Author's Notes: This is the third part of the incredibly large AU that has Ken and Davis in high school.
Rating: R for language and sexual situations
Pairing: Ken/Davis
Written: 2004
So far, this Monday was going much better than the last one for Davis. He had people to hang out with. People who might become actual friends if he hung out with them long enough. Kari and Cody and Yolei and TK and Ken. Ken, who even though he still gave Davis the cold shoulder, had never tried to use the whole kiss thing against him. Davis was sure he could win the other boy over given enough time.
He hoped.
It was just before lunch, and Spanish II was dragging on longer than seemed humane. The classroom was small, hot, and lacked any windows whatsoever. Half the class was already asleep and the other half probably couldn't have spoken anything more complicated than "Yo quiero Taco Bell" if their life depended on it.
Davis was using this time to draw in the margins of his notebook. The clock on the wall showed less than ten minutes till the bell rung. Five minutes until he was let out early. He swore that it had shown ten minutes left in class 30 minutes ago.
Time was not on his side.
Five more minutes. Five more minutes. Come on Señor Pierce. No one cares how to conjugate that verb in that tense. Whatever it is. I don't even remember. Just let us go.
"Okay class. All those who are on the honor roll can go ahead and leave for lunch, but only if you have your student ID to prove you're on the honor roll," Señor Pierce announced. Davis got his things together and headed towards the front of the class. He was almost out the door when Señor Peirce's voice stopped him.
"Motomiya, can I see your student ID?"
"Uh... sure." Davis checked his pockets, his backpack, his notebook. Nothing. "Err... I don't have it. I must have left it at home."
"Then please sit back down."
"What? But you know I'm on the Honor roll. You've seen my ID every other day," Davis protested. Señor Pierce shook his head and pointed back to the half filled desks.
"It doesn't matter. You don't have your ID with you today. Maybe this will teach you to keep track of your stuff," Señor Pierce said. "Now take your seat."
"But... how could... I...UGH!" Davis stormed back to his seat and threw his backpack down. Señor Pierce gave him a look, one that promised detention if Davis didn't behave. The clock on the wall slowly ticked off the minutes. Stupid teacher. Stupid, stupid teacher.
The bell rung. Davis grabbed his stuff and bolted through the door before Señor Pierce could say anything about his behavior. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late. Shit. The room was right next to the lunchroom, but a line had already formed. It seemed to go no faster than a crawl. By the time Davis got to the lunch lady and paid, it felt like half the lunch period had gone by.
Finally, tray in hand (sans mashed potatoes), Davis headed towards his usual table. He was half way to it before he realized that some kids he didn't know were sitting at it. No Ken, and none of his friends. Davis froze in the middle of the lunchroom staring. They didn't even save the table for me. v"Hey Davis," Mike yelled from a nearby table. Davis took a shaky breath and turned towards him. "Looking for someone?" Laughter followed that statement, from Jake and Timothy and a few other people at Mike's table. It made Davis's stomach turn. "You're girlfriend and her crazy friends are over there."
Slowly, Davis turned around. In the very back corner of the lunchroom, as far away from the teacher's table as possible, were Ken and his friends. Davis vaguely remembered that that was where the group had sat before they started sitting with him.
Okay. It's not so bad. They didn't humiliate me. They didn't do anything bad. There's no reason to get upset. Just find a table, sit down, and eat. Davis looked around for an empty table, or at least one that didn't have too many people at it.
Mike started yelling again before he could find one. "What are you doing Motomiya? You going to let TK scare you off of his girl like that? Go sit with them! Go on! Don't be a wimp."
"But..." Davis started.
"Chicken! Go take her from him." Catcalls and shouts of encouragement followed that statement. Not quite knowing what to do, Davis reluctantly headed towards the table in the back corner. He got up to the table and shifted from one foot to the other. Cody looked up, saw Davis standing there, and smiled.
"Hey Davis. Grab a chair and sit with us." Davis looked at the others. TK was glaring at him, but otherwise no one else seemed overly unfriendly. He put his tray on the table, but kept an eye on it in case anyone decided to put something in his food. No one made a move towards it. Davis found a chair and sat down at the table.
"So Davis, have you finished that Chemistry homework?" Kari asked.
"Yeah, all but the last two problems. I couldn't figure them out."
"Get it out and let me see if I can help you."
Just like that, everyone was acting like nothing had changed. Davis swallowed any sort of trepidation he was feeling and played along. At least they didn't tell me to fuck off. At least they're still talking to me. Everything is fine. Don't worry about it.
Davis didn't eat anything on his plate. He found he wasn't hungry. And from across the table, Ken watched him.
*******************************************
Maybe the reason I keep thinking about him is because he was my first kiss. Ken glanced over at the him in question. Davis was sitting between him and TK. He had tried sitting next to Kari, but TK had physically pushed himself between them. After the usual round of snide remarks that had become the norm over the past two weeks, everything at the table had settled down to normal.
That has to be it. That's the reason why I can't get the kiss out of my head. That's why I reacted like I did to Davis kissing me.
The excuse didn't fly, not even with Ken, because the more he thought about it the more he realized that Davis hadn't been his first kiss, or even his second. Kari had been his first kiss way back in middle School. Before everything had changed. Before he had changed.
Ken smiled a little, suddenly finding the memory of his younger self more amusing than painful. That in itself was unusual. Normally, thinking about what he had lost in his quest for revenge hurt. It didn't this time for some reason.
I remember it was Valentine's Day. I brought Kari a rose and a bag of chocolates and left them on her desk in homeroom with a card saying 'From your secret admirer.' Like she couldn't figure out who had given them to her. I took me a month to save up enough money on my allowance to get them for her. She giggled all through class. I finally told her who had given her the stuff when I walked her home. Kari told me she knew who had given them to her.
Then she kissed me.
It had been sweet and chaste and had lasted only a few seconds. Ken had turned bright red, stammered something about having to go home, and had bolted. His first kiss.
We were so young. Ken tilted his head slightly, looking over towards TK and Kari. Davis was leaning forward, talking with Cody who was across the table from him. He was totally oblivious to the fact that Kari and TK were making eyes at each other behind his head. They smiled at each other, for each other.
No regrets.
His second kiss had been neither sweet nor chaste nor lasting only a few seconds. This time Ken looked across the table at Yolei, who was currently making gagging noises at Kari and TK. Yolei had been his second kiss. She had caught him in the guy's bathroom, pushed him up against the wall, and had kissed him.
To be honest, Ken didn't quite remember what his reaction to this was. A lot of things about his freshman year were kind of blurry like that, half remembered and almost dream like. He didn't think he'd really responded. Then again, maybe he had. But I know I didn't obsess about it like I'm doing with Davis. The only thing I remember is feeling vaguely annoyed later on.
Eventually one of the teacher's had come out of the stalls and had coughed. Yolei had asked the teacher what the Hell what he wanted. Before the teacher could start lecturing them, Ken had grabbed Yolei's arm, and said that they were just leaving. That was his second kiss.
It was also how he first met Yolei again after losing track of her when they went to different middle schools.
She had heard about me from somewhere, thought I sounded cool, and then had searched me out. I told her I wasn't looking for a relationship. She announced that was fine with her, she's just be my friend then until I figured out how great she was. Ken shook his head. Yolei has been my friend ever since. It took her almost three months before she realized I was the same Ken Ichijouji she'd crushed on in elementary school.
A quick look showed that Davis and TK were once again sniping at each other. So why him? And why now? What makes this kiss so different from the other two?
"No seriously, TK. What is your problem?" Ken jerked himself back into reality in time to hear Davis's question. He normally wasn't that talkative during lunch, preferring to listen to the conversation and make a few comments. Today Ken hadn't even been listening. From the confrontational tone, something had happened between Davis and TK while he had been lost in his thoughts.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Motomiya." TK refused to meet Davis's eyes.
"Yes you do. The only person who doesn't like me more than you in this group is Ken. Hell, even Yolei doesn't talk down to me as much as you do. So what is your problem?" Davis had to be truly mad. He wasn't yelling, but his voice was one step from it.
Ken had two thoughts almost simultaneously. One was the he hadn't realized that Davis took his remarks as dislike. He didn't really dislike Davis. It was just that he didn't understand Davis any more than when he'd first met him on the field during intramural soccer. At first, Ken had used his anger and his confusion to keep Davis at arms length until he could figure out what the other boy was really up to. Now he did it because the few times he'd tried to be friendly to Davis, Ken had only managed to upset and confuse him.
The second thought was that Davis had to have a tremendous amount of courage to do this. Yolei was forever complaining about how Davis acted like they were going to kick him out of the group if he so much as disagreed with their choice of drinks. It annoyed the Hell out of her. Now she was staring at Davis like he was a bunny rabbit that had just devoured a wolf.
Well, at least now she can't complain that he never stands up for himself.
"I..."
"And none of this crap about how it's not true. I know it's true and I want to know why" Davis demanded when it looked like TK would try and put him off. His legs were shaking but Ken doubted anyone saw. The only reason he noticed was because he was sitting right next to Davis.
Kari was the one who broke the tense silence that followed. "He thinks the only reason you continue to sit with us was because you want to date me. TK thinks you want to break us up."
It seemed to Ken that a moment of surreality surrounded the table. He could hear the sounds of lunch around him: trays hitting tables, laughter, chairs scraping against linoleum, the sound of sneakers on tile. At the table tense, charged silence had descended.
He looks like he'd been kicked in the stomach. Ken felt an irrational surge of anger towards Kari and TK both. Did they really have to tell him that? Davis turned towards TK, who was sitting on the other side of Davis in between him and Kari, for confirmation. TK nodded once, and then tool a sip from his soft drink so he didn't have to meet Davis's eyes.
"Oh," Davis said softly. He sounded so lost. Ken's hands became fists where they rested on his knees.
TK was too busy looking down at his plate to see the disaster heading his way until it was too late.
"TK! HOW COULD YOU TELL EVERYONE ABOUT US? YOU PROMISED TO KEEP OUR RELATIONSHIP A SECRET!" Davis yelled this at the top of his lungs, causing ever head in the cafeteria to turn towards them. As he yelled, Davis wrapped his arms around TK. The other boy's eye almost bulged out of his head. Ken thought TK was going to snort drink out through his nose. "YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T WANT TO HURT HER. HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL AS TO LET KARI KNOW ABOUT US?"
"Get off me! Get off!" TK tried to struggle, but Davis's hold on him effectively pinned his arms to his side. He was trapped. "Kari, someone, help me!"
Kari had both hands clapped over her mouth, but helpless giggles were spilling through her fingers. Yolei was howling with laughter. Cody was trying his best not to crack up. The corners of his mouth kept turning upwards.
"NOW YOU DENY IT, NOW THAT EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT US. I SEE HOW YOU ARE. LAST NIGHT MEANT NOTHING TO YOU. YOU WERE JUST PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS YOU BAST- yelp!" The last word was broken in half as both TK and Davis went toppling to the floor. Their struggles had over turned the chair TK was sitting in.
"Ouch Davis, your elbow is in my kidney."
"Sorry, sorry. My legs are tangled up in the chair."
"I swear you are insane."
"Oh come off it TK, you know you liked it."
Then they both started laughing. TK was soon holding his stomach and Davis had rolled off of him so he could breathe. Morons. Both of them. Ken couldn't help but chuckle. All the previous tension at the lunch table had evaporated.
"Hey you two love birds. Stop making out on the floor and get in your chairs. One of the teachers is heading our way," Yolei said, just loud enough for those at the tables closest to theirs to hear. Both Davis and TK scrambled to their feet. By the time the teacher got to their table, everything was normal.
*******************************************
Davis was trying to pay attention in English. He really was. But Mrs. Valent was droning on about some poem or other, and the AC wasn't working in the classroom so it was incredibly hot. It was an environment more suited to sleeping than learning.
The only thing keeping him awake was the fact that TK was paying attention and taking notes in order to do better than him on the next quiz.
Not likely TP. I will still kick your ass when it comes to English. Davis looked over at TK and grinned. TK gave him an ugly look back, and concentrated on taking even more notes.
Ever since the whole incident in the lunchroom, he and TK had started getting along. Kind of. Instead of yelling and sniping at each other, they competed against each other in everything. Most especially their grades in English. It was the only class they had together.
Not that I'm going to complain too hard. It's kept my grades from slipping in this class and my parents are ecstatic. Kari's been helping me in Chemistry. Who cares about Spanish II? Too bad I can't do better in Trigonometry. Of course the only person I know in that class is Ken.
I guess I could always ask him for help.
Davis looked over his shoulder, glancing to where Ken sat behind him. He had his feet propped up on the back of Davis's chair, arms crossed his chest, and his head tilted back till he looked at the ceiling. Ken must have sensed Davis gaze because suddenly he was looking back at him with questioning gray eyes. Suddenly, Mrs. Valent became the most interesting thing in the world.
Oh yeah. That'll work. Right after he's caught you staring at him ask him to help you with your homework. That won't look suspicious or anything. Davis decided it would definitely help if he could stop blushing every time Ken caught him looking at him. Smooth. Real smooth.
It didn't help that TK was now snickering at him. Davis rolled his eyes and flipped him the bird under the desk.
"Mr. Takaishi is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"
"No Ma'am."
"Then please keep your laughter to a manageable level," Mrs. Valent said. She gave all three of them a look before returning to the front of the class. Davis rolled his eyes while TK tried to keep a straight face. He didn't know what Ken's reaction to the teacher's statement was because he refused to be caught looking at him. Again.
"Class, as you know we'll be going over 12 major works of literature this semester as well as various short stories and poems. For your mid-terms I'm going to divide you into groups of two or three and assign each group one of these works. As a group I want you to look at least four different literary criticisms and write a paper summarizing the views of the criticisms. Here are the guidelines for the paper."
A stack of papers was being passed around the room. When it came to Davis he grabbed the one on top, and handed it back to Ken. Ken's fingers brushed his. Davis jerked his hand back. Then he grabbed a copy of his own and passed the stack onto TK.
"Now I know that we haven't gone over some of the works you’ll be assigned. I also know that we’ve only read excerpts from some of the pieces. However, I do not think that this will affect your projects. If you do get lost or feel that you aren’t getting enough out of the literary criticisms, might I suggest that you actually open a book and read?"
"Crotchety old bitch," TK muttered. Davis fully agreed.
"We are going to try something different when it comes to deciding on groups. In order to keep some people from pairing up for every project." Mrs. Valent directed a significant look in TK and Ken's direction. "I have decided to let fate assign you to groups."
There was a collective groan from the class.
"In this bag you'll find the numbers 1 through 12. The first six groups will have three people in them and the last six groups will only have two. Okay, let's start on this side of the room. Draw out only one number."
Davis was practically vibrating in his seat by the time the bag got to him. The suspense was killing him. Come on. Come on. Come on. He hoped he got a good number. Something larger than 6 because that way there was only one person he would have to deal with instead of two. Hurry up.
TK passed the bag to him. Davis plunged his hand into the bag and felt the pieces of paper under his fingers. He dug a little, grasping one piece and then another, before he drew one out. It was cheap yellow paper. Before opening it to see what number he got, Davis passed the bag back to Ken.
Fingers brushed his own again, warm and cool at the same time. Davis felt his hand jerk again, felt his skin tingle. Twice in one day. That's can't be an accident, can it?
And if it isn't an accident, what does it mean? It probably means I'm just hard up and need to stop reading things into this. He's not interested. Sure he responded when I kissed him, but he also threatened me. That a definite sign of not interest.
The piece of yellow paper sitting on his desk soon caught Davis's interest. He reached out and unfolded it. The number "7" looked back at him, drawn in black ink in Mrs. Valent's handwriting.
Score. Score! Davis grinned and looked over at TK. He showed his number and watched as TK mouthed "lucky bastard" at him. He'd gotten a number two. Now, I just have to see who I'm paired with and what we have to work on.
After everyone had drawn a number out of the hat, Mrs. Valent went through the groups and assigned them a work of literature. She'd call out "Group 1" and three people would raise their hands. Their names got written up on the board along with the literary work they were supposed to use. Romeo and Juliet, The Jungle, Dracula, Brave New World, the Great Gatsby, Great Expectations: all of them got assigned and Davis was just as glad that the last went to someone else. He hated Great Expectations.
Personally, he was hoping for one of Shakespeare plays. His teacher for freshman English at his old high school had been a Shakespearian nutcase. Even though they were only supposed to go over two plays, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar, they'd wound up going over five. Romeo and Juliet was already taken, but if he could get Othello assigned to him, Davis was set.
Come on. Othello assigned to number 7. Come on.
"Group number 7?" Davis raised his hand quickly. Mrs. Valent nodded and began to write the names on the board. "You'll be doing Shakespeare's Othello."
Yes! Motomiya luck strikes again. Davis was so busy congratulating himself on the lucky break that it took him a moment to realize he hadn't seen anyone else raise their hand. He scanned the room but still saw no other hands. Wait a minute. There should be one other person in my group. Otherwise, it's not a group.
He looked up at the chalkboard, but Mrs. Valent was just finishing his last name. She usually already had the notes for the class up on the board before class because it took her so long to write them up there. Davis frowned. There was something nagging at him, some fact that would make it completely obvious just who he was paired with.
"Lucky asshole. You're guaranteed an A now," TK muttered. Davis gave him a look before it dawned on him there was only one person whose hand he wouldn't be able to see. And that would be the person sitting behind him.
Ken was the person sitting behind him.
Davis could feel Ken's eyes on the back head now. He had to resist the urge to turn around and find out what Ken thought about all this. Is he pissed? Amused? Doesn't give a rat's ass? Ah Hell, I'm going to find out soon enough. Class is almost over. Maybe I can bolt before he says anything.
"All right class. We only have about fifteen minutes left. I want you to get in your groups and discuss when you are going to meet to work on this. Keep in mind that there will be no class time dedicated to this project. All of it will have to be done on your own time," Mrs. Valent said. A few of the students groaned. Most of them began to shuffle around the room in an attempt to get into their groups.
Fuck. So much for that idea.
"See you guys. I'm going to go get with my group. Lynette and Charles. Ugh. Wish me luck," TK said as he headed over to the opposite side of the room.
"Where and when do you want to meet to work on this?" Davis turned around and looked at Ken when he spoke. His feet were no longer propped up. Instead, Ken was leaning forward across the desk looking at him intently. "If we do it somewhere other than the library here at school, we'll need to check out some books. Probably from the public library."
"Oh. Um. yeah. I didn't even think about the library thing." Davis laughed nervously. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it. I've got soccer practices on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I know you have intramural stuff on Tuesday and Thursday. I kind of don't want to give up my weekends."
"If you don't want to be in a group with me, that's fine," Ken stated. "You don't have to bullshit with me. I'm sure we can ask Mrs. Valent to switch one of us. We can tell her we don't get along. I don't think she'd question that as a reason." The corners of Ken's mouth twitched upwards at that, though it didn't look like he was really smiling. Davis didn't think he looked at all amused about having to change partners.
"NO! No, that's okay. I'll work something out. In fact, I'm kind of glad to be assigned Othello. I had to read it freshman year. It's no problem. Really," Davis said. He flashed Ken the victory sign and grinned. Somehow, he didn't think Ken was buying it.
"Fine then," Ken responded. "Today's Wednesday, right? I'll go to the library tonight and pick up some books. We can walk to your place after school tomorrow and work on it then.”
"Tomorrow? But what about your soccer practice?" Davis asked. In his mind he was already preparing a list of things he needed to get done. Clean my room. Let my parents know someone's coming over. See if I can get Jun to leave so we can actually get some work done. It never even occurred to him that Ken might now have an answer to the question Davis asked. Ken always had answers to questions.
"I can skip it. It's just intramural soccer. I want to get this thing done before midterms in all my other classes hit." Ken leaned even further forward, scant inches from Davis. Close. "Unlike you I like to actually like to get my class work on time."
"Huh? What? Hey. HEY! I care just as much as you do about my grades. I'm not a slacker," Davis protested. About that time the bell signaling the end of school rang. Davis and Ken both gathered up their books, papers, and backpacks. "Just because I'm not married to my school books does not mean I don't care."
"I'm not married to my school books," Ken said. He followed Davis into the crowded hallway, heading towards the buses. Ken never road the bus home, and Davis wondered for a few seconds why Ken was heading in that direction. Then he almost smacked his head against the lockers. Duh, stupid. He's following you. You never told him that he could come over.
"You practically wear a ring you're so attached to them."
"Kind of like you're attached to your soccer ball?" Ken asked.
"That is totally different. Soccer is important," Davis insisted. They were cutting across the parking lot.
"And grades aren't important?" Ken asked. Davis started to respond, stopped, tried again, and finally sighed. Shit. He's right.
"Okay fine. Whatever." They both were standing right in front of the buses, neither one quite wanting to leave just yet. Davis shifted nervously from one foot to another. "So... um. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Do you want to ride the bus with me or I can get my sister can pick us up?" And then try to get her to go away.
"Or we can walk," Ken stated. "You know where you use your legs to get places?
"Okay. Sure." Davis ran a hand through his hair. Soon he'd have to get on the bus. Most of the student's were already on them and soon they were going to start pulling away. "Just don't forget to get the library books. Otherwise, we're going to have to find something else to do tomorrow afternoon."
That got him a look from Ken, one of equal parts disbelief and suspicion. "I'll see you then."
"Until then." Then Davis was on the bus and Ken was heading back towards the school.
*******************************************
Ken hadn't played fair. He'd known from the beginning when he first caught glimpse of the "7" written on Davis's paper, that his classmate was not going to be happy to find out that Ken was his partner. He was expecting disappointment or anger or unhappiness. Maybe, if he was lucky, Davis might be happy because thought Ken would do all the work and guarantee him an A.
What Ken hadn't expected was Davis's nervousness, his lack of courage, his lack of self-confidence.
It had unnerved him. Davis isn't supposed to be like that. He isn't suppose to look lost or vulnerable just because I say or don't say something. I don't want that kind of responsibility. I don't want that kind of power over anyone. I've already found out I don't handle power well.
Luckily, Ken knew just how to push Davis. A few words, a challenge, a veiled threat, and Davis had reacted just like Ken had predicted. Davis was once again Davis. It had been comforting to walk down the hall and to the buses, trading insults back and forth.
The whole time Ken had been manipulating Davis. He wasn't proud of the fact. Ken had had to watch himself to keep from manipulating everyone around him till he got his way. Teachers, friends, and parents: no one was immune.
Except occasionally, Davis would surprise him so much that all Ken could do was react.
"I have my copy of Othello with me. I know we haven't gone over it in class so I figured you might like to look through it," Davis said. He offered Ken a slim volume with the title "Othello" across the front. "I brought it from home."
"Davis, we're going to be going to your house anyway. I could have read it there," Ken replied. As soon as he said them, Ken wished he could take the words back. Davis seemed to crumple a bit before recovering. He rubbed a hand through his hair sheepishly, but still offered the book to Ken.
"Take it anyway. I've read it before. Besides, it's not my favorite Shakespearean play." Ken reached out and grasped the book. Their fingers brushed, but Ken pretended not to notice.
It was a deliberate action on Ken's part. He was experimenting to see if he would feel that jolt every time they casually touched, but he pretended otherwise. Davis snatched his fingers back, looked at them like they had somehow betrayed him, and then grinned at Ken.
They began the walk to Davis's house. Ken knew the other boy lived in the nicer part of town, he just wasn't sure exactly where. So Davis led and Ken followed.
"You have a favorite Shakespearean play?" Ken asked after a while. He winced. Could you have sounded a little more credulous there? I don't think he quite understood that you implied he was idiot.
"Sure. It's called 'Much Ado About Nothing.' It wasn't one I had to read for English. I kind of stumbled across it on my own. Last summer Jun took me to a performance of it at her college. It was great." Ken listened as Davis rambled on about the play as they walked through leaves that covered the ground.
It surprised Ken that Davis knew so much about the play, how he knew so much about literature in general once Ken got him to open up. For Ken, English class had always been just another class that he needed to take. He read what he was supposed to, did the papers, thought about what he was supposed to think about, and moved on. Davis obviously didn't see English the same way. For him, it was fun.
I can understand that. I'm the same way with computers and math. It makes sense to me so I don't mind finding out stuff on my own.
"Here we are. Hold on a second," Davis said, interrupting his own sentence. Ken blinked as they stood in front of a gate. A very large iron wrought gate that stood between two brick pillars topped with security cameras. A call box, like one of those people use to get buzzed into some apartment complexes, was set into one of the pillars. Ken knew there was a better word for it, but his mind kept insisting on calling it a call box.
Holy shit. How much money does his family have? Ken began to feel very self-conscious in his faded jeans and old T-shirt, his ratty sneakers and a Goodwill jacket. Davis had dropped to his knees and was digging through his backpack completely oblivious to Ken. "Crap. Crap. Crap. Don't tell me I lost it again."
"Lost what?" Ken asked.
"The controller... thing. It opens the gate without me having to buzz the main house. Shit. I think I lost it again. My parents are going to kill me. I hope that it's up in my room." Davis looked through his backpack one last time and groaned.
"So how do we get in?"
"We press the button and hope my sister doesn't feel like being too much of a bitch." Davis slung his backpack back on while Ken stared. Sister? He has a sister? Davis pressed one of the red buttons on the call box. An intercom. That's the word. There was a buzzing sound and then someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Jun, let me in. I lost my controller... thing again."
"That's the fourth time this month, brat. Mom and Dad are going to kill you if they have to buy another one." The machinery that projected the voice coming through the intercom distorted it, but Ken recognized the accent. It was the same one that Davis had. "I should just leave you out there to teach you a lesson."
"No!" Davis's voice rose to a shout on that word. "I've got company. We've got a project we need to work on. Let me in."
"I don't believe you. Maybe if you had told me that Matt Ishida was out there with you, I would have let you in. He is so cute." The intercom clicked off. Davis mashed the button again.
"Jun, I swear if you leave me out here I will tell Mom and Dad you are no longer a virgin. Do you hear me Jun? I'll tell them you lost your virginity in the back of a pick-up truck while drunk off you’re ass." Ken slowly backed away from Davis as his voice steadily increased in volume.
"You lying brat! That's not true and you know it. Even if you did say anything, they wouldn't believe you anyway. You never tell them the truth. You think they don't know but..."
"Davis, maybe we should just work on this at the library," Ken managed to interject into one of the pauses in Jun's rant.
"Davis, who was that?"
"Oh, just the person I need to do the project with," Davis replied. There was a pause on the other end. Then the intercom went dead again. Davis sighed and was about to give up when the gate opened with a small click. "Finally."
They walked up a driveway that wound through rose bushes and expanses of green lawn. Ken felt his shoulders hunching as he saw the three story house at the top of the hill, complete with white columns around the front porch. I don’t belong here. At any moment, Ken expected someone to grab his arm and threaten to call the police.
"This is my house," Davis said. He grinned, took the front steps in a single bound, and put his key in the lock. "Hopefully, my sister won't annoy us too much. I was hoping she'd be gone but... oh well. At least she was here to let us in. Do you want cookies? I'm pretty sure we have cookies in the kitchen."
Why is he suddenly so nervous? Ken could tell Davis was nervous because he was once again babbling. Then again, look who he's bringing into his house. Their driveway is bigger than the trailer I live in.
"Who is this?" asked a high-pitched, feminine voice. Ken looked up from where he was navigating the steps to see a much taller and more feminine version of Davis. This had to be his sister.
"Jun, can't you go away and leave us alone?" Davis pushed past his sister and into his house. Ken paused on the porch, not quite sure what to do. Jun wasn't moving and the only way Ken would be able to get inside was to get much closer to her than Ken felt comfortable with.
"No. He's cute though. I wonder if I still have my T-shirt. What's your name?"
"Ken Ichijouji," Ken said. Jun moved then, but she didn't get out of the doorway. If possible she moved to take up even more space.
"Ken? Like the Ken that's been harassing Davis all year? The Ken that kissed him behind the gym? Just what are your intentions towards my little brother?" Ken opened his mouth to respond, not really sure what he was going to say. Whether he was going to deny that there was anything between them or tell Jun that he never really harassed Davis or explain that they were just friends. Sort of.
He never got a chance. Davis pushed Jun out of the doorway, grabbed Ken's wrist, and hauled him into the house. "Shut up, Jun," Davis told his sister. Then he turned towards Ken. "Don't answer that. It'll only encourage her no matter what you say." Davis glared at his sister.
"What? I'm just worried about my little brother. Big sisters are supposed to be worried about their younger brothers." Jun reached out to ruffle Davis's hair, but Davis batted her hand away.
"We're going upstairs." Davis was physically pushing Ken up the stairs trying to get him away from sister. He told his sister about the kiss? What exactly did he say about it? Why did he tell her? Ken was just about to say something to Davis about being rude when Jun yelled up the stairs.
"Fine. Whatever, brat. Just remember what mom said. If you have boys over you have to leave the door to your room open. And no making out when you're supposed to be doing homework!" Ken felt the heat rise to his cheeks.
Is that what she thinks we're going to do? Is that what Davis thinks we're going to do? Ken wondered if that was the reason for Davis's recent bouts of nervousness around him. He wished he could see Davis's face, could see what the other boy was thinking. Right now, Ken had no idea how to act or react to this.
"Hey Ken," Davis said once they were at the top of the stairs. Ken turned. Davis refused to meet his eyes, and he was gratified to see his friend was blushing as well. He was just as uncomfortable with Jun's assumptions as Ken was. "Look, I'm sorry about what my sister said. She was just being a nosy, stupid bitch. You know... I mean... it's not like that between us and..."
"Oh fuck it. I'm not going to jump your bones so you don't have worry about it, okay? Just pretend it never happened."
Davis finally looked up, meeting Ken's eyes. Ken sucked in a breath and released it. Pretend Jun never said anything about you and boys or pretend that the kiss behind the gym never happened? What do you want Davis?
"Davis, I know you're not going to jump me." You're not scared of me. I know it. But I somehow doubt you think of me that way. I just wish I understood why you kissed me in the first place and why I can't stop thinking about it. Hell, sometimes I think I'm more likely to jump you.
The thought made Ken smile. Davis grinned in return.
"Good. I'm just getting to know you and the others and I don't want to screw it up." Davis was bouncing on his heels as he spoke. "And since I'm so nice, I won't make you brave my sister again to get snacks. What do you want to drink?"
"Juice is fine. If you have it," Ken said. "Where is your room? I'll go ahead and get the books out."
"It's the second room on the right. The door right across from it is the bathroom." Davis pointed down the hall to the appropriate doors. "If you want to use the desk, just dump anything on it onto the floor. I'll clean it up later."
"Okay." Ken shifted his backpack on his shoulders. He headed towards the room Davis had pointed out. The doorknob turned easily under his hand as Davis's footsteps retreated back down the stairs.
Ken didn't know what he expected from Davis's room. Davis seemed like the kind of person who would have stuff everywhere. He wasn't neat by nature, tended to shove him homework into books just so he wouldn't lose it, and still managed to misplace things most days. Anything placed in Davis's backpack was pretty much doomed to being lost. Therefore he was surprised when the door opened easily.
Well, I can see the floor. The carpet is blue. It was obvious Davis had made an attempt to clean up. Most of the clutter had been placed on shelves, shoved into the half open closet, or piled onto the desk. The bed was made. There were no clothes on the floor though the hamper in the corner was so full it was overflowing.
It's huge. I should have expected that. Ken took another look at the desk and decided he'd be better off on the floor. Slinging the backpack off his shoulders, Ken settled himself down on the carpet. He got the books out, had one open in his lap, but wasn't really reading it.
He was too busy trying to figure out why he felt disappointed that Davis would not be trying anything with him this afternoon.