"Hey Cee, wake up."
"Huh?" Certo jerked and looked at his friend sitting next to him.
"It's your turn to read Mr. Edward." Ms. Yamato called from the front of the room.
"Oh! Shit!" Certo cursed under his breath and stood up, book in hand.
"You have been following along with us, correct?" Ms. Yamato was, in general, a fairly laid back teacher. But when students slacked off or stepped out of line she could get down right ugly.
"Yes ma'am." Certo stammered. "I was just reading ahead a bit and got lost." He wasn't lying but this wasn't the first time it had happened.
Ms. Yamato sighed. "Page sixty-seven, paragraph four."
"Yes ma'am." Certo nodded and began to read the passage aloud.
Certo was a seventeen year-old exchange student from the Europe. He had spent the last five months going to school in Japan with his childhood friend JT. Certo wasn't scheduled to go back home for another six months, which was fine by his standard. With his love of Japanese pop culture,as well as his unusual natural talent for drawing manga, he was practically an icon here in Japan.
The bell for lunch rang and the students were dismissed. JT and Certo went down to the school yard to enjoy their lunches with their other friends.
"You know, I envy you." Miumi said. "You always get called on by the teacher but it's never for anything bad." Miumi was JT's twin sister. She had long dark hair like her brother but tied in pony tails.
"I guess it's just luck." Certo shrugged as they sat down to eat.
"Hey guys!" A cheerful voice called from across the courtyard. The three friends looked up to see Shin and Nerene walking towards them. Shin had short cut hair and was a senior class member as well as Nerene. Nerene had long flowing hair and a body that could kill. She was often the main attraction of many of the guys at school.
"What's up mates." Certo greeted in his usual European fashion.
"The usual." Shin smiled.
"Hello Certo." Nerene bowed her head slightly. "Lovely day it is."
"You can say that again." Certo smiled brightly and moved over and allowed her to sit next to him.
"Have you guys gotten your ideas for creative writing class?" Shin asked as he wolfed down an enormous rice ball.
"We do." JT nodded with his sister, then his gaze drifted to Certo who stared blankly down at his lunch box.
"You're lost again aren't you?" Miumi pointed out.
Certo lifted a notebook out of his backpack and flipped through several pages. "I've got ideas but..."
"You can't decide what to do officially?" Nerene finished.
"Right."
"Well, I'm sure Mr. Chai will be willing to help you narrow down your ideas."
"Hm." Certo nodded.
"Come on Certo, cheer up." Nerene gave him a playful nudge with her shoulder. "It's not the end of the world if you don't come out with the best story in the world. A good one is always nice too."
"Yeah." Miumi agreed.
"Seriously." Shin grabbed Certo in a head lock and mussed up his long long red hair. "You try too hard to overachieve yourself. Just let it flow."
"Alright I will!" Certo gagged. "Now let me go!" The senior student let him go and he and Nerene left the juniors alone.
"I still haven't told them." Miumi pointed out after a moment of silence.
"Thank you." Certo sighed. "I would appreciate it if you kept it quiet."
"Hey, what are friends for?" JT slugged his friend who hit him back.
The truth was that Certo was not sure that he wanted to go home. He had always been a bit of an oddball back in Europe. He seemed to live in a dream world and sometimes had trouble discerning his dreams from real life. His parents had sent him to counseling after he went through a period of waking up from nightmares as a child. The doctors could not seem to find anything wrong with him and had suggested the possibility that he was doing it for attention. Ever since, Certo's parents had paid little mind to him and had only agreed to sign for his needs and let him do as he pleased. It was a really lonely life back home. But one he could temporarily forget about here where he had real friends who cared about how he felt and thought.
Lunch ended and Certo proceeded throughout the rest of the day until school was over. After the final bell rang Certo rose to pack his things. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around.
"Whoa, Certo. it's only me." Nerene jumped, equally as surprised as Certo was.
"Sorry." Certo gasped. "I just wasn't expecting that."
"Certo, are you okay?" Nerene asked with a worried look in her eyes. "You don't seem yourself."
"I guess I'm just stressed out." Certo wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Nerene sighed. "Well I came to ask if you would help Shin and I with moving some things, but I don't want you overexerting yourself."
"I'm okay really." Certo chirped. He forced his energy level back up to normal. "What can I do for you?"
Nerene cocked an eyebrow. "For me?"
Certo's cheeks turned a bit red. "You know what I mean." A grin passed over his lips and Nerene smiled. She was very flirty at times and loved to toy with Certo when he was having an off day.
"That's better." She took hold of Certo's arm. "It's no fun to be around you when you're frowning. Now come with me." She led him out of the room.