Sinking back in the passenger seat of my Aunt Jenny's car, I looked out the window at the dark filled streets, passing a street lamp here and there. Hi, my name is Elizabeth Boyer, and I've just arrived here in Japan. I originally lived in Georgia, but…
"Don't worry, Lizzy. I'm sure you'll love it here." Aunt Jenny assured me as she drove down a dark, empty street in the neighborhood.
"I'm not worrying." I said as I gazed upon each house we passed by. Recently…I had lost my parents in a car accident. After my Aunt Jenny and Uncle James found out, they asked me to come live with them in Tokyo, Japan. Uncle James is my father's younger brother. I had only met him and his wife once when I was little, so I really knew nothing about them. The only thing I really knew about them was that they had lived in Tokyo for a few years and have ever since.
"All right, here we are." My aunt announced, pulling into a driveway.
I didn't hesitate to open the door and step right out of it. I'm not too fond of cars, really. The house was a nice two-story. The outside it was painted a beige color and there was a garden out front. I remember when I had first met Aunt Jenny she had asked me if I liked to garden. 'A little…' I had replied. Aunt Jenny became ecstatic with my answer. For two hours straight, I had to sit and listen to her talk about gardening and flowers. I remember wanting to smother her with a pillow back then…
"Lizzy, do you need help with your bags?" My aunt questioned as she opened the back of her car door to her Mustang.
I peeled my eyes off from the front of my house and looked over to my aunt who eyed me curiously. "That would be great." I replied as I walked over and grabbed a couple of my bags from the back. I didn't have all my stuff with me, but then again, I never really had much stuff to begin with. I guess you could say I'm not much of a teenage girl… But I believe the less stuff you have the less often you have to clean.
Aunt Jenny slammed shut the door and gave me a quick smile before heading up the steps. I silently followed behind her. "James is really excited to see you again." Aunt Jenny smiled down at me.
"Uh, yeah, same," I nodded.
"Honey! We're home." Aunt Jenny called out, kicking off her high heels at the door. I stopped for a moment, a bit puzzled. Should I kick my shoes off too? I wondered. I shrugged to myself. Why not? And kicked them off, quickly catching up to Aunt Jenny who was nearly heading up the stairs.
Aunt Jenny led me down a small hallway and into a medium sized room on the left side of the hallway. The walls were painted a dark purple and the trim was a dark green. There was a bed on the left side and a window was above it. I also saw a desk against the wall next to the bed.
"I hope its not too small or anything. Your uncle actually built this room last year in case you ever wanted to come and visit us." Aunt Jenny said as she settled my suit case on my bed. "Ever since that day when you were little, he's always wanted you to come visit us. He used to have a room for you, a little further down the hallway, but eventually he started to use that as his office."
I felt my lips twitch into a small smile. "That's nice of him." I said.
"Yeah, well, you are his favorite niece." Aunt Jenny chuckled.
"I'm his only niece."
Aunt Jenny laughed and walked over to me, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "You're my favorite niece too." She whispered softly into my ear.
"Thanks." I nodded.
Aunt Jenny pulled back, smiling. "Your uncle it probably asleep so I'll go wake him up. Dinner will be ready in an hour." I nodded again and turned to watch her leave, closing the door behind herself. I turned around again and walked to my bed, sitting on it. Sighing to myself I grabbed my backpack and unzipped one of the pockets, pulling out a picture of a man smiling happily while a woman held a small child in her arms. I sat the picture down on my desk and stared at it.
"I miss you both." I whispered, the emotion of sadness running through me.
"Elizabeth!" I jumped, frightened at the sudden loud, rough sounding voice shouting throughout the house, and then my door slammed wide open.
I swiftly turned my head and stared at the man in my doorway. He had black hair that was tied into a small pony tail and he had light brown eyes. Eyes that reminded me of my fathers…
"Uncle James." I smiled at him as I stood up.
My uncle walked up to me and picked me up, making me slight dizzy.
"You're as thin as ever, Elizabeth." He pointed out, "I can still pick you up."
"Thanks…?" I uttered as he slowly sat me on the ground.
"Sorry 'bout that." He grinned rubbing the back of his head with his hand.
"It's alright." I replied. Uncle James suddenly held out his arms and smiled at me. I just stood there a bit confused.
"C'mon, give me a hug. I won't bite." He laughed.
I nodded and wrapped my arms around him. He patted my back slightly and stepped back.
"You've grown so much." He said.
I nodded my head and turned around and opened my suit case, getting ready to unpack, "Yeah, well, that's what happens if you haven't seen someone in a long time." I replied.
"Sorry. We would have visited you and your parents a lot if Jenny and I got the chance. We were always so busy though…" Uncle James explained.
"It doesn't matter anymore." I mumbled as I hung some clothes in the closet.
"Elizabeth…I know you're going through a hard time right now, we all are. But remember, your aunt and I are here for you." Uncle James said sincerely.
"I know. Thanks"
The goofy grin of his appeared on his face once again as he wrapped an arm around my neck, "We have a lot of catching up to do. You, me, and your aunt," He said.
"Yeah…"
"All right, I better go help your aunt with dinner. If you need any help with anything just give me a holler." My uncle said as he released me and left the room as I continued to unpack.
"Lizzy, dinner is done! Please come down and eat!" Aunt Jenny shouted.
I sighed and packed my last suit case into the closet before heading down stairs.
"Oi! Elizabeth! C'mere for a second," Uncle James spoke as i entered the kitchen. I did as he said and walked over to him. That's when I noticed a woman, besides Aunt Jenny, sat across from him. She had very dark brown hair, almost black, and purple colored eyes. She was actually very pretty.
"Elizabeth, I would like you to meet a good friend of your aunt's and mine, Naoki Jun. Jun-san this is my niece, Boyer Elizabeth." Uncle James said.
"Hajimemashite," I blinked at her. Her eyes widened a tiny bit as she saw the confused expression I had.
"Oh! I am so sorry. I didn't know you couldn't speak Japanese. I-I just thought… I-I'm so sorry for confusing you." Jun bowed a couple of times with a nervous expression upon her face.
"Ah, that's alright. The move here was kind of unexpected so I didn't have any time to learn Japanese." I replied. Not like I wanted to in the first place though. Truthfully, if I had a choice, I would learn Germen…But that was something I would not say out loud. I hated being rude. …Sometimes.
Jun blinked and slowly straightened herself. She looked at me for a moment and then smiled softly at me. I did the same back to her.
"I see now. Well, let me try again. It's nice to meet you, Elizabeth." She said as she once again bowed.
"It's nice to meet you too, Miss Naoki." I nodded.
"You can just call me Jun. No formal stuff or any honorifics." Jun said.
"All right, then you can just call me Lizzy." I said back. "Everyone calls me that."
"Jun will be joining us for dinner. You don't mind do you?" Aunt Jenny asked me as she took a seat down at the table.
"I don't mind. And plus it is your house." I replied as I took a seat next to her.
"Great! Now who's ready to eat?" Aunt Jenny questioned as she started to dish out the food into our bowls.
I looked down at mine with a strange look. I never had this kind of soup before. I'm kind of afraid to eat it.
"Huh? What's wrong, Lizzy?" Jun asked me.
"Um…I was just wondering what kind of soup this was…" I said as I continued to stare at it.
"It's called Miso Soup. Go ahead and give it a try. I'm sure you'll love it." Aunt Jenny assured me.
I took the pair of chop sticks that lied next to the bowl (She has eaten sushi before) and grabbed some of noodles in it before taking a bit. And let me tell you it was delicious!
"I like it." I said amazed.
"I'm glad. Jun helped me make it," My aunt said motioning towards Jun who smiled at me.
"So, Elizabeth, your aunt and I decided to enroll you in public school. I hope you don't mind…?" Uncle James suddenly spoke up.
"Public school?"
"That's right. You'll be attending Seishun Academy, this coming Thursday." My aunt smiled. I was somewhat speechless.
"I know that you have been home schooled since you were five, but I think public school will be a good change for you. You're fourteen years old and you need to socialize." Uncle James said as Aunt Jenny grabbed his bowel and filled it up with more soup. Then he began to mumble, "Apparently your father thought you didn't need to socialize. That you only need him and your mother…"
Can't argue there. I once asked mom why I couldn't go to public school. She said dad would be very jealous if his precious daughter was to be stolen away by friends… I love my dad, but he's crazy.
"It sounds fine to me." I shrugged. I had no problem what-so-ever.
"Lizzy, how would you like if I gave you rides there and home everyday?" Jun suggested, smiling at me.
"That would be fine. But, won't it bother you with your work?" I asked. Well…if she did work.
"Lizzy, she's actually your schools nurse." Aunt Jenny explained.
I looked back at Jun a bit surprised. "That's right. And if you ever have a bad day at school and need someone to talk to you can come and visit me anytime." Jun nodded.
"That would be…great."
"Wonderful!" Jun and Aunt Jenny beamed.
"I hope we become great friends." Jun smiled.
I smiled back. "Me too,"
"Thanks for inviting me over." Jun spoke as she grabbed her jacket.
"It was no problem. We love it when you come over." Aunt Jenny replied.
Jun smiled at her before turning to me, "Lizzy, do you like tennis?" she asked.
"It's okay. But I don't really play it." I said from next to Aunt Jenny.
"Well I was thinking that maybe tomorrow you would like to come with me to watch some street tennis." Jun said.
"That sounds nice. Aunt Jenny, Uncle James, can I go?" I asked turning to my guardians.
"Yes you can go." They both approved.
"Thank you!"
"All right, I'll pick you up around seven-thirty. Tomorrow night," Jun said.
"Okay."
"See you tomorrow!" Jun called as she left the house and climbed into her car. The three of us waved good-bye to her as she drove around the corner.
"I better go get those dishes cleaned up." Aunt Jenny suddenly spoke as she left back inside.
"Do you need any help?" I asked.
"Don't worry, dear. I got it." She replied.
Uncle James ruffled my hair as he started to head up stairs, "I better go get some paper work done." He then left.
I didn't know what to do after that so I decided to go take a shower and get ready for bed. After gathering my toiletries I headed to the bathroom and turned on the hot water faucet. I stripped myself of my clothes and stepped in, letting the hot water sooth me. Hopefully I would be able to get to sleep tonight. I was dead tired.