Alright! Hot Pockets, Fanta and cherries all kept me going to finish this! I had half of it done over my vacation, but then I just got stuck this morning and was completely at a lack of what to type(did nonsensical things for three hours). But I am proud to present this chapter I put all of my love into! So of course I am praying to the hot pocket gods that you love it as well.

Thank you all for reviewing the last chapter!

Read on to chapter 13 of Wonderful Nightmare

Chapter 13: Promises for Normal Days

Maka flipped again through the same five pages she had been flipping through for the last ten some-odd minutes. Not listening in one bit to the meeting that was being held in the conference room she was currently sitting in. She didn't have a problem with the first four pages, not at all, what she had a problem with was the last page, in which the last pictures of her without her wig, still in character, had been submitted by the photographer. Though it was only a preview copy of the magazine, there was really no point in arguing it, as it not only contained the ever enthusiastic Marie but also the ever annoying Stein, and one more.

"I expected nothing less from my pride and joy. The twinkle of my eye, the-" If Stein hadn't stopped the certain red-headed father, than he would have gone on forever, no doubt about that.

"I must say, I am impressed with your level of competence." Stein nodded, approving of her work, which was the last thing she would have expected from him, "Though there is no need to over exaggerate." He turned to Spirit, who immediately went timid from his previous outburst.

Maka pushed the magazine forward, "Thank you."

Marie jumped from her seat, completely quiet before doing so, and pointed to the coffee maker in the room, "Coffee?"

Stein turned his head to the machine and waved his hand, "It would be great." Marie bounced at his motion, clearly excited for some odd reason. Maka watched the scene as Marie laid down the coffee that she happened to start brewing right after they entered the room in front of Stein. She smiled as he nodded to her before drinking some. Marie skipped back to her seat next to Maka, who was eyeing her suspiciously.

All part of the plan huh? I knew it was weird when she started making it when she doesn't even like it.

Maka felt that the flirting in front of her was hitting a sore spot that she had since she parted from Soul two mornings before. Just the sight of it made her teeth cringe, despite herself not quite knowing why it was sore in the first place. She looked down at her knees and closed her eyes, not being able to focus lately, that and she was tired from not being able to sleep because she was focusing too much. "Albarn? We've discussed the details of your schedule for the next few days, though from the looks of your face, perhaps we should cancel you appointments?" Maka looked up to the smirking Stein, the look on his face just daring her to cancel them. She shook her head no and stood from her seat.

"I'll gladly take you on."

Marie stood up next to her, patting her shoulders in an attempt to make her sit down again, "He wasn't challenging you Maka. Say something Stein!" Marie looked over at Stein, who was not making things any better with the smug look on his face.

"You can take me on? How about saying that after you actually pass the high school exams?"

Maka flinched and clenched her fists, feeling the need to pummel him then and there, though it was no use, he was right. She sat back down in her seat, grunting as she scratched at her head incessantly.

Exams at my Public High School, Brew High. It never even crossed my mind.

oOo

"I heard that a celebrity is actually in our class!"

"Oh! Which one? Is it Kim? Kid? Soul? Oh I don't know what I'd do if it was Soul." The girl's swooning could be heard throughout the girls' bathroom.

"No no no! I'm all for Death the Kid. Oh if he were to even say one word to me I would die of happiness."

"Soul is better!"

"Don't kid yourself!"

"I like Black Star!" The third girl in the bathroom's statement caused the other two to stop their bickering and start laughing at her.

"Black Star? Sure he's got a nice body but I don't think he's all there." The Soul fan girl turned back to the mirror, now disinterested in their conversation.

"Well we can all dream, but it doesn't matter anyway, they said it's supposed to be a girl." The Kid fan girl sighed, continuing to curl her eyelashes as she puckered her lips at the mirror.

"I hope it's not Tsubaki. Her chest annoys me."

"And it's not just her chest; she's got the personality of an angel. I could just see the guys swarming to our class just to get a look at her."

"No no no, they said that she's going to be taking the entire exam in a separate room, instead of coming here for a week like the rest of us. That's after reporting to our class first for the first portion of it, that's why everyone's so excited." The Black Star fan girl seemed sure of her words.

Well she is right about that.

A certain brown haired girl bobbed her foot up and down inside of the stall, intending to leave but ended up staying after the three girls had came in and started their ranting.

"So she's smart huh? A celebrity aura and mind. Kind of annoying." The Soul fan girl looked towards the Black Star fan girl and pouted, "Why do you know so much gossip anyway? I didn't know you were like that." The three girls laughed as they continued to apply make up to their already perfectly fine looking faces, at least in Maka's opinion. Tired of waiting for them to leave, Maka opened the door of the bathroom stall, making all three girls jump as she did, as they assumed they were the only ones inside of it. She did a slight bow with her head and walked over to one of the empty sinks, washing her hands as the girls whispered amongst themselves, not quite as sure of themselves as they were before. After she finished, she grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and smiled at the girls before walking out, trying to hold back a laugh as she heard them gasp as she left.

"Hey hey! That was that one girl who went up against Tsubaki!"

"No way! What was her name again?"

"Maka! Maka Albarn! The one who Soul and Tsubaki called cute!"

"No Fair!"

"She wasn't even that pretty you know?"

"You think so? I think she was pretty in a simple way. I bet she wasn't even wearing make-up and she was still glowing."

"Hey! We're trying to make ourselves feel better and you're ruining it!"

oOo

Maka poured some water into a glass then looked at the digital clock sitting above her television. Six in the morning. Maka had intended to sleep in, but it seemed her unconscious diligence caused her to do the exact opposite. The day before was hectic, she had finished her first period exam easily, though it caused an uproar, which she was trying to avoid. Constantly, in the councilor's room where she took the rest of them, she heard whispers outside the door, as if they were trying to listen to her every breath. Though it gave her an extra day off due to the fact that Marie insisted to Stein to postpone the three photo shoots she was supposed to have today. Still, she wasn't looking forward to do that two more times. She looked around her apartment, and couldn't believe that she had been there for almost two months in the next upcoming week. It felt like a much longer time than that. She sat down at her living room table and smiled. She had accomplished so much, in such little time, and it was going to get even more hectic as it went on. Every day she'll spend the mornings at work with Ox and Tsubaki and the nights hanging out the Black Star, Kid and…

Soul.

She still hadn't decided what to do about their argument, if it could even be called that at all. She couldn't bear to even think about it, yet it was hard not to when he was literally a part of her daily life. He hadn't been by in around three days which she had tried to pin on work but it wasn't like him to avoid her when they had an argument, as proven when he showed up at her doorstep with new clothes and a date proposal. She jumped, suddenly remembering something. She ran over to her duffle bag, digging through it for her planner with her daily schedules listed inside. She found it quickly, and hurriedly, she opened it up to today. Then flipped back pages. Page after page until she reached what she was looking for. A set of pictures sat by the day marked 'Off' in large red letters. She breathed out when she saw them, the three set of pictures that she had yet to stick onto her cell phone back cover. She chuckled at the bushy mustache of a pair that was her and her partner.

Can I even call him that anymore?

Of course it wasn't really a promise but I never thought that he would react like that.

Maka massaged her forearm, remembering again.

Should I apologize?

She flinched, shaking her head no.

No way am I apologizing first!

She felt like a child when she thought it, but she closed the case in her mind, trying to forget as soon as possible that she even thought it up in the first place. Lucky for her, a knock came upon the door, and behind it was exactly the thing she would need to forget.

He eyed her up and down, "Where's the revealing swimsuit?" Maka blinked a few times at the person now at her door, his blue spiky hair just as energetic looking as always, the white tank top with a single yellow star in the upper right that he wore just accentuated his tanish skin and muscles even more. Maka watched as his expression changed into confusion, "No beach?" He looked away from her, "It's too early right?" He turned back to her, rubbing the back of his head as he pouted, "Should I have waited for you to come up to my apartment?" His weird consideration made her question if it really was Black Star in front of her, and not an imposter.

She eyed him a bit more.

The beach.

Sounds Nice.

"I'll go get changed." Maka walked away from the open door, the footsteps of an excited teenager following behind hers. He almost followed her into the bathroom when she turned around and stopped him, "Wait here!" She slammed the door shut behind herself.

Geez, this is going to be an interesting day.

oOo

"Black Star, what are you making?" Maka squinted her eyes at the pile of sand in front of her friend, not sure whether she should step in and help or just watch.

Black Star turned to her from his squatting position, smiling widely, "A statue of the great Black Star of course." Maka furrowed her brow at him as she turned her attention back towards the sand blob that was supposedly now named 'The Great Black Star.' She shrugged, figuring that if she couldn't change him, she might as well just join him. She squatted down next to him, placing her hands into the sand and lifting it up to the pile. Smoothing it into one large spike on top of the rounded blob head. "What is that?"

Maka snapped her head towards him, not believing that he even asked her, she looked back towards the sand blob and laughed, "It's your cap of awesome." Black Star jumped from his position on the sand and ran behind the sand statue blob of himself. He pumped up his arms and started to do various poses in which he flexed he muscles. Maka fell backward, her behind landing onto the sand as she laughed; holding her stomach in pain from the roar of laughter. Black Star continued to pose when a large wave smashed into his backside as it made its rush onto the land. Maka got her legs, hands and butt soaked but her upper body was saved from the disaster. However, the same could not be said for the sand blob, because now it was nothing more than a smaller blob of its former self, a small speed bump in the sand with a slightly pointed top. Maka looked up at Black Star, whose body was drenched to the bone, his white tank top was nothing but a wet rag on his skin now, and his hair was pushed down, flat, straight and not at all spiky. She stared at him as he stared back, as if they were both in a state of disbelief, but Maka broke the silence.

She started to laugh again, this time at the sight of the wet Black Star, who looked utterly at a loss for words. She could feel her stomach about to burst from the pure happiness she had just gained from his misfortune. She could only peer out of the corner of her eye at him, who was now looking down at his shirt; holding it by the rim of the bottom. She looked forward, though didn't quite expect what happened next.

He put both of his hands onto the bottom of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head as he took it off, slinging it over his shoulder after he had finished getting the water out of it. Maka wanted to look away, but she couldn't, and there was no option of looking at the sun, for his back was blocking it from her view.

Looking away completely would be awkward.

Though this is awkward enough.

Maka stared at the way his black swimming trunks hung just slightly lower than his waist line, making looking away from him after staring at it for so long even more awkward. She flinched when he started walking forward, towards her. He eyes looked away unconsciously as he squatted down right in front of her, his now straightened out hair dripping water onto her.

"Hey Maka."

"W-What?"

He leaned forward, almost as if to whisper something to her, he pointed towards the ocean with his thumb, "Let's do that!" He stood up quickly, this time reiterating his point towards the ocean. Maka followed his point with her eyes, which led to a group of men, all standing on what seemed to be boards.

"Surf? You know how to surf?" Before he answered her questioned, he leaned down and grabbed her hand, his strength propelling her forward quickly as he dragged her towards the water, "Wait! Do you even have your own board?" They plunged into the ocean, all time went slow for a moment as Maka felt his hand leave hers, and she came to the surface, looking around frantically through her sideways bangs. A splash of cold water from behind, onto her back, made her jump. She turned to find Black Star, splashing water into her direction, and she returned the favor with more amplitude. She laughed as they continued with the water antics. She looked over at him after taking a large splash, a long strand of her hair disheveled in front of her face, "You don't know how to surf do you?"

He laughed heartily, "I figured that the awesome cap would give me special powers and adapt learning skills," He put his thumb to his chin, "It seems I misjudged."Maka chuckled at the words he was using that she had never heard from him before. He looked out again towards the surfers, this time with determination burning in his eyes, "Looks like we'll just have to try again." He moved his legs through the water towards the group, Maka grabbed onto his arm in an attempt to make him stop.

"Hey hey hey! I know what you're thinking and you can't do that!"

"Everyone should be willing to submit for the marvelous Black Star!"

"Since when did 'great' turn into 'marvelous!'"

oOo

Maka swung her feet back and forth as she waited on the railing of the beach sand. She looked out at the beach, which was nearing its late afternoon sunset, then she turned to her white t-shirt beside her, folded on top of Black Star's tank top after she had got it wet after going 'surf boarding' with him; which without the actual board was basically just a series of dives into the waves. She looked down at her shades of green argyle one piece that she had decided to wear with a pair of light blue shorts. She knew that there was no way she wouldn't get wet, so she prepared herself ahead of time, not wanting to expose the amount of skin that she had seen from Black Star.

She looked around the beach, most kids and parents which were there just this morning had left and now all that were left were couples and the ever so often old person walking their dog. Maka caught a glimpse of a Black Star, who had gone out to get ice cream, now returning with one blue popsicle and another larger rainbow popsicle. "Yo!" She waved her arm in the air, making him run over to her, his hair still wet from the earlier dip, making him almost unrecognizable.

He jumped up and sat to the right of her, handing her the blue popsicle, and in turn keeping the large, 'mightier' one for himself. Maka chuckled a bit when she noticed, but decided not to bring it up. They ate in silence until the loud mouth himself spoke up, "No need to ask you had a great time."

Maka laughed, "Yeah, it was fun." She leaned forward, placing her empty hand onto her knee, as she looked towards him. He stared off at the ocean.

"You mean is fun." Maka pursed her lips, not sure why she felt like she had insulted him. She decided she should say something else to somehow make up for it.

"You mean always fun." Black Star grinned, his black eyes reflecting the pools of the ocean as he watched the sun. Maka looked toward the ocean, taking a bite of her ice cream as she did so, "Thanks Black Star."

Black Star turned towards her, swinging his leg over the railing to sit on it like a saddle, "I'm going to ask you something."

Maka laughed at the way he didn't ask to ask something, but was only warning her before he asked, "What's up?"

He frowned, as if not sure how to put the words that were going to come out of his mouth, he looked down at his ice cream then swung his leg back over the railing to get into his previous position, "Forget it."

Maka raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because the great Black Star says to."

Maka frowned, not satisfied with his reason, though she knew that if it was something that even Black Star wouldn't say without thinking about it, it was probably not good to look into it too much. She continued to eat her ice cream when Black Star stood up, "Last one to the train station buys the drinks!" He stood up, stretching out his legs. Maka thought for a second as she watched him, thinking that it was completely unfair for him to even suggest it. Though the thought of him cleaning out her pay check didn't sound good either, besides, she was up for a challenge. She got off the railing, grabbing onto their wet t-shirts and finishing up her ice cream before lining up next to him. He started the count down after seeing the smile on her face, signaling she agreed to the terms. He hit zero and they sprinted for the last bullet train back to Death City.

oOo

Maka turned back on her cell phone, which she had shut off after discovering that on and wet was worse than off and wet. A text message rang in immediately.

From Tsubaki?

She read it to herself after glancing at Black Star, who was standing up, hanging onto the hand grip right above where she was sitting.

'Went to the apartments to find you weren't there. Should've called yesterday right? You must be out with someone right now. Wherever you are though Maka, knowing you, you're having a great time. Call me when you get this, I have something to tell you.'

Maka chuckled at the way Tsubaki refused to type 'some1' instead of 'someone,' which made the text separate into almost three parts. She looked back up at Black Star, wondering how to reply to Tsubaki. Black Star looked down at her and grinned, due to him winning the race by a long shot, he was in a better than normal mood. Maka texted back to Tsubaki.

Just out with a friend, call you when I get home.

oOo

Maka rubbed her wet hair with her bath towel, already changed into her pajamas; consisting of a baggy white shirt, striped horizontal red and white bra with matching underwear and loose gray shorts. She walked by the kitchen counter, picking up her phone to make a call to a good friend. The dial tone rang a few times before she picked up, "Hey, Tsubaki. Just got settled in at home, what's up?"

She could hear Tsubaki drop her phone, most likely from anxiety over something, but Maka couldn't tell much more since she was there to actually witness it. "M-Maka! I'm so glad you called! I have something important to say!" Maka was startled at the fact that Tsubaki was so loud on the other side of the phone, as if she had something important to say but it just wasn't coming out, "Oh wait. First," Maka heard Tsubaki's breath slow, "How was your Sunday? Did you have fun with your friend?"

Maka stifled a laugh, "No need to be polite, just go ahead and say what you need to say." She heard Tsubaki breathe out in relief that she didn't need to follow the normal formalities this one time.

"Well I had to work this morning, but I got the rest of the day off so that's why I went to visit you, oh but anyway, I was walking to the exit, out to the parking lot when I spotted Soul." Maka felt her heart skip a beat when she said his name. "I called out to him and he just nodded back so I thought he must have just been too busy and tired you know, but then I asked him where he was going and he said, 'Going out for some lunch,' so I, already planning on visiting you, sorry I didn't call ahead of time by the way."

"It's okay Tsubaki, I wouldn't have called either, just continue."

Tsubaki took another deep breath, "And then he just stared at me, as if what I said was completely insane. I felt like maybe I didn't say what I thought it did because of the way he stared you know? Well that's when it got weird, he looked away and said, 'No thanks,' and I felt chills! Chills Maka! I remember you said that he lives next to you right? Well I just wanted to advise you not to meet him anytime soon. He's got an odd aura about him right now and I think he himself needs some time to think." Maka nodded after a moment of not hearing Tsubaki say anything more.

"Alright." A knock on Maka's door made her attention shift to it rather than Tsubaki, and even though she would've listened to her friend's words, it seemed as though fate was out to get her. When she opened the door, cell phone still in her hand, up against her ear, her eyes widened.

"I'm serious Maka! No one should be around him right now!" Maka felt her jaw threaten to drop. She lowered the phone from her eardrum.

"Talk Later Tsubaki." Before Tsubaki could protest, Maka hung up the phone, and lowered her arm to her side. "Hey Soul." She saw his eyes burn with an emotion she didn't understand after she uttered his name. He had his hands in his pockets and he didn't seem to be in the best of moods. She moved to the side, leaving room for him to come in, which he took as an approval to enter, thus did. As he walked past her, his shoulders brushed past her own, making her gasp as her body felt hot suddenly. He continued on into the living room, as if he did it on purpose, he watched her and waited for her reaction. It was late at night, but she had a feeling that he would still want some noodles. She walked into the kitchen, grabbing a pack off the top of the fridge, and then proceeded to open them.

"Maka." She flinched at the sound of her name. Of course the first thing that comes out of his mouth is her name, though it hit her harder than she expected. She turned around and found him standing just two steps in front of her. He took another step closer, "Exactly what do I need to do so that you'll promise something?" He placed his hand onto the counter, his body dangerously close to her own, she felt his breath on her face, "Do I need to drive you into a corner for you to do it?" Maka couldn't stop looking at his mouth as he had formed the words that made her become nervous as hell. She shook her head no frantically, trying to make him back up. Her slightly wet hair tingled the back of her neck as he didn't. She looked up at him, noticing that he had a scowl on his face.

"Soul?" She reached her arm up to his arm, tugging at his jacket. He made a noise before backing away from her, sliding his hands off of kitchen counter. He slid backwards, moving a few steps away from her. "Hey Soul."At the second call of his name, he made his way to the door. Maka yelped as she saw his motion, "Hey! Didn't you come here to tell me something else? It's not cool to just leave like this."

Soul's hand stopped at the doorknob, "Don't worry. Tomorrow, I'll be back to normal. I just need some time."

"What if I don't want you to go back to normal so quickly? I think I like the vulnerable Soul better than the cocky one." Maka cooed at him, finding herself saying things even if she didn't mean them, anything to make him look at her.

And he did. He turned back to Maka, his face full of something that Maka couldn't explain in words. He leaned against the walls of her apartment and smirked at her, not his usual conniving smirk, but something different, his voice turned into a low mumble, "Don't say that." Maka felt her brain racking for something else to say, anything in the least, it didn't matter what.

"Soul." She found herself calling out his name, not sure why it made her feel like she would break.

He lifted his back off of the wall and let out a laugh. He looked to Maka as if it was all he could do to make himself smile, "Next time. I'll see it with you soon, alright?" Maka's heart lifted from the sinking pit it had fallen into, she smiled widely, pointing back at the kitchen.

"Only if you stay for noodles."

Noodles, how delicious. If I said the first ten people to review get to eat steamy hot noodles with Soul, I wonder how many reviews I would get only for that. I cannot promise anything, but that's what imagination is for correct?

Thank you for reading this chapter of Wonderful Nightmare!

Review and tell me what you think.

(Sorry for the randomness, I have discovered that hot pockets make me crazy!)