"Say cheese!" There was yet another blinding white flash. Hitomi rubbed her eyes and hoped that it was over. "Hitomi dear, move over a bit towards Van. That's it." Hitomi put on another big cheesy smile and waited for the dreaded flash. The camera clicked, filling Hitomi's vision with the intense light. She wiggled over as far away from Van as humanly possible. He looked as thrilled as she did. "Hitomi, move back over there. I need to get one more just to make sure."
Hitomi started to pout. "But I don't want to," she said.
Her mother tapped her foot. "Hitomi…" Hitomi crossed her arms in protest.
"It's alright Mrs Kanzaki, I'll sit between them."
Mrs Kanzaki sighed at her daughter's stubbornness. "You're an angel Folken." She smiled warmly at the young man as he took the spot between the two. Folken put his arms around both Hitomi and Van and squeezed them in closer for a group hug. "Say cheese you two."
Sadly Folken was the only one with a cheerful smile on his face in the photo. Van and Hitomi were too busy giving each other death glares.
"Van, don't be rude. Remember to mind your manners. Starring isn't polite," Mrs Fanel scolded with a slight frown.
As soon as Folken let the two go they stormed off in opposite directions. Hitomi stomped off upstairs to her room and Van disappeared into the basement downstairs. "Why can't those two just get along for a change?" Folken wondered aloud. "You think that they would at least try to get along. They've known each other since they've been born."
Mrs Fanel nodded to her son in agreement. "We've been friends with the Kanzaki's a very long time."
Mrs Kanzaki smiled at her old friend. "Yes, we've been so fortunate to have such good friends. As for Hitomi and Van, I think they'll sort out their differences."
Mr Fanel chuckled. "They tease each other too much. It's always 'Van pinched me' or 'Hitomi called me a brat again'. I think it's actually quite funny." He chuckled again when his wife stared at him with narrow eyes.
Mr Kanzaki chuckled along with him. "Typical nine-year olds."
The layout of the living room screamed dinner party. Dainty plates of crackers, cheese, pickles, cookies, mini tarts, and other snacks rested on clear glass plates on an immaculate ivory lace table-cloth. Coffee mugs and cups dotted the coffee tables also resting on smooth glass coasters. The two married couples and Folken talked excitedly about their plans for the summer. It was the one of the reasons Mrs Kanzaki prepared this little get-together. It was the first day of summer break for the children. It was also the last summer before Folken began college.
"Kids, supper time!" Mrs Fanel chimed. She waited expectantly with a warm motherly smile on her face.
I wonder what's taking them so long?
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Merle scampered towards the proud tree standing directly in the middle of the backyard, mischievous grin on her face. With a few giggles for herself, she expertly climbed the rough trunk. "Try and catch me now!" she triumphantly declared to the little boy panting at the tree's base.
"No fair Merle! That's cheating! You know the tree is off-limits," the boy wheezed.
Atop her high and might perch, Merle took the time to stick her tongue out at him to utterly torment him. This only made him angrier. He frowned in frustration as he hopelessly tried to claw his way up the tree. Merle giggled as he struggled in vain. There was no way he could get up.
"What's the matter Seth? Can't climb trees?" Merle giggled again. Seth tried his best not to look defeated.
"No, I can climb trees. I just can't climb this type of tree," he protested. Merle didn't buy that at all.
"Seth can't climb trees, Seth can't climb trees, Seth can't climb trees," Merle chanted over and over. With every word Seth became more and more agitated. Nervously, he shuffled his feet. He didn't know what to say. Merle had gotten the better of him. Looking down in embarrassment, Seth's face heated.
I'm being beaten by a girl.
Not just any girl at that. He'd known her all his life. They'd spent so much time together as infants and toddlers, it wasn't even funny. They probably wouldn't care to admit it but they were best friends. Seth and Merle were inseparable. Wherever Seth was, Merle was not far behind and wherever Merle was, Seth was tagging along beside her. Among Merle's chanting a light bulb went off inside Seth's head. Secretively he smiled up at Merle.
"Hey Merle." The slow smile tugged into a toothy grin.
Merle stopped her chanting to humour him "What is it Seth?" she asked sweetly. Innocently, she cocked her head to one side.
"Your mother is going to get so mad when she sees you climbing this tree," he informed her with a pleasant smile. His words were true. Mrs Fanel despised the fact her only daughter did crazy tom-boyish things. To her it was a breach in ladies' etiquette, an etiquette that she felt Merle should follow religiously.
Merle stopped smiling "She won't see me." She looked cautiously at the house, mentally expecting to see her mother watching her with disapproval. "You won't tell her, right Seth?" The way he was smiling at her made her very worried. "Please Seth, promise me you won't tell her."
Seth stood quietly. His smile never wavered. This was just what he wanted. Merle had most likely forgotten the fact he couldn't climb the blasted tree. "Don't worry, I won't." He watched her inch her way down the tree
"You don't think she saw me did you?" Her eyes were as round as saucers. Visibly, Merle relaxed. "That's good." It was quiet for a few moments. "I wonder if supper is ready?" They both looked towards the house. From outside they could hear people talking in the kitchen. A gleeful smile rolled across Merle's face. "Race you!" She busted into laughter and madly dashed for the house. Seth chased after her, a grin splitting over his face.
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Hitomi calmly and gloomily brushed the cheesy blonde hair of her Barbie doll. Her room was her sanctuary. No one bothered her here. No one. Not her brother, not Merle, and most especially not Van Fanel. How she loathed him. He was constantly bugging her and ruining all her fun games. She had not forgiven him for what he did yesterday.
She had been sitting on the picnic table out in her backyard, minding her own business. She had been lost in her own thoughts playing a nice quiet game of 'town' with her favourite stuffed animals. To top it all off, she had made her favourite Barbie the town mayor. This particular Barbie had the most wonderful hair, the best outfit, and matching shoes too. Decked out in purple, Barbie stood, with a little help from Hitomi, in front of her loyal townsfolk to make about speech about the new fundraiser Hitomi. She was about to start her well thought out speech when Van unceremoniously interrupted.
"Hi Hitomi. Can I play too?" he asked hopefully, his Tonka truck, G.I Joe, and Transformer in hand. Hitomi looked him up and down with a considering look. "I brought my own toys" He looked harmless enough but Hitomi knew better. This was the same boy who pinched her, pulled her short hair, scribbled on every page of her new colouring books. The list was endless. She was very wary of him.
"I want to play by myself." To make herself look busy she straightened the line of stuffed animal townsfolk in front of Mayor Barbie.
Van slumped with disappointment. "Oh." He stared at the soft grass at his feet.
Noticing his unhappiness, Hitomi thoughtfully asked, "Why don't you go play with Merle and Seth?" Van took her interest as an invitation to sit down, which he did gladly.
Rolling his large Tonka truck idly on the picnic table with his Transformer and G.I Joe inside, Van sighed. "They're watching 'The Lion King'. I wanted to watch 'Aladdin' but they didn't want to."
Hitomi stayed quiet and secretly hoped that he would go away. A few moments l passed and Van still hadn't budged from the table. Van began to change his Transformer into a T-Rex. He didn't seem to notice how uncomfortable Hitomi was. She began fidgeting with Mayor Barbie's clothes and smoothing her hair down. All she wanted was for Van to leave so she could get back to her game. Unfortunately for Hitomi, Van didn't get the hint. He mistook her silence as a sign that she didn't mind if he stayed. Oblivious, he picked up his G.I-Joe and started a little battle between the G.I-Joe and the T-Rex Transformer. He even made sound effects. Hitomi sighed.
I guess my speech will have to wait.
Van made a fierce battle cry for G.I-Joe as he lunged for the Transformer with a karate chop. He was very proud of his sound effects. Glancing Hitomi's way, he noted that she seemed gently set her Barbie down. Why can't he just leave? His sound effects were getting on her nerves.
"Hey Hitomi, watch this." Van smiled as proudly as he mounted his transformer on his Tonka truck. Hitomi stared blankly in confusion. Van started his Tonka truck's make-believe engine and with one shove, he sent it crashing over to Hitomi's side of the picnic table. Hitomi's eyes widened with horror. Her stuffed animals flew everywhere. Van had never in his wildest dreams imagined that Hitomi was capable of producing such a loud scream. His ears rang with her high-pitched voice.
Van felt guilty watching her frantically retrieve her stuffed animals. He opened his mouth to apologize but stopped. Hitomi's Barbie doll was lying underneath the picnic table, her hair in disarray. Without putting much thought into it, Van picked her Barbie up. While Hitomi was mumbling to herself as she checked over her precious stuffed animals, Van tried to think of a clever way to quell Hitomi's anger. He stared at the Barbie in his hand. Her hair was a mess. He vividly remembered the last time Hitomi yelled at Merle after she gave Hitomi's Barbie a new hair style. The poor doll had an abnormally large afro when his sister had finished.
If I can fix it…
Van hopelessly began finger-combing the knots out. He panicked when it only made it worse. Nervously, his eyes shifted to Hitomi. Fortunately for him she wasn't watching. He didn't want to think about the consequences if he were to fail.
Van never thought that he would never have been so happy to see pink. There it was, his salvation. A tiny pink Barbie comb. He could have leapt for joy. Awkwardly, he picked up the dainty comb. Robotically, he pulled it through the doll's knotted hair. One by one the knots started to disappear. Smiling in triumph, Van raised the brush one more time to give the doll's hair one last stroke.
Maybe he was a bit over-confident, or perhaps he wasn't being careful. Whatever the cause, the result was the same. Everything had changed in a blink of an eye. One moment he was brushing the doll's hair, and the next moment Mayor Barbie had no head. Eyes wide with dread, he lifted the brush. Glossy blue eyes adorned with mile high lashes, a horrible cheesy smile, and an unholy mess of blonde hair greeted him. Flabbergasted, he dropped the brush.
What do I do now?
"How could you?" Hitomi screamed. He jerked around to find Hitomi standing with her stuffed animals clustered into a large clump in her arms. She looked completely devastated. Her green eyes were full to bursting with unshed tears as her bottom lip quivered. Van on the other hand looked utterly guilty. Hitomi's eyes shifted back and forth from the headless doll in his hand to his vacant expression.
"You're such a…such a jerk!" Tears splattered from her eyes. "I hate you! I hate you!" she shrieked with passion. Not giving him a moment to explain she dashed for the house, sobbing along the way.
"I…I didn't mean to." His apology was wasted. Hitomi couldn't hear him. He felt like crying himself.
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Hitomi's door creaked open. She looked up from her Barbie with a flat stare. "Hitomi dear, supper is ready." Mrs Fanel peeked into her cute and very organized room. Hitomi couldn't help but grin. She respected Mrs Fanel and felt a kind of daughterly fondness for her.
"Coming!" Setting down her Barbie, she happily followed Mrs Fanel down the hallway.
"Looking forward to the summer?" Mrs Fanel smiled warmly.
"Yes. Dad promised that we'd go camping. We're going to go swimming, have campfires, tell spooky stories, go fishing, play volleyball, go on hikes, have a picnics, feed the squirrels peanuts…" Mrs Fanel laughed at her enthusiasm.
"Yes, your parents were talking about that." Hitomi's face brightened dramatically.
"Really?"
Mrs Fanel nodded. "We've decided to come along with you guys too."
Hitomi's expression fell flat.
That means Van's coming too. He'll ruin everything.