13 Shades of Grey
Chapter 03: Itching Powder
Thanks to: ButterCup: I'm glad you liked it. I like Ian. Honestly, I just like putting him through torture. StarAnegl Caelum SunSoar: It's nice to know you understand. That makes it more. Here's the update. Zadien: I like writing Angst. It was your idea for the apology so here ya go. Tala's captain. It suits him. Alexis: Digital Survivor: Hey, I',m glad you like it.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It means a lot to me. So review this chapter too and you all get cookies.
Guilt, Amber decided was something she wasn't entirely too familiar with. And definitely something she didn't like. She hated the fact that she had to apologize, to none other than Kai himself. She hadn't meant to break his nose. It was pure accident. And she didn't mean to rub it in the other night. Her mind was on Ian and she would have apologized but it had never come to that. Sure she got in trouble but it was purposely, and it didn't hurt anyone by accident.
She dragged her hands through her hair, which was left open today. Groaning when she saw Kai's class had ended through the glass window of the classroom. Why did he have to have been there when she was opening the damn door? He had probably done it on purpose, just to make her feel bad. No, she rethought that. Why would he break his nose to get at her?
That wasn't like him. Neither was this like her. Amber sighed and followed after him down the hallway. "Kai," She called out. "Wait!"
He stopped and turned around. She ran to catch up to him, elbowing people out of her way as she went past. Kai saw that it was Amber, and turned around and continued walking. His nose had swelled, if only just a little, and was rosy. His eyes narrowed in annoyance as another flicker of pain shot through it.
Damn her, he thought to himself. She ruined everything for him. He continued walking and picked up his pace a little, losing her in the crowd. Or so he thought.
Amber stood in front of him, blocking his way into the boys' washroom. She panted and, her cheeks were the slightest shade of pink, her left eye was bruised black and blue no doubt caused by Petrovich.
"Get out of my way." He growled.
"I--No! Wait, just hear me out. It's about yesterday, I'm sorry." She rushed it out quickly.
His eyes narrowed in anger and something else she couldn't recognize. Couldn't she see she had hurt him enough? In more ways than one. He didn't need a bruise on his ego to match the one on his heart, and his face.
"Goddamn it! Get out of my way." He made to shove past her, but she blocked him. Unlike
Ian, Kai didn't hit females. He took a step back and started to walk away.
"Kai!" She called out, shocking him and herself. A scowl set on her lips, and her eyebrows scrunched together. Confused, as to whether she should try and apologize again or just walk away, she stood there not knowing what to do. When he simply got over the shock, he started to walk away yet again.
She shot after him, and grabbed his arm. He tried to yank it away from her, but that just brought her closer to him.
"Why aren't you listening to me? I'm trying to say--"
"Why can't you leave me alone?" He said in a whisper-like voice. It was infuriating him that she just wouldn't give up.
Amber's breath hitched when she sensed the anger in his voice. "I--I'm sorry."
He continued to stare at her indifferently. Kai yanked his arm away, and said, "I don't need your apology, Benson." He sneered when he said her name.
"Well, like it or not, you have to accept it because it's the truth!" She replied indignantly.
"Is it? Or are you saying sorry because you feel guilty? I don't need or want your pity." He snarled and walked around her towards the boys' washrooms, disappearing behind the doors.
Amber closed her eyes, and sighed. If she had to go in there, then by sweet baby Jesus, she would. She turned and stalked awkwardly into the washroom.
She heard an intake of breath and immediately closed her eyes. She put her hands around them and lowered her head. She heard the door open and close. She prayed that Kai hadn't left.
"Okay, so I feel bad. It was an accident. I didn't mean for that to happen. I wasn't thinking and I was going after Ian, not you. You have to understand that. I couldn't have known that you'd be there. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I'm sorry. I am deeply, truly sorry Kai. If you can't understand that then I guess I'll have to live with it."
Kai contemplated her words, and thought about them though saying nothing, only grunted to signal he had heard it. He heard a sigh from her. He waited to see if she would continue.
"If you won't accept my apology then I have nothing more to say to you." She opened her eyes, keeping her gaze to the floor and cautiously opened the door of the room. She glanced around to see if there were any teachers around. When she saw none, she walked out
avoidantly and then fled down the hallway not to be spotted by anyone she knew.
Hoping that Kai would forgive her, she made her way to the Café. Before she even reached it, she was pulled over by Aspin and Miyami.
"Hey. We have a little something to do. We have four bottles of itching powder and Ian's dorm is empty. Wanna help? Arista and Shahero are going to keep watch." Miyami said in a hurried whisper.
"What do you say?" Aspin's emerald green eyes gleamed.
"I, uh, okay. Sure." Amber agreed to get her mind off Kai and what had happened. "I really need something to cheer me up." She grinned and walked off with her friends.
Kai watched her grin, and run off with Miyami and Aspin. So, I guess she didn't mean it. He was disgusted with himself for believing her. He turned around and walked to the stairs. And here he was, ready to accept her apology. His eyes narrowed for another time that day.
"Almost had me fooled Benson."
It hurt him when she looked so miserable. But it wasn't fair that she could rip away at his heart and leave it bleeding. It wasn't fair that she could go on about everyday things without even the littlest clue that everything she did, and said affected him. It just wasn't fair. He growled. His mind was always wandering over to her. He constantly thought about her, and she didn't even realise it. Goddamn it, why should he have to go through every ache, strain, and tear that went through his heart. Why couldn't she share the pain? He sighed and kept walking up the stairs until he had made it to the third floor. He walked slowly towards his English lit. class, in room no. 312.
"Which one is Ian's drawer?" Aspin asked, looking around.
"The one with the small clothes." Miyami snickered. "This one." She had pulled open a dresser drawer and was taking out clothes and spraying them with the clear-white powder from the bottle labelled Itching Powder.
"Let's get this party started."
Amber joined them and grinned wickedly. They had at least a good ten minutes to spray it all over Ian's clothes. She dug into the drawer and pulled out boxer shorts.
"Ew!" She dropped them like they were poison and wiped her hands on her pants. She put her hand to her heart and said a prayer. She looked around for something long to poke around with when she heard voices outside. They were hardly inaudible but she could make out Arista and Shahero's voice.
"What are you two doing?" Said a third voice.
Outside Arista and Shahero were stalling for time while Brooklyn questioned them why they were standing there.
He had a black eye, and winced when he saw Belyaev. His gaze flickered over her for a second, she held his gaze unblinkingly. He turned away and his eyes rested on Shahero. He held a can of Nestea Ice in his hand, while the other clenched and unclenched in his jeans pocket.
He looked over the Asian female. She had her hair open; her sapphire blue eyes held something close to worry. She smiled uneasily, she was wearing a white blouse and black pants that looked like they would fall off any time, and on top of them she had on a pleated back skirt. She was short, standing at exactly five feet. Compared to him, she was a good 10 inches shorter than he was. She brushed back her silky blue and sapphire streaked hair behind her ear
with her hand.
"What are you doing?" She asked him.
Shahero nudged Arista with her elbow. "Yeah." Her voice wavered slightly.
Brooklyn turned to her. She had her hair open as well. The silver, gold-tipped strands of silk suited her. Navy eyes glinted with amber. She blinked. She was wearing a black sweater with the school's white button down shirt under neath. Grey jeans hung on her hips. Arista stood only six inches shorter than he did. He raised an eyebrow and continued to stare at her.
"What are you doing?" He asked her directly.
"I... Uh, Shahero, and me we're waiting for... for someone. Right?" Because she couldn't stand to see the mark she'd left, she willed herself to look at Shahero.
Shahero had noticed his black eye, and the awkwardness between Arista and Brooklyn.
"Yeah. We're waiting for Johnny."
Brooklyn's gaze didn't falter; he kept his eyes on the Russian. "Johnny's in the café looking around for you, Kaeto. You should go." He took a sip from his drink to wet his parched throat.
"I--"
Brooklyn shot Shahero a piercing look. She swallowed and turned to Arista. "Yeah. Johnny and I needed to talk about something anyway. Gotta go."
She didn't want to leave, but Hitoshi was coming towards them, and besides it looked like Arista and Brooklyn needed to sort something out. She narrowed her eyes when she passed Kinomiya. Before he could even say anything, she gave him the finger and ran off.
He grinned and turned abruptly after her at a casual pace. She was a hell of a female he thought to himself.
Arista watched them leave her. She didn't look back to who was in front of her, instead a
feeling of dread washed over her.
Brooklyn waited for her to look back to him. He wouldn't take the first step. She would have to do that by herself.
When she was sure his gaze was elsewhere she looked up. Mistake, she cursed herself inwardly. His moss green eyes had taken on a bluish tint. He took another sip of his Nestea.
"If you drink that, shouldn't you fall back into a small pool?" She lowered her eyes to the can that rested in his hand.
"I dunno." He said calmly.
Cool and calm, she calculated.
"I don't see a pool."
"Who are you waiting for?"
"Huh?" She had walked around him, looking to see if a pool of water had formed. "Damn ads, they're such cheapskates and liars. There is no pool."
She rambled on about that because it was simply easier to ignore him than to face him.
"Belyaev. You still owe me ten days of servitude."
"Oh. Funny, isn't it?" She laughed nervously. He had taken on a bored monotone voice, almost hollow. "I guess I do. What do you want me to do?"
She had asked him outright because she decided she would face him. Damn straight she would, running away from your problems only made them worse.
He stared at her a second, noticing the change in attitude. "My room needs cleaning. You have an empty period next class, so do I."
She bit the inside of her cheek lightly. "Fine." Then after checking the time on his watch, she said aloud, "It's 12: 58. I'm going to go clean Adams' room now because I still owe him fucking ten days of servitude. Did you know that Shahero left me all alone to go help Johnny with something? I can't believe she did that to me. Now I'm leaving and no one is going to be in this hallway any more."
Brooklyn raised his eyebrows and started to walk, she followed after him but not before giving a sharp rap on the door.
Amber was leaning against the door listening to everything that was being said outside. She checked the clock on the wall of the dorm and cursed.
"Hey, we gotta shove this shit in here, and go!"
They shoved everything into the drawer messily and ran out the door.
"Wait, I forgot the bottle. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."
Amber ran down the hallway and reopened the door. She stepped inside and found it. After picking it up about to leave the door opened. She ducked into the closet and shut the door to it, just before Kai stepped into the dorm. He tossed his bag down and looked around the room.
He found his bed and looked around to the night table. He picked up a small bottle and since it was his lunch break he took a pill, set his alarm and lay down on his bed. Pulling the covers over his head.
Amber watched tentatively and waited until she was sure he was asleep to open the closet door. She closed it as soon as she opened it, but thankfully the closet door didn't slam.
Ian stepped into the room and opened his drawer. He pulled out a blue logo t-shirt, black pants, and undergarments. He turned towards the closet to get his towel, but he stopped when he found it on the floor.
Amber had to bite her tongue until she drew blood to not burst out laughing at his face. He had paint on it, and his clothes were splattered with red and yellow. His face was a mixture of green and black. No doubt Shahero or someone else had dumped it on him. That's probably what Johnny needed help with, to hold someone down while he could paint him all pretty like a rainbow. She snickered.
When he left to get into the shower she reopened the closet door and stepped out. She walked quickly, glancing at Kai. She tripped and fell on something sharp.
"Fuck!" She yelled out then stamped her hands over her mouth.
Too late, Kai had woken up already. His head shot up and hit the headboard of the bunk bed. Good thing he was on the bottom. He rubbed the side of his head. Kai saw Amber on the floor,
Her feet underneath her. He blinked away the grogginess in his eyes.
"I was just leaving. Go back to sleep." Then because she had seen it in a movie once she said,
"This is all a dream."
"Then why did it hurt when I hit my head?"
"It wasn't real; you're imagining it. Oooh." She waved her arms around lamely doing a ghost-like impression.
"I don't think so."
"No, you don't think." She snickered then her face fell when Ian stepped out of the shower naked.
"What the hell? I thought it the dorm was empty!" He yanked a towel in front of himself.
Amber's eyes widened. "I didn't see anything!" Her face had turned extremely red shade before she bolted out of the dorm still clutching the bottle of Itching powder in her hands tightly. Behind her she heard curses and threats being yelled out by Ian. She didn't stop running to see how far she had gone until she had reached the female side of the dorm hallways. The stairs in the middle separated the two sides.
"Amber?" Mariah yelled out behind her. She caught up to the small female. "What are doing?" She placed a hand on her arm.
"I was running what did it look like?"
"Just that. I have to get to Maths class. See ya." She left Amber to her thoughts.
"Can I at least eat something? I didn't even have lunch."
"You should have thought of that before you decided to go messing about in Ian's dorm."
"How did you know?"
"I kinda go in there all the time."
Arista growled. "Yeah well, if you care so much why didn't you stop us?"
"Because I don't care that much."
"Uh-huh. You're gay; you just don't know it yet."
Brooklyn didn't reply to her statement. He grabbed his towel and walked into the shower, closing the door behind him.
Arista picked up clothes from the ground and dumped them into a pile of clothes on the floor near a corner. She pulled out a cd from her pocket and after making her way to the stereo she put it in and pushed play.
You my friend
You're a lot like them
But I cut your line
And you know I did
Now I'm lost in you
Like I always do
And I'd die to win
Cause I'm born to lose
Arista turned the volume up to max while she sang along with the song. Inside the bathroom even Brooklyn could here it over the sound of the water.
Firefly
Could you shine your light
Now I know your ways
Cause there just like mine
Now I'm justified
As I fall in line
And it's hard to try
When your open wide
She picked up clothes and put them into a pile, she picked up all the books and textbooks and such shoving them into his bag. She didn't even complain about anything, she just picked it off from the floor and put it somewhere. She even had a smile on her face.
Take my hand
We'll be off and then
We'll come back again
To a different land
Now I like this way
You can go away
If you guess the name
You cannot replace
After about ten minutes Brooklyn stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He opened the door with a pair of jeans on and nothing else. He leaned in the frame of the doorway of the door and watched Arista jump up and down on the spot.
"What are doing?" He walked over to her.
"I'm, ugh, getting the book off the, aah!" She fell down and hit her back. Groaning she got back up and jumped again.
Knowing this was a helpless case he reached up and got it down for her. "Here." He handed it to her. He walked to his drawer and slipped on white button down shirt. He turned to face her and started to do up the buttons.
"You can go if you want."
She looked at him in the eyes. "Sure."
She didn't move then as if in a trance she snapped her head threw the book onto his bag and walked out the door closing it with a click.
"She forgot her cd." Brooklyn said absently. He pushed play and listened to whatever it was while he slipped on his socks and shoes.