Chapter Two: Nothing To Lose
I'm not going to be apart of their game!
I won't be just another victim!
They'd love to watch me fall!
But they failed to notice,
that I'm still standing!
I've got to prove them wrong!
I'm ready. Are you?
Bryan woke up the next morning to the smell of food. It wasn't like anything he had ever smelled before and it smelled so good! He gasped and opened his eyes quickly; forgetting where he was. It took a few seconds to realize where he was and he immediately calmed down; looking around the room. He found Tala poking at the fire with his back turned towards his friend. He noticed that he hadn't went to his room last night and had fallen asleep at the table.
Tala looked over his shoulder, and grinned over at his friend. "Good to see you're awake, Bryan!" Tala said in an arrogant tone; walking over towards the table and sitting across from him. "Yubel was getting worried that you fell into a coma but the way you slept through all that noise Alex made before he left."
"Where's Yubel?" Bryan asked in a sleepy tone; rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Why did Alex leave?"
Tala shrugged his shoulders and leaned into the table to slide his legs underneath it. "Alex had some work to do and Yubel is in the kitchen making us breakfast." Tala explained in a lazy tone; letting a slight yawn pass through his lips. "Man, I woke up too fast." He added in a mild complaint; resting his head in his arms.
Bryan was about to reply when Yubel walked into the room with a tray of food in her hands; smiling sweetly at the two. She walked up to the table, and laid a tray of pancakes in the center with some syrup and butter on the side. There was also three cups of coffee for the lot of them.
"Tala said that you two like coffee. So, I took the liberty on making us all coffee this morning." She explained in a thoughtful tone; handing them each their own cup. "I left them black because I don't know what you guys put in it. I, personally, will take just plain milk and sugar. The sugar supplies the energy and the coffee wakes me up."
Bryan grinned at the girl, and took his cup in his hands; bringing it up to his nose to take in the aroma. "Black coffee is fine with me."
"I'm with you on this one, Yubel," Tala said as he took his cup and began scooping the sugar into his own cup, "I prefer my coffee with just sugar."
Yubel nodded and smiled over at the redheaded boy; taking up a plate of pancakes. She took some butter on her knife and spread it over her food; following by the syrup.
Bryan watched her make her pancakes before he snapped out of his daze and picked up his own plate. "If your pancakes are anything like that pizza you made last night, then I think I'm sold!"
Tala laughed at his friend and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Yubel! You really are a good cook!" He said happily; taking his plate and prepared his breakfast. "I wish you cooked for us back at the Abbey! It really wouldn't have been so bad if you were there with us!"
Yubel blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, but I'm not a dude like you guys," she reasoned in a sisterly tone; taking a bite of her food, "so they wouldn't let me stay one second in the Abbey you're from!"
Bryan swallowed his bite and looked over at Yubel. "So, what was the Abbey like for you? It couldn't have been half as bad as the one Tala and I got out of." He asked in a curious tone; looking over at Tala before he turned his attention back to the girl beside him.
"Trust me, it wasn't any better than the one you two came from. I'm just glad Alex got me out of there when he did." Yubel said with a gentle smile; looking down at her food.
"Oh, come on, Yubel!" Tala pleaded with the girl; leaning into the table. "From one BIOVOLT refugee to another, what was it like there? You've got to have some stories to tell!"
"Yeah, Yubel," Bryan chimed in after he took another bite of his breakfast, "it's not like we're ever going back there or anything."
Yubel looked away from the two with a smile on her face. "It's really not polite to talk about something as horrible as places like the Abbeys we grew up in." She answered with a simple tone.
"How bad could it have possibly been?" Tala asked in a curious tone; already guessing where this conversation was going.
"You can tell us, Yubel. Since we'll be here a while, we might as well get to know about each others' past. Wouldn't you agree?" Bryan said in an encouraging tone; giving her a slight smile.
Yubel looked up at the two, and gave them a sad smile. "My brother was killed in that Abbey when he threw an exhibition match to see who got to be in the team." She replied with a distant tone. "He and I were faced off together to see who would get to make the final string in the Pretty Devils."
Tala leaned closer to the girl and stared at her in disbelief. "That's got to be hard." He said in a surprised tone; not taking his eyes off the girl.
"I'm sorry we brought it up..." Bryan said in an apologetic tone; looking down at his food. "We shouldn't have forced you to tell us."
Yubel shook her head at the boy and gave him her bravest smile. "It's not so bad... I look at it like this: Leo got out of the Abbey and he's not hurting anymore. So that's good enough for me." She said in a reasoning tone; leaning over to place a hand on his lower arm.
"We're still sorry we upset you, Yubel." Tala said in a sympathetic tone; looking down at his food. "And you and Alex were kind enough to take us in, too."
Yubel chuckled and shook her head at the two. "It's okay, you guys. It was a long time ago, and we're all out of those awful places and out of danger. I can settle for that." She reasoned in a kind tone; going back to her food. She swallowed her food and looked up at them with a kind smile.
"So, let's promise to never talk about the Abbeys anymore, okay? I won't ask you guys anything about it if you don't ask me. Deal?" She said as she crossed her arms and held them out to the boys.
Bryan chuckled and took Yubel's hand in his own; giving her a slightly firm shake. "Deal." He said in a laughing tone; giving her a smile.
"Fair enough." Tala agreed in an understanding tone as he took Yubel's other hand and shook it firmly.
Yubel smiled happily at the two and pushed their plates closer to the two. "Now, that's all settled," she said in a motherly tone, "eat up and we'll go out to get you guys some clothes and things for your new rooms, okay? We can't have you wearing the same clothes all day or you'll start to smell funny." She said in a joking tone; causing them to choke on their food.
"That's SO not funny!" Tala called out in protest; blushing brightly with embarrassment.
"We do NOT smell funny!" Bryan said after he took a drink of his coffee to wash down the food that he just swallowed.
Yubel laughed and pointed at Tala's face before she slapped her knee in amusement. "Maybe not now, but you will eventually, Tala!" She said with a happy laugh.
She calmed down and looked over at their plates to find the contents already gone. She reached over to collect the dishes onto the tray and slowly rose to her feet; giving them both a kind smile before she began to walk back into the kitchen.
"Alex wanted me to take you guys out to get some new clothes today. You guys should get ready to head on out. I'll put the fire out when I'm done in the kitchen, okay?" Yubel called out from the kitchen. "I told him you guys wouldn't be up for spending time with a girl, but he just seemed like he was really just trying to get us to be more social around each other."
Bryan huffed and folded his arms over his chest in protest. "There's nothing wrong with our clothes." He mumbled to himself; earning a nod from Tala.
Yubel held up her hands in surrender. "There's nothing wrong with your clothes, I swear! Alex just wanted me to take you guys out to get some clothes before your beds get here!"
"We're fine with the clothes we have now." Bryan protested in a stubborn tone; folding his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, but what about night clothes? Or extra clothes for when the clothes you already have are all dirty?" Yubel protested; arguing her point. "It's always good to have extra clothes."
"This Alex-guy really wants to clean us up, doesn't he?" Tala asked the girl as he looked into the kitchen to see her moving around in there.
Yubel laughed and poked her head out of the kitchen. "Just be glad you're going with a girl instead of BEING a girl and having HIM take you to get your clothes." She said in as a matter of fact.
"That's just creepy." Tala said with fake disgust; sneering his nose up at the thought Yubel just put through his head.
"Tell me about it. He is such a stereotype when it comes to girl's clothes that would make even the preppiest girl sick to her stomach." Yubel said in a joking tone, as she opened the door leading to the attic. "Go ahead and get ready to leave. I'm going to get ready, myself, and I'm not very quick, so take your time and I'll be down as soon as I can." And with that, Yubel made her way up the stairs; leaving the two to themselves.
"What is she thinking? Taking us shopping for clothes?" Tala said with a protesting groan; slapping his forehead.
"Talk about embarrassing!" Bryan said in agreement; blushing slightly at the thought.
Tala sighed and slid out of the table. "We might as well as get this over with."
Bryan sighed and got up; taking his cup into the kitchen and poured himself another cup of coffee. "If I have to go through this; then I'm gonna need another cup before I go." He mumbled to himself as he quickly drank his coffee and went into the bathroom...
"Oh, come on, you two!" Yubel called out to the two boys trailing behind her. "It won't be so bad, I promise!"
Tala huffed and looked away from the pleading girl. "Easy for you to say," he mumbled in an embarrassed tone, "you're not the one who is forced to go shopping."
Yubel sighed and stopped walking to allow the two to catch up with her. Even for a crippled girl, she was pretty quick. "I won't be with you guys EVERYWHERE you go." She said in a reasoning tone; giving them a sisterly smile. "I'll turn you loose so you can get whatever you want and meet you back at a designated location."
Bryan looked over at the girl with surprise in his eyes. "You'd really let us off the leash? Just like that?" He asked in a suspicious tone; eying the girl with distrust.
Yubel looked over at Bryan and gave him a cocky smile. "Oh, please, you two!" She said in disgust. "You'd really think that I'd stick around with a pair of guys and listen to you two talk about whatever it is that guys talk about? Give me a break! I'm not as self-centered as most of the girls HERE are. No offense, I'm sure the girls here are really great people, but I'm not like that. I know when to give people of any gender, race, or religion their space."
The two boys let out a relieved sigh they didn't know they had been holding and gave each other an unsure look.
"Then I guess it won't be so bad..." Bryan said in a reasoning tone; shrugging his shoulders at his best friend...
Once they arrived at the mall, the trio stopped and looked around. There certainly was a lot more stores since the last time the boys went. They looked over at Yubel, and saw her smile sweetly at them.
"As promised," she said in a polite tone; waving them off, "I'm turning you loose. Now, make sure you at least get two outfits and something for your rooms." She added in a motherly tone; handing them both a wad of cash. "Alex gave you those rooms for a reason, you might as well as decorate them as you see fit."
Tala nodded to the girl, and took the cash. "What about you? What will you do?" He asked in a curious tone.
Yubel shrugged her shoulders and looked around at the stores. "I've already done my shopping LONG before you two came along." She answered in an all-knowing tone. "I was actually going to get some more parts for Slifer if you don't mind."
Bryan folded his arms over his chest and gave Yubel a slight smirk. "I thought you're not supposed to be beyblading till you're all better." He stated in a brotherly tone.
Yubel held up her hands in surrender. "I'm just getting some extra parts for when I can finally beyblade again. My year's almost up and I've already missed out on 10 months of practice." She said in protest. "If it makes you two feel any better, we'll go in together and take a look around AFTER you've finished shopping."
"You really shouldn't be left alone out here." Bryan said in a worried tone; gently grabbing the girl's arm.
Yubel rolled her eyes at the two and pulled her arm away from Bryan's hand. "Would you really want me to follow you to every store you go to?" She asked in a playful tone; causing them to blush slightly at her comment. "No? Then I'd suggest that you shake a leg and get to it before we have to go home and set up your rooms. In my opinion, THAT will be more of a challenge than picking out clothes. At least you two don't have to wear bracers."
"Okay. You've made a good point. So, where are we going to meet when we're done looking for clothes? Personally, I don't really know what I would put in my room." Tala said in an unsure tone; looking around at the stores.
"How about we meet at the food court? It's straight down stairs and to the left. I'll give you guys two hours tops." Yubel suggested in a reasoning tone. She turned around and began walking away from the them; waving them off as she walked away.
Bryan waved to the girl and looked over at Tala with a defeated sigh. "Let's get this over with." He said as he began walking towards one of the clothing stores; Tala following suit.
An hour passed and the two actually found some clothes that they liked, and began looking around for things that would go in their rooms.
"So, what do you think about Yubel?" Tala asked in a curious tone; looking around at the alarm clocks in the electronic store.
"She seems like a good person and she's pretty easy on the eyes if you catch my meaning." Bryan replied with his back turned towards the other boy. "I just can't believe someone like her grew up in a dark place like the Abbey in Ireland."
Tala nodded in agreement. "She certainly doesn't seem like the type of person to grow up there. I would swear that Alex was her father or something. I mean, the way they act towards one another just seems like what a family SHOULD look like."
"Seems that way, doesn't it? I wonder how she takes to US living there with them?" Bryan added in a thoughtful tone; looking through the collection of compact disks.
Tala shrugged his shoulders and picked up an alarm clock; then turning around to look through the music that Bryan had already looked through. "She seems okay with it to me. She's very nice." He said in a mature tone; picking up a few disks. "I'm really curious about her beyblading skills. I bet she's nowhere near as good as we are."
Bryan raised a brow at the boy beside him. "We'll have to challenge her when she gets better." He advised in a concerned tone; smirking wickedly at Tala before moving over towards the cd players.
"You seem to think highly of her." Tala said in an observing tone; watching his best friend look at the smaller systems. "Are you starting to like on her or something?"
Bryan's shoulders tensed and stood livid at the boy's comment. He spun around to give Tala a shocked face. "WHAT?! How could you even THINK something so insane like that?!" He said in a defensive tone.
Tala looked over at the boy and began laughing at him. "Oh, man, Bryan!" He said between laughs. "You should totally see your face! Your face is as red as my hair!"
Bryan blushed darker shade of red, and backed away from Tala; glaring evilly at him. "That's not even funny, Tala." He said in a warning tone; narrowing his eyes at him. "Don't joke about something like that... if you know what's good for you..."
Tala tried to control his laughter and shook his head; trying to stop his laughter. "Sorry, Bryan," he said once he caught his breath, "just couldn't resist teasing you."
Bryan looked down at his shoes and scowled in disgust. "She'd never even go for someone like me anyway..." He said in a bitter tone; not looking up at his friend. "She deserves someone who ISN'T associated with BIOVOLT. She deserves much better than any one of us."
Tala gasped in shock and walked over towards Bryan with a serious glare in his eyes. "You never know, man," he said in a reassuring tone, "I've seen the way she acts around you. She might even have a thing for you."
Bryan fought his blush down and huffed; walking away from the boy. "Whatever. Let's just pay for this stuff and go find Yubel so we can get out of here."
Tala chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, this shopping thing isn't really my style, either." He agreed in a surrendering tone; following Bryan up to the counter...
While the boys made it to the food court, they spotted Yubel sitting alone at the table at the other end of food court. She looked up and smiled up at them.
"Hey, there!" She greeted in a kind tone, "Did you find what you were looking for?" She asked once they all settled down around her.
Bryan smiled and held up his bags. "We even found some clothes to make Alex happy." He said in a victorious tone; hanging his bags on the back of his seat and sat down next to Yubel.
"And we got a few things for our rooms, too!" Tala said in an amazed tone; giving her a small chuckle and a polite shake of his head.
Yubel smirked over at the redhead and leaned into the table. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She asked in an all-knowing tone; looking over at Bryan. "And you two thought it was going to be end of world."
The two boys blushed in embarrassment, (Bryan blushed slightly darker than Tala) and looked away. Yubel giggled at the two and looked behind her to see if the food was coming.
"I didn't know what you'd like to have for lunch, so I just ordered some burgers." She told them; keeping her eyes open for the food. "It was ten minutes before you came, so it shouldn't be long now."
"That's fine." They replied at the same time; causing Yubel to whip her head back around to look at them with surprise on her face.
"What?" Bryan asked in an uptight tone; looking over at Yubel.
Yubel shook her head at the boy beside her, and gave him a faint smile. "You two must have spent a lot of time together if you say the exact same thing at the exact same time." She said in a logical tone; looking over at Tala with the same faint smile. "It's almost like you two are brothers."
Tala looked over at Bryan and back at Yubel. "Well, we actually DID spend most of our time together with our other friends, Ian and Spencer. We were all on the same team." He stated in a serious tone as he leaned back in his seat.
Yubel looked down at her hands and her smile faded. "It must've been nice to have someone you trusted..." She whispered to herself; not looking up at them.
Bryan looked over at the girl beside him and moved closer to her. "Didn't you trust your teammates? I remember Alex saying something about you being on a team at one point in time." He stated in a curious tone; giving Tala a quick glance as if to dare him to say something about his concern for the girl.
Yubel gasped and looked up at Bryan with shock. She moved her eyes to look behind him, and saw a trio trio of boys coming their way. She sighed and sat up straight in her seat and a shadow fell over her eyes; staying completely silent.
"What's the matter, Yubel?" Tala asked in a worried tone as he looked over in the direction that Yubel had been looking, and seeing the boys quickly approaching the table.
"Well, look who it is, boys?" A boy slightly taller than Tala stated in a snooty tone; leaning on the table.
Another boy who looked like a gangster chuckled wickedly and walked over beside his friend and laughed tauntingly at the girl. "It looks like our little Yubel's on a hot date!"
The last boy was probably a few inches taller than Ian and looked like he had just gotten into a fight with a brick wall and lost. "Aww! Our little Yubel's finally growing up! It makes us so proud to see you doing alright for yourself!" He said with a fake happiness.
Yubel glared over at the trio, but kept quiet. She didn't move a muscle. The boys just laughed and continued to taunt the three.
"Just who are you?" Tala demanded in an annoyed tone; giving the other boys a dominating look.
"Do you know these clowns, Yubel?" Bryan demanded in a protective tone; giving the annoying boys a warning glare.
The boy who spoke first looked over at Bryan with an angry tone. "As a matter of fact," he said in a knowing tone, "she DOES know us! We were on a team before that good for nothing detective shut BIOVOLT down!"
Yubel's head shot straight up, and looked directly at the trio surrounding them. "That "good for nothing detective" you speak of saved ALL our lives!" She said in a vengeful tone; not taking her eyes off the boy. "Which is MORE than I can say for the likes of you, three."
"We were doing just fine without him!" The second man declared in a hot tone; placing his hands on his hips in defiance.
Yubel huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Oh, yes, getting beaten for every little mistake we did was a good life for teenagers our age." She said in a mocking tone; closing her eyes at the boys. "If that's a good life then I want my money back."
"Who ARE you anyway?" Tala said in a nasty tone; not liking the way they were talking to Yubel. "You must not be her friends if you talk to her like that."
Yubel looked over at Tala, and smiled secretly at him."You remember that team I told you about?" She asked in a flat tone; looking up at the trio standing at the table. "Look, Jack," she said in a pleading tone, "we don't want any trouble, so spare us ALL a headache and leave us be."
Jack folded his arms over his chest and placed his hands on his hips. "Why don't you shut up and put your mouth where your blade is!" He said in a challenging tone.
Yubel blinked a few times at the boy, and looked at the two beside him. "Is he serious?" She asked them in a blunt tone; turning her attention back to Jack. "I'm sorry, Jack, but maybe you weren't there when Leo and I were punished that one time."
Jack growled and slammed his hand on the table. "You make it sound so simple b-!" He started to say, but stopped short when Yubel cut him off.
"But it IS that simple!" She stated in a commanding tone; leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs, "And I have the scars to prove it! Or were you absent that day?"
"Is there a problem here?" The manager demanded in a firm tone; walking up to the group holding a tray of food.
Yubel looked behind her at the older man. "Not at all, sir," she said in a lazy tone; giving him a fake smile, "we were all debating on where we're going to go next and got a little carried away." She added with a fake smile. "I'm sorry if we caused any trouble."
The manager looked over at the three boys with a warning leer before he walked over between them and the table. Yubel gave him another fake smile, and handed him a tip before he left.
The leader of the boys gave Yubel one last glare before he turned turned around and walked away, his buddies following quickly but not before they gave her their own glare. Yubel kept her eyes trained on the trio until they disappeared into the crowd.
She slapped her head with her hand and groaned in protest. "Why must I have to put up with stupid people like them?"
"So, that was your old teammates?" Bryan asked in a curious tone; looking over at Yubel.
"They've really got it mad for you, Yubel!" Tala said in disbelief; relaxing into his seat for a few seconds. "What did you do to them to make them so mad at you anyway?"
Yubel sighed and pushed herself away from the table. "I'll tell you boys on the way back." She answered shortly; pulling on her gloves. "I've had my fill with... unexpected company for one day."
Once Yubel had her gloves on, she picked up her bags. Bryan and Tala looked at each other before they packed up their things, and quickly caught up to her. Yubel smiled kindly at Bryan when he grabbed the door for her on the way out; glaring darkly behind her back when Tala sent him a knowing smirk. After a while, Yubel looked up at the threes and back ahead of her.
"The boy talking the nastiest was Jack," she admitted in a hollow tone as she looked over at Tala, "he was the obedient one and the biggest TOOL you'll ever see."
Yubel looked down at the ground and thought about what the other two were like. "The little wanna be beside him was David, he's the type of guy that no clue how to act until he sees someone else." She said in a bitter tone. "You'd think he had no will of his own." She replied once they had the house in their sights. "Tony was the smart one when he stayed back from the group. He didn't like fighting out in public and would wait until we were in a controlled environment before he'd voice what was on his mind."
"Did they give you your scars?" Bryan asked in a serious tone; following her up to the door.
Yubel looked over at Bryan for a minute and pushed the door open. She pulled out her pocket watch and checked the time. "We better hurry up and get inside before Alex gets home."
She waited until Tala cleared the door before she closed it, and started to take her jacket off; ignoring the concerned glances from the two. She looked over at the boys and sighed in defeat. "It was a long time ago, long before BIOVOLT'S fall. It doesn't matter anymore." She said in a lazy tone; shaking their worries off. "I'm going to take my bags upstairs and I suggest you hurry up and put your bags aside before the delivery men show up with your furniture."
Bryan and Tala shrugged their shoulders and laid their bags in the pit and put the bags of food into the kitchen. Yubel returned shortly after and placed the bag of food into the microwave. Alex had called and said that he wouldn't be home until late tonight. Yubel stayed calm and told him that she understood and that she'll have dinner waiting for him when he got home.
Once they had all had something to eat, their furniture arrived and they were all trying to get them inside before it started to snow. (Which they didn't quite make it.) Once they were done, Yubel smiled at the delivery men and gave them a tip for their help. Now, they were all helping each other get their furniture into their rooms.
Tala had his room set up to where his bed was in the corner next to the door and his desk was on the far left corner and his dresser was across the room next to the closet with a book shelf next to his desk. His room looked more like a dorm room style an a classic teenager's room. Yubel shrugged it off and gave him a month before it started to get messy.
Bryan had his room completely opposite from his friend's room. Yubel slid a piece of cardboard under the legs of his furniture and helped him slide them into place. He bumped into her when he tried to move past her, and caused her to stumbled forward; falling into him.
"Sorry about that, Bryan. These stupid bracers slow me down." Yubel apologized in a shaky tone. "Nice catch though."
Bryan smirked and set Yubel up right. "It's no problem." He said in a modest tone; shrugging his shoulders.
Tala folded his arms over his chest and gave the boy with Yubel a sly smirk. He knew there was something there between the two, and he actually started to think that staying here might do Bryan some good...