The warm, August air was filled with the crisp smell of fresh cut grass and chlorine from nearby neighborhood pools. Carefully manicured greenery surrounded the long sidewalks leading up to one of the most prestigious private schools in the country.
"Move it, lady!"
Young kids with brightly-colored book bags ran past a tan, taller-than-average girl, bumping into her aggressively. They turned their heads long enough to laugh at her, but then kept running. Two boys sitting just off to the side in the grass who looked to be in high school whistled and suggested she hike up her skirt a bit. Humiliated, she kept walking with her eyes forward.
Was this how all the kids in the United States were?
Though she was admittedly a little excited for the new scenery, Lace didn't want to move across the ocean just a few short weeks earlier. Her family owned business called Capsule Corporation, the largest company in the world, finally broke into the American market. Despite years of dread and promises that it would never happen, their entire family decided to uprooted their children to a new country. Now, Lace found herself in northern Georgia wearing the ugliest plaid skirt she'd ever laid seen and already feeling grumpy.
As she continued walking, she heard a driver beside her in his car yelling and speeding past slower drivers on the road. She tried to ignore it and breathed in deeply, but the air near the city of Atlanta was fairly toxic and thick. She coughed and tried to catch her breath while a few other cars sped by. Several profanities were screamed back and forth at the next red light before the cars slammed on the gas and took off yet again. She snickered quietly at the men.
At least she could understand and speak fluent English.
Lost in culture shock, she felt a tug on her book bag and flew backwards. She fell with a thud onto her backside and heard the ground crack below her. She spun her head around and up to see her younger sister, Brie and her cousin, Keiko standing over her with dumb grins adjourning their optimistic faces. Brie held out a hand while trying to flip her bangs out of her eyes. Her light blue bob shimmered from her glitter hairspray in the sunlight. Lace gasped at her sister's carelessness when her rolled up skirt almost revealed all it had to offer to some boys across the street. Lace grabbed her hand and pulled herself up quickly.
"Brie! Unroll your skirt! You look like a total ho!" Lace complained.
Brie groaned and pushed Lace away from her.
"You're just jealous of my hot bod." Brie bragged, skimming her hands down her sides.
Lace rolled her eyes and brushed off her skirt. Keiko leaned an elbow on her cousin and poked her cheek.
"Sorry, but it was kinda funny that you actually fell. Proof that you're never paying attention."
Keiko had her wispy, purple hair pulled into a high ponytail at the top of her head like always. She looked like she was straight out of a cheerleader movie. She blended right in with the other confident girls walking about, aside from her thin eyes admittedly showing her heritage.
Before Lace could come up with something to say back to her, Keiko flipped Lace's braid into her face and laughed playfully, causing Lace to sneeze and chase after them both.
"You know what? I'm just glad it was you two pulling on my bag and not one of the other idiots around here. People are already being total dicks to me! They have no idea what could happen if they piss me off…" Lace growled in a low voice, catching up to the two trouble makers.
Keiko eagerly pried for more information, "Like how? We haven't even gotten to school yet."
"I've already had like a million people making comments on this ugly ass skirt! We're like…total freaks. Wait until people start noticing my eyes..."
Keiko's face turned a little more serious-looking. She knew all about the incident that caused Lace's...deformity. At least, as much as anyone besides Lace's parents knew. Their family regarded it with utmost reverence and protected their secret carefully. It was never brought up until each child was old enough to understand just how special, and dangerous, Lace actually was.
The story would be hard to believe for an average human. It was so strange that Lace had never shared the reason behind her unusual appearance with anyone who didn't already know about it.
When Lace's mother was pregnant, an evil group of people set out to kidnap and destroy humanoids with extraordinary strength and abilities. The sought-out people, called saiyans, fought back with ferocity, but none of them seemed to be able to prevent their inevitable capture and torture. After all known-saiyans but Lace's father were trapped under ground, a mad scientist that led the group of degenerates injected Lace's mother with an experimental serum. The foreign mixture merged with Bra's unborn child's genes and altered her saiyan DNA permanently. From the moment she was born, her pure-blue eyes were tainted by a glowing, pink ring around both of her pupils. The angrier she became, the more the glowing pink engulfed her irises and terrified those around her.
As a small child, controlling her powers and hiding her abilities at school were very difficult tasks. One temper tantrum was capable of destroying an entire city. Though Lace was a happy child with many advantages in life, her temper remained unpredictable. She began to train with her grandfather, a pure-blooded, saiyan prince. Vegeta saw himself in the little girl who was eager and willing to learn. She was destined to be the greatest warrior this universe had ever seen in his eyes. She was the only person Vegeta had never showed an ounce of resentment or embarrassment towards.
Lace looked down at her phone and turned on the screen. A text was there, but she blushed and hid it away quickly. Keiko noticed and grabbed for the phone, but Lace stuffed it down her shirt.
"Seriously?" Keiko complained.
"It's nothing." Lace assured her, looking away.
"You know that long distance relationships are crazy. You shouldn't be talking to some guy in Japan! You should be meeting these hot American guys! Jerks or not…most of them are totally cute." Keiko declared playfully, winking at a passing public school boy.
When they arrived at Ramison Academy, several students were pulling up to the front in luxury cars and limos. There was a student parking lot as well that was filled with seniors driving cars that were just as expensive as their tuition. Lace noticed one girl open her red convertible's door right into another car. The boy in the white car beside her got out and began to yell, but the girl simply handed him cash and waved her hand in his face. Lace watched her float away in her way-too-short skirt and rolled her eyes. The girl's long, wild green hair blew in the wind and seemed to attract the jocks from across the lot like magnets.
There always had to be one, Lace thought with contempt.
Keiko trotted up the stairs proudly behind Brie, who looked around casually and smiled at everyone that caught her eye. Lace felt her face heating up with embarrassment. How could they be so confident in a new school on the first day? Furthermore, what did they have to be so happy about? It's just a stupid high school.
This day was going to be hell.
After the girls received some papers from the front office, they proceeded to their lockers. Lace was two years older than her cousin and sister, putting her on a completely different hallway in another part of the school. When they reached the split hall, Lace turned to wave goodbye, but Keiko and Brie were already skipping down the freshmen hall like they'd been going here for years.
Wallowing in her own sadness, Lace began searching for her locker. The bustling hallways were pretty difficult to navigate. Students crammed every inch of floor space as they conversed about their lavish summer vacations and new cars. Lace watched girls gather around each other and comment on boys who'd matured in their looks over the summer. In turn, the boys flashed their pearly-white smiles and tried their best to look macho in their plain white shirts and ugly, plaid pants. A few teachers snapped at boys to tuck in their shirts or at girls to unroll their skirts, causing Lace to snicker secretly to herself.
A teacher stopped Lace with a stern look. She frowned and looked Lace up and down, as though examining an animal in a zoo. When other students started to notice, Lace realized what the teacher was looking at. She slowly peered downwards at what the teacher was staring at.
Her spiked bracelet and combat boots didn't seem to fit in, did they?
"Did you get those…accessories…approved by administration?" The teacher asked sternly.
"Well…no. I'm new. It's my first day." Lace shrugged, darting her eyes around to several sets of loafers rushing past her.
"I don't care if you're new here! Clearly those are not uniform. Look around!"
Lace continued staring at the floor and felt the urge to bow and apologize, but customs in the US were different. Her mother reminded her repeatedly before they moved that bowing would be weird here.
"Why aren't you looking at me, young lady?" The teacher demanded.
Lace felt a nervous pull in her stomach. She didn't want to look up.
"Ma'am! There's a fight in the boy's bathroom!" A girl yelled.
The angry teacher snapped away from Lace and rushed towards the voice. Lace exhaled loudly and hurried away. She heard some girls snickering and blushed. How humiliating.
Lace felt a wave of relief when she finally found her locker. A private place of her own in this giant school was just what she needed. She excitedly tried to open it, looking down at the combination she'd been given by the office. She lifted the small, black lever, but it didn't open. She tried again. Frustrated, she slammed her fist on the locker nonchalantly. Instant regret washed over her when she easily dented the metal. She froze. Other students stopped around her and stared. Mortified, she rushed away quickly and headed for the next hallway over. This day was starting out more terribly than she'd imagined.
She stared at a small map of the school she'd gotten from the office. It appeared that her homeroom was just around the corner. It was going to be close enough to hear students buzzing about the incident, for sure.
In a mad dash, she snuck through the classroom doorway and entered a room lit up with lanterns and decorated with fake plants. The sight shocked her. She peered around at the empty desks and realized that she was the first one there. Everyone was still meeting up with friends in the hallway.
Relieved, she settled in and stared up at the ceiling where students had painted their names carefully in each square with the year that they graduated in the center. Her eyes traveled from the holey ceiling tiles to the walls that were covered in motivational posters and pictures of nature. This teacher was clearly one of those science teachers that tried to immerse the student in the environment. Lace liked that. She glanced over her schedule and felt her heart skip a little beat when she saw the teacher's name listed a second time for her AP biology course. She hoped the teacher was as cool as their classroom.
After a few quiet moments alone, students began to filter in. They all seemed to be avoiding Lace and sitting in their already established social groups. Lace sunk down into the seat and watched the sea of blue and green plaid skirts and pants mingle. The room began to grow loud. Too loud. She closed her eyes and put her head down on the desk. A single tear threatened one eye, ready to break through and pine after the school she'd left so unwillingly behind in Japan. Her phone buzzed again, but she didn't look at the message. Her phone was still stuck down her shirt.
Fantastic.
"Hey!" A voice said calmly from in front of her.
She slowly looked up from her little escape and saw a friendly smile sitting in front of her. The girl wore a similar bracelet to Lace's and was comparing them excitedly.
"I never thought I'd see another rocker-girl at this school. I'm Bibiirotto, but everyone just calls me Bibii."
Lace stifled her lonely sadness and felt a warm glow building steadily inside of her. A friend already? She couldn't be too easily fooled. She stretched out her arm and showed her the bracelet willingly.
"It's seen slipknot twice. It's my lucky bracelet." Lace said quietly with a small smile.
"Slipknot? No way…that's awesome!" Bibii examined the bracelet and began talking about a concert she'd been to recently. Lace listened idly, waiting for the moment she always dreaded when she met new people. It came later than usual, but still, it was expected.
"Woah…your eyes are…so cool! Are those contacts?"
Bibii pulled herself up from her seat and looked into Lace's dazzling blue eyes with amazement. Lace blinked and pulled away.
"No, not contacts. Just my eyes." Lace answered flatly, "It's…a genetic thing."
"So cool! I wish my eyes had glowy, ring thingies!" Bibii squealed cheerfully.
More students began to file in. It seemed like they were hurrying. Homeroom must be about to start. A bell broke through the chatter and quieted everyone quickly. It sounded like a fancy doorbell. Lace chuckled to herself. How lame.
"Good morning, Ramison Academy!" A loud voice rang out from the speakers on the ceiling. Students groaned.
"Please stand for the pledge of allegiance!"
Lace looked around and quickly stumbled to her feet. She copied what Bibii was doing and pretended to mouth along to the words. She thought she'd memorized it, but everything went blank. She noticed other kids staring at her, too.
After some awkward moments of silence, what Lace assumed was their teacher came bounding through the doorway with a handful of papers and a coffee that had spilled a little down her arm. She said hello and hurried over to her desk, dropping the papers on the way and almost spilling her coffee down the front of her flowery dress. Lace got up and rushed over to help her without thinking, grabbing a few more papers effortlessly as they fell from her arms.
"Thank you, sweetheart! I'm a mess this morning!" The teacher said.
The teacher pushed up her thick-rimmed glasses and hurried over to the board. She began to write furiously. Lace sat back down and heard a few girls comment snidely. She felt anger boil inside of her. Would they rather have just let the teacher suffer for everyone to laugh at? She made a mental note to embarrass those girls at some point in the near future.
"Juniors."
She heard the teacher say loudly. Lace looked at the mousy woman standing in front of her messy handwriting on the board.
"I'm Ms. Arrington and I teach a few different science classes here at the Academy. I recognize a few of you, but I see some new faces, too. Let's introduce ourselves before you're dismissed to first period!" The teacher happily trotted over towards Lace's side of the classroom.
Lace filled with dread. Again, she knew what was coming.
"You're new here! How about you stand up and tell us about yourself!"
Lace sighed and stood up. She turned to face the class of stuck up snobs and jocks with contempt. Though she was a serious victim of frequent resting-bitch-face, her current frown was formed totally on purpose.
"Hey. I'm Lace Son. My family moved here from Japan last week…Um…my uncle owns Capsule Corp, if you've heard of it..."
The room fell silent. Faces turned white and mouths hung open. Lace twirled the end of her long, navy braid in one hand as she sat back down in her desk awkwardly. That wasn't the reaction that she expected. She heard one boy whisper, "Dude…that chick is loaded."
Lace smiled. She couldn't deny that little fact.
The teacher introduced some other students and finished up just as another bell rang. She dismissed them and off they went to first period. Lace looked at her schedule and made her way through the crowded halls blindly. She hoped she was headed in the right direction. Bibii, the girl from earlier, was walking up ahead. She figured she'd follow her in an attempt to look somewhat confident. Her phone buzzed again. She looked around and quickly reached into her blouse. She pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.
"How's your day going? Beat anyone up yet?"
Lace felt her stomach lurch angrily and put the phone away. She couldn't get emotional. Not in this lion's den.
The day went by with mostly the same reactions. She had to introduce herself a few more times, adding not so inconspicuously that Trunks Brief was her uncle. It was an instant respect booster and she liked not having to work for that. A few more comments about her eyes were made in passing, but luckily not many people seemed to notice. She still worried in the pit of her stomach. What if someone realized that she was different from the other kids? What if someone figured out that she wasn't even human?
"Hey gorgeous."
A tall, muscular student with huge, spikey hair said casually from beside her at her empty lunch table.
"Hi." She grumbled, returning to her food and blushing.
"Hey, seriously though…do you have a quarter? I'm one quarter short and I really want to buy ice cream."
Lace choked on her food, "W-what?"
"Sorry! I'm Rez by the way. You're new!" He laughed and patted her on the back with hefty force. Lace went rigid at the feeling of someone she didn't know touching her.
"I'm…Lace…" She said between gasps.
"Lace…well that's a pretty name. Pretty name for a pretty girl! So, about that quarter…" Rez continued.
"Rez! Stop scaring Lace!" Bibii laughed, appearing out of nowhere and sitting in front of them.
"Nah, Beebs. I'm not! I just really need a quarter. Do you have one?" He asked with childish excitement.
Bibii laughed and reached into her purse. She tossed a quarter to him and off he went towards the lunch line.
"Sorry about him. He's a little…odd. But he's one of my best friends. You'll get used to his weirdness." Bibii said casually.
Lace felt her sister and Keiko's energy approaching. She loved being able to sense energy levels. It helped her identify when she was about to be bombarded, though the two had grown very skilled at hiding it from her, like their little stunt this morning.
"Oh my God, did you see that pink haired guy? He's totally gorgeous." Keiko said loudly, sitting to Lace's left.
"No, that guy with the purple streak in his hair…." Brie corrected, sitting to Lace's right and staring starry eyed into the abyss.
"You gonna tap that?" Keiko asked seriously.
"We shall see." Brie answered, winking.
Bibii looked awkwardly at Lace, hoping for an introduction, but Keiko spoke first.
"Hi! I'm Keiko and this is Brie. We're new. Well, duh."
Bibii laughed and smiled warmly. Rez returned to the table shortly after and stood with wide eyes behind Bibii.
"Woah, where did all these beautiful ladies come from? Damn!"
Keiko and Brie both giggled, taking the compliment with stride and batting their eyes at him. Lace rolled her eyes and kept eating. He was kinda cute and definitely worked out from the looks of his chiseled appearance, but he was too outgoing and goofy for Lace's tastes.
After the school day finally ended, Lace rushed outside ahead of most of the other lingering students. The feeling of freedom flooded over her and a genuine smile appeared on her face. Her phone buzzed. Finally, she thought. With shaky hands, she pulled out her phone to read her text messages, but someone came up from behind her and grabbed it from her hands.
"Hey!" Lace snarled angrily.
"Whatever. Getting texts from your boyfriend back in Japan? Ew, I bet he's hideous."
The girl from that morning with the red convertible stood in front of Lace in her platform heels and dangled the phone between two fingers as though bating Lace to grab it. Lace crossed her arms and frowned lazily. The girl began getting annoyed at her lack of interest.
"What's the matter? Can't understand English?" The girl taunted, looking anxious for the approval of her posse of preppy girls standing a few feet away.
"Can't understand stupid is more like it." Lace answered coolly, staring the girl straight in the eyes.
"What did you say to me? I'll have you know that my father owns the largest company in America. I could buy this entire school ten times over. My name is Mina Leif, as if you haven't heard of me, and you are not welcome here at this fine establishment! What are you even wearing? Spikes? What a freak!"
The girls in Mina's side-posse began to giggle and agree. Lace rolled her eyes and dropped her arms. She took one step forward to snatch the phone back, but Mina released her two fingers and dropped the phone onto the ground. The screen shattered, but Mina finished the job by stomping on it with the heel of her shoe.
"Oops. I'm guessing you can't afford another one. Poor, ugly lover-boy will have to wait."
Lace's eyes grew large. Without thinking, she jolted forward. Rage exploded in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't control herself. She wanted to rip Mina's stupid head straight from her body. Just before she reached the mint-haired queen, two sets of hands grabbed each of her arms and yanked her backwards forcefully.
"Lace, calm down!" Keiko exclaimed.
"Sis, your eyes!" Brie whispered, struggling to keep hold of Lace.
Mina took a step backwards and covered her mouth dramatically. Her friends rushed to her side and took turns asking if she was okay and fanning her. Mina looked furiously at Lace and pointed at her, about to threaten her, but noticed instead the one thing Lace tried to hide all day.
"Oh my God, what a total freak! Look at her eyes! They're pink! She's some kind of demon-girl!" Mina screeched.
The girls squealed in horror and started pulling Mina away. Lace stomped her foot angrily and felt the concrete crack below her. Keiko grabbed Lace's long braid and yanked on it, snapping her out of her angry trance.
"It's just a phone, Lace. It's not worth blowing your cover! She's just a stupid hoe anyways!" Keiko snapped.
Lace pulled her arms out of their protective holds and straightened out her jacket. Brie giggled.
"She doesn't even know you! It's not like you were actually texting a guy. That's just crazy talk for Lacey." Brie joked.
Ignoring the two, Lace stared down at her phone's pieces. She sighed. It definitely wasn't an issue of buying a new phone. She could have one tonight if she really wanted. Quickly, she picked up the pieces and tossed them into a nearby trashcan. She began storming home without another word.
"Lace, wait up!" Brie called after her.
"Just leave me alone!" Lace growled.
How was she going to know what the text messages said? Did he think she didn't want to answer him? Did he think she was into some guy or something?
When she reached her new, lavish home, she flung open the front door and stomped directly towards the spiral staircase in the foyer. She threw the door closed, causing a loud bang to echo through the whole house. Her mother poked her head out from her upstairs office.
"Are you trying to break the house before we are even finished unpacking?" Bra joked half-heartedly.
"Whatever!" Lace shouted, jogging down the hallway to her room and slamming that door as well.
Bra got up and began making her way to Lace's room, but Lace could hear that Brie arrived just in time to stop her. She listened to her sister cover for her and felt a little relieved.
"Mom! You so don't wanna go in there right now!" She whispered heavily, panting.
"What happened? Is she okay?" Bra asked, removing her glasses and hanging them on the rather revealing cleavage of her silk shirt.
"Some girl smashed her phone and made fun of her at school. She was a total crazy person. It triggered Lace's rage, though. She's lucky Keiko and I got there when we did…it could have been really bad, mom." Brie admitted quietly, shrugging her shoulders.
"You just love the drama, don't you?" Bra asked, "That's my girl."
Bra and Brie headed downstairs, leaving Lace alone to cool off. Lace listened against the door, waiting to move until they were gone.
She approached her bed and plopped down onto it. Her laptop sat just a few inches away, closed and waiting. She decided to be honest and tell him what happened. He would understand. He had to understand.
"Hey."
She hit send immediately, unsure of how he might respond. Was he even awake? What time was it in Japan right now?
"Hey!"
His answer was instant. He wasn't typing anything else. The pit of her stomach tightened as she began to type back.
"Today was HORRIBLE."
She felt a little bad for complaining. He'd been texting her all day. She was the one who didn't answer to tell him about it until now.
"What happened?"
Lace sighed loudly. Did she really need to tell him how careless she was? She paused before answering, looking sadly at the keyboard.
"People were horrible. School was horrible. I hate it here. I wanna come home."
He didn't respond right away. Her stomach clenched itself so hard she felt like she was suffocating. Finally he began to type again.
"We talked about this, Lacey. You have to at least try to get along with people…College is kicking my ass, too but I'm trying to make the best of it. Not everyone gets to be a super cool alien kid like us."
She frowned. Why did he always have to be so positive? Why couldn't he just be angry with her?
"You're so lucky. I wish I was in college and out of my parents' house. I would move back to Japan in a heartbeat and live on your couch or something."
"What about bills? What about a job? You don't have to worry about any of that yet. Trust me, it's not all you think it is. I fucking hate it sometimes. I'd kill to be back in my dad's house without any responsibilities. Don't rush yourself."
Lace grumbled. He just didn't get it today. High school was positively the worst thing ever. Besides, his parents let him do whatever he wanted. Hers were way too overprotective and hovered like nobody's business. She couldn't even keep a diary because she knew her mother would find it and read it.
"Whatever. I guess you just don't miss me." She typed angrily.
"Well, shit. That's not fair." He answered.
She blushed and choked up as tears began to flood into her eyes.
"I gotta go. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
She slammed the laptop shut and dropped backwards onto her bed.
Why did life have to be so unfair?