Why Can't I Breathe?
Chapter 1: Whenever I Think About You
AN: Yes, this is the sequel to Mad About You. ^_^ It's not called "Still Mad About You" like I originally thought, but I really like that Liz Phair song, so I decided to use it. And it works better. I finally got down to business. Thanks for all of your reviews guys. I write better fics because of your reviews! Hope you like this one as much as you liked the other!
*
Kai stared up at the white ceiling of his second period art classroom, fiddling with his pencil. He was trying to balance it on his nose. Mrs. Ainoe was dribbling nonsense anyway, as usual, so Kai figured there was nothing to pay attention to.
The other students must have believed the same thing, because they were all laughing or talking quietly as well. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Max, Rei, Tyson, and Kenny all conversing in the far corner of the room.
Their silly little group…..
Kai flinched as memories of them flooded into his brain. They used to be his group too. His friends. He had been a member of that group for a brief moment in time as well. He pushed those thoughts out of his head as he continued to concentrate on balancing the pencil on his nose.
As soon as he thought he had had it perfectly balanced, a buzz rung through his ears, destroying his concentration. He had created his own alarm. An alarm to inform him that she was nearby.
That girl who had so easily broken his heart. Not that it was her fault. It was Kai's own fault, really.
Kai's heart pounded hard in his chest, and his ears were still ringing. It was as if someone were yelling "danger!" and red lights were going off inside his head.
Ayame Hamaguchi entered the classroom at 7:25am, knowing that second period clearly started at 7:15am. Of course, no one cared that she was late; Mrs. Ainoe didn't even say anything, she just nodded to sit down. Ayame was always late, not because she was a bad student, but because she was a complete klutz.
She barely looked at Kai as she sat down immediately with Rei, Max, Tyson, and Kenny. They all greeted her happily and informed her of what they were talking about before. Once she was clued in, Ayame joined in to the conversation, all of them completely oblivious that Kai was listening.
"I haven't done my art project yet," Tyson was saying loudly, even though they were supposed to be listening to the teacher. "I'm too sleepy."
"It's important that we do our project though, guys. It's 1/3 of our final grade," Kenny chimed in.
"I don't even have a partner, and it's due Friday," Ayame spoke out loud to herself, and Rei nodded.
"Yeah, I heard."
"You know Aya, if you would just talk to Kai-" Tyson interjected.
Sirens were wailing in his head again, and Kai immediately turned around and pretended not to listen.
Tyson had definitely hit a nerve in Ayame's brain too. She flinched for a second and then her face went blank.
"I already told you guys a thousand times. Kai and I have nothing to talk about anymore. We're complete opposites, and we were never really friends before. I don't know why I even liked him."
So that was it.
Plain and simple.
For months it had gone on that way between them. Neither of them saying anything to each other, Ayame spending all her time with her friends, Kai being alone.
Alone. Kai hated that word, but it was the only way to describe himself. He had been alone when he had come to this town, and he was alone now.
For a brief period in time Kai had believed that Ayame was the only person he could truly love and be friends with, the only person to take away his pain, and the only person who…. Well, it didn't matter anymore anyway.
They weren't friends.
They never were.
That was the long and short of it.
Kai could be as nonchalant and uncaring as he wanted, but Ayame knew that he had once cared for her, and Kai knew the same was true about her. They just couldn't love each other anymore. They just couldn't.
Bing. The end of class. Thank God the torture was over for this class period.
WAAAAIIIITTTTT! Kai shivered, remembering that he had English next period. English with Max, Rei, Tyson, and Ayame. DAMNIT!
Time for more torture, Kai mused to himself. He grabbed his things and headed out the door before anyone else even had time to look at it.
Kai decided that 2 periods in a row was too much torture for him today, so he decided to skip his next class. Headed for the upstairs bathroom, the best spot in the whole school to hook class, Kai quickly stopped at his locker to put his bag away. He knew he wouldn't need it until after lunch anyway.
Upon entering the bathroom, Kai recognized the familiar smell of cigarettes and dirty bathroom stalls. It was not a pleasant combination. There were 3 other guys in the bathroom with him, which wasn't very many for the usual amount of class cutters, but it was enough to make Kai uncomfortable anyway. He didn't mind sharing the bathroom with anyone else, but when they were all staring at you and smoking, it got weird. So Kai headed into the nearest stall and stood there for a minute or two, listening to their boring conversation. Then, when he could take no more mindless babble, he pretended to flush the toilet and leave.
Was there no justice in this world? Why couldn't anyone have any good conversations anymore? Kai wandered the halls for a while and then headed to lunch 5 minutes early. Maybe he could find a seat by himself this time, instead of sitting with a bunch of preps like he had the previous day.
Kai had just sat down when the bell rang. Great, torture, round 3. As he sat and watched all of the students come flooding into the cafeteria, Kai realized that he had no lunch yet. He rarely ate anyway, but today Kai was feeling exceptionally hungry. He stood and got in the long line. He stared at the floor almost the entire time, though when someone tapped him on the shoulder he turned.
It was Tatsuhiko.
"Hey dude. Sup?" He had taken a liking to Kai ever since he had broken things off with Ayame. Still, Kai wasn't sure whether he was Tatsuhiko's friend or not. At least they weren't enemies anymore, though.
"Nothing." Tatsuhiko's smile changed almost immediately.
"So have a look over there," he said darkly, pointing towards his old lunch table. "That guy just asked Aya on a date. It wasn't direct, but he wants her real bad, man. I think she accepted his offer too, I was too much in shock to listen to the rest. Just wanted to give you a heads up, and-"
Kai wasn't listening anymore. His ears had started ringing again, and he could have cried had he not been in a crowded cafeteria near his former rival. He wanted to die right there instead of hearing about Ayame going out with some other guy. Tala had been enough pain for Kai to bear, and now some other guy had stolen here again? The one person Kai wanted to be able to love in the world.
The only one.
Kai felt like he was breaking into two people - the side that wanted to be with Ayame again, and the side that wanted, no, needed, to be away from her.
"Something has to be done about this," Tatsuhiko muttered to Kai, and Kai secretly nodded to himself.
"Yes, it does." He wasn't talking about the new guy as Tatsuhiko was; he was talking about himself, about his own feelings.
AN: So what'd you think? It'll get even more intense soon. ^_^ Please review guys. If not, I won't keep going. Love you all again!