Hey ppl! I just found out something. You see I read through my previous chapters and I think I've change my writing style…it's become too dialogue-y and lacks description so you ppl don't have a picture of what the surroundings are like. I'm so sorry. I don't quite like the style now so I'll revert back to my old style which seems more interesting, helps you readers imagine.
Oh, and thanks to all those who reviewed! I shall better my writing skills for your reading pleasure :)
Chapter 28------Rumbling Hearts
Mai left her friends to their chatter and rejoined Copellia in the kitchen. Apparently, her pony-tailed friend was engaged in some friendly chatter with a hazel brown-haired waiter.
"Hey, no slacking!" She playfully interrupted the conversation. "Mind helping me with these? –holds up bamboo steamers-"
"I'll help." A light blue-haired guy took the bamboo steamers from Mai's hand.
"Well at least someone's helpful." Mai made sure Copellia heard her remark and walked out of the kitchen with the blue-haired waiter.
Chace turned around and gave his partner a wink. Everything was going according to plan.
The two of them handed out the bamboo steamers as they shifted from table to table and finally made their way to the edge of the room to scan the area for people who required their services.
Mai was so caught up in her work she hardly noticed how wonderfully decorated the ball room was. Each table had a small flower arrangement made from peach-coloured roses and baby's breath which was set in the middle of a rotatable circular panel. (the ones placed on top of the table so that you can rotate the food around without having to continuously pass it) The room was a nice shade of sunset orange, very fitting for an evening atmosphere. Peach linen cloths hung from pillar to pillar with thick beige bows plastered on the pillar to conceal the loose ends of the linen sheets but the most gorgeous fixture in the room was the lighting. It was shaped in the form of a rosette with light emitting from behind it, sort of like a shadow effect. There were six of them in total and arranged in two rows of three across the ceiling. There was a big area in front of the room left untouched except that it had a small stage with a speaker's stand to the right. 'Must be the dance floor.' She thought.
Mai watched as the invitees talked, laughed, ate, drank. All of them looked so happy, so perfect in their apparel. She felt a bit envious that they were having the time of their lives when she wasn't but heck! She was the one who didn't want to wear a dress in the first place…
"Um hey, thanks for helping with the steamers." She finally remembered to thank the guy.
"No prob. Look, I think the chairman's finally going to give his speech."
Mai turned to the stage area and saw a man probably in his early thirties march up towards the stand. He had a good posture which gave Mai the impression that he was someone very refined and respected. The whole room grew silent as if acknowledging his presence. The man tapped on the microphone, emitting a sickening mellow tune which pierced the ear drum for a millisecond.
"Sorry about that. –smiles at audience- Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the 12th Annual Asian Beyblade Tournament. –cheers and claps from ppl- I am the chairman of the BBA China, Mr Han Shao Wei, and I must say, it's indeed wonderful to be standing up here and seeing so many participants in this year's tournament.-more cheers- Haha, I hope to see more of such enthusiasm in the years to come. I trust all of you are enjoying the food so I won't make this a long one. Just to say thank you all for coming, because of you, beyblading has grown in popularity over the years and is regarded as an international sport. I'd also like to thank the sponsors of the tournament including this wonderful hotel which is hosting all the participants and last but not least, Mr Ferrigan –gestures to a Caucasian man sitting in the front table- who has generously donated this beautiful trophy to the winning team."
Mai watched as two waitresses pulled off the covers to reveal a trophy standing elegantly on top of a podium. It had two silver wings coming out from the base. The wings had alternating feathers of frosted silver and stainless silver and in between them, stuck a small round gem. The light hit it and something inside the gem shimmered. Mai noticed a small pearly white scale inside it (the scale is something like an opal, when the light hits it, it sparkles with many colours) and something in her memory ticked—
-flashback-
The walls were covered in writings and symbols that seem to tell a story by the way the pictures were arranged.
"The violence angered Eden and he sent seven disasters down to Earth. The people suffered terribly. The four high priests realised that Eden had grown to powerful for them to control, so they sealed his powers in four jewels –Mai points to picture of a stone with a scale in it- and sealed him in a rock."
-End of flashback-
'That scale! It looks exactly like the one in the cave drawings!' Mai immediately turned to glance at Riya. He too noticed because he turned to look at her. The both of them could tell they were shocked but at the same time worried by the looks on their faces.
'So he knows too…But what is it doing here?' Mai watched carefully as the trophy got taken down and disappeared behind the stage board. 'Where're they taking it?' She hoped it wasn't the last time she saw it. That scale, she couldn't risk losing that scale…
"I hope that everyone will show sportsmanship and play fair in this tournament. And so I end my speech here. Thank you. Well uh…Bring on the dancing!"
Music began to blare from the sound system as people got off their chairs and made their way to the dance floor. Mai took this opportunity to look for Copellia and set off to the kitchen. She was about to enter it when the doors swung open and who'd happen to walk out but Copellia herself!
"Copellia, I have to—" But she was cut off.
"Mai! The boss allowed us to join the party! Isn't that great?" She face was all smiley from the excitement.
"Um, I have –"
"But we have to stay back and clear up after the party. Oh well, c'mon! Let's dance!" The maroon-haired girl twirled the bemused Mai around "Wait! But I—" Too late, Copellia had dragged her to the dance floor.
The ashen-haired girl unwillingly moved to the beat of the music. She felt silly. She didn't like dancing. She admired Copellia, she could dance so well, it was like she was born to dance and she? Well let's just say dancing wasn't one of her fortes. Mai could dance when she wanted to but now, she didn't feel like it. "I'm going to sit down ok?"
"What?" Copellia hollered over the music.
"I said I— ah forget it…" Mai gave up; the music would just drown her words. She jostled her way through the multitude of bodies and made her way to the table she was so familiar with.
"Hey." Riya greeted her as she plopped herself down on the chair next to him. Mai just nodded, there was something on her mind now and it concerned him but was it the right time to talk to him about it? She reached over, took a piece of siu mai and placed it in her mouth.
'Should I tell him?' She thought as she chewed her food, the taste of crab meat spreading in her mouth. Finally, she made up her mind.
"Riya, there's—"
"Mai! Come dance with us!" Max took her hand and pulled it in an urging manner.
"Um…Well I…" 'Why are there so many interruptions when I have something important to say!'
"Aww, pllleeeeaaasssee?" Max did the puppy-eyes on her again and she found herself agreeing to his offer. She couldn't reject him! Those puppy-eyes made Maxy look soo cute it was impossible to turn him down.
"Ok, I'll dance. Just quit it with the puppy-eyes." She said jokingly and allowed herself to be led to the dance floor, leaving Riya, Kenny and Kai at the table. Well maybe not Kai because a whole hoard of girls were pestering him to dance. 'Hahaha, Mai, you gotta stop giving in to his puppy-dog look, it's dangerous.' She warned herself.
The friends, Mariah, Rei, Max, Hilary, Tyson, Drex, Mit-chan, the rest of the white tigers and Mai had been dancing for a full 15 minutes. She was having so much fun. She had missed this feeling, being with her friends and just acting silly. She didn't care what others thought, as long as she had her friends, she could do anything. All the shamefulness had disappeared. Copellia, on the other hand, went to call Kenny, Riya and Kai to join.
She rejoined the group a few minutes later— with Kenny. "Where's Kai and Riya?" Hilary asked as she got spun around by Tyson.
"Kai says he doesn't wanna dance." Copellia said it rather disappointedly, "And Riya only wants to dance with you, Mai." She smirked, making the ashen-haired girl blush and her friends make low whistles.
"Go call him Mai. You're the only one for him." Tyson teased.
"Shut up!" The girl punched him hard on the shoulder.
"But seriously Mai, go call him." Copellia urged.
"Shouldn't he be the one calling me?" Mai defended.
"Sometimes it's the girl who should make the first move now go!" Copellia gave her an encouraging shove.
Mai slowly walked towards the table. 'This is crazy! He should be doing this not me.' She was nervous. How was she gonna ask him? 'Hey! Let's dance! No, that sounds too perky. 'Copellia told me to call you' No! That makes him think that I was forced to call him, well technically I was but I don't wanna hurt his feelings…arh! This is so hard!' Eventually, after arguing in her mind, she finally reached the table.
"Umm…do you ah…want to…"
RIYA'S POV
"Umm…do you ah…want to…"
I watched her shift her weight uneasily. Haha, she looks so cute with her eyes looking at the floor and acting all timid.
I couldn't help smirking. I knew what she was doing or at least trying to do but I wanted to hear it from her.
"Um…do you want to…umm…dance with me?"
I heard her sigh. Haha, the burden was finally off her shoulders.
"I mean if you don't want to then I won't—"
"Of course I want to."
I wasn't going to refuse her in the first place. I just wanted to hear it from her. Sometimes guys liked to hear girls say these things. It makes them feel special.
She lifted her head and smiled.
END OF POV
But that smile then turned into playful anger, "That was supposed to be your job you know."
"Hai hai. It'll be my turn next time ok? Promise."
That's what Mai liked about Riya, he was easy to talk to. The little boy she grew up with hadn't changed at all; he was still the same funny, sweet, friendly Fujimori Riya.
Riya took his hand out of his pocket but hesistated, 'Should I?' He took hold of Mai's hand and much to his surprise; she tightened her grip, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
"Look who finally came to join us." Drex laughed. Suddenly an idea struck him and he whispered something in his little sister's ear. The younger of the Dureinne siblings nodded her head, her lips curling into a smile and took off without the knowledge of her fellow friends who were too occupied dancing.
Suddenly the music died down, replaced by the de-jays voice. "By special request, this song goes out to all the young hearts out there. This is 'HEAVEN (candlelight mix)' by Dj Sammy. Enjoy."
The whole floor began to scatter. Some people paired up while others sighed and went back to their seats. Guys asked girls to dance, girls asked guys to dance, some didn't really care who they partnered up with. Eventually, the dance floor's movement slowed down as couples swayed to the music.
Mit-chan returned to her bro's side and gave him a hi-five. "Enjoy Mai. You'll thank us for this." The siblings, Kenny and Copellia returned to their seats while Rei/Mariah and Ty/Hil paired up.
'Mit-chan!You!' Mai gave her a –what-did-you-do-that-for look as Mit walked away but her thoughts were disrupted when Riya took hold of her hand. "Dance with me?" He asked shyly.
She smiled slightly and placed her free hand on his shoulder. She'd never done this before; it was the first time Riya had asked her to dance. Was she gonna screw up? She was nervous and yet happy, happy to be with him again…
-At the table-
"Aww, look at them. They look so sweet together." Mit-chan watched her two friends dance in the distance.
KAI'S POV
They're so close together… I…
This sucks…wallowing in self despair… it's so unlike me. But watching them makes me… I don't know… there's just this deep heavy feeling inside me… like my chest is going to cave in…
"Kai…"
I turned to face the person who called my name. Please don't let it be another fan-girl…
It was Copellia.
"I was wondering…if you…umm…would you like to dance with me?"
I wasn't surprise, I had heard the same question more than 40 times tonight… but maybe she could take my mind off Mai?
"Ok."
She looked pretty shocked. "What?"
"Ok" I replied.
END OF POV
-Back to dance floor-
Mai watched as Copellia and Kai took their places a few feet away from them. She smiled. 'Kai's finally opening up huh?' The two of them exchanged glances but Mai quickly looked away.
She leaned in closer to Riya, "Riya?"
"Hmm?"
"You know the scale's in the trophy?" Mai made sure she spoke so softly that only Riya could hear.
"Shhh. Don't talk about that now." He held her close, "Let me stay like this a little while longer…"
'Riya…' Mai never knew this side of him, but she liked it. It made her feel safe, feel loved, a feeling she treasured.
Nice? I think I did a good job :D Anyway, writing this chapter was new for me 'coz I've never written such sweet scenes that you usually find in shoujo manga (manga for girls) so tell me if I did ok, ok?
Oh and I need advice! Any suggestions on how I can write to convey ppl's feeling better? Gah! I need to read a book for inspiration…
Oh and Happy Thanksgiving! I'm not from the USA so I don't really know much about it but ppl have been wishing me so I thought I'd be nice and wish them back. Haha, you guys have Turkey Day? Sounds cool!
Au revoir! –runs off to steal HP book 6 from somebody who has it-