Heya guys, well like I said here's the nxt chappie, nice and quick huh? Well show your appreciation and review!!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for my own characters and the plot.

Eye Of The Storm

Chapter Seven: Explanations and Answers

'AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

'He he he…whoops?'

'KARA SKYLAR HIWATARI YOU ARE SO DEAD!'

Heh, the joys of being the Hiwatari's neighbours. Oh what wonders it brings…like having Kai and Kara screaming at each other every morning! And that usually sets off Cassie and Ruby, so you've always got the howling as well! Great, innit?

Oh for God's sake, SHUT THE HELL UP!

'WILLOW CASSANDRA TATE!'

Uhhh, now what!?

I blearily made my way downstairs even though it was only 7:45 a.m. and technically I should have been asleep for at least another fifteen minutes but who's gonna sleep with them lot next door screaming the neighbourhood down?

'What?' I said irritably to my mother.

Judy Tate stood next to a large pile of dirty clothes, wearing a complete look of disgust.

'That!' she shrieked at me, pointing at the laundry. 'What are your dirty clothes doing in the middle of the hallway!?'

My clothes? Huh??? I don't leave dirty clothes anywhere except the floor of my bedroom! Unless…

I bent down and picked up a t-shirt. It wasn't mine, or Holly's. The pitch black t-shirt with golden dragon emblazed on the front didn't belong to anyone living in this house. So it must belong to Kara…

What were they doing in the hallway? Kara sometimes slept over (somehow always ending up in Max's bed) so I wasn't so much surprised that they belonged to her. But the question was, why weren't they in Max's room? Or even in Holly's and mine?

Oh shit…

'Well!?' she demanded.

'Oh right…yeah, sorry Mom,' I said quickly, blinking in surprise. I gathered the clothes and hurried upstairs to Max's room.

'Max!' I yelled, banging on his door.

'Go away!' came a muffled yell.

'Nuh uh, no way matey! You better be decent cos I'm coming in!' I replied hotly, giving him a few seconds before kicking open the door and walking straight in.

The room was in total chaos. The duvets were heaped on the floor, there were papers everywhere and books scattered across the floor. The wardrobe doors were hanging open, random clothes pulled out and hauled aside. There was a hole in the wall where someone had very obviously punched it, and one of the shelves was dangling on one side. And at the back, leaning against the wall, was Max. He was sitting with his arms fastened around his legs, his knees pulled up to his chest. His blonde hair flopped messily into his brilliant blue eyes…eyes that were once full of life had been reduced to dull depressed orbs.

'Max?'

I scrambled over a pile of screwed up paper balls and old comics from before I was born and dropped to my knees in front of my older brother.

'Maxie, what happened?' I said gently.

'Kara…' he mumbled.

I frowned. 'What did Kara do?'

No response.

'Y-you didn't break up, did you?'

The question in itself was ridiculous. I mean, Kara and Max, break up!? Hello, you're talking about a couple of soul mates who are completely in love! They can't break up…right?

'Yes.'

I- WHAT!?

'What d'ya mean!? What happened?' I yelped.

'I…I can't tell you. I promised not to.' Max said in a depressed tone. God knows what he's going through. There he was, with his soul mate and the girl he loved, life going well, and then BANG! He's lost it all.

'Oh Maxie, I'm so sorry!' I cried, wrapping my arms around him. He welcomed the hug, burying his face into my neck. His whole body was trembling, fighting against tears.

Oh Kara, what have you done?

By break time the whole school was buzzing about Kara and Max's break up and that no one knew anything. Kara had decidedly stayed away from me and Max so far, but when I did see her in class, her eyes were circled with deep purple bags and she seemed close to tears herself.

Kai was livid.

'SO WHO DID THE BREAKING UP THEN?' he was yelling.

D'you think I know!?!

'WELL I DON'T KNOW! MAX AIN'T SAYING ANYTHING AND KARA'S BEEN AVOIDING ME!' I screamed.

'Guys?' Johnny ventured, nervously trying to avoid having any of Kai's anger directed at him.

'What?' I said wearily to my boyfriend (BOYFRIEND! How often do I get to say that without knowing that I'm about to drop him?!).

'Maybe it was a joint decision?'

I blinked. Well, there's a point…

'Yeah, but why? They were perfect for each other…why break up?'

'Maybe something happened,' added Tala, 'Like an accidental drunken snog at a party and they've decided to break up for some space,'

Kai considered this.

Then he sighed in defeat.

'Neither are talking, so we'll never know what happened since they're pretty stubborn. I guess we'll have to wait for them to sort it out for themselves.'

This seriously sucks.

Don't I have enough to worry about already???

Water pounded on my skin, a welcomed haven from all the problems that had arisen so quickly. My hair clung to my shoulders, the red highlights darkening until you could barely tell the difference from my natural black hair.

It's been ages since I've had a nice long shower; it's always jump in then out, five minutes and that's it. But thankfully it's Saturday, and boy did this week go slow. I mean, Max's still fighting off the tears every time he sees Kara, and Kara herself has been crying herself to sleep every night, according to Kai. Holly and Tala have settled for stolen kisses in alleyways, meeting up while pretending they're elsewhere. Every time I see Ray now, I get surged by guilt and I can't talk to him for long.

'Stupid Holly, stupid Max, stupid Tala and stupid Kara,' I grumbled under my breath, rinsing out the shampoo.

'You forgot stupid Johnny,'

I gasped, almost slipping on the soap in my surprise. Excuse me, but what the fuck is HE doing here, in my bathroom!?

WHILE I'M TAKING A SHOWER!?!

'Uhhh, what the heck are you doing here!?' I demanded, as I poked my head around the shower curtain to see Johnny leaning against the closed door, smirking at me.

'Watching my girlfriend shower,' he replied.

I gaped at him.

'You scared me!' I said weakly, unable to find something else to say.

Yup, I, Willow "Cass" Tate, the always chatting, always has something to say, IS FREAKIN' SPEECHLESS!

Well, there's a first for everything I suppose.

'Sorry babe, but I missed you too much to bother to knock,' he said with a cocky grin.

'And I missed you too, all through the night,' I said sarcastically, although, god forbid, that was actually true. What the hell was happening with us? It was a game, nothing was real but at the same time it was ecstasy, it was something to look forward to, something to miss as soon as it was gone.

I sighed in wonder as I returned to my shower, finishing off within five minutes. Johnny didn't move, but whistled cheerfully as he waited.

'Pass a towel please!'

'Come out and get one. Nothing I ain't seen before you know,'

I groaned, flinging the soap in his direction and laughing as he swore. That'll teach ya!

His response was a towel flung at my face.

'Thanks!' I chirped, wrapping the towel around my naked body and stepping out of the shower.

And was instantly trapped between Johnny and a wall.

Now how did that happen?

'How do you move so fast?' I mumbled, feeling his hand running over my bare shoulder and up my neck.

'Practice,' he replied, and my breath hitched in my throat as the other hand caressed my skin through the towel. And to think, the only thing separating us was a single piece of cloth…

'Johnny…'

I was so confused. What was really happening with us? But I knew one thing.

Johnny is my best friend, and he'll always be. He'll always be there when I need him, and we'll always have a laugh. But now it was something more. He was like crack cocaine; one taste and you're addicted.

And I'm addicted to Johnny.

Great, huh?

No wonder all the girls are drooling after him—

Ohhhh, that feels good…

He was leaving a trail of kisses all over my skin. My arms, shoulders, neck, cheeks, nose, mouth…

Oh boy…

Where did his t-shirt go? Oh yeah, I took it off…I'm losing it now, my head's all fuzzy…

'Johnny…' my voice was more urgent now, and impatient.

The towel was gone, and so were all the clothes. It was just me and him now, just one step away from heaven.

And to heaven I went.

Hmmm…strawberry milkshake and chocolate ice cream…yummy…

'WILLOW!'

'Uh, whoops, sorry babe,' I cringed, snapping out of my personal heaven and looking up at my sister.

'God, why are you so outta it today?' she sighed, finally giving up on lecturing me about the prank Tala and I had pulled on Amber on Friday. Or was she yapping on about getting a D in my Algebra exam?

'Cos I just shagged Johnny this morning?' I suggested brightly.

'That's nice…' she sighed.

I waited with a smirk.

'…you WHAT!?'

'And why are you so outta it today yourself? Usually takes less time for the words to sink in,' I asked curiously, although Holly was still gaping at me across the table in Oliver's café.

She said some words I didn't think would ever leave her mouth.

'Cos I just lost my virginity to Tala?'

'Really now…'

Two seconds later and I realised she wasn't kidding.

'YOU GOTTA BE JOKING!'

It was her turn to smirk at me.

It was my turn to gape across the table.

Wow.

That's all I have to say.

Wow.

'So…explain this whole thing with Johnny and I'll explain about Tala,' Holly said with a sigh, though she seemed curious about Johnny.

That's when I realised with a heart-wrenching jolt that for the first time in our lives, Holly and I had been keeping secrets from each other.

Now that's just wrong.

We've never ever had secrets. Not even when Holly was sexually assaulted back in our old school, which therefore led to me being expelled from that school for nearly killing the guy who did it. And I ain't kidding either. He flat-lined in the hospital, that's how badly injured he was.

But Holly told me only minutes after it happened.

Most girls would be too scared.

But Holly told me. Like I told her about last summer.

So why are there secrets now?

'Okay, if you say so. But promise me one thing sis,'

'What?'

'Lets never keep secrets from each other again.'

'I totally agree.'

And we hugged fiercely, something we hadn't done for a while.

What was happening to us? To everyone? We're falling apart and half of us don't even realise it.

'Okay, well, Johnny and I…it's complicated. It's starting to really confuse me…'

I explained how we got together, how our first kiss had been that morning three weeks back.

'So you saying you first shagged him after a week of being together?' Holly said with raised eyebrows, after I had talked relentlessly for ten minutes.

'Yeah, but that's not the point. The point is, something happened that night. Something happened to us. Suddenly we were taking it more seriously than before, as if we were really together. We kissed when nobody was around, we made love this morning…that's it Holly, I'm thinking about it as making love and not having sex. What's happening Holly? What's happening to us?'

'Willow, there's only one thing I can say right now…you're falling for each other.'

There you go.

The answer.

Clear and simple.

Except for one thing; I was falling for my best friend.

And I did in three weeks flat.

Oh my God…

'Lila?'

Oh my God…

'Lila, I know it's a shock but really, you're perfect for each other, and you'll really enjoy it once you've confessed to Johnny…'

OH MY GOD!!!

'Lila, damnit, you're not the only one in need of a twin's help!' Holly snapped, clicking her fingers in front of my face. It was effective, and I looked at her with a look of complete shock and horror.

'Okay, tell me about Tala…I need to take my mind off him anyway…' I said weakly, trying to compose myself.

Then I realised Holly would need me here, so I forced myself to listen.

'Okay, so it happened about three weeks ago, the same afternoon when you refused to come down from the gym roof. I was really shaken from the whole thing, cos trust me Will, it ain't nice watching your own sister risking her own neck just to prove something…anyway, I was shaken pretty badly, and you had disappeared with Johnny and Ray had detention after school so I had to ask Tala for a lift home since I wasn't exactly in a great state to skate…'

She took a deep breath, and I squeezed her hand reassuringly.

'Tala took me to the park…by the fountain…so that I could sooth my nerves. I was grateful, but then we got into an argument about Shakespeare…you know how much Tala hates Shakespeare for "creating plays in codes so that four hundred years later kids like us had to break our necks trying to decipher them"--'

'He ain't kidding either,' I grumbled and Holly threw me a look.

'—anyway, then the next thing I know I'm in the bloody fountain, soaked to the bone and Tala laughing his head off at me. I probably tripped or something, but it didn't stop me from pulling Tala in afterwards.' She said, with a slight smirk at the memory, and I chuckled. I could imagine a completely drenched Holly pulling Tala into the fountain!

'So of course then we had a water fight. Completely ridiculous, two teenagers running around in a fountain splashing water at each other in autumn, but hey, sounds like something you would do!'

I had to laugh at that.

'Yup, that's true.'

'But then it happened.' She paused, closing her eyes briefly. 'One second he was chasing me…the next…we were snogging for Japan,'

'Babe, I only have one thing to say to you…shit.'

'No kidding,' she snorted, before looking at me hopelessly. 'Of course, I was upset after that,' she continued. 'But now I had my first taste…and Tala wasn't ready to give up either…so here I am, sitting with my twin as I explain how I came to cheat on my boyfriend.'

Then Holly looked at me, and I don't even know what's worse. Holly crying, calling out to me, or Holly looking so lost and confused and me not being able to anything about it?

Before it was Holly getting unwanted attention. Okay, cool, just a couple of punches and kicks, a trip to the hospital and there you go, he won't be bothering Holly again.

But now I had no control.

And I hate having no control. It scares me.

'Hey girls!'

Holly must've jumped about a foot into the air, and I wasn't far behind. I looked around wildly to see Kai, Tala, Johnny, Ray and Ozuma heading towards us.

'Hey guys,' we chorused weakly, looking at each other.

'Hey Lils,' Johnny muttered as I crawled onto his lap and kissed me softly.

'Hmmm….' I replied dreamily, the only difference being that I wasn't acting anymore.

I looked over to Holly, who was perched in Ray's lap and glancing between Tala and me. Then I saw Tala frowning at Ray and immediately turned away.

'What's the matter Cass?' Johnny frowned, looking down at me. Everyone turned to look.

'Oh nothing, just a bit tired. I missed you, y'know,' I smiled up at Johnny.

He knew I was hiding something.

And so did Kai.

Well there you go, tell me what you think yeah? And thanx to all my reviewers.

Ciao

Chiya