Note: Chapter 4-7 at the NEXT page =)
Chapter 1 - 3 in the post below
Hey!!!
It would mean a whole lot to me if you can read my story, "Reality Ain't Pretty, Sora!" and leave a review telling me what you thought about it so far.
Thanks a million! Hope to hear from you guys soon!!! I've worked really hard on this, so if you would please tell me what you think, that would be greatt!!! Well, i should stop yapping now!!
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Oh God, how do I do this? This doesn’t even make any sense! Why the heck didn’t I study? Stupid test, what’s the point in taking it anyways?
Taking tests wasn’t what 17-year-old Sora did best. It was a make up day for final exams at Destiny High. These were very important tests since they were worth one third of their grade. Everyone had been on time to take their tests yesterday, except for Sora. He had woke up late and came to the testing room tardy, therefore, he was required to make it up the next day. The seniors were out of school and were getting ready for college. Unfortunately for Sora, he was behind. And even worse, math was his weakest subject! He was all alone, by himself in the quiet room. Did he study for this very important test? No, no he didn’t…but he should have!
OK, calm down. I might be able to do this!
Sora took a deep breath and exhaled tensely. Small drops of perspiration slithered down his soft face and slipping onto his chest. He felt hotter and his cheeks were red as tomatoes. Usually, he was never this tense on taking any test. Realizing this, it worried him greatly.
Tick, tick, tick!!!
The sound of the clock tormented his ears and each second accumulated pressure on the frustrated boy. An hour past by and poor Sora was still struggling. He was only on question number three! Sora’s nervous face expression had not altered. He could barely grasp his no. 2 pencil or keep focus because he was too busy glaring at the devilish clock that hung sturdily above the classroom door; with each second disturbing him. When he finally decided to look at the fearsome test that lay uselessly before him, he was too late.
Ding, ding, ding!!!
The school bell rang loudly in the empty school and echoed in Sora’s mind. He was doomed…
His teacher, Mrs. Dang walked rapidly to the small desk he sat in. Each step she took made him uneasy! She was a petite, slim women with dark brown eyes and long black hair.
“Time’s up, Sora!” she exclaimed.
“No! I need more time! Can I have twenty more minutes, please?” pleaded Sora with a worried expression on his tired face.
Mrs. Dang wasn’t the nicest teacher in the world, getting even a thirty second extension on any test was quite impossible.
“NO!” was her harsh reply.
“Pleeeassseee????” begged Sora with his sweaty hands folded and trying to come up with more ways to get more time for himself.
“Sorry, Sora. You need to do the test within the time limit.” She said with much impatience.
“Five minutes?” Sora questioned.
“Sora! Must I repeat myself?” she yelled, reaching for his test.
Before she was able to take his test away, he grabbed onto it and held it firmly. His test was in the hands between his teacher and himself. After holding on, he replied, “Not if you give me more time!”
Getting upset and angry, she pulled the test and exclaimed, “Let go! Now!”
Not giving up, Sora tugged harder in order to get the test out of her hands and back into his possession. The force between the two was too much for the test and it tore in two, unbearable pieces.
Mrs. Dang’s blood boiled and her face had turned dreadful. She held the two pieces and looked at Sora’s regretful face.
“LOSS OF CREDIT! I WILL BE GIVING YOU A ZERO! OUT!” she yelled, pointing to the door.
“What!? But, I didn’t do anything!” he cried.
“I SAID GO! AND I WILL BE CALLING YOUR PARENTS YOUNG MAN!!!” she had lost patience completely and wanted Sora out of her sight.
Unenthusiastically, he hoisted his black and navy blue back pack on his right shoulder and dragged his sorry self out of the room.
The hallways were empty and all he heard were his loud footsteps.
“What am I going to tell Kairi now?” he muttered to himself as he continued walking towards the front entrance, passing by many lockers.
“This was my last chance to impress Kairi that I am good in school, and I took that chance and threw it right out the window…No! Wait, I took that chance and crumpled it into a ball and flushed it down the damn toilet right out into the sewers!”
Sora had a crush on Kairi, a long time best friend, since he was little. He wanted to prove himself and try to win Kairi’s heart by impressing her.
He was upset at his goofy mistake. He felt like going back in time and take that silly test all over. It was too late, and he couldn’t do anything.
Finally getting to the door, he opened it, allowing the cool breeze to blow against his warm face. He began walking when he heard a familiar voice nearby.
“Sora!” he heard a innocent, sweet voice calling out to him.
Turning around, he saw Kairi and Riku in the distance. They were his two best friends and they had been waiting forever for Sora to be done with that test. Hurriedly, he caught up to them.
“Hey guys! Thanks for waiting!” he greeted.
Kairi giggled and asked eagerly, “So, how was your test?”
Sora gulped. Staring at her engaging face, he thought about all the time and effort that she had willingly sacrificed for him so that he was well prepared for that exam. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to tell her the truth, that he ended up getting a forced failure. Thinking of a quick answer, he replied, “It was easy! I’m sure that I passed it!”
Excitedly, she gave him a sudden, friendly hug. “I’m so happy for you! All those hours of helping you study paid off!” She rustled his spiky, brunet hair.
Forcing a chuckle, he answered, “It sure did!”
However, Riku suspected that something was wide of the mark. Since when was any test easy for Sora? The last time he checked, Sora never thought that any test was easy. He gave his best friend a skeptic look, and in return he received a taunting look from Sora. He didn’t want anything to make Kairi think that he was lying to her.
The trio began walking through neighborhoods to get to their homes. It had been a long day, and they all needed some time to chill.
“So, what do you guys wanna do?” asked Kairi as they walked in a steady pace.
They were interrupted by a deafening honking noise. Sora glanced at the road and rolled his blue eyes after noticing who it was. Kairi gazed in disgust.
Riding slowly next to them was Axel in his new yellow convertible. He snickered and laughed loudly.
“Look! It’s the young and car-less!” saying that, he drove away blowing dust in their confused faces and honked his annoying horn continuously as he laughed insanely.
Getting angry, Sora yelled, “SHUT UP! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ANYWAYS YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF CRAP! WHY DON’T YOU DRIVE YOUR SORRY ASS SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!”
Calming down, Sora faced his two friends and said, “ I hate that jerk!”
“Maybe, you should just let it go…” suggested Kairi.
Halfheartedly, he agreed and did not say anything about Axel or his bad behavior. Everyone knew that whenever Sora got caught up in the moment, he couldn’t be stopped. Turing 17 was a big change for Sora. He was excited that his birthday was around the corner and he wanted to show how much more “mature” he had become.
Focusing back on Kairi’s question, Sora responded, “Let’s go to the skateboard park!”
Disliking the idea, Kairi suggested to do something that they all were willing to do. Sora couldn’t think of anything better, and Riku didn’t mind what they did.
Kairi stopped where she was and stomped her foot.
“Darn!” she exclaimed suddenly, “I forgot that I had to do some important errands for my mother! I’m sorry, but I have to leave you guys. I know, since summer vacation just started, we can spend some time together tomorrow! I promise!”
Saying that, she bid them good bye and turned the other direction. Sora sighed and continued walking with Riku. Out of hearing distance, Riku began talking to Sora.
“You were lying through your sorry ass mouth! Ah, Sora, when will you learn to tell the truth? I know that you totally flunked that test!” Riku started nagging his friend.
Sora looked forward and folded his arms behind his hair. “Yeah…I’m good at that aren’t I? Besides, what did you want me to tell her? That I ended up failing that thing, upsetting the dumb foolish teacher, and ended up getting the test ripped?”
Riku stared at Sora in disbelief. “You did what?”
Sora told him everything and what happened.
“Yep, that’s totally Sora. You try to impress a girl, but it ends up in total chaos!” Riku laughed at Sora’s mishaps.
The two took a turn at the corner and saw Riku’s house in the distance. It was a pretty, elegant home with red and white rose bushes around the house. Riku took the keys out of this pocket and unlocked the door to his house. They both set off to Riku’s bedroom. It was a clean room, and everything was in it’s place. Riku was a clean and organized person and took good care of his belongings.
“You want to play video games?” Riku suggested, taking out his game system from his closet.
“Sure!” agreed Sora, plopping himself onto Riku’s neatly made bed.
The two friends played until dinner time. Glancing at his black watch, Sora decided it was time for him to go.
“Well, I have to go now. I don’t want my parents getting mad at me for not being home before dark” Sora chuckled and departed from his friends house.
The warm evening breeze brushed against Sora’s spikes, making them wave. He walked past large homes and playful children.
Whistling to himself, Sora thought about the stressful day he had. Reaching his cozy home, he observed that the house was dark and the drive way was empty.
He walked to his modern home and lazily turned the front door.
“Shoot! I left my house key in my bathroom!” Sora grunted at him clumsy mistake as he reached into his pockets searching for the key he needed.
Carelessly, he dropped his bag and sat down on the front porch. He glanced at his watch which read 6:25.
“AH! Mom and Dad don’t come home until 7:30!” Sora groaned and hung his head.
He knew what was coming for him. He knew that his parents would get very upset about Sora’s irresponsibility. He was supposed to clean up his messy room and do some small chores everyday before his parents came home. However, for the past few months, Sora had not been successful in granting his parent’s wishes.
Right now, his room was not clean and he hadn’t started on those chores. If he couldn’t get into his house, how was he supposed to do everything? Frightening images exploded into his mind. His parents were very strict and they weren’t going to buy any excuse that he would tell them.
What was he to do? Frantically, Sora was thinking of every excuse to tell his parents, not to mention his failure of his test. He knew that his parents’ heads would burst right off and they would probably send him to military school or do something bizarre.
Let’s not think the worst!!! Ok, so I’m doomed….hmm…
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So, how is it so far?!?
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Chapter 2
What do people do when they are helplessly locked out of their house with torture awaiting them?
The first idea that occurred to him, was to see if the garage was open. Pacing himself towards the garage door, he started to pull it up. He heaved and pulled, but it would not budge.
Opening a window came about to him next, for he unenthusiastically began walking around his large house; trying to open every ground-level window he saw.
However, each window was covered in dust and appeared as if they hadn’t been opened in centuries. They were also shut down tight, making it a hassle for Sora’s arms to open them.
That reminded Sora, cleaning the windows was one of first things on his To Do list, along with cutting the overgrown lawn, cleaning his cluttered room, polishing the dusty furniture, and vacuuming the soiled carpets in the house.
“Ugh, I will clean these later…much later. Who would want to clean this anyways?” Sora remarked, with a look of repugnance on his face as he removed the dust from his fingers.
With no luck, he was back to where he started; locked out of his house with his household tasks not done.
Giving up on the idea of opening a window to get inside, he lied down helplessly in his mother’s beautiful rose garden in the backyard. Red, white, and pink roses of all shapes and sizes surrounded him as he gazed at the clear sky; on the verge of murder.
“I’m so doomed…AH, I HATE THIS SO MUCH!” he yelled, banging his fist hard, destroying a few roses that were in his way.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. He remembered that his bedroom window was left ajar, however, his room was on the second floor..
Excitedly, he ran to where his bedroom was.
All I need to do, is find a way to climb up here!, Sora thought while he looked high up at his bedroom window. I am going to use my mom’s vines to help me do so since I don’t have a ladder with me!
His mother had grown beautiful Morning Glories around the house, unfortunately one was planted firmly just below Sora’s window!
“Hmm, if I ruin this, I will just buy Mom some more…besides, I’m sure she won’t even notice! She has so many of these stupid flowers everywhere!” he pondered, beginning to ascend the feeble plant.
The fragile vines were not strong enough to hold Sora’s weight, and as a result, he fell hard onto the ground.
Thud!
His head rested on the terrain, along with the rest of his body. “OK…wow, now what the hell was I thinking!?”
Why is this happening to me!, he thought gloomily, then closed his eyes in despair. I can’t ask any of my neighbors to borrow their ladders because…they see me as a lying, cheater who manipulates people! Damn neighbors!
I know!!! Maybe I can break the front window with a big rock! Then I can get through and not have to deal with my parents!
Apparently, his small mind could not think of any better solution to his pitiful dilemma.
Searching the ground from where he lay, his flimsy hand started searching frantically for a good sized rock that would be able to break a window. Spotting one, he reached out and picked it up. Tossing it into his hands, he ran gaily to the front of his house. Targeting a window next to the entrance door, he gazed at the window that revealed his own reflection. Sounds of faint footsteps were heard nearby, distracting him. Ignoring it, he focused on aiming at his target, nevertheless the footsteps became louder with each fleeting moment. He hurled the heavy rock in his right hand, until a shrill voice stopped him.
“SORA!” cried a shrill voice behind him.
From the sudden outburst, he flinched a little bit, but quickly recovered from his shock. He stopped what he was doing, and through the window that he was looking at, he saw the reflection of one of his close friends, Tifa. Dropping the rock, he rushed towards the girl.
“What were you trying to do? Break into your own house?” Tifa questioned with great bewilderment. She placed her thin hands on her waist and stared at Sora with great misunderstanding with her dark brown eyes.
A wide smile spread on his miserable face and flung his arms around her slim body.
“What brings you here? Anyways, I’m so glad you’re here, now you can solve all my problems!” he exclaimed with joy, erupting with happiness.
“Well, I was walking in the neighborhood until I saw you trying to break into your own house! Ha, and I’m sure you have problems!”, she exclaimed as she swayed her long black hair out of her face, “You look happy today…a little too happy, don’t ya think?...I never saw you this happy since---”
Sora let go of her as he quickly interrupted her sentence, not wanting to hear what she was going to say. “Tifa, I need you to help me!” implored Sora with a touch of innocence.
Tifa looked incredulous. “Sure, but what would you like me to help you with?”
After a few moments of thought, Sora spoke, placing his right hand under his chin. “My parents trust you right?”
She agreed, not liking where this was going. “Uh huh…”
She crossed her arms, waiting for him to explain further.
He began his story. “OK, well, I left my house key in my bathroom this morning before I left for school, so I’m locked out. I am supposed to clean my room and do some stupid chores here and there everyday before my parents come home---”
This time, Tifa cut him off. “So, you want me to lie to your parents, telling them something so that you can get off the hook, am I right? Then it would look like as if you were trying to do what they say…”
Sora snickered, “Yeah, you got it, but how did you know I was going to ask you to do that?”
His companion chuckled, placing her hands on his spiky hair, “Sora, Sora, Sora… it’s not that hard for me to figure you out!”
Sora chuckled in agreement. Tifa and Sora had known each other since childhood, so it was easy for her to figure out how his mind works. They are practically like brother and sister and help each other from time to time.
“Give me a good reason as to why I should lie to your parents so that they could lose trust in me?” she argued, illusions of red and orange flames were seen in her angry eyes.
“Uh…C’mon!!! You and I are tight like two pieces of paper glued together! I’m sure that you don’t want anything bad to happen to me in these desperate times…right?” complained the distraught boy. “Why can’t you just make something up that won’t get either of us in trouble? I would’ve lied to them myself, but they wouldn’t believe me, and I’m pretty sure that they’d believe you if you said something to them!”
Sora rested his hands behind his gravity defying hair and smiled cleverly.
“As much as I would love to lie to them for you, I’m not going to!” she exclaimed as she continued to walk on the smooth sidewalk.
“What!” cried Sora with great perplexity. “Why not?!”
“Well, it’s wrong, that’s why! Besides, I don’t think that it’s worth losing your parents’ trust. How about you just take responsibility for your own actions!” Tifa answered back and giving him a harsh look.
Sora grasped her hand, preventing her from proceeding any further. “Hold it…First off, you sound so cheesy! That’s something my mother tells me all the time! Gosh…it’s so irritating!”
Tifa let out a great sigh in annoyance. “You want me to help you?”
Letting go of her petite hand and raising a fury eyebrow, he answered, “Yeah!”
“Alright, how about we wait for your parents to come home…” she recommended, pointing her index hand to the front porch steps.
Comfortably sitting down, she began to get Sora to talk about his dilemma.
“I was just wondering…”, she began, “if you did have the key with you right now, would you have really done what your mom has asked you to do?”
Sora glimpsed at Tifa’s curious face for a split second before answering. “You’re so funny, of course I wouldn’t! I would’ve watched T.V. or something and then when they’d come home, I’d tell them some sort of excuse as to why I didn’t do anything…”
When she heard his answer, she was shocked. Her face expression became gloomy and some what disappointed. This was obviously not the Sora she had known.
“You’d lie to them just because you’re lazy!!!” she exclaimed in disbelief, after a few moments of silence. “Listen, Sora, I think that you should stop lying like this because eventually…it will take you nowhere.”
Sora grumbled, then mumbled under his breath, “Yeah right.”
A pair of beaming head lights came into view, indicating that one of his parents were home. The dark blue sedan turned onto the driveway and the motor cut off.
Whispering to Tifa, Sora asked, “My mom’s here, what are you planning to do about my predicament?!”
In response to his inquiry, she murmured, “Just watch…”
Inside himself, Sora had a strong gut feeling that things wouldn’t go the way he wanted it to.
Sora waved to his mother, who was stepping out from her car and slammed the door shut. She was slightly shorter than him and had brunette colored hair just like his, but in a bun. Her blue eyes were anxious and her skin looked pale. Clearly, she was worried about something.
The tiresome mother approached the two, looking at her beloved son and Tifa.
Smiling, she greeted, “Hello you two! How are things going?” She gave a warm welcome to Tifa and gave her son an affectionate hug.
“Sora told me that he had forgotten to take his key with him, and that’s why he wasn’t able to clean his room…but I’m sure that he is going to do so right now!” Tifa assured the weary mother and elbowed Sora vaguely.
“So I see…” his mother observed, giving her son a bothered look. “Well, thank you for trying to help out Sora-boy here, it was worth a try. I know what he’s up to.” She forced a laugh and Tifa blushed in embarrassment.
“Alright…well I should be going now” saying that, Tifa waved good bye and was on her merry way. A look of satisfaction spread on her face.
Silently, his mother fished around for her house key from her purse, then unlocked the door and stepped in. Sora followed carefully behind her with some distance.
Her hand searched for a switch on the creamy colored wall. Finding one, she flicked it, allowing light to illuminate the house. The house was well furnished and had great features, such as, multiple stairs, large rooms, an attractive kitchen, and a beautiful living room. Many pictures of Sora and family portraits hung firmly on the wall. Decoration pieces dangled everywhere as well.
Her high heels made gruff sounds on the polished wood floor as she walked towards the kitchen.
Believing that everything would be alright, Sora quietly began walking up the spiral stairs to get to his bedroom.
“Not so fast, Sora! Come here, I want to talk to you”, she cried from the kitchen.
Unwillingly, he began to drag himself down the stairs, through the warmly decorated foyer, and entered the tidy kitchen, where his mother was washing a couple of dirty dishes that lay helplessly in the sink. Her identical pair of blue eyes, met his fearful ones.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve done this…” she started.
Hastily, he took a seat at the spotless dinning table, not wanting to exist.
Not hearing an answer to her statement, she continued. “You give me crazy excuses for not doing what you are asked to! I had enough of this same lame routine of yours! You have been doing this for the past eight months. It’s the same thing over again…you tell me that you had to do something else, or that you forgot your key so then you weren’t able to…”
The rest of her ‘pleasant’ speech was lost by Sora. He wasn’t paying the least bit of attention. He was too busy day dreaming, which he does time to time whenever anything or anyone didn’t interest him.
Ahhh…Tifa betrayed me, She called that help? That wasn’t help at all. Now I have to get her back for that. What should I do? Should I replace her shampoo with food dye…nah, that wouldn’t be ‘rewarding’ enough for her…what about sending another girl to catfight with her? No, that wouldn’t work, Tifa is sure to beat the crap out of anyone who confronts her…
He chuckled to himself quietly at the thought, while his poor mother continued yapping and lecturing, trying to fix some of his bad habits.
I think I should break into her house and take some of her most expensive clothes and just rip them up, then lit them on fire right in front of her face…or maybe I can bring her pain by taking away her precious make up and crap. That would probably drive her up the wall…hehe. Besides, she uses gallons of mascara everyday and a whole lot of crap that-
His day dreaming was interrupted by his mother, who suddenly sat next to him at the table.
“I just don’t know what to do with you anymore!” she sighed, placing a plate of food in front of Sora. “You’re dad is coming home late, so I figured that you would be hungry by the time he comes.”
Sora nodded his head and began to eat the mouth-watering spaghetti that lay before him.
Changing the subject abruptly, she asked, “How was your test today?”
Hearing the word ‘test’ made him shiver involuntarily. “It was OK…”
“Really? That’s great! Maybe, you can feel more comfortable in college.”, she mused.
“Sure…” he replied, quickly finishing his food, and chugging down his glass of ice cold water. Finishing his dinner, he got up and wearily waddled to his room.
“Good night, Mom!” he cried, halfway up the stairs.
Entering his untidy room, he slammed the door. The clothes that hung on the hook behind the door, fell onto the messy wooded floor. Videogames were thrown casually around the room. His chaotic bed leaned against his blue painted wall. The window was open, allowing a cool breeze to pass through the humid room. His closet was unorganized and was filled with garbage along with dirty laundry. Trash was tossed about and useless papers cluttered around his computer that rested steadily on his rigidly desk.
Trying to get to his bed, he accidentally stepped on his skateboard, then stumbled and fell flat onto his face hard onto the unpolished wood floor.
Ouch! What the hell?
Mumbling to himself, he got up, then threw the black skateboard aside. It crashed with a loud, “Thump!” The force left a decent sized dent in the wall.
Walking slowly and groggily to his un-made bed, he crashed his whole tired body onto it, taking a deep breath and exhaling tensely. It was evident that he was exhausted from his disastrous day. The blue covers laid underneath him and his cream colored pillow sagged beneath him.
His cell phone beeped, indicating a text message from one of his friends. Reaching into his pocket of his baggy pants, he flipped his silver cell phone.
“Hey, Sora! Meet me and Riku in the mall after work tomorrow -Kairi!”
After reading the message from Kairi, he tossed his phone on his desk and mused over the stressful day he had.
Why didn’t Mom yell at me tonight? Usually she explodes for everything little thing I do wrong, he thought with much curiosity. But…she did look really sad.
“I need something to take all this damn stress away”, he chuckled to himself. He reached into one of his pockets of his pants, taking out a box of cigarettes. He looked at them, wondering if he should smoke or not. Opening the small tab, he gazed at how many he had left. “One...two…five…. I have five cigarettes left.” he mused. “I should get some more tomorrow.”
Changing his mind of smoking, he put the small box carefully back into his pocket; wanting to save the stash he had.
Instead, he reached down under the bed, his hand touching every object until he felt a cold and dusty glass bottle of an alcoholic drink. Taking out a miniature bottle of Vodka from under his bed, he popped the cap open with his finger and gulped the contents within a few minutes. Drops of the dreadful drink slid down the sides his mouth and landed directly against his black shirt. He threw the vacant bottle back under his bed, where many more empty bottles lay.
“Note to self…throw away the evidence…” he laughed quietly to himself, partly drunk. Dizziness and numbness took over his body. After ten minutes, he wasn’t able to think straight and a wave of depression fell on him; the effects from the alcohol.
“Stubid Kaiwi…she’s so goddamn h-h-hard to impress. ‘Sorwa, w-w-why don’t you do this or that’ B-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! That gurl is getting on my f-f-freakin’ nerves! She sucks h-h-hell.” he said softly to himself, not realizing what he was saying or the pronunciation of his words. “Dumb test….why do she like guys who s-s-study anyways? That is so s-s-stupid. I hate that…”
Suddenly, his stomach began to hurt immensely, for he held his stomach and winced greatly. A weird feeling began to rise inside of him. Putting his other hand to his mouth, he quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he lifted the toilet lid and threw up. Ugh, he thought, looking at the vomit that swam around in the toilet water. He flushed it quickly to get the unpleasant scene out of his sight.
Lying back in bed, he began breathing heavily, with great difficulty. Calming down, he began to feel drowsy.
He began to think about his mother’s reaction to his unreliability, which left him profoundly puzzled. Not able to find the answer to his question, he fell into a deep slumber.
Sweet, dreamy images of Kairi came into his sleeping mind, causing him to wear a warm smile as he slept comfortably.
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Ding dong!
The sound of the door bell made Sora’s mother get up from the table to open it.
When she opened the door, she was troubled: there stood her husband, drawn and tired. His brunette colored hair was rustled up, his green eyes looked angry, and he looked bothered. He looked agitated from the folded paper he held in his hands. She guessed this had something to do with Sora because he handed her the paper with great difficulty as he stepped inside the house.
“Hi, Honey!” she greeted, giving him a light kiss on the cheek, “What’s this?”
“Hello Dear…” he responded. “I got it from my fax machine at work…Read it, it’s about the teacher’s phone call I received earlier today.”
“Oh no…Sora…why?” she said quietly, as she closed the door shut.
The couple sat down together in their living room to have a long discussion about their misguided son.
Hesitantly, she unfolded the paper that she gripped firmly. Scanning through the rush of the printed words, her worried expression became angry.
“Summer school?! He needs to go to summer school already! School just ended today!” she was astonished, “And all for failing the exam?”
Her husband nodded slowly and sighed greatly, “I talked to his teacher. He failed it because he didn’t really…finish it, then trying to get more time…it ended up getting torn!”
“What?” she could not believe what she was hearing. “Why would she rip his test?”
“She didn’t. She told me that Sora had! I don’t know what to do. We have to talk with the principal this Sunday to see what options we have”, he stated, with a tone of anger and frustration.
Covering her stressed face with her worn-out hands, she sighed greatly.
Standing up, he shouted after ten minutes of no conversation, “I’M SICK AND TIRED OF OUR STUPID, IDIOTIC SON! I WISH HE’D JUST GET OUT OF MY DAMN SIGHT!”
A few tears trickled down her face, not liking to words her husband spoke. “Please…we can fix this…”
Not listening, he continued, “NO! THAT’S WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TELLING ME FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS! REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU A FEW MONTHS AGO? THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M GOING TO DO WITH HIM IF HE DOESN’T FIX UP!”
Keeping her cool, she responded, “I…I guess you’re right.” She broke down into great sobs. “Do we really have to?”
Calming down somewhat, he sat down next to his wife. He replied, “I’m sorry for yelling. I just lost my patience! He’s just not changing. It’s probably because he doesn’t know what can happen to him if he doesn’t patch up now.”
After a few moments of thought, he suggested, “How about this, we give him three more chances. If he screws up three times from now on within the next…year or so, we will do what I wanted to do to him!”
“Hmm, alright. But I think that what you are thinking to do is a bit harsh.”, she remarked.
“No, no it’s not. Trust me. I know that will fix him.” he answered back with great confidence. “If it fixed me, it will surely do the same for him!”
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Thank you for reading!!! Sorry if there wasn't too much happening, but there will be a lot later on. LOL, o-m-g, Sora is on drugs and he's an alcohoic!!! How dumb is Sora? What were his parents talking about when that they have a way of fixing their son? You will find out in the next chapters! Please review!
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Chapter 3
Beep, beep, beep! –8:00 a.m., Saturday
Stupid alarm clock…stupid day…stupid job…
A chill came over him as he removed the teal colored covers off his body. He flung off his t-shirt and jeans and threw them carelessly onto the floor. Grabbing a clean towel and his work uniform, from his disgusting closet, he headed for the shower. The luke-warm water ran down his body as he shampooed his spiky hair and washed his body. The steam floated around him, while the soapy water drained from the bathtub. Dripping wet, Sora wrapped the towel around himself and stepped out, the excess water falling onto the tile floor.
He stood before the sink and stared at his reflection through the foggy mirror. He saw his reflection; a reflection of a boy who looked tired, yet eager. Involuntarily, he smiled. Quickly drying himself off, he put on his work clothes, which consisted of a red cashier outfit. Scanning through his bathroom cabinet for his favorite cologne, he sprayed some on himself and was almost ready to go. Squeezing out a decent amount of hair gel onto his hands, he applied it to his spikes so that they don’t sag later on in the day.
He snickered at himself and said, “I’m one good-looking cashier!”
Ew, I’m a cashier!
The thought wiped the smile right off his face and frowned instead.
Sora worked for a local comic book store as a cashier for the past year. He didn’t liked his job too much, but he did it for the salary. His manager was a pretty, young woman who adored him, but got irritated whenever he didn’t do his job right. At times, he would place the wrong items in the wrong place, or put the wrong prices for the wrong item. Also, whenever shipments were to be delivered, he was almost never there to sign the papers for then. Because of that, everything would be shipped back to where it came from-very annoying and irresponsible.
Sora stepped out from the steaming bathroom and entered his bedroom again. He picked up his watch from his desk and fastened it on tightly around his wrist. Tossing clothes and junk desperately aside, he finally found what he was looking for: his black converse chucks. Slipping them on, he tied them hastily as he ran a comb through his tangled hair, then grabbed his cell phone. He wobbled down the stairs, making loud footstep noises after himself.
“Good morning, Dear” his mother greeted, ascending the stairs as well. “Leaving so soon? Don’t you want to eat something first? ”
Looking behind him, Sora answered, “No thank you, Mom.”
“Well, come back soon. I want to talk to you about a letter we got from your school” a note of sadness was in her voice. “You might not be able to graduate from high school. We are going to have to go see your principle—”
“I don’t want to get late!” Sora rudely interrupted. He took off, slamming the door behind him with a bang!
A small ball bounced into Sora’s hands unexpectedly as he was walking his way to work. He looked up and saw a seven year old boy standing a few feet away from him. It was his neighbor’s son, Tommy.
“Uh…this yours?” Sora questioned, tossing the ball into the air and catching it back into his hands.
“Yeah, can I have it back?” the young boy said with great anxiousness, looking away from Sora.
Wait a sec...I recognize that kid! Sora said to himself, studying the kid’s face. He was the one who stole, then used my hair gel! I wasn’t able to go outside in public for days with all my hair troubles!
“You want it?” Sora noticed a truck coming on the side of the road. Stepping closer to the kid, he reached out the ball to him. Right when the truck came by closer, Sora quickly threw the ball in its path before the kid was able to grab his belonging.
POP!!
The ball was no more. All that was left was the rubber. “What did you do that for!” Tommy exclaimed angrily.
“That’s what you get for stealing my stuff…” Sora answered back calmly. He pushed the boy slightly out of his way and continued walking.
“I’m going to tell on you!” he cried. “I’m going to tell Tifa!”
Tifa, he thought. What would he tell her about something like this?
Stopping where he was, Sora turned around to face the kid. “Yeah, why would you tell her?”
“She’s my baby sitter. She can beat you up.” He said with great confidence, it even frightened Sora a little bit.
Humph, he’s just a stupid kid what do I have to worry about? He thought to himself as he began to walk.
“I’M GONNA GET YOU, SORA! JUST WATCH!” the neighborhood boy screamed back.
Turning a corner, he got out of sight. He feebly brushed away the fear of getting the heat from Tifa. Apparently, he had forgotten about her babysitting most of the neighborhood children. She absolutely adored them, and wouldn’t let any one of them get hurt-not even by him.
After walking another fifteen minutes through the quiet and lonely neighborhood, Sora reached his destination. Above the store, the words ‘Beyond Comics’ , in yellow and blue, were seen.
Pushing the door open, the shiny bells hung above the door clanged together, indicating that someone had entered the store. “Sora?! Is that you?” cried his manager from the storage room. “Uh huh” he mumbled, getting behind the counter in the shop, for he was the only cashier.
A few moments later, a tall woman walked briskly out of the back room. In her hand, a ring of keys dangled on her finger. She tossed them at Sora when he wasn’t paying the slightest attention. The pair of keys landed in Sora’s hands.
“I want you to lock up tonight. Alright? I need to go to my sister’s house right now for her wedding and I’ll be back by Wednesday hopefully.” She said, standing on the other side of Sora.
A look of surprise came over his face. “What!? Why? Well, I can’t.”
The woman sighed greatly before returning his comment. “I told you two days ago. It’s not my fault that you don’t listen to me…Take care of this place until I come back-or else!”
Saying that, she left the building slamming the door behind her.
Sora looked quite aggravated. He rolled his eyes and began to think about the plans for the rest of his day. Kairi and Riku wanted to meet him at the mall, but how could he do that if he had to stay at the store for the whole day? Or…is he?
“Hell, I’m ditching this place. I’m not going to spend the rest of my damn life here today”, his voice echoed into the vacant store. Placing his palms onto the counter, he lifted himself up, and swung around to the other side. Slowly, he walked to the door, but hesitated before leaving. Without another thought, he pushed the door open and left. However, one thing he did forget was to lock the door. Even more stupid of him, he left the keys on the counter.
Pacing himself carefully, he reached into his pant pockets and grabbed his cell phone. He flipped it open and speed dialed Riku.
Ring, Ring, Ring.
“Hello?” greeted a voice on the other line.
“Hey, Riku. I’m coming to the mall now. Where are you?” Sora mumbled, as he continued walking in his slow pace.
“I’m at home, where I usually am”, he chuckled, then continued. “I’ll tell Kairi and we’ll meet you there soon. But, it’s only 9:20 a.m., I thought that you were at work! We were kinda planning to go in the afternoon.”
“Yeah, well I’m taking a break from work today or ‘til Wednesday. Just meet me there now.” He began to get annoyed with the conversation.
A very familiar noise came from behind Sora. The sound of tires and an engine filled the air. Sora didn’t have to look back to see who it was, oh no. He knew something was coming. Something terrible. Without saying goodbye to Riku, he hung up quickly and shoved his phone back into his pocket. The sound of the engine got louder and louder as Sora’s pace quickened by the second, but it was too late.
“Still walking I see…”
His attention was averted to the road.
Axel.
“I guess I care more about the environment than some people. I’m not really in the mood of polluting the world at the moment.” Sora stated nervously, his voice trembling slightly. He kept looking straight ahead of him, instead of his enemy.
Axel was began to drive at the same speed as Sora’s pace. He looked animated as usual. “What are you? Some environment scientist?” he asked sarcastically.
Sora gulped, but his face expression did not change. “Get in.” Axel demanded as he halted his car.
Sora stopped walking. Thoughts quickly rushed through his head. Thoughts of fear. “I need to go somewhere right now.”
“Just get in the damn car.” Axel sounded irritated. “I’ll drive you to where you need to go.”
Sora knew exactly where this was going, he just didn’t want to deal with it. “You’re willing to drive me to the mall?” He felt that having Axel drive him would be faster than walking.
“Sure…whatever” Axel’s hands were on the steering wheel, ready to go.
Opening the side door of his car, Sora hopped in and slammed the door shut. As soon as that happened, Axel hit on the gas pedal real hard, and began driving at a dangerous speed. The wind moved Sora’s hair in all directions, as Axel’s black coat flapped around violently. Noticing Sora’s work clothes, Axel remarked, “What the hell are you wearing?”
Embarrassed, his face turned a slight pinkish color. “Oh, well I was coming from work…”
“Lame.”
The two rode in silence for a few moments until Axel broke the peace. “I want my money now.”
Money? He’s almost forgot about that. “Uh…for what?”
“Stop playing stupid! I gave you my stuff and now you owe me $77!” Axel’s voice sounded stern. The ‘stuff’ that he was referring to was for the alcohol and cigarettes. Axel had been giving Sora these things since he wasn’t able to buy it on his own.
“I will give it to you soon, don’t worry.” Sora replied, with great doubt in his voice. “You’re the one who got me hooked onto it in the first place!” He slumped into his seat. “I should’ve never listened to you. I am addicted to the dumb drugs and crap, and it makes me sick—emotionally and physically.
“If you have a job, I’m sure you can pay me!” he replied, glancing at Sora’s work clothes. “And who said you had to listen to me anyhow? You came to me for help. I said that this would help and you took it—the drugs and all. Stupid people do what others tell them to do. You’re one of those stupid people.”
“Listen…how about me make a deal of some sort so that I can pay you have of what I owe you now!” Sora was trying his very best to reduce the cost as much as he could. He wanted to save all the money he had, besides, he didn’t have that much on him. “I’m not going to buy anything from you anymore.”
“You know what I really want?” he asked, his voice filled with mystery.
“No what?” Sora replied, not believing that they were having his conversation in the first place. “Stop changing the subject…it’s annoying.”
“I want you to get me a date with Tifa, sometime tonight or tomorrow.” Axel was blushing a great deal when he mentioned the girl’s name.
Surprised, Sora asked, “A date with Tifa? Why? You like her or something…Wow, I didn’t know that.”
“Are you gonna hook me up or not? If you do, I will cut half the amount of money you owe me.” Axel was on the edge of hope. Gradually, he decreased the speed of his car.
“What makes you think that I will get you a date with her? She doesn’t even like you. I mean, why would any girl in the right state of mind want to go on a date with you?” Sora was getting on Axel’s last nerves with all the insults that he was giving, for he began driving faster now.
He clutched onto the steering wheel even harder. “I know that you are good friends with her, now just do it! If not, I’m going to be on your case every single day of your pathetic, sad life.”
Sora didn’t want to make his friend go on a date with someone that she didn’t like, but he just didn’t have the money to pay Axel back. If he didn’t, he knew that greater trouble would come to him; he couldn’t think about it.
“Alright. I’ll try to make it work. But, there’s one slight problem” Sora replied. He looked directly at his companion’s face.
“What?” a touch of despair was heard in his response.
“She likes someone else.” Sora answered back, with a huge smirk on his face. He waited for a chance to get him worried. “Cloud Strife.”
The sound of Cloud’s name made Axel twitch. Anger gradually filled him as he pretended not to care.
Screech.
The car jolted in a complete stop as Axel pressed on the breaks with great force; it almost propelled Sora out of his seat.
“We’re here.” Axel said. “Promise me that you'll do your end of the bargain" He placed a hand on under his chin and rested it on the car door beside him. He looked the opposite way of Sora and was in deep thought.
“I…I…” Sora hesitated. He didn’t know what do say.
“Promise me!” snarled Axel.
"I...I...promise."
“Wait, before you go, does she still like that Cloud guy?” Axel wondered.
“Er-I don’t know.” Sora said pathetically.
Sora raised his brow a little, he felt somewhat guilty of making him feel bad. He looked at the entrance of the mall, where people were gathered around. Grabbing onto the handle, he pushed the door open and stepped out. Then, slamming the door again, he began walking towards the entrance. The sound of a roaring engine was heard, signifying that Axel had left.
Getting a date with Tifa wasn’t an easy thing to do, but Sora had to make it happen if he didn’t want anymore trouble. Just thinking about that made him miserable; his mood changed completely from eagerness to being gloomy.
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Inside the spacious mall, people crowded the stores; sounds of laughter and talking could be hear. Everyone apparently was in a happy mood.
Scanning the crowd, he found Riku drinking cappuccino from a foam cup while leaning against the wall of an Urban Outfitters clothes store. “Hello, Sora!”, Riku greeted gaily.
“Where’s Kairi?” Sora asked quickly. He slid down against the wall and sat miserably on the floor beside Riku. He held his head with his hands and frowned.
Noticing Sora’s depressing behavior, he asked, “Are you OK? Cause you look as if something really bad has happened to you…”
No answer. Sora just starred at the floor and glanced occasionally at people who walked by him.
"Uh..." Riku started, he didn't know what to do to make his friend speak up. "Kairi is just shopping around for a dress to wear for the graduation party."
After knowing that Kairi wasn't around, he finally began to tell his problem. "I made a hell of a huge mistake..."
"What kind of a mistake?" he replied back. "I can help you any way I can if you need it." Good old Riku, offering to help out his friend in times of need.
"Axel and I made a deal", Sora said in almost a whisper, "I have to get him on a date with Tifa."
Laughter. Riku almost dropped his drink because he was laughing so hard. Sora shot him a stern glance, which automatically shut him up. "Sorry, I didn't think that you were actually serious."
"I wish I wasn't. Thing is, Tifa hates Axel. How can I make someone who hates someone else even go on a lousy date with that person if they hate them!", his words began to sound like gibberish because he was talking too fast.
"You kinda confused me there." Riku said. "Why would you be even talking to that freak?!"
Sora remained quiet once again and began drumming his fingertips on the floor; a bad habit of his. "Don't worry about why I made this deal, just help me out. I even made a promise to that jerk. I don't know how I am even gonna do this."
Riku pushed aside his questions and began thinking. "You can trick her. But, she's your friend and that just wouldn't be right—right?"
Tricking her, yeah that's an idea. But, how? Sora had to think this one over. His thinking was interrupted by the sight of Kairi. She walked towards her two best friends, carrying a shopping bag in one hand. Sora forgotten all his troubles and right away got up. He gave her a friendly smile when she caught up with them.
“Hi, Sora!” she greeted hastily, “ I’m so glad that you were able to come! The graduation party’s coming up real soon, so I wanted to get a beautiful dress!”
With a forced chuckle, he sighed, “I can’t wait for it either…” He reached out to get a preview of the dress that she had bought, but wasn’t able to do so. Kairi brushed his hand away and exclaimed, “You’re going to have to wait and see when I wear it!”
“So, why are we even here exactly?” Riku pondered, drinking the last of his cappuccino.
“I wanted to get a new dress, of course, and I also wanted to have a nice conversation with the two of you and, you know, catch up on things.” Kairi said. Looking around, she spotted an empty table for five across from where they stood. Squeezing through groups of people, she seated herself and gestured her friends to do the same.
“Isn’t this what girls do?”, whispered Sora to Riku, as the two paced themselves slowly. “Talk about their lives, feelings, and whatnot?”
Riku leaned towards him and answered, “Yeah. I’m afraid so.”
Silently, each pulled a chair and took a seat. Kairi placed her bag beside her and started the talk. “I’m so glad that we are out of school! So, have you guys thought about what colleges you are going to go to?”
Riku was the first to reply. “I’m thinking about going to some community college and then go to a good university, then pick it up from there. I haven’t really decided what I really want to do in life.”
“What about you, Sora?” Kairi averted her attention to him. She noticed his far away look. When he didn’t answer her, she spoke up a little louder for him to hear. “WHAT ABOUT YOU, SO-RA?”
“Oh uh, I…don’t know.” Sora replied. He drummed his hands onto the table top and looked around for somewhere else to go. Talking about his life was something he didn’t want to do. Small drops of perspiration ran down from his forehead to the side of his face. With one hand, he wiped it off. He didn’t know why he was sweating, but he did feel uncomfortable for some reason.
Discarding his remark, she announced, “I am going to take singing lessons so that I could become a professional singer.”
Both, Sora and Riku, looked unsurprised at her. Kairi had loved to sing since she was a little girl and she had an excellent voice.
“I think that’s a fitting profession for you, Kairi. You sing well.”, Riku added, “You even have fun performing in front of people.”
“Thanks!” Kairi exclaimed with glee. “I have an idea that I really want you guys to help me follow through. But, before that, I have so much to tell you.”
When Riku and Sora didn’t say anything, she continued. “I don’t even know where to begin. I am going to Paris, France for the summer vacation and while I’m there, I am planning to go to be looking for some job opportunities!! And, I want the both of you to come with me!”
Riku liked the idea and exclaimed, “Wow, Kairi! I’ve never been to France before. Thanks for inviting us, I’ll let you know if I can come or not.”
“Same here, I will tell you soon.” Sora stated. However, he knew in his heart that he didn’t have the money for plane tickets, hotel expenses, and such. He had barely any money, and he knew that his parents wouldn’t lend him any. He was too scared to find out.
Riku interrupted her train of thoughts, “Is it really necessary to go all the way to France?”
It took a few moments for her to answer. “Yes, yes it is. And you want to know why?”
Both, Riku and Sora gave her a funny look and nodded their heads slowly.
“First off, France is a very romantic place, I want to go there before I get really busy with my studies. Second, I think that there are good singing opportunities there. Destiny Islands is just not a place to start a singing career in. You know what I’m saying?” Kairi sounded confident with every word she spoke. Her heart was set, she wanted to be a famous singer in her life. “Third, we may not be able to see each other often when we all go to different colleges. I want to make the time we have to be special.”
“Hmm…But what if you don’t find what you want over there? Then what?” Riku questioned. He didn’t want his friend’s hope to be too high. What were the odds of an unknown girl being noticed in an unfamiliar place?
From beneath the table, Sora kicked Riku hard in his shin. “Stop being so negative, Riku!!” He didn’t want Kairi to postpone her trip. Going to France with her was something he really wanted to do—his heart was pounding for it [boom, boom, boom.
“You didn’t have to do that!” Riku whispered as he sat back, placing his hand over his leg where it hurt.
“I don’t know what I am going to get there, but I am going to give it a shot.” Kairi smiled.
It was settled. Kairi was going to go to France to get a singing career started. Riku was going to go to college and find his interests there. Sora, on the other hand, wasn’t sure exactly what path he was going to take.
The trip to France was going to be a week or so after the graduation party. Riku was going to get ready to go with Kairi. Sora had to think of a way to get the money to go and also find out if his parents are OK with the plan.
For the rest of the afternoon, the trio spent their time window shopping. They went to many stores of interest and had a great time. Kairi bought new shoes and matching jewelry for her dress, while Riku and Sora didn’t buy anything in particular.
When it was time to depart, Riku accepted Sora’s offer to come to his house for the rest of the day. They bid their goodbyes to Kairi and headed off in different directions. Kairi went to her friends house while Sora and Riku walked to Sora’s house.
“Are you going to ask Kairi to the graduation dance?” Riku pondered randomly,
A shade of bright pink appeared on Sora’s face. “Wh-wh-what? Why would you ask me that?” Sora began to get nervous. His voice was shaking when he spoke and he kept biting his lower lip.
“I ask because if you don’t then someone else will!!” Riku responded in a daunting voice.
No, that could not be. Sora disregarded the dreadful thought quickly. The last thing he wanted was for someone to take his place at the dance with Kairi. He wanted to be the one to be with her.
“I-I-I’ll ask when I get a chance…and what makes you think that she will say yes to someone else?” Sora asked anxiously.
“What makes you think that she won’t?”, Riku fought back. “I’m sure that she doesn’t want to go alone…”
“Hold up-do you know anyone that’s going to ask her?” Sora pouted, a worried expression came on his face.
“Nope.” Riku replied simply.
Sora gulped and refused to believe this possibility. However, he didn’t know himself if Kairi wanted to even go with him and even worse, he didn’t know if she thought of him as only a friend.
He didn’t want to think about it anymore, so he suddenly changed the topic.
“Remember what I promised Axel?” Sora recalled back.
His friend nodded, with no interest.
“I have a plan.” Sora said to Riku. “And you’re going to help me!”
A confused look came across his companion’s face. “Help you? For…?”
“To get Axel a date with Tifa!!!” Sora exclaimed. “My plan is perfect—sort of!”
Riku glanced at his hopeless friend, and forced a smile with great difficulty.
“Yay…” he sighed sarcastically. “Another Sora idea.”
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Thanks a million for reading!! Please tell me what you think! I would love to hear from you! lol, Sora needs to make better decisions.
Chapter 1 - 3 in the post below
Hey!!!
It would mean a whole lot to me if you can read my story, "Reality Ain't Pretty, Sora!" and leave a review telling me what you thought about it so far.
Thanks a million! Hope to hear from you guys soon!!! I've worked really hard on this, so if you would please tell me what you think, that would be greatt!!! Well, i should stop yapping now!!
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Reality Ain't Pretty, Sora
Chapter 1
Oh God, how do I do this? This doesn’t even make any sense! Why the heck didn’t I study? Stupid test, what’s the point in taking it anyways?
Taking tests wasn’t what 17-year-old Sora did best. It was a make up day for final exams at Destiny High. These were very important tests since they were worth one third of their grade. Everyone had been on time to take their tests yesterday, except for Sora. He had woke up late and came to the testing room tardy, therefore, he was required to make it up the next day. The seniors were out of school and were getting ready for college. Unfortunately for Sora, he was behind. And even worse, math was his weakest subject! He was all alone, by himself in the quiet room. Did he study for this very important test? No, no he didn’t…but he should have!
OK, calm down. I might be able to do this!
Sora took a deep breath and exhaled tensely. Small drops of perspiration slithered down his soft face and slipping onto his chest. He felt hotter and his cheeks were red as tomatoes. Usually, he was never this tense on taking any test. Realizing this, it worried him greatly.
Tick, tick, tick!!!
The sound of the clock tormented his ears and each second accumulated pressure on the frustrated boy. An hour past by and poor Sora was still struggling. He was only on question number three! Sora’s nervous face expression had not altered. He could barely grasp his no. 2 pencil or keep focus because he was too busy glaring at the devilish clock that hung sturdily above the classroom door; with each second disturbing him. When he finally decided to look at the fearsome test that lay uselessly before him, he was too late.
Ding, ding, ding!!!
The school bell rang loudly in the empty school and echoed in Sora’s mind. He was doomed…
His teacher, Mrs. Dang walked rapidly to the small desk he sat in. Each step she took made him uneasy! She was a petite, slim women with dark brown eyes and long black hair.
“Time’s up, Sora!” she exclaimed.
“No! I need more time! Can I have twenty more minutes, please?” pleaded Sora with a worried expression on his tired face.
Mrs. Dang wasn’t the nicest teacher in the world, getting even a thirty second extension on any test was quite impossible.
“NO!” was her harsh reply.
“Pleeeassseee????” begged Sora with his sweaty hands folded and trying to come up with more ways to get more time for himself.
“Sorry, Sora. You need to do the test within the time limit.” She said with much impatience.
“Five minutes?” Sora questioned.
“Sora! Must I repeat myself?” she yelled, reaching for his test.
Before she was able to take his test away, he grabbed onto it and held it firmly. His test was in the hands between his teacher and himself. After holding on, he replied, “Not if you give me more time!”
Getting upset and angry, she pulled the test and exclaimed, “Let go! Now!”
Not giving up, Sora tugged harder in order to get the test out of her hands and back into his possession. The force between the two was too much for the test and it tore in two, unbearable pieces.
Mrs. Dang’s blood boiled and her face had turned dreadful. She held the two pieces and looked at Sora’s regretful face.
“LOSS OF CREDIT! I WILL BE GIVING YOU A ZERO! OUT!” she yelled, pointing to the door.
“What!? But, I didn’t do anything!” he cried.
“I SAID GO! AND I WILL BE CALLING YOUR PARENTS YOUNG MAN!!!” she had lost patience completely and wanted Sora out of her sight.
Unenthusiastically, he hoisted his black and navy blue back pack on his right shoulder and dragged his sorry self out of the room.
The hallways were empty and all he heard were his loud footsteps.
“What am I going to tell Kairi now?” he muttered to himself as he continued walking towards the front entrance, passing by many lockers.
“This was my last chance to impress Kairi that I am good in school, and I took that chance and threw it right out the window…No! Wait, I took that chance and crumpled it into a ball and flushed it down the damn toilet right out into the sewers!”
Sora had a crush on Kairi, a long time best friend, since he was little. He wanted to prove himself and try to win Kairi’s heart by impressing her.
He was upset at his goofy mistake. He felt like going back in time and take that silly test all over. It was too late, and he couldn’t do anything.
Finally getting to the door, he opened it, allowing the cool breeze to blow against his warm face. He began walking when he heard a familiar voice nearby.
“Sora!” he heard a innocent, sweet voice calling out to him.
Turning around, he saw Kairi and Riku in the distance. They were his two best friends and they had been waiting forever for Sora to be done with that test. Hurriedly, he caught up to them.
“Hey guys! Thanks for waiting!” he greeted.
Kairi giggled and asked eagerly, “So, how was your test?”
Sora gulped. Staring at her engaging face, he thought about all the time and effort that she had willingly sacrificed for him so that he was well prepared for that exam. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to tell her the truth, that he ended up getting a forced failure. Thinking of a quick answer, he replied, “It was easy! I’m sure that I passed it!”
Excitedly, she gave him a sudden, friendly hug. “I’m so happy for you! All those hours of helping you study paid off!” She rustled his spiky, brunet hair.
Forcing a chuckle, he answered, “It sure did!”
However, Riku suspected that something was wide of the mark. Since when was any test easy for Sora? The last time he checked, Sora never thought that any test was easy. He gave his best friend a skeptic look, and in return he received a taunting look from Sora. He didn’t want anything to make Kairi think that he was lying to her.
The trio began walking through neighborhoods to get to their homes. It had been a long day, and they all needed some time to chill.
“So, what do you guys wanna do?” asked Kairi as they walked in a steady pace.
They were interrupted by a deafening honking noise. Sora glanced at the road and rolled his blue eyes after noticing who it was. Kairi gazed in disgust.
Riding slowly next to them was Axel in his new yellow convertible. He snickered and laughed loudly.
“Look! It’s the young and car-less!” saying that, he drove away blowing dust in their confused faces and honked his annoying horn continuously as he laughed insanely.
Getting angry, Sora yelled, “SHUT UP! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ANYWAYS YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF CRAP! WHY DON’T YOU DRIVE YOUR SORRY ASS SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!”
Calming down, Sora faced his two friends and said, “ I hate that jerk!”
“Maybe, you should just let it go…” suggested Kairi.
Halfheartedly, he agreed and did not say anything about Axel or his bad behavior. Everyone knew that whenever Sora got caught up in the moment, he couldn’t be stopped. Turing 17 was a big change for Sora. He was excited that his birthday was around the corner and he wanted to show how much more “mature” he had become.
Focusing back on Kairi’s question, Sora responded, “Let’s go to the skateboard park!”
Disliking the idea, Kairi suggested to do something that they all were willing to do. Sora couldn’t think of anything better, and Riku didn’t mind what they did.
Kairi stopped where she was and stomped her foot.
“Darn!” she exclaimed suddenly, “I forgot that I had to do some important errands for my mother! I’m sorry, but I have to leave you guys. I know, since summer vacation just started, we can spend some time together tomorrow! I promise!”
Saying that, she bid them good bye and turned the other direction. Sora sighed and continued walking with Riku. Out of hearing distance, Riku began talking to Sora.
“You were lying through your sorry ass mouth! Ah, Sora, when will you learn to tell the truth? I know that you totally flunked that test!” Riku started nagging his friend.
Sora looked forward and folded his arms behind his hair. “Yeah…I’m good at that aren’t I? Besides, what did you want me to tell her? That I ended up failing that thing, upsetting the dumb foolish teacher, and ended up getting the test ripped?”
Riku stared at Sora in disbelief. “You did what?”
Sora told him everything and what happened.
“Yep, that’s totally Sora. You try to impress a girl, but it ends up in total chaos!” Riku laughed at Sora’s mishaps.
The two took a turn at the corner and saw Riku’s house in the distance. It was a pretty, elegant home with red and white rose bushes around the house. Riku took the keys out of this pocket and unlocked the door to his house. They both set off to Riku’s bedroom. It was a clean room, and everything was in it’s place. Riku was a clean and organized person and took good care of his belongings.
“You want to play video games?” Riku suggested, taking out his game system from his closet.
“Sure!” agreed Sora, plopping himself onto Riku’s neatly made bed.
The two friends played until dinner time. Glancing at his black watch, Sora decided it was time for him to go.
“Well, I have to go now. I don’t want my parents getting mad at me for not being home before dark” Sora chuckled and departed from his friends house.
The warm evening breeze brushed against Sora’s spikes, making them wave. He walked past large homes and playful children.
Whistling to himself, Sora thought about the stressful day he had. Reaching his cozy home, he observed that the house was dark and the drive way was empty.
He walked to his modern home and lazily turned the front door.
“Shoot! I left my house key in my bathroom!” Sora grunted at him clumsy mistake as he reached into his pockets searching for the key he needed.
Carelessly, he dropped his bag and sat down on the front porch. He glanced at his watch which read 6:25.
“AH! Mom and Dad don’t come home until 7:30!” Sora groaned and hung his head.
He knew what was coming for him. He knew that his parents would get very upset about Sora’s irresponsibility. He was supposed to clean up his messy room and do some small chores everyday before his parents came home. However, for the past few months, Sora had not been successful in granting his parent’s wishes.
Right now, his room was not clean and he hadn’t started on those chores. If he couldn’t get into his house, how was he supposed to do everything? Frightening images exploded into his mind. His parents were very strict and they weren’t going to buy any excuse that he would tell them.
What was he to do? Frantically, Sora was thinking of every excuse to tell his parents, not to mention his failure of his test. He knew that his parents’ heads would burst right off and they would probably send him to military school or do something bizarre.
Let’s not think the worst!!! Ok, so I’m doomed….hmm…
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So, how is it so far?!?
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Chapter 2
What do people do when they are helplessly locked out of their house with torture awaiting them?
The first idea that occurred to him, was to see if the garage was open. Pacing himself towards the garage door, he started to pull it up. He heaved and pulled, but it would not budge.
Opening a window came about to him next, for he unenthusiastically began walking around his large house; trying to open every ground-level window he saw.
However, each window was covered in dust and appeared as if they hadn’t been opened in centuries. They were also shut down tight, making it a hassle for Sora’s arms to open them.
That reminded Sora, cleaning the windows was one of first things on his To Do list, along with cutting the overgrown lawn, cleaning his cluttered room, polishing the dusty furniture, and vacuuming the soiled carpets in the house.
“Ugh, I will clean these later…much later. Who would want to clean this anyways?” Sora remarked, with a look of repugnance on his face as he removed the dust from his fingers.
With no luck, he was back to where he started; locked out of his house with his household tasks not done.
Giving up on the idea of opening a window to get inside, he lied down helplessly in his mother’s beautiful rose garden in the backyard. Red, white, and pink roses of all shapes and sizes surrounded him as he gazed at the clear sky; on the verge of murder.
“I’m so doomed…AH, I HATE THIS SO MUCH!” he yelled, banging his fist hard, destroying a few roses that were in his way.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. He remembered that his bedroom window was left ajar, however, his room was on the second floor..
Excitedly, he ran to where his bedroom was.
All I need to do, is find a way to climb up here!, Sora thought while he looked high up at his bedroom window. I am going to use my mom’s vines to help me do so since I don’t have a ladder with me!
His mother had grown beautiful Morning Glories around the house, unfortunately one was planted firmly just below Sora’s window!
“Hmm, if I ruin this, I will just buy Mom some more…besides, I’m sure she won’t even notice! She has so many of these stupid flowers everywhere!” he pondered, beginning to ascend the feeble plant.
The fragile vines were not strong enough to hold Sora’s weight, and as a result, he fell hard onto the ground.
Thud!
His head rested on the terrain, along with the rest of his body. “OK…wow, now what the hell was I thinking!?”
Why is this happening to me!, he thought gloomily, then closed his eyes in despair. I can’t ask any of my neighbors to borrow their ladders because…they see me as a lying, cheater who manipulates people! Damn neighbors!
I know!!! Maybe I can break the front window with a big rock! Then I can get through and not have to deal with my parents!
Apparently, his small mind could not think of any better solution to his pitiful dilemma.
Searching the ground from where he lay, his flimsy hand started searching frantically for a good sized rock that would be able to break a window. Spotting one, he reached out and picked it up. Tossing it into his hands, he ran gaily to the front of his house. Targeting a window next to the entrance door, he gazed at the window that revealed his own reflection. Sounds of faint footsteps were heard nearby, distracting him. Ignoring it, he focused on aiming at his target, nevertheless the footsteps became louder with each fleeting moment. He hurled the heavy rock in his right hand, until a shrill voice stopped him.
“SORA!” cried a shrill voice behind him.
From the sudden outburst, he flinched a little bit, but quickly recovered from his shock. He stopped what he was doing, and through the window that he was looking at, he saw the reflection of one of his close friends, Tifa. Dropping the rock, he rushed towards the girl.
“What were you trying to do? Break into your own house?” Tifa questioned with great bewilderment. She placed her thin hands on her waist and stared at Sora with great misunderstanding with her dark brown eyes.
A wide smile spread on his miserable face and flung his arms around her slim body.
“What brings you here? Anyways, I’m so glad you’re here, now you can solve all my problems!” he exclaimed with joy, erupting with happiness.
“Well, I was walking in the neighborhood until I saw you trying to break into your own house! Ha, and I’m sure you have problems!”, she exclaimed as she swayed her long black hair out of her face, “You look happy today…a little too happy, don’t ya think?...I never saw you this happy since---”
Sora let go of her as he quickly interrupted her sentence, not wanting to hear what she was going to say. “Tifa, I need you to help me!” implored Sora with a touch of innocence.
Tifa looked incredulous. “Sure, but what would you like me to help you with?”
After a few moments of thought, Sora spoke, placing his right hand under his chin. “My parents trust you right?”
She agreed, not liking where this was going. “Uh huh…”
She crossed her arms, waiting for him to explain further.
He began his story. “OK, well, I left my house key in my bathroom this morning before I left for school, so I’m locked out. I am supposed to clean my room and do some stupid chores here and there everyday before my parents come home---”
This time, Tifa cut him off. “So, you want me to lie to your parents, telling them something so that you can get off the hook, am I right? Then it would look like as if you were trying to do what they say…”
Sora snickered, “Yeah, you got it, but how did you know I was going to ask you to do that?”
His companion chuckled, placing her hands on his spiky hair, “Sora, Sora, Sora… it’s not that hard for me to figure you out!”
Sora chuckled in agreement. Tifa and Sora had known each other since childhood, so it was easy for her to figure out how his mind works. They are practically like brother and sister and help each other from time to time.
“Give me a good reason as to why I should lie to your parents so that they could lose trust in me?” she argued, illusions of red and orange flames were seen in her angry eyes.
“Uh…C’mon!!! You and I are tight like two pieces of paper glued together! I’m sure that you don’t want anything bad to happen to me in these desperate times…right?” complained the distraught boy. “Why can’t you just make something up that won’t get either of us in trouble? I would’ve lied to them myself, but they wouldn’t believe me, and I’m pretty sure that they’d believe you if you said something to them!”
Sora rested his hands behind his gravity defying hair and smiled cleverly.
“As much as I would love to lie to them for you, I’m not going to!” she exclaimed as she continued to walk on the smooth sidewalk.
“What!” cried Sora with great perplexity. “Why not?!”
“Well, it’s wrong, that’s why! Besides, I don’t think that it’s worth losing your parents’ trust. How about you just take responsibility for your own actions!” Tifa answered back and giving him a harsh look.
Sora grasped her hand, preventing her from proceeding any further. “Hold it…First off, you sound so cheesy! That’s something my mother tells me all the time! Gosh…it’s so irritating!”
Tifa let out a great sigh in annoyance. “You want me to help you?”
Letting go of her petite hand and raising a fury eyebrow, he answered, “Yeah!”
“Alright, how about we wait for your parents to come home…” she recommended, pointing her index hand to the front porch steps.
Comfortably sitting down, she began to get Sora to talk about his dilemma.
“I was just wondering…”, she began, “if you did have the key with you right now, would you have really done what your mom has asked you to do?”
Sora glimpsed at Tifa’s curious face for a split second before answering. “You’re so funny, of course I wouldn’t! I would’ve watched T.V. or something and then when they’d come home, I’d tell them some sort of excuse as to why I didn’t do anything…”
When she heard his answer, she was shocked. Her face expression became gloomy and some what disappointed. This was obviously not the Sora she had known.
“You’d lie to them just because you’re lazy!!!” she exclaimed in disbelief, after a few moments of silence. “Listen, Sora, I think that you should stop lying like this because eventually…it will take you nowhere.”
Sora grumbled, then mumbled under his breath, “Yeah right.”
A pair of beaming head lights came into view, indicating that one of his parents were home. The dark blue sedan turned onto the driveway and the motor cut off.
Whispering to Tifa, Sora asked, “My mom’s here, what are you planning to do about my predicament?!”
In response to his inquiry, she murmured, “Just watch…”
Inside himself, Sora had a strong gut feeling that things wouldn’t go the way he wanted it to.
Sora waved to his mother, who was stepping out from her car and slammed the door shut. She was slightly shorter than him and had brunette colored hair just like his, but in a bun. Her blue eyes were anxious and her skin looked pale. Clearly, she was worried about something.
The tiresome mother approached the two, looking at her beloved son and Tifa.
Smiling, she greeted, “Hello you two! How are things going?” She gave a warm welcome to Tifa and gave her son an affectionate hug.
“Sora told me that he had forgotten to take his key with him, and that’s why he wasn’t able to clean his room…but I’m sure that he is going to do so right now!” Tifa assured the weary mother and elbowed Sora vaguely.
“So I see…” his mother observed, giving her son a bothered look. “Well, thank you for trying to help out Sora-boy here, it was worth a try. I know what he’s up to.” She forced a laugh and Tifa blushed in embarrassment.
“Alright…well I should be going now” saying that, Tifa waved good bye and was on her merry way. A look of satisfaction spread on her face.
Silently, his mother fished around for her house key from her purse, then unlocked the door and stepped in. Sora followed carefully behind her with some distance.
Her hand searched for a switch on the creamy colored wall. Finding one, she flicked it, allowing light to illuminate the house. The house was well furnished and had great features, such as, multiple stairs, large rooms, an attractive kitchen, and a beautiful living room. Many pictures of Sora and family portraits hung firmly on the wall. Decoration pieces dangled everywhere as well.
Her high heels made gruff sounds on the polished wood floor as she walked towards the kitchen.
Believing that everything would be alright, Sora quietly began walking up the spiral stairs to get to his bedroom.
“Not so fast, Sora! Come here, I want to talk to you”, she cried from the kitchen.
Unwillingly, he began to drag himself down the stairs, through the warmly decorated foyer, and entered the tidy kitchen, where his mother was washing a couple of dirty dishes that lay helplessly in the sink. Her identical pair of blue eyes, met his fearful ones.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve done this…” she started.
Hastily, he took a seat at the spotless dinning table, not wanting to exist.
Not hearing an answer to her statement, she continued. “You give me crazy excuses for not doing what you are asked to! I had enough of this same lame routine of yours! You have been doing this for the past eight months. It’s the same thing over again…you tell me that you had to do something else, or that you forgot your key so then you weren’t able to…”
The rest of her ‘pleasant’ speech was lost by Sora. He wasn’t paying the least bit of attention. He was too busy day dreaming, which he does time to time whenever anything or anyone didn’t interest him.
Ahhh…Tifa betrayed me, She called that help? That wasn’t help at all. Now I have to get her back for that. What should I do? Should I replace her shampoo with food dye…nah, that wouldn’t be ‘rewarding’ enough for her…what about sending another girl to catfight with her? No, that wouldn’t work, Tifa is sure to beat the crap out of anyone who confronts her…
He chuckled to himself quietly at the thought, while his poor mother continued yapping and lecturing, trying to fix some of his bad habits.
I think I should break into her house and take some of her most expensive clothes and just rip them up, then lit them on fire right in front of her face…or maybe I can bring her pain by taking away her precious make up and crap. That would probably drive her up the wall…hehe. Besides, she uses gallons of mascara everyday and a whole lot of crap that-
His day dreaming was interrupted by his mother, who suddenly sat next to him at the table.
“I just don’t know what to do with you anymore!” she sighed, placing a plate of food in front of Sora. “You’re dad is coming home late, so I figured that you would be hungry by the time he comes.”
Sora nodded his head and began to eat the mouth-watering spaghetti that lay before him.
Changing the subject abruptly, she asked, “How was your test today?”
Hearing the word ‘test’ made him shiver involuntarily. “It was OK…”
“Really? That’s great! Maybe, you can feel more comfortable in college.”, she mused.
“Sure…” he replied, quickly finishing his food, and chugging down his glass of ice cold water. Finishing his dinner, he got up and wearily waddled to his room.
“Good night, Mom!” he cried, halfway up the stairs.
Entering his untidy room, he slammed the door. The clothes that hung on the hook behind the door, fell onto the messy wooded floor. Videogames were thrown casually around the room. His chaotic bed leaned against his blue painted wall. The window was open, allowing a cool breeze to pass through the humid room. His closet was unorganized and was filled with garbage along with dirty laundry. Trash was tossed about and useless papers cluttered around his computer that rested steadily on his rigidly desk.
Trying to get to his bed, he accidentally stepped on his skateboard, then stumbled and fell flat onto his face hard onto the unpolished wood floor.
Ouch! What the hell?
Mumbling to himself, he got up, then threw the black skateboard aside. It crashed with a loud, “Thump!” The force left a decent sized dent in the wall.
Walking slowly and groggily to his un-made bed, he crashed his whole tired body onto it, taking a deep breath and exhaling tensely. It was evident that he was exhausted from his disastrous day. The blue covers laid underneath him and his cream colored pillow sagged beneath him.
His cell phone beeped, indicating a text message from one of his friends. Reaching into his pocket of his baggy pants, he flipped his silver cell phone.
“Hey, Sora! Meet me and Riku in the mall after work tomorrow -Kairi!”
After reading the message from Kairi, he tossed his phone on his desk and mused over the stressful day he had.
Why didn’t Mom yell at me tonight? Usually she explodes for everything little thing I do wrong, he thought with much curiosity. But…she did look really sad.
“I need something to take all this damn stress away”, he chuckled to himself. He reached into one of his pockets of his pants, taking out a box of cigarettes. He looked at them, wondering if he should smoke or not. Opening the small tab, he gazed at how many he had left. “One...two…five…. I have five cigarettes left.” he mused. “I should get some more tomorrow.”
Changing his mind of smoking, he put the small box carefully back into his pocket; wanting to save the stash he had.
Instead, he reached down under the bed, his hand touching every object until he felt a cold and dusty glass bottle of an alcoholic drink. Taking out a miniature bottle of Vodka from under his bed, he popped the cap open with his finger and gulped the contents within a few minutes. Drops of the dreadful drink slid down the sides his mouth and landed directly against his black shirt. He threw the vacant bottle back under his bed, where many more empty bottles lay.
“Note to self…throw away the evidence…” he laughed quietly to himself, partly drunk. Dizziness and numbness took over his body. After ten minutes, he wasn’t able to think straight and a wave of depression fell on him; the effects from the alcohol.
“Stubid Kaiwi…she’s so goddamn h-h-hard to impress. ‘Sorwa, w-w-why don’t you do this or that’ B-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! That gurl is getting on my f-f-freakin’ nerves! She sucks h-h-hell.” he said softly to himself, not realizing what he was saying or the pronunciation of his words. “Dumb test….why do she like guys who s-s-study anyways? That is so s-s-stupid. I hate that…”
Suddenly, his stomach began to hurt immensely, for he held his stomach and winced greatly. A weird feeling began to rise inside of him. Putting his other hand to his mouth, he quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he lifted the toilet lid and threw up. Ugh, he thought, looking at the vomit that swam around in the toilet water. He flushed it quickly to get the unpleasant scene out of his sight.
Lying back in bed, he began breathing heavily, with great difficulty. Calming down, he began to feel drowsy.
He began to think about his mother’s reaction to his unreliability, which left him profoundly puzzled. Not able to find the answer to his question, he fell into a deep slumber.
Sweet, dreamy images of Kairi came into his sleeping mind, causing him to wear a warm smile as he slept comfortably.
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Ding dong!
The sound of the door bell made Sora’s mother get up from the table to open it.
When she opened the door, she was troubled: there stood her husband, drawn and tired. His brunette colored hair was rustled up, his green eyes looked angry, and he looked bothered. He looked agitated from the folded paper he held in his hands. She guessed this had something to do with Sora because he handed her the paper with great difficulty as he stepped inside the house.
“Hi, Honey!” she greeted, giving him a light kiss on the cheek, “What’s this?”
“Hello Dear…” he responded. “I got it from my fax machine at work…Read it, it’s about the teacher’s phone call I received earlier today.”
“Oh no…Sora…why?” she said quietly, as she closed the door shut.
The couple sat down together in their living room to have a long discussion about their misguided son.
Hesitantly, she unfolded the paper that she gripped firmly. Scanning through the rush of the printed words, her worried expression became angry.
“Summer school?! He needs to go to summer school already! School just ended today!” she was astonished, “And all for failing the exam?”
Her husband nodded slowly and sighed greatly, “I talked to his teacher. He failed it because he didn’t really…finish it, then trying to get more time…it ended up getting torn!”
“What?” she could not believe what she was hearing. “Why would she rip his test?”
“She didn’t. She told me that Sora had! I don’t know what to do. We have to talk with the principal this Sunday to see what options we have”, he stated, with a tone of anger and frustration.
Covering her stressed face with her worn-out hands, she sighed greatly.
Standing up, he shouted after ten minutes of no conversation, “I’M SICK AND TIRED OF OUR STUPID, IDIOTIC SON! I WISH HE’D JUST GET OUT OF MY DAMN SIGHT!”
A few tears trickled down her face, not liking to words her husband spoke. “Please…we can fix this…”
Not listening, he continued, “NO! THAT’S WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TELLING ME FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS! REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU A FEW MONTHS AGO? THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M GOING TO DO WITH HIM IF HE DOESN’T FIX UP!”
Keeping her cool, she responded, “I…I guess you’re right.” She broke down into great sobs. “Do we really have to?”
Calming down somewhat, he sat down next to his wife. He replied, “I’m sorry for yelling. I just lost my patience! He’s just not changing. It’s probably because he doesn’t know what can happen to him if he doesn’t patch up now.”
After a few moments of thought, he suggested, “How about this, we give him three more chances. If he screws up three times from now on within the next…year or so, we will do what I wanted to do to him!”
“Hmm, alright. But I think that what you are thinking to do is a bit harsh.”, she remarked.
“No, no it’s not. Trust me. I know that will fix him.” he answered back with great confidence. “If it fixed me, it will surely do the same for him!”
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Thank you for reading!!! Sorry if there wasn't too much happening, but there will be a lot later on. LOL, o-m-g, Sora is on drugs and he's an alcohoic!!! How dumb is Sora? What were his parents talking about when that they have a way of fixing their son? You will find out in the next chapters! Please review!
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Chapter 3
Beep, beep, beep! –8:00 a.m., Saturday
Stupid alarm clock…stupid day…stupid job…
A chill came over him as he removed the teal colored covers off his body. He flung off his t-shirt and jeans and threw them carelessly onto the floor. Grabbing a clean towel and his work uniform, from his disgusting closet, he headed for the shower. The luke-warm water ran down his body as he shampooed his spiky hair and washed his body. The steam floated around him, while the soapy water drained from the bathtub. Dripping wet, Sora wrapped the towel around himself and stepped out, the excess water falling onto the tile floor.
He stood before the sink and stared at his reflection through the foggy mirror. He saw his reflection; a reflection of a boy who looked tired, yet eager. Involuntarily, he smiled. Quickly drying himself off, he put on his work clothes, which consisted of a red cashier outfit. Scanning through his bathroom cabinet for his favorite cologne, he sprayed some on himself and was almost ready to go. Squeezing out a decent amount of hair gel onto his hands, he applied it to his spikes so that they don’t sag later on in the day.
He snickered at himself and said, “I’m one good-looking cashier!”
Ew, I’m a cashier!
The thought wiped the smile right off his face and frowned instead.
Sora worked for a local comic book store as a cashier for the past year. He didn’t liked his job too much, but he did it for the salary. His manager was a pretty, young woman who adored him, but got irritated whenever he didn’t do his job right. At times, he would place the wrong items in the wrong place, or put the wrong prices for the wrong item. Also, whenever shipments were to be delivered, he was almost never there to sign the papers for then. Because of that, everything would be shipped back to where it came from-very annoying and irresponsible.
Sora stepped out from the steaming bathroom and entered his bedroom again. He picked up his watch from his desk and fastened it on tightly around his wrist. Tossing clothes and junk desperately aside, he finally found what he was looking for: his black converse chucks. Slipping them on, he tied them hastily as he ran a comb through his tangled hair, then grabbed his cell phone. He wobbled down the stairs, making loud footstep noises after himself.
“Good morning, Dear” his mother greeted, ascending the stairs as well. “Leaving so soon? Don’t you want to eat something first? ”
Looking behind him, Sora answered, “No thank you, Mom.”
“Well, come back soon. I want to talk to you about a letter we got from your school” a note of sadness was in her voice. “You might not be able to graduate from high school. We are going to have to go see your principle—”
“I don’t want to get late!” Sora rudely interrupted. He took off, slamming the door behind him with a bang!
A small ball bounced into Sora’s hands unexpectedly as he was walking his way to work. He looked up and saw a seven year old boy standing a few feet away from him. It was his neighbor’s son, Tommy.
“Uh…this yours?” Sora questioned, tossing the ball into the air and catching it back into his hands.
“Yeah, can I have it back?” the young boy said with great anxiousness, looking away from Sora.
Wait a sec...I recognize that kid! Sora said to himself, studying the kid’s face. He was the one who stole, then used my hair gel! I wasn’t able to go outside in public for days with all my hair troubles!
“You want it?” Sora noticed a truck coming on the side of the road. Stepping closer to the kid, he reached out the ball to him. Right when the truck came by closer, Sora quickly threw the ball in its path before the kid was able to grab his belonging.
POP!!
The ball was no more. All that was left was the rubber. “What did you do that for!” Tommy exclaimed angrily.
“That’s what you get for stealing my stuff…” Sora answered back calmly. He pushed the boy slightly out of his way and continued walking.
“I’m going to tell on you!” he cried. “I’m going to tell Tifa!”
Tifa, he thought. What would he tell her about something like this?
Stopping where he was, Sora turned around to face the kid. “Yeah, why would you tell her?”
“She’s my baby sitter. She can beat you up.” He said with great confidence, it even frightened Sora a little bit.
Humph, he’s just a stupid kid what do I have to worry about? He thought to himself as he began to walk.
“I’M GONNA GET YOU, SORA! JUST WATCH!” the neighborhood boy screamed back.
Turning a corner, he got out of sight. He feebly brushed away the fear of getting the heat from Tifa. Apparently, he had forgotten about her babysitting most of the neighborhood children. She absolutely adored them, and wouldn’t let any one of them get hurt-not even by him.
After walking another fifteen minutes through the quiet and lonely neighborhood, Sora reached his destination. Above the store, the words ‘Beyond Comics’ , in yellow and blue, were seen.
Pushing the door open, the shiny bells hung above the door clanged together, indicating that someone had entered the store. “Sora?! Is that you?” cried his manager from the storage room. “Uh huh” he mumbled, getting behind the counter in the shop, for he was the only cashier.
A few moments later, a tall woman walked briskly out of the back room. In her hand, a ring of keys dangled on her finger. She tossed them at Sora when he wasn’t paying the slightest attention. The pair of keys landed in Sora’s hands.
“I want you to lock up tonight. Alright? I need to go to my sister’s house right now for her wedding and I’ll be back by Wednesday hopefully.” She said, standing on the other side of Sora.
A look of surprise came over his face. “What!? Why? Well, I can’t.”
The woman sighed greatly before returning his comment. “I told you two days ago. It’s not my fault that you don’t listen to me…Take care of this place until I come back-or else!”
Saying that, she left the building slamming the door behind her.
Sora looked quite aggravated. He rolled his eyes and began to think about the plans for the rest of his day. Kairi and Riku wanted to meet him at the mall, but how could he do that if he had to stay at the store for the whole day? Or…is he?
“Hell, I’m ditching this place. I’m not going to spend the rest of my damn life here today”, his voice echoed into the vacant store. Placing his palms onto the counter, he lifted himself up, and swung around to the other side. Slowly, he walked to the door, but hesitated before leaving. Without another thought, he pushed the door open and left. However, one thing he did forget was to lock the door. Even more stupid of him, he left the keys on the counter.
Pacing himself carefully, he reached into his pant pockets and grabbed his cell phone. He flipped it open and speed dialed Riku.
Ring, Ring, Ring.
“Hello?” greeted a voice on the other line.
“Hey, Riku. I’m coming to the mall now. Where are you?” Sora mumbled, as he continued walking in his slow pace.
“I’m at home, where I usually am”, he chuckled, then continued. “I’ll tell Kairi and we’ll meet you there soon. But, it’s only 9:20 a.m., I thought that you were at work! We were kinda planning to go in the afternoon.”
“Yeah, well I’m taking a break from work today or ‘til Wednesday. Just meet me there now.” He began to get annoyed with the conversation.
A very familiar noise came from behind Sora. The sound of tires and an engine filled the air. Sora didn’t have to look back to see who it was, oh no. He knew something was coming. Something terrible. Without saying goodbye to Riku, he hung up quickly and shoved his phone back into his pocket. The sound of the engine got louder and louder as Sora’s pace quickened by the second, but it was too late.
“Still walking I see…”
His attention was averted to the road.
Axel.
“I guess I care more about the environment than some people. I’m not really in the mood of polluting the world at the moment.” Sora stated nervously, his voice trembling slightly. He kept looking straight ahead of him, instead of his enemy.
Axel was began to drive at the same speed as Sora’s pace. He looked animated as usual. “What are you? Some environment scientist?” he asked sarcastically.
Sora gulped, but his face expression did not change. “Get in.” Axel demanded as he halted his car.
Sora stopped walking. Thoughts quickly rushed through his head. Thoughts of fear. “I need to go somewhere right now.”
“Just get in the damn car.” Axel sounded irritated. “I’ll drive you to where you need to go.”
Sora knew exactly where this was going, he just didn’t want to deal with it. “You’re willing to drive me to the mall?” He felt that having Axel drive him would be faster than walking.
“Sure…whatever” Axel’s hands were on the steering wheel, ready to go.
Opening the side door of his car, Sora hopped in and slammed the door shut. As soon as that happened, Axel hit on the gas pedal real hard, and began driving at a dangerous speed. The wind moved Sora’s hair in all directions, as Axel’s black coat flapped around violently. Noticing Sora’s work clothes, Axel remarked, “What the hell are you wearing?”
Embarrassed, his face turned a slight pinkish color. “Oh, well I was coming from work…”
“Lame.”
The two rode in silence for a few moments until Axel broke the peace. “I want my money now.”
Money? He’s almost forgot about that. “Uh…for what?”
“Stop playing stupid! I gave you my stuff and now you owe me $77!” Axel’s voice sounded stern. The ‘stuff’ that he was referring to was for the alcohol and cigarettes. Axel had been giving Sora these things since he wasn’t able to buy it on his own.
“I will give it to you soon, don’t worry.” Sora replied, with great doubt in his voice. “You’re the one who got me hooked onto it in the first place!” He slumped into his seat. “I should’ve never listened to you. I am addicted to the dumb drugs and crap, and it makes me sick—emotionally and physically.
“If you have a job, I’m sure you can pay me!” he replied, glancing at Sora’s work clothes. “And who said you had to listen to me anyhow? You came to me for help. I said that this would help and you took it—the drugs and all. Stupid people do what others tell them to do. You’re one of those stupid people.”
“Listen…how about me make a deal of some sort so that I can pay you have of what I owe you now!” Sora was trying his very best to reduce the cost as much as he could. He wanted to save all the money he had, besides, he didn’t have that much on him. “I’m not going to buy anything from you anymore.”
“You know what I really want?” he asked, his voice filled with mystery.
“No what?” Sora replied, not believing that they were having his conversation in the first place. “Stop changing the subject…it’s annoying.”
“I want you to get me a date with Tifa, sometime tonight or tomorrow.” Axel was blushing a great deal when he mentioned the girl’s name.
Surprised, Sora asked, “A date with Tifa? Why? You like her or something…Wow, I didn’t know that.”
“Are you gonna hook me up or not? If you do, I will cut half the amount of money you owe me.” Axel was on the edge of hope. Gradually, he decreased the speed of his car.
“What makes you think that I will get you a date with her? She doesn’t even like you. I mean, why would any girl in the right state of mind want to go on a date with you?” Sora was getting on Axel’s last nerves with all the insults that he was giving, for he began driving faster now.
He clutched onto the steering wheel even harder. “I know that you are good friends with her, now just do it! If not, I’m going to be on your case every single day of your pathetic, sad life.”
Sora didn’t want to make his friend go on a date with someone that she didn’t like, but he just didn’t have the money to pay Axel back. If he didn’t, he knew that greater trouble would come to him; he couldn’t think about it.
“Alright. I’ll try to make it work. But, there’s one slight problem” Sora replied. He looked directly at his companion’s face.
“What?” a touch of despair was heard in his response.
“She likes someone else.” Sora answered back, with a huge smirk on his face. He waited for a chance to get him worried. “Cloud Strife.”
The sound of Cloud’s name made Axel twitch. Anger gradually filled him as he pretended not to care.
Screech.
The car jolted in a complete stop as Axel pressed on the breaks with great force; it almost propelled Sora out of his seat.
“We’re here.” Axel said. “Promise me that you'll do your end of the bargain" He placed a hand on under his chin and rested it on the car door beside him. He looked the opposite way of Sora and was in deep thought.
“I…I…” Sora hesitated. He didn’t know what do say.
“Promise me!” snarled Axel.
"I...I...promise."
“Wait, before you go, does she still like that Cloud guy?” Axel wondered.
“Er-I don’t know.” Sora said pathetically.
Sora raised his brow a little, he felt somewhat guilty of making him feel bad. He looked at the entrance of the mall, where people were gathered around. Grabbing onto the handle, he pushed the door open and stepped out. Then, slamming the door again, he began walking towards the entrance. The sound of a roaring engine was heard, signifying that Axel had left.
Getting a date with Tifa wasn’t an easy thing to do, but Sora had to make it happen if he didn’t want anymore trouble. Just thinking about that made him miserable; his mood changed completely from eagerness to being gloomy.
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Inside the spacious mall, people crowded the stores; sounds of laughter and talking could be hear. Everyone apparently was in a happy mood.
Scanning the crowd, he found Riku drinking cappuccino from a foam cup while leaning against the wall of an Urban Outfitters clothes store. “Hello, Sora!”, Riku greeted gaily.
“Where’s Kairi?” Sora asked quickly. He slid down against the wall and sat miserably on the floor beside Riku. He held his head with his hands and frowned.
Noticing Sora’s depressing behavior, he asked, “Are you OK? Cause you look as if something really bad has happened to you…”
No answer. Sora just starred at the floor and glanced occasionally at people who walked by him.
"Uh..." Riku started, he didn't know what to do to make his friend speak up. "Kairi is just shopping around for a dress to wear for the graduation party."
After knowing that Kairi wasn't around, he finally began to tell his problem. "I made a hell of a huge mistake..."
"What kind of a mistake?" he replied back. "I can help you any way I can if you need it." Good old Riku, offering to help out his friend in times of need.
"Axel and I made a deal", Sora said in almost a whisper, "I have to get him on a date with Tifa."
Laughter. Riku almost dropped his drink because he was laughing so hard. Sora shot him a stern glance, which automatically shut him up. "Sorry, I didn't think that you were actually serious."
"I wish I wasn't. Thing is, Tifa hates Axel. How can I make someone who hates someone else even go on a lousy date with that person if they hate them!", his words began to sound like gibberish because he was talking too fast.
"You kinda confused me there." Riku said. "Why would you be even talking to that freak?!"
Sora remained quiet once again and began drumming his fingertips on the floor; a bad habit of his. "Don't worry about why I made this deal, just help me out. I even made a promise to that jerk. I don't know how I am even gonna do this."
Riku pushed aside his questions and began thinking. "You can trick her. But, she's your friend and that just wouldn't be right—right?"
Tricking her, yeah that's an idea. But, how? Sora had to think this one over. His thinking was interrupted by the sight of Kairi. She walked towards her two best friends, carrying a shopping bag in one hand. Sora forgotten all his troubles and right away got up. He gave her a friendly smile when she caught up with them.
“Hi, Sora!” she greeted hastily, “ I’m so glad that you were able to come! The graduation party’s coming up real soon, so I wanted to get a beautiful dress!”
With a forced chuckle, he sighed, “I can’t wait for it either…” He reached out to get a preview of the dress that she had bought, but wasn’t able to do so. Kairi brushed his hand away and exclaimed, “You’re going to have to wait and see when I wear it!”
“So, why are we even here exactly?” Riku pondered, drinking the last of his cappuccino.
“I wanted to get a new dress, of course, and I also wanted to have a nice conversation with the two of you and, you know, catch up on things.” Kairi said. Looking around, she spotted an empty table for five across from where they stood. Squeezing through groups of people, she seated herself and gestured her friends to do the same.
“Isn’t this what girls do?”, whispered Sora to Riku, as the two paced themselves slowly. “Talk about their lives, feelings, and whatnot?”
Riku leaned towards him and answered, “Yeah. I’m afraid so.”
Silently, each pulled a chair and took a seat. Kairi placed her bag beside her and started the talk. “I’m so glad that we are out of school! So, have you guys thought about what colleges you are going to go to?”
Riku was the first to reply. “I’m thinking about going to some community college and then go to a good university, then pick it up from there. I haven’t really decided what I really want to do in life.”
“What about you, Sora?” Kairi averted her attention to him. She noticed his far away look. When he didn’t answer her, she spoke up a little louder for him to hear. “WHAT ABOUT YOU, SO-RA?”
“Oh uh, I…don’t know.” Sora replied. He drummed his hands onto the table top and looked around for somewhere else to go. Talking about his life was something he didn’t want to do. Small drops of perspiration ran down from his forehead to the side of his face. With one hand, he wiped it off. He didn’t know why he was sweating, but he did feel uncomfortable for some reason.
Discarding his remark, she announced, “I am going to take singing lessons so that I could become a professional singer.”
Both, Sora and Riku, looked unsurprised at her. Kairi had loved to sing since she was a little girl and she had an excellent voice.
“I think that’s a fitting profession for you, Kairi. You sing well.”, Riku added, “You even have fun performing in front of people.”
“Thanks!” Kairi exclaimed with glee. “I have an idea that I really want you guys to help me follow through. But, before that, I have so much to tell you.”
When Riku and Sora didn’t say anything, she continued. “I don’t even know where to begin. I am going to Paris, France for the summer vacation and while I’m there, I am planning to go to be looking for some job opportunities!! And, I want the both of you to come with me!”
Riku liked the idea and exclaimed, “Wow, Kairi! I’ve never been to France before. Thanks for inviting us, I’ll let you know if I can come or not.”
“Same here, I will tell you soon.” Sora stated. However, he knew in his heart that he didn’t have the money for plane tickets, hotel expenses, and such. He had barely any money, and he knew that his parents wouldn’t lend him any. He was too scared to find out.
Riku interrupted her train of thoughts, “Is it really necessary to go all the way to France?”
It took a few moments for her to answer. “Yes, yes it is. And you want to know why?”
Both, Riku and Sora gave her a funny look and nodded their heads slowly.
“First off, France is a very romantic place, I want to go there before I get really busy with my studies. Second, I think that there are good singing opportunities there. Destiny Islands is just not a place to start a singing career in. You know what I’m saying?” Kairi sounded confident with every word she spoke. Her heart was set, she wanted to be a famous singer in her life. “Third, we may not be able to see each other often when we all go to different colleges. I want to make the time we have to be special.”
“Hmm…But what if you don’t find what you want over there? Then what?” Riku questioned. He didn’t want his friend’s hope to be too high. What were the odds of an unknown girl being noticed in an unfamiliar place?
From beneath the table, Sora kicked Riku hard in his shin. “Stop being so negative, Riku!!” He didn’t want Kairi to postpone her trip. Going to France with her was something he really wanted to do—his heart was pounding for it [boom, boom, boom.
“You didn’t have to do that!” Riku whispered as he sat back, placing his hand over his leg where it hurt.
“I don’t know what I am going to get there, but I am going to give it a shot.” Kairi smiled.
It was settled. Kairi was going to go to France to get a singing career started. Riku was going to go to college and find his interests there. Sora, on the other hand, wasn’t sure exactly what path he was going to take.
The trip to France was going to be a week or so after the graduation party. Riku was going to get ready to go with Kairi. Sora had to think of a way to get the money to go and also find out if his parents are OK with the plan.
For the rest of the afternoon, the trio spent their time window shopping. They went to many stores of interest and had a great time. Kairi bought new shoes and matching jewelry for her dress, while Riku and Sora didn’t buy anything in particular.
When it was time to depart, Riku accepted Sora’s offer to come to his house for the rest of the day. They bid their goodbyes to Kairi and headed off in different directions. Kairi went to her friends house while Sora and Riku walked to Sora’s house.
“Are you going to ask Kairi to the graduation dance?” Riku pondered randomly,
A shade of bright pink appeared on Sora’s face. “Wh-wh-what? Why would you ask me that?” Sora began to get nervous. His voice was shaking when he spoke and he kept biting his lower lip.
“I ask because if you don’t then someone else will!!” Riku responded in a daunting voice.
No, that could not be. Sora disregarded the dreadful thought quickly. The last thing he wanted was for someone to take his place at the dance with Kairi. He wanted to be the one to be with her.
“I-I-I’ll ask when I get a chance…and what makes you think that she will say yes to someone else?” Sora asked anxiously.
“What makes you think that she won’t?”, Riku fought back. “I’m sure that she doesn’t want to go alone…”
“Hold up-do you know anyone that’s going to ask her?” Sora pouted, a worried expression came on his face.
“Nope.” Riku replied simply.
Sora gulped and refused to believe this possibility. However, he didn’t know himself if Kairi wanted to even go with him and even worse, he didn’t know if she thought of him as only a friend.
He didn’t want to think about it anymore, so he suddenly changed the topic.
“Remember what I promised Axel?” Sora recalled back.
His friend nodded, with no interest.
“I have a plan.” Sora said to Riku. “And you’re going to help me!”
A confused look came across his companion’s face. “Help you? For…?”
“To get Axel a date with Tifa!!!” Sora exclaimed. “My plan is perfect—sort of!”
Riku glanced at his hopeless friend, and forced a smile with great difficulty.
“Yay…” he sighed sarcastically. “Another Sora idea.”
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Thanks a million for reading!! Please tell me what you think! I would love to hear from you! lol, Sora needs to make better decisions.
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