Romi twined the cord around her fingers. The art fair was over, Romi having
spent the entire time looking at art (what you're supposed to do) and
avoiding Suechi and Emiko... Who spent their time ducking in hidden corners
and deserted hallways. Now she was home, hanging off her bed, feet against
the wall, talking on the phone to Narrin.
"-told you! Them being together is totally disgusting. They have NO respect for the normal people who don't want to see such displays. And with no regard to those of us sensitive to not having a partner of the opposite sex to make out with all the time. Honestly! If we wanted to see to people going at each other like starving wolves on a deer, we'd watch movies. That's what they're there for-."
Romi laughed despite herself. Suechi and Emiko weren't really like that. They were considerate of other people's feelings... but they DID like each other a lot.
"Anyway, how was the actual art fair?"
"Alright. There was a really nice guy there, pretty good with watercolors-"
Narrin cut her off, sitting up straighter in her chair at home. "Really? A guy?" It's about time, she thought, silently. "What was he like? Was he cute? Come on girl! Give me all the juicy details!"
"There's nothing to tell."
And there wasn't. She'd talked to this guy named Shoni. Dark hair, dark eyes, nice smile, perfect teeth. A semi-popular and yet not stuck up guy. She just wasn't interested in him. His style of painting was unique, painting watercolor pictures with wire. He'd stopped next to her as she was admiring a photograph near one of his paintings. They'd chatted, exchanged tips and advice with one another and then gone on their separate ways. She'd probably never see him again, anyway.
Narrin sighed, "You need to find somebody, SOMETIME, Romi! Have you EVER liked a guy? I could set you up with this really nice guy I know..."
She continued to list and describe several guys, all of whom Romi had been told about before and she, personally, would rather have her brushes burned than 'go out' with any of them. But Yahei Yamazaki. He was different, the nicest, funiest, most talented person she had ever met. And hot to the max. He could paint, draw, sketch, act, sing, and he was tied with her in friendly competition of the highest GPA in the Junior class. In fact, Romi had signed up to tryout for the spring musical, just to hear him audition.
The trouble was, she was incredibly shy, that being an understatement. Oh, she'd watch him from a distance or glance at him occasionally when he wasn't looking, but she could never meet his eyes.
"Romi? Romi? Are you even there?"
"What? I'm listening." She had been gazing out her window, imagining the way Yahei had been talking about his art, in a way that made you want to listen, but wasn't bragging.
"Yeah, then what did I say?"
"Um..."
Narrin giggled, "It's okay Romi... you're easily distracted. What was it this time? Suechi mowing the lawn without his shirt on again? That would sure distract me."
"At eight o'clock at night?"
"It could happen. But hopefully when it does, I'll be over and we'll have a spotlight and video camera. So what homework did I miss while I was- nevermind, I'll say I didn't know what was due and get an extra few weeks to do it! Oh-! Will just got online! Gotta go!"
"Welcome home, Narrin," she said, even though her friend was already gone.
Romi hung up the phone and sat up straight. She rubbered her sore eyes and stood in front of the full length mirror opposite her door. "I need a hair cut," she said to herself, exasperated. Her hair grew out incredibly fast no matter what she did to it, wanting to stay at the length she'd kept it at when she was a demon. One time when she was littler, she had cut her own hair accidentally. The jagged ends had grown back to their origianl length in under a week.
Old habits die hard, she thought, chuckling.
Something caught her eye. A dark blur behind her, with an unrecognizable shape. She whipped around, throwing herself off balance so that she had to grab the close-by desk chair to stop herself from falling.
She glanced through long locks framing her face. No one stood in the doorway and nothing was close by that would have caused such a blur. No, shadow.
"Uh!" Romi exclaimed at her jumpiness.
Normally, she wouldn't have been frightened by the shadow. And she seemed to be seeing it a lot lately. Especially at night, though now it was happening more frequently, and not just when she looked in the mirror. She couldn't even walk by a shop and glance in the window without seeing the shadow close to her reflection. The glass of picture frames also brought the shadow out, and was a personal annoyance as art was her passion.
So Romi had forced herself to get used to it.
Maybe, she thought, it's time to do some homework. She had neglected to finish her English essay in haste to complete her painting for the art fair- actually, she had neglected to even start it. A two thousand word essay due in... she checked her calendar, three days. She glared at her backpack for a few minutes, hating her class. She just wasn't good at writing! Ask her to draw! Ask her to add, subtract, solve logarithms! Anything but writing.
Romi sighed and began to dig through her jam-packed backpack for the battered yellow folder, sitting at her desk when she retrieved the 'enemy'. Speaking as she typed, "Ro-mi... Han-ari. An Edu-cation-al. Ess-ay. On the... Rights and... Lib-erties of..."
Why was concentrating so hard today? First with Narrin on the phone, now with homework? She was NEVER this distracted. Not even when the shadow came, unbidden. What was so special about today?
Nerviously, she picked up the small, wooden backed hair brush that her mother had given her last Christmas. Her hair was one of her favorite things about herself and the brush had been kind of a joke present, making fun of the fact that she'd spend more on something for her hair than other things. (Painting supplies being the exception, of course.)
The shadow moved in the corner of her eye, edging closer to her from the door. This was the first time she had seen it where it hadn't been a reflection in some sort of glass.
Without turning, she spoke words that flashed through her mind as if she had thought of them herself, "Welcome back, Chiyo."
"-told you! Them being together is totally disgusting. They have NO respect for the normal people who don't want to see such displays. And with no regard to those of us sensitive to not having a partner of the opposite sex to make out with all the time. Honestly! If we wanted to see to people going at each other like starving wolves on a deer, we'd watch movies. That's what they're there for-."
Romi laughed despite herself. Suechi and Emiko weren't really like that. They were considerate of other people's feelings... but they DID like each other a lot.
"Anyway, how was the actual art fair?"
"Alright. There was a really nice guy there, pretty good with watercolors-"
Narrin cut her off, sitting up straighter in her chair at home. "Really? A guy?" It's about time, she thought, silently. "What was he like? Was he cute? Come on girl! Give me all the juicy details!"
"There's nothing to tell."
And there wasn't. She'd talked to this guy named Shoni. Dark hair, dark eyes, nice smile, perfect teeth. A semi-popular and yet not stuck up guy. She just wasn't interested in him. His style of painting was unique, painting watercolor pictures with wire. He'd stopped next to her as she was admiring a photograph near one of his paintings. They'd chatted, exchanged tips and advice with one another and then gone on their separate ways. She'd probably never see him again, anyway.
Narrin sighed, "You need to find somebody, SOMETIME, Romi! Have you EVER liked a guy? I could set you up with this really nice guy I know..."
She continued to list and describe several guys, all of whom Romi had been told about before and she, personally, would rather have her brushes burned than 'go out' with any of them. But Yahei Yamazaki. He was different, the nicest, funiest, most talented person she had ever met. And hot to the max. He could paint, draw, sketch, act, sing, and he was tied with her in friendly competition of the highest GPA in the Junior class. In fact, Romi had signed up to tryout for the spring musical, just to hear him audition.
The trouble was, she was incredibly shy, that being an understatement. Oh, she'd watch him from a distance or glance at him occasionally when he wasn't looking, but she could never meet his eyes.
"Romi? Romi? Are you even there?"
"What? I'm listening." She had been gazing out her window, imagining the way Yahei had been talking about his art, in a way that made you want to listen, but wasn't bragging.
"Yeah, then what did I say?"
"Um..."
Narrin giggled, "It's okay Romi... you're easily distracted. What was it this time? Suechi mowing the lawn without his shirt on again? That would sure distract me."
"At eight o'clock at night?"
"It could happen. But hopefully when it does, I'll be over and we'll have a spotlight and video camera. So what homework did I miss while I was- nevermind, I'll say I didn't know what was due and get an extra few weeks to do it! Oh-! Will just got online! Gotta go!"
"Welcome home, Narrin," she said, even though her friend was already gone.
Romi hung up the phone and sat up straight. She rubbered her sore eyes and stood in front of the full length mirror opposite her door. "I need a hair cut," she said to herself, exasperated. Her hair grew out incredibly fast no matter what she did to it, wanting to stay at the length she'd kept it at when she was a demon. One time when she was littler, she had cut her own hair accidentally. The jagged ends had grown back to their origianl length in under a week.
Old habits die hard, she thought, chuckling.
Something caught her eye. A dark blur behind her, with an unrecognizable shape. She whipped around, throwing herself off balance so that she had to grab the close-by desk chair to stop herself from falling.
She glanced through long locks framing her face. No one stood in the doorway and nothing was close by that would have caused such a blur. No, shadow.
"Uh!" Romi exclaimed at her jumpiness.
Normally, she wouldn't have been frightened by the shadow. And she seemed to be seeing it a lot lately. Especially at night, though now it was happening more frequently, and not just when she looked in the mirror. She couldn't even walk by a shop and glance in the window without seeing the shadow close to her reflection. The glass of picture frames also brought the shadow out, and was a personal annoyance as art was her passion.
So Romi had forced herself to get used to it.
Maybe, she thought, it's time to do some homework. She had neglected to finish her English essay in haste to complete her painting for the art fair- actually, she had neglected to even start it. A two thousand word essay due in... she checked her calendar, three days. She glared at her backpack for a few minutes, hating her class. She just wasn't good at writing! Ask her to draw! Ask her to add, subtract, solve logarithms! Anything but writing.
Romi sighed and began to dig through her jam-packed backpack for the battered yellow folder, sitting at her desk when she retrieved the 'enemy'. Speaking as she typed, "Ro-mi... Han-ari. An Edu-cation-al. Ess-ay. On the... Rights and... Lib-erties of..."
Why was concentrating so hard today? First with Narrin on the phone, now with homework? She was NEVER this distracted. Not even when the shadow came, unbidden. What was so special about today?
Nerviously, she picked up the small, wooden backed hair brush that her mother had given her last Christmas. Her hair was one of her favorite things about herself and the brush had been kind of a joke present, making fun of the fact that she'd spend more on something for her hair than other things. (Painting supplies being the exception, of course.)
The shadow moved in the corner of her eye, edging closer to her from the door. This was the first time she had seen it where it hadn't been a reflection in some sort of glass.
Without turning, she spoke words that flashed through her mind as if she had thought of them herself, "Welcome back, Chiyo."