Chattering Monkeys

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

Chapter 33: The Boys of Summer

Kuroshina grumbled as she walked to the door, knowing that it was Tsumura but wanting to ignore him.

He didn’t have to go to the stupid prom with stupid Lysa. He could’ve stayed home and sulked and she would’ve been perfectly happy but no, he went anyway. She would’ve looked ridiculous in a dress…and he’d probably want to dance…and she hated dancing…

But still, she didn’t want him to go with Lysa…

Grumbling more, she turned the knob and sure enough was met by the cheerful Tsumura.

“Hiiiii Kuro!” he sang happily.

“Hmph.”

Walking away, leaving the door open for him, he snickered behind her, “Nice to see you too.”

He glanced around for a moment before walking in, “Nazi on another trip?”

“Of course.”

He stretched out on her couch and she crossed her arms, glowering at him.

“No, go ahead, get comfortable” she grunted.

“Thanks, I think I will” he said happily.

She rolled her eyes and he smiled at her pleasantly, “You should’ve come.”

“Meh.”

“Me and Lysa together drank 35 cups of fruit punch and 15 cookies.”

“…”

“And naturally the music wasn’t all that great, but we did the tango.”

“…”

“And oh my God, Lysa taught me how to pole dance.”

“……”

“But” he said solemnly, “I would’ve liked it more…”

She glowered at him as he stood, staring down at her. She pulled back a little and scowled.

“What…?”

“I would’ve liked it more if you were there” he said sincerely enough.

“You must be kidding. I wouldn’t have had ONE cookie, danced, and ESPECIALLY not dance lewdly.”

“No you wouldn’t have” he agreed easily, “But you still would have been there.”

“I don’t find such things as entertaining as you do, Tsumura” she rolled her eyes, walking into her tiny kitchen.

Tsumura followed and stared at her back, “Really…well, I’m yet to find anything that remotely entertains you so if you have anything, I’d really like to know.”

“It doesn’t involve people.”

“Naturally.”

She turned to him and found that he didn’t look very pleased. Her first reaction was to roll her eyes but she found herself glaring at him instead.

“What?” she demanded.

“Just trying to figure out why my girlfriend is not interested in actually doing anything with me” he said rather dryly.

“I went to that stupid Homecoming.”

“BACK before we dated! You go but you never come in or something but that is not doing anything with me! The only time I’m with you is when we’re with other people!”

“Because our stupid friends are always there!”

“If I don’t hang out with them, I’m alone, aren’t I?” he said, his voice getting angry.

She simply shrugged and he sulked, “We’ve been together for nearly two years and you still act like…like this. I don’t know what I can do to make you…like me.”

She scowled and started to say something but he growled, “You don’t even let me HUG you. God, what is a hug?”

“Because a hug can lead to other things, no?” she grunted.

“Kuroshina…I just want you to want to kiss me. I don’t care about that…” he said sadly, “And if you think that’s all I really want, then you really don’t know me at all, do you…?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled out of the house, not waiting for a response, slamming the door behind him. Kuroshina glared after him before feeling herself sigh.

…Stupid Tsumura.

<i>Anita couldn’t help but glance at Darien as he stared blankly into space. It was the last week of school…she wondered how she’d gotten through.

But how could she talk…how had Darien gotten through?

Recently they’d posted class ranks and she was pleased holding number 23. She was surprised to find Tsumura at 21…the boy just didn’t seem the type to rank anywhere in the top 50. Jack made about 43, Kuroshina made 15, and Xiomara and Lysa…

“Shut up, I’m ADD!” Lysa proclaimed.

Jack grinned, “I made top 50…that’s pleasing enough.

Tsumura grumbled, pouting as well, “JUST outside of 20. Grr.”

Xiomara rolled her eyes, “What does it matter anyway?”

“It matters” assured Jack, “Ms. 201.”

“Shut up!”

“Wow, Darien landed third” said Tsumura suddenly, gaining entrance through the crowd towards the top ten list.

Anita looked up along with Xiomara, Lysa, and Jack who said in unison, “What?”

Darien was sitting on a bench nearby as Xiomara skipped over to him, “Hear that, Dari, number three! You should be proud of yourself!”

He glanced at her before slowly looking away, nodding, “I’m…happy.”

He couldn’t have said a bigger lie.</i>

Anita sighed, lying in bed with Vaughn, holding his waist as he stared at the ceiling, She nuzzled against his neck and murmured.

“Can’t you stay here…?”

“I want to” he murmured back, stroking her hair, “But I apparently have to see my grandparents…”

She sighed. Vaughn was going away the whole summer break to France. A whole summer break without her boyfriend…

To be perfectly honest, she wasn’t sure it was as bad as it seemed…was that normal?

She watched him climb from bed, redressing, and he sighed himself, reaching for his wallet, “Try to have fun…but not too much fun, without me.”

“Too much fun?” she shook her head, confused.

“I don’t know, you might start hanging around a certain blond guy I know…”

She gawked, hugging the sheet around herself, “Vaughn! I would never cheat on you!”

“Really…look, I just…okay. I’m sorry” he groaned.

She groused and glared at him as he climbed back on the bed, hugging her, “I’m sorry, you just seem so…smitten with him. I know I’m just paranoid…I hope you have a lot of fun this summer and hopefully weekends are free in France too.”

She sighed, relenting with a smile, and kissed him as he left on vacation. She was still a little miffed that he’d think she’d do something like that…

Vaughn hugged his arms, the France weather actually rather nippy. He sighed…he really didn’t want to be here but…whatever.

One of his step-sisters ran out, staring at the Eiffel tower before giggling, crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out at him.

“I bet you want your girlfriend so you can kiss and hug. Eww!”

Vaughn just stared at her. Siblings were one reason he was pretty sure he didn’t want kids.

“Vaughn!”

He escaped as his father called and was surprised to find another man standing there. Vaughn nodded a quick regard before looking at the other stranger…

She was a teenager…perhaps his age. Her brown hair hung at her shoulders, complimenting of her pearly skin, and her eyes were impossibly blue. He swallowed…wow.

“Vaughn, this is Franco(*check sims before post) Valois. And this is his daughter, Mireille Valois.”

“Pleasure to meet both of you” he smiled politely.

“Franco and I have some things to discuss, Vaughn…why don’t you take Mireille out and walk with her around?” asked his father.

Vaughn’s eyes widened and he glanced at her. She simply twirled a hair around her finger and finally he shrugged, “Okay.”

“Good, good. Stay out of trouble.”

Vaughn smirked and guided the girl out. Once outside though…

“I want to club.”

His eyes widened and he turned around, staring at the originally quiet girl who suddenly looked really bored…

“…Club?”

“Yea, y’know…dancing and stuff?”

“I…uh, can’t really say I’ve tried the French red-light district” he laughed nervously, “But…”

Her eyes slightly brightened, “I’ll show you but you’re from California, right? Tell me about it.”

He followed her as they walked and he told her about the location, the places, the people, the beach…she seemed intrigued enough.

“I go to an all-girls school” she grunted, “It sucks.”

“My schools no better but I wouldn’t want to be quarantined with all guys either” he whistled.

“Did you ever go to school in France?”

“Not really…”

“Lucky…” she sighed.

They arrived at what looked like an abandoned warehouse and she pulled him in. He was stunned to find a techno club….wow, leave it to France. She grabbed his arm suddenly and pulled him to the floor. He was shocked when she grinded against him. Mireille smirked.

“You don’t grind in America, non?”

“Oh do we!” he laughed anxiously, “Just uh, kind of weird.”

She giggled and continued…he flustered and felt his heart race when he realized he was…well, remotely aroused. This was not good…

“You know, my father and yours will be working this whole break. We can club every night!”

Not good at all.

“I guess Untitled won’t be forming this year, huh…” Jack murmured absently.

Tsumura sighed as he tossed the Frisbee to Jack, shaking his head woefully, “Darien doesn’t have the energy…it’d be nice to make some pocket change though.”

“Not only Darien, but Tali too! Damn it, everything sucks.”

“You’re telling me…”

It was already the end of June and pretty much nothing had happened since school ended. Tsumura just found himself getting into more arguments with Kuroshina, they’d only seen Darien ONCE, Tali…well, he might as well have fallen off the face of the Earth. Tsumura sniffed.

“I still see JENARIO.”

Jack snorted, “Five bucks say he’s getting some from Tai.”

Tsumura rolled his eyes, “I don’t know, maybe I’m just being too paranoid. They’re just so damn close…”

“What’s going on between you and Kuroshina?” Jack suddenly asked.

“The question is what’s NOT going on between me and Kuroshina…and the answer is anything” grunted Tsumura.

“What the hell are you talking about?” questioned Jack, bewildered.

“It’s been two years of me trying to get close to her, trying to be her boyfriend and yet she has no interest in a relationship whatsoever!”

“To be honest, I wouldn’t be sure if she was my girlfriend with the way Kuro acts.”

“The only girlfriendish thing Kuroshina does is…nothing. She gets jealous if I talk to other women though.”

“So, in other words, she’s just a paper weight?”

“I guess?”

“Then dump her” Jack said all too simply.

Tsumura faltered in his throw and stared before shaking his head, “But…”

“You’re just a glutton for punishment, Tsumura” Jack pointed out, “Kuroshina doesn’t let you touch her, kiss her, do ANYTHING that constitutes what makes a relationship fun in my opinion. And on top of that, she’s not returning your affection but still keeping you on a leash?”

“She’s still my Kuro though…” said Tsumura sadly.

Jack sighed, “I don’t understand you at all. I’m glad I’m not in that kind of relationship.”

“You might as well be! Talk about Kuroshina keeping me on a leash, you beat up any man Xiomara screws around with in your, supposable, swinger relationship!”

“She’s MY bitch!” Jack complained, pouting, “She shouldn’t HAVE to sleep with any other guy.”

“How do you think she feels when you sleep with another girl?”

“She’s not my only squeeze” shrugged Jack.

“You’re warped.”

Jack stuck out his tongue and sat down in the grass of the park, yawning, “Maybe, Tsumura, but…dude, I’m worried about Dar.”

“I can’t say I’m too surprised…” Tsumura admitted, sitting as well, “Darien’s…tough. If that happened to ME, oh my God, I’d be…dead.”

Jack sighed, “But isn’t he, Tsumu? The same Darien who didn’t take s**t from anyone, LYSA has to stand up for. The same Darien who always had something to say can go a week without saying a sentence. This…this isn’t our friend, is it?”

“I have faith” Tsumura said softly, “That…something…or someone…will save him.”

Just…who?

International…Business…Affairs…Festival…

…Who the hell came up with this stuff?

Anita smiled softly as she wore the German dress, a rather decorated dirndl, watching Eosia and her mother giggle and run off. Her brothers seemed very unhappy about having to wear traditional German clothing…it was kind of funny though, the whole festival subject.

“Ahh! I’m freakin’ Kenshin, yo!” whined Tsumura, pulling at his hakama pants.

“Those remind me of balloon pants” teased Jack.

“Shouldn’t you be wearing a toga or something?” Tsumura crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at the tunic Jack had.

“Toga??”

“Your mom’s wearing one…”

“My mom and dad are crazy. Haven’t you learned this yet?” Jack questioned dryly.

Tsumura smirked and shook his head before glancing at Darien, dressed in an embroidered vest and puffy sleeved shirt, leaning against the wall. Jack crossed his arms and stared him over before Tsumura commented.

“So Dar…how’s your summer been, dude?”

He glanced at them before sighing, “Long…”

They nodded in agreement… Anita watched the three from across the room and sighed. Darien seemed no better…

But no! This would not do. Her goal was to stop thinking about him so much. If Vaughn was so suspicious he claimed she was cheating then maybe she was too obsessed.

She glanced over at him again though. The marks and scars on his face had pretty much vanished, his gorgeous tanned skin perfect and flawless again. His hair was a little longer, curling upwards at the ends…gah! Why did she keep doing this to herself? Turning around, she grumbled. No more staring…

But she looked back again. Why’d he have to be so hot?

She looked to find Kanreyuu quickly. He’d distract her away from Darien. She looked around and groaned. Of course, he was standing right next to him, but…she walked over, knowing she could get past him without any issue.

“Oh my God, he’s really hot, Anita!”

Anita halted and found Eosia had greeted her almost right in front of Darien, speaking German. She glowered and glanced around, answering back in their native tongue, “Who…?”

“This guy right here!”

Darien.

Anita flustered and grunted, “Eosia…do you not think that is a little improper?”

“But you can not deny it…” Eosia clucked her tongue.

Anita leveled a stare at her, not sure what to say on the matter before sighing, “He is very attractive, yes, but he is the same age as I am, Eosia, so he’s out of your range.”

“What! He is so tall!”

“Yes…”

Eosia pouted and walked away, obviously disappointed as Anita rolled her eyes. She briefly glanced at Darien was confused to find a rather bewildered look on his face. What…?

A little later during the festival, she found Terae, surprisingly, talking to Darien’s father. She walked over but stopped a little bit behind.

“Darien…he’s…still pretty depressed” mumbled Kaa-ren, “Counseling, treatment, anti-depressants…nothing works.”

“In the end, Mr. Jizrla, the only way anything works is if he wants it to.”

“Yes…”

“Has his school work or anything else suffered?”

Nope, Anita thought, sighing.

“Oh no, Darien’s always been very intelligent. He always seemed bored in school but I guess because he is. I remember in 4th grade the teachers said he was able to learn German in the lapse of a couple months” Kaa-ren laughed wistfully, “I guess I should’ve noticed his talent and put him somewhere with more of a challenge. I guess since it’s such child’s play, he’s able to not let his depression effect him.”

“Impressive” whistled Terae.

…He learned German in…

She turned completely red and quickly left. Oh crap…he knew what she was saying…she called him attractive…

…Right about now, she wished Vaughn was here.

Mireille reminded him of strawberries…

She had this very awkward surface though very pretty…she often wore that scent…

And she kind of tasted like them too…

He watched her sleep, her smooth skin milky, perfect. Kissing her neck, he smiled and wrapped his arms around her, sighing.

Two months of endless time with her, connecting with her in ways he couldn’t with anyone else, he was hardly surprised when they ended up making out on the couch in his hotel room then moving to the bed. She got to him, driving him insane…but not in a bad way, if that made any sense. Her eyes opened after a moment and she smiled up at him, kissing him intensely. He smiled into her kiss, groaning softly, before pulling away, staring down at her.

“Good morning” he greeted.

“Good morning…” she sighed.

He sighed, resting his forehead against her’s, “I’m leaving in a month…”

“I know” she pouted, “Don’t mention it just yet though. We should enjoy it while we can.”

He nodded wistfully and kissed her again.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was getting yelled at, reminded that he had started a relationship back at home and this was awful of him…

But he could honestly say, at this second, he really didn’t care.

Chapter 34: Jael

Kaa-ren sighed as his driver took his suitcase out to the car and glanced back at his family. Clahara was sitting drowsily out on the couch, staring at him lethargically. He grimaced and walked over to her, kneeling, and kissing her hand.

“Clahara, I can stay, y’know…?”

“I know you can” she said simply, “But I don’t want you too. This is an important meeting to Ray.”

Ray, his grandfather, was a jerk to all extremes but demanded he be present for this all important meeting even though Clahara was due at any time…kissing her sadly, he gripped her hand, worried.

“If ANYTHING happens, call me, and I will get back here any way possible.”

She smiled softly at him and waved him off, “I’ll be fine, honey.”

He nodded shortly and stood, glancing at Lilly and Shay.

“Your mother will need you guys if something happens so you stick by, hear me?”

They both nodded slowly and he smiled, leaving them. As he walked out the front door, he stared at Darien who was sitting out on the hammock, staring absently. Kaa-ren grimaced and cleared his throat.

“Darien…I…”

He glanced at his father and Kaa-ren stared before smiling, “Never mind.”

He walked away. He knew it wasn’t Darien’s fault he was like this and in any other case, he would’ve placed his son directly in charge…but he wasn’t sure how useful he’d be to his mother at this point now…

Clahara had went to her room to nap, the baby making her so drowsy, it was ridiculous. That’s it…Kaa-ren was so getting fixed. This was definitely their last child…

But she awoke at about 5 or 6, weird pangs striking her stomach. She knew something was wrong…sliding down the steps, barely making it, she whimpered, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Ugh, this sucked…

“L-Lilly? Shay?” she called weakly.

The two were sitting, watching a movie as she came in. Darien was sitting and reading but looked up at her before slowly standing.

“Mother…?”

She sobbed and nearly weakly fell to her knees but Darien, surprisingly, rushed to her and grasped her. She cried and leant heavily against her oldest child, hyperventilating.

“Mom…?”

“You idiot! She should be resting! What are you doing?” demanded Lilly, pausing the movie and coming to see what was going on.

Darien scowled but didn’t say anything. Clahara grasped his shirt and wept, “D-Darien…”

“…Hold on, mom.”

She was surprised as he picked her up in his strong arms, carrying her towards their front door. Lilly and Shay followed, stunned.

“What the hell? Darien, take her back to bed!”

“Dad said to let her rest” Shay pointed out, frantic.

Darien stopped and sent back one of his notorious icy glares, which actually was shocking as he hadn’t done it in months. They both stopped, wide-eyed.

“Shut up. Our mother needs to go to the hospital. Now either get in the damn car or get back to your movie. Either way, leave me alone. Better safe than sorry.”

They were stunned but followed him quickly to their SUV. Clahara was provoked to smile despite being in horrible pain…that…was Darien.

Lilly and Shay frowned as their mother was locked away in a room for three hours. Darien was wandering around aimlessly, pacing. It was strange but…was he worried?

“Thi-this is dumb. They’re probably just giving her a check-up and she’s fine” muttered Shay.

“For three hours? Don’t be dumb” scowled Lilly.

Darien mumbled incoherently before suddenly, the door opened. They all looked up and out came a doctor with a smile on his face.

“Are you her children?”

“Yes…” Lilly said, standing, “Our mother…?”

“She’s going to be perfectly fine. We had to give her an emergency c-section.”

They all stared, horrified, and Shay mumbled, “You mean…the baby…?”

“She’s with your mother. Come this way.”

The doctor led her towards the room and upon entrance, they were met by whimpering. Lilly rushed over to the bed and gasped.

“Oh mama…I…I was just going to force you to lie down. Oh my gawd…”

Clahara laughed softly, “It’s all right, Lilly…”

The woman looked down and cooed at her newborn, “Isn’t that right, hmm?”

Shay stood across the room, petrified. He was the baby….this must have been a hard moment for him. But Darien stood in the shadow of the room, in the corner, and stared at the wall. Clahara looked up and smiled.

“Darien, darling, come see your sister...if it weren’t for you--”

“I should go phone dad. He’ll probably want to talk to you and get details” he interrupted quickly, starting to leave the room.

“Darien?” his mother said, confused, “What’s wrong…?”

“I don’t want to see her. I’ll look at her later.”

“Darien…”

“Why don’t you get it?!” he suddenly yelled, shaking.

They all flinched back, wide-eyed. He dragged a trembling hand down his face and he breathed brokenly… Clahara bit her lip and winced. She stared down at her daughter before looking up at Darien.

“One day, darling, you’ll be a father…I’ll never pretend to know what you went through or what you’re going through but I do know it felt like the world would end. But…it didn’t. You’re still here and there’s a reason for that. It’s painful…horribly painful, but life carries on even when you don’t want to…”

Darien stared silently at the wall and Clahara sighed, continuing, “You’ve gone on in this pain alone for long enough, Darien, locking out everything. But it’s time to start pulling your way back, realizing that you still have a reason to be alive…we’re still here for you…you still have a life ahead of you…Claire would’ve wanted it that way and don’t dare delude yourself to think otherwise because then I’d think you didn’t know her at all.”

The baby made a soft mewing sound and Clahara smiled down at her. She blinked when she noticed a shadow over her and looked up. Darien stood there limply, his eyes shifty before coming to rest on his sister. He frowned for a moment before a very faint smile crossed his face.

“…Hi…”

Clahara smiled softly and waved each of her children over. They came slowly and Clahara handed the baby to a startled Darien. He stared down at her and she whimpered before silencing. He continued to gaze at her before murmuring.

“…I’ll try.”

Darien jumped when the baby made the weirdest guttural noise ever. It was like a cross between a gurgle and a grunt slash yell. He stared at her, wide-eyed, and she stared back before giggling. He raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head.

“You’re a strange one, Jael, let me tell you…”

The baby was only two weeks old but making these odd sounds…they all tended to develop quickly so it wasn’t too much of a surprise, but still… she clutched at his shirt and buried her face in his neck before sighing. He smiled tenderly at her as they walked around their large estate.

Their mother was on bed rest since the baby had taken a lot out of her. Shay was useless and Lilly disappeared so it was up to him to watch over her…his father had been caught up in Russia because of a freak snowstorm and the poor man was worried sick. But together over the phone, they’d named her Jael Naviea Jizrla. It kind of went against the tradition of having the first and middle name start with the same letter but it was still cute.

Sitting down on a bench in the garden, he picked a pink flower and put it in her already thick platinum hair. She didn’t seem to notice though and instead focused on the pillow nearby. He smirked. She was going to be a little ADD but hey…

“You know…you would’ve been an aunt at like, one year old?” he murmured.

Naturally she wouldn’t respond…

“I would’ve been a father…me and Claire…parents. Horrifying…”

The baby gurgle squealed and he smiled at her before staring at the sky, “But it’s true what mom said…life just keeps going and I’ve been staying at that one moment for a little too long. I have some catching up to do…”

She whined and he stared at her, kissing her cheek, “You’ll help me, won’t you?”

She grasped his lips and he crossed his eyes which amused her greatly before reaching into his pocket. Pulling out his cell, he stared at it before sighing, flipping it open. One step at a time…

“Hey…Jack?...No, no, nothing’s wrong, jeez…I…I was just wondering if you guys wanted to come over…yea…”

He hadn’t been entirely sure of what they’d do…he wasn’t going to drink when he had to take care of the baby and loud noises just made her act weird so not music or video games. But then, he should’ve realized…

“OH MY GOD, she is so cute!!”

She would be good entertainment herself…

“Darien, she looks just like you” cooed Xiomara, holding Jael.

He watched and smiled sheepishly, “Not really…”

“Yes she does!”

Jael giggled at the silly girls and Darien chuckled some. Jack smirked from afar.

“Women and babies.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Kuro would be standing a mile off” smirked Tsumura, rolling his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Tsumura, but I stopped thinking of Kuro as a girl a long time ago.”

“Great, I’m gay.”

They laughed and Xiomara came up, all bright-eyed and handed the baby to Jack…the look on his face was priceless and the way he held Jael…

“Support her head” scowled Darien, feeling protective.

“Ah! Take her from me!” Jack freaked out.

“No! See?” Xiomara said, readjusting her in his arms.

He stared at her uncomfortably and swallowed, “Uh, cute…take her, please?”

“Jeez!”

“I’ll hold her” volunteered Tsumura, taking her at ease.

She squealed happily and clutched his shirt. Lysa cooed.

“Aww, she likes you!”

“I’m just a likeable guy…”

They all snickered but after a while, Jael started to fuss and cry. Darien took her from him and rubbed her back, hushing and calming her.

“You’re going to be such a good daddy, Dari” commented Xiomara.

Darien didn’t have to see to know they’d all elbowed her, but he smiled, “Maybe.”

Putting her to sleep, he rested her in the crib, resting the remote beside her and taking them back to his room. He shoved his hands in his pockets and questioned.

“So…what are you guys up for?”

“I say poker” Tsumura sighed, “I could use some money and beating you guys is ridiculously easy…”

“Oh whatever, bluey, Lysa beat you last time” snorted Jack.

“Gah! Lysa cheated!”

“No I didn’t!”

Darien smirked and Xiomara glanced at him before clearing her throat, asking, “Darien…are you okay? I was kind of surprised by you offering to do anything with us.”

They all looked up at him as he stared briefly out the window before smiling some, “I’m okay…and even if I wasn’t, I will be.”

They all blinked at him and he reached into his drawer, “Now…enough of that. Deal.”

They obliged and had a long night of gambling and talking…it would be old times again one day.

At night, he pulled Jael to sleep with him and he watched her as she breathed gently against his chest. He stared at her before closing his eyes.

<i>“I won’t…ever forget you, Claire, and I’ll always remember the happiness you’d brought me. But if it had been me dying in that crash, I couldn’t stand to see you be like how I’ve been…and knowing you, knowing how much you hated my melancholy, I know you can’t stand to see how I’m being. So don’t think I’m forgetting you because I’ll never forget…”</i>

A single tear flowed down his cheek as he fell asleep, murmuring into the night.

“It’s time to turn a new page.”

Chapter 35: Two

It was green Freshman year…blue Sophomore year…last year, it was red…

Finally, Darien was wearing a black coat…this year was already starting to look up.

Running a hand through his remotely longer hair, he wandered out of his room and towards the kitchen. When he got there, he raised his eyebrow at the chaos…his father was sitting beside Jael who was freaking out with joy, Lilly who was complaining that red was a horrid color on her, his mother was trying to dish out cereal, and Shay was just caught in the fray. He smirked and Jael looked up before squealing delightedly. Kaa-ren smiled lightly at her.

He’d joked that Jael probably thought Darien was her father. He hadn’t gotten back until a month and a half after she was born. He’d been so amazed and enthralled… but still, in the end, Jael was fascinated with Darien. She waved her arms around at him, squeaking for attention. He chuckled and lifted her from her chair and kissed her cheek, holding her as he got some Lucky Charms. Eating them while balancing the bowl on the counter and holding her in the other. She grabbed for one of the bright shapes but he pulled her away, giving her a stare.

“No sugar for babies.”

She didn’t look pleased and he snorted. Clahara smirked, “Sugar’s not good for anyone, Darien, so maybe you shouldn’t be eating it either.”

“Do as I say, not as I do.”

Clahara’s smirk widened as she rolled her eyes. Darien looked up when a honk came from outside. He walked back over and placed Jael in her seat, scooping up his bag and waving a little back at them. But Jael suddenly whined. He glanced back at her and saw she was waving her arms at him. He sighed. All summer, he was at her beck and call…really didn’t look like a good thing now.

Walking back, he kissed her cheek and sighed again, “I promise when I get back I’ll walk you around like I normally do, kay?”

She still looked upset as he walked away but not as…

First day of the last year…huh.

Anita groaned, glaring at the short black skirt. It never failed…thank God this was the last year, she thought, disgruntled.

Kanreyuu having graduated last year had dropped her off, saying she might have to hitch a ride home. She didn’t mind…Vaughn was going to be there.

She hadn’t seen him all summer and the summer had been awful. No band, no concerts…she’d seen Darien only at that festival.

She grimaced, fixing her messenger bag on her shoulder. She’d gone a good while without thinking about him but it was just too hard…she wondered how he was doing…

Groaning as the first bell rang, she cursed Kanreyuu for being so lazy. He’d insisted upon taking her to school but took the longest time waking up. Now she had no time to meet up anywhere with Vaughn.

Great, she started her day with Physics…this should be wonderful.

Sitting down in the room, she was startled to find Mrs. Rowlans again…why was she the only science teacher that taught every level? The students flooded in, one by one, and Anita sighed as no one she recognized entered…this wasn’t going to be fun.

Until…

“Oh SNAP, Darien, all four years.”

Mrs. Rowlans and Anita’s head shot up to the doorway as Jack entered leisurely at the last thirty seconds with…Darien?

His hair was neck length, doing that curl thing that it had done at the festival…but the thing was, he didn’t look nearly as depressed as he did when she last saw him…

“I’m a little disappointed. Now we can’t see how much we’d piss off any other teacher” sighed Darien.

“True.”

Mrs. Rowlan’s just looked as if she could cry as the two seated themselves in almost the exact same position as last year. Anita was stunned but managed to keep herself from staring as the woman started listing her requirements.

What had happened…? What happened to melancholy unhappy Darien? Mind, she was happy, but…what had changed him like this? She shook her head. Okay, so he was talking. That didn’t mean he’d changed, right?

“Darien…what the hell is going on with your hair?” questioned Jack, using his pencil to lift it up at the ends.

“Wha…?”

“It’s long and girly.”

“Your hair is long and you have all that bounce. Who’s the girly one again?”

“It’s called ‘volume’, dumbass.”

“Cough FRUITY.”

Jack leered at him and Darien laughed a little, slumping in his chair and staring at the teacher, half paying attention. Anita was stunned…no…that was a change…backwards.

He, of course, fell asleep and Jack did as well, proving that some things indeed never changed. Their teacher didn’t even glare at them but went on teaching. The boys woke up somewhere through the course and paid attention…

“So wait…let me get this straight. This course is pretty much all the science we learned through elementary and junior high…with equations?” Jack asked, cocking a brow.

“If you want to put it that way…”

Jack ‘hmph’d’ and Darien just yawned. Mrs. Rowlans rolled her eyes and stopped, time up in a couple seconds. Anita was sure that this year would be like last…it kind of made her happy.

Once the bell rang, everyone shuffled out and she was surprised to be following the rowdy Jack and Darien…even more surprising, she entered the same classroom.

…She had ANOTHER class with them?

“Oh S**T, this is going to be sweet” commented Jack.

She frowned, confused, and glanced around…

Not only Darien and Jack…but Tsumura…and Kuroshina. Tsumura laughed some as he pulled his hair back in a short ponytail.

“I don’t know…when’s the last time all three of us had a class together?”

“I think Geometry. We made that teacher cry, yo.”

Tsumura grinned lazily as the two sat down, “Well, I actually care about English so let’s not uh, make this one cry.”

“You got it, Bluey.”

Anita sat somewhere near the back and had to wonder how this class would turn out…the teacher came in, a random woman that acted so uninhibited, it was shocking. She was a young blonde woman too, so of course she had Jack’s complete and utter attention. They all walked out together and Darien snickered.

“Watch this be Jack’s favorite class now.”

“Hey now…you never know. I might need some tutoring…” said Jack seductively.

Tsumura rolled his eyes, “So wrong…but then, you’re 18, so you’re legal.”

Anita was surprised for some reason…it hadn’t actually struck her, but they would be adults, wouldn’t they…?

“Oh yea” said Jack rather cheerfully.

“September 25th…” murmured Tsumura, adjusting his bag.

“Bluey, 18 is really not a milestone because we’ve been pretending we’re 18 for three years now” Jack sighed.

Tsumura laughed, “No kidding but it’s actually nice to know I’m REALLY 18.”

“True, true…how’s things going with you and Kuro? You didn’t say a word to her when we were in class” Jack commented.

Tsumura rolled his eyes, “What can I say…we’re Tsumura and Kuroshina. Nothing new, nothing big…”

“No kidding…”

Anita frowned, not sure what any of that meant…but it didn’t matter. She glanced around and smiled brightly when she saw Vaughn, his pink hair a little redder than usual. Starting to walk towards him quickly, she paused when a girl suddenly walked out of the bathroom, smiling at him and taking his arm, pulling him to…

Her mouth fell open a little as she kissed him and he kissed back…

…What?

Vaughn looked happy and glanced in her direction. His eyes widened when he saw her and he grimaced, pulling away from the girl.

“…Anita.”

“…Vaughn, wh--”

“I…I’m sorry I couldn’t get in touch with you or anything” he said quickly, “I, uh…well…”

The girl frowned at him, confused, and he cleared his throat, staring Anita straight in the face, “In France, I met someone else. Anita…this is Mireille. Mireille, Anita.”

He…met someone…else? She stared from him to her before backing away, lifting her hand to her trembling face. The girl took a step back from him herself.

“VAUGHN, don’t tell me you had a girlfriend!?”

“It’s…not that big a deal. Right?”

Anita choked on a hard sob before crying, running down the hallway away from all this.

‘It’s not a big deal’? She wasn’t even important enough that he couldn’t break up with her first? That bastard claimed she was cheating but he did it himself? How dare he? What was worse was that he was just like them. Just like those preps he claimed to despise. How dare he take advantage of her like this? How dare he pretend to understand?

Hiding between some lockers in a pretty much deserted area of the school, she sobbed and cried, muffling the sound against her bent knees. All this summer she’d thought he was too busy to call her. And she was right…too busy screwing around with his affair. She trusted him…she’d never thought he was capable of this.

What had she gained from this school? Nothing. Nothing but regrets and hurt. She hated it. She wanted to go home and sleep forever. Whimpering, she shook.

And here she was….no one had come after her because she had no friends. The only friend she had was a two-timing bastard. Why hadn’t she smacked him? Why didn’t she yell at him? He deserved SOMETHING.

So this was it…in the end, no one was there. She was all alone against this disaster…

She jumped when a hand touched the side of her face not concealed by her knees. She snapped her head up, lifting her hand to smack Vaughn away.

Except it wasn’t Vaughn.

She quickly stopped her hand a mere centimeter from Darien’s face.

She stared at his surprised expression, stunned herself…what was he…? She lowered her hand and wiped her face quickly, shakily coming to her feet and shaking her head. No…no more…she couldn’t take anymore.

“Anita…?”

“Leave me alone” she whispered coldly.

“What happened…? Did that guy do something?” he asked, following her slowly.

“He did what he wanted…” she answered ambiguously.

He snarled and grabbed her arm which she quickly yanked away, whirling on him angrily, “Why do you care? You have nothing to do with this, Darien! All of you can pretend you care all you want but I won’t fall for it again!”

She stomped off, furious, leaving Darien to stand in the middle of the hallway, dumbfounded. Not far back was Jack, who’d stood quietly and watched the spectacle, leaning against the wall. Darien turned around and walked past his friend who didn’t move but said slowly.

“So…what do we do?”

“…Make sure that little bastard thinks twice the next time he thinks he can mess with someone like that” said Darien lowly, his hands stuffed in his pockets, “You take care of that. The rest…the rest I’ll figure out myself.”

Classes after that were just miserable and long, leaving Anita wanting to just run away. And now she had to go to lunch…

The preps, those assholes, had ridiculed her under their breaths, ripping the wound just a little bigger. And here she went, going to meet them head on…meet Vaughn and his mistress head on…

When she came in, all the prep’s eyes were on her, menacing. Oh great…what now?

“Such a bitch” snarled one out at her.

WHAT?

“And she has to be screwing with a whatever!”

She looked at each of their angry faces as it looked like a couple even started to rise from their seats. What was going on?

Looking around the table, she gasped, stunned.

Vaughn…was a mess.

His lip was swollen, both his eyes were black, and both his cheeks were black and blue. Oh…no…

“I-I didn’t do that!” she protested, unsure of what was going on.

“Yea right!”

One particularly gutsy Sophomore started to throw a can at her and she started to dodge but the can stopped…and a shadow was in front of her. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to find…

“Darien…” she whispered.

He had caught the can effortlessly, bouncing it up and down in his hand, staring at them nonchalantly and silently. They all stared back, snorting, before Darien smiled and tipped the can towards them, popping the lid…

All the girls and guys screamed as the soda exploded out on them and Darien chuckled, dropping the can on the floor, “Now how did that happen…”

“You bastard! Mind your own business or you’ll--!”

Darien’s cold gaze came back and he grunted, “I think you hypocrites can go to hell with your threats. I’m the one who issued your little adulterous buddy here get the crap beaten out of him, seeing as he couldn’t keep it in his pants long enough to be a man.”

Vaughn flustered and opened his mouth to say something but the glare Darien shot him was deadly.

“Save it, bitch.”

Lilly finally stepped up, meeting her older sibling head on, and growled, “You have a lot of damn nerve, Darien. You know I don’t tolerate traitors!”

“So Anita gets cheated on and she’s the traitor?” he demanded.

“Turning to you for vengeance is traitorous!”

Anita started to open her mouth but just closed it, miserable. There was no way she could make it after this…it was over. She’d never return to this dumb school again…

“Fine…I’ll take her.”

Anita’s shoulders stiffened and she stared up at Darien, who’d just practically claimed her as if he was talking about the weather. Lilly looked stunned and grunted.

“Fine. Take her. I have no use for her.”

Anita grimaced and stared at her feet but Darien suddenly commented, “Now really, Lilly…I know how you are towards your so called ‘traitors’.”

Anita lifted her eyes and Lilly snarled, “Damn right.”

“Then let’s just skip that step all together…dad gave me all eight of those tickets to the V.I.P. party this year. Let’s say I give you four and you tell your little henchmen to leave her alone?”

Anita scowled. Tickets? Would tickets stray Lilly?

“…Really?”

Darien reached into his pocket, pulling out four tickets, “Right here.”

Lilly stared at them before dropping her eyebrow at him and taking them, staring them over to see if they were real before smirking, “We have a deal.”

Darien snorted sarcastically, “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Anita stared as Lilly turned to her table and pretty much told them that bothering Anita would not be in their best interest if they wanted to keep their standing…and no questions were asked and everyone went on as if nothing had happened.

…WHAT just happened though??

She felt sick and rushed out of the cafeteria, needing fresh air. When she got to the front, she collapsed beside a bench and sobbed. What was going on? Why was this happening to HER? Was she being punished for something?

“Mm, you know how many misfiled preps would love to be in your place right about now?”

She scowled, glaring up at Darien who was staring at the sky absently, “I didn’t need your help.”

“You say that now but let’s just say you’d look a lot like Vaughn does if I didn’t.”

She growled, “Who the hell told you to beat him up?!”

“One thing I can’t tolerate…liars.”

Her eyes widened as he leant against the building, crossing his arms and sighing airily, “Wasn’t it just last year we had a conversation saying you didn’t belong in Lilly’s world? Didn’t you agree that you’d be happier with our group?”

She swallowed and grimaced, that conversation just coming back to mind, but she nodded. He stared at her before his brows furrowed.

“Or…did you want to stay in Lilly’s group?”

“No…never” she said bitterly.

“We’ve made this hellish, haven’t we?” he said suddenly.

She looked up at him, confused, as he ran his fingers through his hair, “Y’know, when I was a Freshman, I never really asked for any prestige…when it all began, I was only respected because I was a Jizrla…then Lilly came. Our own rivalry spawned…this…this prep and whatever thing, taking it to a whole new level past what our forefathers did. She had people I was cool with beat up and bullied and crap because she knows how to manipulate…I had to start fighting back. But it was never supposed to go to this point where we’re having gang battles or something. Mind you, its going too far calling it a gang battle because we’re in a rich private school but you catch my drift.”

She just stared at him silently as he continued softly, “I never wanted people to get so caught up on what side they were on…and I never knew Lilly would just mindlessly pull people in that don’t want to be with her. It would’ve been better if we all could’ve just gotten along or whatever. But my point is…if it wasn’t for me and Lilly’s little ‘sibling rivalry’…I think you would’ve enjoyed this a lot more.”

She inhaled softly and he ran a hand down his face, exasperated, “Lilly and I are children of a long lineage of tycoons. We do things the way we saw it growing up: through business. So don’t think I only think you’re only worth four worthless scraps of paper but it’s just the way she thinks.”

She stood finally and rubbed her arm, staring at the ground, “I…understand.”

“Really? I don’t…but whatever. You should eat.”

She laughed dryly, “Like I can think of eating after that. I feel like I’m going to throw up any second now…”

She walked ahead of him before stalling, muttering, “How can you believe your ‘gang’ will accept me after all that dealing with Lilly? I was once a prep…”

“You might have some assholes that won’t accept you but I’ll personally beat the s**t out of them.”

“Darien!” she whirled, “I don’t want anyone beat up because of me! I don’t want to cause anymore trouble!!”

“Only other way is if you were my girlfriend.”

Her heart skipped about three beats and she swallowed. Darien didn’t look all that bothered, though.

“Course, that’s not gonna happen.”

…Gee, thanks.

He grimaced, “Don’t…take that the wrong way. I’m sure you know my feelings on such things at this point.”

She winced. Oh yea…

“Or…you can just be my pet.”

“…WHAT?”

He shrugged and she glowered, “How is that any better?!”

“I don’t know. It won’t be kinky or S&M, if that’s--”

“DARIEN!”

What could she possibly do as his ‘pet’? It sounded like a horribly degrading thing, if you asked her. But Darien raised an eyebrow at her before waving a hand, “Just try it for a week. If you don’t like it, I’ll just have some of my closer people watch over you.”

She stared at him and nodded shortly, feeling too exhausted to worry about it that much.

“Some first day, huh?” he said absently.

She couldn’t help but chuckle miserably, “Some first day.”