In My Life- Now attempting romance? … Readers, run!
I'm scared now.
--------
"Makoto punched Cliff in the morning. That would've been the amusing highlight of the day if they hadn't kept bitching. Makoto should bite down and just say it, but that's not gonna happen, so Cliff should give up. At least though, Makoto threw himself in to investigate the Pianist, and now he claims it's about me. So I told him I'd ask Mary about it tomorrow.
Bastard. But I'm not gonna say anything to him.
Anyway, I now kinda laugh at the fact that I hated this place at first. I hated being anywhere, actually, and I thought nothing good would come for me. But there's Mary, and if Makoto's right, then, well, he's still a bastard, but I'd have to be grateful for him."
-From Gray's Journal
From early on around midnight, Gray gave up tossing and turning and staggered his way out of the Inn, unconsciously grabbing the first book off the nightstand. He wandered on through the dead roads of town, a persistent cool stream of air blowing his soft orange hair into wisps.
Hours passed by, and Gray finally felt languid enough to settle down, propping up against a tree. Ahead of him spanned the lake, and in his lap was his old journal, lying in near leather rags from being sucked of all its use. With a shrug and enough light from the waxing moon, he opened up to the front cover.
Everyday was a haze for Gray back then, as he remembered. The wind picked up in a quick howl, dying back down as above tree branches creaked and moaned. For a moment he was startled, but shrugged and went back to trying to discern words and memories in his scrabbled handwriting. His handwriting had gotten much better since then, he noted.
The first entry was a drowsily written page during Gray's first weeks of his senior year in high school.
--------
"I haven't had much time to write, but I've been keeping up my grades. Hopefully, I'll get that scholarship. I really need this."
Gray shuddered at that, but he swallowed hard and turned back to his journal. That was, until an abrupt crash shook him, scrambling to his feet. His eyes wandered to the underbrush of shrubs, where a dazed groan rose up.
"Shit... I almost broke something..."
And much to Gray's expectation, Makoto staggered to his feet, immediately covering his stretched mouth in a long yawn. He eased back out of it, taking his time to slowly turn his focus from one side to the next, and around, and up and down.
"How'd I...?" he murmured. He quickly shrugged and let out another long yawn.
"Yellow submarine pajama pants?" Gray asked. Makoto stepped over the underbrush, shooting him a glare.
"No cap?" he retorted, brushing some dirt off his fitted white T-shirt. He brushed past Gray, making his way to path that wrapped around Mother's Hill. For a moment, Gray only noticed he was barefoot, but called out for him.
And he came back, plunking down in front of the lake.
"Can't sleep," he muttered. Gray followed suit, stretching his longish legs out a bit. Makoto murmured something about colorfully clad pipsqueaks, but Gray quickly dismissed him.
The falling leaves and thin, crisp breezes picked up from the silence. Seconds passed with each slowly drifting leaf touching down on the ground, until Gray muttered:
"I've been here for well over a year..."
Makoto looked over at him briefly, turning back with an acknowledging nod.
"I kinda realized that now. Time went by fast," Gray capped.
With another nod, Makoto asked: "When'd you get here?"
"Last week of summer, after I finished summer school." He paused, wondering if he could admit why, but finally finished. "Failed my core classes."
After all, as he reasoned, Makoto wouldn't care much.
"English and math?" he asked. With Gray's nod, he decided to keep his next inquiry to himself, but couldn't help his eyebrow arching up. Gray let out a discontented grunt.
"Not everyone becomes a sergeant at seventeen, Makoto," he groaned, no doubt enticing a groan from the farmer boy.
"I didn't earn it."
With his own acknowledging nod, Gray took it and turned to look at the lake.
"I bought my failure upon myself," he muttered.
A pale grey was soon washing over the red sky of the early morning, and without thinking, they got up and hiked back down to the Inn.
--------
The breakfast club, consisting of Cliff, Makoto, and Gray, gathered around a table as they'd been doing every lonely morning at the Inn. Cliff was used to being as alert as Ann, but Makoto and Gray looked like a bunch of grouches run over by a convoy of Peterbuilts. Makoto splayed out his book, titled "Mucho Money- The Ins and Outs of Rice Farming" (written by none other than Basil), risking each page with every quivering swig of coffee he took. Gray was taking slow bites of his scrambled eggs, getting more flavor of fork than food.
Once he had bit down on his fork with an enamel-cracking crunch, he quickly dropped it. Makoto took a peek from his book, and Cliff kept staring up from his pancakes. Ann had just finished pouring Makoto's third cup of coffee when she asked what was wrong.
Gray's neck wouldn't move just to shake his head, but finally he muttered out that nothing was wrong.
But in his mind and basking in the morning sunlight by the lake was his journal, just inviting anyone to pry it and tear it open. And much to what would've been just what Gray was dreading, Popuri was nuzzled up in the grass and imbibing every word like they were all blended into one big glass of grapefruit juice.
Gray gulped at the fact that Saibara would be waiting with his shotgun finger at the clock by that time, but he was slowed down when Ann had to work her Heimlich maneuver on him. When half the plate of eggs tumbled to assume the role of table centerpiece (much to Cliff's disgust), Gray nodded and dropped his cash for the money by his plate, barreling his way out the front doors.
"Ungrateful bastard," Ann huffed once he was gone, overflowing Makoto's fifth cup of coffee. She seemed to be unusually glum since daybreak, and once her back was turned, Cliff shot Makoto a concerned look. Makoto turned to watch her leave too, from his overflowed cup, back to her.
---------
"Sorry I'm late!" Gray blurted as he slunk into his grandfather's shop, careful not to shut the door too hard, or grimace, or look at Saibara cocked-eyed. Saibara grunted somewhere from by the forge, leaving Gray to sigh in partial relief.
Normally, it'd be another tongue lashing, the belt being most effective only after an inkling of insolence. Asking Saibara for permission to go get his journal was far out of bounds; even if Saibara knew most everything Gray confided in it courtesy of his parents, he'd grumble something like "You don't need that crap. Get to work."
So Gray didn't even bother.
--------
The journal became Popuri's best friend for the day, telling her all about this mysterious, troubled boy. Deciding for a quick break, she dog-eared the page, shut it, and placed it next to her on her front stoop, running back inside the house.
She almost took Rick down at their foyer, leaving her older brother admonishing her with his prime finger for the job. But she bounded off to the kitchen, and he sighed and went outside.
And the journal caught his eye. For a moment, he only stared at it. Finally, he bent over and snatched it up, the journal almost popping open to the dog-eared page.
"I know I haven't written in a while, but my parents just brought me home from jail. Fuck. Yeah, I was busted. A few days ago, they were supposed to search Andy's locker, knowing he had something. Of course, curse my luck, they accidentally pry open mine, but to about the same scenario. They found mine, about everything Andy had given me that morning. Fuck. Making matters worse, they called the college, and now I've lost everything. No spot, no scholarship. Yeah, I know I was getting really slack about my studies, but I'm ashamed to go back to school tomorrow. Andy got off just fine, they seemed to forget about him once they realized I, Mr. Scholarship, had pot in my locker.
So my folks thought it would do me good to sit on it for a while. They were pretty bowled over. They're never home enough to know much about me anyway, so they were floored when they hear this. Man... I feel so fucking stupid. There's only one week till graduation, but I know it's gonna be my worst week I've lived through. I just wanna get the hell out of here."
And on the next page.
"The parental units called my grandfather in the boondocks. They want him to whip me in shape this summer, and from what I've heard, he's a real hardass. Well, I don't wanna be stuck here anymore anyway. I have to make up math and English before I go though. More to come after he's done lashing me over a forge."
Since he was barely able to peel his eyes off what he just read, not even to go read it again out of disbelief. He shut the journal just as the front door burst open, Popuri nonchalantly holding a fizzing glass of ginger ale about halfway full and beaming with her usual bubbly smile.
The bubble burst once she saw Rick holding the journal of much mystery.
"Rick!" she cried, her face flushing. It even exceeded the pink factor of her hair. "You... you..."
In a twitchy spasm of confusion and disbelief, Rick couldn't figure out whether to stick up his finger in declaration or to pry through the journal more. But finally, he exclaimed.
"I can't believe him! A pothead? Jeez!"
"Who?" Popuri asked, cocking her fluffy head. Then she put one and one together, pointing a finger at the book Rick clutched tightly. "The owner of that?" Rick nodded with a groan.
"Yes, Popuri."
The tinge on his sister's face still hadn't faded, as he noticed with another groan. First it was incessant chatter about Makoto, until summertime, when all her hours were spent at the seaside lounge with Kai. And then Gray. Even Cliff had his fair share of dinner table talk. This all led Rick to wonder if his sister would ever stop flitting between every single guy.
Of course not.
"You better not go anywhere near Gray!" Rick warned, trying to intimidate his sister by leaning in and wagging his finger. She just finished off her ginger ale and shoved the glass in his hand instead.
With a giggle, she replied:
"I'm gonna go off somewhere and read the rest. Bye Rick!" And with that, she took the journal from his other hand and almost left, only for Rick to come back to his senses.
"Go get Mom's medicine in that case!" he called after her. He stopped to watch her scamper off with a sigh. There was only a slim chance that she'd remember to do it.
--------
Surprisingly enough, Popuri bustled her way into the clinic doors, the journal tucked safely in her hands. For a moment, she looked around aimlessly, giving Elli plenty of time to drum her fingers on the desk.
Popuri set the book down on a stand by the sofa, turning back to put her finger to her cheek in contemplation.
"Now... what was I doing here again?" she asked half-aloud, only to have Elli slide Lillia's prescription in a white paper back on the desk. She went back to her finger tapping. The lights finally snapped on and Popuri collected the bag, just as quickly scurrying off and almost tripping over Stu.
Stu barely darted out of the way, but Popuri stumbled around a bit. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" he cried.
"Sorry, Stewie!"
"Stu! It's Stu!!"
Meanwhile, Elli was drumming her fingers harder, trying her best to tune them out. But Stu still dragged his feet and grumbled all the way to her desk.
"Stewie…" he huffed, only for Popuri to shoot a "Happy Birthday, Stewie!" over her shoulder before she slipped out the door. Stu sighed and looked up at his sister, face contorted in vexation. "I'm seven years old now! I don't want people calling me by pet names!" Elli shrugged in reply.
"Don't mind her, Stu," she told him. "Anyway, I'm getting off in half an hour. I'll be home then, alright?"
Stu took it.
"Okay!" Then he paused. "But don't invite Makoto. He's mean."
Elli leaned over the counter, giving her usual cock-eyed glare. "Not as mean as I can be if you don't stop calling him that!" With that, she spun out from around the counter, brandishing a rolled-up magazine. Once Stu let out a yelp, she shrugged again and threw the magazine on her desk.
"Well, get going. I'll be home," she said. Stu nodded and let out a devilish grin. As Elli returned to her post, he made his way out. Out of his curiosity, though, he grabbed the little leather book waiting the stand on his way to the door.
Barely getting outside, Stu cracked open the book and voraciously read the first words he saw.
"It's been the third time my English teacher (who I'm still not naming for her sake, but she wrote my recommendation), invited me over. She told me how she was married two years ago, but her husband died in a car crash. I would've never guessed that…but then…
Yeah… I lost my virginity to my English teacher."
And the entry below that:
"The school fired her. And it's all my fault"
"Bo-ring!" Stu huffed, tossing the book over his shoulder as he continued walking, not sure what he just read. Yet once he strode out of site, another figure bent down to snatch up the mysterious book with glee.
Manna opened the journal up to the first page, and shoved her nose right in it.
--------
After a long, long day of sweating over the forge, Gray finally managed to burst his way into the cool stream of air outside. He brought himself as fast as his legs could possibly manage all the way up the trail he staggered through last night. As he rounded the lake, he spotted the tree he knew he left it under.
But he'd been far too late. With a curse under his breath, he kicked a small stone into a nearby lake. He didn't pay attention as it skipped over, but turned the other way and darted off.
He knew Makoto still had to be at Strawberry Fields. Cliff would be a more ideal choice to ask for help, but he was pulling some duties at the Inn while Doug took the day off. But as all this ran through his mind, he noticed Makoto's figure come into view. He had out a large bucket of water and a bottle of shampoo, lathering Pixy Dust's fleece as she gnawed idly at the grass.
"My… my journal…" Gray stammered, tucking his hat over his head as he doubled over to catch his breath. "I lost it!"
Makoto looked up from Pixy Dust, on his knees as Gray stood up a bit straighter.
"And I had a lot of stuff in there that I don't want anyone to see…"
With a grunt, Makoto said.
"I'll help you look for it… once Pixy Dust is done eating your shoelaces."
Gray's eyes darted down and he jumped back at that, and with a sigh, leaned up against the mailbox. He waited for Makoto to finish washing his sheep, with only one thought able to fly out under his breath.
"What kind of name is Pixy Dust?"
And perhaps only to make Makoto irate, Pixy Dust shook her fleece around, whipping water all over the nasty farmer boy.
--------
Soon after Pixy Dust was clean and back in the barn, the two boys ran off, Makoto not even bothering to change out of his soaked white T-shirt. They didn't have the slightest inkling where to go, and Gray was too embarrassed to know where to start. But Makoto led and dashed head-first into the clinic. He left Gray to come to a sudden, foot-planting stop. As he heard Makoto slip and screech all over the floor inside, he did nothing but stand at the door, smacking his forehead while rolling his eyes.
Makoto was still sopping wet, leading Elli to shoot him a glare from the coat rack.
"Were you wrestling the Kappa or something? Jeez... and your boots are muddy!" She finished pulling on a light jacket. That observation left Makoto looking quickly at his feet. "Get out, I just cleaned in here!" she scolded as she marched up to him, giving him a shove with both hands. "Or I'll--"
"Listen," Makoto grumbled, spinning around to face her. "Did anyone come in here with a black leather book?"
He was sopping wet, and the slightest splash on the floor grabbed Elli's attention. Her focus slowly ran back up to the T-shirt plastered to his flat stomach.
"Popuri did," she replied, turning her gaze back up to his face. Makoto nodded, turning back for the door.
But just as he reached the doorknob, he found himself walking back over, standing in front of Elli with his hands in his pockets and a tinge on his face.
"Go where you gotta go. I'll clean the floor," he announced, motioning with his thumb towards the door.
Elli shrugged.
"Suit yourself," she replied. Then she looked up at him with a wry smile, and the next moment was giving him a light pat on the cheek.
For at least two minutes, Makoto stood there with an entirely numb body. It took the Doctor to come out to remind him his feet were on the ground.
Meanwhile, Gray had stopped Elli outside from around the Supermarket, and Elli told him about Makoto.
"Oh," Gray muttered, giving a shrug.
That was when three figures seemed to fade into view... and they were coming alarmingly closer. Gray peered over Elli's shoulder, and adjusting the brim of his cap, he was able to discern the furious faces, and his own leather journal being brandished in the air.
"Damn..." he hissed, trying his best not to blatantly point the convoy of scorned women."It's Anna! And Manna! And... Sasha!"
Elli craned her neck around.
"That's your journal, right?"
Gray gulped in response. Anna was the first to storm up to him, with Manna and Sasha bringing the rear. Gray noticed quickly that Sasha looked nowhere near as enthusiastic to tongue-lash him; in fact, she was shooting repulsed looks at the enraged women.
Manna looked ready to start blabbering, but once Anna's mouth shot open, Gray feared she would spitfire acid at any moment. He snatched the brim of his hat as low as possible while Anna let completely loose.
"…and you're always around my daughter! Why Gray, I have NEVER been so enraged in all my life!!" She heaved his journal at his chest, and all Gray could do was unconsciously take it from her and hold it limply at his side.
Sasha, always known to be reasonable, piped up.
"Anna, I'm about as disgusted as you are, but Gray's been clean," she said. Then she turned to Gray, and in all earnestness continued. "But if Mary was my daughter, then I would feel differently."
Gray nodded slowly, not lifting his eyes from his feet.
"I understand," he said softly. "But—"
"I still think it's completely wrong!" Manna burst out. "Gray should be punished!" She looked around to everyone else, scouring them for some sort of agreement.
That's when Anna shook her head.
"That's his grandfather's job." She then turned to Gray, who felt her gaze on him and was peeking out from under his brim, hands in his work shirt pockets. "Gray?"
"Yes?" Gray immediately responded.
Anna turned up her head with Gray almost cowering.
"If you want to be friends with my daughter, Basil and I will have to learn to trust you." And then she capped it off.
"I'll call her out. Go wait outside our house."
Those words tingled in Gray's ears, although spoken in a rather indigestible manner. He looked up from under his cap to see Sasha nodding with approval. And looking over at Anna, he saw her motioning him to follow. With half smile on his tinged face, he jogged off after her swift pace, leaving Manna to make her comment.
"Well, he's not as bad as Makoto…"
At that time, Sasha had gone inside the Supermarket, leaving Manna to look up at Elli for some sort of nod. Manna's expression became desperate when Elli didn't reply.
Finally, Elli said:
"I find that disgusting."
She didn't care much to watch Manna leave. Down one side of the road, Gray was practically quivering in trepidation, his brim tucked over his face to elude passer-bys from thinking that. And to the other side, Makoto poked out of the clinic, taking up a stroll over to Elli's direction.
Elli turned to face him, with one word on her lips once he got close enough.
"Sorry," she told him with a lopsided frown. Makoto quickly shrugged in reply, making a gesticulation to just brush the whole thing off. So Elli went on.
"Gray found his journal." Then she craned her head over to Gray, pointing. "Mrs. Faulty is calling Mary down right now." She turned back to Makoto.
But from down the road, Anna's voice rose up.
"I'm going to cook dinner." It was strange since no one quite realized the sky was already tinged in deep oranges and blues. "So stay here. It'll be quick."
Every single particle seemed to drop out from under and around Gray that very moment when Mary shyly poked her way outside. Her small mouth turned up into a thin smile from under her glasses, which were sliding down her face. Still, her upturned eyes grabbed Gray, greeting her with a frantic attempt to slide his brim lower on his face than it already was.
Any lower and the cap would eat his head.
"Hi Mary…" he trailed, taking a quick peek from under his cap. He held his arms behind his back, fumbling his journal between his hands when Mary merely half-blushed in reply. A broader smile was streaking her face.
"Umm… is there something…?" She also trailed off, but her amber eyes kept glinting in a sort of anticipation.
"Well…" Gray finally began. He gulped. "Who was 'The Pianist' about?" He stopped for a moment, watching Mary nervously rub her small hands together. "I… umm… I was just curious…"
Mary's broad smile had diminished, but her eyes kept glinting.
"You."
The plunk on the ground from Gray's journal wasn't picked up by either of them. Gray's mouth was slightly ajar, and his finger hovered at his chest.
"Me?"
Mary nodded meekly, another broad smile cracking from one tinged cheek to the other. Gray hid again, turning up a shoulder slightly. But there was no shrinking from Mary's view, and he turned back to her.
If there was any activity going on at that moment, which there was, nothing was going to stop Gray. He was almost choking on his own tongue, but any ambivalent greetings and goodbyes from other houses would fizzle out before his ears picked it up, and then finally…
"I really like you… a lot."
Seconds stretched out into long brushes of anticipation. Gray watched Mary for any reaction, that was, until Mary turned away, her face burning.
"I… I like you too, Gray."
Gray's lips had turned into a smile too, something he hadn't done in a long, long time.
"Wow…" he said, unable to resist wearing his smile proudly. He even removed his cap, Mary giggling at the sight of what was his chronic case of hat hair. "You know, I never wanted to even be anywhere, until I met you." His head hung low with his eyes on the ground. "Thank you."
Makoto and Elli were watching from the stoop of Elli's house. Once Gray and Mary had gone inside, they found it time to resume talking.
"That's cute," Elli said, sounding rather amused and satisfied. Then she turned to Makoto, saying: "Wanna come in? It's Stu's birthday, and we're cutting a cake for him."
Makoto didn't even have to think about it.
"Sure," he replied, giving a half shrug. A groan rose up from behind them, and they turned to see Stu huffing in the window, little hands on the glass propping him up so he wouldn't lose balance from on top of the sofa.
"I'll only take a bribe to let him in!" he announced. "The new Mechabot Ultror with the beam saber and blinding light-up action!"
Makoto arched an eyebrow, giving an incredulous look to Elli.
"Bribe, eh?" he asked in a bit of a drawl, shoving his hands in his pockets. "What a big vocabulary for such a little kid."
"I'M NOT A LITTLE KID ANYMORE!!"
---------
A few hours later that night, Makoto strode his way back to the Inn. Much to his surprise, he found the place empty, save for an exhausted-looking Ann and Cliff stooped together over at the table. Ann was fiddling idly with a coaster, keeping one eye on the clock above what would be her father's usual post behind the register. Cliff just looked very worn out, giving a weak smile to Makoto once he noticed him at the entrance.
"Come sit down," Cliff beckoned, waiting as Makoto shrugged and pulled up a chair from another table. Once Makoto settled in on the small square table opposite from Ann, Cliff continued.
"Ann's really worried," he uttered. The worried look in his eyes was enough to tell anyone that his stomach was knotting up, and he let out a sigh. "Her dad was supposed to be home three hours ago. She had to close up early tonight."
The planets must have aligned, because for once, Ann let out a hopeless sigh, her air heavy and gloomy. Looking up at Makoto, she finally explained herself.
"Fall fifth's not a good day for us," she uttered, cupping her chin in her hands. "It's the day my mom died."
--------
I know, I cut a little bit into the next chapter there. Well, I guess what we can learn from this is say no to pot. Don't do pot to alleviate the stress of your studies. Watch anime instead! Besides, if you're draining your pockets on anime and games, then you certainly can't afford pot, right?
Anyway, I hope you all thought that was cute. I'm no good at pulling off anything relatively romantic, so if that sucked, please hunt me down and bludgeon me with the blunt object of your choice.
... – I shall call you… umm… ahhh… just forget it and have a cookie! XD
Anime26Angel – That shovel would be good to beat me with. Well, hopefully Makoto takes a note from Gray. AND Cliff.
Zomaelgustar the Wanker – Like a Virgin, eh? Well, I'll keep that in mind for the next music fest!
I really hope I did Gray justice here.
Airstream- by Fastball (Miles Zuniga)
Airstream, big chrome airstream
Leave the world behind me
They won't find me in my airstream
Free, I don't wanna be stuck in the city
With the cars and people downtown
Waiting in a line
Wishing I was far away
Where no one knows my name
Ocean, big blue ocean
Rolling like a daydream
Down the highway in my airstream
Free, I don't wanna be stuck in the city
With the cars and people downtown
Waiting in a line
Wishing I was far away
Where no one knows my name
Or my address, it's a place I've never been
When it gets too familiar I'll be gone
Free, I don't wanna be stuck in the city
With the cars and people downtown
Waiting in a line
Wishing I was far away
Where no one knows my name
Or my address, it's a place I've never been
When it gets too familiar I'll be gone
When it gets too familiar I'll be gone
When it gets too familiar I'll be gone
See you in the next chapter!