13Last Chapter of Through Alcohol Cleansed Eyes:
Clay bugs Kit. Kit bugs Clay. Clay learns there's more to Kit than just a keener. Walrus tells Clay he'll fail unless he gets an 85% on his exam. Clay panics.
He could not believe he was doing this.
Clay paced back and forth in front of the door, unable to knock and unable to leave. He'd been treading this path in the floor for the past fifteen minutes trying to work up his courage and he knew the longer he waited the greater the chance he would be caught. He glanced at his watch. 9:15pm. Running his hand angrily through his hair, he turned abruptly to leave.
You'll need to get an 85% on the final exam.
Clay cursed loudly and turned back to the door.
I'm sure the fact that you're failing has absolutely nothing to do with you being a lazy, stupid, arrogant student.
His head fell into his hand in frustration as Walrus and Kit battled it out silently in his mind. Was his pride really worth failing?
Abruptly, without leaving himself time to second guess what he was doing, his hand shot out and knocked on the Hyne damned door in front of him. It stood ironically still and silent as he cringed in front of it, waiting for it to release all of the horrors he knew it hid.
He really could not believe he was doing this.
Panic hit and he spun to leave before it was too late when a faint swoosh noise behind him signaled the door had opened. He froze and concentrated on being invisible. Oddly enough, it didn't work.
"Riley?" a shocked voice asked.
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before plastering on a bright smile and turning around with a, "Hey Kitiara!"
Once he saw her, however, the words died on his lips and he was left gaping like a brain dead fish. She looked… well, she looked like the complete opposite of herself.
Her raven hair was haphazardly swept into a lose side ponytail, she had no jewelry on, and instead of her usual tight and sexy outfit, she was wearing red plaid pajama pants and an oversized black T-shirt full of holes from being overused. As she stood in the doorway her bare toes curled against her feet, trying to avoid the cold hallway floors.
Clay continued to gape, not because she looked bad or because he was in shock, but because she looked… innocent. And for some reason, that was strangely attractive to him. For the first time, he felt like he was seeing Kitiara Leonhart, and he was suddenly transported back two days ago when they shared that brief second of honesty.
"Umm… are you okay Riley?"
She was still staring at him. He was still gaping at her.
"Seriously, you don't look very good. Even for you." She tried to put her hand on his forehead but he brushed her off, her familiar sarcasm finally breaking the spell.
"I'm fine." He tried to tell her why he was there, but the words got stuck in his throat and all that came out was a strangled cough instead.
Her mildly confused look turned to that of someone suddenly thrust into an alternate universe. She glanced around and shuffled her feet awkwardly. "Umm… if you're looking for Katie, she's not here. She's out on a date with Tom, remember? If she comes back at all tonight, it probably won't be until super late. You're probably better off waiting for her in your room. Odds are she'll end up there first."
She moved to close the door and Clay's hand shot out, holding it open. She had given him the perfect Segway into his explanation and damn it, he was not letting it slip by.
"I know. That's why I came by now. I needed to talk to you when she wouldn't be here."
Kit's jaw dropped. "You wanted… to talk to me… alone?" Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes narrowed. "Okay, what's the punch line? Are the guys waiting around the corner filming this?" She leaned out to peer around the corner of the hallway when suddenly a thought seemed to occur to her and she swung back around to him. "Oh my God, did something happen? Is someone hurt? Is it my Father? I know that he was on a mission and- Oh my God let's go-" She tried to rush into the hallway but Clay caught her shoulder and pulled her back, a faintly amused smile on his face. Of course the only reason she could imagine him wanting to talk to her was in an emergency or as a prank.
"Breathe, Kitiara. It's fine. Nobody is dead. Nobody is filming you."
The confused look returned. "Then what did you want to talk about?"
His face heated and his throat seemed to tighten as he struggled to get the words out. "I just- I needed- I wanted to ask you if-"
He took a deep breath.
She continued to stare at him blankly.
He glanced around to see if anyone was watching them, but the hallways were completely silent. He shoved her backwards into her room and followed her in quickly, before she could protest, hearing the door swoosh shut behind them.
"Hey!" The cry was indignant and loud, too loud for Clay's covert mission.
"Shh!" His hand clamped down over her mouth and he glared at her. "You do have neighbors, you know. Do you want every female cadet to know I'm in your room with you?"
She bit his hand and he drew back with a yelp. Her glare matched his and she swung her ponytail back over her shoulder. "No, I don't want anyone to think I would ever allow you into my room. And the easiest way for me to achieve that would be if you were not in my room."
Clay looked at her, in her scruffy pajamas, hands on her hips, and a scowl that looked unlikely to ever be erased, and sighed. This was so not going like he imagined.
The fight drained from his body and he flopped down onto what, judging by the mess, had to be Katie's bed.
"Look Kititara, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here. Trust me, if I had a choice, I'd be out picking up chicks right now. But I don't have a choice. Because I need to ask you something. And it can't wait."
He gazed up at her with an exhausted look on his face and saw the tension drop from her shoulders. She sat down cross legged on her bed and faced him. "Alright. I'm listening. But you've only got ten minutes, okay? I'm busy."
That gave him pause. His eyes roved around the room, landing pointedly on her scruffy clothes and the pile of sweets on her bedside table. Immediately, the anger was back. "Not everybody needs alcohol to have fun you know, Riley. I'm trying to enjoy some junk food, a good book, and quiet for once. And you're wasting your ten minutes."
He sat up and began to speak, looking anywhere but at her. "So, the other day, after class, Walrus took me aside and told me that I have to get an 85% on the final exam in order to pass the Level and be eligible to take the SeeD exam." He met her gaze with an intense one of his own. "I have to pass, Kititara. I can't watch all of you go on and become SeeDs and go on mission after mission while I'm stuck in the classroom with Walrus for another year. I can't do it. I'm going to get an 85%. Only…" He suddenly became very interested in his entwined hands, "I don't know how to do it. There's so much I need to learn in so little time and… I'm no good at studying. Or even planning what to study."
He sneaked a glance at her and saw her watching him silently, her face impassive. But the fact that she didn't leap to the obvious merciless teasing that he'd clearly set himself up for gave him hope. Or maybe he just looked so pathetic she didn't have the heart to tear him to shreds.
"Why are you telling me this?" Her voice wasn't kind, but it wasn't mean either. He chose to see that as a good sign.
"I need your he-" The word caught in his throat and he tried to clear it. "I need your he- hel-"
He glanced at her, hoping that was close enough. But she still just stared at him, and he knew that he would have to get this out. Maybe he didn't look as pathetic as he thought. Or maybe she was just more heartless than he gave her credit for.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Your… help. I need your help."
Everything was silent for a moment. And then another. And another. Eventually, it was silent for so long that Clay peeked one eye open to gauge her reaction.
She was still staring at him, but now her face was torn and she was clearly having some deep internal battle. She seemed to be struggling to decide whether to slap him or burst into laughter. Neither outcome was exactly what he'd been hoping for. But she surprised him when she just closed her eyes for a second and then opened them, giving him a guarded look, and saying, "What did you want me to do?"
Hope swelled inside him like a balloon, but he shoved it back. She hadn't said yes yet. He practically tripped over his words in his hurry to get them out before she changed her mind and kicked him out.
"I need you to teach me the stuff I don't understand and help me memorize everything I need to know. I also need help learning how to study- and plan out what to study when and all that. And I need to know how to properly set up an answer to a question, like you did on Thursday in Weaponry Engineering."
"So you need me to tutor you, basically." Her face and eyes were still closed off from him, hiding whatever emotion she was feeling.
"Yeah, I guess. I can pay you if you want…" But she was already shaking her head. He changed tactics. "Come on, it would just be for two weeks." He met her eyes. "Please, Kitiara."
Something in her shield cracked and he saw a softness leak into her eyes for a second before she blinked it away impatiently. She broke eye contact and reached into a basket next to her bed that he hadn't noticed before, scooping up the silent, sleeping dog within. She laid the canine on her lap and began to play with its ears for a minute, pointedly avoiding looking at him. But by now he knew her expressions well enough to tell by the set of her shoulders that she was tense, thinking hard. He waited, hardly daring to breathe and interrupt her.
Out of nowhere, the dog leapt up and jumped to the floor, while simultaneously her head flew up, so quickly it made Clay jump.
"Fine," she snapped, an irritated look on her face. "I'll help you." Clay opened his mouth to thank her, but before he could get even one syllable out she cut him off sharply. "But only if you follow certain rules."
"Anything," he breathed, and meant it.
"One, you do what I say, when I say it, and you don't give me any attitude about it. Two, we only meet when our friends are busy and can't catch us. Three, every time our friends are busy, no matter how much fun they're having without us, we will meet and we will work. Four, in public, we act like nothing has changed between us. And five, and this is the real clincher," she gave him a pointed look, "nobody finds out about this ever. End of story, no exceptions."
"Oh yeah," he agreed fervently. "I don't think I'd ever be able to live this one down if the guys found out. Ditching them to get tutored by a girl?"
"You?" Her volume rose with her incredulity. "What about me? Could you imagine if the girls found out I'd been tutoring you secretly? I'd get nothing but, 'You so like him,' for the rest of my life."
"So we're agreed?" He stood and held out his hand. She gave it a look like it might reach up and strangle her.
"You'll make your excuse and then come here with your books every time they're busy? And you'll actually work and be committed?"
He nodded.
She took a deep breath and stood for a moment, just breathing. And then she reached out and shook his hand.
"Deal."
AN: Yes, it's been an obscenely long time since I've updated. I'd love to tell you guys I have some good excuse like my laptop crashed, but alas, I do not. What can I say? Sometimes, life just gets in the way. But I won't bore you all with the details of my life. I'm back now, and things have calmed down, so the updates should be regular again :). If anyone's still with this story (and I hope you are!) I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. What do we think of Clay and Kit's uneasy truce? Will it last? Will their friends find out? Will chaos ensue? Let me know your theories! Only Clay and Kit truly know what will happen; I'm just along for the ride. Those two do what they want!
Please review my lovelies, and rest assured that the updates will be regular again now!