This is sort of a filler chapter...
How many ways do I love thee, reviewers? Let me count the ways...
Chibi Tomb Robbress- This is my answer to your last review. You did get my explanation, right?
Yeah, I used to think Star Wars sucked too. I was like, ha! Star Wars nerds! Now I sort of am one...don't worry, it'll catch up with you eventually...you can't escape the Force! Anyway, I really like your OC. Too bad about not receiving your review sooner...
Inoure- Muahaha! Blind! Anyway, thanks so reviewing...KIT! I know your name! Hahaha!...I'm a little hyper today...
BrooklynBestCharacter- Hey! New reviewer! I love your name, Brooklyn is so cool! Thanks for reviewing!
Glimmern-glitas- Ooh...you're foreign! Cool! Thanks for reviewing!
Chibi Tomb Robbress- Hi again! Yeah! Me like Cally too! I wanna read your story about Dreya!
Crying Chocolat- I think Tala needs a break...so I gave the other characters the spotlight! -grin-
cry of the wolf- Awww! You're one of my favourite reviewers! I'll miss you! Muahahaha! I know your name! -goes into psychopath mode-
ariotlatio- Playing Cupid is fun! Not that I've had experience...
K'onix- Kirei could be fine...And the girls just said some regular stuff about male incapabilities. Thanks for reviewing!
Torri-Chiobie- I shall see! Thanks for reviewing!
Jezza-jay- Random...-snaps out of daze- Yeah, anyway, thanks for reviewing again!
Hippochick- I'm almost in high school! Wah, I feel so young! Are you in high school? Yeah! Calypso is popular! I know, I love the name too. It sounds so...Calypso-y!
Enjoy!
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Aya rang Mariah's doorbell, holding a silver-wrapped present. The door was soon opened by two grinning girls.
" Happy Birthday!" Aya laughed, holding out her hands as she went inside the house. " Wow! You look very nice, 'Riah!"
" Thanks." Mariah giggled, pulling her knee-length sheer white silk flounced skirt. Her top was white lace, and had pink ribbon straps. Her waist was encircled by a pink sash that hung down on one side to her mid-calf, and her hair was in a high bun, with a pearl clip holding her bangs back on one side. Similar pearls glistened at her ears, neck and wrist. " You look great too."
Aya saw herself in the full-length mirror that hung from the wall. Her silvery hair was curled and framed her face. Her dress was one of those eighties clothes. It was green, and off the shoulder, while the skirt was cut at an angle. A wide, white belt trimmed with green hung on her hips. Large, plastic, white-and-green earrings in lozenge shapes dangled from her ears, and white-and-green plastic bangles were at her wrists.
" I'll take that!" Emily took Aya's present and placed on top of a small pile of gifts on the glass coffee table.
" You look fancy!" Aya complimented Emily, smiling. The redhead did look a lot more elaborate than usual. Her aqua dress was ruffled at the hem and sleeves, and a simple silver chain decorated her neck.
" So, is anyone else here yet?" Aya asked, sitting down on a white sofa.
" Nope. They should be here in a few minutes, though." Mariah checked her watch.
And so, a few minutes later, the doorbell rang.
Mariah answered, and soon she returned with Calypso and Bryan. Calypso looked very pretty. Her pale hair was loose, and Aya realized it was actually naturally wavy. The shy girl wore a simple, yet elegant white lace lawn dress.
" Hey, glad you could make it!" Aya smiled warmly at Calypso.
" My pleasure." Calypso smiled softly.
" Bryan picked you up?" Emily asked, her eyes narrowed in speculation.
" Uh…yeah." Calypso nodded, a little confused. Emily and Mariah exchanged significant looks.
Bryan rolled his eyes, and pulling off his black coat, dropped it on Aya's head, for she was sitting on the couch, and that had been his original destination.
" Hey!" Aya pulled the coat from her hair and ran a hand through her curls. She glared at Bryan, who couldn't care less.
Calypso giggled, and gently placed her present on the pile on the table and looked around awkwardly.
" Sit down!" Mariah laughed, pulling at Calypso's hand.
Calypso blushed when she realized she was the only one left standing. She hastily sat down on a white cushion, nervously folding her hands in her lap.
" Well, looks like we just have to wait for the others." Mariah spoke after a while, kicking her legs in impatience.
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" Yay! Okay, I've set up the DDR! Who shall be the first contestants?" Mariah announced as she hooked up the final cable. Everyone had arrived, and after watching 'The Day After Tomorrow', they had decided to do something physically strenuous. Sort of.
" I'll go." Brooklyn offered, standing up and stretching lazily. He walked over to the Dance Dance Revolution machine and stepped on the first platform.
Mariah looked expectantly at everyone else. " Well?"
" I'll take you on!" Lee grunted as he got up, brushing off his pants. He took his place next to Brooklyn.
" Let's make this elimination. The winner stays and the loser is eliminated." Mariah suggested.
" Okay." Both Brooklyn and Lee spoke at the same time. Brooklyn allowed Lee to pick a song, and they began.
After a while, it became painfully obvious that Brooklyn was better than Lee. Lee kept stumbling, and was sweating quite heavily. Finally, it was over.
" Whew! I'm not good at stuff like this." Lee joked as he hobbled off the platform, wiping his forehead.
" Good game." Brooklyn said, a friendly smile on his face.
" Who's next?" Mariah acted like a game show host.
" Me! I'm going to show Lee up!" A small Chinese boy leapt up.
" As if, Kevin." Lee said dismissively, waving a hand at the emerald-haired boy. Kevin fumed, his violet eyes sparking. He quickly hopped onto the platform, and the game began.
It was over pretty quickly, despite the fact that Kevin was better than Lee. Unfortunately, there were just some steps that his short legs couldn't reach. Also, he'd picked a fairly short song.
" Not fair…biased against vertically-challenged people." Kevin grumbled as he sat down again.
" Ha ha ha! Your winning streak is over now, Brooklyn!" Ian declared, climbing onto the DDR platform.
He was thrashed in several seconds.
" You know, this is so boasting my self-esteem." Brooklyn grinned, lounging on the platform's bar.
" Shut up." Ian muttered, plopping down on a cushion.
" Hey! Sportsmanship." Mariah warned jokingly, raising an eyebrow at the violet-haired boy. " So, who's next? Gary?"
The large Asian boy was currently devouring the bowl of chips on the table.
" Hmm?" He looked up, mouth full.
" Do you want to play?" Mariah asked, her hands on her hips.
Gary shook his head, downing a can of Pepsi.
" Okay." Mariah shrugged. " Now what?"
" I'll go!" Aya volunteered, jumping up. " I love this game."
" Aw, that isn't fair!" Brooklyn pouted. No one was exactly sure what he was talking about.
Aya selected a song, and they started to dance. Brooklyn was doing considerably worse than before. It wasn't long before the machine declared Aya the winner.
" You let me win!" Aya accused, pointing a finger at Brooklyn.
" I had no choice." Brooklyn shrugged. " I can't fight you." He murmured, pulling her outstretched arm until she was next to him. He gazed deeply into her eyes. Aya blushed. She was very aware of the burning stares of everyone in the room.
" Uh – well, that's nice to know." Aya cleared her throat, moving away.
" What, you're going to use that against me now? I'm hurt." Brooklyn laughed, back to normal.
Aya remounted the platform, and Yuri challenged her.
Yuri had been apprehensive about the game, but he realized that the skill came naturally to him, despite him not ever playing it before. At least, not that he could remember. So soon, he won.
" You're too good for me." Aya sighed, leaning in for a brief kiss. Ian howled, sending everyone else into gales of laughter. Everyone that is, except Brooklyn. A flash of pain crossed Brooklyn's features, before he schooled himself and composed his face.
" Keep trying, you'll beat me eventually." Yuri patted Aya's arm, smiling. She sat down, eager to watch the game continue.
" Bow before me, for I am your god!" Rei laughed maniacally, jumping up. He hopped onto the platform and wagged his finger at Yuri.
Mariah shook her head in amusement. " Watch out, Yuri. Rei is good."
Rei was good. His natural grace and lithe form enabled him to pull off moves that made the others wince.
Inevitably, Rei won. Yuri stepped off, defeated.
" Yeah!" Rei punched his fist in the air.
" You are unnatural." Yuri gasped, remembering Rei's five splits in quick succession.
Rei just grinned and winked.
" Okay, who's next?" Mariah's keen eyes surveyed the crowd. The golden orbs landed on a figure trying to hide behind the coffee table, which was pointless, because the coffee table was transparent. " Calypso!"
Calypso slumped, having been spotted.
" Come on!" Mariah called, waving her over.
Calypso slowly got up, shuffling to the DDR machine. Her face was burning up beneath the cover of her hair. She could feel everyone's eyes on her.
As she mounted the platform, Rei gave her a friendly smile. She could only manage a shaky one in return.
" Why don't you pick the song?" Rei offered, gesturing at the machine. Calypso reached forward and almost fell over. Her face was bright red as she pushed the buttons.
The music started, and arrows began coming up on the screen. Calypso was so nervous that she fumbled the first couple of steps. But she soon got her stride and was doing pretty well.
The song ended, and the machine tabulated their scores. 'TIE' flashed across the screen.
" You tied?" Mariah gasped in surprise. " No one ties with Rei!"
" I'm sorry!" Calypso blushed. " I didn't mean to…"
" Don't worry about it. It's a good thing. Great game, by the way. Do you play at home?" Rei asked as he shook Calypso's hand.
" No. I do ballet though." Calypso said quietly, the flush ebbing from her face.
" King and Queen of DDR!" Mariah placed plastic crowns on Rei's and Calypso's heads. " Now, cake and presents!"
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Mariah surveyed her presents. There were three left unopened. All the others had been really nice books, CD's and jewellery. She picked up Calypso's white-wrapped present. It turned out to be a beautiful iridescent rose scarf with gold tassels. " Wow! Did you make this yourself?"
Calypso nodded shyly. Mariah hugged her tightly.
" Thank you!" The neko-jin draped the scarf around her neck and reached for Aya's present. It was a gorgeous pink and white leather Hello Kitty purse with matching detachable cell phone holder.
" It's adorable!" Mariah hugged Aya as well. She then finally turned to Rei's present. As soon as she lifted the lid, a little white blur leapt out. The cutest white kitten was nuzzling Mariah's cheek.
" Oh my god!" Mariah squealed, cuddling the kitty. " I love you, Rei!" She hugged the flustered Chinese boy tightly.
" Look around her neck." Rei suggested, blushing.
Mariah looked, and lifted a thread-like gold chain from around the kitten's neck. Dangling from the chain was a gold cat twisted into a heart. The cat's eyes were dark rose quartz.
" It's so beautiful! Ahh!" Mariah shrieked. The kitten looked surprised at the sound, and jumped away, onto the couch.
Rei gently took the necklace from Mariah, and fastened it around Mariah's neck, removing the pearl choker she had been wearing in the process.
Mariah, still in her euphoria, kissed Rei loudly on the lips. Rei reeled back, shocked. Mariah blushed and giggled nervously.
" Wow! If giving a chick a cat gets that reaction…I gotta get to the pet store!" Ian whistled, eyes wide with surprise.
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" Did you have fun, Calypso?" Bryan asked on the drive home. He glanced over at her, his hands firmly on the steering wheel.
" Uh-huh." Calypso nodded, blushing as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Her voice sounded croaky and disused.
Bryan snorted in laughter, and Calypso thought he was making fun of her. She tried to sink into her seat, staring out the window so Bryan couldn't see her burning face. Her hands were clasped so tightly in her lap that her knuckles were white. Calypso was deathly afraid that Bryan picking her up had been an elaborate joke. Her eyes glassed over and she bit her lip to stop it from trembling. She was going to cry, she knew it. She couldn't help it; Bryan seemed so nice and strong. If this was a joke…well, Calypso's slightly paranoid mind eagerly filled in the blanks.
They pulled up at her house, and Bryan undid his seatbelt, leaning over to Calypso's side. He'd noticed her tense form, and the occasional sniffing noises.
He carefully reached over and took Calypso's chin in his fingers, turning her head around. Her face was pale, and tears threatened to spill out of her large, lime eyes.
" Hey."
Calypso hiccupped; a couple of tears sliding down her cheeks.
" Calm down, hmm?" Bryan used his thumb to wipe away the tears. " What's the matter?"
Calypso hiccupped again, and tears started to flood down her face. " You're being so nice – and then – I'm so stupid – mean!" She babbled incoherently between her sobs.
" Shh." Bryan commanded. Calypso's sobs soon slowed down, and completely stopped, although hiccups still shook her body.
After Bryan had wiped Calypso's cheeks dry again, he leaned in and softly kissed her full on the mouth. Calypso was surprised at first, but slowly melted into the kiss. She relished the feel of Bryan's warmth, and his strong arms that held her so safely.
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