Hey Buttercup, do you remember the first time we met?
Because I believe it was fated for us to become good friends
I figured that it's part of our destinies.
So, smile about it.
You have one message!
Unread Emails: 01
Unread Messages: 00
Inbox: 560
"Go Budha, God, Devil…"
I finally clicked the enter button nervously, slightly sweating and trembling while I sat on the floor, staring at my cell phone intensly.
INBOX:
03/560
Jake – Sakura Blooms!
My eyes widened and I screamed for joy, jumping up and down and surprising my customers. "YAAAAAY!" I yelled happily, still jumping for joy. The customer in front of me gave me a confused look, holding a DVD.
"E-excuse me, I'll be returning this." The customer said, a bit annoyed but I didn't mind. I was too happy to care if the customer is annoyed or anything. I work at a Video Store and trust me, it's not really fun. I'm so excited to leave this place!
"Bubbles, why did you screamed?" I heard my manager asked, crossing his arms and staring at me with his eyebrows furrowed. I smiled at him, my hands behind my back. He just stared at me with a weird expression, causing me to giggle. "I'm resigning from my job." I said, smiling brightly while my manager sweat dropped. "Resign?" I heard him asked but I already grabbed my purse and ran out of the store, shouting good bye to him.
Yay! It's spring! Spring is here! The spring I've been waiting for is finally here! I can't wait to see Jake again!
In case you were wondering, Jake is my boyfriend. The two of us met during high school and he have to leave along with my best friend, Blossom and her boyfriend, Brick. They all went to Tokyo to study Art in college while I'm stuck here in Townsville, studying in a very cheap university. I didn't get to go with Jake since I don't have the money to go there, so, I worked hard in the video store and if its spring time, I'll go to Tokyo to see my beloved Jake!
But I think my parents would still be worried for me so I left them a letter with a drawing of me in a princess outfit while crying. Now that I think about it, it's probably common for people to leave their homes this way. I wonder if my parents are thinking "Oh it's great that our noisy girl is gone." For as long as I can remember, I have always proclaimed whether awake or dreaming, "I want to go to Tokyo," or "I want to live in Tokyo."
I come from an ordinary but happy family, and in addition to me, I have a sister older by two years, and a sister younger by two years.
Even though I will be homesick leaving my family, I have always wanted to live on my own when I was twenty. I had nothing at that time. The idea of living for Tokyo was making me so happy, my heart was overflowing with hope and anticipation.
I entered the train, holding my luggage. They said the schedule is all messed up by the snow but I don't mind, I just wanna be there. I heard my cell phone rang as I pulled it out of my pocket and opened it, seeing Jake's message.
"I'll pick you up."
That was his message, causing me to smile while slightly blushing.
From now on, I'll be able to see Jake everyday in Tokyo. No more phone calls and emails. I'll be able to see him face-to-face, and talk about everything. Ah, how I wish I was already in Tokyo!
I sighed, frowing. Reality check, It'll be another two hours before I reach Tokyo.
"Thank you for riding with us. Because of the snow, the train will be delayed 4o minutes. We will arrive at Tokyo at approximately." I heard the intercom announced.
My eyes widened as I looked around the train. The train was packed! I don't know where to sit! I can't stand in the train for two hours! I must hurry to find a seat and reply to Jake's email! I started looking around with a worried expression. I walked forward, looking for seat. Until, I found her…
I glanced at a seat, it wasn't empy since there's a guitar occupying it. Beside the guitar was girl in a black leather jacket, taking a nap.
"Um, excuse me…" I said softly but it seems she can't hear me since I realized that she was wearing earphones, listening to some tunes.
"Excuse me…" I tried again. Suddenly, the train stopped and I ended up falling down at the floor, bumping on her guitar and her guitar landed hard on my head, causing me to groan because of the pain. Great, now I have a headache.
I sat up, pushing her guitar back to the seat. I looked around, alarmed. Why did the train stopped? An accident? Don't tell me this is the wrath of the devil! Not now!
"Are you alright?" a soft female voice asked, getting my attention. I glanced at the girl who was sitting beside the guitar, her earphones were lying on her lap. She was wearing dark makeup and she looks rather pale. Her black hair was short, shorter than my blond hair.
"I-I'm so sorry!" I stammered, immediately standing up but the girl shook her head.
"I'm sorry too, this thing fell on you." She said, now it was my turn to shake my head. "I'm alright." I said, laughing nervously. I glanced at the seat beside her, hesitating if I should ask that I if I'm allowed to sit beside her.
"Excuse me, but is this seat empty?" I asked politely, trying to give her one of my best smiles. She smiled back and nodded her head. I grinned and sat down beside her, putting my things down and leaning against my chair. The girl pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one stick and started smoking while the window was slightly open. I secrelty looked at her.
She's pretty. She really stands out from the common crowd. She's thin and attractive, a performer? If that's the case, I want her autograph. And such long eyelashes, I wonder what mascara she uses. She looks really good with all that make-up on her. I guess beautiful people look good on anything. God is so unfair.
I glanced at her hand that was holding the cigarette and noticed a ring around her finger. A ring by Vivian, and one that's in fahsion too. That is so cool!
The girl glanced at me, causing me to sweat drop. This is awkward. She caught me staring at her!
"I'm sorry, should I not smoke?" she asked as I shook my head, smiling nervously.
"It's okay! I'm fine with it!" I said quickly, shaking my head.
She sighed and glanced at the window, like she was in deep thought. "It's not moving." She said as I looked at her with a slight confused expression, tilting my head. "The train, it stopped moving." She said, looking at me. I frowned and looked away.
"What am I gonna do? I'm in a hurry." I said, looking down at my lap. "Troublesome, huh?" I heard her said and all I did was giggle for no apparent reason. I pulled out my blue cellphone, smiling brightly.
"I'll just send him an email." I said to myself, pushing a few buttons on my cell. After 15 seconds, I was done sending Jake an email. I heaved a sigh, relief and shoved my cell back in my pocket and leaned against my chair, relaxed.
"That was quick." I heard the girl said, getting my attention. "Man, high school girls knows how to text so fast these days." She said, blowing a puff of smoke outside the window. Her statement cause me to flinch and chuckled nervously.
"I'm twenty years old." I said as she gave me a surprised expression. "Me too." She said as we laughed. Talking to her is really fun. I feel safe for some reason. Safe and warm. She's so cute when she smiles. (A/N: Please note that this is not femslash! Not yuri at all! Bubbles is just really like that.)
"You're twenty?! Impossible! You look like a high school student too!" I said, pointing at her with a surprised expression while we laughed.
"A note to all commuters. Due to snow, this train will be halted momentarily. We apologize to those who are in a hurry…"
I heaved another sigh, frowning and looking down at my lap.
"Will I ever reach Tokyo?" I said to myself sadly.
"You going to Tokyo to do something?" I heard the girl asked as I nodded my head without any hesitation.
"I'm thinking of getting a job there." I said, smiling brightly. "Same as me." I heard her said as I looked at her, tilting my head. "You're going to Tokyo too?" I asked while she nodded her head. I smiled and clapped my hands excitedly.
"I always thought you came from Tokyo, and that you were just going home after touring!" I said, pointing at her again.
"Touring?" she asked, making me nod my head.
"Like a concert or something. You carry a guitar. You're a musician, right?" I asked curiously. "Are you in a band?" She nodded her head, finishing her cigarette and tossing it outside the window. "I used to be, back in my hometown." She said, smiling. Her smile… It's like she missed being in a band.
Suddenly, my cell phone rang, startling me. I pulled my cell phone open and realized that Jake was calling me. I flipped it open and pressed the cell against my ear.
"Hi hi, this Bubbles Utonium!" I said cheerfully, smiling brightly. At the corner of my eye, the girl looked at me with a surprised expression. I think that's her expression, but I'm not really sure.
I told Jake that I'll be late and he seems fine with it. He told me he'll just wait since he's really patient. After our conversation, I closed my cell phone and shoved it back in my pocket, grinning proudly.
"Your boyfriend lives in Tokyo? Lovey-dovey." The girl said sarcastically as I glanced at her. "I see, you come Tokyo 'cause you're chasing a guy." She added, leaning against her chair. I blushed a deep shade of red and shook my head.
"N-no…! Though, it sounds like that." I said, looking down while she laughed. "Well, he lives in Tokyo now. But he came from my hometown and we went to the same school." I explained, smiling gently. "But while trying to gain acceptance in an art university, he moved to Tokyo a year ago."
"Why didn't you go with him?" she asked, sounding so serious at the moment. "I did say I want to go with him, but Jake, my boyfriend, said I couldn't. Because I had no money, I couldn't just go one living like that." I said sadly, looking down. I miss Jake so much…
"I see…." The girl said, making me know that she was listening as I nodded my head. "So I tearfully returned to my hometown to earn money for the day I could move to Tokyo. I promised Jake that I would come to Tokyo if he got into the university. When I arrive in Tokyo, I won't return til' I found a job and work hard at it." I said with half-lidded eyes and smiling gently. I have no idea why I was even telling everything to this total stranger. I just feel like I can trust her and she can trust me.
"I'm sorry. I must be rambling again. I usually do that." I apologized while she laughed. "It's okay, talk some more. I have nothing better to do anyway." She said, lighting another cigarette.
"Okay then! Let's talk about Jake! He's kind and dependable, and he's really cool! I feel like an idiot talking about him like this." I said happily, giggling to myself. I spotted a woman, walking around the train and giving drinks to everyone.
"You want some beer?" I asked the girl as she nodded her head. "Two beers please!" I called the girl who was giving drinks to the commuters. Once we got out can of beers, we popped it open.
"Well then, let's toast." I said, smiling brightly at the strange girl beside me who was also opening her can of beer. "toast for what?" she asked me as I hesitated. "Toast to Jake's acceptance to the university!" I said happily but she just looked away. "I don't really care about that." She said, causing me to frown and look down.
"How about this…" I heard her said, causing me to look at her. "Let's toast that the two of us met here on the same train, at the same time, with the same age, and moving to Tokyo at the same time. Don't you think that's a coincidence?" she asked while I giggled, nodding in agreement.
"And here's one thing…" she said while I tilt my head.
"My name is Buttercup Utonium… We have the same last name" she said, causing me to grin as we toasted.
Do you remember the time we met? The wind blew the snow about on the outside. The train moved, then stopped, then moved some more. It took us fiver hours to reach Tokyo, but I wasn't bored one bit… I spent most of my time talking about myself. I didn't really get to hear much about Buttercup. But I know I would love to hear what Buttercup had to say about herself…
--
And that's the end of the chapter. I hope you liked it. Just to let you know, this story is based on a manga I really love. Don't forget to send a review and flames are not welcome! Thanks for reading!
