starts the car. My eyes suddenly feel like they were too big for my eye sockets. I also did my best ever impression that I saw a real ghost.
"Pardon?" I squeak.
"Only joking, but you will be helping me to change the gears though I'll have my hand on yours to guide you," he explains as he puts in the clutch and helps me to move the gear into the right slot. I probably would have been all flustered and romantic about it if I wasn't concentrating so hard on working out when I should change the gears. I felt something like pride swell up in me each time I changed the gears with Ty's help. In our village it was frowned upon if a woman drove. It was expected for our arranged husbands to take us for Sunday drives. I can't believe they even let me beyblade! But I will admit that I was good.
We arrived at the airport with fifteen minutes to spare. We kissed in the parking lot knowing that since we had decided to keep our relationship silent we wouldn't be able to till the weekend was over.
"What terminal are they boarding at?" I ask so I can help Ty find it in this busy airport.
"Fifty-two," he replies. We soon find it, thanks to me, and we also find a man with two toned hair and a brunette lady, Kai and Hilary. Kai wore black leather shoes, crisply ironed black pants, and an untucked long sleeve pale blue shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned. His eyes were hidden behind black Matrix style sunglasses. Hilary wore some straw like wedges on her feet that looked very beachy, a white mini skirt and a lilac ¾ sleeved blouse buttoned up to show some slight cleavage. Her hair still flicked out as it always did but now it had a pair of rimless sunnies with the lens tinted like a sunset upon it. Her ears were pierced and large silver hoops dangled from her earlobes. I shake my head in disbelief remembering that these two are actually a couple.
"Your not late for once Tyson, quick take a photo," Kai stated more than greeted as he puts his sunnies on his head.
"And hello to you too Kai," Tyson commented.
"Mariah? Wow I didn't expect to see you here! How has life been treating you?" Hilary welcomes warmly.
"Really good just recently," I reply and I see Tyson smirk, "and yourself?"
"Pretty good actually. I just won my last case," she half brags.
"Long time no see," Kai spoke.
"Tell me about it," I reply. Kai apparently secretly respected me since I was an orphan too with no family. Well that's what Ray said awhile ago. "Wish I could say the same for Tyson…" he mumbled. "I thought Ray said he wasn't flying over till tomorrow?" Kai queried.
"Oh, I flew over by myself."
"Why didn't Ray fly over with you?" he pushes. Ty notices how uncomfortable I am and tries to end it.
"Long story…" he cuts in.
"Shorten it," he speaks rather demandingly.
I sigh and spill out my whole story, unshortened. Kai appears to be like he always was but I could tell he was listening intently. Hilary was rational and sympathetic towards the situation.
"I'm not sure about the Chinese laws but in Japan you can't be forced into marriage without your consent, So since you are currently residing in Japan I think you are safe." Hilary informs.
"Thanks Hilary," I reply gratefully.
"No problem, that's what friends are for."
"Hey guys!" Kenny addresses along with Caramel.
"Sorry we were late but we just had to check out all the duty free," Cara apologises. "Lookies! Red Door, twenty percent off!" She beams holding up a box of Elizabeth Arden's Red Door.
"You're not, the plane hasn't even…"
"Flight 117 from America, New York has just landed," an overhead speaker updates, interrupting Tyson. We all gather around the terminal entrance and waited patiently, except Tyson, for them to walk out. Ironically they were the last ones out but that might have been because Max was wearing a blindfold. Max was being lead out by Emily who no longer wore glasses and had grown her hair longer and a lady with blonde hair. Emily signalled to us to be quiet and brought Max over. She than counted down with her fingers.
3,
2,
1…
"SURPRISE!" We all shout minus Kai but he was at least smiling as the blonde lady removed the black blind fold. He blinked a couple of times because he was either adjusting his eyes to the light or he was totally surprised. Or perhaps even both.
"Wow…" Max finally managed to mouth, smiling his head off. "But my birthday isn't until tomorrow?" he wonders out loud.
"Maxie that's only the first surprise on your birthday long weekend," Emily hints.
"Really? Man it's great to see all you guys again!" he beamed, hugging us in turns including a reluctant Kai.
"Us too," agreed Hilary.
"Come on Max! We have a busy day ahead of us," Emily insisted, with Max still in a state of bewilderment and glee.
We departed from the airport noisily and split up into our designated cars. Kai and Hilary in his sports car, Max, Tyson, Emily and I in Tyson's bug and Cara, Kenny and Lora, the blonde lady who I was introduced to earlier as Max's cousin, went in Kenny's car. We just managed to squeeze their luggage in the boot. Max and Ty sat in the front leaving us giggling girls the back.
Tyson's POV
Ironically Kai and I had lined up our cars at the traffics light as if we were going to drag! And we did it all 'unpurposely' as if we weren't going to race. Kai reeved his black 550 Maranello Ferrari, with blue flames decal smirking at me. I too let my little bug to some talking giving him the victory sign back,
"Not again Tyson, last time you and Kai raced you both ended up with a five hundred dollar fine and that was just a warning," Emily warns much like a mother.
"I know, but this is my home town and I have the home town advantage," I point out. "Besides it's like a tradition!"
"You're impossible," Emily exhales noisily.
My Linkin Park, Numb ring tone blasts.
"Hello," I greet.
"Ty its Kenny. I'm making a detour to pick Rosemary up so I'll meet up with you later… and don't drag Kai! Remember what happened last time! You both ended up with a five hundred dollar fine!" the Chief advises.
"Yeah, yeah," I sigh as I hang up only to reeve my beetle, anticipating the green light.
Red, red, red, GREEN!
Kai and I both slam our foot on the accelerator. Since a Ferrari is way faster than a VW beetle, Kai sprints out in front of me but like I said I have the home town advantage. I duck down one of the empty side streets to avoid the highway.
We all, including Emily piss ourselves laughing when we hear on the radio that the southbound lane on the freeway is expecting delays which was exactly the road Kai would be on.
"I didn't realise you enjoyed illegal car racing so much Emily?" I tease.
"I don't, I was just imagining Kai's face," the orange haired lady replied and we all laughed harder than before. I snuck a peek at Mariah through the side mirrors and caught her eye and we smiled. When they were lining up for looks, Mariah must have been first in line.
"So how long have you and Max been together," Mariah asks as we break eye contact.
"When I started wearing contacts, so three years ago when I was nineteen,"
"Yeah I was wondering what happen to your glasses," she replies.
"Steve happened,"
"Oh?" Mariah asks wanting to hear more.
"We were playing football and he tackled me, smashing my glasses." Emily recounts.
Flash back – Emily's POV
This was the eighth time that one of my All Star team mates had smashed my glasses playing sport. I sighed as I looked down at the packet of contacts; poking myself in the eye wasn't exactly my idea of fun. I took out one of my contacts and placed it on the end of my finger. I honestly tried to stick the blasted thing in but every time I'd go anywhere near my eye I couldn't stop blinking and my eyes would water. I was never good with eye drops either. After at least one hundred attempts of trying to get the blasted thing in, I stamped my feet and had a bit of a whine, like a spoilt child being told no.
"What's wrong? Did you try using liquid eyeliner and screw it up?" I hear a familiar blonde's voice.
"No worse Max. I'm trying to put these contacts in," I groan.
"No luck hey? Okay lie down," he instructs. I do as he asks and lie down on the cold tiles. "Good now stare up at the ceiling."
Being the genius I am, one would think I would have figured out what he was trying to do earlier.
"You're not going to…"
"You trust me?" he cuts me off.
"Err… no," I sheepishly reply. As I go to sit up, you know what he does? He sits on me.
"Too bad…" he smirks. I squirm around trying to free myself but that Max is heavier than he looks.
"You're truly are evil," I state sharply. He blinks in a true blonde manner.
"No one's ever called me evil before. That just might take some time to get use to. Oh well I'll just pass the time sitting on you stomach…" he sighs, crossing his arms.
Than a wicked thought crosses my mind. I'll pinch him.
"Ow," he cries out in pain rubbing his thigh. "I'm evil? I think you are the one who is evil," he comments grabbing my wrists and locking my arms up.
Okay that definitely did not work. And that's when I notice the awkward position we were in.
"Um Max, I might not be wearing my glasses but I can see that if someone walks in what exactly is going to go through their head."
"Well the sooner we get those contacts in, the sooner I can get off you. So are you going to let me help you?"
"No," I bite back and then he puts on that sad puppy dog look.
"Oh, okay." So I changed my mind. He let's go of my wrists and sticks the contact on his finger.
"Look up at the ceiling and make those eyes go all wide," he informs. "Michael just flashed the president!" he cheers making my eyes go wide and he sticks the contact in. "that definitely made your eyes go wide," he comments.
I blink a couple of times and feel all dizzy cause I could only see clearly out of one eye and not the other. My eye goes all watery.
"Did I hurt you?" Max asks hastily.
"No, I'm just not used to it," I reply. "You better get the other one in quick before I bring on the full water works." He nods and gets the remaining contact prepared. He places his hand firmly on my cheek and holds my eyelids open.
"On three, 1, 2…" he counts down and on two he pops it in.
I blink heaps again and my eyes go all watery. Max gets the hem of his shirt and wipes them dry. "They're in!" I cheer.
"So you trust me now?" he questions.
"Yeah, I always have. I'm just really protective of my eyes," I answer. "You forgot how to count to three!" I giggle.
"Hey you were anticipating three!" he defends.
"Can't count! Here I'll teach you 1… 2… 3…" I chime.
"Whatever!" He grabs a sponge and chucks it at my face. "Just remember I decide when I'm done sitting on you," he reminds. We sit there for ages in silence. Luckily no one at the BBA centre wanted to use the bathroom, but that was probably because it was 11pm and they had gone home long ago.
"So what's the weather meant to be like tomorrow," I speak finally breaking the silence. He just cracks up laughing and finally gets off me.
"Come on let's get out of here," he suggests offering me a hand up. I accept his gesture only for me to fall down and bring him with me.
"Shit! My legs have gone dead," I curse at myself. I notice that Max has fallen straight on top of me. God, does he have the prettiest eyes I have ever seen. They're swirls of blue and aqua. They sparkle too, like some rare gem.
He must have been thinking something along the lines of what I was thinking because then we kissed. Somehow I forgot about my dead legs.
We never did get home that night…
Mariah's POV
I don't know how many times Ty and I eyed each other through the side mirror but you think it would be enough for either Emily or Max to notice, but they didn't. Emily was busy with her thoughts and Max and Tyson were talking about the latest beyblade technology. I just sat there humming songs from the radio contently.
"HIWATARI!" Tyson bursts out. The cars were lined up at opposite ends of the street like in the movies.
"Only Tyson and Kai," Emily sighs deeply, shaking her head. "Oh and let me guess, the unit is in the middle of the street, right!"
"Actually it's one block closer to us Em," Ty states and Em just sighs.
Once again they both slam their foot on the accelerator. Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better cause since Ty had the smaller car it was easier to park. Ty then bolts up to the unit and I swear I hear him cheer, "I beat you Kai!"
Kai then comes over and tosses the keys and catches them. "No he hasn't, I've got the keys." And he makes his way to the unit.
We all laugh as we hear Ty and Kai arguing over who one the 'race'.
The remaining four of us all carry the luggage only to be told after ten flights of stairs by Kai that there was an elevator…
Ten Reasons why the unit is absolutely beautiful…
1. Kai owns it
2. Caramel helped design it; boy is she good at designing
3. It's a penthouse, housing the two top floors and the roof
4. There is a pool, spa, sauna and barbeque on the roof
5. The fridge has one of those ice machine things
6. It's across the road from the beach! Can you imagine the views!
7. It's got five bedrooms each with a bathroom and a wardrobe. There's also a separate bathroom
8. He has a widescreen with surround sound, DVD player, the works!
9. He has a mini gym with a beyblade dish
10. He has a private elevator!