JANUARY 28, 2006
AROUND 7:25 PM
TOKYO, JAPAN
MARIE
I was still in shock and couldn't believe what Geffrey and his gang had done to Near. I mean, throwing him off the balcony and into a pool? What were they thinking? I watched as Lidner took Near inside so that he could dry off before they left. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for Near to come to the party. Especially not with Geffrey and his guy gang here. I wonder if Saiko came too. If she did and if she did have something to do with this, I would sure give her a piece of my mind. "Wow," Kyrie let out. "I sure wasn't expecting that to happen. I hope Near will be okay." "I'm sure he will," Vincent told her. "Yeah, but getting thrown off a balcony and almost driving in a hybrid heated wave pool is something that can really shake you up for a little bit," Hailey told us. "Thankfully, Aaron came with us so that Near nor either of us would have drowned."
As of now, I was inside with my friends and I was super angry at Geffrey for hurting Near. My God, for the first time, since I went on the airplane ride to Japan with Christy, I was super happy that I threw that apple right in his face and didn't know it. What a jerk he was. At first, I thought that there was some good in him, but turns out that if there is, there's very little. I really wanted to right Geffrey's name with the piece of the notebook that I hid in my watch like Light showed me. Although I was very much at the bowling point of writing Geffrey's name with my hidden piece from my Death Note, I knew that I couldn't kill him because he had no criminal record...yet. I still held that fear of being killed by Light if I killed someone who didn't have a criminal record or wasn't truly evil inside. Nevertheless, I decided to let it slide and spare Geffrey's life. I just really hoped that Saiko also had nothing to do with this too. I mean, yes, she loves Geffrey, but if she helped him with this whole plot with Near, I would beat her to a pulp. What they did to Near was unforgivable. I felt bad for Halle who was really shocked after she watched Near fall off the balcony and almost drown in the pool.
I heard Hailey sigh. I turned and saw her with her arms crossed. "I'm so happy that Near's okay," she told me. "I can't even imagine being thrown off a balcony and almost drowning in a heated wave pool." "Tell me about it," I told Hailey quietly. I heard footsteps approaching us. I turned around and saw Alissa approaching us. "Near is in the shower," she told us. "Halle's guarding the bathroom so that no one comes in there and sees him." There was a pause when Alissa crossed her arms. "I'm going to go get a drink with Osuke," she continued. I watched as Alissa walked to the non-alcoholic drinks bar and sit beside Osuke.
I sighed and then heard the sound of boys laughing. I looked up and saw Geffrey laughing his booty off with his friends along with Saiko and her gang. "Did you record all of that?" Geffrey asked as he tried to contain his laughter. "Tell me you recorded all of that, baby." Saiko snickered. "Hell yes I did, baby," she replied. "In fact, I was even responsible for turning on the wave pool and almost drowning that creepy manchild freak!" I made an angry look on my face and clenched both of my fists in anger. She was involved in this?! How could she do this to Near?! I thought to myself as I shook my head.
Without thinking, I ran up to Saiko out of sheer rage. "Saiko, I think you'd like to take a trip to the freaking hospital, you psycho!" I shouted right before I tackled her down. Saiko yelped as I tackled her down. I punched her in the face with the goal of giving this menace a bloody nose after what she and Geffrey did to Near. "Get off of me!" Saiko begged as I continued to punch her in the face. "You just had the make the situation worse, didn't you?!" I asked. "You and Geffrey nearly killed Near! How can the both of you be proud of what you've done to him?!" "Piss off, Anna!" I heard a guy say as he got me off of Saiko. I yelped as I felt his arms underneath my chest. "Let go of me!" I begged. I turned around and saw that the person that removed me from Saiko was none other, than her boyfriend, Geffrey.
"Let go of me, Geffrey!" I begged. "Well, get off of my girlfriend, Anna!" Geffrey shouted. He then removed his hands from me and bent down so he could caress Saiko. I watched as Geffrey and Saiko kissed each other's lips. However, the way they kissed wasn't a pleasant way. They gave out a lot of tongues and it honestly made me want to gag since they looked like a couple doing it, except they were fully clothed. "Ugh!" I scoffed. "You two are disgusting." They stopped kissing and looked at me. "Mind your own business, Anna!" Geffrey shouted. "How can I?!" I asked. "Near IS my business! And if you mess with Near, you mess with me!" "Ugh!" Saiko scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Why?! Do you like him or whatever?! I mean, ew! You two would be so cute together if you would have joined him in the shower and rubbed your private stuff against his junk!"
I dropped my jaw in disgust after Saiko said that. "Excuse me, but Near and I are just friends, Taylor Vaughn!" I corrected her. Even though I liked Near, I wasn't at the point where I wanted to press my lips against his and sleep with him. "And by the way, Saiko," I began. "You and Geffrey can save your love business for later!" Saiko and Geffrey laughed after I told them that. "Oh, don't worry, Anna," she snickered. "We're no longer virgins anymore." Geffrey laughed. "Just give it some time," he chuckled. "I'm sure you and Near be in a bed, shower, an onsen, or whatever. You two would be kissing and you both won't have any clothes on your bodies. And you'd massage each other with your completely naked bodies."
Geffrey and Saiko laughed as I scoffed in disgust. "You two are disgusting!" I said trying not to cry. "I hate you both! I really wish that you two were dead! And don't ever talk about Near again!" Just then, I saw everyone looking at us with their eyes wide open and even the DJ who I assumed to be DJ RUMAX 2 stopped the music and looked at us with a concerned look on his face. Seconds later, Geffrey tackled me to the ground and held me down. He growled in sheer rage. "Alright, Anna," he said clenching his teeth. "We'll kill him. I'll try to drown him again just to see how you like that, you wench!" "No!" I shouted as I kicked him off of me. "Oof!" Geffrey let out as I kicked him off. "I won't let you!" Saiko jumped onto me. "Try and stop us!" she said sadistically. "Get off of me!" I said pushing Saiko off and finally getting up on my feet.
I looked to my left and saw Near fully clothed coming out from the hallway with Halle. "You ready to go back to the hotel?" Halle asked him. Near nodded. "He ain't going anywhere, Mom!" Geffrey shouted. That's when the guys coming out of the hallway grabbed Near as they laughed. "No! Stop!" Near begged. "Let me go! Put me down! Don't put me back in that pool again!" "Leave him alone!" Halle said as she tried to get the boys to stop. "Screw off, Mom!" one of the guys said as they pulled her away from Near. She yelped as the guy pulled her away from Near. "Don't hurt him!" Halle begged. "Leave him alone!"
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop!" I begged. Just then, they all stopped what they were doing and looked at me. "Please let Near and Halle go!" I begged. "They just wanna go to the hotel and rest!" "Well, maybe if Near didn't show his creepy self over here along with his mommy, then maybe we wouldn't try to hurt him!" Geffrey boasted. "This is what happens when freaks come to our parties and soon get to the point where they wanna be with Goths that just wanna be better than everybody!" "That's not true," I corrected Geffrey. "Near's not a freak! You are!"
Everyone jeered after I said that and Geffrey looked at me with sheer rage in his eyes. "You know what, Anna?!" he asked. "Stop calling me Anna!" I shouted. "My name is Marie!" "Well then, Marie," Geffrey said. "Do you wanna play a round of DDR MAX 2?" I didn't answer Geffrey right away. "You'll have to go against Saiko. If you win, then Near and Halle will go back to the hotel for free. If you lose, then Near will be thrown back in the pool. And it'll be freezing cold to where he'll probably end up like Jack Dawson from Titanic. Anyway, what do you say?"
I turned and looked at Near as he shook his head. "If you refuse to play," Geffrey began as I turned and looked back at him. "We'll throw him in the pool and we'll put piranhas in it." I scoffed. "Where are you going to find piranhas here?" Just then, one of Saiko's friends lifted up a bag of piranhas in it. We all gasped and I began to feel uneasy. I turned around and looked at my friends. Everyone, including Halle and Near, nodded. I then turned back around and nodded. "I'm in," I agreed. "I'll do this for Near." After I said that, everyone in the room cheered. "Oh yeah!" DJ RUMAX 2 cheered. "Let's get this party started!" I watched as they brought the dance mats for DDR MAX 2 as a group of guys take Near with him. "Hey!" he shouted as they guys took him to a chair in the room. "Let go of me!" "Hey!" I heard Halle yell as I turned around and watched the boys taking her to a separate chair across the room. "Let go of me!" I watched as they tied her arms behind her back and her legs together with rope. "Leave us alone, you meddling kids!" "Shut up, Mom," one of the boys said. "Hey Mama," Geffrey shouted. "You don't have to worry about your baby boy! We can throw you in with him!" Halle growled. "This is ridiculous!" she shouted. "I was thirteen when most of y'all were born! And I'm almost thirty years old!" "Yeah, whatever, Mama Bird!" Geffrey scoffed. "You'll be thrown in with your son!"
NEAR
I sighed and lowered my head. "She's not my mom," I said under my breath. I then heard Geffrey sigh in annoyance. "Shut up, you weirdo!" he shouted. "You'll be going in there with your mama pretty soon!"
MARIE
I watched as Geffrey turned around and looked at me. "Get ready for your Beast and his mama to be paying the price pretty soon, Belle!" he boasted. "Because one way or another,...you're gonna lose!" I scoffed. "You think I was born yesterday, jerk?!" I asked. What a showoff! Geffrey and Saiko didn't know how good I was at DDR MAX. I would use it every day for fitness...it sure beats going to a gym or doing jumping jacks. I was really confident that I was going to win so that I could save Halle and Near. "Come on, Gothie!" I heard DJ RUMAX 2 shout. "Everybody's waiting for you!"
Despite being in Japan, DJ RUMAX 2 only brought the US version with him and forgot the JP version at home. "Seriously?" Saiko asked in a whiny tone. "You forgot the Japanese version of DDR MAX 2, Chocolate Bar?" "Come on, Saiko," one of Saiko's friends said. "The US version is just as good." Saiko sighed and glared at the friend who said that. "Seriously, Kasumi, whose side are you on?" Kasumi took a step back. "Yours," she answered nervously. "Alrighty, everyone!" DJ RUMAX 2 cheered. "Let's step!"
On the 1st Stage, we warmed up with "Blow My Whistle (Baby)" by DJ Alligator. Even though I was usually very good at this, something was wrong with my mat. In sheer horror, I looked up at the TV and saw that Saiko was doing very well, but I wasn't doing so well. Damn! I'm usually very good at this! Especially on Light Mode...what's going on? I thought to myself.
Once we were finished, Saiko scored an A and I scored an E. I lowered my head in anguish. "Marie," I heard Vincent say as I turned around and looked at him. "Are you sure that you can handle this? You didn't do too well on the first stage." I nodded. "I'm fine," I answered. "Don't worry about me, Vincent. I mean, the only thing we should be worried about is Near and Halle." "Hey, Misa Misa wannabe!" I heard Saiko shout. "Get back in the game! I'm excited to see how Halle and Near would look like if they ended up like Jack Dawson from Titanic." "Not if I can't help it, Miss To-Oh!" I snapped at her. Everyone jeered after I said that to Saiko. "Watch your tone with my woman, Misa Misa!" Geffrey barked. "All I wanna do is have Saiko blow my whistle tonight out of victory and your defeat! Thy will fail to save Near and his mama by the looks of what's going on right now!" I turned around and looked at Vincent. "Don't listen to them, Marie," he reminded me. "You've got this, Marie!" Kyrie cheered. "You can save Near and Halle!" "Yeah, you can do it!" Hailey cheered. "Go, Marie!" Alissa cheered.
I smiled and got my head back in the game. For our 2nd Stage, we did "Days Go By" by Dirty Vegas. Unfortunately, there wasn't a big change either.Even for our 3rd Stage when we did "Ghosts" by Vincent de Moors, there wasn't that much of an improvement no matter how hard I tried. Come on, Marie. You have to win. You have to save Halle and Near. I thought to myself. For our 4th Stage, we did "Love at First Sight" by Kyle Minogue. I loved that song, but the bad thing was that of course, Saiko was still winning and I was losing.
Thankfully, Saiko was out of breath after that stage. I was amused by this, but I was still upset that I was losing. "Geffrey...baby..." Saiko huffed for air. "I can't do anymore...let's call it quits." "But you only have one more stage before it's over," Kasumi reminded her. "I'm done!" Saiko shouted. "No more! No more I tell you!" I watched as Geffrey gave Saiko a bottle of water and she drank it. "So who won?" Kasumi asked. We all looked at the TV and saw the scores. Saiko had an A and the highest I got was a D. "Ha! Geffrey let out. "Well, Marie. It looks like you've lost." I turned and looked at Geffrey. "And you know what that means," he continued. "Hoist them up!"
I watched as they lifted Halle and Near up. "Hey! Wait! Let us go!" Near protested. "Leave us alone!" Halle added. "Please don't throw us in!" Near continued. "And if you're gonna throw us back in, please make sure the water's hot!" I watched in horror as they continued to bring Near and Halle outside. "Wait!" I heard Alissa say. The guys stopped what they were doing and turned around. I followed their gaze and saw Alissa messing with the mat I used. She was pressing it and found out that the mat's buttons were almost broken. "The buttons," she let out. "They're almost broken."
She then looked up at Geffrey and Saiko. "You!" Alissa growled as she pointed her finger at Saiko. "You cheated! You knew Marie could have won so you gave her an almost broken mat! You cheaters!" I then saw Vincent, Kyrie, Daeshim, Hailey, Daemon, Aaron, Osuke, Aaron, and several more people shouting, "Cheaters! Cheaters! Cheaters! Cheaters! Cheaters!" I turned and saw DJ RUMAX 2 looking at the scene in sheer confusion. "Hey," he let out. "Why is one of my mats broken?" He then looked at Geffrey and Saiko. "Did you mess with it?" DJ RUMAX 2 asked. I turned around and saw Saiko shake her head. "No," she answered. "Maybe it happened with one of your dumb regulars who came to your last party and broke it." DJ RUMAX 2 almost scoffed. "The last party I threw was in October of last year," he informed Saiko. "I even tested out both mats earlier today and they were both fine. So the only way for it to be almost broken is if someone would have messed with it." Saiko then widened her eyes as if she knew something about this. "Yeah that's right," I heard Alissa say as I turned and watched her cross her arms. "Cheaters."
Saiko scoffed. "You don't have any proof," she let out. "So that proves it!" Vincent said. "You knew something like this would happen and you broke the mat so you could eat up winning and Marie would end up losing." "So what?" Saiko asked. "Near's a loser." "Shut up!" I barked at Saiko. "He's not a loser, you are!" Everyone jeered after I said that. "Heh," Saiko chuckled. "Alright then, Misa Misa. I'll have Geffrey help me with my steps and you'll be defeated. You'll also slip if you or Halle try to save Near because we made the way between the pool and the back door slippery." We then heard a guy screaming before we heard a splash.
We all turned around and saw one of the guys who looked to be one of Geffrey's friends resurface above the water and gasp for air. "Ugh," I heard Geffrey say. "Travis." We then turned around and faced the TV. I pressed the button on my right and searched for a song. Saiko scoffed once I did so. "Hey, I'm the most popular girl in Kanto Region Abomination High School so I should get to choose," she complained. "Well, it's my turn now, Takada," I responded to her. I kept searching until I found "Conga Feeling" by Vivian. With Vincent's help, I was able to crush the score and dance with him.
I also watched as Geffrey and Saiko tried to copy our dance moves. They hilariously failed and they missed all of their steps. "We're crushing them, Marie," Vincent said. "Saiko and Geffrey are losing!" "Woo hoo!" I cheered as I continued dancing with Vincent until the song ended. Just then, Vincent twirled me around. "Woo!" I laughed as he twirled me around. Just then, I kicked Saiko in the face. I heard her groan right before she and Geffrey fell on their mat. Just then, Geffrey fell after Saiko fell on his back and he fell on the up button on the DDR MAX 2 mat. That was one of the only times he and Saiko got a perfect score right before the stage was over. It was so funny when we saw her hands smack onto the left and right buttons as she fell. Vincent and I along with almost everyone in the whole room laughed once we saw that.