Wait...what?! An update without a 15 month wait?! WHAT IS THIS!?
Just a head's up, this chapter is more setting things up for later.
Thank you so much to my FANTASTICALLY AWESOME BETA my_forgotten_rose!
I leapt out of my bed the instant Kyoya had closed the door. Before I had even time to think, my hand was already on the doorknob, prepared to open the door and blurt out everything I knew to a guy I'd known for literally under a month. Luckily, I paused at that moment to hear Kyoya's calm and controlled footsteps make their way down the corridor, and fade away as he made his way down the steps.
"What am I doing?" I muttered to myself, letting go of the doorknob and sitting down on the chair at my desk. For a few minutes, I didn't even remember breathing as I organized the cascade of emotions and thoughts rushing through my brain like a gigantic, powerful waterfall, in a way it was overwhelming.
Ok, first things first. Alex wants to move back to New York, after she graduates Lobelia. She has known this for some time, though had never talked to me about it.
Did she not trust me? Surely we will still be friends if she moves back to America, and I stay in Japan. There are many ways to keep in contact, we just have to try, it wasn't that hard, with technology today and good old fashioned letters.
Despite my inner assurances, the back of my mind kept drifting to what happened after boarding school. I remember, Todd, Jack, Linda and I all exchanged phone numbers for the purpose of staying in touch. We kept in contact for a while, but now...when was the last time I spoke to them?
That scared me. I knew that I was no way as close to the three as I was back in boarding school. Would it end the same for me and Alex?
Is that why she didn't tell me?
Even then, it seems a bit odd to just tell me now, when she's going to Lobelia next term about her plans.
Then, it hit me.
She must have only just decided this, after thinking it over. There's no other explanation.
I laughed half-heartedly to myself, at I sat at my desk, putting my hands on my knees as I did so, then, moving those hands to my forehead, covering my eyes.
"I'm such an idiot" I muttered to myself. "She had just used all of her courage to tell me, and how did I react? I ran home and cried like a baby!"
I removed my hands, and looked up to my ceiling, as if I was making a statement to heaven and all of their unstoppable forces.
"That's it! I'm texting her right now to apologies!" I yelled, dramatically reaching for my touch screen phone beside me.
It was at that moment that I remembered I had recently received a text.
I blinked. The number was one I didn't recognize, which disturbed me.
I decided to look at it anyway, and I nearly jumped out of my seat at the message.
' NOW!' The message read.
My eyes widened, and instantly my imagination began to get the better of me.
'Oh God! What if it's a serial killer?! No, what if it's a pedophile?! What if it's a serial killer pedophile?! Gah! I'm too young to die! There are so many things I want to do in life! Like...um...what do I want to do? Oh well, one thing I don't want to do in life is die by chainsaw serial killing pedophile! I'd make a terrible lampshade!' Were among some of the thoughts rushing through my head at 20,000 miles an hour as I stared at the text, my breathing rate increasing with every thought.
After a solid five minutes of panicking, I managed to hyperventilate and had to grab a paper bag to calm myself down. My vision stopped blurring, and I managed to think straight.
Ok, so maybe if it isn't a serial killing pedophile. Who else could it be? The Host Club? Haruhi?
'Most likely' I thought. 'Why the creepy message though?'
I looked up at the ceiling, holding my phone in my right hand idly as I said to the plastered roof "Oh mighty fate, which determines all...really control us all...please, sort this out!"
I guess fate really does exist, as at that moment my phone violently vibrated in my hand, causing me to squeak in surprise a little, though I managed to muffle the sound by quickly dropping my phone and covering my mouth with my hands.
I picked up my phone, and surely enough, the unfamiliar number popped up.
'Well, you only live once!' I mentally urged myself as I pressed the green 'accept call' button on the screen of my phone, and put the phone to my ear.
"Hello?" I asked hesitantly, speaking in Japanese in case it indeed was the Host Club. "Kate Farnest here."
"Kate?!" Exclaimed the caller, who I still didn't recognize. The voice was defiantly female, and the way she said my name nearly made me drop the phone. She had a strong, assertive voice that sounded a touch irritated. She reminded me of an older sister who just found her younger sibling hiding in the coat-section of her favorite shop, after spending forever looking for her.
Although it wasn't any of this that alarmed me; the way she said my name was nothing like anybody from the Host Club, or even anybody from St Andrews, not even Alex. Alex said my name by ignoring the't' in Kate, so it sounded a bit like 'Kay'. The Host Club had adopted the way Alex said my name as well, so that ruled them out. The way the caller said my name was distinctly English, properly pronouncing the't' like my mother and father did.
Then, it hit me. There was only one person I knew that combined an assertive tone with a touch of annoyance, whilst still keeping the way she pronounced her words like all of the students at boarding school were taught to.
"Kate, you're speaking in some kind of Chinese language again!" The woman yelled in English, a language that I barely hear spoken without an American accent unless it's my mother or brother speaking to me. "Please don't tell me you've forgotten our tea-drinking, scone eating ways of good old England!" She declared both melodramatically and mockingly.
"Linda!" I exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as I blabbered to her in English at supersonic speed. "I thought you were a pedophile or serial killer! What the heck happened to your old phone? You scared the living daylights out of me! Oh my God it's been so long since I've heard your irritating, upper class English accent! Is it sad to say I've missed it? Why haven't you called me earlier?!"
Linda didn't speak for a few seconds, before replying in a slightly disappointed tone of voice, "So I guess you haven't forgotten how to speak English."
"How could I?" I laughed in reply over the phone. "We learn it every day at school! Plus mum and Tom speak it at home all the time!"
"Yeah. Whatever you say multilingual freak." She replied dismissively. "Anyway, in reply to the burst of questions you just gave me; Firstly, my old phone kind of got thrown in the river by Todd, so he bought me a new one and has to top me up every month for a year, or I said I'd get my dad to sue him for destruction of private properly or whatever. My accent is not upper class, its 'well gangster bruv'. Also, I lost my memory card when my phone was unjustly tossed into the river Thames so I couldn't contact you. Todd's phone was destroyed tragically after a motor bike ran it over on the M25 just days after my mobile was thrown in the river, and Jack had changed his sim card due to a spam mail guy calling him ten times a day about his PPI claim."
"Oh." I replied, blowing a small strand of brown hair out of my face. "I cut my hair, by the way."
"What?!" Exclaimed Linda. "You cut off your nice, luscious blue tipped hair that I especially dyed for you in the middle of the night when you were asleep as a going away present?!"
"Yep." I replied "I actually did it before we arrived in Japan, as my mother threw a fit after seeing it and demanded an emergency cut by the nearest hair dresser."
Linda sighed "Oh well, at least I tried to make you look cool…How are you at the moment?" She asked.
I was about to reply 'Great, you?' as I normally would do when people asked how I was, but I suddenly remembered the events of today, and especially what had happened between me and Alex. Suddenly I didn't feel all that great. I was never a person to straight up lie to one of my friends, so instead I replied with a melancholy sigh, "Not all that great, actually. I'm really glad you called; I needed some cheering up."
"Oooh! Sounds like someone needs a happy pill!" Said another voice; It was male, but sounded mockingly effeminate. "You know, darling, bananas are really good for your pains this time of the month, they're meant to replace the-"
The guy was cut off suddenly, and I heard muffled protests coming from the other side of the line, meaning that Linda probably was covering his mouth, or gagging him with a sweaty sock. It was at that moment that I knew it was Todd who had just spoken to me; there's nobody else in the world that Linda can be so violent towards.
"Hey Kate!" Yet another male voice said, this one sounding deeper, more calm and mature than the two previous. "How's Japan going?"
"Jack?" I asked, somehow grinning even more than before. "Why…how are you guys all talking to me? Are you over at Linda's dorm again?! Without me?!"
"Erm…sorry Kate!" Linda contributed "I forgot to mention you're on speaker at the moment!"
"Oh! You'll never guess what Kate!" I heard Todd exclaim, somehow managing to evade Linda's skillful sock-in-the-mouth treatment "Guess where we are right now!"
"Erm…"I said, confused. Weren't they at Linda's dorm in the boarding school? Why would they ask me where they are? "I don't know…boarding school?"
"Wrong!" Jack butted in, his voice sounding energetic and full of humor, like a quiz show host.
"Since when are we actually in school?" Linda said "You know we've never actually attended a full day of lessons there!"
Indeed, at boarding school the group and I would often skive off lessons to meet one another and go off. For one reason or another, the teachers never complained about the problem children leaving the classroom during inspection time…
"Alright, so where are you?" I asked, getting slightly inpatient.
"We're at the airport!" Todd and Linda said in unison.
I blinked, astonished. It took me a minute to figure out that they weren't joking, and then I asked carefully "Where are you going?"
"Japan." Jake replied, his voice calm and unaffected by the disruption that Todd and Linda were clearly causing by yelling into a phone at the airport.
I didn't say anything for a few minutes. I was lost in thought, imagining how they got out of lessons and managed to sneak aboard a plane to the other side of the world. Even at inspection time the teachers would never let them get away with it.
"Are you crazy?!" I yelled. "Why the &^*( are you going to Japan during the school term?! There's no way that the school will let this slide!"
"Actually, they kind of did." Linda replied, ignoring the anger coating my voice "They were the ones who told us to go."
"They're paying for the flight and accommodation too." Todd added, sounding overly smug. "Jealous?"
"What's there to be jealous of?! I live in Japan!" I yelled in reply, making enough noise now to notify mum and Tom that I was awake, and probably getting the three odd looks from people in the airport.
"Whatever. Anyway, want to know why we're coming to Japan?" Not even allowing me to reply, Linda continued "The school sent us to stea- I mean, inspire the students of Ouran Academy to come to our vastly superior school: Parkinson Boarding School!" Linda said the last line so dramatically I couldn't help but burst into laughter; she sounded just like the headmistress of the school.
"Well, that's our hidden intention anyway." Jack said. "However, on the surface, it's a simple exchange of three students from two prestigious schools to increase cultural awareness within the society of the upper crust."
I snorted, "How the hell did you three get chosen for such a task?" I knew there was no way that the headmistress would allow the three worst students of Parkinson Boarding School represent the school on international terms without a fight.
"Not much was needed to be done, actually." Todd replied, I could sense the smirk in his voice, meaning that foul play was involved. "We just had to dispose of the other 248 ballots in the school raffle held to make the decision, and replace them with our names…no biggie."
"Great." I said, slightly stunned at the effort the three put into being chosen to come to Japan. "Glad we got that sorted."
"So, when do you want to meet up?" Linda asked, her voice slightly embarrassed and…uncertain? That was odd. Linda was never uncertain.
"When are you arriving?" I asked, still a little worried about Linda. "We can plan around that."
"We'll be landing at 5 am tomorrow!" Todd contributed, sounding eager and happy, somehow even more carefree than a few minutes ago.
"Well, I won't be awake at that time…" I said, trailing off as I planned what to do. "How about I meet you the day after you land, after your first day of school at Ouran?"
"Sounds like a plan." Jake said. I could almost hear the hidden smile in his voice.
"See you in two days then Kate!" Linda said, suddenly sounding completely assertive and in control once again, which relaxed me. "Meet us at the gate, I guess!"
"I will!" I said, sensing the end of the conversation. "See you all soon then!"
"Bye!" All three said in unison. Then, I looked at my phone. They had disconnected.
I couldn't help but grin ear to ear as I ran down the staircase into the kitchen. I felt my face begin to hurt from smiling, but I didn't even care; I was going to see my friends again. The friends who made boarding school bearable, the friends who I hadn't seen face to face for over 2 years now.
I was so happy and excited for the meet up in two days that I had completely forgotten the reason why I picked up the phone in the first place.
For the first time in a really, really long time, I had completely forgotten about Alex.
Cool! so, yeah... maybe 13 ain't so unlucky after all!
Alright. So now, the replies!
Eva Sirico: I really wanted Kate to steal Kyoya's beloved KIRA for once, so I wrote it in on a whim...I'm so glad you like it!
tokiluv: Annd I had to ruin my *Wonderful* update track record by posting chapter 12 so late...whoops? I'm really glad you felt happy for Alex! I'm happy that others are happy! Whoop! Oh well, at least this one was quick-ish!
Lady Victoria Black : Squuuuueeealll! I'm SO happy that you love it! This is the greatest comment ever to make my day! WHHHOOOOPPPP!
PreciousJewel01: Yeah...I know a heck of a lot of people don't like OC stories (Including my AMAZING best friend!) but I'm glad you gave it a try despite that! I imaging the notebook has a life of its own in the series, so I thought it would be fun to tput it in the story! I'm glad you like it! (I'LL TRY TO ADD A TWIN PRANK SHORTLY!)
Escape to Ouran : SENSEI! I'm so happy that I'm special to you! If only Kate heard that she was your idol...she'd freak! When my friends go off and leave me on my own, I feel the same. In fact, when they do something (one of my friends is trying to write a novel about aliens and the post apocalyptic world...it's VERY long!) I feel the same way as Kate, so I decided to put that in the story. SUPER SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE SENSEI!
Of Kings and Queens: Sorry about the grammatical error...I'll do better next time!
Otaku-Lord-Bubbles: I'll be very happy to make a chapter like that, and your comment has been making me plan it out already! Maybe I could have THAT as the special chapter when I get 100 reviews...if not, I'll just pop it in at the end :P
Visual: I'm glad you like the story...and yeah...I know my characters need a LOT more depth and personality. Funny that you picked up on the surreal narrative that I was going for...I truth, this was just going to be Alex and Mori fall in love, and Kate watches from the sidelines as her friend and her drift apart...but in the end, commenters made me change that into a Kyoya and Mori OC story. I'll do my best to make the story better for you! Also, don't feel worried about leave non-anonymous comments...I'm not going to troll you for constructive criticism, as I writer, I'm always aiming to get better, in case I want to ACTUALLY write a novel of my own. That's why I started writing fanfiction, to hone in on my writing skills for the future!
Fangirl429: Clicking stories randomly is awesome, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise! I am so happy that you like the story this much! (In fact, it was your comment that got me out of my mini-depression by Visual and got me writing this thing again!) thanks for the review! P.S. I LOVE your profile picture!