Just Speaking…
I just want to say thank you for all of your reviews. I really appreciate them especially about AthrunxCagalli I love this pair so much!..nn.. . Anyway, this is it, AsuCaga fans…this is really is it…
Ehem…I now present to you…
Chapter 7: Heartbeats
"Look, Luna," Cagalli told her best friend sternly as she placed her things inside her locker, "I really have no time right now. Maybe we could go out some other time."
"Pleeeaaassseee, Cagalli," begged Luna, "Please, please, pretty please. Today is the mall's big sale and we don't have any assignment to do."
"Look, I will only say this once, so read my lips," Cagalli said to her austerely.
"NO."
"Awww…c'mon Cagalli!"
"I said I don't have to repeat what I said," Cagalli said as she walked away from Luna.
Before she could even take a couple more steps, Luna suddenly cried out.
"If you want, all expenses are paid by me!"
Now, that rang a bell in Cagalli's ears. "Hmm…on second thought, maybe I could do it some other time. Ok, Luna, you win. I'll go with you."
"Really! Thanks Cagalli! Wait here, I'll just make a call to my chauffeur about our little gimmick," Luna, then, walked off.
At the school hallways…
"Literature, none. Chemistry, none either. Trigonometry, zero. Can someone tell me that I'm not dead?" Dearka said as he placed his hands at the back of his head.
Yzak, who was not far behind from him, kicked him in the butt.
"There," said Yzak, "does that prove you're still on Earth?"
"Ouch!" Dearka retorted, "What the heck did you do that for!"
"See, you're not dead at all," Yzak replied as if nothing happened.
"Cut it you guys," Nicol said humbly.
"Fine," Yzak replied stubbornly.
"You know, Dearka's right," Athrun finally spoke up, "It's a miracle that there's not even one assignment that we need to do. It isn't common for juniors like us."
"Hey! I have an idea!" Nicol uttered happily.
"What about it?" Dearka asked.
"Why don't we hang-out somewhere? Perhaps," Nicol began to think, "In the mall?"
"Sounds fun to me," Athrun said as a warm smile formed on his face.
"Yeah, we could do a lot of things like going to the arcade…" spoke Dearka but was then cut off by Athrun.
"And play Counter Strike. I stopped playing when I won as SC president."
"So, Yzak, are you coming?" asked Nicol.
"You're still not used to Yzak's attitude, are you Nicol?" Dearka said with a smirk.
"Yzak's such a kill-joy," Athrun played along.
"Shut up!" Yzak shouted as he walked ahead of them.
At the mall…
"Hmm…I wonder where shall we go first," Luna said as she began to look at every shop, "Cagalli?"
Cagalli only gave a curious look.
"You decide where to go first," spoke Luna in her usual friendly tone.
Cagalli's eyes widened. "Me?"
"Yes, you."
"Luna, come here I have a secret to tell you," Cagalli said in a low voice. Then, she whispered something in her ear that made her friend gasp in surprise.
"What! You haven't got to a mall in all of your life!" Luna screamed that caused a few people staring at them for a moment.
Cagalli, on the other hand, was so embarrassed by this she pulled Luna into one of the shops.
"What the heck were you thinking! People might think that I was born underground!" Cagalli said – trying to keep her cool.
"Sorry Cagalli. I was kind of surprised that a punkster like you never stepped into a mall like this," Luna said softly – preventing herself to blow up again and expose her friend's next, big secret.
"Well, I'm a different breed. All I want to do is to lie around the house all day," Cagalli said frankly.
"Unusual, indeed. Hey look Cagalli! I think that skirt will definitely look good on you," Luna said as she held out a purple-and-white pleated skirt.
"A skirt? Luna, I'm sorry. I don't like wearing skirts," Cagalli refused.
"C'mon, try it on. I'm sure when you wear this, guys from all over the campus will go gaga because of you," Luna said as she placed the pretty material on Cagalli's free hand.
"Fine, fine. I'll try it on," Cagalli replied grumpily.
Luna giggled and then flashed a bright smile to her friend. "Alright, I'll just take a look for more clothes you could wear. Call me if you're done so I could see how it looks on you."
Then, Cagalli walked off to the dressing room and started trying one thing she really hates.
Meanwhile…
"Hahaha! Victory will be mine!" Dearka shouted as the battle was only down between he and Athrun.
"Humph…I don't think so, Dearka," Athrun grinned mischievously.
Suddenly…
BOOM!
"Nooooooo!"
"Well, that's it. Dearka, I win," Athrun said a bit proudly.
"Nooooooo!" Dearka was still yelling out.
"Good job, Athrun," spoke Nicol, "As for you, Dearka…"
"Loser!" cut in Yzak.
Athrun then, looked at his watch to check out the time. "Well guys, our time is up! So, what are going to do next?"
"I guess I know where…" Nicol said as his eyes looked at where the Arcade was located.
"C'mon, Dearka, we gotta go," Athrun said as he patted his tan-skinned friend.
"Alright, but this time I'm going to win," Dearka spoke confidently.
Back to Luna and Cagalli…
"Luna, I'm done," Cagalli said aloud.
"Ok. Let me take a look," Luna replied.
Then, Cagalli opened the door and stepped out wearing the pretty skirt her best friend recommended her to wear.
"Cagalli! You look…" Luna said in amazement.
"Finally like a girl? Thanks, Luna," Cagalli said gruffly.
"No, no, no! That's not what I mean!" Luna exclaimed.
"Although, you really look finally like a girl," she thought at the back of her head.
"You look…absolutely beautiful," Luna said with a smile.
"Really?"
"Yeah, take a look at yourself in the mirror."
Cagalli spun around at the direction Luna was pointing to. There, in the full-length mirror, stood her the beautiful image of her wearing the purple-and-white pleated skirt.
"Whoa! I look so…so different," thought Cagalli.
"Here, Cagalli. I think this blouse goes perfectly with that skirt," Luna said as she handed the item to her friend.
"Huh? Oh, ok," Cagalli uttered who rather seemed stunned at her new image.
Back to the guys…
"That was fun!" Nicol said with a laugh.
"It sure was!" agreed Athrun.
"I don't know with you guys, but there goes Dearka all over again," Yzak said as he glanced at his friend who was sitting at a nearby post looking like a lost child.
"Poor Dearka," Nicol uttered.
"Yeah, he didn't win even at one game against the three of us," Athrun said as he remembered that Dearka lost to Nicol in the game of Tekken 5, then lost to Yzak in Soul Calibur 2, and finally to him in one of the race car games.
"I'm hungry," Yzak told the two of them.
"Me too. C'mon, let's eat," Nicol said.
"Dearka, are you coming?" asked Athrun.
"Don't mind him. He'll come around soon," said Yzak.
Athrun shrugged. "Alright. Dearka, if ever you come around, you can find us at the "Gibraltar Café".
Hearing no answer from his pal, Athrun patted his shoulder, and then turned to his other pals and walked away.
While walking here and there…
"Cagalli, do you want to take a break?" Luna asked as she glanced at her friend who was having a hard time bringing all the items she bought for her.
"Well, yeah. My legs are starting to kill me," Cagalli said as she lowered her load.
"Alright. So, what do you want to eat?"
"I guess I'll take pizza."
"Where do you want to eat then?"
"Hmm…there." Cagalli's finger pointed to her favorite restaurant, Greenwich.
At the "Greenwich" entrance…
"Hmm…seems like the place is quite jam-packed," Yzak said as he observed the place.
"Umm…excuse me, waiter," Athrun called out, "Is there a table available for four people?"
The waiter looked around and finally stopped when he caught sight of the table near the corner. "There's a table at the corner, Sir," he pointed out.
"Thank you," they all said in unison.
When they took their seats and gave their orders as well, Athrun excused himself for a moment to go to the Comfort Room.
In the meantime…
"You can order right away, Luna. I'll just go to the Comfort Room," Cagalli said.
"Ok," Luna replied as she searched for her cellphone.
Somewhere in the cafe…
Athrun's eyes were busy searching for the Comfort Room until he heard a beep from his phone.
"It's only mom," Athrun thought as soon as he saw his mother's name flash in his phone.
As he started texting a reply to his mom…
OUCH!
A girl's voice cried out. The next thing he knew, he was lying at the floor. He tried to get up on one side, but he couldn't. There was too much impact. So, he decided to try on the other and finally was successful to stand up.
"Hey! That hurts!" a girl's voice cried out again.
When he looked back to the floor, he saw a girl with messy blond hair and pretty amber eyes trying to get on to her feet little by little, unfortunately, she failed.
"Umm…sorry about that," Athrun said politely as he stretched out a hand to the girl.
"It's alright. I can stand up by myself," she said crossly.
When slowly tried to stand up, she felt a sudden pang in her right leg that caused her to fall in Athrun's arms.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's nothing," she said sternly, but her voice was in pain.
She set her eyes to see the boy's face. But when she looked up, her heart pounded as she saw his emerald eyes. Her heart pounded again when she noticed she was in his arms. An unexpected blush rushed to her cheeks when she noticed the distance their lips are.
"Are you alright?" the boy's voice interrupted her daydreaming.
"Yes. Would you please let go of me now?" she said in her normal, emotionless voice.
"Alright."
"Cagalli! Cagalli!" Luna cried out, "Oh, there you are. C'mon, we gotta go. My mom just called and she's expecting me to be at home by now."
"I got to go now. Thanks anyway." The next thing he knew it, she was already gone.
"Cagalli. Her name is Cagalli," Athrun thought. He held his hand to his chest. He could feel his heart beating fast.
Breathlessly, he said her name again.
Just Speaking…
I'm so SSSOOORRRYYY! I'm really sorry if it took me sooo much time to this chapter. Gosh! It's really so difficult if you want to get to the Honor List!