AN: Ok, only a month between updates :-O it's a shock, I know.
I'm so in love with this fic it's hard to believe. Which is why Canto is failing at being written " I have about half the chapter done, but writing it is just not happening… it's kind of the same with the Never sequel.
A bit of warning for this chapter, I have been told that it is very melodramatic. Don't worry, it is SUPPOSED to be that way. High school life is a bit like a soap opera sometimes.
I hope you guys like it!
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Liika was tired, which seemed to be a more and more common status for her lately. The weekend had been hectic, with "her" party on Friday, beyblade practice Saturday afternoon, girls-only slumber party Saturday night and studying Sunday. She felt like she would never sleep properly again.
It didn't help that her best female friend was having a crisis of epic proportions. Mariah really thought her life was over, which is why there was a spontaneous slumber party. Liika and Sakura had dragged Mariah back to Liika's house after practice and proceeded to do everything in their power to make the pink haired girl feel better.
In their senior year the girls of the beyblade team had grown apart somewhat. Jade and Emily tended to move in different crowds anyway, and Liika being the tomboy she was had always preferred boys to girls. Mariah was closer to the other girls than Liika was, but both had found that there was a huge gulf between 16 and 17. As for Amy, well, the mere fact that she was dating Johnny estranged her from Liika and Mariah, who had a rather inherent dislike of Johnny MacGregor. Riley was just busy.
With a groan, Liika leaned her head against the locker beside hers, wishing like hell it was a holiday. "Goddamn morning, goddamn early class." She muttered, adding a mock cry for good measure.
"If it's any consolation, I know how you're feeling."
Liika looked up, smiling half-heartedly at the equally as tired looking Mariah. "Hey, rough night?"
Mariah didn't reply, merely sighing as she slumped against the locker besides Liika. Knowing that the bell was only minutes away from signalling the rush towards homeroom, Liika scooped her second period books from the top shelf of her locker, shoving them into her backpack. "I tell you Mari, I'm getting tired of being what I am. I wish Kevin Hiwatari never felt the need to search into my past. If school and beyblade don't kill me, being a Hiwatari just might."
"Bah, whiner. There are people that would kill to be you. I, of course, am not one of them." Mariah replied, her voice light even as her eyes carried an ever present sadness.
Liika scoffed, and opened her mouth to reply. However, before she could get a word out something caught her attention. Two girls were giggling together as they came down the hallway in their direction. Normally she wouldn't care, but their voices and what they were saying snagged her interest.
"Did you hear?" One squealed in a high pitched voice. Sophomores.
"Yes! Who wouldn't? Everyone's talking about it this morning!"
"Who would have thought? I thought for sure they were a steady couple."
"Oh well, better for us! Enrique Sattiay is too hot to be tied down, even by someone as nice as Riley Wakeman."
Shock over came both Liika and Mariah. They turned to look at each other, heedless of the bell that rang overhead. Both their eyes were wide, their mouths open.
"No way." Liika stated, blinking, her movements slower.
"Enrique and Riley over?"
"He dumped her last night. Had to listen to her crying all night. His head is scheduled to meet my fist later this afternoon."
Both girl's turned their wide eyes to a scowling Bryan who had come to stand on Liika's other side, his hands shoved into this pockets. "But why?" Liika demanded, a confused frown over taking her face. "It doesn't make any sense."
Bryan shrugged. He couldn't say himself, he hadn't been around lately to judge his sister and her boyfriend's relationship, but he had his own suspicions on the matter. "The bell rang. We have to go." He said, closing Liika's locker for her and grasping her hand.
"Blegh," she sighed, swinging their joined hands. "See you next period Mari."
"Bye. Find out the details would you?"
"You betcha."
As their class was not too far from Liika's locker, Bryan and Liika made good time and arrived in Mr. Topper's homeroom class well before the bell rang. Liika broke away from Bryan and headed straight for the desk at the back of the room where Enrique was already perched, looking half asleep and red-eyed, his chin propped up by his hand. She noted somewhat sadly that Riley was sitting kitty-corner across the room, her head down on the desk.
"Talk." Liika commanded as she slipped into the chair beside Enrique and dropped her backpack on the floor.
Sapphire eyes flickered over to her, and a pout crossed his lips. "Are you going to ream me out too?" He muttered miserably.
Liika sighed, taking pity on how miserable he looked. "No," she said softly. Reaching up, and circled her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to her chest. She ran her fingers through his silky blond hair in a comforting manner. "Wanna tell me what happened?"
"Not really," he muttered with a sigh. His eyes closed and he relaxed against her. "You'll protect me from Bryan won't you?"
"Hiding behind my little woman Sattiay? Fucking wuss." Bryan sneered, pulling the seat out in front of them, Tala moving to sit beside him, looking as equally dishevelled as Enrique.
"Shut up Bryan," Enrique retorted sullenly, wiggling closer to Liika. "Avoiding getting your ass beaten is not cowardice."
The large, pale haired boy snorted, leaning back in his chair so that only two legs were still on the ground. "Whatever. My sister was up crying all night and it's your fault, in my view that warrants a beating – if only for entertainment value for me."
"Oh cram it Bryan," Liika snapped, scowling at the pale head of hair in front of her. "People break up, it happens. Everyone gets hurt, everyone moves on."
Out of the corner of her eye Liika caught Riley looking at them, a betrayed and angry look in her eyes. Upon meeting Liika's gaze she whipped back around, to face forward, her back stiff. Amy, who was sitting beside her, rubbing her back threw Liika a nasty glare. Liika sighed, half rolling her eyes. "Well, that pretty much severs that tie."
"She'll get over it. They always do." Tala supplied, his voice hollow and monotone. "I know first hand."
The final bell rang then, signalling the start of class, and putting an end to any more discussion about Enrique and Riley's love life.
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"I think I now know what it feels like to be a social pariah."
Liika glanced at Enrique, "You're over reacting. You're not a social pariah. People still talk to you."
Enrique snorted, leaning over his legs to touch his toes. "Two. You, and Mariah. Everyone else is ignoring me, and have been for three weeks. You'd think that I cheated on the Pope or something."
Without thinking Liika pushed on his back so that he could better reach his toes. "Riley's pretty popular," she said letting him up and then stretching her own arms. "She's probably pulled some strings. If it makes you feel better a whole bunch of people aren't talking to me either. And for the record, more than two people talk to you. Robert, for instance. And Kai… and Tala, and Lee, and-"
"I get the point," his voice was dry as he stood up to stretch his own arms. "My point is that I think it's all really ridiculous. It's like no guy ever broke up with his girlfriend before." He sighed heavily, tragically, sending her a look, puppy eyes included.
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Don't even think about it. I will not feel sorry for you. You chose to break up with her, and it's because you did so for a reason that seems non-existent that everyone is pissed, Riley included. Liika pushed at him, "I expect people will remain mad forever. I don't even know why I am talking to you, since it seems that it has dropped my social ranking as well."
"I had a reason," Enrique shot back. "And you talk to me because you love me." His smile was bright with the words.
"Yeah, yeah," she cracked her neck, which earned a reprimanding look from her friend, which of course she ignored. "If you had a reason, you told no one, not even me, and thus you are branded a social pariah." Liika poked him in the forehead. "It's all very rational you see."
"Liika, can I talk to you?"
Liika blinked, her concentration broken, and she turned to where a pensive looking Rei stood, his hands in his pockets, his gold eyes concentrated on her. "Um, sure," she replied, frowning a bit in confusion.
Sure she was best friends with Mariah, but rarely did she talk to Rei. It was a political thing. By school politics she was associated with Tala. Her brother/ex-boyfriend/good friend was best friends with Tala and that put her in Tala's camp. Rei and Tala were arch enemies, and thus Rei did not associate with Liika because of this. It wasn't that they were on bad terms exactly, but she figured that he probably couldn't forgive her for actually talking almost friendly-like with Tala.
It was almost like the Riley situation. She was friends with Enrique, and therefore was black-listed for it. Riley was a pretty, popular girl, and generally friendly, but as they had learned over the almost-month since the break up, she could have a mean streak as well. It didn't really surprise Liika much, since she was Bryan's twin, but it was disheartening. It put a black cloud over the beyblade team. However, thankfully, most of the team members ignored it, or didn't feel like they needed to follow outside school policy of shunning those who spoke to Enrique… mostly because the only ones that spoke to Enrique were those on the team.
Why would Rei want to talk to her? It must have to do with Mariah, she sighed internally. Between Mariah and Enrique, she never had a break from the drama.
"Alone." Rei gave a meaningful look at Enrique, who made a face and stepped away, though it didn't seem like he went very far.
"What do you need Rei?" She dreaded hearing the words, she knew would come out of his mouth next.
"It's about Mariah." Bingo, she cringed inwardly. Here we go.
Liika tried to smile, and it ended up being very weak. "What about her?"
Rei sighed impatiently, combing his hands through his bangs. "You're her best friend right? Something's wrong with her, she's been distant, and kind of moody. I thought maybe you might know what's going on."
Damn you Mari. "I think maybe this is something you should talk to Mariah about," Liika said calmly, wringing her hands.
This brought a scowl to Rei's face, and a clenching of his fists. "I have, don't you think I would talk to her before going to her best friend?" He demanded, his eyes snapping. "She won't talk to me, that's part of the problem."
Holy crap. What did she say? Oh sorry, she slept with Tala, and now regrets it, but doesn't really and so she feels guilty and doesn't know how to deal with you? No. She obviously couldn't say that.
In truth she didn't know what was wrong with Mariah. After all, hadn't Mariah made the conscious choice to remain with Rei? From her understanding, Tala had offered her everything, asked her to be with him and Mariah had turned him down for reasons that had everything to do with fairness to Rei. Now she was practically avoiding him. I don't understand girls.
"I don't know what to tell you Rei."
"Tell me the truth!" His words were harsh and hissing, and gold turned to molten amber in his eyes. "Did something happen with Tala a month ago? That's when it started. What did he say to her?"
Shit. She would kill Mariah for putting her in a position where she had to lie to her best friend's boyfriend. "I don't know what your talking about Rei," Liika remained calm, her chin raised, and her gaze level. "If you remember correctly that was about the time I was having a crisis of my own."
"Bullshit!" Rei was growling now, his eyes narrowed and his fingers twitching. "You know something Tomoda, you just won't tell me because you're friends with that bastard. Did he do something? Mariah wouldn't cheat on me, so obviously it's something he's done to make her feel guilty, or like she owes him something. What did he say or do?" He stepped closer, using his superior size to be menacing.
Liika held her ground, a scowl crossing her own face. Even if Mariah was in the fault, and Tala wasn't what she'd call her friend, she still felt obligated to defend him. "Getting mad at me Kon will not get any more information out of me. Even if I knew anything, which I don't, it's not my place to tell you what, if anything is going on between Tala and Mariah." She glared. "Step away from me."
But he didn't step away, instead his hands darted out and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, practically snarling. "You do know. Fucking tell me!"
Liika winced as her neck snapped even as she tried to push him away. She had never seen him so angry… ever. Rei was generally fairly laid back, and nice to almost everyone. She should have known that it would only take a fight over a girl to make him break. He obviously loved Mariah, in the high school way anyway, but she had to question his depth of feeling when compared to Tala.
His anger, and obvious jealousy was a sign that he did love her, but it took a greater strength, a greater depth of feeling to let someone you love go, and that's what Tala had done. He had let her go.
Perhaps Mariah was better off with Tala.
But even though Rei's frustration with the situation was understandable – a month of a distant girlfriend wasn't exactly a walk in the part – she would not tolerated being abused because of it. Being manhandled by a guy almost a foot taller than you was not fun either. "Rei, please-"
"Let her go!"
And suddenly she was free of the shaking, and a tall, lanky blond was between her and the irate boyfriend. Liika could see the anger coming off Enrique and he glowered at Rei, who glowered back, just as intensely.
"What's your problem?" Enrique demanded hotly.
Rei pushed him. "I think I should be asking you that question. What is your problem Sattiay?"
Enrique, of course, pushed back. "You're manhandling my best friend, that's what my problem is." He was snarling now. "Keep your hands to yourself." He pushed again.
"She's lying for Valkov, if I have to shake it out of her, I will. She's the only one that knows. Get out of the way Sattiay." Rei barked, fist clenching at his side.
"Stop this now you two," Liika tried helplessly, seeing the impending fight building. She didn't know why Enrique suddenly was starting a fight over a little shaking, but she had to stop it. Judy would be there soon, and fighting would mean suspension.
They, predictably, ignored her.
"I'm not going anywhere. Apologize Kon. Liika doesn't deserve to be abused, even if she is not telling you something you want to know."
"Screw you," Rei shoved the blond particularly hard, causing him to stumble into Liika.
This of course, was not to be tolerated, and the ensuing brawl started. Enrique, as soon as he caught himself, with some help from Liika, pounced on Rei, his fist slamming into the dark haired teenager's stomach.
"Holy Christ," Liika swore under her breath. The situation had gotten way out of hand, and she wondered where the hell everyone else was.
She and Enrique had been the first in the gym, mostly because they had gotten out of class early. Rei, who was in their class as well, apparently decided that going to beyblade practice early would be a good idea as well. Since he so apparently had to talk to her, he probably figured then would be as good a time as any.
But it was after three now, and still no one had shown up. The gym was empty save the fighting pair and her, which meant it was up to her to stop them before Judy came in and found them.
Rei landed a hard right on Enrique's jaw, but Enrique, though obviously the inferior fighter, didn't budge, and continued swinging. Liika had had enough. With no fear, she waded into the middle of the fray, scowling as she did so. "Knock it off you two! We don't need this now! It's only a month until the worlds and already we're figh-"
Her reprimands were cut off by a stray elbow landing on her chest, both knocking her backwards and knocking the wind out of her. She grimaced in pain, knowing that would bruise as she gasped for air. Fucking boys!
"What the hell's going on!"
Saved by the brother, she though, coughing. Kai appeared at her side, followed closely by Robert, Tala, and Mariah. "Ow," she wheezed.
"Are you alright?" Robert knelt down beside her, Mariah on her other side, and pushed her up into a sitting position. "What happened?"
Kai and Tala were trying to break up the fight, and were having far better luck doing so than Liika had had. Of course they were taller than either of the combatants, not a foot shorter.
"Got in the way I guess," Liika said, finally gaining her breath back. "Took an elbow to the chest."
"Why are they fighting?" Mariah asked incredulously. "Rei has never had any problems with Enrique before."
Tala and Kai had them separated by that point, and by that point everyone else was filing, instantly being drawn to the fight ring. Bryan was beside Liika in a flash, a frown on his face. Riley of course, remained on the outskirts of the ring.
"I would like to know as well, what the fuck is going on here?" Kai stated, authority clear in his tone, his eyes set on Liika, even as he held Rei back.
Rei quickly shook Kai off, glowering fiercely, not at Enrique, but at Tala. Tala, to his credit, remained placid, staring back at Rei with no animosity in his eyes.
Enrique had obviously lost the fight. He was bleeding from more than one cut – one above his left eyebrow, one from his lip and one below his right eye. Not to mention that it looked like both eyes would be black by the next day, and his lip would be double the size in a matter of minutes. Rei had, what would be a couple of bruises, and a bleeding nose, but other than that he was unharmed.
Tala let Enrique free without a fight. Enrique winced, brushing the cut on his lip very gently. His head hurt. "He was hurting Iki," he mumbled, holding his head. "Shaking her."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Is this true Kon?"
Rei scowled, but looked unrepentant. "Yes. She was lying; it was to get her to stop. She wasn't hurt, but he came in pushing and shoving. He started the fight."
"And what did she lie about?"
"She is standing right here," Liika interjected, annoyance written all over her face. She slapped away Bryan and Robert's hovering hands, stepping towards the four. "And it's not important what he says," she threw a look at Rei, "I was lying about. It was a stupid fight. Though I do thank you Eniki, for coming to my rescue, I assure you it was unneeded. Now come on, you're bleeding everywhere." She smiled at him and took his hand, careful because it looked like he had done some damage to it as well. "And Kon, you better go and do something about that bleeding nose."
"I'll help you," Mariah added, throwing a glare at Rei before following Liika and Enrique.
Kai almost groaned. Did the drama never end? It was incredibly obvious to anyone who knew anything about the Rei/Mariah/Tala triangle that whatever Rei had been shaking Liika about had to do with Mariah. Fortunately, those that were in on the ordeal, were relatively few.
Tala, of course, was in on it, and knew almost instantly what Rei had been questioning Liika about, and what Rei was accusing Liika of lying about. It didn't take a genius, but Tala wasn't blind. Being as in tune with Mariah as he was, he could see the distance growing between her and Rei, and as petty as it was, it made him happy. He would put money on the fact that Rei had noticed too, and Mariah wouldn't say anything to him so he went to her best friend looking for answers. Liika was, among other things, loyal, almost to a fault, and of course would say nothing regarding her friend's situation, for which he was thankful. This upset Rei, causing his regularly stoic temper to break, and causing him to lash out and shake Liika in frustration.
Why Enrique got involved was too clear to bother thinking about.
Tala shoved his hands in his pockets, looking Rei over, who was still glaring at him, not moving to do anything about the blood trickling from his nose. "You know Kon," he said, keeping his voice mild. "If you have a problem with me, I would appreciate it if you talked to me about it and not pick on little blue witches for information."
Rei sneered, finally wiping at his nose. "Not everything has to do with you, you know. You are not the center of the universe."
Tala's chin rose. "No, but you seem to think a lot about me."
"I fucking hate you." It was said with all the calm in the world, which just reinforced the malice behind the words. "I hate you so much I can barely stand to look at you. Stay away from me Valkov, and stay away from Mariah." And with that he walked away.
Judy walked in then, reading a clipboard, as per usual. It was only when she glanced up and noticed the milling group of teenagers, the departing Rei who was holding his nose, and the blond and the two girls on the bench with the first-aid kit, that she stopped, snapping the board shut and signing rather loudly. "Do I even want to know?" Teenagers would kill her, she was sure of it.
Kai shook his head. "Not really. We took care of it. It's done."
"Good," She said and picked up her whistle. Blowing it, she gained everyone's attention. "Warm ups, then I want to see the drills Sakura set up last weekend. Mariah, would you please join them, Liika can take care of Enrique."
There was a collective sigh, but they did it, knowing better than to argue with the rather no-nonsense coach.
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The sigh was long, and it was heavy. Liika rolled her neck, cringing at the popping sound. Exhaustion plagued her. The day had been long, stressful and dramatic. The one plus side of it all was that she was even more confident in her team's chance to win the worlds. Or at least do well. In her opinion, her team looked better than her brother's, but that was probably just her bias talking.
It of course helped that she had Sakura (who was very smart) for tactics, and to run her drills. I went without saying that Riley switched teams as soon as she could.
While this would have hurt the B team normally, (Sakura was only at practice on Saturday), but now she had Bryan, lessening the blow. She had a feeling he was stealing his twin's drill and training plans and modifying them to suit his style of training, but she didn't mind. She was getting increasingly disillusioned with Riley's attitude. It wasn't surprising that, without even knowing what was going on, Riley took Rei's side. This annoyed Liika in that she couldn't understand how a break up could cause someone to turn so completely against their ex. She didn't understand it.
They had seemed perfectly happy pre-break up. It made her wonder just what made the break up so nasty. What Enrique could have possibly done that would have pissed the normally good-tempered girl to turn so mean? It made her shake her head and sigh at her best friend.
"Should I even ask?"
Liika smiled wearily up at Kai, who approached from the gym entrance of the school. She desperately wanted to flop back on the hood of her car and beg to be executed. "We should have made a rule about no inter or intra-team dating."
Kai chuckled, leaning against the yellow Porsche beside her, crossing his arms over his chest. "While I agree whole-heartedly, I'm not so sure that would have gone over well. Forgetting the fact that we hated each other when I took over the team. The only words you'd speak to me were obscenities." He nudged her when she groaned out loud. "Wanna tell me what really happened earlier?"
She shrugged, finally giving in and collapsing against the hood of the hundred thousand dollar car, her arms spread out. "Just what I told you, and what you probably already know. Rei asked me what Tala had done to Mariah, I told him even if I knew anything I wouldn't tell him, he began to shake me, Enrique had a fit and ensuing brawl started." She blew her bangs out of her eyes, shivering lightly in the chilly November wind. "It was so stupid really."
"A man's pride is never stupid witch," Kai replied lightly, glancing down at her. "Be that as it may, you did the right thing."
"I was protecting my friend." Another sigh. "Besides, it wasn't my place to tell him the truth. If Mari wants to do that, it will be up to her. Of course, that doesn't make it any more annoying for me. I swear to God, between our issues, Mariah and Rei's issues, Enrique and Riley's issues, Akito.. it's a wonder Judy hasn't gone homicidal on us all. It's like a bad soap opera."
This drew a loud laugh from the tall bluenette male, mostly because he knew that she was incredibly right. "It is… but I have to admit, Sattiay held his own against Kon. He may have got owned, which isn't really surprising, but he got a few good licks in."
"So like a man to only give respect after first proving themselves in the idiocies of male culture." Liika muttered, pulling herself up into a sitting position. "Personally, I think the bloody nose looked good on Rei."
"Not very nice, but true. Can we go home now Iki?" Enrique commented as he appeared to her right, beside the car.
Liika jumped, whirling around and glaring at him. "Don't do that. How did you get back there anyway?"
He shrugged gloomily, shifting his backpack. "I had to get something from my locker, so I left through the front."
Liika stood, concern washing over her face as she stepped in front of him, brushing away imaginary lint on his shirt. "Are you ok?" she said softly, pushing some bangs out of his eyes. "Besides the obvious I mean."
"Meh," again he shrugged, but he slumped against her, his arms wrapping around her shoulders, his face burying into her neck. He didn't even care when his pack fell from his shoulder onto the ground. "I'm tired, and my face hurts."
She laughed, not unkindly and patted his head. "You got your ass kicked, I guess it would. Look on the bright side though, Kai just said that your fighting was admirable and that you can join the pow-wow men's club."
The boy in question snorted. "Yeah, that's what I said," Kai stated dryly, standing and shouldering his bag. "I have to get home now, you're coming after practice tomorrow right? Mom is making a huge deal of it."
"I'll be there," Liika waved her hand backwards, not bothering to look as Kai climbed into his car beside hers and pulled out.
"Come on Eniki," she said after letting Enrique rest against her a few moments more, "Let's get you home."
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Enrique practically slammed the door to the speed yellow Porsche as he exited, not bothering to say goodbye to his friend. She was too busy anyway, talking to that guy on her new cell phone.
It didn't take him long to sweep across the Granger lawn, and escape down the path to the backyard which would lead him to his own backyard. He was practically stomping, and he knew it, but his patience had far run out. The pain in his head and abdomen didn't help. Nor did the fact that he knew he was in for a reaming when his mother finally caught up to him.
Nor did it help that his life was a mess of drama, wangst and just a touch of pain. Three quarters of the school was not talking to him – which meant that he couldn't hit on girls as he did before Riley, even if he was interested…which he wasn't – and his ex-girlfriend was making it painfully clear that she was going to make the rest of his high school life hell. It wasn't exactly a promising future.
Then there was the whole fact that his best friend was embarking on a brand new life of fame and riches, and he felt like he was being left behind. She was making new friends (like that Neji guy she was currently talking to), had a new father, brother, money, car, things that he could only dream of having. Not that he wanted Kai for a brother. Ew.
And Liika herself was such a confusing figure in his life. Forgetting the fact that she was suddenly the daughter of one of the richest men in America, her place in his life and his mind was muddled and blurred.
He would never tell her, but the reason he and Riley's break up had been so nasty was being of her. He had tried to explain to the pale haired girl that it wasn't anything she had done, or anything anyone else had done, but that they just weren't working anymore. He was afraid to tell her that he didn't feel that way about her anymore, and hadn't for quite some time, but that would have hurt her more. Of course, it had come out anyway when she started her attack, an attack he could barely believe.
Riley had actually accused him of cheating on her. With Liika. When the words had first escaped her lips Enrique had stared at her in shock, hardly believing that she had said that. Then he began to laugh, the idea so ridiculous at the time that it was hardly worth replying to her.
It was only now, a month later, that Enrique wondered just what had led Riley to such a strange accusation. She had always understood his and Liika's relationship, probably better than anyone else had save for Tala. And Tala… stating not-so-casually that he (Enrique) was, in fact, in love with Liika. What the hell was that? It was like the two had been conversing, which was retarded. Tala and Riley having a friendly chat? It just seemed so wrong somehow.
He wasn't in love with Liika. Not like that anyway. He loved her as a sister, as a best friend. That was all. So he got clingy and jealous when it came to her? She was the closest friend he had, the only one that had never deserted him no matter what he did or where she went, or whatever life threw at them. She was his stability. His heart. That didn't mean he loved her romantically.
Snorting, Enrique fought not slam the backdoor of his house when he entered, that would only get him in more trouble that he was already going to be in for fighting. His mother hated when he fought.
"Enrique! Phone!"
Enrique sighed, rolling his eyes. Not even two feet in the door and someone was calling for him? "I'll grab it in my room kay mom?"
"Okay sweety, when your done wash up and come up for dinner alright?"
He sighed, darting through the empty kitchen and booming down the stairs to his room. With little to no ceremony he tossed his backpack on his bed and picked up the cordless phone that sat on his extremely messy desk. "Hello?"
"Where the hell did you disappear so fast to? It was like I parked, looked up and you were gone!"
A smile threatened his mouth as he sat down with an audible thump on his desk chair. "You were so busy yapping to that Neji guy I didn't figure you'd even notice little ol' me," he added a little dramatic flair to his words just for affect.
Liika laughed a little. "You're retarded, you know that?"
"I try." He looked up at his ceiling, spinning around in his chair. "Now what do you want oh popular one?"
"I will remind you that since you and Riley didn't work out, I am as unpopular as you are. The reporters that occasionally call don't count." She giggled. "Actually, since you left so fast, I never got a chance to tell you to be ready and in my house at 5:30 am for practice. I'll even let you drive if you're sufficiently awake."
He perked up a bit. "Can I drive home too?"
"I have to go to Kai's tomorrow after school, but I'll let you drive to Denver on Saturday for practice at Abbey. If you are awake and on time tomorrow."
"Bribery always works Iki, I'll be there. I have to go though, my mom is calling me and I have to steel myself for the impending lecture. I'll be there tomorrow."
"Alrighty, bye bye."
"Love you, bye."