Doesn't Know She's Perfect

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, for no one could possibly fathom the utter havoc I would unleash within it...
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Chapter Three
Lip Reading and Manipulation for Beginners
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Kon Ray glanced anxiously at the clock, watching as the minute hand creeped its way across the face. His foot was tapping impatiently upon the floor, which caught the attention of a very bored Russian teenager at the next table. Kai closed his crimson eyes and sighed, trying to ignore the fact that the table was shaking slightly because of the nervous boy's movements.

They were about halfway through class, but the algebraic formulas on the blackboard were not enough to distract Ray, even though his favorite and best subject was Algebra. Kai had finished the assigned homework two minutes before hand, while the raven haired teen had yet to start the assignment.

"Ray, stop." Kai commanded, finally losing his patience with the incessant shaking. The orange eyed male looked over at his best friend, as if suddenly realizing that he was there. "Sorry Kai, I'm just nervous. What if meeting Mariah turns out to be a bad idea?" he asked, picking up his pencil and sticking the eraser end in his mouth.

The slate and navy haired man watched as his friend bit down on the utensil, "Take that out of your mouth, who knows where it's been." Ray did as he was told, looking at the fresh bite marks that adorned his pencil. "I do too know where it's been, it's my pencil after all. Come on, Kai, answer my question." The Russian raised a grey eyebrow, "The fact that the pencil belongs to you is exactly why I'm warning you," at this he received a dirty look, "And if it turns out to be a bad idea, then I wrote that poem and talked to her for absolutely nothing. For your sake, she'd better like you."

Kai's statement only deepened Ray's glare, "Seriously, what am I going to do if she doesn't like me? I haven't dated anyone for awhile, I'm a little rusty." The previously lowered eyebrow was raised again, "Only a little out of practice?" Another dark look was sent toward the taller of the two. "In all seriousness, Ray, the most advice that I can and will ever give to you is that reality bites. You have to make the most with what you get, or you may just find that you have nothing left to work with."

"And when that happens, I'll move in with you, 'cause you're rich and all." Ray said with a grin, chuckling slightly at the frown that wove its way onto the Hiwitari heir's face. "There is no way in Hell that you will ever move in with me, not even if swine flew." In the more English-literate teen's mind pictures of chaos reigned supreme at the thought of living with such a person.

"What if she doesn't show up? What if she's mad at me for not being there the first time? What if she ends up hating me?! What if-" Ray's questioning was silenced by a held up hand. Kai smirked, "Enough with the 'what ifs', Ray. If she doesn't show up, is mad at you or ends up hating you, then you'll mope about for a month, annoy the Hell out of me, and chase some other girl in a skirt after everything is said and done. Simple as that. Now do your homework, and quit chewing on the damn pencil!"

Ray grinned sheepishly, extracting the pencil from his mouth, yet again. That pencil was then put to paper as the Chinese man worked out the mathematical problems. If anything, Ray was one of the best students to ask for help when it came to the many forms of mathematics. Kai was still the best in the class, but his best friend was a close second.

Five minutes later, though, the raven haired teen's leg was shaking again. Kai noticed the rattling and growled slightly, once again stopping the feline-like boy from proceeding in his tapping. There was another nervous grin sent his way, and the Russian pulled out his English notebook, about to attempt to finish the essay that was assigned in English.

Kai flipped through his papers, trying to find his assignment, when a small piece of pink paper was tossed on top of his notebook from the table next to his and Ray's. A sigh escaped him as he glared down at the third note that had been passed to him today. He was lucky today, though, he usually receives at least four more than that by now. In cursive on the front of the accursed mash note was "To: Kai, From: Rumiko". That name was one of the few that actually struck chords of emotion inside of Hiwitari Kai. The particular emotions that were summoned were disgust, anger, and exasperation.

This was the second mash note today that he had received from Rumiko, his richest and most persistent stalker. Judging from the number of notes that he receives per week from her, Kai could almost say that she spends most of her time writing the sap-filled papers. The ocean haired Junior, luckily, lived on the opposite side of town from the Russian, but that didn't stop her from finding ways to his house. After two weeks of seeing her waiting for him on his doorstep in the mornings and afternoons, Kai had finally decided that enough was enough and told her that the authorities would be called if she didn't stay off of his property. Eventually, Kai had to have her number blocked on his cell phone, as Ray had accidentally divulged the information to her. If he hadn't, she would've been calling him at all hours of the night.

The emerald eyed girl's family was not as wealthy as her obsession, which may have been why she hunted him so, although his devilish features were quite attractive to Rumiko, as well. Even if she wasn't in his class, as he was a grade older than she, the annoyingly persistent woman always found a way to send him a note or two.

'Another one...how wonderful.' Kai's thought rang sarcastically inside his mind, 'Might as well just throw this away with the other two...maybe if I got a girlfriend my stalkers would leave me to my own business?' The thought was only there a moment before a frown crossed his face, 'No, that would only make matters worse...' Suddenly, the urge to smack his head against the desk presented itself to the teen. No matter how appealing the notion may have seemed, however, Kai would not stoop to such a low level of posture and composure.

The bell rang, snapping Kai out of his thoughts and taking Ray away from his tranquil algebra and stuffing him back into the realm of nervousness. "Kai, will you wait with me again?" the Chinese teen asked in apprehension. "I was at school yesterday for forty minutes longer than necessary yesterday and I've no intentions of repeating that event." the poet answered with a growl.

"Come on, Kai, I'll need a ride home!" Ray begged beginning to get on his knees again, only to have his plot foiled as Kai grabbed his notebook and messenger bag, steeping out of the long haired boy's reach. "You still owe me for the time I spent at the flagpole with your new girlfriend yesterday, Ray. Why should I drive you home, without your reimbursement first?"

"Just tell me what I can do to repay you and I'll do it. I'll even suc-" a hand was clapped over the louder one's mouth. Ray's eyes traveled up the arm, over the spiked bracelet, past the black Linkin Park band t-shirt, and finally fell on the deep frown that sunk into his horrified friend's mouth. Kai tightened his strong grip on Ray's mouth, pinching his jaw in the powerful grasp of anger as he growled, "What did I tell you yesterday about saying shit like that around me? Don't do it again, or I'm going to kick your ass and then drag you home behind my car at the speed of one hundred and twenty miles per hour, understand?!"

The Russian removed his hand after squeezing a little tighter, and began to exit the classroom. "Kai, is that a yes?" Ray called after him, picking up his textbook and book bag. Kai, once again, ignored him, merely flipping him off over his shoulder.

Ray grinned at his silent victory. Sure, there were many areas of thought process in which he didn't excel, but one thing that he could do was trick people into giving him what he wanted. When it came to tricking Kai, all he had to do was suggest any form of love or sexual relations between the Russian and anyone else, as love and sex didn't sit so well with the slightly older man.

Kai didn't like touching those subjects, so he steered clear of them as often as he possibly could. Though the crimson eyed teen was very good at psychology, Ray had taken quite the interest in it as well. And even if he didn't know too much about the complex thing that is Kai's mind, he knew enough to manipulate him into doing little things such as driving the Chinese boy home. It's not like the kickboxing expert didn't have enough money for gas, right?

The disgruntled teen walked straight out the main doors, not even bothering with his locker. Why should he? He never uses it, anyway. Kai quickened his pace as he toted his bad to his Mustang. He wasn't even really aware that he was hurrying, as the only thing on his mind was the events that yesterday held in front of his nose, mocking him for being so foolish. In his brain he watched a flashback of himself reciting poetry to someone that he had never really talked to before. The saddest part of it all was that the rewind button was stuck on the remote control to his mental process, so he watched the event roll gaily before his eyes over and over again.

The Russian suddenly realized that he had reached his car. He shook his head, making his grey and navy hair fall in front of his face a little. His reflection stared back at him in the tinted window, and he grunted slightly. 'I really just need to stop thinking,' Kai thought, 'It could be terminal to my health if I continue to see only the mistake that is yesterday...'

Kai shoved his key into the lock, opening the door to his dark vehicle. He set his messenger bag in the back seat, but then caught himself staring out the window. Mariah had arrived, and Ray was there to meet her. 'Time to see how he'll handle the fact that Miss Wong believes that she is supposed to be meeting me there...' he thought. Kai didn't like that fact, but it would surely be interesting to get on Ray's nerves for once. 'Consider it indirect revenge...' Kai smirked as the thought of finally getting through Ray's easy going and friendly shield crossed his mind.

Because Kai had his door closed by now, he couldn't actually hear what they were talking about. There was one skill that few knew that Kai possessed, though, he could read lips. He exercised this ability now as he watched Ray's calloused mouth move in response to Mariah's more delicate lips.

"Ray? Where's Kai?" she asked. Ray shrugged, "Hiding out in his car, most likely. Why should he be here?" This question raised a slight blush to Mariah's cheeks, "Well, he was the one who met me here yesterday."

"Oh, that. Well, I wasn't able to meet you here, so Kai waited for me." Ray responded, satisfied with his answer. Or he was until Mariah posed another question to him, "Where were you then? If you are, indeed, the one that wrote the letter and poem?" Kai gripped the steering wheel at the mention of the poem being Ray's work.

Ray clumsily looked around his brain for a good answer. He couldn't just tell her that he was in the bathroom, because she might appreciate the knowledge of how his bowels moved. So he glanced quickly over to the dark car where he was almost certain his best friend was smirking at the predicament that the Chinese boy had gotten himself into.

'What would Kai say in a situation like this? Wait, Kai's never been in a situation like this...well, shit...maybe if I act like that melancholy jackass then she'll think I'm cool. Why shouldn't she, it works with everyone else?' Ray thought, carefully putting together what he thought was the best answer.

"I had other matters to attend to after school, and you were late." he said gruffly, but with a smile. Kai frowned at Ray's horrible imitation of him, 'Idiot...now she's going to think that your "other matters" were more important than her...and I don't sound like that...' he thought. Although Kai had never dated anyone before, he knew a lot about what girls liked. He knew this mostly because he used to actually read some of the mash notes that he received when he first moved to Japan. That was a habit which he quickly tied up and shot.

"Oh," said Mariah quietly, "So you're my secret admirer?" Her question was received by an earnest nod, "That I am, Mariah." Mariah smiled a little, 'Maybe he had detention or something? Ray has always been nice to me, too. Who knows, maybe there's a poet hidden under all of that testosterone?' she thought, her smile becoming brighter, "My brother is working, so I'll probably be free tonight, if you'd like to go out somewhere?"

Ray smiled, "Would I ever! How about you call me around seven, and we'll make it a date?" He reached into his deep pockets, searching for a pen. Suddenly the pink haired girl pulled out a pen and a memo pad, tapping his shoulder to get his attention as he looked frantically for a pen in his backpack. "Thanks!" he said with a smile, showing off his sharp canines.

He quickly wrote his number on the pad of paper, handing back the utensils as a very impatient Russian honked the horn twice. Ray looked exasperatedly over at the Mustang, "I have to go, but it would make my day if the prettiest girl in school would give me a call later, even if we can't go out tonight?" Mariah blushed and nodded her head, hearing Kai starting up the car and honk once more. "Tell Kai I said hello." she laughed slightly.

"Oh, I'll tell him that and more." Ray spoke darkly, smiling quickly and waving over his shoulder as he ran toward the vehicle. He attempted to lift the handle of the door, but it only rose halfway, proving that Kai had, like so many times before, locked him out. "Kai, unlock the door!" he shouted through the window, banging his fist lightly on the pane.

Ray glared into the car to see his crimson eyed friend smirking, moving his hand to the stick shift. "'Come on, Kai!" The said teen flipped him off, and then proceeded to slowly drive away. Ray flipped him off when he stopped twenty feet away, and began his trek toward the dark car.

Kai was still smirking in amusement once Ray actually opened the door. The Russian glanced past the Chinese to see Mariah laughing softly into her hand, which only provoked the smirk to become more pronounced. "Ray, how are you going to be picking her up tonight?" he asked, his expression giving away nothing, as his smirk slid off of his face.

"I'm going to drive over to her house and pick her up. We may go to that new pizza parlor, or maybe go catch a movie-"

"You don't have a car." Kai stated bluntly, driving out of the parking lot just as a familiar pick up truck entered. Ray grinned, glancing nervously at the slate and navy haired man out of the corner of his eye, "That's where you come in." Kai wasn't at all phased by this revelation, he merely shook his head lightly and said, "There is no way in Hell that I would ever let you borrow my car. Not even for five minutes would I let you sit behind the wheel of this Mustang. So I suggest that you get used to staying in the passenger seat, Ray, because the answer is no."

"I knew you were going to say that, which is why I have devised a backup plan." Kai glared at Ray's confidence, "If you do anything gay, I will make sure that you never walk again due to the boot shoved up your ass." he stated icily. The Chinese man's grin only widened, "You're the one suggesting gay things, what with the shoving of items up my ass."

Ray noted that Kai's knuckles were white as he resisted the urge to bash the black haired boy's head into the window. "Or...you could pick her up and then stop by my house?" he suggested, changing the topic onto a less frustrating topic. Kai's grip lessened on the steering wheel, and he scoffed at the notion, "Hell no. I dealt with her enough yesterday, and I put up with you enough every day."

"Please, Kai? I'll never ask you for anything again, I promise!" Ray's pleads only made the kickboxing expert growl lowly, "That'd be a first." The Chinese boy only became more desperate, "I'm begging you, Kai! My dad's car is getting fixed up, so I can't borrow his!"

"Walk." Kai smirked, the image of a very tired Ray showing up on Mariah's doorstep amusing him. Ray frowned, "I can't do that! She lives on your side of town!"

"So what you're asking me to do is to pick her up and then drive across town, just so you - no, so I can take the both of you to the movies?" To this, Ray nodded, satisfied that Kai had actually been listening to him, "That's exactly what I'm asking you to do. So, what do you say?"

"No."

"Why?!" Ray asked, beginning to feel exasperated. Kai glanced briefly at his friend before turning his eyes back to the road, "Because there's nothing in it for me."

"Sure there is!" Ray said energetically, which caused him to receive a raised, grey eyebrow from Kai. "And what would this unsaid factor which is beneficial to myself be?" His question stopped Ray's seemingly endless energy. 'Ray's been hanging out with Tyson too much...that pig is starting to rub off on him...' Kai thought, grimacing slightly as he remembered how much the food hung from Tyson Granger's mouth as he ate.

The times that Tyson had eaten at the same table as Hiwitari Kai were very short, disturbing, and painful. The navy haired teen almost never closed his mouth. It was open both when he was eating and when he wasn't. When he ate, food was nearly inhaled. Another thing that Tyson did a lot of was picking off of other person's trays. He tried this with Kai, but only once. He never tried again because the Russian had promptly grabbed his wrist and forced it backward near to the point of breaking.

The energetic Junior ate with Kai only a few more times, which was mostly his own attempt to make the crimson eyed Senior feel left out. Needless to say, Tyson didn't accomplish this.

"Ummm...well...no, that won't work..." Ray muttered from the passenger seat, earning a slight smirk from the driver. The Chinese boy noticed this and frowned slightly, "Oh, come on, Kai! It's not like you've ever expressed your want of anything!"

"True. That fact undoubtedly makes your predicament even more difficult."

"It does...do you derive pleasure from seeing me suffer?"

"Yes." Kai responded bluntly, and it was true. He loved to make people work for his favors, and Ray had gotten away with convincing Kai to drive him everywhere with out doing anything in return for far too long. "You're a very cruel person, do you know that?"

"I do. In fact, I revel in my ability to cause others pain. Now then, back to the matter at hand: how do you think to convince me to pick up Mariah and then drive over to your home?" Ray took a moment to respond to that, "Well...I'm not quite sure," Kai glanced in his direction and he switched tactics, "But I swear on the Kon family honor that I will repay you somehow when the time calls for it!"

A scowl managed to work its way onto Kai's face as he contemplated the possibilities that this situation held. There weren't many, and he felt no obligation whatsoever to help Ray, but he felt that this may further enforce the reasoning that Kai was not Mariah's secret admirer.

Soon, Ray's two story home was in sight. The teen sighed, lifting the door handle as he prepared to exit the luxurious automobile. "Come on, Kai, please?" He received no response and proceeded to open the door. He stepped out onto the pavement that served as his family's driveway, and grabbed the corner of the door, starting to shut it.

"Call me if she can't go out tonight, I don't want to waste gas over nothing." Kai said just before Ray shut the door. The raven haired teen grinned widely, "Thanks, Kai!" With that, the grey and dark blue haired Senior drove off, heading home to walk Ward and await his friend's call.
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With Mariah
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Wong Mariah glanced at her brother from the passenger seat of his beat up truck. She knew that Lee had been taking her new relationship with "Hiwitari Kai" fairly well. But how would he react if she were to tell him that Kon Ray, who would undoubtedly not be well liked by her brother if he caught wind of how much of a prankster and slacker Ray could be, was her real secret admirer?

Ray was from a fairly wealthy family, which everyone who attended Hirashi High School knew, so he was well dressed, well groomed, often liked, respectful to a certain extent, and quite popular. The negative aspects of the boy was that he was very forgetful, slacked off a lot of the time, pulled pranks on persons with high authority, was known to get into fights, and cared more about athletics and math than any other class, which caused his grade point average to be below average for the most part.

"So, how was work today?" the pink haired woman asked, hoping for a good response. Sadly, she didn't receive her wish, "Fine, if you don't count the traffic, which made me late, and both of my bosses bitching me out for one stupid thing after another! I was almost fired, but one of my co-workers vouched for me, Hiroshi, I think was his name, and, how could I forget that I almost got run over but some asshole who didn't want to pay for his gas!" All of this was said in a low tone, Lee's growling growing steadily louder with every problem.

Mariah looked sympathetically over at her brother; he rarely ever caught a break, and today was just another one of those days. "I'm sure that tonight will be much better...and, hey, now you know how all of my would-be suitors have felt when you've tried to run them over!" she said this with a light chuckle, which earned a slight smirk from her orange eyed brother. "They're lucky that they got out of my way in time. Speaking of which, where does that new secret admirer of yours live?"

The younger Wong sibling was thankful that Lee had conceded with the change of topic, but cocked an eyebrow at his odd question nonetheless, "Why must you know where he lives?"

"In case he makes a mistake." Lee responded readily and truthfully. Mariah was a very intelligent girl, and knew that whatever her brother intended to do if anything happened that he so deemed as wrong or disgraceful. She also knew that there would be blood if that ever happened. "Well, he lives on the other side of town."

Lee nodded in satisfaction, "Great, then he won't be over here when I'm not." Mariah took a deep breath, "Lee, do you remember Hiwitari Kai?" Her brother snorted, shrugging as he said, "Yeah, why?" The black shirted girl exhaled slowly, "Well, what do you find objectionable about him?" The dark haired man looked skeptically at her, "Is this a trick question? You're not going to hit me if I answer, are you?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes," Mariah sighed, "I promise I won't hit you." Lee took one last glance at her before restoring his attention to the road. "Hmm...this is a first. My little sister wants me to declare openly, or more openly than I have before, all of the faults that I see in her suitor...I'm almost at a loss of what to say."

"Lee, just do it!"

"Hey now, I said 'almost at a loss'. That doesn't mean I can't state a few, at the very least. Let's see...I've heard about him, he's a kick boxer, right? So that means that he's a fighter and probably gets into trouble a lot. You said that he takes one of your poetry," he paused searching for the right word, but since he couldn't find it he continued, "Things, so he can't be too unintelligent, I suppose...hmmm...he's the heir to some multi-billion dollar whatsit, isn't he? Well then, he may some snob that prances around flaunting their cash for all I know...that's all I can really say, Riah..."

Mariah smiled inwardly at the nickname, but scowled anyway, "You know, not all of that was bad stuff. I'd have thought that you would've had much more to say." Lee sighed, "The only other thing I see wrong with him is that he's taking away my little sis." This made her smile, "Awww...I knew you had a heart somewhere behind that scowl!"

"Yeah, yeah...what I mean is that I never actually take the time to learn anything about your boyfriends," he shuddered slightly at the word, "And even when I do take any time, then I jump to conclusions and race off to protect you from unlikely harm. I guess that I should probably give this 'Kai' a chance at the very least." Lee said all of this quietly, but he knew that Mariah heard every word of it. She showed this by leaning over and kissing his cheek and then giving him a little smirk, "Did Salima tell you to say all of that?"

"Nope." Lee responded quickly. A little too quickly, in Mariah's opinion. "Liar." Lee let out a small chuckle, "So? She was right, though, when I think of it." The pink haired one smiled, "Do you really think so? Does that mean that your willing to give my boyfriends more of a chance than an immediate declaration of them as a rapist, or a welcome baseball bat to the face?"

"Hey, I thought that he was a burglar! It only happened that one time and I apologized!" he glared at his laughing little sister. It was true, though; Lee had thought that one of Mariah's past friends was a burglar because he came over to the apartment dressed in full paintball gear, ready to take the orange eyed girl paintballing. What he wasn't ready for was the bat that swiftly connected with his jaw. The boy soon found out that those masks will protect you from paintballs, but not an older brother. The relationship died almost immediately after that.

"But, yes, I'll attempt to give your suitors more than a glance before I threaten to kick their asses." Lee smirked as his sister smiled, "Thank you for trying to sound nice about it."

"Not a problem. Anyway, what was the point of asking me what I didn't like about your boyfriend?" A raised, dark eyebrow accompanied the query, and Mariah blushed. "Well. Hiwitari Kai is not my boyfriend." A frown escaped Lee, and he growled slightly, "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing!" the younger sibling insisted, "I was simply mistaken when it was he whom I met at the flagpole after school yesterday." There was still a scowl present on her brother's face as he asked, "How so?" Mariah sighed, "Kai only met me there because my real secret admirer couldn't be there at the time. It was a mistake in communication on both of our parts."

Lee pondered this news in silence. It was surprising, but Lee had promised to give Mariah's new boyfriend a chance. Even though her suitor was not Hiwitari Kai, the lion-like brother would keep his promise. 'It's a pity, though...Hiwitari appeared to have good taste in music...' he thought before asking, "So...who's the 'real' boyfriend?"

"Kon Ray." Mariah said this quickly and hoped that Lee had no clue who the Chinese boy was. Finally, her prayers were answered as her brother responded with a shrug, "I've no idea who in the Hell that is, but I will, most assuredly find out." Lee said all of this calmly, which proved that he was truly attempting to own up to his words.

"Oh, don't worry. You'll get to meet him eventually. I've known Ray for a couple years, he would never hurt anyone...especially if they had a big brother that liked to inflict pain." Mariah reassured the Chinese man, grateful that he had taken it so well.

Lee parked on the side of the road from their apartment complex, being sure that all of the doors were locked and that he grabbed his favorite weapon out from behind his seat so he could take it inside. "I'm going to miss using this old thing..." he mused aloud, making his little sister chuckle a little.

"Lee, can I go-"

"Yes, you can visit Salima. Does she work today?" Lee interrupted, waving off her question with one of his own. "I think so, but I'll check with her while I'm there. Why, are you that into her already?"

"Shut up, Riah. I need to thank her for the advice."

"And the dinner?"

"She told you about that?" Lee asked sheepishly, "Oh well, that's the reason that I came home later than usual. Maybe my cold shoulder can be defrosted a little, who knows?" His little sister laughed, "Thanks, Lee. I'll be home before you leave for work. And I'll bring Salima over so that you don't have to walk up the stairs!"

"Yeah, thanks!" Lee shouted after her.

In Salima's Bedroom

Mariah lay on the bed next to her red haired best friend's feet, whom was very perplexed with the entirety of the situation. "So...Kon Ray is your secret admirer?"

"Yes."

"And Lee is okay with that?"

"Yes." the pink haired girl responded. Salima rolled onto her side and stared down at the other end of the bed toward Mariah. "And you're okay with..."

"You and my brother?" Mariah finished, "Of course! I say that it's about damn time he got a girlfriend and lightened up a little! And who better to help him do that than the Queen of the Slackers herself?" The brown eyed girl laughed, "This is so messed up. Have you asked Lee if you can go out with Ray tonight?"

The tangerine eyed woman propped herself up on her arms and said, "No, I will when I go home, though."

Kai's Bedroom (Some Time Later)

The mahogany eyed teenager set down the black leash, allowing Ward to run off into the house. He hadn't received a call yet, and he was really hoping that everyone would just leave him alone tonight. Ray would have none of it, apparently, because Kai's cell phone rang an hour later, just after Kai had finished his dinner.

One glance at the caller ID made Kai grimace, 'He's either calling to ask me to go pick her up, or he's calling the whole thing off...and I would most prefer it to be the latter...' he thought, scowling even in his mind. "What do you want, Ray?" he asked, making sure that his friend could hear the aggravation in his vocal chords.

"You'll still pick her up, right?" Kai held back a groan, "What's her address?"
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Sorry about my tardiness in posting this chapter. I recently moved (AGAIN), and it took awhile for me to be able to hook up my computer, as it's an old house and most of the outlets don't support grounding prongs!

What I'm not sorry about is this somewhat-of-a-cliffhanger that I seem to have left you on! It is eleven pm, I am tired, I still have Science homework to get done, and I have to go to school tomorrow.

I understand that many of you were expecting to read the "first date" chapter between Ray and Mariah, but it is not to be so until chapter five! This is my longest chapter yet, so I beg of you to not complain and feed me reviews!