Hello again!
Right then, here's the next chapter.
(see the first chapter for the disclaimer, I am not writing it out again)
Chapter 2
"We're home!"
Judy Tate leant over the banister to look down into the hall. Her two teenager boys had come through the door and were kicking their shoes off.
She came down the stairs, her bobbed blonde hair tied back with a bandana over it.
"How
was the first day of school this year? Any different?"
"No,
still as bad as ever," Max said, disappearing into the kitchen.
Kai went up to his room.
"Max
honey?" Judy called, placing the boys shoes more neatly under
the coat rack.
"Yeah?"
She went to talk to him, and found him sitting on the breakfast counter, eating an apple.
"Your
guitar's fixed,"
"Great!" Max leapt off the
counter and sprinted upstairs, "Thanks Mom!"
Up in his
bedroom, Max crooned and grinned over his newly fixed guitar,
cradling it preciously in his arms. Even the scratch had been filled
and painted over. You could barely see it!
"There, happy
now?"
He looked up.
Kai was standing in the doorway.
Max glared.
"I'm
not talking to you, remember?"
"Yes, you've been saying
that all day,"
"Yeah well it's true, I'm still mad at
you. It's only my things you ruin, not your own, not
Mom's,"
"I don't own anything to ruin,"
"That
doesn't mean you should pick on my stuff!"
Kai went to sit
next to Max where he was sat on his bed hugging his guitar.
"I
don't mean to,"
"Yeah, I know, you always say that,"
Max huffed, but he could feel himself weakening.
He knew
Kai couldn't help it. He had these moods, these periods where Kai
would just sort of switch off, it was like he wasn't really in his
body. And things would happen, like things would go missing, things
got broken, or Kai hurt himself.
And when he came out of it he
had no idea what had happened.
No-one knew why Kai did things like that in his dream state, but he did. He didn't want to, but he didn't have much control.
"Well
I didn't want to, I didn't mean to. And anyway, it cost me a bomb to
get it fixed, so don't be expecting a birthday present,"
Max
nearly dropped the guitar.
"Kai! You paid to get it
fixed!"
Christ, he knew how much getting a guitar fixed
cost, particularly an expensive one like a Gibson! And particularly
since the only person who could do it was a mean guy who charged way
too much. He charged you ten dollars for just coming through his
door.
Before Kai could blink Max had wrapped his arms around his neck. Kai stiffened.
"Max,"
"Thank
you Kai!" Max said into his shoulder.
Kai just laughed, and he relaxed.
"That's OK,"
That's it, glare at me all you want, there's no way I'm going to do it.
"Ray!"
"Mum,
no!"
"Just for one night! I thought you would
like to go over. You always used to, we couldn't drag you
home! And it would be much more fun than staying up in your room all
night, wouldn't it? I know you like watching films in the evening,
and things like that. And you can over there…"
"No,
no way, no fricking way,"
"Ray don't talk like
that,"
"Mum, I am not going over to his
house!"
My Mum threw her arms in the air and stormed off,
saying, "You and Lee used to be such good friends and
now…"
Go on, whittle on all you want. I know
Lee and I used to be good friends. We were the best of friends, we
did nothing without each other. And because we were cousins, our
mum's knew each other from the start!
But then my aunt and uncle and Lee moved to America. He promised he'd write to me and he didn't. He didn't ring, he didn't try and make any contact with me.
And when we moved over here two years ago, he was such a prick! I didn't know what had got into him!
He just wasn't Lee.
He wasn't my cousin.
He wasn't my friend anymore.
I was enrolled at another high school then, and I was thankful I didn't have to go to his.
But then…things happened…and I got moved.
Which explains why I'm now going to Clerkdale High along with that jerk.
And because Mum still can't seem to make out that I really don't want to be friends with Lee anymore, she wants me to stay over at my Aunt's tonight to stop me from feeling lonely up in my room whilst they entertain their guest for a dinner party.
Well guess what, I'm always lonely.
Every night I spend up in my room, or sitting watching a movie. It's not because I want to, it's because that's all I've got to do.
I left all my friends in my China, my only friend over here ditched me for his street cred, and now I am teased at school by him.
I'm lonely all the time, tonight won't make a difference. If I stay up in my room all night, it would be no different, because I've done the same every night of my life in this country.
My friends are thousands of miles away, my best friend hates me, I hate my school, I have no friends, and I'm so lonely.
I know I sound pathetic, but it's all true. I can't help it. It's been like this for two years now.
I'm sick of it.
"Shing, would you go and talk to Ray for me!" I could hear my Mum telling my step-dad.
I can hear him put down his stupid newspaper and creak over here in his stupid squeaky shoes.
He sits down opposite me from where I'm lying across the sofa.
I've heard him and Mum complaining about me to each other. They think I'm being a lazy lay-about. They think I just can't be bothered to make friends, and that I've changed into a rude stroppy teenager. They don't understand, but I must admit they hit the nail on the head with the last bit.
Shing
gives me that stupid look he always gives me and says, "Why
won't you go around to Lee's? You were always over at each others
house back home…"
And suddenly I exploded.
"I him And we're not back home, are we! We're not in China anymore! Us being friends was normal back there! But it's not here! This is a completely different place! I hate this country and I hate that him!" I yelled and stormed upstairs.
I had never spoken to him like that before.
Well, actually, I lie. I have spoken to him before like that, and said a lot of worse stuff. But that was when Shing was in the process of marrying my Mum, when I hated him and wanted him to fall of the face of the earth. I didn't mind telling him what I thought of him either.
I've got over it now, sort of.
But I was too tired and too ticked off to be nice to him.
I can hear them going on and on about me downstairs.
Well, I'll let them.
They can have their fancy dinner party if they want, but I'm staying up here.
As I lay on my side, on my bed, I could just see my guitar poking out from behind my wardrobe.
My wardrobe never fitted up to the wall properly, and I hid my guitar in there probably six months ago when…when I…stopped playing.
I longed to grab it and play it, but I promised myself I'd give up.
Well, just
to stop the temptation, I'll sell it.
Get rid of it and make some
money as well.
I started planning out my 'For Sale' sign in my head as I drifted off to sleep.
Bit of a shorter chapter. Well, I hope you notice but there are mentions of things that have happened and Ray's covering up (and I am not pointing it out because I think you're stupid, I'm pointing it out because I am extremely bad at being subtle. Either it's glaringly obvious or it's just not visible at all!), so I am trying to make it interesting.
Anyway, review please!
