"BLEEEEP!"
A piercing alarm rang through Usagi's bedroom. Groggily she rolled over in her tiny bed and slapped the red alarm clock on her bedside table. Finally, the ringing stopped, but it still carried on a few minutes after in Usagi-chan's head. She slept on though and finally decided to wake up. After all it was a school day. She grumbled and she sat up and swung her feet out of bed. She took a minute to wake up then stumbled over to her closet. She opened the door which was painted with multi-colored flowers on it. She pulled out a blue skirt and a flowery shirt with huge collars on it. She pulled off her night gown to reveal a smooth skinned body that was still growing.
She buttoned up the shirt and pulled up her skirt, changing her panties. She checked her image out in her full length mirror. A smile of satisfaction crossed her face.
She roamed over to her vanity mirror and sat down. A sweep of a mascara brush and fifty brushes through her hair and she was finished. She gave a radiant smile in the mirror to reveal a set of perfectly set teeth. She stood up and walked over to the door. She surveyed the room. The psychedelic walls covered with a floral print. The bed was sloppily made and her clothes were strewn on the floor. She grinned in satisfaction and walked out the door. She galloped down the stairs two at a time.
"Hey, Mom!" She called as she passed the kitchen. A warm, tasty smell filled her nostrils.
"Usagi! Come in here for a minute!" Her mother replied. Usagi walked into the kitchen with a confused look on her face. She reached the kitchen to face a woman with purple hair piled up on her head in a bun. The lady wore a pink polka dot dress with a white apron, edged with lace. She also wore a frown.
"The clock." Her mother said bluntly.
Usagi looked up at the yellow kitchen clock.
"Oh my Gosh! The time! I'm late!" She cried out. She ran towards the front door. Her mother called to her again.
"Usagi! Your lunch!" She reminded her daughter. Usagi gave a little whimper and rushed into the kitchen, snatching up the neatly folded brown paper bag her mother held out to her. She ran one again to the front door, picked up her backpack and slammed the door behind her, despite her mother's cries not to slam the door.
She ran all the way to school, the full 7 blocks. As she passed, various people waved to her or called out a friendly "Hello!"
But not one did she stop, she hurried on down the streets filled with happy looking houses. She lived in a friendly neighbour hood in a town called Whitedale, near the outskirts of Wisconsin. In Whitedale, everybody knew everyone and mostly got along. Except for the few trouble makers. The town was clean and she loved living there, even if she occasionally missed Tokyo, her homeland where she moved from when she was four. Now she was fourteen and enjoyed a life in America.
She finally reached school, though out of breath and her face flushed from the sudden exercise. She ran into the school, nobody was in the halls. She looked at a sheet of paper she fumbled from her backpack, while stopping for a breath. Room 6C. She was near room 4A. She walked briskly down the deserted hallway and finally reached her room. Inside she was her whole new class seated at small individual desks. The teacher sat at her large desk at the front of the room. She could faintly hear names being called out. She slipped into the room quietly, hoping that the teacher didn't see. Luckily, the teacher didn't move.
"Mizuno Ami?" The teacher called.
"Present." A soft voice answered.
"Tsukino Usagi?"
"Present!" She panted, still a bit out of breath.
"Ah, glad to see you decided to grace us with your presence, Usagi." The teacher glared over at her. So she had noticed after all. Darn. Usagi's face turned redder. A boy with black hair turned around and snorted.
"Yeah, welcome Usagi. Oh look! She's an Odango Atama!" He cried out.
"Hush, Mamoru." The teacher cut in sharply. Mamoru? That was a Japanese name! She smiled at the back of his head and made a resolution that she'd talk to him and see if he really was Japanese. Even if he was a bit nasty. She'd set him straight with her name. She hated being called Odango Atama, sometimes her brother called her that.
The morning trudged on, causing Usagi to almost doze off. At one point her stomache growled so loudly, that she slipped a silent hand into her desk and when she pulled it out, a piece of chocolate from her lunch bag was in her cautious hand. Lifting up her book so she could eat it without the teacher seeing her, she popped it into her mouth and started nibbling on it. She accidentally let out a loud sucking noise and much to her dismay, Mamoru was right there to get her in trouble.
"Oh, Usagi! Whatcha eating there? Come to think of it, you do smell like chocolate! Groovy! Gimme a piece!" He said, in a phoney loud voice so the whole class could hear. The rest of the students twittered and ushered silent giggles, except for Ami and another boy sitting next to her who just stared at her with a pitiful expression.
Soon an angry looking teacher was giving her evil looks and said silenly, "Get out of this classroom now, Usagi. I'll come for you once we have actually progressed withsomething without an interruption from you today."
So Usagi trudged out the door, looking down on the floor but at Mamo-chan one last time to give him the evils. In return he smirked at her gleefully. Glancing down at her skirt and playing with the hem she stood outside in the hall way, getting disapproving looks from passer-by's. But a tall girl who came her way gave her a friendly smile and approached her.
"Hi there, what are you doing standing out here? Why aren't you in your class?"
Usagi gave a loud sigh. "I got hungry in class and lets just say my teacher didn't exactly ask for a piece for herself."
The girl gave a little chuckle.
"Well, my name is Kino Makoto. I just registered here at this school."
"WaitMakoto? That's a Japanese name!" Usagi replies, excited.
"Yeah I moved here a week ago from Japan since my parents were ki-" Makoto paused and looked down, ashamed of a tear which appeared in her eyes. "Killed." She managed to choke out.
"Oh that's terrible. I'm really sorry. Do you know anybody here?" Usagi said quietly.
"Nope."
"Oh, well you can hang around with me and my friend Ami. If you can put up with me. I know how exasperating I can be to Ami, she's really smart."
"So I've heard!" Makoto grins.
"Well, I'll probably get detention or something horrible like that, but after school want to come around my house? Another friend of mine is coming, she's called Rei. I've never met another Japanese girl in this school. I just found out there's this Japanese boy in my class, but I hate him already. He's so obnoxious!" She paused. "Oh well. Anyway, I'll come for you after school if you wait out front for me? Ami will wait too, though Rei doesn't go to this school, she'll come later. We'll help you make more friends if you want, or you can hang around with us."
"Golly thanks Usagi, I've never had anyone be so nice to me before! I was kind of a trouble maker at my old school in Tokyo." She blushed and looked down. "I better be on my way, I hope my teacher will be nice about me coming in late." She walks off a bit and waves.
"I'll wait for you after school, Usagi!"
"Alright see you then!" Usagi replies, smiling at her new friend.
'Gosh, I sure can't wait until schools over.' She thought, suddenly happy, 'We'll get to know the new girl more!'