Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Final Chance ❯ Chapter Five: Unwanted Feelings ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: The plot-thickens once more, muahahaha! I think Jeff's been rubbing off on me o.o. Eek!

 

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Chapter Five: Unwanted Feelings

 

Most people are aware that, when half asleep, your aim and timing tend to be a bit, if not a lot, off. Ryleigh knew this fact well, but decided to ignore it when, at a time she deemed simply unheard of on a Saturday morning, she was woken up by soft jabs to her side, and attempted (and failed) to swat the offending fingers away. Groaning in displeasure, Ryleigh rolled away from the jabs, frowning when they simply moved from her side to her back which, though less effective, were still relatively as annoying.

 

“What?” she grumbled, turning her head slightly so she could glare sleepily at the one who was poking her, Kaelyn simply cracking a grin at the tired girl. “Let me sleep,” Ryleigh muttered, turning her head back into the pillow and closing her eyes, growling quietly when the poking continued, “Kaelyn…”

 

“It's not like you didn't know you were going to have to get up early today, Ry,” Kaelyn poked her again, sighing when Ryleigh simply rolled further away from her touch, “Come on, I'll buy you an Ice Cap.”

 

“Dun' want one…” Kaelyn stared worriedly at Ryleigh's back, biting her lip gently. Even though she'd only known the other woman for a little over a month, even Kaelyn knew that something was wrong when Ryleigh didn't want an Ice Cap. What was even stranger was that she hadn't seemed to want an Ice Cap since a few days after they'd met!

 

“Ryleigh, what's wrong?” the blonde was silent, and Kaelyn poked her again in the side, “You've been so strange lately; come on, you can tell me.”

 

I wish I could… Ryleigh propped herself up on her forearms, biting her lip gently. She kept her face turned towards the wall and away from Kaelyn, not wanting her friend to see the emotions flitting across it. Truth was, Ryleigh hadn't had a good nights sleep since that day… when Zade had had first come to her class, since he had…

 

Cheeks flushing brilliant red, Ryleigh willed it away, gritting her teeth slightly. Why did he have this kind of effect on her?! Normally she was completely indifferent when it came to guys, even the hot ones, but Zade… Zade was different, and she didn't know why.

 

But ever since that day, when they had painted identical yet opposite paintings, even during the flitting moments of sleep she did experience, no dreams came. It'd been over a month, and she hadn't had a single dream. Sure, she still went into trances during painting class, but even they had changed. Since Zade's appearance, the ebony haired male had always returned in her visions, his face always blurry. And every time, when she came back to reality and had finished her painting, Zade had painted the same thing, with the faces opposite to hers; the girl's blurred while the males was clear. This had happened twelve more times since she had first met Zade, every time they had a painting class; however, since that day when he'd tried to -well, she assumed it was what he was attempting to do- kiss her and she'd kneed him in the crotch (likely something he wouldn't be forgetting for a long time), she'd avoided the red haired male like the plague.

 

It didn't help that should his name even flit through her mind, her cheeks would flush brilliant scarlet and her heart would start beating rapidly; the same for when he looked at her, and she knew he had been looking at her a lot during class. Every time she'd even taken a quick peek at him, Zade had always been staring at her intensely, forcing the blonde to look away quickly less she get lost in his smoldering honey-brown gaze.

 

The bad thing was, her friends could tell something was wrong. It wasn't like she was letting it show on purpose, she just didn't feel up to being her usual hyper, active self; she'd tried having an Ice Cap the day after the incident with Zade, and the results had been the need to empty her stomach almost immediately after drinking it.

 

“Ryleigh?” Pushing her worries to the back of her mind, the blonde flashed her worried friend a lopsided grin.

 

“Yah, I know, sorry about that,” pushing herself up and standing once Kaelyn had moved, Ryleigh gently pushed her to the door, grasping onto the wooden surface.

 

“I'll be out once I'm dressed, ok?” Kaelyn nodded hesitantly, moving to the table when the blonde closed the door, sighing and heading into the bathroom. Ryleigh moved through her normal morning routine automatically, completely lost in her thoughts even as she finished and moved back to her room to pick out clothes.

 

She eventually pulled out a pair of dark wash jeans and a lime-green tunic, slipping them on and accentuating with a decorated faux-leather belt. Glancing in the mirror, Ryleigh cracked a smile and opened her room's door, stepping out into the kitchen of the apartment.

 

“Hey, where's your roomie?” Ryleigh glanced at Kaelyn, the blunette glancing around the kitchen, “She hasn't been around much…”

 

“Kayley's just been spending a lot of time at her boyfriend's place lately,” Ryleigh shrugged, grabbing her jacket and scarf from one of the chairs, “It's fine with me; I get the place to myself most of the time,” Kaelyn nodded, heading to the door, waiting while Ryleigh slipped on her combat boots then heading out to the stairs.

 

“We're taking your car, right? It's way to cold to walk!” Kaelyn laughed slightly, nodding.

 

“Yes Ryleigh, we're taking my car. You think I'd walk to Toronto? No way, not happening!” Both women shared a laugh, climbing into Kaelyn's pursuit. They chatted about random things during the drive, Kaelyn glancing over at Ryleigh once they arrived in Toronto, mainly keeping her eyes on the road.

 

“So, what made you decide on your costume?” Ryleigh shrugged, gazing out her window.

 

“Donno… it's just what I sketched when I was thinking about Halloween… random, I guess,” she turned, grinning at the blunette, Kaelyn smiling herself at Ryleigh's change in attitude. Maybe she would finally be able to get some answers out of the girl.

 

“Ah, Kaelyn! StopstopstopSTOP! YOU DROVE RIGHT PAST IT!!” Snapping out of her thoughts, Kaelyn slammed on the brakes, Ryleigh squealing as they pulled safely into a parking space, both women a bit shocked. After a few seconds, both suddenly burst out laughing, Kaelyn laying her head gently on the steering wheel until she calmed down.

 

“Ryleigh, don't DO that to me!” Ryleigh gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her head.

 

“Sorry.” Kaelyn shook her head, undoing her seatbelt.

 

“Well, let's go get our costumes,” Ryleigh nodded, both exiting the car and heading back down the sidewalk to the costume shop, the little bell over the door dinging when they entered. The person working the front (coincidentally, the same one who had taken their measurements and their costume designs) looked up, giving a small smile while holding his hand up, quickly motioning them into the back.

 

“Please wait here,” he told them once they had entered the changing area, disappearing behind the curtains that lead to the back room.

 

Ryleigh glanced around the shop anxiously, fidgeting with the end of her shirt. Kaelyn cast her a questioning glance, but the blonde ignored her, eyes darting around the changing area. She didn't like this stillness; the quiet gave her time to think, and thinking was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. Ryleigh knew that no matter what topic she would start off with, it would always change to him…

 

`Hurryuphurryuphurryuphurryuphurryup- thank you God!' Ryleigh cut off her silent mantra when the worked came back into the room, carrying a black bag over each of his shoulders; presumably containing their costumes. The man walked to the first change room and pulled the curtain over behind him, exiting and once more closing the curtain before doing the same with the second. Finally, he exited and walked back out, scanning the paper on his clip board briefly before glancing at Kaelyn.

 

“Kaelyn Connelly?” he asked, the blunette nodding. The worked smiled.

 

“You costume is in the left change room, and Ryleigh Owen,” he paused, the continued at Ryleigh's nod, “Your costume is in the right change room.”

 

“Thank you,” Kaelyn replied, heading into her change room, Ryleigh doing the same. After closing the curtain, Ryleigh looked at her costume and gasped, eyes widening happily. The costume looked just as the sketch had, the entire thing made out of a silky white material with light yellow trimming here and there. It was the garb of what one would call a fantasy priestess, a robe-like garment with long, billowy sleeves and a large `ribbon' around the middle. Ryleigh shed her own clothing before taking the costume off its hanger, stepping into the silky garment and managing to tie the ribbon herself, forming a large bow with long tails. Taking the tiara-like accessory from the nearby shelf, Ryleigh turned to the mirror and placed it on her head, adjusting it till it looked right.

 

Stepping back slightly, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, amazed at the quality of the costume.

 

“Ryleigh? You dressed yet?” Kaelyn's voice came through the curtain.

 

“Yah! What about you?”

 

“Same, so get out here!” Ryleigh laughed, pushing back the curtains and stepping out, the matching slippers comfortable on her feet. She paused and stared, open mouthed, at Kaelyn's costume.

 

“Kaelyn, oh wow, did you design that?” The blunette blushed, turning a bit.

 

“Like yours, mine just kinda popped up while sketching,” Kaelyn's costume was that of a fantasy general, the garments green and silver in colour. A bushel of arrows and a bow hung on her back, and at the Halloween party both would be wearing fake ears and Kaelyn would have fake fangs put in.

 

A flash of the neko-jin from her visions passed by Ryleigh's eyes so fast she barely registered it, hardly noticing the worker excuse himself to attend to some other customers.

 

“God Ryleigh, I don't see why you don't have a boyfriend yet,” the blonde flushed brightly at her words, laughing nervously.

 

“I've just never met the right person I guess,” she fixed an amused look on Kaelyn, “what about you?”

 

Kaelyn flushed, looking away briefly. Ryleigh rolled her eyes at the obvious gesture, heading back into the stall and changing back into her normal clothing. Exiting, she waited for Kaelyn before heading back towards the front of the store, costumes in hand.

 

“They look great, thanks a bunch,” Ryleigh's ears perked at the familiar sounding voice, pausing in her step.

 

“It'll do,” came another, much cooler voice, a shiver running up the blonde's spine. She took a step back, closing her eyes desperately.

 

`Oh no… please please please don't be him…' she begged mentally, Kaelyn cocking an eyebrow at her friend and continuing forwards.

 

“Kaelyn! Ryleigh! What a surprise!” Nathaniel's voice exclaimed, and Ryleigh groaned, forcing herself to move forwards. The second she stepped out from behind the curtain her eyes met with those of a certain red head, her cheeks flushing as she quickly averted her eyes elsewhere. Nathaniel, having been talking to Kaelyn, remembered his companion and chuckled, putting a hand on Zade's shoulder.

 

“Kaelyn, Ryleigh, this is Zade,” Zade's eyes focused on Ryleigh, smirking slightly at her flushed face.

 

“We've met,” he said smugly, referring to the blonde.

 

Nathaniel frowned slightly, turning to his `sister', “When did you mee-?”

 

“Class.” Having snapped out of her thoughts, Ryleigh sent Zade an icy glare before walking over to the cash, quickly paying for her costume then looking back at Kaelyn, keeping her eyes away from Zade, “You gonna pay or not?”

 

Kaelyn blinked and hurrying to do so, the guys using the other cash to pay for their own costumes.

 

Heading out of the store, Ryleigh gazed out at the passing cars, her arms crossed tightly. Nathaniel smiled charmingly at Kaelyn.

 

“Where are you ladies parked?” Kaelyn rolled her eyes at his attempt, pointing to the left, Nathaniel's smile turning into a flow blown grin, “Great, so are we, we'll walk you.”

 

Ryleigh's grumbling went unheard by the two as they started forwards, the blonde hurrying after them with Zade behind her. She glanced backwards once, immediately looking forwards when she net his gaze again, her face turning a bright red once more.

 

Why do I feel like this whenever I look at him?

 

What's wrong with me?

 

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Another chapter done! Xx *dies* This took forever for me to finish, like THREE DAYS! Mainly cause of school, but still. Anyways, hope people liked this! XD

 

Amariahellcat

 

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Lol, not bad! I can't wait for the next chapter.

 

Snowy