Author's note: Hey, well, this would be my second chapter of The Other Half. I'm glad that at least some of you reviewed. For that, I thank you. It should be noted that this story generally evolves around Marie so the other characters may not play such a bit role. With nothing much else to say, I hereby present to you readers, The Other Half, Chapter 2
The Other Half
Chapter 2: Start of Lobelia
Marie stopped at mid-step as she was alighting from the vehicle. If she wasn't impressed by the ten inch screen, mini bar, top end stereo and genuine Italian leather interior of the sleek stretch limousine that was her carriage, she was certainly blown away by the majesty of the house that stood in all its glory before her; the light of the sun shinning out from behind casting shadows that encompassed the front garden and all who stood in it only served to further intensify the grandeur of the mansion. Never had Marie had the privilege to set foot in a home such as this. Thanking the chauffer who held the door open for her, Marie walked up to her new friends who were beckoning to her from the front door of the building. For a moment, she was concerned about her baggage but the girls only assured her that the servant could handle it. Shrugging off her hesitation, Marie followed the girls.
"Mon Cherie Marie! Welcome to my home, shall we start your tour now or do you want to see your room first?" asked Benio.
Smiling, Marie replied, "Is it alright if I see my room first? I'm rather tired and sort of want to freshen up first."
Agreeing, the girls led Marie up a flight of stairs to the west wing of the house. As they passed each door, Marie was given a mini tour. After the girls left her in her room with the promise to wait in the living room with snacks, Marie closed the door and leaned against it. Without rhyme or reason except the excuse of jet lag, she fell into the soft down feather mattress and sunk into darkness.
It was well past midnight now and Marie was suffering her folly. She should not have allowed herself to fall asleep this afternoon. Now the shores of sleep were well beyond her reach and she was as awake as the security guard that was currently patrolling the grounds under her bedroom window. Letting herself fall back into the bed, Marie stared blankly at the ceiling recalling the day's events.
Not long after she had fallen asleep, the girls had come to look for her. Upon finding her sleeping so peacefully, the girls had decided to let her rest. Or so she was told by them. Although their version of the events included much more exaggerated description including something about her looking like an angel fallen from heaven with wisps of hair here and there and what not. Certainly when she had awoken earlier that evening, Marie was very much embarrassed but she was thankful that the girls were gracious in assuring her that she had not offended them by falling asleep on them. Yet thinking as she was, Marie still found her thoughts wandering towards the topic of her family.
How was her mother now; she wondered. Her brother, her father; she hoped they were well. And how about her real father, was he even still alive? Was this rational? Was it rational for her to come all the way here just to find some guy who, from what she could tell, left her mother pregnant with her, taking no responsibility whatsoever? Some guy who could very well be six feet under at this very point in time! It wasn't the least bit rational she admitted to herself, but with all the powers of faith trust and pixie dust, Marie just somehow knew that he was somewhere out there. Something in her heart told her that there was something very important she had yet to discover about her true father and that only when she met him would she understand. Giving out another loud sigh, Marie pushed herself off the plush mattress and started to unpack her clothes. School would begin the day after tomorrow on Monday. She had best try to get some proper rest lest she became a panda eyed zombie tomorrow. Tomorrow she was to have her first tour of the bustling city to Tokyo. She could only hope that she'd have the energy for it.
Energy… she had none. Yesterday's afternoon nap was certainly not the smartest idea. For thanks to her jetlag combined with last night's sleeplessness, Marie was exhausted and getting pulled around by the three energetic student escorts was of no help at all. Currently, they were chattering on about some up coming musical that their Zuka club was to perform next month.
"Oh, Marie-san, since you will be here for the next six months, you could be an honorary member of the Zuka Club! We would be very honored to have you!"
"Wah…?" rousing herself from the clutches of sleep, Marie tried to figure out what they were talking about. Sadly, she was too drowsy and merely replied with a "yeah, sure, whatever." Little did she know that her careless agreement was the just the beginning of much chaos to come.
This was it; the limo had arrived at the front gates of the St Lobelia Girls Academy. And Marie could not deny the flutters in her stomach. She was never really one for new experiences. Truth be told, she had always been a coward of sorts, never venturing out to forge new ground. Were she in a yellow wood, where two roads diverged, she would most honestly and instantly take the one most travelled by. To come all the way to Japan by herself, all by herself, when she could have chosen the Italy exchange program instead with her best friend, it was an achievement indeed; an achievement and testament of her strong determination to seek the truth of her past.
The hall was packed with students, the chattering of their conversations echoing the acoustics.
"Good Morning students, we have a visitor from America here today, she is from Mailand Academy of Fine Arts and will be here for six months. I hope you will be welcoming and proper hosts for the duration of her stay here with us."
When the introductions were all done with, Marie stepped off onto the stage. This was the first time she was ever up on stage without a prepared script or choreography. She was so unprepared and unsure of what to do. Thank heavens it was over. Now, all she had to do was get though the next six months without feeling homesick or miserable, find her father somewhere in this country, somehow force him into telling everything and finally decide where to go from there. Not so bad at least she had a plan.
"Come on Marie, its time to meet the school in person! Are you excited?!" asked Benio as she waltz out the doors of the auditorium held open by two girls wearing pink shirts and bowing. Marie briefly wondered if it was common practice for the juniors to do that for the seniors here at St. Lobelia; but her train of thought was cut short by the high pitched screams of the swarm of pink girls that were mobbing her student escorts. 'It's as though they're super stars of sorts. Well… that's different.' Indeed it was different from Mailand Academy. No one at her school was ever so revered. Certainly they had their popular crowd but they were nothing like this. And to think that they even needed student officials to hold off the mob. Incredible.
Marie was exhausted. Studying in Japan was harder than she expected. For one, practically ALL the classes she took were in Japanese. This is not to say that she had terrible Japanese but it was just that she was only fluent with conversational Japanese. Words like "induction", "refractive index" and "chloroplast" were far beyond her reach. To add to that, her American accent got in the way making it very difficult for the other students to catch what she was trying to say. The only good part about the whole language problem was that her hosts were fluent with English and this assisted her greatly.
Another exhausting thing was the numerous fans that kept trying to mob her escorts. It was so odd that even after a full day of experiencing it, Marie still couldn't get over it. Of course the good part was that with all the lunch bento boxes offered to the three campus superstars, Marie was spared from having to pay for her own lunch. At this rate, she may just have enough at the end of the stay to buy that tea set she during her whirlwind tour of Tokyo the other day for her mother. Marie's family wasn't poor per say, but neither were they rich. She was from one of those slightly above average income families and if it were not for the fact that all the exchange programs are subsidized by her school and that she had a host, she would not have been able to afford both the cost of schooling and living in Japan.
In any case, today was a rather good day despite the mishaps. The students were all very welcoming, the school had excellent facilities, an impressive history and cultural back ground, and the staff was all very nice. Overall, Marie found it to be quite a good day.
Author's note: Okay I'd admit this took really long to come out and it seems like it doesn't have a purpose but to put it simply it's just to move along Marie's journey into Japan so that she can meet the Host club soon.
