. . . . . . . .

I am ready to take on the world and I shall destroy anything that obstructs my path! I am now a newly high school graduate who's ready to spend my wings and soar as far as I can. And the best part about this whole ordeal is that I can finally escape the confinement of my over-bearing parents. Now don't get me wrong; I'm truly grateful for parents like mine. My father is the head for several successful corporations in Japan and across the world. My mother, on the other hand, also comes from a prestigious family, but married my father only to maintain their high status. They've both provided me with everything I've ever wanted or needed, but how is one supposed to feel when you father is never home and your mother takes no interest in you?

The funny part is, now that I'm ready to go out on my own, my parents are finally taking notice of me.

Bad fucking timing.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Jurina. Honey, are you sure you're making the right decision here?" My mother questioned me, as if she really cared.

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore. I think I know what I'm doing. And. . . and stop fussing with my stuff! I can pack by myself!" I said aggravated and shooed her out of my room and proceeded to finish packing my things.

Damn. It's only been 3 months since I've graduated and I'm already off to college. Right now I'm standing in my almost-empty room, packing what's left for me to take. At the same time, I can't help but reminisce on everything that's ever occurred in this room of mine and I start to feel overwhelmed, surging out of my room. Instantly, I come across the hallway that leads from my room to the family room. On the wall are pictures of me, my parents and other relatives. The largest picture of all was a my family portrait. If I remember correctly, the portrait was taken when I was 10 years old.

Just by looking at the picture,

I look utterly miserable.

"Jurina-sama? Jurina-sama!" our head maid, Harada-san, screeched to my face, snapping me out of my trance.

"S-sorry. I was just~"

"You're going to miss your parents, won't you?"

"Really?" I responded with a sarcastic tone. "Why the hell would I miss them?"

"Why dear, you shouldn't say things like that. Act like a lady. After all, they've certainly given you everything out of their pockets." Harada muttered to defend them

"Pssh . . . anything but love." I whispered to myself and stormed back to my room.

Then again, what point was my mother implying? However, maybe my mother was right, in a way. I've never been far from home for an indefinite period of time and here I am going off to college in Tokyo, which is hours away from Nagoya. This is what sucks about being raised in a lavish lifestyle. Sure, I've lived a sheltered life, but that's the damn problem! I have not yet been exposed to life's hardships! I was never allowed to explore things on my own or fend for myself. I can even recall a time when I was bullied in elementary school and my father hired a bodyguard to accompany me to school for months! Who the hell actually does that?! To add fuel to the turmoil, although I was raised in a high-class environment, I never was "princess material." I hated wearing dresses. I hated having table manners. I hated having "poise and elegance." I was a freaking kid for god's sake! It's totally normal for kids to want to be rugged and play with bugs and roll in mud just for the hell of it. I also hated how most of the women in my family said that a lady's place is in the kitchen and by her husband's side. Oh! and that's the other part I hated too: husband talk. Ever since I started my high school years, my mother definitely tried to arrange marriages for me and I would always fuck them up on purpose.

Whoever made up that old saying "daughters are just like their mothers" . . . . I want to slap that person silly. The last thing I want is ending up like my mother: married with some man she doesn't even love and have nothing else going on in her life.

Besides. . . . I'm just not attracted to men at all.

What seemed like hours, I finally finished packing all my junk and their ready for shipping. So I guess this is the finally draw; I have fully grown into a mature woman and it's time to scrap and build from the bottom to the top! I know I can make something of myself without the help of my parents. I'll even live in a shack for all I care! I can go on budgets and ride the subway every single day so I can earn my own money.

"Jurina-sama, dinner is ready." Harada lightly knocked on my door, poking her head through the cracks. I regained my composure and headed to the dining room. When I walked in I was surprised to see an extravagant dinner laid out. I know dinners were always grand, but this looked as if though they were hosting a party. There were even decorations placed upon the walls.

"Jurina!" My mother yelled out to me. "What are you doing?! This party was planned out perfectly for you! You can't show face wearing that!" She exclaimed and pointed out my current attire. Apparently I had forgotten to change out of my sports jersey and my hair bundled into a messy ponytail. "Go go go! And throw on something more suitable! Ugh, you smell like sweat and pizza." She twisted me around and scrammed me back to my room.

Obviously, I had no idea they were having a going-away party for me and it's crap like this that I never liked. Of course all kids dream about having big parties with all their friends over and a mountains of presents, but not me. From when I was very little and up to now, I never liked parties. For this statement, my mother always called me a bore. Having absolutely no idea what I was doing, I snatched Harada away from her kitchen duties and asked her to help me pick out something to wear. I always sucked at "women's" fashion. Unfortunately, I'm just a boyish girl. As a woman of experience, Harada dressed me in a pink silk gown with some simple accessories and white stilettos. While she ran to get something to fix my hair, I couldn't help but gawk at myself in the mirror. I actually looked pretty alluring, the dress hugging my still-developing curves nicely and the shoes slimming my legs. Harada return with just a comb and some clips and fixed my hair into a plain bun.

"There! My my, you look divine! Now go out there and give them a show!" Harada hurried me out of my closet, me almost tripping from the height of the shoes. As I walked into the dining room I was greeted by an uproar of claps and whistles by the guests. Nervousness overtaking me, I smiled dumbfounded and marched to my seat to avoid further embarrassment. Being the star of the night, the servants fetched my food for me and all the guests clattered around me. Seemingly, I have a difficult time conversing with people, especially when all of them are trying to talk to me at once. All of a sudden, my father breaks through the crowd and hurries them away. I was shocked to see him here, being that he's never home 99.9% of the time.

"Sweetheart, are you having a pleasant night?" He asked me.

"Umm, sure? It's pretty alright." I professed awkwardly.

"Wonderful. Anyways, I have brought someone here whom I think you should meet." Out of the crowd, a tall, dashing man dressed in a black suit walked in our direction. Oh god, I'm not that stupid. I guess my dad is trying to set me up too. "This is Matsumoto Jonathan. Pardon his first name. His father is Japanese-American."

Jonathan bowed humbly and extended his hand to shake.

"I leave it to you Matsumoto-san. Woo her." My father breathed "And be nice to him, Jurina." he winked at me and left us alone.

Surprisingly, I had a nice conversation with Jonathan. He was nothing I expected from the start. Instead of talking about politics and business, we talked like two idiotic teenagers heading nowhere in life. It was surely relaxing. Sharing story after story, the party soon died out slowly. Lastly, all the guests had left and it was just us and maids cleaning up.

"It was really nice meeting you, Jonathan." I said my finally remarks to him as I walked him to the door.

"It was nice meeting you." Then out of nowhere, he kissed the upside of my hand and departed. For a moment, I actually felt my stomach tie into a knot and I was sad that he left.

"You like him, don't you?" My father popped up from thin air and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Hah, nice try dude." I smirked sarcastically and made way back to my room.

"Oi, don't talk to your father like that." He playfully snapped back.

"Yeah yeah yeah." I echoed throughout the hall and fell into deep sleep.