Me: Well well, Ichigo. Care to tell everyone a summary of this chapter? (smirks slyly)
Ichigo: (turns bright red) ...NO.
Rukia: Well, there's a party, and-
Me and Ichigo: SHUT UP RUKIA!
Me: (Clears throat) Er...i mean, you don't wanna ruin it.
Rukia: (nods slowly) ...Yes, I suppose you're right.
Me: I'm always right.
All Together: REVIEW!
Lyrics: You can't stop this/feeling/You can't run away/Baby, i'm whats on your mind/You can't stop this/feeling/There's no escape/No sleep tonight/You won't get/no sleep tonight!
"Don't forget! Tomorrow night at seven!" Matsumoto shouted after Peyton as she went with Orihime to her house. Apparently the Soul Reaper needed a break from Urahara's for a few days, and Matsumoto had also informed Orihime that the latter was in "serious need of girl-talk". Therefore, Peyton felt extremely bad for Orihime, but laughed and nodded before waving bye to them regardless.
"Ichigo! You're going too, right?" she shouted after a few moments. This, of course, earned her his trademark scowl.
"Yeah, Rukia already twisted my arm behind my back about it," he informed Matsumoto, who just flashed a rather devilish grin before whirling around to talk to Orihime.
Ichigo and Peyton exchanged a look, both of them sighing heavily. "Ichigo, though it pains me to say it, we think alike with things like this. Please tell me this party thing's worth going to," she muttered miserably.
"Depends on your definition. While there's eighty other things I'd love to be doing instead, if I push that and all the suicidal thoughts out of my mind, the night's bearable," he explained thoughtfully. This, of course, made her droop.
"...Great. I'm feeling suicidal before I even go!"
Rukia rolled her eyes as they both drooped and let out more heavy sighs. "Would you two get a grip? Ichigo's I'm-Too-Cool-For-This Act was hard enough to deal with without you joining in, Peyton!" she snapped.
"Well, if we're so hard to deal with, why should we go to that party with you?" Peyton asked innocently, which earned her a smack upside the head. "OW!"
"YOU'RE GOING."
"...I still don't see what the big deal is, it all seems pretty damn stupid - OW! CUT IT OUT!" Peyton shouted as Rukia hit her upside the head again.
"Yeah, Rukia, she needs all the brain cells she can get," Ichigo said casually, laughing when Peyton moved to smacked him upside the head but hit a street pole by mistake after he dodged it. "Owww...you jackass, that HURT!"
"Serves ya right. You have enough trouble reaching my head when I'm standing still, thanks to how fricking short you are, why would you even try?"
Peyton simply growled at him in reply, holding her poor hand and stomping ahead to walk with Rukia defiantly. "You're still a jackass," she shouted over her shoulder.
"...Girls. I don't understand them," he declared to himself with a shake of the head.
As soon as Peyton was alone the rest of the way home, she dug Seth's necklace out of her pocket and slipped Ichigo's under her shirt. Guys could be so stupid sometimes; forget to put on their necklace ONE day, and you might as well have drowned some puppies in a creek.
Peyton shook her head; she still couldn't believe Ichigo did that. She was NOT worth two hundred dollars, ask anybody! Dumbass... Almost as soon as she stepped inside, even before the scent of dinner cooking could hit her full on, Seth searched her neck for his gift, then nodded. "Ahh, you remembered. I saw you were wearing someone ELSE'S necklace the other day..."
"Seth, stop using your Mobster Voice, it's fucking annoying."
"Say that again, and you'll be sleepin' with the fishes."
Peyton and Lindsay exchanged an eye-roll, and Miya's chuckling could be heard from their kitchen. She carefully sidestepped the mistletoe in their doorway out of instinct. She still cringed every time dad and Miya conveniently went through doorways at the same time. It was just so...so...WEIRD.
Okay, sure, her dad was attractive and not too old. Not even forty yet. But still...how could HE land a chick like Miya?
Even Lindsay was skeptical about Miya's motives at first. "But Peeeyyy-ton," Lindsay said with a sigh later that Thursday night, "You just know."
"Know what?"
"That they love each other. By the way they look at each other. And the way they brighten up when the other one's around. And the way they kiss," Lindsay said happily.
Peyton seriously gagged; was Lindsay just WATCHING THEM make out or something? The very thought made her lunch want to come back up; she knew they were doing a lot more than kissing, that was common sense, but that didn't mean she wanted to THINK ABOUT IT. She wasn't even making a joke when she'd gagged, but Lindsay hit her for it anyway.
"Just wait. You'll be that way with someone one day."
"Oh? And what about you?"
Lindsay blushed and hit her again. "Ow! Why's everyone in this family so abusive?" Peyton shouted.
"What, you mean like you?"
"...Yeah."
That made her laugh, and she shook her head. "You'll find out tomorrow night at the party. Which you're going to be at, even if you use the yellow fever excuse like you did for mid-terms that one year."
"Oh c'mon, I was so convincing!" Peyton whined. "I even bought the right powder for my skin and EVERYTHING! I was freaking committed! I should've gotten an award or something, but nooo, I got in-school suspension for two months instead!"
THE NEXT DAY...
"Why do you do that again?" Tatsuki asked as Peyton went through her usual ritual of necklace-switching in homeroom that day.
"She's too nice to tell him he got her that necklace for no apparent reason, seeing as Keigo didn't give it to her," Matsumoto answered.
"Well, that, and the fact that it's worth two hundred and pure gold doesn't hurt, either," Rukia replied matter-of-factly.
Peyton shook her head in Ichigo's direction; he was currently engaged in another stupid-ass argument with Renji over something, it sounded like pickles. "I still can't believe he did that. He's such a dumbass..."
"Maybe Renji was just joking about it being real expensive," Tatsuki offered. "I mean, why would Renji say ANYTHING that would make Ichigo look remotely like a good guy? Don't they hate each other?"
"Ehhh, it's more of a love-hate kind of thing," Rukia and Matsumoto said simultaneously, sweatdropping as Renji kicked Ichigo into a wall.
"DILL PICKLES ARE BETTER ON HAMBURGERS, JUST ACCEPT IT, PINEAPPLE HEAD!"
"GODDAMMIT, STRAWBERRY, THE SWEET ONES HAVE A BETTER TASTE!"
"SWEET PICKLES ARE A FREAK OF NATURE! JUST LIKE YOU! NO WONDER YOU LIKE 'EM SO MUCH!"
"WELL, IF YOU LIKE YOUR DILL PICKLES SO MUCH, WHY DON'T YOU MARRY 'EM, STRAWBERRY? CAN I BE YOUR BEST MAN? HUUUUUH?"
All the girls (and most of their classmates) were sweatdropping heavily by this point, and Peyton shook her head. "They need to stop kicking each other into walls and shit, they're losing too many brain cells."
Tatsuki shook her head as well. "On second thought, Ichigo's stupid enough to buy you something worth two hundred dollars. I withdraw my statement."
"...I still think what Ichigo did was sweet. But at any rate, you better be coming to that party, Peyton! We all know how you try to weasle your way out of these things," Orihime insisted, making Peyton resist the urge to roll her eyes. If one more girl reminded her about the goddamn party, she'd skip it just to piss them off.
"...You've been listening to Seth, haven't you, Orihime?" She blushed, making Peyton laugh. "It's fine, he's totally right. Did he tell you about the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 2009? Hit around mid-terms? Tragic, really..."
LATER THAT NIGHT...
The music could be heard almost completely around the corner from the party's location. It made her feel sorry for the dumbasses hosting the party, no doubt they'd have one hell of a clean-up. Before opening the door, Peyton sighed. She could already tell this night was going to be crazy, but if the music was any indication, maybe it'd be a good kind of crazy. Yeah! Maybe. ...Aw, dammit. Oh well. Too late to call it off now.
She pulled open the door...
...And the first thing that greeted her was the sight of a random guy swinging around a pole, singing "Beautiful". While Peyton tried not to let her jaw drop to the floor (Is that a LAMPSHADE on his head?), Rukia swung an arm around her shoulders and steered her to the bar.
"I guess you noticed Lampshade Boy. Not exactly as good as Christina Aguilera's version, eh? Ichigo tells me every high school party has at least one." Peyton laughed and nodded. "I guess he's right. ...Rukia, are you drunk? They servin' beer here?"
Rukia gave her a weird look. "Pffft. No! Lampshade Boy brought his own. The beverages here are strictly non-alcoholic. And since when have I ever been drunk?"
"Well, you just look all...all...drunk-like."
"I'm not drunk! I'm just...I'm not sure, actually. Yuzu and Karin had a handful of some sort of candy they brought home with them, and they let me have it all. ...Said there was an American in their class that brought them."
"What were they?"
"...Pixie Sticks, I think..." Rukia said thoughtfully before giggling. "I feel like my head's buzzing! Whooo!"
Peyton sweatdropped, watching Rukia run off to teach Matsumoto "this sensational new dance Isshin introduced me to, the Chicken Dance!". "Oh dear God, I'll need therapy after this," she muttered with a facepalm, unable to look away from the almost unholy sight.
"Better yet, you wanna borrow the toaster after I toss it in my bathtub later?" Ichigo asked from behind her, making her jump with a yelp.
"Either that, or you can just feed me to the Hollows and THEN go suicide," she replied glumly, making him laugh.
"Perhaps you could join me when I feed myself to the Hollows," Toshiro offered in the same dull tone, which made both of them jump as he calmly sipped his drink.
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?"
After quite a long time of dancing and mingling, with the occasional exchanged suicidal looks between the three, Matsumoto went onto the stage and sang a rather interesting rendition of "Party in the USA." Peyton was busting a gut laughing by the end of it, and she wasn't alone.
"I loved how she changed 'Party in the USA' to 'Party in Karakura'."
Orihime nodded. "She was pretty dedicated. She even changed the American sights to ones here."
Renji laughed. "Yeah, well, what about the dancing? And I thought Miley was hot..."
Rukia's temple throbbed at that, and Peyton rolled her eyes. "He's a guy, Rukia, jeez."
"Yeah, but that's just plain bad taste on his part," Ichigo commented, making Peyton nearly spit out her drink with laughter at Renji's expression.
"HEY, Strawberry, I don't judge YOUR thing for Jessica Alba!"
"But Jessica Alba's hot."
"Well, I disagree."
"And I disagree about your thing for Jennifer Love Hewitt."
"And I disagree about YOUR thing for Brittney Murphy!"
"Well, Renji, I completely disagree with YOUR thing for Megan Fox!"
Everyone within a seven-foot radius turned to look at him with a gasp, Peyton included. "...Ichigo, are you stupid?"
"Is that a trick question?" Renji and Toshiro asked at the same time, making Ichigo's temple throb.
"Seriously, I thought virtually every male primate in the world was in consensus with Megan Fox's hotness level, Renji and yourself included," Uryu stated out of nowhere, adjusting his glasses in that superior way of his.
Ichigo shrugged. "I just don't see it. For one thing, you can tell she's bitchy and it just ruins her for me. Plus, I've seen hotter celebrities if you REALLY wanna go there. Aaaaand not to mention that since so many other guys think she's hot, it makes me wanna NOT think she's hot even more," Ichigo concluded importantly.
"..."
"..."
"...As long as we both agree that Penelope Cruz and Halle Berry are two of the hottest women to walk the earth."
"Agreed."
Tatsuki shook her head, Orihime picked her jaw up off the floor, and Peyton was laughing her ass off at the expression on Rukia's face. "Guys are such pigs."
"They just said what everyone else is thinking. Although I will say this: I kinda figured Ichigo was more-or-less completely and totally oblivious to anything with boobs and a vagina," Peyton muttered, making Orihime spit out her drink all over Matsumoto as Tatsuki laughed her ass off.
"I thought so too!"
"Hey Peyton, you thirsty?" Rukia asked slyly, successfully scaring the crap out of Peyton after showing up out of nowhere. Although she had to admit, she was welcome for the distraction; words couldn't describe how undeniably bored she was. Sure, she was talking and whatnot, but she wasn't really into it. She really just wanted to take a nice hot shower and lay in bed while watching tv and maybe eating some ice cream. Yeah, Peyton was lazy, so what?
She sweatdropped as she snapped back to reality, looking at the full cup in her hand pointedly. "Ummm...no, Rukia, I'm good."
"Well, come with me, I'm thirsty as hell!"
"You have legs, don't you?"
"So do you, so you shouldn't have any problems keeping up with me!" she said matter-of-factly, grabbing her cup from her before grabbing her by the arm and dragging her along. Which...was pretty embarrassing considering she was shorter than even Peyton.
Peyton rolled her eyes. "How about instead of pulling my arm out of its socket, you just tell me what the hell this is all about?" Rukia's answer was to give her a firm push (with the help of Matsumoto, who bounded right over as if called), making her practically fly into Ichigo.
"What the hell, you guys?" Ichigo asked Rukia and Matsumoto, temple throbbing.
Peyton furrowed her eyebrows. "Kidnapped you too, huh?"
He nodded, which just made her smirk. "And...they managed to do this how? Jeez, Ichigo, aren't you strong enough to fend off a couple girls?"
"S-Shut up! They caught me by surprise, alright! And what's your excuse, couldn't you have just shocked 'em to death?"
She scowled in reply, and he scowled right back, but then they both looked at each other funny after realizing Toshiro was whistling innocently and kept glancing up. This made Peyton really suspicious; since when did Toshiro actually act his presumed age, and for that matter, since when could he even whistle?
Then Rukia and Matsumoto waved some cash back and forth in their lines of vision, which they watched like dogs being teased with treats. "Forty bucks each if you do it."
"...Do WHAT?" they asked suspiciously, snapping out of their dazed state and forcibly averting their eyes from the money. Renji popped up out of nowhere and pointed upwards, smirking rather smugly at them. They both stared at the most ominous plant in the universe dangling above them.
"...Mistletoe?" Ichigo asked them dumbly. Peyton popped her knuckles and glared at Rukia ominously, trying to get the point across. Matsumoto decided to kick it up a notch and turned to look at the group that had somehow formed. Did everyone just somehow get the memo without the two victims knowing, or what?
"All in favor to them abiding the mistletoe rule, say aye!"All the two could hear were "Aye!"'s, and Peyton's face fell. Even Keigo, her stalker, and Lindsay, her own flesh and blood, yelled out "Aye!" enthusiastically. Which would make sense, since Lindsay had introduced him as her boyfriend about an hour ago. Thus making yet another person spit out their drink.
She also saw Jake and his hostess girlfriend joining in the shouting, which was just plain depressing considering he was the only guy in Karakura that had been genuinely interested in her at one time.
They looked dumbly at each other as a cheer of "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" broke out, and Peyton thought of painful ways for the person who started the cheer to die.
"Well...we are getting paid," Ichigo said slowly.
Peyton nodded thoughtfully. "O-One kiss never hurt anyone, right?"
"R-Right."
"I mean, it's not like it would mean anything," she said with a nervous scoff.
"Tch. Never, absolutely not," he agreed just as nervously, clearing his throat to try and get the shakiness out of it.
Peyton nodded. "...Okay."
After a few moments of excruciating slowness on both their parts, the dread and awkwardness written all over their faces, Peyton finally sighed and grabbed him with both hands by his jacket. "Goddammit, you dumbass! Just hurry up and get it over with so I can get my forty bucks!"
At the same time she pulled him closer, he leaned in, and BAM! They were kissing.
...And kissing.
...And still kissing.
And then her grip on his jacket tightened a little as his hand moved to caress the side of her face, along her jaw line. They were completely oblivious to the wolf-whistling, or Toshiro and Renji's jaws dropping to the floor.
"Shouldn't one of them need air by now?" Orihime asked Matsumoto, who just giggled in reply.
Finally, Rukia cleared her throat rather loudly as they continued to kiss. "I never said you had to make out."
They both instantly opened their eyes, moved about five feet apart from each other, and blinked dumbly at everybody. Matsumoto started to clap, and soon everyone was laughing. Lindsay put an arm around her sister's small frame, shaking her head slowly. "Goddamn, sis. I think you just earned about eighty dollars there."
Renji and Toshiro were currently picking their jaws off the floor, and Rukia shook her head as Renji started to grill Ichigo about the whole thing. But both of them kind of tuned them all out; the scowl quickly returned to Ichigo's face, and Peyton managed to maintain a bored expression despite all the blood rushing up to her face and the heat still in her cheeks. But they both were thinking the same thing:
What the fuck did I just do?