My last story, enjoy!
Today's humidity is making my hair frizzier than it's ever been. I don't want it to look this bad for when I head into work today. Before stepping inside Mr. Erick's office, I catch a glimpse of myself through the window of a parked car. I look like a mess, my bangs have frizzed up, making it impossible to see anything, a zit popped up on my nose, and my capris keep sagging. I should've tried it on Saturday, when Mizuki took me and Risa shopping. Quickly, I pat my hair down, manage to keep my bangs behind my ears, and pull up the dark beige capris. I head into the un-air conditioned office with only a fan hitting my face and greet Mizuki. "Morning Mizuki."
"Yo! This nasty humidity will be the death of me," exaggerates Mizuki, not even touching her hair. "I had to put it up in this bun for it to be acceptable." Some black strands have escaped the bun.
"I wish my hair was long enough to do that. I'd only look stupid."
"No you wouldn't. You should've pinned some of it down." Mizuki's hair length is something I'm really envious about. Her hair goes past her shoulders and stops right in the middle of her back. Mom's hair was an inch longer than hers, maybe that's why I'm jealous. "You have lovely hair Mizuki."
"D'aww thanks."
"I'm getting awfully nauseous at the girl talk in this room," complains Mr. Erick, bending over to scratch his hairy leg. "Mia, come over here."
"Okay." I walk up to his desk, passing Mizuki, and he hands me a thick white envelope. "What's this about? I didn't do much last week."
"It'll be your last wad of cash for a while."
"Am I getting fired? Is it because I took so many days off a week ago?"
"No, no. I told Mizuki about since she got here earlier but I'll wait for Risa to drop by before continuing."
"Oh. Okay." I take a seat on the stool, feeling the weight of my last paycheck. It's pretty heavy, I could take everyone out to dinner at that French restaurant the three of us could barely afford the last time we went there, Le P'tit Paris. Probably for two nights. I glance at Mizuki leaning against the opposite side of the wall, staring at her face for any innuendo of the news Mr. Erick has to say to me and Risa. She looks pensive but somewhat satisfied, as if she made an internal decision and is happy about it. After a while, Risa waltzes in, donning a new kimono. This one is hazel, with a rose star on the side and a pale yellow sash around it-of course, she got the hood added. Isn't she hot in this awful humidity? "Morning Risa," I say to her.
"Morning Mia, Mizuki, Erick. I see you two have your fair share of hair problems," she frankly points out, making me self-conscious again.
"With all that hair of yours, I'm sure you're dying of humidity too," sneers Mizuki.
"Risa, how long is your hair anyway?" I ask her, remembering her hair to be Rapunzel-length.
"It stops at my thighs," answers Risa. "I finger comb it time to time and rinse it with water."
"Woah." I cover my mouth. "You never cut it?"
"Never." Mr. Erick clears his throat, unable to withstand our discussion any longer. "Yes?"
"Good morning. Here's your last pay for a while."
"Hm, why is that?" She goes up to his desk and takes it, putting it in her side pocket. I wish my pants had deep pockets like hers; I said that to Mizuki once and she told me that designers make "shitty pockets" for girl pants because the fashion industry wants us to buy purses. It makes so much sense.
"I proposed this to Mizuki earlier and she's decided already. Given the events that happened two months ago with our visitors and the Heartless infestation from way back when, I can say I'm proud of you three. You've proved yourself to be more than scared children in a matter of months. You're all aware that each of us come from our own worlds that the Heartless took away. You've renewed some hope in me that it's possible to get back home and not spend forever here like I have. But in order for you three to strike a powerful to the Darkness, you'd have to be properly trained. After all, the Heartless grow stronger each day and every second we spend being here, they make it harder to return to our worlds. My associate knows a few capable fighters that will be willing to train you. So keeping it frank, I'm proposing that you three spend about a year training under acceptable teachers in different worlds."
"A year? Out of this world?" I almost scream.
"Precisely. You won't return here until the next summer. I've arranged a specially engineered ship to arrive tomorrow morning. And then wherever you three are, after a year, the ship will come by and bring you back here. I've already picked out your destinations based on your fighting styles and my associate has gotten in contact with the mentors I picked, it's only a matter of your consent. I'm aware that you three have become attached to this world but think about this opportunity-the Darkness isn't going to wait for you to reclaim your worlds. Mizuki has already agreed to it." Risa and I look at Mizuki doubtfully, appearing oddly delighted about the decision. "Let me know how you two feel tonight and then meet at the docks looking out to Angel Island at eleven thirteen in the morning."
When the three of us leave his office, the sun is covered by the clouds, giving everything in the city a dull color. Risa speaks sternly, "Mizuki, you agreed to do this." I think she's hoping Mizuki argues she didn't.
"Of course I did, if I get stronger and train with people who understand my powers, then I'll be able to figure out a way to get home. You guys have to take this chance too," she replies encouragingly. Risa hesitates, sighing sadly. "We'll only be away for a year."
"I do not want to leave the two of you, I consider you two to be my dear friends," Risa admits quietly. "I am not sure I can go through with this. What about you, Mia?"
"I'm not sure either, you guys are my best friends," I reply honestly, putting my hand on my sweaty chest. Mizuki rolls her eyes and snorts. "Oh yeah, and there's Don. How are you going to leave your lovebird?"
"He's not my lovebird."
"Still in denial?"
"There's nothing to deny," I turn to the street to hide my flushed cheeks. All these people just go about their days, not knowing about the Darkness and how cruel and greedy it is. Why do we have to? It's not fair, I'm only thirteen, Risa and Mizuki are fourteen. "I don't know what I'll tell him." Maybe I shouldn't tell him anything about it.
' ' '
Don comes by the house to visit around three fifteen, it's even hotter than this morning. I step outside to talk to him, warning him it's warmer inside, then we sit on the ground in silence. He's been much happier than he was two months ago and is less snippy with Mizuki. I'm happy to see that he's become a better person than before, although we still have our awkward moments. "What's going on with your hair today?" he finally asks, trying to pat it down.
"Humidity," I pout. "Don, there's something I want to tell you, but I'm really afraid."
"What is it?" The sentence that wants to come out stays lodged in my throat, curling into a ball of jumbled words I can't utter. This is what I don't want to do, drag this whole thing out and worry Don. "Mia, I told you before you don't need to be afraid around me, only Mizuki has to be." A car drives by, the humming of its engine disrupting the insects' chirps and birds' songs. I seldom hear cars here.
I chuckle at Don's joke, pushing my hair down and gazing into his ruby eyes. They make me feel warm and mushy inside. "Was that a car door?" he asks. I wonder if Angelica felt the same way when she looked at him. Eventually, the thing that's on my mind comes out but not the way I want it to, "I-I might be leaving for a year."
"You know her?" Don nods to in front of him, getting on his feet. I follow his eyes and see a tall, umber skinned woman with shoulder-length micro twists approaching us. "I've never seen her before," I whisper to him.
"Are you two waiting for me?" the young woman asks, tugging on the collar of her snug, mauve romper.
"Uh, no. May I ask what you're doing here?" I ask her.
"What I'm doing at my house?"
"What?" Don and I exclaim at the same time. Panic erupts in my stomach. "This-is your home?"
"I know it when I see it," the woman says. "Have you two been living together in my house? You look awfully young." I chuckle while Don splutters, "No, no, no. You own this house?"
"Well yeah," she answers with a lighthearted laugh. "I stopped by to spruce up the place and take care of things but you two strays probably messed it up. Don't tell me you've wandered out here and just found this place. That's the last time I leave a spare key out here." I explain to her what happened the night I came here, excluding the crashing from the sky part, and add that I'm trying to get home. "You expect me to believe that? That you wandered out here-nobody wanders out here, that's why I bought the house. The city was too chaotic for me."
I desperately pull out the wad of hundred-dollar bills from my shallow pocket, disregarding my pants' gradual descent. "This is all I have, you can take it. I'm deeply sorry, I had nowhere else to go."
"Nowhere close to the price of rent, keep it," the woman waves it away.
"She's telling the truth," Don adds when the woman snorts and takes off her sunglasses. She squints at us, shrugs her purse off her shoulder, and sighs. "I guess you are. Can't be helped." She approaches me, digs in her black purse for a few seconds, and holds out a set of keys, isolating one and getting it out the ring. "The house is nice isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is."
"A lot more flowers bloomed last time I was here, I take good care of them. I hope you do, too." She drops the bronze key with a strip of blue tape on it; I catch it clumsily. "Feel free to change the sheets or move some furniture around."
"You're giving me the house?" I stammer. "Just like that? Thank you very much." I exchange a baffled and happy look with Don. The woman puts her sunglasses back on and walks down the path. "It's my seventh house, I'll be fine. Take care of it, kiddies." I hold my breath until I hear the roar of the car engine, then the car driving away.
"Seventh house?" I wonder quietly, dropping back to the ground while tucking the key in my back pocket and the bundle of cash in my front pocket. I grab my capris' waistline and pull it up. "She must be pretty rich."
"Maybe she's a celebrity. You were saying something before?" My body tenses up in fear, I don't want to repeat what I said. When the fast-chirping cicadas reply, Don stares at the clouds as if waiting for an angel to descend from them. "Lucky you. You just got a house for free. You told me you were so afraid that the owner of this house would return and kick you out."
I swallow hard and bite my lip. "Mr. Erick told me I should consider leaving Westopolis for a while."
"What? Where would you go?"
"I don't yet. He only told me that I should go away for a year so I could train to take back my world from the Heartless. But I-I really don't know what to do. I don't want to leave this place, I really like this world. But I want to go home. What do I do?" He frowns deeply and simply puts his arm over my shoulders for a half hug.
J.G.P.