Oh hey there! Fancy seeing you here...

I'm ill! Yay? I've missed school and basically spent the whole frickin' day watching movies and eating. I was looking forward to school, I have three languages on a Wednesday (sarcastic text is sarcastic)! Oh, and i've been looking up a bunch of Japanese artists/bands. Is it just me who finds the melodies in Japanese music so much better (even though I don't have a clue what their saying) than english speaking music?

Notable ones: Scandal, Chemistry, Cool Joke

Can I also say they have all done themes for FMA/B! I did not know that! AWESOME.

Without further ado, here comes another chapter! Tee hee!

Ayumi was sat at a small table in the café Sakura had asked her to meet her at. It was a pretty little café in the entrance of the shopping centre, and she remembered it breifly, since she had come here with Hinoe a few weeks ago. Sighing, she ordered an Iced Mocha, her favorite drink in the café at the moment, as well as a blueberry muffin whilst she waited for her friend. It wasn't too long before Sakura turned up, her blonde hair around her shoulders with a new salmon pink streak down the middle. In the crowd of people, all with black or brown hair, she was tremendously easy to spot. She was wearing her uniform, just like Ayumi, which made Ayumi quite relived since she hadn't had time to go home and get changed. Sakura had probably came straight from her school too.

"Shinozaki!" she greeted, pulling a chair out at the table Ayumi was at. "Long time, no see!"

"Yep!" replied Ayumi with a smile. "How have you been?"

"Good, good, everything's fine here. You?" asked Sakura, stretching as she sat down opposite her.

"It's...alright I suppose."

"You did get a place didn't you?"

"Of course I did! I told you, remember?" Ayumi replied, remembering the text conversation she had had with the girl.

"Huh? When?"

"Over text...?"

"Oh, oh yeah, that's right!" she suddenly seemed to remember, with a laugh. "My stupid cousin..."

Ayumi caught the last mumbled words that Saukra had said under her breath. Of course, the reason why Sakura had been unable to come over and look at the results, was because her family had come over.

"Aw, it doesn't matter anymore, Kasako. We both got through anyway!" Ayumi dropped the subject, taking a bite out of her muffin. It tasted surprisingly good, the tasty blueberries leaving a fruity taste in her mouth. She hadn't eaten a desert type treat in absolutely ages.

"Alright. I'm gonna grab some grub, be right back!" Sakura told her, scraping out of her seat.

She came back with a white chocolate frappe with extra whipped cream placed on the top. Well, to Ayumi it wasn't a topping, it was practically a mountain. Ayumi thought deeply about Sakura in her mind whilst she chatted with her in between eating. She expected it to be a bit awkward, since they had barely got to know each other, yet Sakura seemed to be far more confident then when she had been in the waiting room. Ayumi herself had been extremely nervous, and now couldn't see why Sakura wasn't either. It was a scary situation!

"So, only one for term until we go to college! I'm excited, but..."

"Nervous," Ayumi finished off for her, giving her a knowing look. "I know exactly how you feel Kasako-san!"

"Haha. How's school going anyway? I heard Kisaragi is suuuuper strict!" Sakura continued, slurping up the remnants of her drink.

"Its not strict," Ayumi correct with the smallest hint of a frown. "But it's not exactly fun at the moment either!"

"Oh?"

"Well, it's-"

"Let me guess. Boy troubles?" guessed Sakura, glancing at Ayumi.

"Partly, but-"

"Oh I got it all figured out. The boy you're crushing on doesn't like you, and theres the boy best friend of course, that's just making the whole situation worse...You know, that kind of thing."

"He's not my best-" flared up Ayumi, before realising what she had said. Then her mouth opened wide in the most comical gape.

"What?"

"How on earth do YOU know that?" Ayumi wanted to know, totally stunned.

"I know that look anywhere," Sakura giggled, fumbling in her bag for something. "Trust me, I've seen it before!"

"When?"

"As soon as I spotted you! A oh-im-so-conflicted-please-help-me look!" Sakura said bluntly, almost as if it was a fact known to all decent human beings.

"Erm, okay..."

"Trust me," laughed Sakura, her hand still searching for something. "My 15 year old sister is the biggest player ever. She has a new boyfriend every week, and then get's upset when they dump her. No wonder my brother hates her!"

Suddenly without warning, Sakura dropped her bag clumsily and the contents of it spilled out onto the floor around Ayumi's feet.

"Oh, i'm SO sorry!" Sakura immediately apologized, a look of horror on her pretty face.

"Don't worry; i'll pick them up from here!" assured Ayumi, kneeling down to pick things up. A hairbrush and pocket mirror were put back into the bag safely, as well as her leopard print purse and keys. There was her phone too, but that had gone behind Ayumi's seat, so she decidedly went to find it, hoping that people weren't staring at her strange actions. She picked it up, still kneeling, accidentally turning it on as she grabbed it. The screen immediately flashed up with the messaging window, making Ayumi shield her eyes with the neon pink background, as expected from the presumably girly teenager. Abruptly, the conversation bar came up, one name catching Ayumi's eye in particular, and it wasn't even hers!

Actually, her name wasn't even on the conversation's list. Perhaps she had deleted it to make room for more recent conversations.

Not wanting to look suspicious, she got up and returned the phone to Sakura, who thanked her gratefully and didn't seem to notice that it was on. Phew.

"I love your phone," Ayumi commented with a friendly look in her eyes. "Is it the latest IPhone model?"

"I didn't think you'd look at it so closely!" said Sakura, making Ayumi unsure if she was being accusing or friendly. However she followed it through with a sweet smile, so Ayumi's doubts bit the dust.

"Yes, it is actually. Where were we with our conversation again?" continued Sakura, putting her bag back on the floor, blushing for some reason.

"You made a creepy statement about my problems...? prompted Ayumi.

"That's right! Geez, you need to do something about that..."

"How?" asked Ayumi with a pout. "Half the people in the school hate me, I haven't got a best friend, I think my crush goes out with someone I really don't like, and even Yoshiki's gone a bit cold on me!"

"You need to decide for yourself," Sakura advised, shaking her head. "Not everything will come your way Shinozaki."

"Now you just sound like my sister," joked Ayumi, thinking of wise Hinoe.

"Haha! Do you have the time on you?"

"Yes," replied Ayumi, glancing at her watch. "It's been around 45 minutes since I got here."

"Oh right..." said Sakura, biting her lip.

"What about you?" asked Ayumi with a grin. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

She imagined that Sakura was pretty popular, with both friends and boys too. As far as she knew, Sakura was pretty, bubbly and decidedly likable, so there was no reason why she couldn't be. Ayumi tried to make herself look and sound like that, but no matter how hard she tried Naomi would always be prettier, Seiko always more bubbly, and Mayu definitely more likable. Apart from her love of art, manga especially, Ayumi considered herself very plain, and that wasn't good as far as friends and boy's were considered.

"No, actually." Admitted Sakura, looking ashamed. "I'm not even that popular!"

"Whaaa?! That's crazy!"

"Well, a lot of people went to my middle school you see," explained Sakura with a slight hesitation. "And back then...well, I was like my brother."

"A children's author?"

"No, he's very geeky. Always reads books. I used to think that was cool, and copied it. I tried to make myself look cool in high school, and it's working...a bit."

"I know what you mean. I know what it's like to be a different person." Ayumi nodded slowly, thinking about the ignorant mask she had put on whenever someone was mean to her in school, when she was actually dying inside. "It sucks."

"Aw, let's not drown in our worries," said Sakura brightly, handing over the drained glasses and rubbish to a maid walking by. "We should defo meet up again sometime Shinozaki!"

"Sure!" Ayumi laughed, putting her jacket on over her top, before slinging her bag quickly over her shoulder. "Are you getting the train?"

They compared train tickets, and it revealed they were in fact getting on the same train as each other, however Sakura was getting off two stops before her.

As the train pushed through the city, Ayumi closed her eyes and remembered the last time she had been on a train, two months ago when she had met Yoshiki. Usually if they were going out, Ayumi's family would go in the car instead as it was more efficient for her busy father. She recalled the protective look in his eyes as he pulled her away from the creep at the station; the interested expression he gave her when she had mentioned where she was going. The black guitar case he apparently never let out of his sight, with the exception of school, and the way he raked his left hand through his blonde hair.

Then she realised she didn't want to lose their friendship.

OMG OMG OMG

Can i just make fun of my own typo please

Modern girl, chapter 9

"That doesn't mean i'm going to change the way I fell.."

Quotio Yoshiko

In life sometimes you have to face up to the way you fell over, you can't just change it. Words of wisdom from Yoshiki, or more rightly, me. I'll make sure that gets corrected. xD