Intertwined: The Fabsome Foursome

Deshi's POV ~When we finally kiss goodnight~

Authors Note: This story and the "fireworks" story are both side stories that are NOT apart of "Otaku".

     The room was lit up with twinkling Christmas lights and dotted with a couple of students from our grade. The smell of sweet cookies wafted through the air. I glanced over to see a girl with reddish-brown wavy hair cascading down her back. It was Yumi. She wore a red dress with black combat boots. Mika stood beside her welcoming people in. When the doorbell rang again, a tall middle schooler with blonde hair and icy eyes walked in. James Krown. Feng stiffened beside me. Supposedly, Mika had developed a crush for this guy. She hasn't stopped talking about him agreeing to come to her party for days. He smiled back at Mika and gave Yumi a slight nod. He didn't even acknowledge Feng and I. I knew Feng liked Mika, so I patted his arm and mouthed, "it's okay, bro."
"This is so uncool, man." He replied with his voice low. After all the welcoming, somebody opened the door themselves without knocking first. Lora Sobbs. She looked to be the same height as Feng and I, but I bet she's taller than us by a little. Her mousy brown hair was messily braided. It almost looked like she was trying to copy Yumi's hairstyle. She wore an ugly green and red Christmas sweater that had a "reindeer" on it.
"Feeeeeng!" Her voice was as annoying as ever.
"Hey, Lora." I waved at her but she kept her foggy eyes locked on Feng. I noticed Feng glance over at Mika. Then he spoke.
"Hey Lora..." He said timidly. Feng was smart. He was trying to make Mika jealous. "I, uh, like your sweater..."
"Really?!" she squealed. Her eyes widened, as well as her pupils, to the point where they looked like she got them dilated. "My Nana made it for me." Her grandma must have poor eye sight, or just really hates her granddaughter. Then she plucked one of Feng's black hairs, "Yay... I can clone you now." She pranced off like a delirious reindeer. Feng and I both shivered. Then I saw Yumi standing by the Christmas tree talking to somebody. I walked over to her and her friend.
"Hi Yumi." She looked at me and waved as her friend walked away.
"Hey Deshi. This party is great isn't it?"
"Yeah." We stood there in silence for a second.
"You look nice. I've never seen you all dressed up." She smiled at me.
"Y-you too! You never wear dresses... You... Um, look really pretty." She blushed slightly which made her look even prettier.
"Thanks..." We stood in awkward silence until she gasped. "Look Deshi! Oh my gosh... I can't believe he actually came."
"Who?" I stared into the crowd.
"Austin Lee. I invited him, but I didn't think he'd actually come." Austin Lee. Yumi had a huge crush on him, and I guess he was the guy who saved her from getting hit by a car. He wore a button down shirt with jeans that gave off a cool vibe. He was also at least four inches taller than me. We watched him talk to his friends as he flipped his hair. I knew that when he did that it just made Yumi's heart melt.
"Deshi! How does my hair look?" She looked at me frantically as she grabbed me by the shoulders.
"You look great."
"Great?! Is that good enough? I need to go talk to Mika. Oh my gosh!" She rushed off into the crowd. I walked over to the dessert table where I could keep a close eye on Yumi and Austin. As I observed the room, Feng came over.
   "Hey... You look a bit down." He picked up a cookie off the table.
   "It's him. Yumi invited Austin." I watched Yumi carefully.
"You mean the guy who saved Yumi from getting hit by a car and probably made a big impact of her life making her totally fawn over him for the rest of eternity? Yeah I know him." I looked at Feng.
"How could you say that?! Aren't you supposed to be supportive?" Feng just laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. But your face is hilarious!" He continued to laugh.
"Speaking of fawning... I bet Mika is fawning over James right now. How's that going for you?"
"I can't stand the guy." Then Feng got a panicked look on his face, "Look at that!" He pointed into the crowd. Then he rushed off in the direction of Mika and James.
"Wait! Feng!" I tried to get his attention, but it was no use. I watched him as he stumbled into James. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yumi about to walk up to Austin. I turned and locked my eyes on them. She tapped his shoulder and said something to him. He turned around, smiled and flipped his hair. Austin said something and Yumi blushed. I tightened my hands in fists. I knew he was just messing with her. Without hesitation I pushed into the crowd over to them.
"You look really pretty in that dress." He smiled at her.
"Oh really? I don't usually wear dresses..." She blushed again.
I ran up to them and stood beside Yumi. "Well, if you knew Yumi like I do, then you would know that she doesn't wear dresses often." What am I doing? I couldn't believe what I was saying.
    Austin and Yumi both gave me a confused face. "Good for you. So Yumi, how long have you lived here?"
    "It's been a little over three years. I actually live down the street."
    "So you live close? Maybe we could walk home from school together sometime?"
    "S-sure!" Austin was like a prince, and I was just a commoner. I had to think of something quick.
    "H-hey Yumi, are you thirsty? I'll go get you something to drink!" I turned and walked away. It was useless. No matter what I do, Yumi would still prefer Austin over me. I walked over to the punch bowl and picked up a red cup. I filled it to the top and glanced over at them. Austin was still talking until he took Yumi's hand. I felt my whole body go hot with burning jealousy. He started to lead her away from the crowd. Then he glanced up at the archway leading to the dining room. I couldn't see what he was looking at until I got close enough to see the dark green mistletoe, dangling from the archway. My heart started to pound. I rushed towards them, not hesitating like I usually do. But how could I hesitate at a time like this? From there, everything felt like it was going in slow motion. Each step I took felt farther away from them. All I could hear was the deafening sound of my heart pounding. I got to the edge of the crowd when somebody bumped into me. I stumbled forwards and the red cup in my hand went flying through the air and
landed
right
on
Austin Lee.
    This was one of those moments where you can't even speak, you're so stunned. Yumi just stood there, looking from me to Austin and back to me. His shirt was soaked in the bright red punch, dripping onto the floor. It only got worse as the night went on. Austin was furious with me, even though I tried to explain that it wasn't my fault and that somebody bumped into me.
    "Could you be any more clumsy?!"
    "I told you I'm sorry. It was an honest accident!" He didn't care about my reasons. I could tell he just wanted to kill me for ruining his perfectly planned out moment with Yumi. For the rest of the night, Austin ignored me. What's new? When the party got close to ending, it was just us four and maybe ten more people, including Austin. Then, Yumi led Austin out. They stood on the porch talking for awhile. Hopefully Mika didn't put any mistletoe on the porch. I stood there, waiting for Yumi to return. By the time she came back into the house, it was just Feng, Mika and I. Yumi was looking down as she closed the door behind her. Maybe I wasn't seeing it right, but it looked like Yumi had been crying...
"Yumi...?" I slowly walked towards her. We both stood by the archway.
"What?" She wiped her left eye and looked up.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah..." She sniffled.
"You don't have to keep it all in. I'm your friend, so I'm here to make sure you're okay..." I took another step towards her so that she was looking up at me.
Her eyes started to well up with tears. "It was A-Austin... He made some stupid remark about being Asian. He didn't even think twice about me being Japanese. He even knew that... When I asked him about it he acted like it was nothing and told me that I was being stubborn and too sensitive... I thought he was different. But he's just like every guy at school!"
"He's a jerk to be so oblivious..." Without thinking, I reached out and moved her hair out of her eyes. She looked at me, slightly blushing. We hadn't even realized it, but we had somehow shifted under the archway. We both looked up. Above us, the feathery green mistletoe hung. It was dotted with small white flowers.
"Mistletoe..." She whispered lightly. She looked back at me, her eyes still watery with tears but twinkling from the Christmas lights.
"U-um... Yum--" Then out of nowhere, Yumi lightly kissed me.