I awoke to the annoying blare of my old alarm clock, and an unwilling peek through half-closed, sleep-drowsy eyes at the menacing red numbers made me groan slightly. It was 6:00 in the morning, my required wake-up time for school, and it wouldn't be long before my mother came in to rouse me if I didn't have the willpower to get up myself. I slowly sat up, the warmth of the sheets escaping into the chilly morning air around me. My back cracked in a few places, and when my arms reached for the ceiling the rest of it followed, making me slightly sleepier.
"Talia, are you awake?" My mother's head appeared in my doorway, and the wonderful sensation of peaceful sleep was gone. "Good. Don't forget to eat breakfast before you go." Before I can nod, she disappears, heading down the small hallway and out the door to her job as a waitress at a nearby diner. "I love you!" her voice echoed down the hall, and I manage to signal some sort of response through an enormous yawn.
"I love you, too," was what I had tried to say, but the door had closed swiftly behind her, and I was unsure if she had heard or not. I heaved myself off of the low bed and stumbled over to the window while wiping sleep from my eyes, wondering if I could catch her before she pedaled off on her bike. I glanced out, seeing my mother at the end of our driveway, waiting for some cars to pass. I rapped on the window with my knuckles, and as she turned towards me I waved, smiling. She waves back, and before she leaves she mouths something to me. "Good luck today."
Good luck; that was something I would definitely need today. Today would be my first day in attending Ouran Academy, a prestigious school for super rich kids whose parents were way up in the deep end of the social pool; only the kids of multi-millionaires made it into this school. Not only that, but usually only natives from Japan were allowed. Apparently, I was the first American transfer student to meet the standards for Ouran.
But, miraculously, little old I had been smart enough to earn a scholarship into this fancy school, and since my grades were so unbelievably great, they had agreed to offering the scholarship and paying the expenses in moving me and my guardian – in an unanimous decision, my mom – to Japan. The rest of our family, which include my dad, my two brothers and my little sister, stayed behind in the United States. At first I hadn't wanted to be separated from my family, so I was prepared to decline the scholarship to Japan and find one in the States to accept. But, my family strongly encouraged me going to Japan even if it meant being away for two years. They all insisted that it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that I was crazy if I even thought about turning it down. They all had my back, and even though I would be moving to another country, I knew I was very fortunate to have such a loving family.
Returning to the present, I turned to my tiny closet and opened the doors, groaning at the sight of my new, ghastly uniform that I had to wear. It was a painfully bright yellow, complete with pink neck bow and white neck and cuffs. A pair of knee-high socks with brown shoes lay at the bottom of the closet, and I didn't care much for those, either. They pinched my toes when I had tried them on, and just the thought of walking around in them for the entire day made me cringe. But, I eventually – not to mention reluctantly – changed into it, silently praying that the day would be over soon.
Once in my clown suit, I headed into the kitchen and downed a glass of milk and a couple pieces of toast. I gathered up my bag and my school books from the small bookshelf right next to the front door, and with one last glance at the mirror on the opposite side -ensuring my straight, light brown hair was smoothed and my light green eyes were not as tired-looking as my body felt - I exited my house to see a black car waiting for me. A swift, backwards glance at the small clock hanging on the wall told me that it was 6:30; the determined time for my transportation to the school to arrive. I walked down our narrow drive, and as I approached the chauffeur got out of the car and came around to open the door for me. "Thank you," I told him, and as I sat I realized that I was extremely thankful that my old school had offered Japanese lessons online. With a curt nod, the driver closed the door behind me and quickly got back into the driver's seat. In less than a minute we were well on our way to Ouran Academy, and it only took a little over 15 minutes to arrive at the school's doors.
The driver pulled up neatly to the school's entrance, and as swiftly as he stopped he got out of the car once again and opened the door for me. "Welcome to Ouran, Miss Robinson." He said as I stepped out, my eyes widening at the vastness of the school.
The main building of the school loomed above me, the archway in front of me a monstrous mouth open and swallowing up the students flowed in, unaware of the hugeness of the entry. They must live in buildings like this, I thought to myself as I moved forward. With a quick, "Thank you," to the driver, I spotted a woman holding a small sign with my name on it. I walked over to her, and her eyes lit up when she saw me.
"You must be Talia," she smiled, bowing slightly. She spoke in distinctly accented English, and her dark brown eyes were warm, basically liquid dark chocolate. "My name is Shina Sato, and I am to be your tour guide for the first week of your education here at Ouran Academy. I am a third-year here, which I believe means that I am a senior by American terms, yes?"
I bowed slightly back as I answered, "Yes, I believe that's correct. I also believe that I am a second-year student according to Japanese terms. Thank you for being my guide, in advance. I'm able to speak in Japanese, if you'd rather speak in your language."
"If you wish to speak in Japanese, then we can do that," Shina instantly switched, causing me to smile slightly. "Please, follow me." She turned and began walking into the gaping mouth of the entrance, and I followed close behind. As we went on our way, she began giving an introduction on Ouran. I kind of blocked out the majority of Ouran's past and such, but I did listen to where each of the wings was and lunch times, and also the part that students were allowed back anytime after or before school hours for clubs and other activities, and night visits were permitted if the students treated the grounds with respect and didn't do anything stupid.
"Other than that, there is nothing else that you need to know." Shina paused in front of large door and handed me my schedule. "Welcome to Ouran, Talia."
"Thank you," I responded, glancing down at the schedule to see what class I would have first. Thankfully, it had been written in English, and in the first slot on the sheet, the words Advanced Choir was printed next to Instructor: Yirashima Jun. "Will I see you again?"
"Yes," Shina smiled. "Just wait here after the class is over and I will lead you to our next class." I nodded, and as I turned for the door, Shina tottered off to wherever she had to go for her next class. I opened the door slowly and walked in.
There were three rows of students, both boys and girls, sitting and listening to the teacher talk. As I entered, the teacher looked up and smiled. "Ah, you must be Ms. Talia Robinson." The students turned to face me, and I stared at the teacher to avoid their inquiring stares.
"Yes," I responded in Japanese, and the teacher took the hint easily.
"Please, have a seat." He switched from English to Japanese easily and gestured to a chair in front of him. I moved over to it and sat down swiftly, ignoring the stares that followed me. "Welcome to our class, Ms. Robinson. Now," his attention then moved to the rest of the class, "we are going to be starting a new piece right away. You'll find it here, and may pick it up after your testing." My eyes slightly widened as he said this. As I pondered what he meant, Mr. Yirashima called up a girl to the front of his piano, and he began playing scales for her to sing. I sighed slightly, understanding and knowing that I would pass with ease.
As students went up and took their test, I heard some snickers from the back of the room, awful loud for just talk among friends. I glanced backwards to see a group of girls – there had to be at least five of them – giggling among each other, occasional looks in my direction until they noticed I had turned. They sat up straighter, and I just rolled my eyes. There was no way I could already have people talking about me when I hadn't been in class for even a half an hour. But, nonetheless, the girls continued to giggle and gossip in hushed Japanese.
"Ms. Robinson, please come up to the piano," Mr. Yirashima finally called my name, and I rose swiftly, making my way over to the piano. "Now, Ms. Robinson is it at all possible that you can sing in Japanese?" he was speaking softly, as though trying not to embarrass me.
"I can," I answered, louder than he had asked. "I know many songs, some more suited for choir, some for parties and such."
"Ooh, she's a party girl," a nasty voice quietly came from the group of girls, causing them all to giggle, but I just ignored them.
"Will you sing the song more suited for choir to me?" Mr. Yirashima asked, shooting a warning glance towards the girls before looking to me again.
"Sure. One moment, please." I went to my bag, crouched down and pulled out my iPod. I put a bud in my left ear, and then proceeded to find the song I was looking for while I walked back to the piano. "This is allowed, isn't it?" I asked Mr. Yirashima as I made my way through the various menus of my iPod Nano, 3rd Gen.
"Of course," he nodded. "Whatever helps you sing your best is fine."
I nodded to signal that I'd heard, and I pressed play. "This is the song, 'Itsumo Nando Demo' from Spirited Away." I told him, and he nodded in recognition. Then, I began to sing along with the track.
It was how I'd always sang in front of people; I would stare at the back wall, occasionally moving my eyes. No fancy anything: no breathing techniques, no movement to keep rhythm, just me singing. However, everybody in the room grew silent as I sang, even the horde of gossips.
The song progressed, and I noticed people even gathering outside of the door. There were various girls and guys, but there was this particular guy who stood out over all, and I mean this metaphorically and literally.
He was slightly darker than the others, and was way taller than them all; his hair was black mixed with grey, and on his shoulders sat a boy who looked like he could only be in third grade if you judged by height, with blonde hair and wide brown eyes. The taller boy was watching me with wide eyes, as they all were, but there was something different about the way he stared. I looked at him, hoping the smile I wanted to give him was showing in my eyes. As I did, the small boy whispered something into his ear, and I directed my attention back to the class.
As I came to the end, a girl popped up from the front row and sang the harmony part while I continued on with the melody. I nodded slightly at her, a sign of thanks and welcome. We finished nicely, and the instant we were done a silence came over the room.
And it was followed by thundering applause.
Everyone in the room basically exploded, applauding and cheering . . . save the group of giggly girls, who were now throwing me dirty looks. I didn't pay any attention to them, though, as I smiled shyly and kept mumbling, "Thank you," more to myself than anyone else. The people at the door cheered too; the small boy on the tall one's shoulders was all excited, but the tall one didn't say anything. He simply applauded with the rest – not as vigorously – and smiled. But the strange part was, the boy on top of his shoulders seemed really excited that he had done so; the animation in his face was very . . . animated, and I laughed softly to myself as Mr. Yirashima began to speak.
"Well done! Well done!" Mr. Yirashima praised, clapping and handing me the music sheet. "You have a very beautiful voice!"
"Thank you, sir," I said again, smiling. "I'm glad you liked it."
"Alright, everyone back in their seats. We still have some tests to get through," Mr. Yirashima waved his hands, scooting us back to our chairs. Everyone – except the Gossip Squad, as I had officially dubbed them – smiled and kept saying, "Good job!", and I sat down again next to the girl who had sang with me.
"Thanks for coming up and singing with me," I told her. "You have a very pretty voice."
"Thank you," she said shyly. "You have an incredible voice, too. My name's Aiko Yiruma."
"It's nice to meet you, Aiko. I'm Talia." I held my hand out for a handshake, and she returned it shyly. As the teacher finished up the tests, we had talked about meeting at lunch, which we both happened to share. The class was rather uneventful after the tests were done; Mr. Yirashima basically said to study the music and have the first ten measures memorized in two days. Aiko and I walked out of the classroom together, where Shina waited. As we approached her, I was stopped by the Gossip Squad.
"Hey, you," I heard, but I kept on walking. I was not going to get into a fight today, and I didn't anyone making fun of me. It wasn't until Aiko touched my arm that I turned, seeing the head of the Gossip Squad with my wallet. Oh dear.
"Excuse me, but is this yours? It was lying on the floor next to your seat." She handed it out to me, and as I took it I noticed three of the girls attempting to sneak off.
"Nobody leaves until I see if everything's there," I called, causing the girls to stop in their tracks. I opened it quickly, seeing my lunch money and my ID card missing. Go figure.
"All right, fun is fun, but I need it back," I told them, walking over to the three girls. They all shot a desperate look behind me, obviously to the girl who had handed me my wallet. It wasn't until I nearly growled, "Now if not sooner, please," that each of the girls scurried into their jacket pockets and pulled out 5 dollars each, and the smallest one also had my new Ouran ID card. I took it all from them, saying, "Next time you try and steal from someone, you should work on your poker faces. You all look like scared ducks." I placed my missing property into my wallet, which went into my bag, and I turned to face the Squad's leader. "It was nice meeting you, ladies," I said, heading back over to Aiko and Shina. "Let's go," I told them, beginning to walk away. We were about to set off when a shriek from behind us turned us all around quickly.
The leader of the Gossip Squad was being held back, and something in her hand was dropped. It took me a minute to realize that the person who was restraining her was Tall Guy, and the thing that had dropped from her hand was a rather large wad of chewed up bubble gum.
"Let go of me!" she hollered, struggling to break free of his steel grip. "I'll have you expelled, Morinozuka!"
Morinozuka? I thought, watching him. He wasn't trying to hurt her, but as the short boy from earlier also appeared, I concluded that they had seen what she was trying to do and had stepped up to help me.
"Last I checked, Mitzkuni, putting gum in other people's hair wasn't nice, was it?" Morinozuka asked softly, apparently talking to the short kid but continuing to look at the struggling girl in his grasp.
"You're absolutely right, Takashi," Mitzkuni nodded. "That's not a very nice thing to do." He then looked to me, eyes wide as though he just recognized who I was. "You're the girl who sang the pretty song!" he exclaimed, smiling.
"Well, one of them," I smiled back. "There were some very good singers in there besides me."
"No, you were the one Takashi went to go see," he said, still smiling. "That means you were really good!"
Tall Guy wanted to see me? I thought, looking to him as a teacher appeared. He was about to ask what was going on when Takashi quietly explained what had happened, and the Gossip Squad leader was sent off with the teacher. "Thank you," I said to Takashi, smiling. "You saved me a date with some scissors."
"You're welcome," he said softly, looking to me. His eyes were filled with something as he looked at me, but I couldn't quite determine what it was. It felt as though I could almost get lost in his eyes, searching for the answer in the onyx-black depths, until Shina's voice drew me out of wondering.
"Talia, we should really be heading off to our next class," Shina gently reminded, and her voice caused me to pull my schedule out of my pocket. My next class would be Algebra 2, and Shina was right; we'd better get a move on. I also made a conscious realization: Had I been staring at him?
"Okay; you're the boss." I said, looking to her and stuffing the schedule back into my pocket. I turned to Tall Guy again, saying, "Thanks again, Taka –"
"Mori," he corrected softly, and I nodded.
"Thanks, Mori. My name's Talia, by the way. It was nice to meet you."
"Bye, Talia!" Mitzkuni smiled, waving as Shina tugged on my arm, steering me towards our next class together. As we left, I swear that I could feel Mori still watching me as I left.
The strange part was: a secret part of me down inside hoped he was.