Chapter Five

“Dude! What the hell is your freakin’ problem?!” Lee bellowed at dark brown haired friend. Taka shook his head and checked for bumps and bruises. “Ouch…” he whispered. No bumps, no bruises but his butt really ached. Falling down on one’s ass really hurts a lot. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? That guy almost ran you over!” Lee skated down the half-pipe to the twisted railing. He knelt down and sharply slapped the back of Taka’s head. “The guy swerved, man! Why didn’t you avoid him?” Taka blinked a few times, his thoughts still somewhere and not minding Lee’s scolding.

Lee snapped his fingers at Taka’s face. “Hello?!”

“Huh?” Taka murmured, breaking away from his thoughts. “Oh…sorry Lee. I think it hit it hard. What did you say?”

“Ay! What’s wrong with you Shinomori?”

“Nothing man…its nothing.”

“Nothing, huh?” Lee echoed, squatting down beside Taka. “The guy swerved and did a three-sixty right above your head and its nothing? Your neck could have cracked! Damn Taka…wake up, will you?”

Taka chuckled and grabbed his skateboard. He held it and stared in to it. He told Lee he was just fine. Lee didn’t believe him. Growing up side by side his partner-in-crime, Lee knew Taka very well. And he knew something was up with his best friend.

“Hey, I’m heading to McDonald’s. I’m hungry.” Taka laughed and rubbed his stomach.

“Geez…you almost got beat and you’re thinking about food?” Lee said, getting up after Taka.

“Yeah…”

“Whatever, man. Your treat this time. I’m broke!”

“Again?!”

“Yeah. Spent my cash on Rikku last night. She wanted to go see that new chick-flick and eat downtown and go to the arcade.”

Taka laughed. “Alright. You owe me.”

“What?! Cut me some slack dude! You said your treat!”

“Ha. I never said anything. You did all the talking.”

“Damn you.”

Taka and Lee burst out laughing as they headed to McDonald’s. Lee helped himself to two regular burgers and a large Coke, and Taka ate his way through two Big Macs, a large coke and a choco-sundae. They sat on the tables outside. Lee watched Taka closely as he gobbled down his snack. When Taka drank his soda, he noticed Lee eyeing him curiously. “What?” he asked. Lee put down his second burger and crossed his arms. “Nothing.” Taka shrugged it off and continued to eat. Lee, on the other hand, munched down his burger and finished his Coke. Somehow, he had to pry it out of Taka and make him change his mind about the cheerleader…before what Rikku said about Lana comes true.

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Back at Taka’s house, Lee made himself comfortable on the bed as Taka played a few tunes on his acoustic guitar on his metallic blue bean bag.

Taka’s room, on the second floor of a traditional Japanese house, wasn’t all that big. He had blue and white stripped wallpaper on his wall; by his window was a low-rise bed in blue and white sheets and a dark wood desk beside it with his computer and school books. His closet was a few meters in front of his bed, filled with his polo shirts, t-shirts, light long-sleeved sweats, a denim jacket and a black leather one, denim pants, different caps, his wide collection of Chuck Taylor shoes, and three drawers of his other stuff. His wall had a couple of posters of his basketball, football and baseball idols. On a small platform were his stereo set, a CD rack filled of his favorite CDs, mostly burned and two of his other guitars, bass and electric. His skates and skateboard were by his door.

Lee had his shoes on the sheets and his arms on the back of his neck. “Hey…you’re gonna wash those.” Taka said, pointing to his bed sheets. “Let me guess, feet off the clean sheets?” Lee joked. “You know my mom throws a fit over dirty stuff.” “Yeah…just like Yuki.” Lee got up and sat on the edge of the bed. Tell him now. Before it’s too late…remember what Rikku said. You gotta tell him…NOW. He said to himself.

“What’s with you, man? You’re quiet. It’s freaky. Haha” Taka laughed.

Lee looked at him seriously. “What’s with Lana, Shinomori?”

Taka’s head jerked up at the sound of her name. “I thought we talked about this already, Lee. And I told you guys, I’m not gonna stay away from her.”

“I know that…but let’s talk. And I want the truth. What happened? You were never like that to her last year.”

“Yeah…I know.” Taka smiled.

“Hey, hey, hey! I know that smile!” Lee quipped up. “Spill it Shinomori.”

“First of all…stop calling me Shinomori. It’s annoying. Second of all…it’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

Taka sighed got up and returned his guitar on the platform. He leaned against the wall, his arms at the back of his head. “Look, Lee…I…” He hesitated to tell Lee the story. “We’re best buds ‘til the end remember? No matter what, we stick to each other. And I wanna know what’s bugging you…coz it’s cramping out your style, man! Haha.” Taka sighed again. Lee convinced him. There’s no way out this time. It’s a best friend unwritten rule. “C’mon...get on with it.” Lee shifted his position and sat his elbows on his knees.

“It happened last summer…before this school year started. I don’t know why but I just couldn’t stop thinking about her. I tried to…but I couldn’t. And what happened back at school…I guess that was it. I just couldn’t keep it inside anymore. It was easy for the first few months but spending a lot of time with her…I mean, during class since we’re classmates. It got harder and harder. I kept seeing her all the time. And I guess you could say…I got attracted to her…more.”

“Excuse me?...what do you mean more? Last summer? Weren’t you and Yuki at Crystal Cove?”

“Yuki was at my grandparents in the province with Mom and Dad. I went to Crystal Cove with my uncle and his family.”

“Okay…”

“Anyways, you’ll never guess who was there with us. It was Lana.”

Lee tried to keep a straight face but as Taka told his story, it was hard not to look shocked at all. Taka recalled the moments inside his head. He was grinning.

“We bumped into each other at a restaurant by the board walk. Both of us just got there and happened to have dinner in the same place and our tables were practically one table apart. We were both going back to our table when we saw each other. Then, from behind me, I heard a woman call out my aunt’s name. Then I heard my aunt greet that woman. Turns out, my aunt and uncle were colleagues and college roomies with Lana’s parents. Small world, huh? It was like they haven’t seen each other in years. They had our tables joined together and Lana and I ended up sitting beside each other at the table. The Mizuki’s invited us to stay at their log cabin. My relatives jumped on the offer…

“We stayed there so I kinda spent the summer with the Mizuki’s. It was nice. Nice place and all…”

“Enough with the intro. What happened?” Lee interrupted. Taka knew where Lee was going at. So he cut to the chase.

“I got to know Lana there. And she’s not who I thought she was. She’s caring, kind, witty and really sweet. She isn’t preppy or perky at all. She’s always smiling and happy. It’s like she hasn’t got a worry in the world. She tells jokes and acts goofy sometimes. We spent a lot of time together since her parents and my relatives were always out together and nobody was gonna watch over my three cousins. So, we ended up baby-sitting everyday. She did most of it and I was just watching. She has this thing with kids and they really seemed to like her. And I was starting to like her too. She made me laugh, she taught me how to deal with the kids and she even let me handle then. It was pandemonium! And she was just laughing when the kids were running around the cabin and I was trying to catch them. Her laugh was something I can never forget. I liked hearing her laugh and I liked it when I saw her smiling. Her eyes were so beautiful, her hair was always perfect and the way she dressed was simple yet so irresistible.

“Me and cousins would play around a lot. She’d join in. We’d tackle each other, tickle each other and chase each other. I never thought I’d laugh so hard. Haha. Then, we all went to the beach. The old ones would watch over the kids so me and Lana finally had our freedom. We went skating on the board walk and I taught her a few tricks. When she fell…I caught her….damn, her skin was so soft and warm and she was so light on my arms. Then I took her for a ride on the Jet Ski and well,…I really like the way her arms were wrapped around my torso…

Lee watched Taka’s expression as he told him all that. Lee’s face changed to a worried look but hid it from Taka. He realized that a lot has happened that he didn’t know about. He knew Yuki didn’t know either. And he guessed Rei Kanzaki and Miku Yakama weren’t aware too. Taka’s mind drifted back to that night. . . . . . . . .

“That was so much fun Taka! We should do that again next time!” Lana Mizuki cheerfully said as she and Taka got off the Jet Ski.

“It was fun, wasn’t it? For a minute, I thought you’d be scared to death and be screaming at my ears!” Taka laughed.

“Silly!” she punched him playfully on his right arm.

Lana laughed along with him but then, she stopped and fell to her knees.

“Lana!” Taka cried. “You okay?” he kneeled down beside her.

“I’m okay. Let’s go get some ice cream!” she smiled at him.

“Are you sure?” Taka looked at Lana with concern as he helped her to her feet.

“Yup! Race you to the ice cream shop!”

“I’m gonna beat you there!”

Lana and Taka raced each other to the ice cream store. Lana got a double-scope vanilla and Taka got double-dutch on a wafer cone.

“This is yummy.” Lana said as she and Taka walked on the board walk.

“Yeah…wanna try some of mine?” Taka offered.

“You already licked it!”

“Haha. So?”

Taka scooped some ice cream off his cone and smeared it on Lana’s face. Lana gasped. “You!” she laughed and smeared some of her ice cream on Taka’s face. They chased each other down the board walk, splotching each other with ice cream.

“Haha! Got you!” Taka chuckled. Lana giggled and jumped on Taka’s back. “Now I got you!”

“Hey you two! Time to head in. Taka, we’re leaving early tomorrow.” Shouted Taka’s uncle as he and the others met up with Taka and Lana at the board walk.

“Hold on….I want a picture of this first!” Lana’s mom said, getting her camera out.

“Lana and Taka look so cute together!! Haha!” said a little voice.

“Hikaru…” Lana said to Taka’s little cousin.

“Lana’s blushing!” teased Ken.

“Ken!” Taka exclaimed, blushing a little himself.

Everybody burst out laughing. “Hikaru’s right you know…” Lana’s mom added. “Anyways, you two stand here.” Mrs. Mizuki pointed out the spot where Taka and Lana stood and took the picture. In the background was the ocean and the sky was beautiful as the sun was setting. Lana had her head on Taka’s shoulder and Taka had his arm on Lana’s shoulders…

“I had fun…thanks for everything Taka.” Lana said as the all walked back to the log cabin.

“Yeah...me too.” Taka replied.

“You know…” Lana stopped on the porch and gazed in to the night sky. Taka stopped on the steps.

“What?”

“I’m gonna miss you once school starts…”

“Its gonna be different Lana…You know that.”

“I know…” she spoke sadly and softly.

Taka squeezed gently Lana’s shoulder. “Smile.”

“Huh?”

“You look beautiful when you smile. Cheer up, okay?” Taka smiled at her.

Lana blushed. “Okay.”

Lana turned her back to open the door and taka followed her. Then Lana turned back again and she was nose-to-nose with Taka. She blushed, realizing how close they were. “Go on…” Taka whispered. He smiled, gesturing her to go inside. “It’s getting cold out here.” Lana smiled back. She bit her lip and slightly turned pink. “Um…Taka…”

“Yeah….?”

Lana suddenly gave Taka a kiss on the lips. A smack. Taka got surprised but he kissed her back. Her soft lips pressed against his…

Lana broke the kiss, her cheeks, flushed.

“Good night…” she whispered to him.

Taka was smirking but stood there, greatly surprised at the kiss. Lana tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I guess I’ll go in now…” She turned her back and walked in. Taka watched her go. He smiled as he remembered what her lips felt on his…the way she blushed furiously…her sparkling eyes as she smiled. His heart raced as he relived the moment in his head.

He went in after a minute or two. He closed the door and looked up to the second floor. He saw Lana, about to enter her room. She turned and looked at Taka. She was still pink and her lips curved in a smile. He smiled at her as their eyes met. She went into her room, her fingers on her lips, reminiscing how his warm lips felt on her.

“Good night Lana.” Taka whispered as he watched her enter her room, smiling.