Dear Emi

I managed to talk to someone in my class! Of course, it was only a sentence or two and it was with the vice class rep because she was collecting my papers… I think her name was Momoko Kurusagi? It was something like Momotaro. Well, I'll get there. It's only been a week after all, and everyone else has known each other since elementary or middle school. Plus, talking to good looking people is daunting. Also, I found out that no, it's not because rich people are all good looking but all the good looking rich people were put into one class. I guess my step dad is some big shot because they all seem to come from really powerful or famous backgrounds too…

For a super-rich school, the curriculum seems pretty standard. I'm glad I was in the accelerated course in middle school or I wouldn't be able to keep up. The weird thing is they don't have a physical education course? You would have probably thrown a party since you hate running or sports or any kind of physical activity but I kind of miss having an hour or so to move around without being judged. I figure I'll replace it with a morning run since the schools have shower stations for the sports clubs. I asked our homeroom teacher and he said no one needed any permissions to use them so I guess I'm good? Luckily short hair dries quickly. I've been taking the early train to school so I can explore the campus and no one seems to be around early in the morning except the staff. Honestly it would be like a horror movie with all the empty halls if said halls were not colored obnoxiously pink. The place is huge too. I don't think I can finish exploring all of it in a week- it'll probably take me a month at least. I wish you could be here to explore with me. That would make it ten times more fun.

Speaking of the campus, their cafeteria is crazy! It's huge, and there are different sections like a more private café section with giant windows overlooking the garden area and there's also a main canteen style section. Everything is always really clean and I don't have to look out for weird food particles on the seats or spills on the floor because, either everyone has perfect manners and don't spill anything or the cleaning staff is super efficient. Maybe it's a combination of both? I think there's even a section where you can get served restaurant style with waiters. After this kind of treatment, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to a normal high school. Actually, just kidding- all of this seems really excessive, though I will miss the pro levels of sanitation if I ever do have to go back. I'll definitely also miss the food. As expensive as it is, it's totally worth the price. Apparently my step dad pre-paid for all my meals at school this year. I was originally planning on bringing food from home because of the prices but at least this is a chance to broaden my knowledge on fancy food! I swear I will steal all their secrets by the end of the year and make them mine! Last week one of the dishes they were serving for the A set was Western style beef stew. You know how I usually don't like it that much but for this one, the meat was so tender without being mushy and the sauce was super rich. The vegetables were also perfectly cooked with the sauce flavor seeped in, and everything worked well together! I think they also put some cinnamon in there, but I can't tell if they used ground cinnamon or if they used the whole stick kind and then took it out. Maybe I could ask the chefs? I feel like that would be rude though, but I really want to know…

I feel a little awkward being able to taste all these high class foods though; he didn't have to do that since he's already giving me a hefty allowance… I want to thank him but I'm not really sure how. You would probably tell me to just go for it and hug him while saying thank you but I don't have your courage to do that. Maybe I'll just text him- but that seems a little impersonal. I thought about making him some food and passing it to him through my little brother but he probably has tons of professional chefs to do that kind of work for him. Also, my little brother apparently goes to Ouran as well, though he goes to the middle school sector. I don't know why I was expecting anything different; it's obvious that anyone with money would send their kid to Ouran. His name is (Akiko? No wait it's) Akihito Hiraoka. That's my new last name too, Hiraoka. I met him and my parents before I moved into my new place and I haven't seen him since. He seems, okay? Kind of quiet. I don't really have a strong impression on any of my brothers since I only saw Akihito at the one dinner with my parents before I moved into my new place but I guess I'll meet them sometime later.

After the first two days of being alone, the apartment seems really empty without gran or you barging in every day to hang out. Without her to nag me, I almost forgot to do adult life things like greet the neighbors or take out the trash. Or, well- I tried to greet the neighbors. I remember gran telling me I needed to prepare a gift so I decided to use this as an excuse to try and bake a cake. I made three, one for me, one for my right neighbor and one for my left neighbor. I think they came out pretty well. It was a milk tea sponge cake recipe I found online. I used black tea instead of the green tea the recipe asked for - since I didn't have any green tea - and whipped cream instead of frosting to give it a lighter taste. I tried doing those frosting roses with the whipped cream but I think I left the cream out for too long because it didn't hold together and just became a sad drooping mess. Luckily I tried it out on my cake first. I ended up just putting the usual cream dollops around the edges of the cake for both of them and packaged them up really nicely. I think they came out tasting great but you probably wouldn't have liked them, complaining that they weren't sweet enough. I swear, your taste buds are like a child's and you never appreciate my sophisticated pallet or the idea of subtle sweetness.

I didn't end up actually meeting my right neighbor because when I tried knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell, no one answered. I didn't want to waste the cake I made either- you know I like sweets but really, one cake is enough for a week or two – so I just hung it on their doorknob with a note. I probably can go greet them later with a different present when they're home. I did meet my left neighbors though. They were a really sweet married couple. One was a housewife and the other was the owner of a flower shop in the shopping district near the grocery store. They both told me to call them by their first names, which is a bit awkward but if that's what they want? At least I have a better chance of getting their names right. The wife, Hanako (Shizune? Sushine?) Shimizu was about 5 months pregnant so maybe I'll hear a little brat running around soon. Maybe it'll make me less homesick to hear something familiar. (I wonder how Kaito is doing. He was only four when I left so he'll probably forget about me in time since I'm not going back home. There isn't even anything to g- ) When Riku Shimizu, the husband, heard I was living alone, he gave me a container full of food and told me I could ask them for help or if I needed anything. He also gave me their home phone number and the phone number to their flower store. I think they were worried I would have trouble taking care of myself. I guess it's usually worrying if a teenager is living alone since they don't know I was basically taking care of gran and myself since forever.

I checked later to see what they gave me and it was some super yummy Japanese style potato salad. It was just the way I like it too, super chunky potato with lots of additional veggies and minimal mayo. I finished it as a side dish last week so maybe I should return the container with something I cooked inside to thank them?

I'm also still wearing this stupid dress. I looked though the dress code and it never says explicitly that we have to wear the uniform, and the other transfer student is still not wearing the uniform so it's not like I can't ditch it. I was also getting a lot of weird looks on the train for wearing that get up. Luckily there weren't a lot of people there so I got away with minimal embarrassment, but I don't think I would be able to handle the attention I would get at school for wearing something different. The other transfer student sticks out like a sore thumb but she doesn't seem to care, or maybe she doesn't even notice? Her hair looks like a birds nest and she wears these super thick glasses so maybe she doesn't care about how others think of her. She's kind of like you in that regard. Well, since they have gym style locker rooms and I'm planning on jogging to school in the mornings anyways, I'll just wear normal clothes and change into my uniform when I get to school. I'll tell you more next time but I have to study so I can keep up with my classes now.

Ria

P.S. I wish you were here.