Disclaimer: I do not own The Host, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
Sorry it took so long for me to update; stupid school, homework, all that stuff. I just want to thank:
spaztronaut (my review didn't go through, but I'll try again I love all your stories btw and yes, I did know you loved Kyle :D hope this chapter is longer)
the bibi lima linda (hope your looking forward to the next story I told you about;)
Wavetail (don't worry, Wanda won't be anywhere close to being with Jared
teamjacob1993 (thanks, and I love Ian too (L)
sarahelizabeth1993 (thank you :D Ian is amazing)
Scarlett Sarcasm (you'll just have to wait and see :D and yes, she is in Pet's body)
Shiv3r (I can't ever be mad at Ian either)
4-eva-bookworm (thank you so much, and isn't spaztronaut the greatest?
And to everyone that put this in their favourites and author/story alerted. I'm also going to put up another poll for chapter five (not four). Hope you all like this chapter as much as the last two :D
Chapter Three: Masters of Sarcasm
We basically ignored each other for the rest of the period. I know that I wanted that, but it just didn't feel right; like something was wrong somehow. Neither of us tried to start up a conversation. I knew I was mad at him, but now I realize that it was kind of unnecessary. Since we have the same lunch period, I decided to talk to him about it after class. If I can that is. You see, he has this, almost crowd, of girls with him sometimes after his classes. Their sort of like groupies, but more annoying. To hear how they fawn all over him, is sickening. They are all so desperate, and you can see that he enjoys every minute of it. But then again, I guess every guy would; every guy except for Steven. He's kind of shy, but when he's with Jared and Brandt, he is extremely out there. I don't like him or anything, but he is one of my very best guy friends. I couldn't blame Ian for thinking that there was something going on between us, but that doesn't change the fact that he wanted to know.
Anyways, I, luckily, got the chance to talk to Ian, without anyone close enough to hear our conversation.
"Hey, Ian, do you have a minute?" I asked.
"I have nothing else to do, I guess," he replied, his voice monotone.
I led him towards a hallway, where there was, surprisingly, no one else, and asked him my question, burning with impatience.
"Are you mad at me or something?"
"Why would you say that?" he asked, clearly confused.
"Well, because you weren't really speaking to me in class after..." I trailed off, not knowing what to call it. It wasn't exactly an argument. I guess you might call it a disagreement, "And silence isn't exactly part of your personality."
"Oh." He paused for a moment to, I'm guessing; think of what to say next. "I wouldn't say mad, but I'm kinda frustrated that you won't listen to what I have to say," he defended.
"Fine then what happened, Ian?"
"I wasn't exactly expecting you to listen," he mumbled. "Well, I can't now, people are waiting for me in the cafeteria. Can I meet you after school or call you or something?"
"You really can't just tell me now?"
"First of all, we do need to eat, lunch is the most important meal of the day. Second, I don't want people around eavesdropping on the conversation," he said.
"Yeah I guess you're right, we'll meet after school then. But wait, isn't breakfast the most important meal?"
"Yeah, but then again, who really eats breakfast anymore, right?" he laughed.
"Are we meeting here then?" I asked.
"How about at that coffee shop about two blocks from here, say about 4:30?"
"Why can't we just meet here?"
"I have soccer practice, and I'm sure you don't wanna wait that long just to talk to me for five minutes," he explained.
"Alright, but just don't keep me waiting," I said.
"Okay." That's it? Ian O'Shea has nothing more to say?
"Really? No sarcastic comment this time? No smart-ass remark?" It really was surprising.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, why are you calling out bad names for?"
"I knew I shouldn't have asked."
We both went our separate ways into the cafeteria. I sat down at our usual table; Jared and Melanie were already there.
"So I saw you talking to Ian; are you guys 'making amends'?" Jared asked, using the proper air quotations.
"Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what he's going to tell me after school." I explained.
"And what's that?" Mel asked.
"He is going to try to explain what happened between him and Sharon." I answered.
"Finally. After he talks to you, you're probably going to be the only one that will actually know what happened between them. Well, aside from me of course," Mel said, smiling.
"Well, we will just have to wait and see." I said.
"Do you guys want to know what Brandt and I switched Burns' clothes with?" Jared asked, changing the subject.
"This is going to be horrible, isn't it?" Mel asked.
"A little more than horrible I'd say. We switched his t-shirt with a tube top, and his jeans with a skirt." Jared burst out laughing after he told us.
Mel and I just shook our heads, chuckling slightly. Those guys are so ridiculous, though I wondered what Burns was going to do to them. A few seconds later, I saw Burns walk into the cafeteria with exactly what Jared said he switched for his clothing; a pink strapless top and a bright yellow skirt. Luckily for Burns, he had brought his sweater today, although that doesn't change the fact that he looked completely ridiculous. He sat down at our table, glaring at Jared.
"Hey, Flames, do you have something to tell us?" Jared asked, trying not to laugh the whole time.
"I am going to kill you two. Just wait for what I have planned for you." Steven threatened.
"Oh, I'm so scared of the flaming homosexual over here." Jared teased. "Now you can truly live up to that name."
"You should be, you really should be." Steven said angrily.
"Where's Brandt? Shouldn't he be here by now?" Mel asked.
"No, he went out to lunch with Cassandra. He told me to tell you guys. And he was kind of upset that he didn't get to see your face." Jared answered, laughing through that last part.
Cassandra was Brandt's girlfriend and they've been together since the eighth grade. She's a really nice girl; I can't think of anything bad about her. She is also the only girl, that I know, that can put up with his constant pranks. They really were meant to be.
Lunch was fun, I was trying very hard not to laugh at Steven, but then again, so was everyone else. I sneaked a couple of glances at Ian, and almost every time I caught him looking right back at me... and Steven. Steven was sitting next to me, but we weren't talking any more than usual. Hmm, weird.
The rest of the day went by slowly, mostly because of the anticipation I felt for the talk I would have with Ian. I got to the coffee shop around 4:30. I had already dropped off all my stuff at Mel's because she lived close by and because I was going to her place afterwards.
I was surprised to see that Ian was already there. All I saw was the back of his head, though. Was he wearing something different, or was that just me? I guess he had changed into something different after his practice. I walked over and sat down at the seat opposite to him.
"Hey Ian, you're here earlier than I expected." I said with a laugh.
He looked at me, surprised and confused. That was when I realized that it wasn't Ian at all.
"Do I know you? And did you just call me Ian?" the man asked.
"I'm so sorry I thought you were someone I knew." I explained.
"I think we know the same person then," he said, smirking.
What was he talking about? Wait. He sounds like Ian, and looks like him too, just a little older...
"Are you... are you Ian's brother, Kyle?" I asked, shocked.
"The one and only. Now, I'm guessing you're friends with my brother, since you know my name and all. How that kid has friends is the one thing I'll never figure out." Kyle said.
"Now I know where he gets all that sarcasm from." I said.
"Yes, we O'Shea brothers are, in fact, the masters of sarcasm. Well, at least I am," he answered.
I heard the bell of the shop door ring, and looked over. Sure enough, it was Ian. I looked at the clock; 4:35. At least he didn't keep me waiting.
He was looking around for a few seconds before he spotted me. When he saw that I was already sitting with someone, his eyes widened. I'm guessing he knew who it was. Just to confirm his unspoken suspicions, Kyle turned around.
"Hey bro. Do you have anyone you'd like to introduce to me?" Kyle asked.
"Umm...yeah. Kyle, Wanda. Wanda, Kyle. What are you doing here anyways? Aren't you supposed to be in Ann Arbour, you know, in university?" Ian asked.
"School doesn't start 'til next week, man. Plus, aren't you happy to see your big brother?" Kyle asked, grinning.
"Not particularly. But if you're here then we might as well make the best of it. Is Jodi here, too?" Ian asked, curiously.
"Not yet. She went to see her parents first. Why do you ask?" Kyle answered.
"You guys are attached at the hip, why wouldn't I ask?" Ian countered.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I guess I'll leave you two alone." Kyle said. With that, he winked at us, got up, and left.
"That was...weird." I said, laughing.
"You can say that again. Never would've thought I'd see you with my brother," he said, as he sat down where Kyle had been sitting.
"Neither did I. I thought he was you when I sat down." I explained.
He laughed, "I guess we do kind of look alike."
"Well, how did you want to start this?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
"Oh...yeah. Well I guess I could start with my grade one year. I think that's when it all started. This stupid kid, Fred Minster, used to bully me all the time. He got almost everyone in the class to hate me. I didn't even really do anything; I guess I was just the one person that he chose to hate." Ian began.
"What does that have to do with anything? I thought you were going to explain you and Sharon, not you and Fred Minster." I countered.
"You need to know this before you can understand everything else," he explained.
"Okay. How long did that last?" I asked. I really did feel bad for seven-year old Ian.
"Until I left Chicago and came here to Detroit. So until the end of grade six," he answered, looking away.
"Ian, I'm sorry; that must've been hard." I apologized.
"Yeah, but at least I left. A new school, a new experience. That was the only reason why I said yes to Sharon. I wanted a fresh start; I wanted people to like me, I wanted to have friends for once in my life. And I'm really sorry for ignoring you, but Sharon threatened to get everyone to hate me if I talked to you again. She knew that I was using her, we talked about it. She said that I couldn't break up with her, even if I wanted to because she had 'power over me'. So that's why I broke up with her in ninth grade, 'cause we went to separate high schools and she couldn't do much about it. You get it, don't you?" He said all this looking straight into my eyes. At least I knew he wasn't lying.
"Now I do. The only reason why I didn't was because I thought it was going to be a lie. What else was I supposed to expect?" I answered him.
"I wasn't exactly honest about my relationship with Sharon, but that was the only way that I could think of to ensure that I would be somebody that no one would bully..." he trailed off, leaving me to think through what he said.
All of it does make perfect sense.
He sighed. "You're the only one that I know that would actually listen. I can't exactly go around telling everyone my whole life story, now can I?" he explained.
"That's true," I said, taking it all in. "So are we good?"
"I hope so. It feels good to get this off my chest."
"I should go now, Mel's waiting for me." I said, standing up.
"Oh, yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" he asked, nonchalantly.
"Yeah, tomorrow." I smiled and left. That wasn't as bad as I thought.
I really hope you guys liked it. Again, I'm sorry for updating so late, but I hope this makes up for it a little. Hope you guys liked how I put Kyle into it. I love that guy (:
Please review and vote on the poll on my profile, it will help with chapter 5 (not 4). Please review :D Thank you!