Disclaimer: I do not own Howl's Moving Castle characters. Original characters by Diana Wynne Jones.
Finding Love 101
Chapter One: The Ad—
The cool breeze swept over the old road and up into an open window in a small apartment complex. A small moan could be heard, though thought to come from a mouse.
"Nmmmhh, not time to get up yet."
A small whisper cam from a medium sized girl wrapped up sloppily in her twin XL bed. One wrong roll and she'd be on the floor, a hard roll to her left and she'd hit the wall. Suddenly she sprang up like a spring chicken as she realized that she heard no alarm clock and that it was a Monday morning.
"Ughh! I refuse to be late! I hate it when my Mondays start like this!"
She looked at her cell phone and realized she had turned on the wrong alarm clock and thus jumped in the shower to begin her day.
From hot shower, to a hot blow dryer, to a hot flat iron, and some good make-up and clothes that still didn't make her look like she was going to turn twenty-one in a month. She was more like a curvy seventeen year old, maybe even fifteen, if she weren't wearing any make up. It was halfway through her second semester as a sophomore at some university that no one had ever heard of, though it's been around since the early forties.
She looked in the mirror one last time and nodded to herself.
"Okay, I'm ready."
Walking down the stairs in her gray skinny jeans that fit to her sturdy legs and a simple shirt that tended to flow when she walked with a long silver chain with rhinestones and pearls (both fake, since she was a college student and couldn't afford the real thing). She wore her favorite light brown combat boots with two brass buckles and a gold bracelet around her wrist that had a watch in the center. Her hair was a natural red-gold shade and had a simple curl to it; her eyes a beautiful blue-green colour that sparkled. Her lips were small but plumped just enough from their own natural beauty, and she had a light peach tan on her skin, her soft pink blushed cheeks and dark black eye-liner and mascara with brown and gold eye-shadow that made her two colored eyes pop. She wore her bangs over to the left side and had her hair teased with a small gold and silver bow that made her look innocent yet somewhat of an "alternative look," what with her combat boots and faded gray pants, but with elegant jewelry that could be passed off as the real thing. She was an accessorize-er, a "wanna be" in fashion, but really who would buy her line of clothing? That's why she got up at five in the morning every single day and sketched until her hands felt like they were going to fall off, then she slept for about two hours and had to head onto campus and take a few courses. Currently taking twelve and having a small part time job on the weekends, she was a busy girl, but practically halfway through college and finding some great opportunities opening up for her, she felt ready. Currently working at a little boutique that tends to open up doors for girls like her, and working there since high school, she just knew things were all going to come into place, and especially having a bachelor's degree would help. She just knew her life was going to be a walk in the park.
"Hey good lookin' what's cookin?"
"Why bother asking dude, it's obvious she already ate it!"
"Haha, you're right man!"
"Ass-wholes." She blew them off and walked to her first class, getting as many glares as she did every day, she tended to ignore it. She was used to remarks like that being made, due to the fact that most girls never set foot in the cafeteria, and the only guys that came on campus were here to "inspect" them. Thus she went on her day, from class to class, learning about textures of fabrics and what goes well according to weather along with some business classes, math, and info system essentials. The day was finally over and she went to a nearby bookstore that sold some of her favorite manga and comics in reference to her favorite anime series. After all, they did inspire her to go into fashion in the first place.
"Huhh, wow. These girls are so lucky to find someone that really loves them. Sometimes I wish I could find love like that, but I don't know if I could compete against such tough rivals. I can barely handle what little attention I get now. Let alone trying to get attention from a guy."
But that was the problem, the only attention she did get from a guy was negative, and she thus tended to avoid them. If only life were as easy as an anime, where you could invent your own special kind of guy at the flick of your wrist. Then, suddenly, a headline grabbed her attention.
"Hmm, what's this? 'Looking for love in all the wrong places? Just dial 555-love (5683) and you can be just like Mai from Love 101.' I've heard of that anime! The main character Mai orders some voodoo doll thing and casts a spell on the boy she love and all sorts of chaotic things happen to her! But that's just made up, pshh I doubt it works. Huhh? 'The first 3 million callers will get an all expenses paid boy doll and a lifeline.' What the hell, it's free right? And I've got nothing left to loose." Thus she pulled out her phone and dialed the number, they said that her package would be there the next day since she was the first caller. That made her feel, well desperate wasn't even the half of it.