Chapter Two: Stop, Drop, and Roll
Originally composed on July 23, 2002
Quote: "I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always vulgar, and
often convincing."
-- Oscar Wilde
Standard Copyright notices apply.
Author's Notes: Hehe. I love Oscar Wilde's works and quotations.
They're so amusing. Moving on, I'm on a roll! I'm actually writing
consecutively two days in a row. It's a miracle. Well, actually,
I didn't wake up until really late today, like 2:40 PM, so I need to
figure out something to do, since I've wasted most of the day already.
Let's see how this chapter turns out, shall we, because as of now,
I have no idea how it's going to go.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I awoke the next day in a dreamy daze. I had had bizarre dreams in
which I was interacting with Serena when she was younger, and I was at
her high school. It was quite frightening, and it played out like a
movie dream. All that I can say is that my subconscious is seriously messed
up.
Walking down the stairs in my pajamas, I entered the kitchen. The
oven clock read 1:06. I made a mental note to be ready to go to Serena's
house by 3:00 PM. I waited anxiously for the time when I could go over.
I paced around the house, watched the sports television. Then I turned it
off and watched the sitcom television. It is simply ridiculous that, with
thousands of channels per television, there is absolutely nothing to watch.
I thought it was ridiculous that there were so many channels that special
televisions had to be bought for each category of television channel.
What is a person to do with millions of television channels?
Finally, I got dressed and walked over to Serena's square, little
house, white house. Serena was not one of the things adorning the porch
that day, not that I had expected her to be, given how I had seen her the
day before. The door, of course, was not locked, so I walked into the house.
It was still the cluttered chaos that I had seen the day before. But again,
I had expected it to be, and at least the mess was not any worse.
I found Serena in the same place that I had left her, but she was
wearing different clothing, so obviously she had moved some time during my
absence. She looked up when I entered the room, and smiled weakly. She motioned
to the kitchen and said, "I made some oatmeal cookies today, Sienna, though I
did not make as many cookies today. Why don't you try some?"
Not wishing to offend or upset the old lady, I complied. The cookies
were good, of course, but I was not coming over today to gain another five
pounds from cookies. I sat myself down adjacent to Serena and prodded her gently
with, "Serena, you were going to continue your story today?"
She turned her head slowly towards me. "Yes, of course, Sienna. Let
me just gather my thoughts before I begin. Where did I leave off?"
"Um, it was your first day of school in at Juuban, and you were eating
lunch with Ami."
Serena began to nod absently, then stopped abruptly and continued her
story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I walked inside with Ami. It felt kind of nice to have a friend on to
walk around with. Ami had confessed to me that she found it difficult to make
friends, and had very few as a result. It turned out that she had gone to
Germany during summer break to learn about being a doctor; because she had
encountered many people with similar interests, she had made lots of friends,
but they all lived in different countries, and corresponded only by email.
"So, Ami, do you have any other friends here at school?" I queried gently.
Ami looked down at her feet briefly before replying in a tiny voice,
"No. I'm too shy."
Ami had not exactly struck me as shy. In fact, she had seemed very
open and friendly to me, but I refrained from comment.
As luck would have it, we had a class after lunch together, Chemistry.
When it comes to chemistry, some people are good at chemistry, and some are
bad. Then there are the phenomenally bad people who have melted test tubes
with incorrect chemical mixes, set a supposedly flame retardant table on fire,
as well as their partner, or have caused an explosion which broke a window and
closed the science lab for weeks. Well, I had done all three. Why the chemistry
teacher at my school in America had continued to let me near lab experiments was
beyond me. Thankfully, Ami was actually very successful in this subject, so I
grabbed her as a partner, in the hope that she would help to keep me from injuring
anyone. It was this hope, and the fact that she was the only person, besides Mamoru,
who I knew. Even if Mamoru had been in that class, I would not have asked him to be
my partner, as we were not exactly on friendly terms.
Chemistry passed relatively uneventfully, except for one minor
incident. We spent the day reviewing basics such as how to light the Bunsen burner.
The teacher volunteered Minako to demonstrate in front of the class, which turned
out to be a catastrophically bad idea. Minako had paid absolutely no attention
during the teacher's explanation, and thus set the homework papers and the teacher on
fire. Several people in the class, myself included, stood up and chanted, "Stop, drop
and roll! Stop, drop and roll!" Then the class released a loud cheer and clapped
gleefully when the teacher dropped to the floor and began to roll around frantically.
It seemed that sadistic senses of humor ran rampant among my peers.
Then she, the teacher, stood up and grabbed a fire extinguisher; she
shot the foamy substance onto the desk, soaking and ruining everything on the
desk. Minako received a detention, and had to stand outside in the hallway
holding two buckets full of water until class ended. On the bright side, there
was no homework for that night.
Ami and I went separate ways to our next classes. After a series of
lackluster classes, there was PE, which I still to this day believe has absolutely
no educational value. That day's fun activity was volleyball. The boys got to
play football (soccer). I was placed on the team with Minako. Somehow the sports
teacher decided that I would make a good setter, which baffles me, because being a
setter actually requires skill, which I was severely lacking in. The other team
served the ball. Iyoko, one of my classmates, whom I had encountered in the foreign
language class, bumped the ball to me, where I was supposed to set it. Well, I did
some wild set, horribly formed set, which somehow was ok. Minako dashed up, jumped,
and spiked the ball into the center of the other court. A chorus of mines erupted,
but no one took the initiative to get the ball, thinking that someone else would.
The volleyball bounced lamely onto the court.
Eventually, we rotated, and I became right forward. At no time for
the duration of the game was it ever necessary for me to bump the ball, which I
found quite remarkable.
Minako confronted me after the class ended and commented, "You look
stressed out. If you just relax, you would do a lot better with your setting.
Also, you're trying to hard to hit the ball, not tap it up into the air. Since
we are doing volleyball for the rest of week, would you like to practice with me
after school?"
Why in the hell would I want to play more volleyball? I could just
stumble through the rest of the week, just as I always had. "Why?"
Minako blinked. I suppose she had been expecting a more amicable
answer. "Why what?"
I tried with some degree of success to keep from rolling my eyes. "Of
all the people in this school, why ask me to practice volleyball with you?"
Minako seemed to think I was the biggest idiot on earth from the way
that she was looking at me. "Well, we're both new here, so I thought that
since we have that much in common, we could do some bonding, or something.
You know, new people stick together." She seemed uncertain about that last
part.
The logic of the idea still escaped me, but I decided to humor the
girl. "Sure, why not? Let's go into the gym."
That was when Minako froze and slapped her forehead. "I have
detention today. I totally forgot! I have to get going. Why don't we
practice tomorrow?"
"Sure," I replied noncommittally. Minako probably never heard me,
considering the fact that she had already dashed off to avoid being late for
detention, and getting another detention for her tardiness. I strolled leisurely
back to the locker room, showered, and dressed.
Upon exiting the locker room, I ran directly into Mamoru. He looked
down at me, since has considerably taller than me. "Are you alright, Odango
Atama?"
Glaring hatefully at him, I responded, "Yes, thank you. I would
apologize for running into you, but I find it exceedingly difficult to be sorry
when the person whom I should be apologizing to just called me a rude name."
I crossed my arms, and turned away pointedly.
He chuckled. "Sorry, but it's just so tempting. Anyway, you look
crap. Not get enough sleep?"
"You sweet talker," I drawled. "You really do have a way with words.
You must be quite popular with a great majority of the female population at this
educational establishment," I oozed sarcastically. "And I'm still jetlagged, so
it wouldn't matter if I had gotten ten hours of sleep last night. I'd still look
like crap," I added offhandedly.
"You know, you might as well take you hair down, since it's falling
out of its ribbons, anyway."
I knew he was right, but I desperately just wanted to gripe at him.
"Thanks so much, Mamoru, for that great advice on my hair. Why don't we meet
again tomorrow so we can discuss the proper application of eye shadow?"
Do you know how infuriating it is to have someone grin at everything
you say? Because that is what Mamoru did. "Sure, Odango Atama. Though I
really think it's your foundation that needs work," Mamoru said with his
aggravating, obnoxious smile.
I let out an exasperated sigh, and strode away, Mamoru's chuckles of
great mirth following me all the way down the hall. If there was ever a person
who needed his two front teeth punched out, it was Mamoru. He had won the battle,
but I vowed that I would be victorious in the war.
Why had Mamoru targeted me, anyway? Was it because of my unwillingness
to move during first period? It just seemed to me that he enjoyed mocking
me. I was so busy brooding that did not even notice when Ami slid in next to me.
We walked out of the school side by side. Ami snapped me out of my reverie when
she said, "Serena, would you like me to show you around Tokyo? There are some great
sights for you to see before you go back home."
"Not today, Ami, but thanks for the offer. I really just feel like-"I
stopped, remembering the arcade that I had passed. Playing a video game would
be the perfect release for my pent-up anger and energy. "Actually, Ami, I saw
an arcade when I was coming to school this morning. It's called the Crown Arcade."
Ami nodded. "It's one of the sights of Tokyo in its own right. It's
a big hang out place for high school students in the area, and the occasional
reminiscing college freshman, wishing that he or she could go back to the 'simple'
days of high school.
"I don't frequent the place much myself. As I already told you, I'm
not much on the whole social scene. Maybe you'll find it more enjoyable."
Ami said this in a way that indicated that she thought I would probably
find the Crown Arcade anything but enjoyable.
So with that we exited the school yard and entered the mammoth crowd
of people milling around on the sidewalks of Tokyo. I followed Ami down the
streets until we reached the sliding glass doors of the Crown Arcade. Ami grabbed
me and pulled me into the store before I was swept away by the blob of people
heading down the street.
"The Crown Arcade is connected to the Crown Diner. You can order
milkshakes or drinks and food, and then play games. Or you can order food over
at that counter and sit on one of its spinning stools." Ami paused and looked
over at the counter, then smiled and waved. "The guy over there behind the counter
is Motoki. He's a freshman at the University. His father owns the Crown." The
man that Ami had identified as Motoki waved back.
Ami strode over to the counter with me in tow. Upon reaching the
counter, I was greeted by Motoki. "Hello there. My name is Motoki. You're
Ami's friend?"
I nodded. "Yes. I'm an exchange student from the United States. My
name is Serena."
Motoki stuck out his right hand. "This is what you do in the US,
right? Not just businessmen. They shake hands in greeting?"
I nodded and shook his hand. Ami, meanwhile, had opened a textbook
and was busily reading it. I was going to find a way someday, I vowed, to keep
her from studying when she should have been relaxing. Motoki turned out to be
a pretty decent fellow, after interacting with him, which is what I did for the
next few minutes. Then he seemed to remember that he was being paid to actually
work, so he inquired, "Can I get anything for you, Serena?" It was adorable how
he struggled to pronounce my name. His face kind of screwed up in concentration.
It was then that it occurred to me I had no money with me. I shifted
uncomfortably in my seat. "Do you have tabs here? Can I start a tab,
Motoki?"
He grinned at me. He had that look in his eyes, the same look that
Shingo had had that morning when I had almost gone flying into the front door of the
house. "You're a wonder Serena. You're the first person that I've met who asked
for a tab, so we never really thought that it would be worth it to create a tab system.
But, since you look trustworthy, I guess I could make up a tab for you."
I didn't really see how this made me a wonder, but I shrugged and kept
silent.
Motoki turned around and began shuffling through the papers on the
shelf opposite the counter. He finally released a grunt of triumph, and
placed a small, index card sized box on the table. He flipped the top open,
and pulled out a card. Motoki then pulled the pen hanging from his apron off,
and took a stance that prepared him for taking down my order.
"I thought you said that you didn't have a tab system going."
"Well, we don't now, but when the Crown opened we had it as a just in
case. It never really took off."
"But how could it when you never told anyone that they could have a
tab?"
Ami looked up from her seeming oblivion to her surroundings and
interrupted, "We can get tabs? Since when have we been able to do that?
Well, I might as well take advantage of it. Start a new tab for me. "I'll
have vanilla milkshake, Motoki."
Motoki scribbled down on the sheet, and then picked up another sheet
from the box. He glanced up at me. "And for you, little lady?"
"Do you have chocolate-strawberry-banana milkshakes?"
Motoki face crinkled into a cheerful, amused smile. "Actually, no,
but I think that I could whip up something like that without too much trouble."
He busily scribbled on the tab sheet, and then placed it back into the box next
to Ami's."
As Motoki set to preparing our milkshakes, I turned to Ami, who was
again lost in the book. "So, Ami, what are you studying?"
Ami was apparently too engrossed in her very mind-numbing textbook,
and did not hear me. I was about to ask again when Motoki came back with our
drinks. I was contentedly sipping my drink when I heard Motoki call out, "Hey,
Mamoru. Come over here!"
Damn Murphy and his law. The one person I would like least to see in
the world had just walked into the door, and seemed to be friends with the
friendly Motoki, which baffled me utterly. The two were on opposite ends of the
spectrum. Mamoru was like a shadow, following me around, except that Mamoru didn't
disappear at high noon. Now, if Mamoru had been a nice, gorgeous guy, instead of an
insulting, gorgeous guy, maybe it would not have been so bad, but that was just
metaphysical speculation.
I felt like smashing my milkshake on the ground in frustration. That
day had just been one thing after another. Making up late, lacerating my foot with
a piece of honed plastic, making an enemy out of several of my peers, my
cockroach-infested locker (sort of), PE, running into Mamoru, and now having him
appear, spoiling the momentary contentment that I had been feeling. I could hear
his footsteps behind me. Each clomp of his shoes echoed through my head in slow
motion.
Finally, after an eternity, he was right behind me. I could feel his
presence looming over me. "Hello, Motoki. What's going on?"
Motoki leaned on the counter, next to where my milkshake was. "Oh,
not much. I was talking to Ami's friend, Serena."
I could tell that Mamoru was grinning. "Oh, you met Odango Atama
here? I can't imagine that you had a very interesting conversation."
Whirling around to face him, I was not prepared to have his eyes
boring down into mine. He had the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen. Heck,
I have not seen eyes like that since. Despite that, I frowned and looked up at
Mamoru. "You," I sneered calmly, before spinning around to face Motoki.
"Motoki, are you friends with this baka?" I asked contemptuously.
Motoki glanced at me, a confused expression on his face. "Mamoru's
one of my oldest friends. He is stupid sometimes, but he's not a complete
idiot."
I grinned at Motoki. "I'm afraid that you'll never convince me of
that."
Motoki turned to Mamoru and drawled, "You know, Mamoru, you'll never
get a date with a pretty girl if you insist on insulting them."
I took this opportunity to let my hair out of its constraints. I
shook my head to get my hair out of my eyes. I briefly considered a haircut.
Caring for hair down to your knees is high maintenance work. Mamoru sat down
next to me and rolled his eyes. "I'll remember that bit of wonderful advice,
Motoki. You think Serena's pretty, though?"
I personally thought that this comment was a little harsh. When
people say things like that, even if they don't really mean it, it hurts.
"Anyway, Motoki, if Mamoru were ever to ask me out, I would definitely say no,
whether or not he had insulted me previously. I have standards, after all."
Mamoru and I turned to each other and commenced glaring at each other.
"Saucy wench." He smirked.
"Cocky bastard." I thought a saccharine smile would be appropriate at
that moment, so I gave Mamoru one. He might not have meant his comment, but
I did. He was a cocky bastard, and arrogant, too.
"Fashion misfit."
"Pompous oaf."
"Infuriating little girl."
"Egotistical jerk." Before Mamoru could respond, I turned away from
him.
I had not noticed, but Motoki had been looking at us with a happy-dumb
look on his face. I turned back to slurping my milkshake. Then, Motoki
suddenly came out of his stupor. "You're done flirting already?"
I started choking on my milkshake when I heard that. I grabbed a
napkin out of a holder on the counter, and began to hack uncontrollably into it.
Mamoru fell off his stool.
"What are you talking about, Motoki? What Mamoru and I engage in is
not called flirting; it's called bickering."
"Sure; whatever, Serena," Motoki replied in a tone that implied that
he believed that my proclamation had no ounce of truth in it. Mamoru righted
himself and sat down again.
"I'm not staying here, Motoki, if all you're going to do is make false
assumptions. I'm out of here." Mamoru grimaced and stood up, making a motion
that indicated that he was about to exit the Crown.
"Fine. It'll free up a space at the counter for actual customers!"
Motoki shouted after him. He turned to me and said, "Well, at least I've got
you to talk to still, right?"
"Actually, Motoki, I think that I'll depart, too. I have to get home
to start my homework. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow and play some games. I'll
see you tomorrow." With that, I tapped Ami on the shoulder, said "Goodbye,"
though I am sure that she did not hear me, and walked out of the Crown. I saw
Mamoru's form retreating in the opposite direction.
When I was almost home, I heard a female voice call, "You have really
pretty hair." My primary thought was that some psycho molester was hiding in
the alley waiting to jump me. The voice had sounded female to me, but females
could attack people, too. I turned apprehensively toward the source of the voice
and dropped my bag when I saw the face of the person who had called out to me.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lalalala. That's the end of the chapter. I'll try to get chapter
three out soon.
Feedback/constructive criticism are appreciated.
Email me at icefaerie0719@earthlink.net
Originally composed on July 23, 2002
Quote: "I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always vulgar, and
often convincing."
-- Oscar Wilde
Standard Copyright notices apply.
Author's Notes: Hehe. I love Oscar Wilde's works and quotations.
They're so amusing. Moving on, I'm on a roll! I'm actually writing
consecutively two days in a row. It's a miracle. Well, actually,
I didn't wake up until really late today, like 2:40 PM, so I need to
figure out something to do, since I've wasted most of the day already.
Let's see how this chapter turns out, shall we, because as of now,
I have no idea how it's going to go.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I awoke the next day in a dreamy daze. I had had bizarre dreams in
which I was interacting with Serena when she was younger, and I was at
her high school. It was quite frightening, and it played out like a
movie dream. All that I can say is that my subconscious is seriously messed
up.
Walking down the stairs in my pajamas, I entered the kitchen. The
oven clock read 1:06. I made a mental note to be ready to go to Serena's
house by 3:00 PM. I waited anxiously for the time when I could go over.
I paced around the house, watched the sports television. Then I turned it
off and watched the sitcom television. It is simply ridiculous that, with
thousands of channels per television, there is absolutely nothing to watch.
I thought it was ridiculous that there were so many channels that special
televisions had to be bought for each category of television channel.
What is a person to do with millions of television channels?
Finally, I got dressed and walked over to Serena's square, little
house, white house. Serena was not one of the things adorning the porch
that day, not that I had expected her to be, given how I had seen her the
day before. The door, of course, was not locked, so I walked into the house.
It was still the cluttered chaos that I had seen the day before. But again,
I had expected it to be, and at least the mess was not any worse.
I found Serena in the same place that I had left her, but she was
wearing different clothing, so obviously she had moved some time during my
absence. She looked up when I entered the room, and smiled weakly. She motioned
to the kitchen and said, "I made some oatmeal cookies today, Sienna, though I
did not make as many cookies today. Why don't you try some?"
Not wishing to offend or upset the old lady, I complied. The cookies
were good, of course, but I was not coming over today to gain another five
pounds from cookies. I sat myself down adjacent to Serena and prodded her gently
with, "Serena, you were going to continue your story today?"
She turned her head slowly towards me. "Yes, of course, Sienna. Let
me just gather my thoughts before I begin. Where did I leave off?"
"Um, it was your first day of school in at Juuban, and you were eating
lunch with Ami."
Serena began to nod absently, then stopped abruptly and continued her
story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I walked inside with Ami. It felt kind of nice to have a friend on to
walk around with. Ami had confessed to me that she found it difficult to make
friends, and had very few as a result. It turned out that she had gone to
Germany during summer break to learn about being a doctor; because she had
encountered many people with similar interests, she had made lots of friends,
but they all lived in different countries, and corresponded only by email.
"So, Ami, do you have any other friends here at school?" I queried gently.
Ami looked down at her feet briefly before replying in a tiny voice,
"No. I'm too shy."
Ami had not exactly struck me as shy. In fact, she had seemed very
open and friendly to me, but I refrained from comment.
As luck would have it, we had a class after lunch together, Chemistry.
When it comes to chemistry, some people are good at chemistry, and some are
bad. Then there are the phenomenally bad people who have melted test tubes
with incorrect chemical mixes, set a supposedly flame retardant table on fire,
as well as their partner, or have caused an explosion which broke a window and
closed the science lab for weeks. Well, I had done all three. Why the chemistry
teacher at my school in America had continued to let me near lab experiments was
beyond me. Thankfully, Ami was actually very successful in this subject, so I
grabbed her as a partner, in the hope that she would help to keep me from injuring
anyone. It was this hope, and the fact that she was the only person, besides Mamoru,
who I knew. Even if Mamoru had been in that class, I would not have asked him to be
my partner, as we were not exactly on friendly terms.
Chemistry passed relatively uneventfully, except for one minor
incident. We spent the day reviewing basics such as how to light the Bunsen burner.
The teacher volunteered Minako to demonstrate in front of the class, which turned
out to be a catastrophically bad idea. Minako had paid absolutely no attention
during the teacher's explanation, and thus set the homework papers and the teacher on
fire. Several people in the class, myself included, stood up and chanted, "Stop, drop
and roll! Stop, drop and roll!" Then the class released a loud cheer and clapped
gleefully when the teacher dropped to the floor and began to roll around frantically.
It seemed that sadistic senses of humor ran rampant among my peers.
Then she, the teacher, stood up and grabbed a fire extinguisher; she
shot the foamy substance onto the desk, soaking and ruining everything on the
desk. Minako received a detention, and had to stand outside in the hallway
holding two buckets full of water until class ended. On the bright side, there
was no homework for that night.
Ami and I went separate ways to our next classes. After a series of
lackluster classes, there was PE, which I still to this day believe has absolutely
no educational value. That day's fun activity was volleyball. The boys got to
play football (soccer). I was placed on the team with Minako. Somehow the sports
teacher decided that I would make a good setter, which baffles me, because being a
setter actually requires skill, which I was severely lacking in. The other team
served the ball. Iyoko, one of my classmates, whom I had encountered in the foreign
language class, bumped the ball to me, where I was supposed to set it. Well, I did
some wild set, horribly formed set, which somehow was ok. Minako dashed up, jumped,
and spiked the ball into the center of the other court. A chorus of mines erupted,
but no one took the initiative to get the ball, thinking that someone else would.
The volleyball bounced lamely onto the court.
Eventually, we rotated, and I became right forward. At no time for
the duration of the game was it ever necessary for me to bump the ball, which I
found quite remarkable.
Minako confronted me after the class ended and commented, "You look
stressed out. If you just relax, you would do a lot better with your setting.
Also, you're trying to hard to hit the ball, not tap it up into the air. Since
we are doing volleyball for the rest of week, would you like to practice with me
after school?"
Why in the hell would I want to play more volleyball? I could just
stumble through the rest of the week, just as I always had. "Why?"
Minako blinked. I suppose she had been expecting a more amicable
answer. "Why what?"
I tried with some degree of success to keep from rolling my eyes. "Of
all the people in this school, why ask me to practice volleyball with you?"
Minako seemed to think I was the biggest idiot on earth from the way
that she was looking at me. "Well, we're both new here, so I thought that
since we have that much in common, we could do some bonding, or something.
You know, new people stick together." She seemed uncertain about that last
part.
The logic of the idea still escaped me, but I decided to humor the
girl. "Sure, why not? Let's go into the gym."
That was when Minako froze and slapped her forehead. "I have
detention today. I totally forgot! I have to get going. Why don't we
practice tomorrow?"
"Sure," I replied noncommittally. Minako probably never heard me,
considering the fact that she had already dashed off to avoid being late for
detention, and getting another detention for her tardiness. I strolled leisurely
back to the locker room, showered, and dressed.
Upon exiting the locker room, I ran directly into Mamoru. He looked
down at me, since has considerably taller than me. "Are you alright, Odango
Atama?"
Glaring hatefully at him, I responded, "Yes, thank you. I would
apologize for running into you, but I find it exceedingly difficult to be sorry
when the person whom I should be apologizing to just called me a rude name."
I crossed my arms, and turned away pointedly.
He chuckled. "Sorry, but it's just so tempting. Anyway, you look
crap. Not get enough sleep?"
"You sweet talker," I drawled. "You really do have a way with words.
You must be quite popular with a great majority of the female population at this
educational establishment," I oozed sarcastically. "And I'm still jetlagged, so
it wouldn't matter if I had gotten ten hours of sleep last night. I'd still look
like crap," I added offhandedly.
"You know, you might as well take you hair down, since it's falling
out of its ribbons, anyway."
I knew he was right, but I desperately just wanted to gripe at him.
"Thanks so much, Mamoru, for that great advice on my hair. Why don't we meet
again tomorrow so we can discuss the proper application of eye shadow?"
Do you know how infuriating it is to have someone grin at everything
you say? Because that is what Mamoru did. "Sure, Odango Atama. Though I
really think it's your foundation that needs work," Mamoru said with his
aggravating, obnoxious smile.
I let out an exasperated sigh, and strode away, Mamoru's chuckles of
great mirth following me all the way down the hall. If there was ever a person
who needed his two front teeth punched out, it was Mamoru. He had won the battle,
but I vowed that I would be victorious in the war.
Why had Mamoru targeted me, anyway? Was it because of my unwillingness
to move during first period? It just seemed to me that he enjoyed mocking
me. I was so busy brooding that did not even notice when Ami slid in next to me.
We walked out of the school side by side. Ami snapped me out of my reverie when
she said, "Serena, would you like me to show you around Tokyo? There are some great
sights for you to see before you go back home."
"Not today, Ami, but thanks for the offer. I really just feel like-"I
stopped, remembering the arcade that I had passed. Playing a video game would
be the perfect release for my pent-up anger and energy. "Actually, Ami, I saw
an arcade when I was coming to school this morning. It's called the Crown Arcade."
Ami nodded. "It's one of the sights of Tokyo in its own right. It's
a big hang out place for high school students in the area, and the occasional
reminiscing college freshman, wishing that he or she could go back to the 'simple'
days of high school.
"I don't frequent the place much myself. As I already told you, I'm
not much on the whole social scene. Maybe you'll find it more enjoyable."
Ami said this in a way that indicated that she thought I would probably
find the Crown Arcade anything but enjoyable.
So with that we exited the school yard and entered the mammoth crowd
of people milling around on the sidewalks of Tokyo. I followed Ami down the
streets until we reached the sliding glass doors of the Crown Arcade. Ami grabbed
me and pulled me into the store before I was swept away by the blob of people
heading down the street.
"The Crown Arcade is connected to the Crown Diner. You can order
milkshakes or drinks and food, and then play games. Or you can order food over
at that counter and sit on one of its spinning stools." Ami paused and looked
over at the counter, then smiled and waved. "The guy over there behind the counter
is Motoki. He's a freshman at the University. His father owns the Crown." The
man that Ami had identified as Motoki waved back.
Ami strode over to the counter with me in tow. Upon reaching the
counter, I was greeted by Motoki. "Hello there. My name is Motoki. You're
Ami's friend?"
I nodded. "Yes. I'm an exchange student from the United States. My
name is Serena."
Motoki stuck out his right hand. "This is what you do in the US,
right? Not just businessmen. They shake hands in greeting?"
I nodded and shook his hand. Ami, meanwhile, had opened a textbook
and was busily reading it. I was going to find a way someday, I vowed, to keep
her from studying when she should have been relaxing. Motoki turned out to be
a pretty decent fellow, after interacting with him, which is what I did for the
next few minutes. Then he seemed to remember that he was being paid to actually
work, so he inquired, "Can I get anything for you, Serena?" It was adorable how
he struggled to pronounce my name. His face kind of screwed up in concentration.
It was then that it occurred to me I had no money with me. I shifted
uncomfortably in my seat. "Do you have tabs here? Can I start a tab,
Motoki?"
He grinned at me. He had that look in his eyes, the same look that
Shingo had had that morning when I had almost gone flying into the front door of the
house. "You're a wonder Serena. You're the first person that I've met who asked
for a tab, so we never really thought that it would be worth it to create a tab system.
But, since you look trustworthy, I guess I could make up a tab for you."
I didn't really see how this made me a wonder, but I shrugged and kept
silent.
Motoki turned around and began shuffling through the papers on the
shelf opposite the counter. He finally released a grunt of triumph, and
placed a small, index card sized box on the table. He flipped the top open,
and pulled out a card. Motoki then pulled the pen hanging from his apron off,
and took a stance that prepared him for taking down my order.
"I thought you said that you didn't have a tab system going."
"Well, we don't now, but when the Crown opened we had it as a just in
case. It never really took off."
"But how could it when you never told anyone that they could have a
tab?"
Ami looked up from her seeming oblivion to her surroundings and
interrupted, "We can get tabs? Since when have we been able to do that?
Well, I might as well take advantage of it. Start a new tab for me. "I'll
have vanilla milkshake, Motoki."
Motoki scribbled down on the sheet, and then picked up another sheet
from the box. He glanced up at me. "And for you, little lady?"
"Do you have chocolate-strawberry-banana milkshakes?"
Motoki face crinkled into a cheerful, amused smile. "Actually, no,
but I think that I could whip up something like that without too much trouble."
He busily scribbled on the tab sheet, and then placed it back into the box next
to Ami's."
As Motoki set to preparing our milkshakes, I turned to Ami, who was
again lost in the book. "So, Ami, what are you studying?"
Ami was apparently too engrossed in her very mind-numbing textbook,
and did not hear me. I was about to ask again when Motoki came back with our
drinks. I was contentedly sipping my drink when I heard Motoki call out, "Hey,
Mamoru. Come over here!"
Damn Murphy and his law. The one person I would like least to see in
the world had just walked into the door, and seemed to be friends with the
friendly Motoki, which baffled me utterly. The two were on opposite ends of the
spectrum. Mamoru was like a shadow, following me around, except that Mamoru didn't
disappear at high noon. Now, if Mamoru had been a nice, gorgeous guy, instead of an
insulting, gorgeous guy, maybe it would not have been so bad, but that was just
metaphysical speculation.
I felt like smashing my milkshake on the ground in frustration. That
day had just been one thing after another. Making up late, lacerating my foot with
a piece of honed plastic, making an enemy out of several of my peers, my
cockroach-infested locker (sort of), PE, running into Mamoru, and now having him
appear, spoiling the momentary contentment that I had been feeling. I could hear
his footsteps behind me. Each clomp of his shoes echoed through my head in slow
motion.
Finally, after an eternity, he was right behind me. I could feel his
presence looming over me. "Hello, Motoki. What's going on?"
Motoki leaned on the counter, next to where my milkshake was. "Oh,
not much. I was talking to Ami's friend, Serena."
I could tell that Mamoru was grinning. "Oh, you met Odango Atama
here? I can't imagine that you had a very interesting conversation."
Whirling around to face him, I was not prepared to have his eyes
boring down into mine. He had the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen. Heck,
I have not seen eyes like that since. Despite that, I frowned and looked up at
Mamoru. "You," I sneered calmly, before spinning around to face Motoki.
"Motoki, are you friends with this baka?" I asked contemptuously.
Motoki glanced at me, a confused expression on his face. "Mamoru's
one of my oldest friends. He is stupid sometimes, but he's not a complete
idiot."
I grinned at Motoki. "I'm afraid that you'll never convince me of
that."
Motoki turned to Mamoru and drawled, "You know, Mamoru, you'll never
get a date with a pretty girl if you insist on insulting them."
I took this opportunity to let my hair out of its constraints. I
shook my head to get my hair out of my eyes. I briefly considered a haircut.
Caring for hair down to your knees is high maintenance work. Mamoru sat down
next to me and rolled his eyes. "I'll remember that bit of wonderful advice,
Motoki. You think Serena's pretty, though?"
I personally thought that this comment was a little harsh. When
people say things like that, even if they don't really mean it, it hurts.
"Anyway, Motoki, if Mamoru were ever to ask me out, I would definitely say no,
whether or not he had insulted me previously. I have standards, after all."
Mamoru and I turned to each other and commenced glaring at each other.
"Saucy wench." He smirked.
"Cocky bastard." I thought a saccharine smile would be appropriate at
that moment, so I gave Mamoru one. He might not have meant his comment, but
I did. He was a cocky bastard, and arrogant, too.
"Fashion misfit."
"Pompous oaf."
"Infuriating little girl."
"Egotistical jerk." Before Mamoru could respond, I turned away from
him.
I had not noticed, but Motoki had been looking at us with a happy-dumb
look on his face. I turned back to slurping my milkshake. Then, Motoki
suddenly came out of his stupor. "You're done flirting already?"
I started choking on my milkshake when I heard that. I grabbed a
napkin out of a holder on the counter, and began to hack uncontrollably into it.
Mamoru fell off his stool.
"What are you talking about, Motoki? What Mamoru and I engage in is
not called flirting; it's called bickering."
"Sure; whatever, Serena," Motoki replied in a tone that implied that
he believed that my proclamation had no ounce of truth in it. Mamoru righted
himself and sat down again.
"I'm not staying here, Motoki, if all you're going to do is make false
assumptions. I'm out of here." Mamoru grimaced and stood up, making a motion
that indicated that he was about to exit the Crown.
"Fine. It'll free up a space at the counter for actual customers!"
Motoki shouted after him. He turned to me and said, "Well, at least I've got
you to talk to still, right?"
"Actually, Motoki, I think that I'll depart, too. I have to get home
to start my homework. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow and play some games. I'll
see you tomorrow." With that, I tapped Ami on the shoulder, said "Goodbye,"
though I am sure that she did not hear me, and walked out of the Crown. I saw
Mamoru's form retreating in the opposite direction.
When I was almost home, I heard a female voice call, "You have really
pretty hair." My primary thought was that some psycho molester was hiding in
the alley waiting to jump me. The voice had sounded female to me, but females
could attack people, too. I turned apprehensively toward the source of the voice
and dropped my bag when I saw the face of the person who had called out to me.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lalalala. That's the end of the chapter. I'll try to get chapter
three out soon.
Feedback/constructive criticism are appreciated.
Email me at icefaerie0719@earthlink.net