“No,” Kevin answered quickly, shaking his head, “Nothing's wrong.”
The frown on Lindsay's face grew. She wondered if something had happened to cause a rift between the two―an argument, perhaps?―but decided that it would be prudent to just let things lie, rather than trying to wheedle out whatever was wrong with them. Instead, she decided to let her curiosity turn to something else.
Or rather, someone else.
She looked at the raven-haired goth girl, who had joined up with Lilian and Kevin a few seconds ago. Sitting at the table in front of the goth were three Raging Whoopers, one of which she was already biting huge chunks out of. She was scowling as she chewed.
“I don't think we've met before, I'm Lindsay,” the tomboyish blond greeted the angry-looking girl. When Christine didn't respond, but instead continued angrily chomping on her food, the soccer player continued. “So what's your name?” she asked politely, but with an inquisitiveness that could not be masked. How could she not be curious when she had never met this girl before? First Lilian and now this cutie… just where did these girls keep coming from? “And how exactly do you know Kevin and Lilian?”
“That's none of your business,” Christine declared impudently, right before taking another monstrous bite out of her giant burger filled with bacon, pepper jack cheese and jalapenos, all of which was smothered with a spicy sauce. The heat of the food matched her anger perfectly.
“Don't mind her,” Kevin told Lindsay as she stared at the goth, dumbfounded. The tomboy looked from Christine to him, her head tilting to convey her perplexity. “That's Christine.” He hiked a thumb at the girl angrily chowing down on her Raging Whooper. She had already finished one and was starting on her second. “We met at the arcade a while ago, but I hadn't seen her again until she showed up at the school track meet yesterday.”
“So she's a friend of yours, then?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
While Lindsay looked at the girl curiously, and Lilian huffed at the very idea that she and that stupid loli goth were friends, the snow-maiden in question began making a very accurate imitation of a tomato at the North Pole. It was a good thing she had already swallowed her food, or she might have started choking on it.
“F-f-f-f-friends?! W-w-who the hell ever said we were friends?! I-I-I already told you we're not friends! Hmph!”
She tried glaring at the boy. Unfortunately, the sheer amount of blue on her face made her glare less than intimidating. The steam pouring from her ears like a steam engine didn't help matters. Everyone there watched the steam in mute silence, wondering how such a thing was possible.
Lindsay looked from the girl, whose face had taken on the general coloration of a Blue Whale to Kevin. She raised a single, delicate eyebrow, as if asking, “what's up with her?”
“She's been saying that ever since we met,” Kevin told her, rubbing the back of his head. “But she's still been hanging out with us ever since we met her today.”
“Th-th-th-that's… that's just because I have nothing better to do! Stupid! A-a-and it's boring walking around on my own! That's all!” Huffing, Christine crossed her arms over her chest and turned her nose up at them. “Don't go thinking you're special or anything just because I decided to stick around! I'm only with you because I was bored, not because I want to spend time with you or anything!”
“Uh huh.”
Lindsay stared between Kevin and Christine uncertainly. After several seconds of awkward silence, she shrugged, and decided that she wouldn't bother trying to figure out what the strange relationship between her friend and this new girl was. She had a feeling that trying to understand the dynamics between them would simply give her a massive headache.
“Oh!” While Lindsay decided to ignore the last few seconds of conversation in order to retain her sanity, Lilian had just tried her first bite of Sicilian pizza. “This is really good!” Taking another bite, she gave an almost sensual moan of satisfaction. “It's so light and fluffy!” Another bite. Another moan. “And the sauce is so thick and robust!” Another bite. A third moan. “Mmm! It's soo good!”
“Uh… Lilian?”
“Hmm?” Lilian blinked, snapping out of the small trance that she had been in since she began eating. She craned her neck to see Kevin staring at her with wide eyes and a very mild flush coloring his cheeks. “What's wrong, Kevin?”
“You may want to stop eating like that.”
Lilian tilted her head, her confusion more than evident.
“Eating like what?”
“Like… you know, making all those noises and stuff while you eat.”
Lilian just looked more confused.
“Eh? Why? What's wrong?”
“You're making the others uncomfortable.”
Lilian looked around the table to see almost everyone staring at her with a look that could only be described as, “Oh my god, I can't believe she just did that!” Their eyes were wider than dishpans, and their faces redder than anything a tomato could ever hope to achieve. They all looked like someone had shoved their heads into a convection oven set on high for several hours.
The only one among them who was not a blushing wreck was Eric, and that's mostly because he had passed out some time after Lilian started eating, and was currently lying in a puddle of his own blood, which ran freely down his nose in massive quantities that should have killed him.
“Huh?” Lilian gazed around at everyone, bewildered, and then looked back at Kevin. “I don't get it. Did I do something wrong?”
As he sat there next to Lilian, and saw the varying expressions on everyone's faces, Kevin felt like banging his head against the table.
Christine was the first to recover.
“You really don't get it, do you?”
Lilian glared at the other girl.
“What's that supposed to mean? What am I supposed to get?”
“You're sitting there, eating pizza and moaning like some kind of slut. It's disgusting everyone else.” The pale-skinned snow-maiden scoffed derisively. “I guess I really shouldn't expect anything less from a fox. Your kind has always been the most whorish creatures among us.”
“Says the girl with the loli fetish!”
“It's not a loli fetish! And this outfit is a classic! A CLASSIC!”
“A classic for loli vampires maybe. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?”
“What's that supposed to mean?!”
“It means you look ridiculous! You have a horrible sense of fashion!”
“Like you're any better! You dress like a cheap hooker! Why don't you go back to whoring yourself out on the Vegas Strip?”
A low, deep growl escaped Lilian's throat. She shot to her feet. Christine followed suit, glaring at the twin-tailed kitsune, her lips peeled back to show pearly white teeth grit in anger.
“You take that back!”
“Fuck that! I won't do anything of the sort! Not unless you take back your insults to my outfit!”
“I was only telling the truth!”
Lindsay looked at the two girls as they began to literally butt heads, both trying to overpower the other, glaring into each other's eyes, teeth bared in barely suppressed choler. She could almost see the sparks flying between the two as the battle of wills heated up.
“Are they always like this?” Lindsay asked Kevin, who buried his face in his hands, as if ashamed of being seen with the two arguing yōkai.
“Usually,” he sighed. Peeking out from between his fingers, the young man saw the two supernatural creatures from Japanese myth still glaring at each other. He then looked over at the girl that he had been crushing on for the better part of three years.
He stood up rather suddenly, startling the tomboy and several others. Kevin looked down at Lindsay, who tilted her head up to look at him.
“Lindsay, would you mind if I talked with you?” He looked at all of the people around them, then back to her. “In private, I mean.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sur
e.” She stood up as well and began to follow Kevin, wondering what he could possibly want to talk to her about.
As Kevin left with Lindsay in tow, Christine saw the pair leave and stopped arguing with her two-tailed adversary.
“Hey, Kevin and that girl are leaving.” Christine's statement caused Lilian to stop arguing as well and turn around. A small ache spread through her chest as she saw the pair walk off together. “Do you think we should follow them?”
Lilian stared after the two as they disappeared around the corner. She wanted to follow them, to spy on them and see what they were doing, to hear what they were talking about. Another part of her was even thinking up ways to sabotage whatever conversation was about to go down. It wouldn't be that hard to implant a suggestion into Lindsay's mind. She was positive that she could make the girl say something that would irreparably damage her relationship with Kevin.
That would certainly pave the way for her to truly work her way into Kevin's heart and confidence. She could lend him an ear, listen to his woes, and offer him a shoulder to cry on after Lindsay tore his heart in two. He would feel so grateful to her, and before long, his gratitude would turn into affection and affection into love. He would freely give his heart and soul to her, and she would be able to remain by his side, ensuring that he was never alone for the rest of his life.
It was the perfect plan.
A plan worthy of a kitsune.
Her matriarch would have been so proud of her for conceiving it.
“No,” she decided, sitting back down with a sorrowful sigh. With her head tilted down, silky red bangs overshadowing the upper half of her face, Lilian stared at her plate of half-finished pizza. “Let them be. Whatever they have to talk about isn't for us to hear.”
“Never thought I'd hear you say something like that.” Christine looked back to where Kevin and Lindsay had gone. “Whatever. You do what you want, I'm going to follow them.”
With that she took off, leaving Lilian surrounded by a group of girls that she didn't know and didn't care about. In this crowd of unknown people, all of them now gossiping about Lindsay and Kevin, making wild assumptions and speculations that she didn't care to hear, no one saw her shed a single tear.
***
Lindsay leaned against the wall, arms crossed under her chest, as she looked at the young man that she had befriended back when they were in elementary school. He stood across from her, messy blond hair hovering over light blue eyes that looked a tad nervous. His arms crossed, only to uncross a second later. He did this several more times, as if he was undecided on just what to do with them. In the end, he simply let them hang at his side.
“So what did you want to talk about?” Lindsay asked. “It's gotta be pretty important if you want to talk to me alone, right?”
“It is,” Kevin admitted, closing his eyes and sighing. “It's something that I've wanted to tell you for a while now, but couldn't for… well, reasons,” he finished lamely.
“But you can tell me now,” she smiled at him. “You've changed quite a bit this past month.”
“You really think so?” Kevin scratched the back of his neck and looked away. “I don't think I've changed that much.”
“Well, maybe not so much.” Lindsay grinned at him. “But you have to admit, you have changed some. You're a lot more confident than you used to be. I haven't seen you blush, or heard you stutter for a while, either.”
“Eh? I guess.” At this unexpected praise, Kevin felt his cheeks become warm. Lindsay chuckled.
“Though it looks like you still have trouble accepting praise.”
“I don't have trouble accepting praise.” Kevin frowned. “I just don't think I've changed all that much, and I've never been lacking in confidence.”
“You just couldn't talk to girls.”
“Yeah.” Kevin ran a hand through his hair and let out a long breath. “Something like that.” He looked thoughtful. “Maybe I have changed a bit. But if I have, it's thanks to Lilian.”
“That girl really is something else.” Lindsay's smile became wistful. “She's helped you get over whatever issues you had with girls, and has managed to charm her way into your life. That's no easy feat.”
Kevin couldn't help but snort.
“Right. Charm her way into my life. I suppose that's one way of putting it.”
More like barged into his life with all the subtlety of the Hulk at an anime convention. Regardless, he supposed there was some truth to Lindsay's words. Even if they had started off on rocky terms, Kevin had come to accept the pretty fox-girl as a part of his life. These days, he would even go so far as to say that he enjoyed having her around.
He wouldn't tell her that, though. Who knew what kind of chaos that would unleash?
“So what did you want to talk about?”
Kevin looked at Lindsay, gathering his courage.
Several feet away from where the two youngsters were standing, a certain yuki-onna was peeking out from around a corner, watching the two as they spoke. Unlike Lilian, who seemed to have lost whatever inclination she may have had to follow the pair, Christine wanted to know what they were talking about.
I-it's not like I like Kevin or anything! I'm simply doing this to satisfy my own curiosity! Hmph!
“I like you, and I don't mean as a friend.” Two sets of eyes widened. “I've liked you for a long time now. Part of the reason I had so much trouble talking to you was because I wanted to tell you, but couldn't. I was afraid that if I told you how I felt, you wouldn't return my feelings and it would ruin our friendship.”
Christine reared back as if struck. Pressing her back against the wall, a hand went to her chest, clutching at the fabric of her black lace bodice tightly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, ignoring the way her heart felt like a giant fist had decided to crush it in an ironclad grip.
Moving forward again, Christine peeked back around the corner. While a part of her felt like running off and crying, another part needed to hear more. Actually, a good deal of her wanted to go over there and shove a dagger of ice up Kevin's ass, but she resisted the urge and looked back at the couple.
Lindsay had gotten over her shock, and looked at the boy with a melancholy smile.
“I had been wondering if you were ever going to tell me how you felt about me.”
“What?” It took Kevin exactly one second to process her words. It took him another second to come up with an appropriate response. “Wait! Are you telling me you knew how I felt about you?”
“I've known for a while now.” Lindsay confirmed with a nod. “You're not very good at hiding your feelings, Kevin. Actually, you're downright awful at it.”
Kevin felt an unusual combination of embarrassment and frustration, which bled into his voice as he said, “Then why didn't you say anything?”
The smile Lindsay gave him was odd, a combination of emotions that Kevin didn't recognize but were plainly visible for him to see.
“Because I wanted to hear you say it yourself. It wouldn't have as much meaning if I told you that I knew how you felt about me, would it?”
“I guess not,” Kevin admitted with a small frown. “So… what now? What does this mean for us?”
Christine wanted to know that as well. She was so set on figuring out what Lindsay's answer was that she didn't even notice that she was losing control of her powers. Starting from her fingertips and moving across the wall, hoarfrost began to spread, slowly creeping along the white painted bricks like the tendrils of some eldritch horror. It wasn't long before a good section of the wall around her became covered in a light sheen that reflected her features against the surface.
And it wasn't just the wall that her powers affected. The air around her became colder than a winters breeze in the middle of the Arctic Circle. All around her people nearby had stopped walking, and gaped in wide-eyed surprise at their exhaled breath as it came out in puffs of misty white.
Christine ignored all of this, only noticing the change in temperature enoug
h to release a shiver.
She really did hate her powers.
“I'm definitely glad you finally worked up the courage to tell me.” Lindsay still had that smile on her face. Kevin wondered what that smile meant. “I've been waiting for you to tell me that for so long now that I wasn't sure you would actually do it.”
Kevin didn't know how to feel as he looked at the girl. Happy that she had been waiting for him to confess his feelings? Or upset that she hadn't believed he would ever confess?
In the end, he decided not to be upset. Considering his problem talking to women, it wasn't like her feelings were unjustified. He wasn't sure if he felt happy either, though, for some weird reason.
“So then… what does this mean for us?” Kevin asked.
With her hands behind her back, Lindsay gave him a kind, yet slightly sad, smile.
Chapter 13
Clearing the Air
“I'm home!” Lindsay called out as she entered her house. Frowning when no reply came, the blond absentmindedly took off her shoes and set them in a small alcove near the door. Her parents didn't like her tracking dirt on the floor, especially the carpet. They were clean freaks like that.
She walked further into the house, white marble tiles transitioning to beige carpet as she entered the living room.
“Mom! Dad!” She called out again. After another second in which she received no response, Lindsay shrugged. “Dad must be at work or something.”
She didn't know where her mom was, though—that woman didn't even have a job. Maybe she was at that “Aesthetic Appreciation Club” of hers, which was just a really fancy name for a group of middle-aged women who got together and drooled at pictures of males half their age, sometimes younger. Lindsay's mom was the “president” of the club and arranged all of their meetings.
It was one of her mom's more disturbing hobbies.
On a side note, she really should apologize to Kevin on behalf of all the women of that club.
Since her parents weren't home, and she wasn't hungry, Lindsay walked to her bedroom. She closed the door behind her, then strode further in, stepping over a number of soccer balls and volleyballs that lay scattered along the floor. Lining the walls were a variety of posters featuring her favorite soccer teams and players. Her unmade bed looked kind of like a pig had been rolling around in it, making her grimace at the sight. Those sheets would have to be washed.
A Fox's Tail (American Kitsune Book 2) Page 31
