Growing Up

By: Larra Townsend

One early morning, Yamato Ishida awoke, smiling widley while brushing his blonde hair back out of his big blue eyes. He was up half the night, trying his best to find the perfect way of asking his girl the "question".

Practicing was easy. Askin' was the hard part. Kari Ishikawa was a junior at the Tokyo University. Matt, or Yamato, had been dating her for over five years. He needed to ask her...

'Now's the chance, Yamato...' he told himself.

He was really in love with Kari. He had been since the first time he ever saw her.

Around the time Matt turned fourteen is when he met her. She was thirteen; soon to be fourteen. They just were starting high school. It was the summer before going to the ninth grade. Matt was working as a cashier at the Compass Way, a very popular hardware and camping store. The big reason why was because Matt worked there. The guys hung there with him since he was in a band, and since all the guys came, so did the girls; however, that didn't mean that there was numerous amounts of money rolling in.

One day when he was being lazy, the door opened and the bell-door rang, letting him know he had a customer. He usually sat back in his chair, listening to his cd player or reading a magazine, ignoring the customer completely, but today he didn't and to this day, he doesn't know why he did. He sat up, stuffing his magazine under the counter and turning, looking towards the door. It was around noon; soon to be time for a lunch break. He stopped. There stood the most beautiful girl he ever seen. He knew he had never seen her before because if he did, he would have remembered a face like hers. Her light brown hair shown in the sunlight and laid on her shoulders. Her green eyes shone and her figure was amazing. She was wearing a loose short with some tight jeans. She looked a little shorter than him but she wasn't at all that short. She was wearing a big sweet smile on her face. She looked at Matt with a curious look, but then she smiled.

"I saw the wanted sign up and I'd like to apply for the job..." She said. Her voice...Oh her voice was beautiful. So sweet in a girlish tone.

"O-Oh I uh...you..might uh..Oh gee, I uh...You might...want to see...the manager..." He blushed madly at how he was fumbling with his words. She blinked a few times and then smiled, nodding. "Arigato Thank you Where would he be?"

"She's uh..in the back..."

"Arigato"

That was it. He didn't see her till the next day, where they worked for the next few months together. They spoke a few times but then, by the time school had started, he had asked her.

"K-Kari...For the past...few months, I've been wondering..."

They both were putting things away in the storage room, putting away the new shipments.

"Yeah?" She was different now. She was a bit taller, her hair a little browner, her face a little bit more cheerful than it before.

"I was uh..wondering..would you...er...would you...like to...go on a date with me?"

There...He asked her.

She turned to him and slowly, her lips curved in a smile. "Yeah...Sure.."

And it went from there. From then on, they went on dates; they had fights; they had anniverseries, but most of all, they were together. Now, they were in the University, almost ready to start out on life.

He walked inside the huge building of the University and walked to his locker. He was suprised to know they had lockers in college. He looked around and saw Kari walking towards him. He smiled warmly. She was taller, thinner, more beautiful, longer hair and a bigger smile. Unfortunately, that day, she wasn't smiling. She walked up to Matt and grabbed his hand slowly. "Matt, we have to talk..."

Matt blinked suprised. Something was up when she was this serious.

"What is it?"

"We have to talk after class. Something big has happened that will change our lives...forever...Matt, I..."

The bell rang and cut her off. Soon, everyone was walking into classes.

"Honey, tell me later..."

With that, he turned and walked towards class in a hurry.