I walk into the door of my house after my visit to the park. My head still felt hazy and for some reason, my fingers were numb. Numb. In the summer. Was I sick? I feel my forehead. Not a degree higher than normal. Maybe I was gripping the railing of the bridge too tight. The bridge. Misty…

            "Chikusho!"

            That rock returned to my stomach. My mind was traveling again. I can not; no, I will not question my relationship with Lily. I love her. At least, I believe I do. This is love, is it not? Caring, compassion, friendship, sharing, trust, loyalty. We have all of those! Don't we? Oh, shut up, Ash! You're putting thoughts into your head.

            I look down at the little table on which the phone sat. Next to the phone were two tickets. That's right! Lily and I were going to Wonder Dog tomorrow night. We'll have so much fun and we'll be connected again. I had no need to worry about it. Misty said Lily cared about me. Misty…

            "Chikusho!!"  I say again, this time kicking the wall and stomping off to the kitchen to get something to eat.

            I was fixing myself some chaahan when the phone rang. I half expected it to be Tiko with my schedule for next week. When I picked it up, however, a girl's voice came over the line.

            "Ash!" It was Lily.

            "Hi."

            "Just calling for a quick chat." Her voice was her smile. "Violet and Daisy enjoyed the lunch, they said."

            "That's good." I reply.

            "I'm really excited about tomorrow!" She says. "I just love amusement parks."

            "I'm glad you do. The roller coasters are supposed to be very thrilling."

            "Oooohhh." She moaned. "Roller coasters always made me a slight bit scared. I'll need you to hold onto."

            "I'm available." I bet I sounded a little too keyed up.

            Lily laughs. "You're too sweet."

            The tone of her voice…she was talking to me like I was five. I didn't like it.

            "I have to get going, Lily."

            "So soon?" She asks.

            "Yeah, my chaahan is burning. Ja' ne."

            "Uh, alright. Matta ashita." Lily says.

            "Matta ashita." I hang up the phone.

            I felt sort of bad doing that. My chaahan wasn't even brown yet. I really hated myself then. I hated my heart. I should be ashamed as a man. But what would a real and shameless man do if he felt he was being used? Doubt shadowed me that I did the right thing. I shoved her out. Confrontation was better. But how would I do it?

            I go to bed feeling like shit with a belly full of fried rice, just waiting for the morning

*****

            I finally had a day off of work. Sugoi, ne? The hours that were free didn't necessarily fly by. They more snailed along. My day was quite similar to a camel traveling across a desert. Long, dry, boring, and every once in a while you had to spit to prove you were still conscious. What a day; what a day. If I didn't do something quick, I'd fear my mind would wonder off somewhere and never come back. Then I'd be a lifeless, unloved dumb ass.

            Three o'clock came around and I was still a languid land mass. I was supposed to meet Lily at Wonder Dog in two hours. So, I use all of my strength to pull myself out of my armchair and up the stairs to the shower. I wash up; get into a worn pair of jean shorts and a polo shirt; splash on some cologne and head to my car at four o'clock on the dot. Being the snazzy guy I am; I put in some of that strange American pop music. This group was called Jagged Edge. Of course, I couldn't tell what they were saying most the time, but that didn't matter. All the 'cool' guys listened to American music.

            It took a while to get to the amusement park. I got caught in some traffic and crap, but I managed to get there at about quarter to. Lily said she wanted to meet at the gate, so that's where I waited. I never liked waiting, but this time, I knew it would be worth it once she came.

            God Bless Summertime.

            Checking my wristwatch, it was five fifteen. Lily wasn't here. Ah, well…I got caught in traffic also. She probably got stuck in the same. I play with the tickets in my hand.

            Five thirty. Waiting.

            Quarter to Six. Still waiting.

            Six o'clock. Extremely bored.

            This was hopeless. What were the chances of her still coming after an hour has passed the deadline? I lean up against the light post nearby and slide down and sit. Maybe Lily was upset about the phone conversation yesterday. Shows how much of a moron I was. But she was treating me like a child. I am only two years younger than her! Perhaps because I am one, that she regards me like that. I need to grow up. I need to mature! Oy, I need a brake.

            I close my eyes for a split second and end up drifting away.

            When I opened my eyes again, I see a set of legs in front of me. Lily! I tilt my head back and smile.

            "How long have you been waiting?" She asked.

            It wasn't Lily.

            "Misty? What are you doing here?" I ask.

            She sighs. "Because I knew you'd wait until Lily came and I thought I'd be considerate and come to tell you she's not."

            The words sort of stung. "She's not coming?"

            Misty shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I even reminded her about it, but she refused. She wanted to go get her hair done instead."

            I stand up, not wanting to hear more. "You told me yesterday…that she cared about me. Did you just say that?"

            "No." Misty answers.

            "She told you that?" I ask.

            "Well, to be precise, I overheard." Misty says. "My sisters rarely speak directly to me."

            "But you guys are family…" I begin.

            "Yes." Misty finishes. "We were one once. Not anymore."

            "I'm sorry." Was all that escaped my lips.

            "Don't be." She replied seriously.

            Misty turns to leave.

            "Matte!" I hear myself call.

            She moves her head slightly. "Naze?"

            I eye the tickets in my hand. "You say Lily isn't coming?"

            "Hai."

            "Then…would you join me?" I ask. "What fun is it? … Going alone."

            The silence returned. Misty turns to face me and just stared. The sun covering half her face made her eyes look like two shades of blue. This struck me as pretty. I just realized what I had done. I just asked my girlfriend's little sister out on a date. No, it's not a date. I'm just being a kind person and offering my extra ticket. Nothing more. But something inside me wanted her to accept. An excuse to spend time with her. To get to know her. I wanted to know this girl's mystery.

            Misty finally blinked and put me out of my trance. Then, it happened. The sides of her mouth twitched into a tiny smile.

            "Arigatou." She says. "I'd like that."

            I exhale. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath. "Great."

            Misty and I went into the park. I hope she didn't think it too weird that I asked her to join me. She didn't seem to mind from what I saw. That made me glad. I couldn't help but think it strange; her driving an hour just to tell me that Lily wasn't going to show. Oh well, that didn't matter now.

            "So, I take it that you had a day off of work too?" I try to make small talk.

            "Actually, my shift was from eight to three. My manager has so many employees he can afford to give short hours." Misty says. "It's nice most days, but not when I'm desperate for money."

            "I see." I nod. "Tiko has hardly any, so I work five days a week. Finally get a day off and I lie around like a bump on a log."

            Misty laughs. "Don't blame you."

            "You say KawaiiYuki has a lot of employees, but the only two I ever see there are you and Hatsu." I say.

            "Well, Hatsu and I work a lot during the day. Manager has certain people who work nights and Sundays and stuff like that." Misty replies.

            This talk goes on for a little while until we finally get to the rides. The roller coasters were fast and smooth. Ones where you could only hear the person behind you screaming and nothing else. It was great. After Misty and I stopped for a quick snack, it was starting to get dark outside. I look at my watch and it was already nine o'clock. I tell Misty and she looked surprised herself. We were both having fun; we didn't really seem to care about the time. But, in the end, we decided that it was time to leave.

            "Thank you." Misty says at the gate. "I didn't really expect to be staying here, but I had a fun time."

            "I'm glad you stayed with me. It would have been drag to do that alone." I reply.

            Misty just smiles.

            I try to put on a fancy accent. "May I walk you to your car?"

            We walk off to section C of the parking lot as Misty searches her purse for her car keys. For some reason, I believe I was happier this way. I don't think I would have been really happy of Lily had shown up. Lily talked about herself. Misty talked about the world. Misty asked questions, she didn't wait to have one asked. I was intrigued by her. Something about her was pulling me in. Something I couldn't get away from. I had no idea what triggered this feeling, but I liked it.

            Misty stopped at a little, cute, dark blue two-door. "Well, here I am."

            I watched her unlock her door and turn to look at me still standing there. Just the way her eyes were a little wider than usual as she gazed at me, froze my legs. The way her flaming hair was gently tucked behind one ear and hung over the other. I didn't know what to do, but I knew I had to do something quick. Otherwise, I'd be left with these thoughts all night and I wouldn't get any sleep. So, I lift up one of my hands and place it on her shoulder.

            She looks down at my hand. "Uh, Ash?"

            I end up biting my tongue and remove my hand. "I'm sorry. Uh, have a nice night."

            Misty looked a little confused. "You too."

            I closed her door after she got in but then knocked on the window.

            "What?" She asked as she scrolled it down.

            "Can I meet you in the park tomorrow? I need to talk to you about something." I say.

            "Is it about Lily?" She questions.

            "Half and half." I reply.

            Misty looks up at me and puts on that small smile again. "Alright. What time? I don't work tomorrow."

            "Early. I have to work at night. Will ten o'clock be alright?"

            Misty nods. "Sounds fine. I'll see you then."

            "Ja' ne."

            "Ja."

            She pulls out of her parking space and drives off. I got to my car and do the same, driving all the way home thinking only of the time I had at Wonder Dog. Then the thought of Lily came back into my head. What was I gonna say to her when I saw her next. Would she even apologize for standing me up? Oh well, that would be handled when I went to go talk to Misty tomorrow morning. Until then, all I could do was wait. And like I said… I hate waiting.

-------

Here, as promised, are the Japanese romanji translations!

Chikusho – dammit

Ja' ne – See you later

Matta ashita – See you tomorrow

Sugoi, ne? – Amazing, is it not?

Matte – Wait

Naze – Why?

Hai – Yes(?)

Arigatou – Thank You

Ja - Later