A/N: ALERT! ALERT! I think some of the readers have forgotten that Kai is actually Kristen's ELDER BROTHER! (not her real boyfriend) so please take note… btw… *hint* there would be some sort of twist in the chapters to follow… the story really begins then… hee hee (killing u guys softly with the suspense, huh?) =)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the chapter below, except for Kristen Hiwatari, Sonya Tachikawa, Natalie Takenouchi and Kari Daisuke. (in case you haven't noticed, I got the ideas from digimon characters.)

~* Cover Blown *~

Ray straightened himself, only to see Kai look down at him, with a strange look on his face. It might have sounded stupid then, but it was probably the only time Ray realized that Kristen was actually Kai's girlfriend. And here he was, thinking about kissing her every time he saw her lips, hugging her every time he saw her.

Ray looked over at Kristen, who was smiling at Kai, as if indicating that she was all right. She looked so innocent. Ray didn't know why, but he suddenly felt mad at Kristen, as if she was at fault.

He got up from his seat and saw that the bus had reached its destination.

He turned and glared at the both of them, before alighting the bus.

"Max!"

"Cassie?" Max mumbled into that thick ash blonde hair. He couldn't help it; she was embracing him so tightly.

When she finally pulled away, and when Max got a good and long look at his child-hood playmate and friend till today, he stared and stared.

"What?" she asked self-consciously, while looking down to inspect herself.

She was beautiful; Max hadn't seen her since two years ago, and she had grown SO much. her ash blonde hair was no longer at her shoulders. It was a little above her tiny waistline. Her wonderful smile had grown wider and prettier. Her turquoise eyes seemed to light up even more.

Even her body had grown.

Cassandra Leighton smiled and looked around. She stopped and stared at a particular spot behind Max.

Max turned around and knew immediately at what she was staring at. Or rather, who she was staring at.

She got around Max and held her hand out. "Hi, I'm Cassandra Leighton. And you are…"

Kai looked up and stared intently at the girl in front of him. Not bad, he thought. In fact, quite good-looking. And not in an ordinary way.

"Kai," he said simply. He didn't even raise his hand by even an inch.

Every bit of Cassandra's logical mind asked her to just drop her hand by her side. But she held on, still holding her hand up and holding Kai's gaze as well.

This time, Kai raised his left eyebrow. Ray looked at him and immediately thought of Kristen. Those two are so alike, he thought, and frowned.

"Aren't you ever going to put your hand down?"

"No. Not until you shake it."

Guts. That was what the girl had, Tyson thought to himself, silently admiring her. So the girl not only has looks…

If you thought Kai was going to let her off easy by shaking her hand or even just giving it a slight slap, you thought like the other people around them. And, you thought wrong.

Kai cocked his head ad kept his left eyebrow raised.

Then he walked around her, without even looking back.

(Note: there would be either another individual story about Kai and Cassie Leighton, or their romance will be together with Ray's and Kristen's. Did u all think I would let Kai off easy? Mua hahahaha *evil cackle*)

Ouch, Max thought. But from what he can see, Cassie was definitely interested in Kai at first glance, and she probably would be in the near future. That was her. from young, she had always gone for things she really wanted. And had never let go after that. So that part of her didn't really change.

Cassie frowned and let her hand drop at last. One part of her said in her head, I told you so. But she waved it away. He's interesting… and that was all she thought during the entire introduction of the other girls.


"So… we have… Sonya Tachikawa, Kari Daisuke, Natalie Takenouchi and of course… Cassandra Leighton." Tyson announced.

"Yes, these will be the other members of the team. And-"

"Why are they all girls?" Ray interrupted.

Mister Dickenson smiled. "I think we have enough boys, Ray. Plus, now we have a balanced sex ratio."

Ray shrugged.

"- they will assist you in the future matches against other teams. Any questions or opinions?"

Tyson looked too happy to talk. Max shrugged. Kristen looked over at Ray, then found out that he was looking back at her. The other girls shook their heads. Kenny's head, as usual, was buried deep into his mobile computer. Dizzi was complaining about their names being too long.

And of all people, Kai raised his opinions.

"I don't see why we need girls anyway." And with that, he turned and proceeded up the bus.

Kristen glared at her dumb brother. Egotistical freak, she thought. What's his problem with girls, she thought. Keep this up and people might think he's gay. Or even bisexual.

Plus, she really liked that Cassie girl. She looked really straightforward and sincere. And she didn't need two looks to see that she was interested in that arrogant brother of hers.

So as Mister Dickenson informed the bellboys to help move the bags up, she ran up the bus.

Ray, without realizing it, raced after Kristen. He arrived in the bus, just to see Kristen frown hard at Kai.

And box him in the head.

Obviously, they didn't know that Ray was there, listening to what they were saying.

"What was that for?"

"What, Kristen?"

"Why did you do that to Cassie?"

Kai didn't answer that question. He just looked up and saw Ray. Then he said to Kristen, "You see her for the first time and you call her Cassie?"

Kristen was about to move on when Kai stopped her with the most shocking sentence.

"All right, all right. I'll try to be better to the rest of them, okay? By the way, in case you didn't know, your boyfriend's been listening to every word we've been saying." Kai snorted. And almost regretted it. Just almost.

"My boyfr-" Kristen started and turned around.

Oh my god, I hate my brother. Doesn't he know he's supposed to be my boyfriend???

Ray looked at the two of them.

"I thought he was supposed to be your boyfriend."

A/N: uh-oh… cover blown? Stay tuned! Oh, and remember to review, k? Thanks! =) By the by, if you have watched American Idol 2…. CLAY AIKEN RULES!!!