Chapter 24

-Aika-

I WAS EXCITED that night; I dreamt of tomorrow at school... Walking around comfortably, holding hands with Kev�" uh, Justin, and just... Being together! I'd finally get to experience having a boyfriend, being in a relationship! I've always fanasized about this day (more than i've fantasized about anything else!) and I just couldn't believe it was happening already!

 

"Hey, why are you straightening your hair?" Aaron askedas he stood next to me in the bathroom, brushing his teeth.

"Because I want it to look nice. Why else?" I responded, not paying much attention to him as i was at myself in the mirror.

"Well school isn't even until tomorrow! Your wasting your time doing it now." He said back, before rinsing his mouth.

"It's a girl's world, little Aaron." I smiled then finished straighteing my hair.

 

     Once it was straightened to perfection, i put some leave-in conditioner on it then headed to bed. I had already picked out the clothes i was going to wear tomorrow (I tried them on too) and i already finished up my homework. Everything was just right and i was ready to take my beauty sleep, until...

 

"RIIIIING!!! RIIIIIING!!!" My cell phone rang like a nonstop firetruck siron. I searched my room for the annoying little thing that wouldn't stop, and when i finally found it (under my bed) I was actually happy to see who was calling: Kevin Hue!

 

    I starred at the phone, unsure if i should answer it or not. But it was ringing for quite a while; I'm sure he'd be mad if it just went to my voicemail, so i answered it.

"H-hello..?" I tried to sound sleepy.. maybe he's make this conversation shorter.

"Uh, oh. Were you sleepin'?" He said in this warm tone.

"Well, kinda..." I replied, trying not so sound self-centered.

"Oh, then I'll make this quick."

Oh good, I thought, then i can doze off.

 

"This is... weird. But uh." He seemed to struggle on the other line... i found that rather cute.

"Yes..?" I raised my voice, kind of demanding, but i wanted to know what he was going to say.

"Ok... Well.. Listen, i've never really gone out with a girl before, so i'm sorry if i sound like an idiot right now." There goes that badboy tone again. His voice was like a wind, whistling across me. I could hear it, but i couldn't see it.

"You have a bus pass, right Aika?" He finally managed to say.

"Yeah, why?"

    Then there was a pause. I knew he was thinking of something..

"What if i walked you to school tomorrow?" He let out, almost in a cry-like way.

"Huh?!" I was surprised. Walk me to school?

"You, you heard me!" He was totally tense... I could imagine how hard this is for him though. I never thought of him as a romantic type anyway.

"Well, what I mean is. Ah, sorry Aika, to yell at you like this,"

"No, it's ok! No worries!" I assured him.

"Alright then.. Well, i'd take the bus to Charleston Place, then walk down to your house and pick you up. M-maybe," his voice began to quiver. "we can take the bus together, and go to school. Together."

     My heart was beating pretty fast, believe me. I think my voice was even shaking when I replied, "Sure". So with that said, we both hung up the call. I crawled under the covers of my bed and dreamed; Fantasizing about tomorrow.

 

 

 

-Kevin-

   THAT WENT BETTER than I expected. I thought as I sat up in bed staring at the television screen in front of me.

     Ever since Justin had been gone, I guess you could say things got better... for me, at least. I'm not trying to sound self-centered, I'm just pointing out something. I mean, James took his T.V. out of his room and put it in mine. I didn't even ask for it, he just put it in here. Finally, I can watch something when I get bored! Also, since he's gone theres no distractions between me and Aika. Oh yeah, the most important thing that's happened since he was taken away: Aika was MINE!

     I always did have a hint of regret in me though. All those years I had isolated myself from him, never wanting to talk to him, and when I did get to talk to him I always dissed him. I was jealous. But after I finally understood to just accept my fate as the family pawn, I thought I could just continue living that way. I knew Justin never really liked me, but when he allowed himself to be taken by the kidnappers, that was just... WAY unexpected.

    He was just on his way to go and claim Aika for himself! And what does he do instead? STUPID! It never occurred to me until now, but I think he just wanted to play the hero. That way when Aika finds out he gave himself up to "protect" me instead of going for her, she might just fall for him and forget me completely. I guess that was a good plan... NO NO NO what am I saying?! I'm basically giving into the fact that Aika only picked me because...

 

I sighed deeply. "She only picked me because Justin wasn't there." Sad fact, but it could be true. But tomorrow, and the next day, and the next after that and so on, until we ever break up, she's mine. And I'm her's. Just the way I want it to be: Us, together.

 

 

-Justin-

 WHEN I OPENED MY EYES everything around me was pitch black. I didn't know how long I had been out, were I was, or if this was even.... reality. Had I died? With me out of the way, they'd have an all-acess pass to the family fortune. No... These people couldn't have been that cruel. Whoever these people where, anyway.

     Suddenly, I heard men talking. The talking grew louder and louder, towards me! I didn't know were they were or what they looked like. I couldn't see anything.

 

"HEY! GET UP, CHINK!" I heard a loud, husky, male voice call out. And then a door open and light filled in what I now could see was a metal box they had locked me up in. Oh wait, did that guy just call me a chink?

"HEY! What did I just say, EH?!" He screamed in my face, and the other guy standing next to him (white also) just smiled with power.

The husky-sounding guy kept looking at me, so I had no choice but to say, "Stand up..." But it was a mumble.

"What?" He demanded.

So then, in a louder voice, i responded, "Stand up. You said, 'stand up'." I put a smart-allic smile on my face.

"OH, ho ho! So the little chink thinks he can joke one up with the all superior white guard!? WELL YOU KNOW WHAT�"!?" He reached in and grabbed me by my shirt's front collar. He tugged me fiercefully out of the cage; I thought my head was going to slit right off.

 "Not so tough, now punk?" The man growled and balled his hand into a fist. I cringed and prepared myself for the incoming punch, but then..

 

"STOP IT!!!" I heard another voice call from behind me. I had no idea who's voice it was, but it was a male. Young, actually.

"BUT BOSS--!!"

"No 'buts'! You heard me, stop!" I heard him say once again. So then I looked up, only surprised to see that the courageos and fierce-sounding voice belonged to a kid. No, a teen, maybe my age.

 

     So I looked up, despite the white man half-choking me, and saw the not-so-tall figure hovering above me. He looked familiar, but I don't know him. Asian, Thai I think, roughly 5"5 and pretty thin, with blondish-brown hair cut in layers. I'm not trying to sound homo here, but he looked pretty adorable.

 

"So, Justin Hue," the 'Boss' started, "do you know how long we've been looking for you?" he bent over so his face was slightly angled to mine. He smiled, but it was one of those "don't believe them" smiles. "We've finally got to you, and our work has been very stressful so please don't make it any harder for us, or yourself. Trust me." He stood up again. He commanded the guard let go of me and take me to "The Reflection Room", whatever that was.

     Turns out the room was basically an interigation room, except without the 2-way window. There was a small round table in the middle and 2 chairs beside it, the guard told me to wait there for the Boss, and so I did. As I sat there, not knowing what was going to happen next or if I'd ever get out of there, I thought about Aika. So I didn't really love her. I just wanted her, because Kevin was butting into my life and taking her away. But I did like her. If my life wasn't so complicated, I would have asked her out the second I met her. But things just have to go this way, you know? Ok, maybe you don't know. But I hope Kevin will take care of her, and if he doesn't I'll gladly take her back.

     And about Kevin... I really do love him, brotherly-wise, I just never knew it until I saw him fighting out there, as me, for me, and throwing away his future with Aika. I just couldn't watch it, no matter how much my heart ached for her, I had to step up to my plate first and take the swing. If he could (or was about to) give up his chances with Aika, then what would that make me? A wimp? And thats not what I am. I know Kevin was right about me being sheltered and protected by everything since I was little, so I wasn't about to let this become and advantage for him to poke more fun at me, so here I am... Sitting in The Reflection Room in a building I have no clue were it is, heavily guarded by people I don't know.

 

"Ah, good boy, you stayed here like we asked." And the Boss enters the room, speaking so politely that it was almost sickening. "See how easy things go if you listen?"

I wanna punch this kid... I mean, I was taller than him. I clenched my fist, and I think he saw me.

"Uh oh, we don't want you to get stressed out or anything! Please, no fist-clenching in The Reflection Room." He smiled then took a seat in the chair across the table from me.

"So, what is this room anyway?" I asked.

"It's The Reflection Room, what do you think it's for?" He rebutted.

"Uh.. To reflect of stuff?"

"Tada, we have a winner!" He twirled his pointer finger in the air then put his elbow down on the table. He rested his chin in his hand, like a little girl.

Alright, kiddo, what kind of game is this...? I thought.

"Oh! I didn't even tell you my name yet, sir." Emphasis on the "sir" by the way. "My name is Toma, short for Tomaru, but I hate that name. It's usually used for dogs, and as you can see, I am NOT a dog."

If you say so...

"I know everyone around here calls me Boss," he continued, "but you're special here, so you can call me Toma." He smiled, again, it was getting kind of weird.

"Alright, Toma. So where am I? What am I doing here? And what do you guys want?"

"Isn't it clear what we want? It's your fortune of course. Descendant of the Emperor Jun Hue, you've got tons of cash and jewels on your plate. But you've got to share it, right? It wouldn't be fair that the richest person in Vietnam can't even spare a few coins for the rest of us, right?"

 

Man, this kid sure does know how to sell a good one.. "I don't understand, why do you want my money so much?! I'm not going to get it yet until I turn 18! And it's not like I'm going to spend it all!"

Toma just laughed, then responded, "Silly boy, don't you know how MUCH that money is worth? It was already thousands of dollars 200 years ago, do you know how much that is NOW?"

No I didn't know, but i had a funny feeling he was going to tell me it was ALOT. "Justin, 100 of those coins would make you the richest person on earth. No one else except us and your family know how much that's worth, and even though it IS yours, well, we all want to be rich right?" This time he flashed a devious smile, and so I jumped right out of my seat and punched him in the face.

"BUT IT'S MY MONEY, D****T!!!" I yelled to high heaven. Toma just layed on the ground with his face burried in his hands. But to my surprise, he still managed to talk through the pain.

"Ouch. That one hurt." He chuckled. "Ok, let's try to be reasonable here. No more punching from now on." He took his hands away from his face. Boy, you should see the shiner I put on him. I must say, that was pretty impressive, for myself.

    So then he called in the white guy who almost pounded on my face before to watch our discussion. That guy scared me so I didn't dare to say any bad remarks or upset Toma in any way. I just gritted my teeth and tried to stay cool.

 

     Afterwards, a different guard, this time was asian, hauled me off to my room. For an abandoned storage place, they got some pretty comfy offices. 1 twin size bed, a bedside table with a lamp, a stack of magazines by the door, and a radio on the floor. No window, yet not too shabby; I thought they'd throw me into some jailhouse room.

"Stay here until further notice." The guard said, with really poor english.

"Alright." So then I walked over to the door and searched the pile of magazines. I pulled out an old issue of PEOPLE (a 2006 one) and last month's issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. I sat up in bed and read. I had trid to turn on the radio, but the signal was poor, so I didn't even bother trying to fix it. Every now and then I'd stop reading and think about everyone back home. And I'm serious when i say back home because I had found out that I'm 6 hours away from my sweet home, family, and friends.

    As I sat up with the old magazines sitting on my lap, I thought about when I would get out of here, and if I would get out of here.

 

 

-"Toma"-

 

 HE'S AN INTERESTING boy." I said to my father over the phone.

"Is he cooperating with us?" My father asked on the other line.

"Yes. He's doing quite well and listening. But he can be... frisky, sometimes." As I said this I touched my bruised eye... It actually hurts a lot, more than I made it seem.

"Good good. Well keep him alive; If the Hue family finds out we've killed him, we'll be joining him." My father's serious stone startled me. But it wasn't like I wanted to kill him anyways. I wanted to make sure he stayed alive.

 

     My name is Tomaru Nguyen. Well, that's my name on my birth certificate. I'm 16 years old, turning 17 in a few months. I guess you can say I'm well blendid. My birth mother is Japanese and my birth father is Vietnamese. When I was 7, my birth father left my mother. I don't know why but he did. 2 yeas went by; Just me and my mother and we started living in multiple homes. When the lease for one house was almost due and we couldnt pay for it, we just left it and moved onto another house. Constantly we had to change our last names. I was always home schooled and I never had real friends. I was pretty much alone at home since mother had to work and we didn't have enough money to pay for a babysitter to watch me.

    After 2 years of desperately moving place-to-place, my mother finally found another man. He was rich too. His name was Henri Saowaluk; He's Thai. When we first moved into his house, I got lost a lot because it was so big. He had maids and butlers, it was so amazing! For a 10-year old it was.

     He didn't have any kids of his own so I was still alone when they went out for dates and stuff. Then when they finally got married, Henri became my step-father and I became Tomaru Saowaluk. I don't like my name. Tomaru. In Japan, Tomaru is a common name for pets, mostly dogs. My mother said she gave me that name because I'm cute and dogs are cute. Well I'm NOT a dog. I wish I could change it. When I turn 18, I'm going to be Toma Nguyen. I'll take up my brith father's name, since I don't particularly like this Henri guy.

     Last year, the company Henri worked for went into debt and was shut down. We almost lost our house; We had to sell some of our maids and butlers. So when my mother brought up my birth father's cousin's son having stored more than MILLIONS of dollars, we just had to get it. Henri sent me out to do that.

     For a year, I've been tracking down this Justin Hue guy, trying to get the money for me and my, "family". I just want mom to be happy, so of course I'll get that money for her, but I couldn't care less about Henri. He used to smack me around when mother wasn't home. And mother wouldn't believe me when I told her. I hate that guy. For me, when I get my hands on that money, I want to hire my own team of private investigators to track down my birth father. I knew this was going to be a hard task because I heard other families wanted the money too, and I'm just lucky I got to it first.

 

     I always wondered what kind of guy Justin Hue would be. If he was small and easy to take down, large, maybe even OLD and more of a challenge. But instead I get this: An adorable teenager, just a little younger than me, who has fire in his eyes. I mean, you should have seen how the lad looked at me when he punched me. He wasn't angry because of me, he was angry because of someone else. I wonder if he's lonely in that little cell of his right now. If I could, I would absolutely go and sit down with him. I wonder what he's thinking. I wonder what his past is like. I wonder how his family is like. Is he like me? Does he hate me? I certainly don't hate him; I just need that money. Pretty badly, actually.

     So many things about that interesting boy, Justin Hue. I want to know him more. I.... I want to be with him.

    

     

     Usually I have to go home when night time comes, but since we've finally obtained our prisoner, I just couldn't leave my post. And besides, I wanted to go talk to him. So once all the guards left and some of Henri's guys went on the nightshift, I snuck out of my office and onto the second floor where his room remained.

     I have total control of my men, but when they go home and Henri sends in his guys I have no chance against them. They gave me orders to stay in my office the whole night... Henri knows me too well; I guess I do have a habbit of talking to people and I think he doesn't want me "engaging myself with the enemy." But that's just too bad, dad.

     Before one of the night guards caught my eye, I slipped into a dark corner were no one could see me. When I was positive the area was clear, I took my keys to Justin's door and opened it up, slowly and quietly slipping inside and shutting the door closed.

"Phew, that was a close one." I quietly whispered to myself. Then I heard a cough and turned around. "Oh, asleep are you?" I whispered again, knowing he couldn't hear me.

     Amazing, throughout all that's happened today, Justin was still able to get himself to go to sleep. And it seemes someone has been reading magazines. I noticed the 2 magazines sitting on the bed beside him. I also noticed another magazine on the edge of the head of the bed, on the verge of falling. Hm, if that magazine falls it'll fall behind the bed I'll never be able to reach it and get it back! You see, I'm one of those people who just need to have things in order, so I wanted to get those magazines and put them back on the stack by the door. But the one that was about to fall... Well, let's just say I had to basically climb over Justin just to get it.

"Well, I have to get it. I don't want it to get trapped under the bed if it slips." I whispered then walked towards Justin, sleeping peacefully under the covers. Looking at him, I took in a big breath, then gulped. "Alright, Toma, just do it. Do it fast before he wakes up." And with that, I climbed onto the bed and collected the magazines (the ones i could reach, anyway).

     So far so good, I thought. He hasn't waken yet, and with just one more reach and I can get that last one before it slips... And that's were things went bad. Turns out the periodical was farther out of my reach than I had imagined. Which meant... Oh great.. I had get on top of him. NO WAY.

     I looked around the room for a stick or something I could use to reach the magazine instead. But no luck. The more I moved the more the magazine was closer to slipping. I had to take high precautions.

     I'm doing this for the sake of the room-keeper, I wouldn't want him to come in here straining his back just to get some magazine that fell behind the bed. Yeah yeah, that's right. Nothing more than that. I closed my eyes, and slowly climbed over him. I felt my knee slightly brushing by against his. Uhhhh... I reached my arm out, and I was so close to getting the magazine! It was right in my reach, just a little farther! But then...

"Um...?" No, he couldn't be awake!

I looked down, to notice my face was directly over his. We were so close... "What are you doing?" He said in a completely calm yet surprised tone.

"I, uh, no, you see. It's not what it looks like--!" Darn me. I could have just waited til he woke up then asked him to pick up the magazine. NOW look at the situation we're in! I'm so stupid..

"Right...." He said, sounding half sarcastic.

   My arm was still extended out towards the darn periodical and I think Justin noticed. Actually, who wouldn't notice? He reached towards my arm and pulled it down, then he reached his hand over his head and he grabbed the magazine instead.

"This?" He said politely, waving the READER'S DIGEST in front of my face. "Is this what you wanted?"

"Uh, yepp!" I snatched the magazine away and quickly jumped off.

     I collected the 3 magazines and placed it neatly on the stack, organizing it also while I was there. After I straightened up the pile, I stood up with a satisfied look on my face.

"So, what are you doing? Here?" Justin had asked.

I turned around to reply, "I thought I'd come and talk to you." Hm, was that too straightforward?

"Talk to.. me?" His eyes were huge; I could understand why he'd be in shock though. If I was a prisoner like him, I'd be shocked too if my prison guard came to visit me and chat it up.

"Well, yeah. I was thinking about you all day in my office!" I walked towards him, then noticed that I worded my sentence a little, funny, back then.

"Uh, thinking about me?" He said sarcastically, and crawled back a bit.

"No no, not like that! What I meant was, uh, ok what I meant, was that--!"

"Stop, I think I get it." He put his hands in front of him as if he was pushing against and invisible wall. "You were just thinking of what kind of person I was, right?"

Eh, well he got it half right. I thought, but that was enough to start a conversation.

 

     We talked for an hour. I told him about myself and about my family, and he did the same. He was really surprised to see that I was almost 2 years older than him, considering how tall he is (5"6 vs 5"3). I wasn't so surprised when I found out he was younger than me though; Alot of people are taller than me so I got used to it over the years. It was actually quite fun talking with another kid, since there weren't any for me to talk to when I was younger. I felt as if, even though we were enemies, we were friends too.

"Hey, you should get going, Toma." Justin said while crawling back under the blankets.

"Oh, right. It's almost 1 in the morning anyways." I yawned and hopped off the bed. I was just about to get to the door, then Justin stopped me again.

"Wait, you need these rights?" He said in a smooth-like way it sent chills up my spine. I turned my head around slowly, to find him twirling my office and lock keys around his finger with this grunny smirk on his face.

"Darn right I need those." I started towards him again and once I approached him he kept moving his arm around that I couldn't get the keys! "Hey, give it to me!" I fussed.

"Haha, you're like a little kid." He chuckled, continuing to move the keys up and down and around in circles and patterns. Finally he had his arm in an angle were I could easily reach it, with a little lean of course, so then I leaned in to grab the keys and..................... smooch!

 

     His eyes grew huge again.

"BWAAAHH!!!!!" I jumped back quickly and wiped my mouth.

"Shut up! One of the guards are going to hear you and we'll both be in trouble!" He flared his arms in the air.

Then, in a shout-whisper kind of tone, I said, "W-w-w-why?! Why'd you k-kiss me?!"

"Are you kidding me?! You kissed me!" He replied, sounding more startled than I was.

     I heard someone approaching the door and I panicked; I dove for cover underneath the bed (which was really narrow by the way, I'm surprised that I even fit under there).

"What are you doing?!" Justin whisper-shouted.

"Shhhh! I think someone is coming!" I put my finger in front of my lips.

    And just as I said it, someone pushed open the door to the room. I froze in silence wondering what was going on.

"Hey, kid. Did ya know this door was open?" A husky-sounding man stated.

"Oh, um, no sir." Justin said with a gulp. He sounded really scared. I mean, really.

"Right... Well I'm locking it, and don't even think about sneaking out, ya hear me?" Then the man slammed the door and I heard the locks lock and finally his footsteps wandering away.

    When I was sure he was gone, I slipped out from under the bed. Getting up, I brushed dust bunnies and dirt off of my nice slacks. I checked my hair in a small mirror hanging on the wall, and when I was satisfied with my look, I took one more glance at the magazine pile. I just wanted to make sure it was all tidy. Then before I even thought about approaching the door, I turned around and held out my hand towards Justin.

"W-what?" He said, looking a little pale.

"What do you mean, what?" I tried to sound in-charge, but I still had a little quiver in my voice. "Give me the keys." I said with a sigh.

     Willingly he tossed me the keys (which I caught in mid-air) and I slowly unlocked the door and slipped out of the room. I didn't turn around to say bye or anything else. I locked the door back up again and headed back to my office. Once I got there (without being caught, thank God) I unfolded the couch into a small bed and sat on it. I wasn't quite ready to go to sleep yet.

     I turned on the small T.V. in the corner of the room and watched the News. Heh, my first friend ever and I end up kissing him.. I yawned, hoping I'd get sleepy.

     Once in a while I'd take my thumb and gently press it against my lips. I.. I can still feel it.. His lips against mine. And at that moment, I jolted. No way! What am I thinking? Ick! I got up and walked over to the trashcan and spat a bunch in it. Soon I had no more syliva to cough up so I went back to my couch/bed and continued watching T.V. But my mind just wouldn't let go. It kept replaying that moment over and over. Just that 1-second, maybe even less, kiss! Which is just a tad nasty, because we're cousins right? Ahhhh no way!!! Boy, am I going to have nightmares tonight... I thought. Then I finally had the courage to shut off the T.V. and everything else and just go to sleep.

   

 

     But the thing was, I didn't have a nightmare that night. I had a sweet dream instead.