Secrets of the Heart
Chapter 1
Spring Break
"And so class, that is how you determine the female species from the male, any questions?" The bony and slender Mrs. Johnson turned to face the class with questioning eyes. The class returned her gaze with horrified stares, jaws dropped, and their faces glued to their teacher's. All of the students in room 210 seemed uncomfortable, except for the charming boy sitting in the back row, asking to see the little creatures mate again. The boy sitting next to him with the long brown ponytail looked at his friend as if he was the most stupid person on earth. However he couldn't hold back the laughter that bursted up, his perverted friend being the cause.
One scorching glare from the girl in the middle row with a long brown ponytail and dazzling brown eyes and the two were immediately silenced. The boy with the little black ponytail blew a kiss to the girl and gave a dashing smile. She turned around to face the front again, her cheeks now tinted pink. The girl sitting next to her with brilliant red hair pulled into two low pigtails giggled at her friend's reaction. Her jade eyes danced with laughter as she playfully pushed the other girl's shoulder. "Come on Sango, you know you like it."
Her blush deepened to a hot pink and she got an angry and defensive look. "For the last time, I never have liked it and I NEVER will! And if you even mention the name Miroku, I will personally go over to Koga and tell him your little secret." Sango now sat back in her seat, satisfied with her performance. Ayame slightly blushed at the mention of Koga but decided to just shrug it off. Sango was always so tough around the edges and always stood up for herself. Although, she never even meant half the stuff she said most of the time. Ayame turned slightly in her seat to get a peek of the handsome boy in the back, sitting next to the pervert. A sigh escaped her lips then she twisted to the front again. He would never notice me, she repeated over in her head.
It was seventh period, the last hour of the day at their high school. And Mrs. Johnson wasn't helping them shake off the excitement of finally getting to leave school for spring break. Since it was one of their few breaks, everyone always tried to do something really fun. This was easy for the girls because Sango was so rich and had complete control over all her cash. Sango's dad had owned a part of Ayame's Grandfather's jewelry store. After he had died, Ayame's grandfather had continued to give Sango her father's share of the money. Sango's parents had been killed in a car crash when she was only six years old.
All four of the family members had been in the crash. Their car had slid off the road and crashed into a tree. Her mother had been killed instantly, but her father had somehow managed to pull his six year old daughter and his infant son out of the car that was now leaking gasoline. He leaned down and whispered quietly into his daughter's ear, "Be strong." He had left Sango sitting in the snow, holding her younger brother as he stumbled back through the snow to get her mother out. When he had gotten inside the car, it had caught fire and there was a giant explosion. Sango was thrown backwards and later woke up, still clutching her younger brother. She then walked to the nearest town and collapsed. She awoke the next day inside of a hospital.
She was told that her younger brother, Kohaku, had been forced into a coma. They then told her that both her parents were dead, but they didn't have to. She knew they had been dead from the moment her father had said his dying words. Be Strong. She repeated theses words over and over in her mind. The next day Kaede, her nanny, had come to pick her up and to transfer Kohaku to a hospital in Tokyo. While they were driving, Kaede had pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to stare at the little girl in the back seat. "You know," she had said," It's alright to cry." Sango only stared at her.
She wouldn't cry.
Never again.
"Sango!" Mrs. Johnson yelled into the daydreaming girl's face. Laughter circled around the room as a startled Sango shook her old memories away. The teacher raised her hand in signal for the class to quiet down. "Will you please stop daydreaming and pay attention?" she asked sharply. Sango nodded timidly and watched her teacher's back as she continued back to the blackboard. Ayame turned to Sango and gave a reassuring smile to try and comfort her best friend. Sango did smile back but she still looked so lost. There was a confused look in her eyes and she could only seem to stare off into space.
Ayame could take a good guess at what she was thinking about, or maybe, what she was trying not to think about. She gave a sad sigh as she fidgeted with her black satin skit underneath the desk. She could never even imagine what Sango had to go through as a child, and at such a young age. Ayame's parents were dead too, but only in her own mind. They had abandoned her with her grandfather when she was only four. She could no longer remember a clear picture of her parents, but she remembered enough to make it hurt. But, she was somewhat grateful, she didn't love anyone else in the entire world more than she loved her grandfather.
The only thing Ayame wished that she could change about him was his age and his condition. He had recently grown very ill and Ayame worried about him everyday. But he told her not to. He still laughed and made odd jokes all the time at how ugly he looked whenever he was standing next to his beautiful granddaughter. Although she told him every time that she thought he was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on, she still glowed at his hidden compliment. He always had a weird way of making her feel special and laugh. She gave a small smile as she remembered things that had happened in the past, then jumped up as the bell rang loudly through the room, startling her. She watched as the rest of the students began to cheer and raced out of the room.
"Class, I have an assignment for you to do over your break!" Mrs. Johnson yelled over the stampeding students. They all stopped dead in their tracks and groaned. "Have fun!" she shouted with an unusual smile on her face. The class began cheering again and continued running from the room. The hallways were packed solid so Sango and Ayame struggled to get to their lockers where they met up with Kagome and Amaya. "Hey you guys," Ayame called to the two girls, already standing with their lockers open. They both turned and gave wide smiles, revealing their straight white teeth.
"Hey," Kagome replied excitedly," Can you believe Spring Break is actually here?" "Hardly," Sango answered while standing on tip toes and reaching into the top shelf of her locker. "Hey girls, before we head out, can we hit the bathroom. I've had to go since like fourth period." Ayame looked around at the group pleadingly and they all nodded. Amaya lead the way into the bathroom and once inside, she let out a loud dish. "Mr. Zach gave me a whole bunch of extra homework, just because I was talking!" she grounded out between here teeth with cursing her evil teacher.
When she got no sympathy from the rest of the girls, she glared at them. They only looked at her with straight faces, Kagome was trying hard not to laugh. Amaya was always the one getting caught talking or passing notes, probably because she did it so often. Amaya finally gave up and approached the mirror with the rest of the girls. They always stood in the same row, first Sango, followed by Kagome, then Amaya, and then last was Ayame. Sango adjusted the silver chain that was loosely wrapped around her black flares. She also had on a tight white tank top that buttoned up the front with the two top ones left unbuttoned. As usual, she had her hair up in a high ponytail. Next was Kagome, she had on dark blue jean flares and a similar top to Sango's except hers was red with thicker sleeves. And as usual, she had her hair down.
Amaya had on tight faded hip-hugger jeans that had holes in them down the front and a tight lavender t-shirt. And of course, her silver locket and key. The key was on the chain with the locket, and the other girls had never seen her take it off. It was the last thing Amaya had of her parents. Her father had hung himself when she was five years old. A year after that, her mother had drowned herself. Well, that's what the police reports say. Amaya could never seem to talk about it. The police knew that her parents had been murdered, but unless they got Amaya to tell them who it was, they had nothing. The rest of the girls could never figure out why she wouldn't want to put her parents' murderer in jail, but what could they do?
Ayame was last in line. She had on a long lacy jade tank top to match her eyes, as well as a ruffled black skirt that cut off about mid thigh. The four smacked their glossy lips at the same time before heading out the bathroom door. They hurriedly ran through the now deserted halls before pushing open the large doors and racing down the steps and into the sunshine. As they walked down the sidewalk, Amaya could only stare at Sango through her sparkling dark blue eyes. "What," Sango snapped at her, it was making her nervous the way she was just watching her.
"I was just wondering, where you decided we would go for break?" Amaya asked timidly, slightly hiding behind her long dark brown hair pulled up into a half ponytail. Since Sango was the one that was going to be paying for the trip, they had all decided to let her be the one to choose where they would go. Well, all of them but Sango. She hated to be put in the spotlight and would rather they all picked it out together. "Well," she said," I decided that maybe we would go to the Bahamas, since you know who will be performing there." She said the last part while smiling at the rest of the group, waiting for them to connect he dots. Ayame was the first to get wide eyes then slowly came to a stop. "Do you mean, who I think you mean?" She asked excitedly while jumping up and down and twirling in circles. The other two girl's brains finally clicked in and they began jumping up and down with Ayame. "Behind the Masks!" the three screamed in unison.
Sango joined them in their jumping and twirling in circles as they began to scream at the top of their lungs. Behind the Masks was there most favorite band of all time. There were four guys in the band, all around the girls' own age. They always wore a mask during their performance or in public and practically every girl in the school was in love with at least one of them. The boys never even used their own names. They were just known as the singer. The lead guitar, the base guitar, and the drummer. The girls did think it was weird, but the guys were just way to hot for them to care! "Sango you're the best!" Kagome screamed as she latched onto the girl's middle.
"Um, Kagome, get off!" Sango ordered the girl sharply and took in a deep breath after Kagome had let go, finally allowing her to breath. "So, when are we leaving?" Amaya asked anxiously. "Tomorrow, same day as the band is getting their." Sango explained to the expectant girls. "Oh my god! I've gotta go pack!" Ayame screamed as she began racing down the street. "Me too! Come on Kagome!" Amaya yelled as she got hold of Kagome and started dragging her down the street, the opposite way Ayame had ran. "Bye Sango! We'll call you tonight to get everything set," Amaya yelled over her shoulder as she dragged Kagome, always a step behind her.
Kagome and Amaya had been best friends since preschool. After Amaya's mother had dies, she went up for adoption. The man that adopted her however was so mean to her. She would always show up at school with a fresh bruise or cut everyday. This went on for about two years before the school finally took her away from the man and filed him with child abuse. Kagome had begged her mother to adopt Amaya, she agreed but said that it was up to Amaya. Kagome was so excited to finally have a sister but then was shocked when Amaya said no.
Amaya explained that she had already had a mother that she loved very much, and she didn't want anyone to replace her. Kagome's mom had only smiled at this answer while Kagome stared at Amaya in disbelief with tears streaming down her face. Then her mom pulled Amaya up into a hug to whisper in her ear," You don't have to call me mom id you don't want to. But you still are welcome to stay here, you could think about it as a permanent sleepover. Amaya only gave her the amazing smile she was known for and had moved in the next week. Kagome was so excited to finally have a sister, and if the two stood next to each other, you actually would think they were. The two looked exactly the same except instead of black hair and brown eyes like Kagome, Amaya had dark brown hair with dark blue eyes.
"Mom!" Amaya yelled as she and Kagome burst through the front door. "Oh good, you two are home. So, how was school?" Mrs. Higurashi asked smiling while stepping into the entry way. "Sango is taking us to the Bahamas!" Amaya blurted out so fast the rest of the room could hardly understand her. The two girls stood looking excited and slightly worried while they waited for their mom's reaction. Amaya soon got tired of waiting and ran up the steps to wait at the top. "When?" was all their mom could seem to say. "Tomorrow," Kagome informed her while running up the steps to catch up with Amaya. Mrs. Higurashi sighed, how she wished Sango would save up her money for college or her future instead of using it to spoil her own daughters. But, it wasn't her decision to make and she knew if she tried to call Sango she wouldn't be able to talk her out of it. Not to mention the rest of the girls would hate her for trying to ruin their trip. So she just hurried into the kitchen to tell grandpa.
"Can you actually believe that we're going to the Bahamas tomorrow?" Kagome asked excitedly as Amaya walked into her bedroom. "I know! It's unbelievable. But you know what, I'm gonna need my bathing suit." She stated while walking towards Kagome's suitcase and grabbing the two piece out of it. She turned to leave the room and walked across the hall, back to her own bedroom. "Oh come on! You have like five others!" Kagome shouted at Amaya's retreating back. "So do you!" was Amaya's simple answer as she closed the door to her room. "But that's my favorite one!" Kagome whined at her empty room. Kagome huffed but then went back to hurriedly packing her things. She put in all of her clothes, her make up, her bathing suits, her…. toothbrush? "Hmm, where is it? I thought I already packed it." She shuffled through her bag before shrugging and walking towards the bathroom to find the missing pink toothbrush.
When she was walking past Amaya's closed door on her way to the bathroom, she heard strange noises coming from inside. She stared at the door confusedly before finally deciding she didn't even want to know what was going on and continued her way to the bathroom. When she was on her way back, the noise was still coming from behind the door. "Amaya, what the hell are you doing…in…here…?" Kagome stared confusedly at her sister before bursting into uncontrollable laughter and falling to her knees. "Stop laughing! This is soo not funny!" Amaya yelled at her annoying sister in between jumps onto her jam packed suitcase. When Kagome finally had enough breath to tell her to stop jumping, she got up and walked over to the trampled case to find the source of Amaya's frustration. When she saw what lay inside she broke into another fit of giggles and fell to the floor a second time.
It was the messiest piece of shit she had ever seen! Everything was just completely thrown into it and stuffed into spaces obviously to small for the object. She quickly went through everything and sorted it into nice and neat piles. Within a minute she sat back to admire her handiwork. "Don't forget your toothbrush." Kagome sighed exasperatedly, holding out the blue stick. For the rest of her life whenever she went on a trip with Amaya, she would never let her forget her toothbrush. Once when they were younger they had gone on a camping trip and Amaya had forgotten her toothbrush. Kagome was forced to share with her. She almost gagged thinking back to the piece of broccoli she had found in it. Amaya laughed then gave a smile in thanks as she scanned the green walls and floor for anything she might have forgotten. The two may have looked alike but their taste in rooms was exact opposite. Kagome walked back into her light pink room with bright yellow curtains. Everything was neat and tidy and smelled of fresh lemons.
Amaya's room was exact opposite. The walls were dark turquoise green and the ceiling had red balls hanging from it, inside each was a little light. The red bedspread was messy, as was the piles of clothes hidden behind the closed closet doors. When you walked into the odd room you would immediately smell peppermint. When Amaya had first moved in, she had spilled her mother's bottle of peppermint perfume all over the rug. Mrs. Higurashi insisted that they throw it out but Amaya had pressed she wanted to keep it. Kagome ran back into the green room and skidded to a halt. "Sango just called, the plane leaves at seven in the morning!" Kagome notified Amaya with wide eyes. Amaya flopped onto the face first and groaned into the pillows. She hated to get up early. "That means we'll have to get up at five in order to get there on time." Amaya's muffled voice came from the pillows. Kagome nodded then turned to look at the clock.
10:00 P.M. was written in big red digital numbers across the screen. She squeaked then ran into her room and jumped into bed and under her covers. Amaya loved to stay up late but thought it would probably be best if she went to bed now. Not just for her own sake, but for everyone that has to be around her tomorrow on the plane for seventeen hours. She let her head sink into her pillow and smiled as she closed her eyes. By this time next week, I swear I will kiss the lead singer!
Ayame walked through the tall red doors to her house and into the familiar entry. Her house was the biggest that she knew of, since her grandfather was such a rich man, she supposed he felt more important in a big house. Her grandfather was one of her favorite subjects to talk about since his life was so interesting to her. Late at night when she was little, he would pull her up into his big fluffy red armchair by the fire and whisper the stories into her ear, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear them but her. Like she had said before, he always made her feel special in odd ways. He told her everything, he told her how he fell in love with grandma, how awful he felt when he had to leave her for the war, and then he would always smile when he told her about how he came back to marry her. He laughed when he remembered the night his son was born. He had ripped off the nurse's earring, making the doctor's bill ten times more expensive. He then told her how he had made his fortune, he had designed his own jewelry in a small shop, and that shop eventually grew into an entire company. But then, his face would grow very sad and he would tell her that's enough stories for one night, and send her off to bed. He didn't have to tell her what happened next, that much she already knew.
Her parents had left her, abandoned her with her sick and old grandpa. Not that she didn't love him, she just knew that he wouldn't be there for her forever. And because of that, she wanted a piece of his special jewelry to remember him by when he left her forever. But she didn't want the biggest diamond or ruby in the world, she wanted one thing. A silver locket with a key. However, her mother had taken that one thing with her when she left. She couldn't even leave her that much. The reason Ayame had been friends with Sango, Amaya, and Kagome in the first place was only because their parents had all been best friends. They were all in some sort of group together or something, Ayame didn't know. All she knew was that her grandpa had made a necklace for each couple and had locked something inside each locket. The key didn't open the silver hearts, it was basically him putting sarcasm into his work.
She thought about where each necklace was now. Sango's mother's had been lost in the car accident, Kagome's mom still had hers but chose to keep it in a jewelry box for safekeeping. Amaya wore her mother's practically all the time and as she angrily knew, her so-called mother had taken her own. It always drove her crazy to think about what was in those necklaces since grandpa wouldn't even tell her. She gave an agitated sigh before yelling," Grandpa, I'm home1" She listened as her voice echoed through the house. There was no answer, but there was no way he could have not heard that. When still there was no response she began to feel a tiny twinge in her stomach. "Grandpa…" She called out to the empty room. "Hello Ayame," a chilling happy voice came from behind her. She whipped around with a smile glued to her face. "Uncle Kane! It's great to see you!" She was completely lying through her teeth. She forced herself to lean up and give him an awkward hug but he pushed her back.
"Dad's not here, so we can skip the hugging and the happy shit." He spat at her while turning away and walking towards the kitchen. Ayame's smile instantly dropped. He opened the fridge door and bent down to look inside. "That's just fine with me," She growled down at him," but it would be nice to know where grandpa is." He ignored her question and pulled out a jar of mustard as well as some bologna. "How old is this bologna?" he asked as he turned to stare at Ayame with a stupid expression. "Only a day or two," she lied. It couldn't hurt him that much to eat two week old bologna, could it? He gave a fake smile of thanks and walked over to the counter to prepare his sandwich. "You still haven't answered my question, where's grandpa," she asked more forcefully. "He went to the hospital or something," he answered while walking off into the living room and slumping down onto the chair in front of the television.
"What!" she yelled at her stupid uncle," What happened!" "Heart attack or something," was his only answer as he switched through the channels. Ayame's jade eyes grew wide with horror as she ran to the front door and back onto the street. The hospital was only about ten blocks away so she ran there quickly, panting as she walked through the familiar waiting room. It was a private hospital and she had been there so many times lately that she knew everyone and her way around. "Where is he!" she shouted at the secretary with sweat dripping down her face and ruining her cover up. Not wanting to be in the presence of the source of the stink any longer, the woman pointed to a room down the hall. Ayame gave a small nod in thanks before dashing down the hall. "What's going on!" she shouted with authority as she boomed through the closed door. Two doctors stopped talking to turn at look at her. Her gaze fell to the bed and saw a middle aged man lying there naked, covered in an odd reddish purple rash.
Her face grew hot and turned a scarlet red. "Oops, wrong room. Sorry!" she called over her shoulder as she ran into the next room, now exhausted. When she walked into the next room she began to smile. There sitting in the bed was her beloved grandpa, turning on his charm with an elderly nurse. He stopped his flirting when he noticed his granddaughter standing in the doorway. "Aww, Ayame!" his voice boomed," Come over here and talk to me. This is the gorgeous girl I was just telling you about Julie." The old nurse smiled and said her hello before walking to the table to continue fixing grandpa's lunch. Her grandpa stood smiling at her but there was no humor in her own eyes. "Grandpa, what happened?" she asked seriously. He just gave a small shrug and smiled even wider. Sometimes he could be so transparent. "I just passed out for a little bit, no big deal." He explained to his granddaughter reassuringly. She must not have seemed convinced because he took her hand," I promise. It was just a small glitch, nothing big."
This seemed to reassure the girl because she finally smiled back. "So how was school, did you have fun?" he asked her. She was reluctant to change the subject but she finally gave in and told him about her plans for the Bahamas. "Aww, the Bahamas, beautiful, beautiful place. You better head home now and start packing or you probably won't make it on time. You know how long it takes you to get packed." He winked at her and laughed when she didn't think it was funny. "You don't really expect me to just leave you here like this do you?" she asked with venom in her voice. She couldn't believe that he actually thought she was that selfish! "Well, I certainly don't expect you to miss out on such an amazing adventure. And I already told you that I'm fine. Besides, I have Kane home to help me around." "A lot of help that will be," Ayame growled while rolling her eyes. "Oh, hush up. Now you get home and get straight to packing. I'll call a cab so you don't have to walk, oh, and Ayame." She turned to look at him in question. "Take a shower," he busted out, then began laughing.
She narrowed her eyes at the man, but then gave him a smile and blew a kiss before she left the room. Julie walked back over to the bed shaking her head. "What? What did I do?" the sick man lying in the bed asked innocently. She swatted angrily at his leg. "You know just as well as I do that it will only hurt her more the longer you wait to tell her! When exactly are you even going to tell her? After you're dead?" she hissed. "I will," he replied solemnly," In time."
"What do you mean there are no more seats left? I bought those tickets two weeks age!" Sango yelled angrily into the phone. The poor worn out man on the other line had been arguing with Sango over this for the past hour and a half. "Look, I've told you before, there was confusion with the tickets and your seats are sold to someone else." "Well, is there a later flight?" Sango asked agitatedly into the phone. "Yes, but I'm afraid it's all booked up." He told her disappointedly, he really wanted to get off the phone. "But I want to go see Behind the Masks!" Sango whined into the phone. "You and all the other female teenage population." The man replied exhaustedly into the phone. "Look, the only thing I can get you for tomorrow would be four seats on a smaller jet with another party, a thousand bucks a piece." He told the frustrated girl on the other line. By now he was praying she would just say yes, she was a very tiring person to talk to! Sango gave a sigh then finally gave in. The man joyfully put the phone down to leave the angry Sango with no one to talk to but herself.
Well, time to call the girls. She called Ayame first and talked to her for about a half an hour. By the time she finally got off the phone with Kagome it was already 9:55 P.M. She started laughing to herself when she got off the phone with Kagome. Kagome will probably forget to tell Amaya we're flying in a first class jet plane until she sees the plane tomorrow. She lay down on the bed, worn out from having to argue for so long. She was quickly asleep, fading back into a dark part of her mind. Far away from her warm cozy bed, and into the cold snow.
Sango sprang up out of bed panting, her bed was soaked with cold sweat as she sat shivering. Those horrible images of the crash were playing with her mind again. But one particular image stayed in her mind, no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it. The car hadn't caught fire all by itself, someone else had started it. That someone knew her parents were still inside. That someone had been the one to throw the match. And as the car sat burning in the snow, that someone looked at her, and smiled.
A.N.) Well, finally done with the first chappie and i'm exhausted! Its like 2:00 A.M. right now. see ya, i'm gonna go to bed.
