Author's Note:
No dares this time. Sorry, I lied. Next chapter, I promise – I even have teasers for it. Every game needs some sort of 'coin toss,' right? Vance is just a cheeky little bastard and Raythe's just too naïve to notice anything. This could make for a very interesting sequel. Ha! But I'm not even going into that yet. Too early. Bah.Notification:
If you'd like to be e-mailed of when this story is updated, e-mail me at [email protected].The Legend:
In the Rye Christi Academy, a legend is someone with enough audacity to do everything and anything; hence, gaining respect from the entire school. If another student commits an act more outrageous than the current legend, that student gains the title of the "legend."The Game:
In Basis and Rules, Vance Khamerin challenged Raythe into what seems like a no-strings-attached game. However, he has other motives. In Raythe's eyes, it's just a game of win or lose – although, lose and you lose a well-earned title. For Vance, it's a game of mind tricks and heartstrings.Raythe walked into the dining room where plates of what seemed like food stared at her. She blinked and made a face, approaching the table hesitantly, wondering about her brother's cooking skills or lack thereof. She grabbed a fork and picked at the spaghetti at the center of the table, surprised that it was soft and well cooked. The next part was the taste test, and Raythe couldn't help but grimace just thinking about it. In all of Wraith's eighteen years he was never one to cook. Sure, he tried and hard he did, but they never came out right. Sometimes, the food just looked too disgusting to bother picking at it. This time, however, it looked decent. Although, what seems appealing to the eye might not apply to the taste buds, she remembered.
Vance then took the chair in front of her, shirtless, arms and chest glistening with sweat. He must have worked out with her brother in the basement. He was tan, all right. She didn't miss the glitter of what seemed like a teardrop-shaped necklace that hung around his neck. Several spiked tendrils fell over his bright hazel eyes that seemed to glow underneath the chandelier's light that hovered above them. Surprisingly, those sunglasses she'd seen him wear earlier were still on top of his head.
Her face contorted into an expression of wonder and mild delight and all he could do was stare at her in bafflement.
'I guess he's sort of cute… if he didn't open that damned mouth of his!'
"What?"
"Out of curiosity, are those sunglasses… um, like, glued to your head or something?" She let a small giggle escape her. "I've never seen you take it off."
Before she stopped herself, she noticed with wild surprise that she had just asked him a decent, non-yelled question. In fact, if things kept up the way they were, they just might have a decent conversation. Then again, it could have been the aftereffects of her dream. It dazed her quite a lot since she got downstairs.
Vance shrugged, taking them off his head and inspecting them.
"Doesn't look like it is."
She blinked, possibly the thousandth time that day. Vance was acting decent if not humorous. She wasn't too happy with her dreams but if it caused this much change in everyone, maybe it wasn't so bad to dream every night. She just hoped it had the same effect on Wraith's food.
"Wraith. Where are Mom and Dad?" She asked as soon as he came into the room with a glass of water.
"They came here while you were asleep, said they had a last minute business trip."
"Where this time?"
"I think Australia. They didn't say, but they've been working on a case there last time I checked Dad's files." At Vance's curious gaze, he added, "Our parents are lawyers." Vance nodded.
'If he's being decent, I guess I could be too… blast you, ya big softy!'
"So, uh, what does your mom do?" She twirled a piece of spaghetti around her fork, still unable to bring it her mouth.
Hazel eyes bore into hers and she was surprised to see fire in them.
"She's gone."
"Sorry."
"Sorry, man."
Now, she felt like a total idiot for asking. She took her fork and jammed it inside her mouth, damn well surprised that she was actually savoring the taste of her brother's cooking. It was good, to put it bluntly. Thankful that she had something else to focus on, she continued munching on her food, unaware of fleeting glances in her direction.
"Nessie Cleighbourn invited the entire senior class to her house for a midnight bash. You coming?"
Raythe gagged on her food and coughed; Wraith pounded her on the back, still looking at Vance for an answer.
Vance just laughed and shook his head. "I work early on Saturdays. You okay there, Raythe?"
He actually said her name. As if they had been friends for a long time, in fact. She would get to that later. For now, though…
"Nessie?" She exploded. "Nessie!"
Wraith raised a brow. "I could pull some strings if you want to come."
"Vanessa Cleighbourn. The girl I'd like to see rot in flames? The girl I told you about countless times and… and… and you've got a nickname for her! Are you out of your mind?" She said incredulously, oblivious to her crescendo voice.
Wraith blushed and muttered, "Shit."
"Ooh," she glared, "if you weren't my brother, I'd kill you."
"What, it just kind of happened!" He defended himself, which was futile.
"Hey, Wraith, mind if I bunk here?" Vance interjected, still enjoying the mild spat between brother and sister.
"Yeah," he said distractedly, "There's a guest room next to Ray's."
Too preoccupied with current standings, Raythe didn't hear her brother's comment and continued to banter with her brother.
"It was an accident, I swear!"
"You're a pretty lousy brother, you know that? It makes me wonder if you were ever paying attention to me at all!"
"I love you?"
Raythe rolled her eyes and excused herself from the table.
"Go to that stupid party if you must," she sighed.
"Sorry, Ray."
"Yeah, yeah."
Dejected and a little perturbed, Raythe climbed back up the stairs and back into her room.
Still disturbed about the evening's fiasco, she forced herself off her bed, knowing she had many other affairs for the night to deal with. The heat pounded against her body and suddenly noticed the tight cling of her uniform to her body. With a grimace, she walked into her walk-in closet and pulled off her uniform, quickly changing into a tank top and modest shorts for her pajamas, discarding her uniform into a laundry basket.
She proceeded to walk down into the kitchen, reminding herself to keep quiet for her guest. Well, he wasn't her guest per se, but in all technical terms, he was her guest. She needn't have worried, though. She noticed a soft pounding of music.
The basement.
Quietly, she opened the door that led to the cellar and peeked down. She got a good glimpse of workout instruments and the moon shining in through the open door. And no, she didn't miss the brown eyes that looked at her expectantly. She grinned sheepishly, and she saw him shook his head before raising the barbell above his head once more. Sighing and keeping her ground, she walked downstairs.
"Come here to workout?" He inquired without looking at her.
"No."
"I see." He put the barbell back on its support and sat up, wiping his brow with a swipe of his arm. "So what are you doing here?"
'This isn't your house, buddy.'
"I meant to go outside and since I'm already down here… it's faster."Vance grinned and shook his head. "Whatever."
R A Y T H E
Vance Khamerin is an enigma.
And mystifying.
And weird.
And so incredibly smug at times.
And sometimes just… tolerable.
Why is he doing this?
I'll be a spastic mess just trying to figure this guy out, what goes on in his head anyway.
Sometimes he's just too overconfident.
And I don't know whether it's a full moon out that's making me think like this, or if this has been my taste for boys all along…
But it's his allure and believe you me, I know why all those other girls go stupid around him. I understand. I understand.
I just noticed it now when he grinned at me. Yeah, I know. He's grinned at me thousands of times but this one was genuine. I know it. I like this Vance Khamerin. Not the other Vance when he gloats and teases or whatnot. I like this modest, confident, somewhat civilized Vance Khamerin.
But they're one in the same, aren't they? You can't have one without having the other. So, hypothetically speaking, if I was falling for this Vance Khamerin, then I really do like his other personality.
Of course, this is all hypothetical.
Raythe walked outside, barefoot, and towards the fountain, Vance's eyes still fixed on her as she pulled her knees towards her chest and looked upwards into the heavens.
With a quirk of his brow, he wiped his face with a towel and followed her outside.
V A N C E
I don't know what possessed me to follow her out. I could have just stayed well where I was and continued on without her. But her actions were so peculiar. It wouldn't have surprised me if she came down to yell at me some more but all she did was look at me and that surprised me.
When someone such as her is quiet like that, you know something's up.
Then again, Raythe's quite a mystery. And every mystery needs a good unraveling.
He stood in front of her, following her gaze to the glistening moon and sky-embedded stars.
So.
Raythe Windsor was a night-gazer sort of girl.
"What?"
"What are you doing?"
"Stargazing or… something. I usually do this with Wraith, though, but he's not here. He's over at that stupid Nessie's house… probably having the time of his life or something." She pouted. "If he falls for that idiot… hm…"
'You might not have a brother after that,'
he deducted in his mind, 'he'll be too preoccupied with other things.'So this was what was causing her to act strangely. Maybe.
"Can I sit down?"
She grunted.
He sat.
"Vanessa's not bad."
She spun around. "Well, of course you wouldn't think so. When it comes to Vanessa Cleighbourn, all the boys go insane over her. Then again, all boys think with their… you know, and… oh, forget it."
Vance smirked, too amused.
"So," he began, "we have to get that challenge started, don't we?"
"Sure, why not." She said tonelessly.
"We'll do it with a coin toss."
She blinked at him. She watched his hand reach into his pocket and pulled out a quarter, then fixed his eyes on her own, reaching far into her soul.
He held the quarter up in front of them, "Call it now."
"Tails…"
The moment was just too cliché, she mused. Well, it wasn't as if they were going to start falling in love here or anything. It was just his eyes. If she just stared into them, she could tell what he was feeling.
And there was no drop of sarcasm, mockery, or pride-
"It's heads."
She looked at the quarter and back at him.
And back at the quarter.
Despite her eyes locked on his own, she knew for a fact he didn't flip it. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him.
The thin line of his lips curled upwards into a grin.
-just so damn, wickedly devious!
"Cheater!"
He smirked and rapped his knuckles against her forehead before walking away.
"No rules, remember?"
Jerk.
Teasers
"You arrogant, careless, disgusting pig!"
"I dare you to skip your homeroom class..."
"How wimpy."
"...In nothing but undergarments."
His eyes roamed over her lithe body, fair and petite. The pink blush that stained her cheeks when the male student body gazed appreciatively at her proved to him that she had never allowed anyone to see her half-naked. Her embarrassment was cute. As she walked up to him, he gazed into those pesky eyes once more, temporarily dazed and hypnotized. In a flash, those affection-induced, cinnamon orbs he was presented with last night glazed over in fury and a devious glint sparkled in her eyes that made him reconsider her innocence with an underlying devilishness that could be.
"It's my turn."