Emi sat in bed trying to ignore the tone of the alarm clock that was constantly beeping. She learned an important lesson: the alarm clock can't be ignored. She slowly rose from bed and slammed her fist on the clock. She stepped off the bed and stretched in her pajamas: striped blue baggy pants and a white spaghetti strap shirt. It had been 2 months since she had broken up with Rage...though it seemed like much longer. She walked to the bathroom slowly and washed her face at the sink. She was interrupted by a loud honking noise outside her window. She quickly ran to her window and opened it. She already knew who'd be there and she was right.
"Hey Emi!" Maria yelled.
"Hey." Emi replied. Today was the day they were planning to go snowboarding.
"You ready yet?" Maria asked.
"Almost...give me a minute." Emi responded.
"OK!"
Emi rushed to the bathroom and quickly dressed into her snowboarding clothes. She pulled on sweat pants and then put her yellow Roxy snowboarding pants over them. She shoved her feet into heavy socks and pulled on a pair of snow boots. Then she hurriedly pulled on a white long- sleeved turtleneck shirt and a yellow Roxy shirt. She grabbed her beanie and blue jacket and rushed down the stairs. On the way down, she pulled her jacket on and set the beanie on her head. She grabbed a slice of bread on the kitchen table and headed towards the door.
"Bye mom!" She called while grabbing her Burton snowboard with the boots still on the board from her last time snowboarding. The snowboard seemed to wait eagerly to ride on snow yet again.
"Have fun honey!" She heard her mom say. Emi bent down and picked up a pre- packed bag and quickly rushed out the door. She was greeted by a burst of cold air and her friend telling her to hop in the jeep. She quickly stuffed the bread into her mouth and pulled her snowboard into the trunk. She then made a final check, feeling her jacket pockets for her gloves and sunglasses. She quickly close the trunk of the jeep and jumped into her the passenger's seat. The jeep backed out of the driveway and drove off towards its destination.
Emi sat in the soft seat of the jeep with Maria. The beautiful scenery flashed by as they drove through another forest. Emi sat in the passenger's seat while focusing on the upcoming lyrics to the Incubus song playing on the radio.
"Damn, I LOVE winter break!" Maria said excitedly.
"Couldn't agree more." Emi murmured softly with a wry smile.
"Ya know Emi, you're a BAD liar."
"Oh come on, everyone loves winter break."
"Yeah, but you don't like this one, that's pretty damn obvious."
Emi paused. Maria had read her mind. It's true that like most high school student, Emi LOVED spring break, but the Christmas-like scenes and smiling faces reminded her of winter break last year when she was with Rage. She reminisced at the memories that flashed in her mind. Rage had helped her do her Christmas shopping (and even bought her a cookie in the mall during their "break"). Then on Christmas Eve, Rage and Emi had spent the entire morning and afternoon together exchanging their presents and then throwing the wrapping paper at each other...Rage even turned on the old karaoke machine and sang her a Christmas Carol (though he wasn't very good at it and sang off-key for most of the song). Afterwards she celebrated with their family, but secretly, she had to admit that she had the most fun with Rage. Every time she saw a happy couple in the streets with their hands clasped together, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. Emi sighed.
Maria saw the look on Emi's face and understood what Emi's sigh translated to. "Still in love with Rage, huh?"
Emi blinked while her memories seemed to fade like a leaf falling in autumn. She looked down sadly. "Yeah..." The truth was, Emi had no one to talk to. Nobody other than any of the dancers who had gone to the "other dimension" could possibly understand what she meant. Emi had to lie about why she and Rage broke up. Would YOU believe someone if they told you that the reason they broke up with their boyfriend was because they had met an old rival from Southern California in another dimension and managed to catch Rage in a state of anger, hurt, and loss and break the frail speck of trust that remained?
"Look, Emi." Maria began, "Rage is just...screwed up. I mean, I'm sure you had your reasons for breaking up with him. Besides, not to sound cliché, but there ARE plenty of fish in the sea."
"Yeah I know." Emi said letting the lie ooze out of her gritted teeth. Essentially, Maria was right...but when you knew how right you were for a person and he for you...rationale leaves the spectrum of emotion. Rage had cared so much, Emi knew that. But she also knew that she could never forgive Rage for changing so much. She would just be an empty shell wandering around and drifting from meadow to meadow searching for someone who was like the old Rage...only to know that she could never find someone like that. She loved the memory of Rage but could never find that no matter what.
"Hey we're here!" Maria announced. Emi smiled weakly and waited for Maria to park. She slowly got out of the jeep and took out her belongings.
Rage stood in line for the lift tickets. Andrew stood next to him and they both waited with patience seeping out of their minds.
"Damn there's a long line today." Rage commented. Andrew laughed. Both of them were Emi's ex-boyfriends. Though Andrew was pissed off when Rage and Emi first got together, the three of them managed to fix things and they were friends again. Rage had asked Andrew to go boarding with him. Andrew consented and secretly invited Emi to come to in hopes that Rage and Emi could get together again. True, some of him still liked Emi and her cheeriness, but he knew that they were destined...or so it seemed. Since the break-up, Andrew was on both sides, supporting both of his friend's decisions. In any case, he had invited Emi to get out of the house during winter break and she told him she had already made plans. Andrew and Rage waited as the line slowly shrank. Though it took a while, they were at the front of the line.
"Cahn I helpuh yoo?" The ticket receptionist asked.
"Uh, yeah. Two all day passes...regular admission." Rage replied.
"Two all day pahsses? You wahnt two teekets?" The receptionist asked. Rage turned to Andrew who just shrugged. It was evident that this man did NOT know his English that well.
"Yeah. Two all day passes." Rage replied.
"You wahnt two?"
"Yeah."
"Not threeh orh oneh, buht two?"
"YES!!" Andrew interjected.
"Two?" The receptionist asked while showing 3 fingers.
"No TWO!" Rage replied. "TWO!!!" He showed 2 fingers.
"OK OK, I understahnd you wahnt 2." The receptionist said while showing to fingers.
"YES!!!" Andrew and Rage replied.
"Dat is on hundred fihfty dollars pleaze." The receptionist responded.
"ONE HUNDRED FIFTY BUCKS?!?!" The two guys yelled.
"No look." Rage began while pointing to a sign that said the prices. "You see, these tickets are 17 dollars per person. See?"
"Yhes I seeh." The receptionist said.
"So the cost should be 34 dollars for two people!!" Andrew shot back.
"OK, I is vehry confuhs-ed." The receptionist replied.
"ARGHHH!!" Rage yelled.
"Excuse me." A young woman's voice said from behind them. Both guys turned. They saw a lady who was in her 20s holding a small baby. She had bright green hair and classy-looking winter clothes. She was holding a pair of skis and her ski goggles were dangling from her wrist. "Allow me." She said. She walked to the sales receptionist and began talking in rapid Japanese. The sales representative responded back just as quickly. Soon, she turned and went to her spot behind them in the line.
"Oh, I ahm vehry sohrry. Dat is 34 dollars pleaze. Youh seeh, I dohn't know the lahnguage that well." The receptionist said.
"Oh as if THAT was hard to figure out." Rage grumbled and he paid the man. He soon took his lift ticket and gave Andrew his.
"Thanks." Andrew said to the green-haired lady. "And your name is...?"
"Maho." She said with a smile. The two guys turned and walked away as Maho spoke in rapid Japanese to the ticket salesman again (this time regarding her own purchases).
Spike stood there staring at the big wooden door. He and his friend Ice were standing in the middle of the street...staring.
"Wow." Spike said
"Wow." Ice responded.
"Wow." Spike said again.
"Wow."
"Wow."
"Biiiiiiiiig." Ice said.
"Yeah. Biiiiiiig." Spike replied. The two of them stood there staring at the door. They had been doing this for about and hour or so. The chiming of Big Ben in the distance confirmed this. Spike was a British male with outrageous pink, spiky hair. He and his friend ice were both born and raised in London together. They both had thick British accents and were high school dropouts. Well not dropouts, more like idiots. They always were academically challenged...to be put lightly. The truth was, it wasn't Spike's fault that he didn't graduate high school. Who could blame someone if they couldn't open the door to the math class? Spike just sort of stood there and stared at the door (when class was over, when was hit square in the face, but don't worry, it's happened many times). And Ice, poor Ice. He forgot how to open the car door at home so he couldn't get to school in the first place. Yes they were idiots, but there was one thing that each of them were able to do. Ice was incredibly good and pushing buttons and Spike, well he knew how to dance. Other than that, the only remarkable qualities they had were the fact that they could be easily entertained by just about anything and that they were unbelievably dumb. The two of them stood there in front of the door. Staring...staring...staring...staring...
Alice and her dance team danced their routine that they had worked so hard to make. Alice kept counting the rhythm in her head. "One...two...three...one...two...three..." Her mind continued this cycle as she kept her smile bright and cheery on her face. She could feel sweat building up on her forehead but she danced on...the end of the song was nearing. She gave all the energy she could and finished with her ending pose. The stadium erupted with cheers and applause. She bowed and smiled with pride knowing she did her best and pushed herself to the limit. Her baggy pants and shirt had spots of moisture from her sweat and her loose suspenders bounced as she danced.
Tracy and Boldo stood out on the dance floor dancing with all they had. They had a burning desire to know what had happened to Emi and Rage, but they didn't want to feel that pain again. Not much has changed for these two. The song came to an end and they smiled as the small crowd below cheered them on. They walked through a flurry of people with afros and fishnet stockings and quickly sat down.
"Great job!" A female voice said.
"Thanks Janet!" Tracy replied with a smile. Janet stood amidst the dancers...Tracy's cousin. She was dressed in all pink...though more of her mocha brown skin was showing than her pink outfit.
"Yeah you guys did well." The guy dubbed "Afro" commented.
"Thanks again." Tracy said as she took out a flask of liquor from her coat.
"Oh man, TRACY!!" Boldo yelled. Tracy gave him a helpless smile and downed the alcohol down.
Johnny sat on his motorcycle, the wind blowing his hair. He was riding down the freeway alone...there was a warm, familiar feeling in his heart...
"YOU ORDERED YOUR DAMN PIZZA SO TAKE YOUR DAMN PIZZA!" Charmy shrieked.
"I did NOT order pizza!" The unfortunate young, male college student replied.
"YES YOU DID!" Charmy shrieked. She was working for a pizza parlor now and was venting her frustration of having flown all the way from her space colony to the distant star civilization of Mackrasta. She now stood in front of the college student's apartment door and kept on insisting that he ordered pizza.
"I ordered pizza." A voice said from behind. Charmy gulped and turned around. A middle-aged woman stood at the door with her hair in curlers and a set of at home metallic silvery blue, spacey clothes. Charmy quickly gave her the pizza and watched as the door shut in her face. She turned to leave and realized that the student was still there. He was fairly attractive-looking with dark brown hair and fashionable glasses.
"Eh, sorry there." Charmy said gulping. "It's my second day on the job so I've been a bit confused in this area."
The young man smiled. "Well if you ever need help, here's my videophone code." He jotted down a series of numbers and letters and then handed her the paper.
Charmy stood there, dumfounded. "Er, thanks." She said meekly.
"No problem." He said as he walked back into his apartment. He shut the door softly and she walked down the corridor in a state of shock.
"For the first time since what...8th grade I actually got PICKED UP!" She thought with a smile. She bounced down the halls and nearly shrieked with girlish glee right there in the halls.
"Hey Emi!" Maria yelled.
"Hey." Emi replied. Today was the day they were planning to go snowboarding.
"You ready yet?" Maria asked.
"Almost...give me a minute." Emi responded.
"OK!"
Emi rushed to the bathroom and quickly dressed into her snowboarding clothes. She pulled on sweat pants and then put her yellow Roxy snowboarding pants over them. She shoved her feet into heavy socks and pulled on a pair of snow boots. Then she hurriedly pulled on a white long- sleeved turtleneck shirt and a yellow Roxy shirt. She grabbed her beanie and blue jacket and rushed down the stairs. On the way down, she pulled her jacket on and set the beanie on her head. She grabbed a slice of bread on the kitchen table and headed towards the door.
"Bye mom!" She called while grabbing her Burton snowboard with the boots still on the board from her last time snowboarding. The snowboard seemed to wait eagerly to ride on snow yet again.
"Have fun honey!" She heard her mom say. Emi bent down and picked up a pre- packed bag and quickly rushed out the door. She was greeted by a burst of cold air and her friend telling her to hop in the jeep. She quickly stuffed the bread into her mouth and pulled her snowboard into the trunk. She then made a final check, feeling her jacket pockets for her gloves and sunglasses. She quickly close the trunk of the jeep and jumped into her the passenger's seat. The jeep backed out of the driveway and drove off towards its destination.
Emi sat in the soft seat of the jeep with Maria. The beautiful scenery flashed by as they drove through another forest. Emi sat in the passenger's seat while focusing on the upcoming lyrics to the Incubus song playing on the radio.
"Damn, I LOVE winter break!" Maria said excitedly.
"Couldn't agree more." Emi murmured softly with a wry smile.
"Ya know Emi, you're a BAD liar."
"Oh come on, everyone loves winter break."
"Yeah, but you don't like this one, that's pretty damn obvious."
Emi paused. Maria had read her mind. It's true that like most high school student, Emi LOVED spring break, but the Christmas-like scenes and smiling faces reminded her of winter break last year when she was with Rage. She reminisced at the memories that flashed in her mind. Rage had helped her do her Christmas shopping (and even bought her a cookie in the mall during their "break"). Then on Christmas Eve, Rage and Emi had spent the entire morning and afternoon together exchanging their presents and then throwing the wrapping paper at each other...Rage even turned on the old karaoke machine and sang her a Christmas Carol (though he wasn't very good at it and sang off-key for most of the song). Afterwards she celebrated with their family, but secretly, she had to admit that she had the most fun with Rage. Every time she saw a happy couple in the streets with their hands clasped together, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. Emi sighed.
Maria saw the look on Emi's face and understood what Emi's sigh translated to. "Still in love with Rage, huh?"
Emi blinked while her memories seemed to fade like a leaf falling in autumn. She looked down sadly. "Yeah..." The truth was, Emi had no one to talk to. Nobody other than any of the dancers who had gone to the "other dimension" could possibly understand what she meant. Emi had to lie about why she and Rage broke up. Would YOU believe someone if they told you that the reason they broke up with their boyfriend was because they had met an old rival from Southern California in another dimension and managed to catch Rage in a state of anger, hurt, and loss and break the frail speck of trust that remained?
"Look, Emi." Maria began, "Rage is just...screwed up. I mean, I'm sure you had your reasons for breaking up with him. Besides, not to sound cliché, but there ARE plenty of fish in the sea."
"Yeah I know." Emi said letting the lie ooze out of her gritted teeth. Essentially, Maria was right...but when you knew how right you were for a person and he for you...rationale leaves the spectrum of emotion. Rage had cared so much, Emi knew that. But she also knew that she could never forgive Rage for changing so much. She would just be an empty shell wandering around and drifting from meadow to meadow searching for someone who was like the old Rage...only to know that she could never find someone like that. She loved the memory of Rage but could never find that no matter what.
"Hey we're here!" Maria announced. Emi smiled weakly and waited for Maria to park. She slowly got out of the jeep and took out her belongings.
Rage stood in line for the lift tickets. Andrew stood next to him and they both waited with patience seeping out of their minds.
"Damn there's a long line today." Rage commented. Andrew laughed. Both of them were Emi's ex-boyfriends. Though Andrew was pissed off when Rage and Emi first got together, the three of them managed to fix things and they were friends again. Rage had asked Andrew to go boarding with him. Andrew consented and secretly invited Emi to come to in hopes that Rage and Emi could get together again. True, some of him still liked Emi and her cheeriness, but he knew that they were destined...or so it seemed. Since the break-up, Andrew was on both sides, supporting both of his friend's decisions. In any case, he had invited Emi to get out of the house during winter break and she told him she had already made plans. Andrew and Rage waited as the line slowly shrank. Though it took a while, they were at the front of the line.
"Cahn I helpuh yoo?" The ticket receptionist asked.
"Uh, yeah. Two all day passes...regular admission." Rage replied.
"Two all day pahsses? You wahnt two teekets?" The receptionist asked. Rage turned to Andrew who just shrugged. It was evident that this man did NOT know his English that well.
"Yeah. Two all day passes." Rage replied.
"You wahnt two?"
"Yeah."
"Not threeh orh oneh, buht two?"
"YES!!" Andrew interjected.
"Two?" The receptionist asked while showing 3 fingers.
"No TWO!" Rage replied. "TWO!!!" He showed 2 fingers.
"OK OK, I understahnd you wahnt 2." The receptionist said while showing to fingers.
"YES!!!" Andrew and Rage replied.
"Dat is on hundred fihfty dollars pleaze." The receptionist responded.
"ONE HUNDRED FIFTY BUCKS?!?!" The two guys yelled.
"No look." Rage began while pointing to a sign that said the prices. "You see, these tickets are 17 dollars per person. See?"
"Yhes I seeh." The receptionist said.
"So the cost should be 34 dollars for two people!!" Andrew shot back.
"OK, I is vehry confuhs-ed." The receptionist replied.
"ARGHHH!!" Rage yelled.
"Excuse me." A young woman's voice said from behind them. Both guys turned. They saw a lady who was in her 20s holding a small baby. She had bright green hair and classy-looking winter clothes. She was holding a pair of skis and her ski goggles were dangling from her wrist. "Allow me." She said. She walked to the sales receptionist and began talking in rapid Japanese. The sales representative responded back just as quickly. Soon, she turned and went to her spot behind them in the line.
"Oh, I ahm vehry sohrry. Dat is 34 dollars pleaze. Youh seeh, I dohn't know the lahnguage that well." The receptionist said.
"Oh as if THAT was hard to figure out." Rage grumbled and he paid the man. He soon took his lift ticket and gave Andrew his.
"Thanks." Andrew said to the green-haired lady. "And your name is...?"
"Maho." She said with a smile. The two guys turned and walked away as Maho spoke in rapid Japanese to the ticket salesman again (this time regarding her own purchases).
Spike stood there staring at the big wooden door. He and his friend Ice were standing in the middle of the street...staring.
"Wow." Spike said
"Wow." Ice responded.
"Wow." Spike said again.
"Wow."
"Wow."
"Biiiiiiiiig." Ice said.
"Yeah. Biiiiiiig." Spike replied. The two of them stood there staring at the door. They had been doing this for about and hour or so. The chiming of Big Ben in the distance confirmed this. Spike was a British male with outrageous pink, spiky hair. He and his friend ice were both born and raised in London together. They both had thick British accents and were high school dropouts. Well not dropouts, more like idiots. They always were academically challenged...to be put lightly. The truth was, it wasn't Spike's fault that he didn't graduate high school. Who could blame someone if they couldn't open the door to the math class? Spike just sort of stood there and stared at the door (when class was over, when was hit square in the face, but don't worry, it's happened many times). And Ice, poor Ice. He forgot how to open the car door at home so he couldn't get to school in the first place. Yes they were idiots, but there was one thing that each of them were able to do. Ice was incredibly good and pushing buttons and Spike, well he knew how to dance. Other than that, the only remarkable qualities they had were the fact that they could be easily entertained by just about anything and that they were unbelievably dumb. The two of them stood there in front of the door. Staring...staring...staring...staring...
Alice and her dance team danced their routine that they had worked so hard to make. Alice kept counting the rhythm in her head. "One...two...three...one...two...three..." Her mind continued this cycle as she kept her smile bright and cheery on her face. She could feel sweat building up on her forehead but she danced on...the end of the song was nearing. She gave all the energy she could and finished with her ending pose. The stadium erupted with cheers and applause. She bowed and smiled with pride knowing she did her best and pushed herself to the limit. Her baggy pants and shirt had spots of moisture from her sweat and her loose suspenders bounced as she danced.
Tracy and Boldo stood out on the dance floor dancing with all they had. They had a burning desire to know what had happened to Emi and Rage, but they didn't want to feel that pain again. Not much has changed for these two. The song came to an end and they smiled as the small crowd below cheered them on. They walked through a flurry of people with afros and fishnet stockings and quickly sat down.
"Great job!" A female voice said.
"Thanks Janet!" Tracy replied with a smile. Janet stood amidst the dancers...Tracy's cousin. She was dressed in all pink...though more of her mocha brown skin was showing than her pink outfit.
"Yeah you guys did well." The guy dubbed "Afro" commented.
"Thanks again." Tracy said as she took out a flask of liquor from her coat.
"Oh man, TRACY!!" Boldo yelled. Tracy gave him a helpless smile and downed the alcohol down.
Johnny sat on his motorcycle, the wind blowing his hair. He was riding down the freeway alone...there was a warm, familiar feeling in his heart...
"YOU ORDERED YOUR DAMN PIZZA SO TAKE YOUR DAMN PIZZA!" Charmy shrieked.
"I did NOT order pizza!" The unfortunate young, male college student replied.
"YES YOU DID!" Charmy shrieked. She was working for a pizza parlor now and was venting her frustration of having flown all the way from her space colony to the distant star civilization of Mackrasta. She now stood in front of the college student's apartment door and kept on insisting that he ordered pizza.
"I ordered pizza." A voice said from behind. Charmy gulped and turned around. A middle-aged woman stood at the door with her hair in curlers and a set of at home metallic silvery blue, spacey clothes. Charmy quickly gave her the pizza and watched as the door shut in her face. She turned to leave and realized that the student was still there. He was fairly attractive-looking with dark brown hair and fashionable glasses.
"Eh, sorry there." Charmy said gulping. "It's my second day on the job so I've been a bit confused in this area."
The young man smiled. "Well if you ever need help, here's my videophone code." He jotted down a series of numbers and letters and then handed her the paper.
Charmy stood there, dumfounded. "Er, thanks." She said meekly.
"No problem." He said as he walked back into his apartment. He shut the door softly and she walked down the corridor in a state of shock.
"For the first time since what...8th grade I actually got PICKED UP!" She thought with a smile. She bounced down the halls and nearly shrieked with girlish glee right there in the halls.
