If you haven't read the last chapter, then go and read it! I updated since they escaped!
(Everyone read this and if you don't agree with my reply, then please tell me WHY)
Eden: That thing about "Muttering curses, she scowled.......," it is allowed. There are similar sentences in other books, and it is right. It's like (She was) muttering curses, she scowled. It's not present tense at all because if it was, it would be (She is) muttering curses, and she scowl. The second verb defines whether it is 'she was' or 'she is.' And how is IT in first person?? I is first person, he/she/it is third, and you is second. I learned that in school, so I know 'it' is not first person. To me, 'it' is a thing that has an unknown gender or doesn't have a gender. One more thing, some future tense is also allowed. "She would have..." is one example that can be used in a story written in past tense. I read them in books all the time. About that sentence, "Zarine vowed that she will give him an earful...," a vow is something that you intend or intended to do in the future, so it is correct. How would you write that sentence if you aren't allowed to use any future tense? I know that I should had used would, instead of will, but oh well. The sentence, 'He smiled because I was so happy,' or whatever, that was just an old dumb mistake. I think we can start a great long debate about this! Lol.
Chapter Twenty-Three - Shopping
"Oh my gosh!" Zarine squealed after she heard Jewels' story. "Jewels and Kai kissed?????"
Carrie nodded, grinning widely. "I told you they are made for each other. According to Jewels, she didn't even know what was happening until five minutes into the make out session."
Zarine laughed. "We have to get them together! Them and Hilary and Tyson." She got a handful of beads from the bag, and started to make a fish out of them.
"If they find out though, we might be in trouble," Carrie said worriedly.
"Well, I'll just tell them that we were only giving them a bit of encouragements, and if they didn't want to be together, they didn't have to. It's not like we're going to force them or anything. We're just going to guide them in the right direction," the silver haired girl said, shrugging. "Talking of couples, so what's going on with you and Jason? Did he get mad that you missed your date?"
"No, he came by the next day with roses for me," the red head sighed dreamily at the memory. "He called me everyday and we talked for the longest time ever. What about Ray, did he get flowers for you?"
"No, he had already given me the best flower," she replied, pointing to the necklace around her neck. "Besides, we do lots of fun things together instead of just going to the movies and make out. Yesterday, he took me out bike riding, and I got to sit in front of him while he pedaled. He's so sweet to me."
"You really are in love with him, aren't you?"
"Well, duh! I mean, he's like the best thing that has happened in my life!"
Carrie was quiet for a moment, studying her friend intently. She was about to say something when Grandpa came in. "So what do my homegirls want for lunch?"
"Fried noodles," Zarine requested, looking at the elderly man, coughing slightly.
"You'll make that cough worse with fried noodles," he told her.
"Wanton soup, Zarine can have it with noodles if she wants," Carrie said, looking at her.
"Fine, that'll be good," Zarine said. She frowned as she tried to figure out where she had made a mistake on the bead fish.
"Alright, you can chow in twenty minutes," Grandpa said.
"Yes, Grandpa," the two girls said absently.
"I don't get why Ray insisted that we come here," Carrie grumbled.
"He said that if we're alone, we're bound to do something crazy together. He's convinced that we're going to end up lying in a ditch somewhere," Zarine answered. When she saw the disbelief on Carrie's face, she said, "Don't even ask me how he got that idea."
"Don't worry, I don't even want to know."
"So did you have fun?" Ray asked his girlfriend after school. He looked at her, admiring how her silvery hair shines in the sun. He was just itching to touch it, but he resisted the temptation. He didn't think Zarine liked it the last time he ran his hand through her hair.
She nodded happily. "You bet I had fun," she answered, smiling.
When they arrived at Kai's mansion, someone unexpected was there.
"Leo, what are you doing here?" Zarine questioned in surprise.
"Oh, I just came here to see how you were doing. And to give you this," he replied, handing her a bouquet of flowers.
"They're beautiful, thanks!" she said appreciatively. She took a deep breath and inhaled the sweetness of the lilies.
He said, "You're welcome. I'll just finish the project and hand it in on Monday since you're ill, what do you say?"
"No, come here tomorrow and we'll work on it together. We're supposed to be partners after all," she said before admiring the flowers again.
Leo smirked at Ray's frown. "Okay, so tomorrow night I'll come and we can work on it together."
"Sure," she said distractedly, still busy looking at the lilies.
"Get better soon. I look forward to seeing you again in class," he said, hugging her carefully so he wouldn't squash the flowers by accident.
Ray's face was a thundercloud as he watched the two of them. He didn't like the thought of Leo looking at Zarine let alone hugging her.
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Zarine said, and waved happily at Leo.
She turned to Ray, and said, "See? Leo is nice. Why don't you like him?"
"Because he's trying to steal you away, that's why!" her boyfriend fumed. "I don't want to lose you to someone like him. I refuse to lose you to anyone!"
"You know I'm not going to leave you. Besides, he's just being nice. If he really wants to steal your girlfriend from under your nose, wouldn't he give me red roses, instead of lilies??" she questioned, confused. "Besides, he likes Shea, not me."
He sighed, thinking of how innocent she was considering her past experiences with guys. If only Zarine would believe what he told him about that jerk! "Zarine, just forget it, alright?" he said, and walked off towards the stairs.
"Why? Obviously, it's really bothering you. You can talk to me about things. I thought that's why you have me," she told him. She ran up and caught his arm. "I'm not just some thing you have to show off to people, you know?"
"I know," he responded, kissing her on the forehead. "I know."
Shea sat on her bed, inspecting her nails. Oh, how she longed to dig them into Zarine's face, and ruin her looks. She's convinced that the only reason Ray was going out with her was because how beautiful that brat was. She had to admit it to herself, if most grudgingly, that Zarine was the best looking person she had seen in her life. Somehow, she had to get Ray's girlfriend out of the picture. It was either that or she had to make Ray dump her...somehow.
As if God was listening to her thoughts, a phone call, which would change everything, came...
It was Saturday and everyone was at Tyson's dojo. "I want to go shopping," Carrie groaned.
"You've already said that about a hundred times today," Tyson said, covering his ears. "And we had decided that we are not going to the mall."
"It's better than doing nothing like we are now," Zarine yawned, shifting her head slightly on Ray's lap.
"I agree," Max moaned, also yawning. "I need to get candy.......I haven't been hyper for the past three days."
"Let's have a vote," Hilary said. "Whoever that wants to go to the mall say aye."
"Aye!" Zarine, Carrie, Jewels, Hilary, and Max chorused. Zarine tugged slightly on her boyfriend's shirt, and Ray added, "Aye."
"What are we waiting for then?" Carrie demanded, jumping up onto her feet.
Tyson complained, "But I don't wanna go!"
"Fine, stay here if you want," Jewels said. "We're not forcing you to go."
"Come on, buddy. We can buy candy and get hyper together," Max said with an excited smile on his face.
"That does sound like fun," the blue haired boy said slowly, considering the idea. "I suppose I wouldn't die. What about you, Kenny, Kai?"
Kai grunted in response, while Kenny shrugged. "I wouldn't mind."
The girls cheered, and took each of the guys by their hand. "Let's go!"
Kai could feel his face heat up when Jewels took his hand and dragged him out of the dojo. He tried to will the blush to disappear, but to no avail, it only got brighter and brighter. By the time they got to the mall, it was as bright as a tomato, literally.
"Um, Kai, why is your face so red?" Jewels asked.
His face only turned redder when he looked at her, butterflies flying around in his stomach.
Tyson suddenly laugh. "Haha, Kai's in love! Kai's in love! Kai and Jewels sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Kai ignored Tyson, his blush fading fast in his irritation.
"Don't ever say that again," Jewels told him sharply. "We're just friends."
Kai couldn't help but feel a slight twitch of disappointment as he looked at her.
'Just admit it, you totally have a thing for her,' the annoying little voice in his head urged. 'You don't have to tell anyone, just admit it to yourself.
'I don't feel anything for her but friendship,' the Russian insisted, even when he felt his stomach clutch in anxiety when his gaze landed on Jewels.
'Don't you want to know what you really feel for her? It would be less of a burden if you figure it out now,' the voice taunted. 'Are you scared? Are you scared that you might like someone?'
He couldn't make a choice. It would be nice to be sure of himself once again, but on the other hand, what if he did like her, but Jewels didn't feel the same?
"KAI!" Tyson bellowed. "I'M HUNGRY, LET'S EAT! HELLO, HELLO, CAN YOU HEAR ME? KAI!"
"What?" Kai asked stonily, feeling put out with Tyson for interrupting his thoughts.
"Oh, glad to see that you've snapped out of it. What happened there? You totally zoned out," Tyson said.
"Yeah, it was like you're in another place. You didn't respond when we were shaking you," Zarine said.
"It was freaky if you ask me," Kenny remarked. "What's bothering you? This is so unlike you. You're usually so alert to your surroundings."
"Nothing, I was just thinking," Kai responded shortly. He couldn't tell them his problem, especially with Tyson around. Tyson would tease him until the end of days if he did.
"Okay, well, let's have lunch before Tyson make us deaf with his complaints," Ray said, sensing that Kai wasn't comfortable with the subject. He let go of Zarine's waist, so he could go and talk to Kai alone. His girlfriend smiled understandingly at him before engaging Carrie in a conversation.
"Ray, I'll tell you later. It's complicated," Kai told his friend. They were quiet for a moment, and then Kai asked, "What is it like to have a girlfriend?" The black haired boy was taken back by surprise, out of all the questions that he expected Kai to ask, this question was near the bottom of the list.
"Uh...good question," Ray responded. "I'll get back to you on that..."
"You have a girlfriend, why is it so difficult to tell me?" Kai demanded impatiently.
Blushing, Ray said, "I'm not going to tell you about it in public. It's too personal."
Up ahead, Tyson was arguing with Hilary. "If you want to eat ten roast beefs for lunch, then you shouldn't eat a big bucket of candy afterwards!!!"
"Why not???!!! I can do whatever I want with my stomach, Hil," Tyson told her.
"FINE! Don't go crying to me when your stomach explodes, because I ain't going to give you mine!" Hilary snapped.
"Don't worry, your stomach is so small, it's useless," he said.
"You..." the brunette began, but she was unable to continue because she couldn't think of anything to say. After a few seconds, she finished, "...PIG!"
Jewels rolled her eyes and remarked, "I wonder why they aren't married yet."
"Possibly because Grandpa and Hilary's parents know that they kill each other within the hour if they were married," Zarine replied.
"Good point," Jewels said.
Hilary and Tyson were both sulking through lunch, and refused to talk. "Let's get candy," Max suggested. "That's what I came here for."
They made their way to one of the best store for sweets. "Wow!" Zarine said when she saw the ice cream section.
"Humph, I'll wait outside," Kai grunted.
"Sourpuss," Zarine muttered under her breath.While Zarine was goggled at the ice cream, Max and Tyson were busy scooping candy into a plastic bag.
"Sour keys," Max exclaimed. "Boy, I have to get some of that!"
"Look Maxie, coke bottles, Berries! Hershey Kisses, and Hugs!" Tyson said, pointing at the opposite section.
"There are too many to choose from, they'll never fit into this bag," Max complained.
"You can buy a full box for thirty dollars," the clerk said, pointing to empty round, clear plastic containers.
Tyson got it and said, "Now we can have every kind if we want!"
They walked out fifteen minutes later, and began to stuff their faces with candy.
"Aren't the girls out yet?" Max asked thickly through a mouthful of gummy bears.
Zarine is still trying to decide what ice cream she wants," Hilary said.
"No, I want cookie dough. No, wait, strawberry, no.....wait, mint chocolate chip, no, actually, I want maple walnut.........maybe not..." the silver haired girl said indecisively.
"Zarine, make up your mind," Jewels said.
"I'll have maple walnut," Zarine said at last.
They walked back, and she accidentally tripped. The ice cream cone flew out of her hand and SPLAT!
She got up with her face flaming with embarrassment when she heard the others laughed. However, when she looked up, she realized that they weren't laughing at her, they were laughing at Kai!
When the ice cream flew out of her hand, it landed on Kai's nose! Zarine burst out laughing at the sight. "Sorry, Kai," she said, still laughing hard. She removed the cone from his nose, and used her napkin to wipe the ice cream off.
"You shouldn't have moved it!" Jewels gasped, "He looked like Pinocchio with it!"
Everyone laughed even harder. It was difficult to imagine Kai being something as cute as Pinocchio.
"Don't lie, Kai, or your nose might grow longer," Tyson said, cracking up.
Kai was getting more and more annoyed by the second. "Come to think of it, he doesn't have the look. Pinocchio never looked this sour when I last saw him," Jewels commented.
Without thinking, Kai pinned Jewels to the wall. "Yeah, well Pinocchio never kissed like this either." He leaned down and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss.
She melted against him instantly and responded.
The others watched them with mixed expressions. Tyson and Max looked like they were about to laugh, Kenny's expression clearly told everyone that he would rather be anything else rather than watch his friends kiss, Ray's was surprised and Carrie and Zarine looked happy. Kai and Jewels attracted watchers. After an eternity, they finally realized that they were in public and people were watching them.
Jewels looked mortified as she saw the crowd around them. Someone in the mob clapped and shouted, "Congratulations!"
Other people also began to clap for them. When they stopped, Jewels stammered, "We – we're not together."
"You should be then, because you make a damn cute couple!" someone said.
"Let's get out of here," Kai muttered to her. "Meet at Tyson's later," he told the others before grabbing Jewels' hand and ran top speed out of the mall.
Carrie laughed incredulously. "Can you believe them?" she gasped.
"We should get out of this place before someone tries to play matchmaker with us," Hilary said.
"What about Kai and Jewels?" Kenny questioned. "Shouldn't we go and find them first?"
"No way, this is the perfect opportunity for them to get together," Zarine answered.
After three hours, the girls finally got bored of walking around in the mall. "Ray, I'm tired," Zarine said, panting with the effort to try and keep up. "Can we rest?"
"Again?" Ray asked worriedly. "Zarine, you've been resting for half the time we've been here." He put a hand on her forehead, fearing her fever had gotten worse. "I can carry you on my back the rest of the way."
She nodded. "I'm not too heavy, am I?" she asked when she was on his back.
"You're really light," he assured her. "I'm not going to get tired anytime soon."
When they got back to Tyson's dojo, Jewels and Kai were nowhere to be seen. "I'm going to stay here until my sister shows up," Carrie said.
"Hehe," Max giggled, "Look this is Mrs. Gummy, this is Mr. Gummy. They're married, and they have two kids, Big Gummy, and Small Gummy."
"Uh oh," Kenny said. "Max is on sugar."
"Haha, Mr. Gummy has no head," the hyper blonde laughed.
"Tyson, how much candy did you let him have?" Ray asked.
"Um, I didn't eat a lot of them since he would slap my hand every time I do," Tyson answered.
"Tyson! You let him have almost the whole container?" Hilary screeched.
"Don't yell," Tyson said crossly. "I didn't know."
"Guys, let's all be rockets and fly around," Max said, running around and crashing into things.
Carrie looked at him and winced. "He's seriously scaring me."
"Max, you'll break everything!" Tyson said, trying to get Max to stop running around the room blindly.
"Who cares?" Max giggled, turning back to look at Tyson. "I bet you can't catch me."
"Watch out!" Kenny warned. Too late, Max had ran into the rack with the practice swords.
The rack fell onto him, and one of the wooden swords fell onto his head. The blonde haired boy laid on the ground, and let out another giggle before falling unconscious.
"MAXIE!"
No poll this time.....I can't think of anything.............
