Oh! I'm sort of unsure about this one because of a certain part in it. (I'm biting my fingernails over it! So nervous!) This chapter was supposed to be longer than this but then I really liked the ending so of course I'm hoping you'll agree with me.
I'm going on vacation two days from now, and there will be no internet! No! But no worries, despite no internet, I'm taking my computer along to type so yay! The next update will be in about a week, but I may upload more then one chapter! No promises though (no pun intended with the chapter title)
So here's chapter 12 of Wonderful Nightmare
Chapter 12: Never a Promise to Begin With
Maka scratched her head furiously, trying to drain out the laughter of the person sitting with her in her apartment. "I understand it's funny but there's no reason be that loud about it."
The said laughing person, Black Star, held onto his gut as he continued to bang the table in agony, not sparing any words in between his large laughter. Maka looked over towards her bookshelf next to her television, oh so tempted to shut up the loud annoyance. Black Star stopped laughing long enough to actually get a word in, "But it's like there's no difference between normal you and cross-dressing you! I've never been offered something like that!" He rolled around on the floor in his excitement.
Maka pouted, frustrated with how he still continued to laugh at her, soon her voice became mocking, "That's because you aren't girly enough."
Black Star immediately shot up from his position on the floor, putting on a rather serious face, and pumped his biceps up, "Are you saying the great Black Star isn't womanly enough?" Black Star spat out the words as if it was far from the truth, which it was in Maka's mind, just not quite the way he was thinking it was, "I'll show you what it means to be a real woman!"
Maka's mouth dropped open, almost astounded at the way the conversation was going. Her cell phone vibrating on the table drew away her attention from the murder scene that she was about to drop on him, "Hello?" She picked it up quickly before Black Star could react.
A squeal came from the other end of the phone, making Maka move it away from her ear instinctively. She looked towards the caller I.d., something she should've done before she picked it up. Maka put the call on speaker phone, worried for her eardrums, "Hey Papa."
The voice on the other side had a slight buzz in the background, making her father's voice even more annoying than she already found it to be. "Your new job! I know no matter what my Maka does she'll be the twinkle of everyone's eyes."
Maka looked away from the phone as her father continued to rant about how proud he was and about some other things that she couldn't make sense of. Maka flinched when she remembered the current situation she had inside of her apartment. She looked down at Black Star, who was nodding at everything her father was saying, agreeing almost completely. She took the phone off speaker phone was she saw his mouth open to reply.
Maka held the phone up to her mouth, "Sorry Papa, kind of busy right now. Talk later. Night!" Before she could hang up, a shrill voice answered her.
"Night Maka! Or should I say…Makato? Right? Right?"
Maka hung up the phone quickly, turning slowly towards Black Star, who stared at her with a serious expression now. His face was almost full of concern, but of course, as Maka already knew, it wasn't going to last long. He stumbled over his words, "Ma…Ma-Maka…" A loud 'pfft' sound came out as he quickly covered his mouth, his cheeks full of air as he held it back. Maka covered her ears, preparing herself. He opened his mouth, a loud triumphant laughter coming out, along with a voice full of satisfaction "Makato? It's perfect!" He returned to his position on the floor, rolling in his own enjoyment, full of bliss.
Maka waited for him to stop, which took around ten minutes, as he kept on reminding himself why he was laughing in the first place, making him laugh even more. When he finally stopped, he looked towards Maka with a grin on his face, "You said it's at the beach right? The photo shoot?" Even though he was no longer acting silly, he still had a hint of silliness in his voice, an effect from his laughter just moments before.
Maka, giving up on him completely, answered him, pretending as if the laughter just before didn't happen, "Yes! We're going south!" She pressed her hands together, thinking about the crystal sands, clear blue water and satisfyingly cold ice cream, "I've never been to the beach before."
Black Star raised his arm into the air, making Maka look up at it, unsure of what he was going to do. The sudden movement of his arm around her shoulder made her jump at how quickly he pulled himself closer to her. She gaped at him, weirded out by the sudden closeness that seemed different from usual, his voice, however, drew her out of it, "The bright sun, the revealing swimsuits, the water gun fights, the slight movement of a girl's swimsuit as she runs on the sands, an experience that must be shared with yours truly!" Black star raised his other arm, as if waiting for a hi-five reply from Maka.
Maka, baffled at exactly what he was implying, just watched as his excitement went down slightly after seeing how her expression changed, he removed his arm, moving away from her awkwardly. Silence filled the air until Black Star's face changed into a familiar grin once more, "Going there for work won't leave any time for you to actually enjoy it. So I was saying-" Black Star stopped himself, something he rarely did.
I've never seen him like this before. He usually just lets his thoughts come folding out of his mouth without thinking it through, why'd he stop?
She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but before she could, Black Star got up and walked over to the wall of her apartment, hitting his head violently on it. Maka's mouth fell open, not expecting him to do it. He turned around, a red mark forming on his forehead, "Bathroom!" He ran out of the room and into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind himself.
Maka, not used to this kind of response from him, watched him run out. Resting her chin in her palm after she heard the door shut. She thought for a moment, trying to replay exactly what happened in her mind, trying to figure out what just occurred and why.
The beach. He's right, going there for work won't leave any time for me to actually play around.
Maka's face changed into a frown, now realizing that her ice cream dream would have to wait.
'An experience that must be shared with yours truly'?
Maka pondered about it for a moment, twirling the end of her loose pigtail in her free hand. She flinched, and covered her face, now realizing what just happened earlier.
Black Star...just….Did he just ask me out?
Maka felt her heart beating faster, and the sound of a door opening from the direction of the bathroom only made it thump harder within her.
There's no way.
Maka looked around the room as she heard his footsteps getting closer, as if something in the room could save her from her own embarrassment. When the steps stopped, she looked up towards him; a moment of silence as they stared at each other. Black Star lifted his foot; about to walk back towards her, she got up, her mind frantically searching for what to say to change the topic. "Black Star!" He didn't jump at the sound of his name, just looked at her with serious eyes, waiting for what came next, "G-Go wash your hands!" Maka pointed at them, shaking slightly.
Black Star looked down at his palms and frowned, slumping back over to the bathroom. Maka fell back to the ground after he left her range of sight. Maka held her chest, attempting to slow her heart rate; she breathed in then out and after, said something that she wished she could grab back out of existence after she said it.
"Black Star, want to go to the beach later?"
A rush of footsteps back towards the room made her jump, her heart sinking after she saw the look of happiness spreading across his face. He sat back down at the table, "If you insist, I may just grace you with my presence." He grinned at Maka, waiting for her answer.
Maka looked away from him, gripping her chest tighter.
His odd innocence! It burns!
oOo
Maka stared at the visitor to her apartment at one in the morning, her pigtails uneven at the side of her head, an effect after the fact that she was turning in her bed after the embarrassing moment just that afternoon. "What?" She knew her mouth was probably forming the word in the ugliest word possible, but it was early and she couldn't care less.
The visitor, wearing a black suit at one in the morning, was less the enthusiastic about her response. He straightened his tie before answering back, "I'd appreciate if you wouldn't make that face without thinking about the consequences."
Maka grunted at him and rubbed her tired eyes, "What are you doing here Kid?"
Death the Kid pulled a book from behind his back, showing the cover of it to Maka, "I would like to come in if you please." Maka steadied her eyes, trying to focus on what the cover was of, before she could figure it out however, Kid brushed her shoulder as he passed her, making his way into the main room of her apartment.
Maka tried to utter something to make him stop, but she was too tired. She looked out of the doorway, making sure that no one was around then shut it behind herself. She slumped into her bedroom slash living room to find Kid, standing over her still out futon. "Was I sleeping? The answer is yes." She folded it up and picked it up from the ground, opening her closet with her foot and placing it on the shelf, she turned back towards Kid, who was looking around the room curiously, "The table is in the closet," She shuffled it out of the closet and placed it in its usual position in the middle of the room, throwing down two floor pillows before receding to the ground, joining Kid at the table.
Kid looked around again, "I didn't notice before," He turned back towards Maka, "Your apartment is smaller than the standard size of the rest of them. Soul's is at least three times as big as this."
Maka rubbed her head, "I'm sure it is. After all, even though this is company lodging, I still have to pay for the electricity and water." Maka looked back at the book that Kid had brought over; it's back lying on the table. Her eyes widened when she recognized it, "My Album?" She looked up at Kid, who was sitting with his legs underneath him, and palms resting on his knees, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, "You bought one?"
"Of course." Kid rested his hand on the cover, "Have you seen it yet?" He looked up at her from his previous gaze at the album, his eyes unmoving from her frame.
Maka unconsciously backed away, as if trying to escape his gaze, "No but I-"
Kid interrupted her, standing up and sitting down next to her, "Good." She thought she caught a hint of a smile as he flipped the front cover and then to the first page. Yet as soon as he did, Maka shut her eyes, refusing to open them, and gaining the interest of Kid, who raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"
Maka peeked from the corner of her eye to find Kid, looking at her confused and at the same time, she felt she saw a look of concern on his face. She slowly opened both of her eyes, now she herself was confused as to why she did it in the first place. She thought for a moment.
I'm not allowed to till he gets back. Wait. Why am I not allowed?
Maka looked towards Kid, who was still looking at her even now, with the same worried look on his face, trying to read her facial expressions.
There's nothing wrong with looking at it. It's not like I promised him or anything. Soul wouldn't…would he mind? Why would he though?
Why do I feel like I want him to mind?
Argh!
Maka rubbed the top of her head furiously with both of her hands, then looked back at Kid, "Well? Are we going to look or what?" She leaned over his closely leaned in shoulder, looking intently.
oOo (A/N: That's right! Going to have to wait a little longer before we take a look into Maka's album!)
Maka readjusted her short haired wig, which was the same color as her original hair, making sure that it looked right in the mirror. "I can't believe this." She leaned over onto the make shift make-up table that was set up underneath a sun umbrella. She looked out far beyond the railing at the surfers and beach goers; smashing watermelon, sun tanning, building sandcastles, eating ice cream. A hand on Maka's shoulder brought her head out of the clouds. "Marie? What's up?" Maka stared at Marie wide-eyed.
Marie shook her head, displeased, "Get into character Maka!" She flicked Maka's forehead, "You're a boy, not a star struck teen girl anymore!"
Maka rubbed her forehead, "Alright Alright!" Maka sat down at the seat in front of the mirror, looking at her facial features that all seemed to scream 'girl' to her.
A boy. A boy? Like Soul? Arrogant and Shady? Black Star? Self-boasting and Narcissistic? Kid? Uptight and…and…well now that I think about it. I don't know much about Kid.
Ah! Moving on! Should I just combine them together? What a devil of a boy that would be.
Maka rubbed her hands together, intertwining them and then untangling them again. She continued to stare into the mirror, "Should I just combine then anyway? Into my own image?" She asked herself in the mirror.
My image of a boy.
Energetic, Charismatic, Stubborn, Hard to Read, Self-Obsessive, Adventurous and…Likeable.
Maka's eyes became filled with excitement as she stood up, grinning to herself in the mirror.
"Maka!" Maka heard Marie yelled for her further up the stairs which bordered the beach. The residential area around them glistening underneath the hot sun, making the marble on the stairs look even more brilliant.
"Coming Miss Marie," Maka grinned widely as she ran up the stairs in big strides, making her way to Marie, patting Marie's back as she ran by, "Watch me." She stopped in front of the photographer, whose eyes widened as Maka stood in front of him. "Are we starting or what, Mister?" Maka grinned widely at the photographer; her eyes looked almost as if they were challenging to capture her.
The photographer laughed, "Let's go people! The model is ready!" He picked up his camera.
oOo
Maka sat on the edge of the stairs, her legs open sluggishly. She tugged on the straps on the yellow overalls she was made to wear; featuring a striped blue and white t-shirt underneath, multiple colorful buttons with sayings and patterns on her overalls, red and white shoes and a red lollipop. The camera man snapped energetically.
"Just act natural Maka."
Maka stood up, and raised her shoe to the camera, grinning and titling her head to make her bangs sway to the right slightly; making a unique perspective come out in the photo. She ran up a few steps and turned back towards the camera, showing a gun using her thumb and index finger. "Bang." She whispered as she tugged her 'hand gun' up.
"Take a break Maka."
Maka got down from the stairs and made her way over to the vans at the bottom. She looked around and spotted Marie being surrounded by male workers, she waved when Maka passed in an attempt to get away from the situation but failed miserably. Maka raised a hand at Marie and laughed as she passed by to the table set up, in which they were giving out everyone's lunches. "Oh Albarn! Good work out there son." The man, a bit older than most of the workers, passed her a boxed lunch, "If only my son had half of the charm that you did."
Maka laughed heartily, "Thanks Old Man, I'll keep that in mind." Maka dragged her feet over to a bench near the trees planted at the bottom of the stairs. She opened her boxed lunch, preparing to dig in when someone stepping in front of her, causing a shadow to spread over her. She looked up from the top of her eyes, "What's up?"
The person sat down next to her, eyeing her, "I heard you don't get out of character when you do a photo shoot but experiencing it first hand is a very different experience."
Maka flinched, startled and suddenly out of character, and looked at him, "S-Sorry about that, I was having too much fun."
"Fun?" The person squinted his eyes, not sure how to respond, "I suppose enjoying a job and doing it right at the same time is better." He nodded.
Maka raised an eyebrow at his conclusion, "If you say so, Ox." She shrugged, returning to her boxed lunch.
The person, Ox, popped open his own boxed lunch, but didn't touch it as he continued to eye Maka. She turned to him, a bit disturbed and self-conscious, she took a bit of her sandwich, "Ohat?" Ox flinched at her sudden sandwich-language usage.
"If I didn't know any better," Ox turned away from her, "You really would be a boy." Maka swallowed her sandwich bite, turning to him angrily, but her response was postponed. Ox wasn't finished speaking, "I really felt as if I was watching a male model. All of your past work makes me not even think you would ever be playing a male and the personality of you that has been released to the media is quite 'girl' like. Maybe it's because of that rather relaxed personality that something like this is easy for a girl like you." He turned to her, watching as she ate more vigorously than before, "Never mind, everything about you is exactly like a boy." Maka hit him on the head with her now empty lunch box.
oOo
The photographer got from his crouching position, waving to the staff workers behind him, "That's it everyone, thank you, let's get some drinks around before we go home." The workers cheered behind him as they all sat down, exhausted from the heat.
Maka wiped her forehead, the sweat pouring off of her as the sun hit it's peek at four o'clock.
"It's good we got here early, or we would be stuck here even longer than this." Ox patted his head with his handkerchief. Maka looked up at him from her male-looking squatting position, raising her open palm to him, "You want to use it? Should've thought about that before you started hitting your co-manager on the head with a piece of plastic. Maka wiped her sweat underneath her wig with her forearm, before she realized that she still had it on. She grabbed the top of it and yanked it off, making her low pigtails come out. She leaned over and chewed on the green lollipop that the photographer gave her after the shoot. She moved the stick of it to the side of her mouth as she moved her mouth into a scowl from the heat. A flash in front of her face moved her attention away from the heat and back to a more immediate situation. The photographer was in front of her, taking a photo of her even after the shoot was supposedly over.
Maka reached forward, trying to cover herself from a second photo that he took, "What are you doing?"
The photographer stood up, satisfied, "Quite the gem I caught on camera today. If you ever feel like modeling again, don't hesitate to contact me through the agency Makato." The photographer walked off, victorious in his venture. Maka put her face into her hands.
She raised a palm up to Ox before he could open his 'oh so intellectual' mouth, "Don't even ask."
oOo
Maka waited for the elevator with her co-manager, who at this point in time, was just asking for another hit on the head.
"Though your modeling is above par, you attitude and personality leaves much to be desired. Reporting this to your manager proved difficult however, so I must take precautionary methods next time." Ox nodded to himself as he pushed his glasses back onto his face.
Maka felt herself lean away from him as she answered him indifferently, "Right." She yawned for the ride back home was much longer than she thought it would be.
"I collected valuable advice from working with you on this job." He turned toward Maka, only being a few inches taller than her made her feel like she was his senior, never imagining he was a year older than her, and he bowed, "I appreciate you cooperation."
Maka looked back at the elevator, still on floor six; she was going to find some kind of conversation with him. "So you're a co-manager for people right? I heard from the Marie that you circulate around the agency."
Ox's eyes gleamed, as if glad that the conversation took that sort of turn, "That's right! I aim to be a great Shibusen Manager, unlike most talents who live in this building, and for that purpose, I co-assist multiple managers often, learning the ropes, by the president's instruction of course."
Maka winced at the obvious boasting and proudness in his voice, "So you're going to be a manager? Who are you shooting for with that kind of goal?"
"Stein of course!"
Maka flinched at the name, remembering the cockiness that was 'Stein,' "I see."
"Thank the gods I didn't get Soul Eater or Black Star this time around. Their managers are quite amazing, however, I have heard bad things around," He turned back to Maka, "I guess you are pretty useful in that account."
Marie, forgive me if I end up kicking his face in.
"You're welcome then." Maka's mood lifted when the elevator opened. She hopped inside and pressed for floor seven. Ox got on behind her, glancing at the button before looking back at Maka.
"Oh, same floor? Good, I can give you some more tips." Ox steadied his glasses as he reached into his bag for some kind of research material.
Maka's mood fell lower than before when he brought it up. She had forgotten that they live right next to each other.
oOo
Maka curled under the covers of her blanket, not expecting a loud bang to disrupt her evening, which she really should have by now. She lifted her restless body from her futon and looked toward the noise; sniffling from the sudden cold that engulfed her body as the covers fell from her. It sounded as if it was coming from next door. Not Ox but-
Soul?
Maka got up quickly, almost tripping over herself in the process and not bothering to even stop by the bathroom to check her appearance, as Kid had told her she should do every time she opens her door. She grabbed the handle of the door and breathed in and out, opening slowly. She peered out of the door to find Soul at his apartment door, a bag around his shoulder as he banged on the door. He made noises as he fumbled his hands into his pockets, looking for his keys. He banged on the door again, flinching Maka out of the stare mode she was in and making her move her head back into her doorway, trying for him not to notice her. "Blair!" He yelled at the door, "Hurry up! Man this is so uncool. Where'd my keys go?" He fumbled his pockets a bit more when the door opened quickly, revealing a familiar woman with bouncy purple hair, revealing clothes and a bouncing something else. She slumped onto Soul like a blanket and curled her hands into his messy white hair.
"I'm tired Soul, you are late today," She nuzzled onto him, as she collapsed into his arms.
"Right Right," He bent down and lifted her legs up, carrying her princess style, "Why's it smell like burnt fish in here?" He closed the door with his foot behind himself.
Maka, who saw the entire thing, leaned her head onto her doorway, not sure how to feel about what she just witnessed.
I knew already so why am I so surprised.
She went back into her apartment, closing the door behind herself, and with every step towards her futon, she got closer to the floor, reducing herself to a crawl as she fell into the safety net that was her bed. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.
Haven't seen him for five days since the date. Well not a date date but still. And of course since then, the first time I see him, he's hugging some big chested woman!
Maka turned onto her side, mentally hitting herself.
This sucks.
oOo
Maka opened the door of her apartment, going off to work again today. She wore her low pigtails as usual though neater than usual, as if it was intended, all along with a white shirt, navy blue skinny jeans, and a black vest along with black flats. As soon as she took her first step out, the door to apartment 708 opened, revealing a certain snowy haired celebrity. She turned towards him, her eyes widening as he locked his door behind himself, smirking at her all the while.
You've got to be kidding me.
She eyed him curiously, "Did you wait for me to step out or is this just a coincidence."
"The first choice." His eyes flared, filled with an emotion she didn't understand.
Maka locked her door as usual, then proceeded to pass him on her way to the elevator, not really wanting to confront the confliction that she was feeling right now. Soul continued to smirk at her as she walked by, as if used to her cold treatment. "Make sure you have noodles today."
She turned around, raising her eyebrow to him questioningly, "Why?"
"Because I'm coming over. Remember? The album." He fastened his pace to walk up to her, though she continued to walk away at an even faster pace. "Hey, what's wrong?" He leaned forward, grabbing her forearm before she could move away from him again.
She turned back towards him, faking a smile as she tried shrugged him off sheepishly but he held on, "I already looked at it about two days ago?" She questioned herself, trying to remember when she looked at it. His eyes widened, making her surprised, another facial expression on his face that she had never seen before. He didn't answer her, just tightened his grip on her forearm, she grimaced at the pain and looked up at him, his eyes quivering as they met hers, she shrugged again, this time succeeding in getting him off of her, "I saw it with Kid." He reached for her again, but this time she moved back, avoiding his hand. She looked up at him angrily, not expecting the look he was giving her, "I-I need to go to work."
She practically ran for the elevator, about to sing praise when it opened almost immediately. As she stepped in, she looked back up, to an unmoving Soul. She pressed for the Lobby floor and the door close button. She continued to stare at him, about to look away as the doors near their close when she caught his eyes with hers. His eyes a darker red than usual, looking at her, making her take steps back even though she was already far enough away. Her heart beat faster and her body grew hot, his gaze unshaken on her. He didn't break eye contact, even when the doors finally closed.
You have reached the end of this chapter, be sure to proceed to the review button, or not, no pressure.
(Btw, I'm super unsure over the part where Black Star asks Maka out, so it'd really be great if you guys can give me some feedback on it, thanks guys)
Thank you for reading!