Boot Camp, here we come
*Today was the day; planned to be fun, but her face showed doom. She really didn't want to go, did she?
"Okay class! Get settled down, we are about to leave!" I announced. The students all got into their seats and I went to mine. I wasn't sure whether to be glad that the crazy old man provided a mini bus for each class or worry about how much he must've spent.
~Today was the day, someone please shot me! ARG. Don't look at me! Don't come this way! Don't sit next to m- AHH. I turned to the window to hide my face away from his view. Ever since that day; when he had seen me cry, took me to the beach and comforted me; I would find myself looking at him longer than I should, thinking about him when I shouldn't be, and searching for him as soon as I would enter the school grounds. Arg! What was happening to me? Why was I becoming so aware of him?
"Sensei why don't ya sit next to me?" Rather than wait for an answer, his arm was yanked down by a teenage girl and he found himself sitting next to her. Turning and about to leave for the seat he was intending to head for, a male student had beat him to it. It looked like he was seat-mate with Chiori for the ride. Sighing to himself, he mentally prepared himself for the pointless chatter ahead of him.
"Excited?" Hikaru asked Kyoko as she stared out the window; looking at nothing in particular.
"Not really." Hikaru was a classmate of mine that didn't take part in bullying or ignoring me. I didn't want to get ahead of myself and assume that we were friends, but I was really not feeling the small talk today.
"Have you been to the boot camp before?" The male student inquired, keen to get her talking.
"Nope." I guess my one word reply gave him the hint that I wasn't in the mood to talk as he didn't ask anymore questions after that. Looking out the mini bus as sceneries passed by, my mind reverted back to the conversation with Kanae last night.
"MO! Why are you so scared?" She was confused at how I reacted after recounting the events of my 'kidnapping' two days ago.
"Because Moko-saaaannnn, my heart MOVED! IT MOVED FOR HIM! What am I going to do?" Sitting on her bed, I was rocking my body back and forth; contemplating dropping out of school.
"What is there to do? Mo! Is it such a bad thing that you got the hots for your teacher?" She sat next to me. "Whom by the way, announced that he his your boyfriend." She just didn't get how unusual and improper the situation was.
"Bu-but Moko-sann! I never agreed to date him! He is my teacher, he is a playboy, he is older- way older than me and HE IS THAT MAN! Why am I born with such bad luck?" I sniffed in her arms. You could say I was over reacting, but I honestly didn't see anything between him and I. What I saw was a man trying to speed up time by amusing himself with me, before he would leave this place after a term of teaching and leave me behind, just like my own mother did.
"Mo Kyoko! You need a little fun in your life! Stop worrying about the age difference; it's only 4 years for crying out loud! Stop worrying about your positions; you are graduating this year and he won't be teaching next term! If you like him, go for it!" She told me. Her body language was begging me to just follow the beat of my heart and let go of all my pointless worries.
"But Moko, I'm scared." I whispered to her. It become obvious that Ren is a good man, but would I be able to handle the pain when he would leave me, when the fun in teasing me would no longer be there, and he would seek amusement from others? I didn't want to be like those girls that cried, 'my life is over!' when they broke up with their boyfriends, but I honestly don't think I would mentally recover if what we have ended.
"Mo, I'm scared too. I'm scared that he will treat you so good, that you'll forget all about poor little me." I had laughed in her embrace at how ridiculous her fears were. "Promise me you'll have an open mind about dating him. For real, dating him for real, real." She stretched and repeated 'real', because she knew, I thought of his announcement of us 'dating' as merely his way of teasing me.
* Putting my fake smile on, I nodded my head here and there; trying to not make it obvious just how uninterested I was in the conversation.
The 1 hour bus ride to Osaka could possible never be uneventful. Just like in the movies, there was a twist that no one saw coming. Reaching Neyagawa, none other than the principal's voice rang through the bus' intercom.
"Good evening my students!" Lory Takarda's voice sung through the 3 parked mini buses making their way to Osaka. "So as you all know, this boot camp is all about L-O-V-E, love!" All the singles in the buses could be heard groaning from their seats.
"Love comes in many different shapes and forms; such as friendship, family and so on and so forth. So, the purpose of this boot camp is to strength and discover love. As of right now, the first love that is to be explored is love for another human being; which type of love and how deep the love, well, that all depends on you. At the front of the each bus are hats with everyone's name, the teacher will get up and pick names from the hats. The students called will now become partners and make their own way to our destination. The pair must arrive before or at 4, not a minute later. Oh, for the uneven classes, the last person picked will be paired with the teacher. Oh, and another thing, the pairs cannot travel in groups nor can they separate." Whispers started flying around at the sudden turn of events.
Getting up from his seat and making his way to the front, Ren grabbed the pink glittery hat that had captured every student's attention as they had entered the bus that morning, and began his task of pulling out names. There were female pairs, male pairs, female and male pairs; so far, no one seemed to mind that much.
"The next pair is, Amamiya Chiori and..." I picked up another little pink paper, "Ishibashi Hikaru." I announced the sixth pair.
"WHAT! I CANNOT BE STUCK WITH THAT LOSER!" She didn't seem too happy about the pairing, neither did the 'loser'. He seemed disappointed.
"The next pair is, Mogami Kyoko..." In the confines of my mind, I cursed at my bad luck. Our class was one of the uneven ones. I was honestly hoping she was last. Sighing heavily, I picked another, "and, Fuwa Sho." I didn't miss the glare that was sent to Kyoko, or the murderous look that Kyoko sent to the window, nor did I miss the smirk that graced the boy's smug face.
"What! I want to be with Sho-kun!" Mimori protested. "Shouldn't I be paired with my boyfriend? This is not fair-"
"That's a good question!" Everyone was startled at the voice through the intercom once again. Of course that old man was eavesdropping on us, I wouldn't be surprised if he hid cameras in the buses too. "A great question has been brought forth by class 3C's Nanokura Mimori; why can't couples make their way together to the destination? Well, you would never establish or deepen relationships with others, if you are constantly with your partner." Yet again, whispers and people's two cents filled the air.
"Oh, too bad, it looks like you are stuck with me." I told her, a sympathetic smile on my face; hiding the vein that was threatening to pop.
