Chapter 6
Kodak Moment
"I've ruined everything for everyone else. I just want to go home," the words spilled out of Amara's mouth like a waterfall. Amara shifted her position on the window seat so she could watch the snowfall from the pitch-black sky. She closed her eyes and breathed in as a jabbing pain ran from her wrist and up her arm "I…I hate being here."
"Ams? Is that you?" Johnny's groggy voice asked through the receiver. "Why are you calling me at two in the morning? And on Christmas day?"
"I needed to talk to someone," she insisted. "And there's no way I'm talking with anyone in this house about my feelings."
"Amara, don't you have a journal or something that you can consult that this time instead of depriving me of sleep?"
"Johnny!" Amara pouted, dragging out his name in a long whine. "I'm not in the mood to be mocked."
"I'm sorry. I should feel honored that you chose me to complain to instead of someone else," Johnny replied his voice thick from being woken up. "Now please continue with your rant."
"Besides I already wrote it all down in my journal, I just need to talk about it with a person."
"Can't you consult a girl or something?"
"No, I couldn't do that to my mom. She's so excited to be with the Hiwataris. Leanne is one of them and Holly is way to young," Amara informed him. "And Jules is at her grandmother's so I don't know how to get a hold of her."
"What about dear Kai?" Johnny threw the name in there just to hear Amara get all worked up. As much as she denied it she always reacted to his name.
"You're hilarious," Amara replied trying to sound completely deadpan.
"I know," Johnny chuckled sounding a little more awake. "Even at this early hour I'm still funny."
"So moving on then…"
"Moving on? Whatever are you talking about Ams? We've just begun talking about Kai."
"I don't want to talk about Kai and I wouldn't think you would want to either. I thought you didn't like him?"
"I don't." Johnny answered quickly. "But for very different reasons then you."
"Could it be because he's an arrogant…Kai…" Amara's hold on the phone slipped slightly.
"An arrogant Kai? Not much of an insult Ams. I would expect better from you," Johnny teased. His voice was heard clearly even though the earpiece was no longer against Amara's ear.
"No he's here." Amara told him quietly bringing the phone back to her mouth. Her eyes locked on the tall shadowed figure walking towards her.
"Then don't you want to finish that?"
"I should go. I'll talk to you later Jon," Amara said quickly before clicking the off switch on the portable phone.
"You didn't have to stop on my account," Kai told her stepping out of the shadows so the moonlight gave her a clear view of him. "I was quite enjoying your side of that conversation."
"You shouldn't eavesdrop," Amara huffed turning her face away from the half naked teenage boy in front of her. She kept her gaze outside to the snow. "You might not like what you hear."
"Oh, I wasn't eavesdropping," Kai smirked, easily picking up on her discomfort over his bare upper body. "The whole house could hear you but I think it's safe to say they're all still asleep. My family are pretty heavy sleepers." He sat down on the window seat across from her. "I on the other hand pride myself on being a light sleeper. I'll be the one to hear a burglar."
"That's riveting," Amara said while in her head she was praying he would go away. "You came all the way up here just to tell me that you could hear my conversation in the basement?"
"Actually I was more interested in finding out who sweet little Amara Jones tells her deep dark secrets to." Amara could hear the smirk in his voice. "At first I thought maybe you were talking to Leanne but then I realized how one sided the conversation sounded and you were stopping for breath."
"Are you finished?"
"I then figured you had to be on the phone, which I was right. And to my amazement you were talking with a boy," Kai beamed across at the fuming red head who still refused to look at him. "Boyfriend perhaps?"
"Johnny?" Amara turned to him looking rather amused by the suggestion. "I don't think so."
"Well he's a boy and he's your friend. Sounds pretty possible to me,"
"Geez," Amara groaned covering her eyes with her good hand and shaking her head. "I cannot believe I am having this conversation with you."
"Why is it so hard to believe?" Kai asked his tone suddenly serious.
"Why? You actually have to ask why? We do not talk anymore Kai. We haven't actually had a proper conversation in about two years."
"And why is that? Why haven't we talked in two years?"
"It's way to late to get into all that." Amara said standing up to leave. "We're both way too tired to discuss this."
"No," Kai interjected reaching out and grabbing Amara's wrist to stop her. This did more than stop her. Kai grabbed her left wrist. Amara's body crumpled as a jolt of pain shot from her wrist and through the rest of her body.
"Crap." Kai took hold of Amara's waist and pulled her onto his lap before she hit the floor. "I'm sorry. I forgot."
Amara's face was tight and she held her bottom lip firmly between her teeth. She cradled her left wrist against her body. Kai knew if she wasn't in so much pain there would be no way she would still be sitting on his lap.
"We need to get you to a hospital," Kai said pulling Amara's attention away from her throbbing wrist.
"What? We can't. It's too late."
"The medic said if it still hurt you in the morning then you needed to go to the emergency for proper x-rays. It obviously still hurts. The hospital is about an hour away. We'll get you checked out and be back in time for presents."
"Kai…I…"
"If you're not happy it appears that none of us are going to be happy. Now grab your coat and your id. I'll go start the SUV." Giving her a shove in the direction of her bedroom. He turned towards the kitchen and the back door.
"Kai?" Amara called after him. He promptly stopped, turning his head to face her.
"What?"
"You might want to put some pants on or something."
"Oh…right…thanks." Kai turned and headed in the opposite direction towards the stairs leading down to the basement. He hoped Amara hadn't seen him blush.
0 0 0
"Well isn't this just a Kodak moment?" Brian cooed.
"Shhh…don't wake them," Leanne warned with a chuckle. "I have to get a picture of this."
"That's so cruel," Brian tsked with a grin standing beside his fiancé. "Now I remember why I'm marrying you." He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him placing a kiss on her temple.
"Among other reasons," Leanne moved away from him and picked up her camera that she had left on the dinning room table. "I can't wait to hear their explanation for this one." Leanne grinned bringing the camera up and focusing on the younger couple on the couch.
There was Kai and Amara lazing on the couch fast asleep. Amara was cuddled comfortably up against the left side of Kai's body, his arms holding her securely there. Amara's left arm, which was now covered with a blue cast at the wrist, was resting across Kai's torso. Her head was resting on his shoulder with his head on hers.
Leanne snapped a picture of the snoozing couple and was poised to run just in case one of them woke up from the bright flash.
"They didn't wake up?" Brian shrugged a little surprised. He knew his sister was a bit of a heavy sleeper but the bright flash of the camera could have woken up the dead.
"Good," Leanne smirked. "The perfect opportunity to take another one just incase that first one didn't work."
"Ah, double the blackmail."
"Exactly." Leanne quickly took another picture. Again the flash lit up the room.
"What the…" Kai groaned. This time he knew the flash wasn't part of whatever he had been dreaming. He was so comfortable and really didn't feel like opening his eyes but regardless of what his body was telling him Kai opened his eyes. There was his sister and Brian hovering over him and he wasn't in his room in the basement either.
"Comfy?" Leanne asked him while grinning like an idiot.
"I was until you two decided to wake me," Kai grumbled slowly waking up to his surroundings. "Are you two five that you had to rush up early on Christmas morning to open your presents?"
"Well now we're a little more interested in why you and my sister are sleeping together on the couch," Brian answered grinning just like Leanne.
"What?" A look of complete shock and worry crossed Kai's tired features. He was suddenly feeling a lot more awake as he looked over at the sleeping girl next to him.
"You two look so cute," Leanne cooed. "And we're never gonna let you forget it." Kai suddenly noticed the camera in his sister's hand.
"Leanne…you can't…" Kai warned making a move to grab it from her hand. He was too worried about jerking Amara and waking her up that he didn't really try very hard once Leanne made a move away from him.
"And why is that?" Leanne asked crossing her arms and waiting for an explanation that pleased her.
"Amara won't like it and if you ever want me and her to be friends again I suggest you don't show that to her."
Leanne thought over what he said and then reluctantly agreed. "Fine, I won't show it around."
"Well you better dislodge yourself from her then before the parents come down and think that you two are suddenly getting along real well," Brian cut in listening for any movement from the bedrooms upstairs.
Kai gently lifted Amara's arm off him and carefully leaned her in the other direction so he could get up from the couch. He was successful and stood up.
"So what exactly were you two doing on the couch together?" Brian asked sounding like a protective older brother.
"We went to the hospital last night to get a cast on Amara's wrist." Kai answered with a shrug. There was no point in getting defensive. They hadn't done anything wrong.
"Yes, we saw that but that still doesn't explain how you ended up on the couch," Leanne pressed.
"I don't really know how we got in that position exactly but Amara fell asleep in the car so I carried her in and just put her on the couch and decided to just stay on the couch myself," Kai explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I was too tired to go back downstairs."
"Fair enough," Brian said acceptingly. "She obviously just cuddled up to you without thinking."
"Obviously," Kai replied looking down at the still sleeping Amara. "There's no way she would cuddle with me if she was awake." He was sure that he had put Amara on the other couch but wasn't about to admit that to Leanne and Brian. That would just raise more questions that he wasn't sure he could answer.
"I'm going to go put on some coffee," Leanne spoke up turning Kai's attention away from his thoughts.
Leanne and Brian disappeared into the kitchen leaving Kai alone in the living room with Amara. He sat on the couch opposite her, the couch he was sure he had put her on.
"It's Christmas!" Kai's head whipped in the direction of the excited voice. Holly stood in the doorway of the room that she and Amara were sharing with a huge grin spread across her angelic face. Blonde curls were stroon across her face matted down on the side she had obviously been sleeping on.
"Presents!" Holly shrieked making a beeline for the tree.
"Hold on Squirt," Kai grabbed his little sister as she tried to rush past him. "We gotta wait till everyone is up."
"But Kai…" the small girl pouted rather loudly.
"Shh…" Kai brought a finger up to his lips and pointed at the sleeping teen on the couch.
"But Kai," she started again this time bringing her tone down just under a shriek. "I've been waiting a long time."
"Well then I won't hurt you to wait a little longer," Kai said giving her a smile. "Now go get some breakfast to keep yourself busy."
"Okay," Holly gave Kai's neck a squeeze and then rushed to the kitchen.
"That was really sweet," a groggy voice captured Kai's attention.
Kai smiled seeing that Amara was awake and in seemingly good spirits. "I'm not all bad. Got a bit of a soft spot for that kid."
Amara smiled not really knowing what else to say to him. She sat up and ran her fingers through her red hair. The blue cast on her wrist caught her attention. "Thanks for taking me last night."
Kai shrugged. "I didn't really think everyone would want to hear you whine about it all day."
"How considerate of you," Amara drawled rising from the couch and making a move to leave. "I'll remember to keep my discomforts to myself then."
"Amara…" Kai said trying not to laugh. She was a little funny when she was mad.
"Why do you do that?" Amara snapped throwing up her arms as if defeated.
"Do what?"
"Act all sweet and then turn around and be a complete sarcastic jerk to me." Amara glared down at him since he was still seated on the couch. "You're so two faced."
"I'm two faced?" Kai repeated feeling a little stunned by the accusation. "You're really one to talk." Kai stood up choosing to stand right in front of her. Forcing her to look up at him in doing so. "You can't say one civil thing to me. You can't take any joke from me. You're impossible to be around. I can't seem to win."
"I have my reasons," Amara huffed crossing her arms against her chest.
"Care to share them?"
"Not really," Amara replied making a move to walk past him but he blocked her way.
"I think I have a right to know if you have a problem with me," Kai told her, his tone dangerous.
"You lost any kind of rights you had years ago." Amara seethed back through clenched teeth.
"Is that so…"
"Good morning you two," Vicki smiled sweetly at them as she floated down the staircase. Neil and Nancy behind her.
"Morning," Kai and Amara grumbled in unison still glaring at each other.
"Amara, honey, when did you get that cast?" Nancy rushed to her daughter's side and held the bandaged wrist in her hands.
"Oh…" Amara suddenly felt flustered. "I…we…"
"Amara and I went to the hospital last night," Kai replied calmly.
"Oh?" The parents were suddenly all ears.
"I heard someone in the kitchen last night and when I went upstairs to investigate there was Amara trying to find some Advil," Kai told them. Amara was even interested in what he had to say. She was amazed about how easy the lies seemed to come. "Shortly after we headed to the hospital and sure enough it's broken."
"Oh Amara," Nancy pulled her daughter close. "You poor thing."
"I'm fine, mom," Amara mumbled against her mom's shoulder.
"Presents!" Holly came screaming into the living room. Brian and Leanne were close behind the younger girl.
"Let's do this so we can all have some peace," Brian groaned scooping Holly up over his shoulder. The little girl squealed with joy.
Vicki and Nancy took charge placing the presents in front of the recipient. Holly, being the youngest, was excited by everything she opened. She kept jumping up and hugging everyone.
Amara couldn't help but smile. She remembered being younger and getting that excited over Christmas. Her parents had always been great gift givers. They always saved the thing she wanted most for last. It made it all the more exciting. Amara stole a glance over at Kai who was quietly opening the pile of presents in front of him. He had the box from her in his hand. They weren't suppose to put their names on the secret Santa present so he didn't know it was from her.
He inspected the box before ripping off the colorful snowman wrapping paper. Amara was a little anxious to see his reaction.
"Amara, aren't you going to open something else?" Amara turned her attention towards her mother. There was still a stack of unopened presents sitting beside her.
"Oh right," Amara said quickly grabbing the box off the top of the pile. She stole a quick glance over at Jake. He had already moved on to the next present.
Later that evening after they had all finished their Christmas dinner, Amara retired to the window seat to read one of the new books she had gotten from Brian. The parents were in the kitchen playing poker, while Brian and Leanne watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Holly upstairs in the loft. Amara had no idea where Kai was and that worried her. She found it easier to spar with him when she knew where he would be coming from.
Amara soon forgot about Amara and everyone else as her book started to become more interesting.
"Good book?" Kai was now sitting across from her on the window seat. Amara nodded but didn't look up. Maybe if she didn't talk to him he would get the point that his presence wasn't wanted. "I wanted to thank you." Now Amara was interested.
"For what?" Amara bit her lip nervously wondering if he had figured out that she was his secret Santa.
"This." Amara looked at the CD in his hand. Yes, he had figured it out.
"What makes you think I gave that to you?" she replied trying to sounds as natural as possible.
"Simple deduction really," he smirked. "My dad is clueless when it comes to my music and my mom would hate the cover. Leanne is against buying CDs. She would rather download it all and burn it. Holly not a chance. And I have my doubts that it would be your mom or your brother." He sounded so sure of himself. Amara was seething. "That leaves you. You've been in my car, you've flipped through my CDs, and you would know what I would like."
Amara said nothing. What could she say to that? There was no point in denying it. He was right. And why did she care so much that he knew anyways? It was just a stupid secret Santa present it didn't mean anything. She lifted her book and pretended that she was reading.
"I want to be friends Amara," Kai said reaching out a hand to lower her book from her face. "Can we be friends?" She could only stare at him. "Whatever I did to piss you off I'm sorry. I don't want to fight with you anymore. I just want to be friends."
Amara willingly let the silence hang between them. This made her even more uncomfortable than him confronting her about the present.
"I…You…" Amara started but the words weren't sounding right in her head. "Friends?"
"Yes," Kai urged. "I know it can't be anything like it use to be but we can at least be civil can't we?"
"I guess," Amara looked out the window. It was easier to form proper thoughts when he wasn't staring right into her eyes.
"Good," Kai smiled leaning his back against the wall. He had won now he could relax.
A million things started racing through Amara's mind at once. She had just agreed to be friends with Kai Hiwatari. Well they had been friends before but now she was going to have to try again. There would be effort involved but this was a good thing. It was. Amara tried her best to convince herself.
"Shouldn't we shake on it or something?" Amara mumbled looking at Kai.
"Sure, if you want," he reached out his much larger hand towards her. Amara did the same and they sealed their new friendship. Kai smiled at her one more time then stood to leave.
"Not good," Amara hissed under her breath once Kai had disappeared into the kitchen. "Not good at all."
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Well there it is…chapter 6…ain't it just beautiful??? Well I thought so. It's a longer one too…took a while to write. Well I hope you all enjoy it and please review.
Miss Wright
THANKS TO THE REVIEWERS:
reanimeangel: I'm sorry last chapter seemed so short…this one is longer. I'm sorry to disappoint you with there being no kisses but there will be you just have to wait. Thanks for reviewing ;)
konfizkate91: Sorry for taking my time…I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for reviewing!
XoOBlackDragonOox: Thanks for the review.
Scarlet Witch 41: Was it really that short??? You're the second person to say that to me…well I hope this one seems longer cuz I think it really is. Enjoy and thanks for reviewing ;)
X.o.XAngel of the DamnedX.o.X: You're right Kai's ego is a little too big to get bruised that's why it needs a little injury to deflate it. Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you think my story is cool and awesome ;)
