The first day of school, she was late. Luna had not been allowed to
sleep in her room for sanitation reasons (claimed Aunt Meg and Uncle Rick),
so she had been unable to wake Usagi up. The alarm clock rang, but Usagi
just turned it off and rolled over in bed. 15 minutes later, Mark banged
on the door. "If you don't get up, you'll miss the bus," he yelled.
Usagi sat bolt upright and let out a screech. She let out a string of expletives in Japanese. "I'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelate." She continued muttering Japanese as she pulled on a blue tanktop and gray jeans. She hurried brushed her hair, before putting it up into her meatballs, and stormed out of the room. "When does the bus come again?" she asked in Japanese, before realizing her error. "When does the bus come?" she repeated slowly in English.
Mark glanced at his watch. "In 5 minutes."
"Why aren't you at school?" she frowned.
"School doesn't start for me yet," he said lazily. He refrained from mentioning that he dormed at Washington University, so his bedroom and his classes weren't that far from each other.
Usagi scowled. She rushed downstairs, grabbed her lunch, and crammed an apple in her mouth, before running outside, only to miss the bus. She ran after it, hair streaming behind her, until it arrived at the next stop, and scrambled onto the bus. She ignored snickers and slumped over to the last part of the bus, and found a seat.
It wasn't long before they got to school. Usagi reached to sling her backpack over her shoulder before remembering with a sudden dread that she had left it at home. She almost cried.
Sighing, she got to the school doors, and looked up to see Mark smiling at her, holding out her backpack. "I think you forgot something."
"Thanks!" Usagi exclaimed. She reached out for her backpack with glee, not noticing the many jealous female glares. "Well, I'm to school. Ja!" She skipped into the school.
Meanwhile, Mark was staring blankly at her. "I'm to school? I think she meant 'I'm off to school.' Oh well. It doesn't matter. Not too much, at least." Shaking his head, he turned to head home.
++++++++++
Usagi bit her lip as she searched for the office. Not finding it, she asked the first person she encountered. "Excuse me," she said slowly. "Where is office?"
While Mark and his friends had gotten used to her somewhat broken English, they had helped correct it. They had never burst out laughing like this girl. Her brown and purple-streaked hair shook as her black eyes gazed scornfully at Usagi. "Where is office? Where'd you learn your English? The moon?"
What was their obsession with the moon? Usagi wondered privately. Outwardly, she just rolled her eyes, and turned to someone else. "Excuse me," she said. "Where is ......... the office?" She remembered to add "the" at the last moment.
The whole room seemed to hush as she addressed this blond. He stared at her curiously. "Are you Mark's cousin?" he asked, finally.
"Hai," Usag said. "Yes," she nodded.
He smiled. "Mark told us to watch out for you. Come on. The office is this way."
Hesitantly, Usagi followed him through the crowd. They finally came in front of a door with Office emblazed across it in big red letters. She followed him in.
"This is the new student from Japan," he announced. "Adopted by the Stone family."
Usagi looked at the secretary. "Umm. I'm supposed to come here for my schedule?" Her English was heavily accented, and barely comprehensible. Her English was worse when she was nervous.
The secretary nodded. "You have a choice. You can take ESL classes to improve your English, but that would probably cause you to fall behind in some of your classes. Or you can go on with the English you have right now, and improve it by yourself. Which do you prefer?"
"I would like to improve my English by myself please," Usagi said. She was barely making C's as it was. She couldn't afford to have her grades drop any more.
"Alright. Your locker number is #3895. Your student i.d. number is #263*891. And this is your schedule. If you have schedule conflicts, please contact us, and we will adjust your schedule."
Luckily, she had no schedule conflicts. She was one of the few who didn't. Many people were chagrined to find that their schedule expected them to be in two places at the same time, or that they had the same class twice. And that was just for ~this~ semester. She had no schedule conflicts, but she had conflicts in almost everything else. Her locker partner was the very girl who had snubbed her and mocked her English. Opal seemed to enjoying making snide comments, and sneering at her. Usagi found that half her teachers couldn't pronounce her name, and made it sound like a tongue-twister. She insisted on being called Serena, if only to protect her name from further mutilation, if nothing else.
Just great.
And then came lunchtime.
To be continued.
Usagi sat bolt upright and let out a screech. She let out a string of expletives in Japanese. "I'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelate." She continued muttering Japanese as she pulled on a blue tanktop and gray jeans. She hurried brushed her hair, before putting it up into her meatballs, and stormed out of the room. "When does the bus come again?" she asked in Japanese, before realizing her error. "When does the bus come?" she repeated slowly in English.
Mark glanced at his watch. "In 5 minutes."
"Why aren't you at school?" she frowned.
"School doesn't start for me yet," he said lazily. He refrained from mentioning that he dormed at Washington University, so his bedroom and his classes weren't that far from each other.
Usagi scowled. She rushed downstairs, grabbed her lunch, and crammed an apple in her mouth, before running outside, only to miss the bus. She ran after it, hair streaming behind her, until it arrived at the next stop, and scrambled onto the bus. She ignored snickers and slumped over to the last part of the bus, and found a seat.
It wasn't long before they got to school. Usagi reached to sling her backpack over her shoulder before remembering with a sudden dread that she had left it at home. She almost cried.
Sighing, she got to the school doors, and looked up to see Mark smiling at her, holding out her backpack. "I think you forgot something."
"Thanks!" Usagi exclaimed. She reached out for her backpack with glee, not noticing the many jealous female glares. "Well, I'm to school. Ja!" She skipped into the school.
Meanwhile, Mark was staring blankly at her. "I'm to school? I think she meant 'I'm off to school.' Oh well. It doesn't matter. Not too much, at least." Shaking his head, he turned to head home.
++++++++++
Usagi bit her lip as she searched for the office. Not finding it, she asked the first person she encountered. "Excuse me," she said slowly. "Where is office?"
While Mark and his friends had gotten used to her somewhat broken English, they had helped correct it. They had never burst out laughing like this girl. Her brown and purple-streaked hair shook as her black eyes gazed scornfully at Usagi. "Where is office? Where'd you learn your English? The moon?"
What was their obsession with the moon? Usagi wondered privately. Outwardly, she just rolled her eyes, and turned to someone else. "Excuse me," she said. "Where is ......... the office?" She remembered to add "the" at the last moment.
The whole room seemed to hush as she addressed this blond. He stared at her curiously. "Are you Mark's cousin?" he asked, finally.
"Hai," Usag said. "Yes," she nodded.
He smiled. "Mark told us to watch out for you. Come on. The office is this way."
Hesitantly, Usagi followed him through the crowd. They finally came in front of a door with Office emblazed across it in big red letters. She followed him in.
"This is the new student from Japan," he announced. "Adopted by the Stone family."
Usagi looked at the secretary. "Umm. I'm supposed to come here for my schedule?" Her English was heavily accented, and barely comprehensible. Her English was worse when she was nervous.
The secretary nodded. "You have a choice. You can take ESL classes to improve your English, but that would probably cause you to fall behind in some of your classes. Or you can go on with the English you have right now, and improve it by yourself. Which do you prefer?"
"I would like to improve my English by myself please," Usagi said. She was barely making C's as it was. She couldn't afford to have her grades drop any more.
"Alright. Your locker number is #3895. Your student i.d. number is #263*891. And this is your schedule. If you have schedule conflicts, please contact us, and we will adjust your schedule."
Luckily, she had no schedule conflicts. She was one of the few who didn't. Many people were chagrined to find that their schedule expected them to be in two places at the same time, or that they had the same class twice. And that was just for ~this~ semester. She had no schedule conflicts, but she had conflicts in almost everything else. Her locker partner was the very girl who had snubbed her and mocked her English. Opal seemed to enjoying making snide comments, and sneering at her. Usagi found that half her teachers couldn't pronounce her name, and made it sound like a tongue-twister. She insisted on being called Serena, if only to protect her name from further mutilation, if nothing else.
Just great.
And then came lunchtime.
To be continued.