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I OWN NADA!

Chap. 2- Pretend

"You just have to pretend to be gay!"

The words seemed to repeat over again like an echo bouncing inside Matt's head. For a few seconds he stood motionless trying to grasp the sentence and comprehend what he really meant, he finally reacted and realized what Tai had proposed; he blinked a few times and shook his head.

"W-wait wait, what?"

"Yeah!" Tai jumped from his sitting position and looked at Matt with such shining eyes as if he just had the most amazing idea in years, "It's brilliant! Or would you rather dress like a transvestite and pretend to be a girl?"

"You're crazy!" Matt hollered, standing up from his seat and facing Tai, the blond was a few inches taller than the brunette that he had to look down a little, Tai's bushy nest hair helped accumulate his height making him seem as if he was tall, though it really didn't work because he had to bend his neck a little to actually be able to have a good look at Matt's blue eyes.

"No! I'm not crazy, I am perfectly sane," he bragged. "I think it's a good idea! Don't you want to live somewhere warm underneath the same roof of a cute girl's place rather than spending night after night sharing a room with a guy who snores like a freaking giant?! Which I'm pretty sure it keeps you awake at night, I would know, I live with him."

Matt sighed, there was no denying at the fact that Davis was a horrible sleeper; after sleeping alone in the couch on his first night at Tai's place, he was fortune enough to hear the horror growls and snores coming from Davis' room. Thinking how much worse it would be if he had to share the same room, he decided to try and find somewhere else to reside. Matt kept blank for a few moments; he looked at one side of the room to the other. He began to get desperate as he irritatingly rolled his eyes, his hand ran down through his soft blond hair, "But why gay? Why can't I just be myself? Is it hard to find a good place to stay nowadays without pretending to be something you are not?"

Tai wrapped an arm around Matt's shoulder resting his hand on top; with his free hand he pointed his index finger towards Matt's face. "Listen Mattie, Do you want this or not? This could be your last and only chance to find an open space at the moment and I don't think it would be a big problem pretending as long as her parents don't find out."

"Wait, why are her parents a problem? Don't they trust her? Didn't they know she had a guy roommate before?" Matt wondered raising a thin eyebrow at Tai while wafting Tai's hand off his shoulder.

"No, they didn't, when they came to visit, she would tell him to leave and lock his room so they wouldn't accidentally mistake the room for the bathroom; her parents are old fashion, they believe you have to be married or something for a guy and girl to live together. Sora is more like a free spirit and doesn't really follow her parent's rules, she's a rebel. Well, was a rebel, but I mean she's a grown woman she can practically do whatever she wants against her parent's will. My point is, as for you, not really being a 'guy'", Tai quoted with both his index and middle finger, flexing them down towards Matt, "I don't think they will have to worry that their only daughter is doing anyone yet before getting married. That's the only thing they are strict about. I think they are willing to trust a very feminine guy," he smiled broadly the small wrinkles of his devilish lips stretched as he flashed his pearly white teeth. "Besides, I already told her you're gay."

"You did what?!" Matt's jaw dropped, oxygen running out from his body, the color of his face completely gone.

"I, as in me, Already. Told. Her. You. Are. Gay."

"I heard what you said!" Matt blurted, punching Tai in the arm, "How can you tell her that when I haven't even decided!"

"Ow!" Tai rubbed the side of his bruised arm, "So she wouldn't think twice about the situation, she ended up believing the whole story!"

"Story?"

"Yeah, at first she said no because I said my guy friend but then I was all like, 'Oh Sora please help him he's gay and he's my friend. His place got burned down and he has no place to live so I ended up taking him in, you should have seen him, he was crying his eyes out, I offered him my shoulder, he wept and wept. He went through a lot! Can you please help him?' she automatically said yes, she was like 'poor thing.' So, you're in!"

"You jerk! You made me sound like a Pansy!"

"You're not; you are just going to 'act'."

"How does one act gay?"

"You dumb-ass, you don't have to act it out, just say you are gay and you like penis in your mouth and they will believe the whole thing up. Honestly, people nowadays believe any bullshit you tell them.

"The hell, Tai! I am not going to say that. Do I even get a chance to think about this?"

"Don't think about it! Just take this opportunity! Do it now, do it. Now. You don't have much time to think it over; tomorrow we are meeting up with her at her place so you better have your gay on by then. Glad we worked this out; I'm going to take a nap, wake me up when dinner is ready." And just like that, Tai left to his room to take his nap as if everything was solved in that instant. Matt was left standing in the living room trying to figure out what had just happened for the last couple of minutes.

Was Tai really serious about this? On second thought, he was never really serious about anything, he was still a child. Sometimes that was a good thing, but decisions like this, it could be the worse. He sat again on the couch thinking that maybe there was no hope for him anymore.

Him gay? He didn't know the first thing about being gay! In fact he was the opposite of what you would call a gay person. How was he going to fool this girl into thinking he was actually homosexual?

Tai had really lost his marbles, then again he figured he did not have any to start off with, he was just an airhead topped with big bushy brown hair. Tai reminded Matt of a troll doll he once owned when he was a kid; the hair of the troll rose up in a very shaggy pointy top, the color of his hair was a strong neon green. He laughed at the thought then frowned at himself for thinking something so stupid in a serious situation. With one last shake from his head, he got up and started dinner.

7 p.m. marked on the clocked that hung on the white wall of the living room, the seconds ticked off the face of the clock as the day drove on with the movements of the sun, and the sky was now tinted with afternoon colors of orange and pink and trickles of white blotches. Matt had almost finished the last touches of his dishes when Tai and Davis came out from their rooms by the sweet aroma fumes coming from the kitchen, they sat down at the small table, plates already in place accompanied with their silverware and glasses.

"Oh this smells great, Matt!" Exclaimed Davis, his tummy already grumbling, demanding to be fed and mouth already salivating, "I don't remember the last time I smelled something so delicious."

"Hey, what is that suppose to mean, Davis?" Tai asked offended by the remark, "Don't you like my cooking?"

"You are not the greatest cook, Tai; let's just put it that way."

"I'm deeply hurt by this, Davis; I thought you liked my cooking seeing that you would eat the whole thing on your plate."

"Because I was starving! I have to pay the consequences later on in the throne, do you remember the last time you gave me food poisoning? Or the last time you burned the food and then fed it to me telling me it was a new exotic dish you discovered and it was suppose to look that way? Or when you almost, almost, burned the place down? Or when-"

"Okay I get the message! I am a horrible cook, sometimes, but come on, you do love my omelets."

"The only thing you can cook without messing them up and the only thing we eat around this place, besides ramen."

"Enough talking you too, and start eating," Matt ordered as he served both guys, "eat up before it gets cold."

"Oh the game is on!" Davis exclaimed grabbing the remote and turning the TV, they had placed the television in front view of the kitchen so they could eat while watching TV. To Davis' disappointment the soccer game was not on but instead the news were broadcasting.

"Aww, no fair! Ooh, maybe it's on another channel."

"Hold on!" Tai cried out, "leave it there. Matt, I think this is the late update report of your apartment."

Matt turned to face the TV and sure enough his apartment building was being showed of what was left, the reporter got closer to the remnants of the building. The scene quickly changed as a fireman came into view and started to speak, "unfortunately, we were not able to save the whole building as it rapidly burned down due to a small fired occurring in the fourth floor by an unattended cigarette. Ms. Puckett fell asleep while she was smoking and the cigarette fell on her carpet; she had removed the batteries of the smoke detector, the neighbors began to smell something funny and one of her next door neighbors had to kick the door open to save the old lady, the good thing is that no one was harmed and everyone got out safely before the whole thing went down."

"Well, that's fortunate, we are glad that everyone is safe," replied the reporter then looked back at the camera.

"That lady, she lived a floor above me, we always had complains about her smoke detector going off every time she would fall asleep while smoking. We warned her about the dangers but she never listened, I'm surprised she ended up getting out without a burn." Matt shook his head taking his eyes off the TV and resumed eating.

"Hey Matt! I think that's you, yeah! It is you!"

Matt did a quick glance at the TV and just like Davis had pointed out, he was there, "I had gotten up to get a glass of water when I smelled something smoky, I thought that was strange, I followed the scent and it led me outside the hallway and sure enough I saw smoke coming out from the air bins, I l grabbed a few of my stuff and ran out."

"Matt said he went to pee," Tai added as he finished the last of his meal.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell that to the reporter and the thousands of people watching the news. Geesh, Tai, you're such a kid!"

Tai looked at the blond and stuck his tongue out, "Am not! Nehhh!"

Matt rolled his eyes, he looked at the TV one last time and he was now gone, it relieved him. An uncomfortable feeling was placed in the pit of his stomach as he watched himself; he really disliked watching himself on TV.

"Matt, don't forget tomorrow, Sora's place after lunch."

"Ooohh, Matt has a date with Sora?"

"No, Davis, I don't have a date, it's an arrangement made by Tai to meet this woman who has a place for rent."

"Oh."

"Yeah, and remember stay calm and be the gayest man you can be!"

"Wait, Matt, you're gay?!"

"No I am not gay!"

"Alright, don't yell, being gay it's cool. I understand you are in denial and it's taking you a while to realize that you love men."

Matt slapped his hand on his forehead as he took a deep breath and released a few seconds later, "No Davis, I just have to say this little white lie to get me the room, that's it, It's only going to be temporary until I am able to find another place."

"Ah, okay. That's cool too. Well, look at the bright side; you are going to be living with Sora. Rawr," Davis growled at Matt winking at him and nudging his shoulder with his elbow.

"It's not even going to be like that, Davis, they don't even know each other like we know her. It's going to be more awkward but I think it's for the best, that way she won't have to find out that he's not gay. He would be just another person with no motive of getting close," Tai looked at Matt for an answer, as if he felt his gaze he looked back at him. The blond hadn't really decided yet if he was going to do it, but it seemed to Tai that he was going to say yes.

Tai was right, Matt had no intentions in getting close to Sora, there was the least chance they would become close and it was better not to due to finding out the truth.

"GOOOL!"

Matt and Tai both jumped at the sound of Davis' scream, they didn't realize that Davis had changed the channel and he was now on his feet with his shirt off and swirling it around; his team had scored and he was in celebrating mode.

That night, Davis allowed Matt sleep in his bed, and he would sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. It didn't take Davis long to fall asleep before his loud snoring followed on cue. Matt lay for a moment figuring out if he should really take this chance and move out, he had already thought about it and there was no denying that he would rather live under the same roof with a hot girl who he never talked to or seen in years while pretending to be gay, than living here with no personal space and with someone who had a snore of a loud giant. He'll do anything to change his life for the better.

When he no longer was able to concentrate due to the piercing snores coming from Davis, he shut his eyes tightly for a few seconds then reopened them with strong motivation; it showed his decision.

Matt was already up and dressed (despite the little hours of sleep) when Tai finally decided it was the right time to wake up after snoozing his alarm for the tenth time. He could smell the coffee brewing and the bacon making that sizzling sound Tai love hearing in the morning( whenever they had bacon and Davis was the one cooking it). Breakfast was done and ready in the table, Tai shouted at Davis to get up.

"So I decided."

"Decided what, Matt?" Tai grumbled half asleep as he grabbed a strip of bacon, dangling it inside his mouth then chumming down.

"Seriously? About yesterday! I'm going to be you-know-what."

"Oh. You say it like it's a bad thing. Just say it loud and proud, 'I am gay and I love man!' There's no shame in it."

"Stop making it sound like I really am!"

"Well, you have to start somewhere, she has to believe it. You have to make it realistic! The audience doesn't like a crappy actor; fool them with your theatrical play!" Tai dramatically said as if quoting Shakespeare.

"Alright drama queen, take it easy. It seems to me that you can pull the gay card more than I would; I bet you can actually pass as a gay guy."

"Ha! The public can't handle this!"

All Matt could do was laugh at Tai, he made the whole situation a little more better, more comical and it made Matt feel at ease. How bad could it be? They ate breakfast together and talked about work, when they were done Davis had finally showed up and sat to eat.

"So how's the business, Davis?" asked Matt interested in Davis job "Did you sold a lot of ramen yesterday?"

"In fact I did, I even got a number from this cute girl," Davis responded his face lighting up as he remembered the young girl from yesterday.

"That's good; your noodles are always the best around. You should come over our street and sell. It's always packed, I'm pretty sure you'll sell in there."

"Yeah, maybe I should come by. There's nothing wrong with having a different pace of change."

Tai got up to get ready for work. He had decided it would be much faster if they went in one car to see Sora.

"But before we go I want you to practice a little on your gay thing."

"Practice? Practice what?" Matt wondered quirking an eyebrow to Tai.

"Like sit and try to cross your legs like a girl. You should do that when we go see Sora, come on do it."

"Ughh, I can't believe this," Matt sat on the couch and crossed his left leg over his right.

"Mmm, okay, try to close them a little more, sit straight, and make sure your back is straight. Okay, that looks good. How do you feel?"

"Gay. This is really crushing my nuts. It feels a little exaggerated in my opinion, I think we should take it down a notch and just cross my legs where my guys aren't being crushed. I need them."

"Alright, that's fine, now, when you greet her, don't shake her hand firmly, do it softly like almost brushing her hand, like this."

"How the hell do you know all this?" Matt asked his friend as he got up from the couch, he seemed to know much about being gay.

"Well, I've seen actual gay men around, Sora is a fashion designer and among the designers and models she hangs out with are guys who by chance are gay. I've met a few and that's how they always greet and sit. It's actually easy to remember, and it's funny. I make fun of it later when no one was around."

"Ahh, for a minute I thought you were the gay one."

"Hey guys! Look what I found in my closet! My old soccer ball! Man, I was looking for this, I wonder if I can still do that trick."

"Davis, don't play with that ball inside, you're going to break something."

"Tai, chill. I got this."

The brunette frowned at the younger man, Davis began to do some juggling with his legs, moving the ball from one thigh to the other. Tai ignored him and returned his attention to Matt, "Now, when you greet her make sure you say 'hello dear,' and kiss one of her cheeks, like this…" Tai slowly moved his pouted lips towards Matt's cheek; his motive was to just hover his lips without touching Matt's skin. But before he was able to move quickly, the ball Davis was playing with, stroke him on the side of his face making his lips move directions and going straight to Matt's lips. The two men quickly pulled away as the touch of their lips made contact. With discuss, Matt rubbed his lips hard with his sleeve while Tai spit whatever trace he felt of saliva that wasn't his. Davis started to laugh and darted towards his room before Tai could grab him and strangle him.

"Just leave him; we're going to be late," Matt said his face all red, Tai's face was also red, but not by the embarrassing scene that had just happened but by the bright swollen bruise on his face that came from the ball. Both guys left the apartment knowing very well the ride to work was going to be awkward.

The whole day at work went like a blur; Matt had finished the last of his sales and turned them in to Thomas, Thomas later announced something important in front of the office but the blond really didn't give two shits about what he said as he faced his computer the whole time. It was already lunch time and Tai had finally showed up, his face back to normal size, he had gotten over the fact that the kiss was an accident and decided to make a joke about it, "Mattie! My love, I came here for more, did you miss me? Ha-ha! Kidding, kidding, don't hit me."

"Pucker up and I'll give you some of my fist."

"Calm down, I'm over it, you should too. It was an accident."

"I am, I am, just don't mention it ever again."

"Deal. So you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." They headed out the building deciding to take an early leave, more like sneaking quietly away and dodging Steve from telling.

On the way to Sora's apartment, Tai began to explain after a brief silence, "Okay this is how we are going to do it, I'll do the talking when necessary you can talk but when it's not your turn to speak I will cut you off and I'll take charged," he explained without looking at Matt and his only concentration was the road ahead.

Matt looked sideways to his left from the passenger seat, he saw how focused Tai was with the streets and other cars driving in front of him, his hands moving gradually on the steering wheel.

"I still don't understand why gay, can't I pretend to be bi?"

"No, that's not going to work. If you pretend to be 'bi' there is a chance that she is going to think you will more likely hit on her, she says you either prefer one sex over the other, just try not to fall for her."

"I'm not planning to fall for her; I just want a place to stay until I get myself my own place."

"Well boy, good luck on that, it's not easy to sustain yourself from that girl," Tai said making a hard right turn, "Watch it Idiot! I'm driving here!" He flicked the driver off that drove pass by him honking him hard, "Dumb-ass."

"Here we are," Tai parked his car in front of a huge apartment building; they both got off and headed towards the stairs into an elevator. They reached their designated area and Tai knocked on the door three times fast and two times slow.

Sora had opened the door and smiled at both guys, "Hey, come on in," she ushered the two guys in, her eyes had immediately stopped on Matt, they followed him the whole time, she had seen this guy before but it just did not click where she had seen him. The golden spiked hair was familiar, his ocean blue eyes.

"Sora, this is my friend the one I was talking to you about, who needs a place to stay," Tai introduced Matt to Sora.

"Hi, It's not to meet you, Sora," Matt approached to the redhead reaching out a hand to shake, and just like Tai had taught him, he softly grabbed her hand and kissed her softly on her cheek. Her skin was soft at the touch of his lips, her neck smelled softly of perfume. Sora blushed softly at the sudden kiss, but brushed off the redness on her face immediately as she looked back at the blond, "My name is Matt Ishida."

"Pleasure to meet you Matt," she softly responded returning the gesture to him, she slowly took her time to check him out, he was handsome, polite and charming, it was a shame he was gay.

"I'll just make this brief, since you are a friend of Tai's," she explained as she led them towards the hallway that lead to the vacant room, "He has already talked about you and we covered a lot of the questions I don't need to ask you; like any criminal records I need to know, financial information, questions like these, rent is due at the beginning of the month you will be paying 350, you don't have to pay right now I'll let you start next month, the kitchen is always available if you feel like making yourself something, trash day is Tuesdays and Thursdays , restroom is in the middle of the hallway." She had opened the door that unveiled the inside of the empty room. The only thing there was in it was a mattress and a dresser. "It's the last thing my old roommate left before she moved out. I hope that's okay. I have extra sheets so I'll let you have some, you can move in anytime soon, and here is a copy of the apartment key."

Matt took the key placed in his hand, he went inside scanning the room, the walls were blank but clean, the room had a window, and he looked out and saw the whole view of the city, it was beautiful.

"I'll take it."

Chap two complete! I hope you guys liked it. Suggestions? Comments would be lovely as well. I want to hear from you guys. Remember, your comments encourage me to write sooner!