Here is chapter 4, finally! Sorry it takes so long to update in between chapters. And this one is even later then normal, isn't it? Sorry, I had a hectic weekend. I didn't have a single spare moment to myself! It was fun, but tiring. Anyway, review and all that good stuff and check out my other stories. Hopefully soon I'll get to update my profile so you can see what's coming. I only just thought of putting in something like that because of what a moron I am. I'll let you get to the story now.
I walked into school Monday morning feeling refreshed. I was looking forward to today, the day when I instituted Operation Coolest Girl in School. I already had a good idea of who the cool kids were here. Ikuto had given me the basic run-down, who I don't want to be seen with and what-not. I knew exactly what I was looking for. And, lucky me, target number 1 was in my first period class. I had stayed up all night every night since we got here practicing my English. I spent every conscious second of the weekend studying, too. And it probably helped that I had studied English back in Japan, even if I hadn't been very good at it at all. Hopefully, it was enough.
"Hey." I said, walking up to Triniti Carlsons, best friend of Faith Richards who was regarded with much admiration and envy. She turned, obviously surprised that anyone would dare to talk to her forthright, but when she saw who it was, she smiled. Being foreign must give me some sort of advantage. I thought, amused.
"Hey. You're the new girl, right? Amu Hinamori?" She pronounced it like A moo Heenaamori, which was annoying, but I tried to not be a pain about it. I'd correct her just this once, but after that I'd try not to.
"It's pronounced Amu, but yeah. That's me." I responded, trying to sound like I spoke this language all the time. I hoped I had my grammar correct.
"You stood up in class and … yourself, right?" I didn't recognize one of the words, and was aware I looked confused, but it didn't seem to bother her, though. She probably was expecting I wouldn't be great at English yet.
"… yourself? Told us your name?" She offered, trying to make things simpler for me. I smiled brightly, showing her I understood. Wow. American girls are a lot nicer than that movie tried to make them seem. I thought happily. This would be a lot easier if I didn't have to deal with a bunch of bitchy snobs.
"Oh! Repeat that word please?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound weird. The only reason I had memorized that phrase was for situations like this. Good thing, too. It might have looked a little strange if someone who was trying to learn English just brushed off new vocabulary without even trying to learn it. Triniti smiled at me.
"Sure. Introduce." She said. I repeated the word slowly and she nodded.
"So, you're still learning English?" She asked, speaking a little slower. I was glad. It was a little hard to follow earlier.
"Yeah. I'm not too good at it yet. Our move was…" I thought for a moment, trying to think of the word I needed. "quick?" I asked, looking to Triniti for help. She thought for a moment.
"You mean sudden?" She asked. I didn't really know, so I just nodded.
"Yeah, sudden. I no had time to learn English." She giggled a bit, and I realized I had made a mistake. I was utterly horrified I had said something wrong. What was going to happen? She seemed to think it was funny. Was that good or bad? She must have been able to read the fear on my face, because she stopped laughing and waved her hands in front of her face.
"Don't be … I … English is, like, the …. …. In the world to … or…. So, it's … Don't worry about it." I didn't understand most of what she said, but I nodded anyway. I still didn't know what I had said wrong, but I hoped she would explain without my asking. I didn't want to seem like anymore of a freak than I already did.
"You mean you didn't. You didn't have time to learn English." She said. I nodded, smiling. This was seriously a lot easier than I thought it would be. I had spent hours on the computer yesterday researching all about celebrities in America and what the latest fashions in clothing and hair were. I had armed myself with all the tools I could to win her over, and it was almost like it was her goal to win me over too. This was completely effortless so far!
"So." Triniti said, her voice dropping low. "Did you hear about Daniel Francois?" She asked, her eyes eager. I realized what the one thing I had forgotten was – gossip. I knew nothing of the gossip here at this school. I mentally kicked myself. How could I have forgotten something so blatantly obvious? I hid my feelings, though, and tried to make my face match hers, eager to spread stories, be they true or not.
"I hear he totally cheated on Ashley Levis. She caught him with Amelia Brooks." I racked my brains for the names. It took a few seconds, but I finally remembered who they were. Ashley Levis – Vice President of the student council and Chair of the dance committee. Ikuto told me who she was when we were going through a year book over the weekend. Amelia Brooks – Ashley's best friend. One of the most popular girls and the biggest slut in school. She recently broke up with Daniel. Daniel had only been dating Ashley for a month.
"Really? I cannot believe he would do that!" I exclaimed. Triniti rolled her eyes.
"Well, I can. He's a total player. Everyone knows it." I was confused for a moment. By 'player', did she mean he was a football player? Jocks did seem to have bad reputations. I wouldn't be surprised if he was. But still, I had to make sure I had it straight.
"What do you mean, a 'player'?" I asked.
"You know: he's a cheater. He can't stay …" I nodded, even though I didn't understand the last word. I made a mental note to look it up later. "You should stay away from him. I would know. He cheated on me." The longer I talked to her, the easier it was to understand her. It was a great feeling, being able to understand a whole sentence when just a few minutes ago I would have thought that impossible. I nodded, trying not to show how happy I was about this in case she read it the wrong way.
"Alright, settle down, it's time for class! Back to your seats." Mr. Dansworth, the math teacher, yelled. I walked back to my seat after exchanging numbers with Triniti. For the rest of class, I had a huge, barely suppressed smile on my face.
