22nd January

5:15 PM

Stupid, stupid Shun! I can't believe he tore my Science homework apart, just because he was mad with dad! I couldn't really blame him for exploding at dad, but why do I have to suffer? Ugh… damn! I'm going to do it all over again today! It's a good thing I don't have Science at school today.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, a new girl had just entered my class. It wouldn't be bad at all if it weren't for her nasty and annoying attitude. Honestly, just who does she think she is? Flirting with all the boys in class all of a sudden and then giggled and shooed one of them away when he asked her out?

A girl flirts with boys when she wants them to ask her out, right? I always thought of it that way, but now that I've met Shinju, I'm not really sure. And at first I actually thought that she maybe was a pretty nice girl. Well, I guess looks can be deceiving.

So during the morning, everything was very, very normal. So normal that it was almost boring… so Izumi, Takuya and I started to talk excitedly about what we would do if we're movie-stars. (Not like it'll actually happen, but hey, you can always dream!) Kouichi and Kouji listened silently to us talking stupid things, laughing every now and then.

"I would spend all my money from acting on clothes, that's for sure! And maybe buy a few presents for the four of you… Other than that it's all mine!" That was Izumi, obviously. She can get a bit possessed when it comes to buying clothes. Unfortunately, I'm always the one who ended up accompanying her to the mall.

"I'm going to buy myself a soccer field. The school field is so small." Takuya complained.

"Really? It's big enough for me," Kouichi said thoughtfully and I laughed. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is big enough for Takuya. Today it's the school field and tomorrow he's going to talk about his shoes. It's not my fault he's growing up so fast!

"How about you, Sanako? Planning on buying some more skirts other than the school uniform?" Izumi joked.

"Not funny," I replied and they laughed. I have been wearing jeans and t-shirts all my life and they can't expect me to suddenly change my taste in clothes. The day they see me in a skirt is the day when I'm going out with a guy that I really, really like.

"Seeing Sanako in a skirt would be hilarious," Alright, after Kouji said that I decided that I am so not going to wear any skirts or dresses in front of them! They'd never let me forget about it and that would seriously suck.

Suddenly, Izumi grabbed my hand and dragged me to the corner of the classroom, away from the boys. I wondered what she wanted to talk about since she was so excited about it. One could tell just by looking at her face.

When she finally let go of my hand, she beamed. That girl is nuts, I can confirm that now.

"Alright, ask me!" She exclaimed to a dumb-founded me.

"Excuse me?"

"Just ask me! Now before I burst!"

"Ask what?"

"About that date! I thought you wanted to know about it!" She explained to me, talking like I was a three-year-old kid.

As much as I wanted her to explain every single thing about it to me, I sincerely hoped that she would forget about it too. Weird? Well, that's just me. She didn't talk about it yesterday so I simply assumed that she would rather keep that little piece of information all to herself.

I guess it's nice that Izumi never forget to tell me anything, but sometimes I just wish that she wouldn't get overly-excited about a boy whom she had just started dating two weeks ago. I don't know… I just don't trust that Taiki. I'm just scared that Izumi would get depressed when he… dumps her. It's not like I'm mean for thinking about that! I really want her to be happy!

Let's just say that, as a friend, I don't really approve of that boy. Oh god, I'm rambling in my book. How lame can I get? And I'm writing like a forty-year-old mom who's worrying about her daughter who had just started dating! What's happening to me?

So, anyway, Izumi started talking about that perfect that she had which, surprisingly, turned out to be quite a good story. Despite the fact that Taiki had failed to remember what Izumi's favorite color is. Boys might not realize that it's important but it really is. One day I'm sure a girl would ask her boyfriend about it and if he couldn't answer correctly, it's bye-bye.

It was rather obvious that the guys; namely Takuya, Kouji and Kouichi, were eavesdropping. They had gone silent all of a sudden and frowned when Izumi told them—or rather I—that Taiki is the best boyfriend a girl could have.

They, like me, don't really like Taiki either but they knew better than to say this out loud. The four of us are just too afraid that Izumi would be disappointed when we tell her that.

"So, what do you think? Excellent, right?" Izumi asked, out of breath, when she was done.

I nodded. Really, what else is there to say? I felt happy for her and that's what's really important.

"I don't know if you realize this, but they…" I pointed to the three boys, who shifted uncomfortably, "… are eavesdropping. Just thought you might like to know."

Izumi frowned and whacked Takuya's head. He moaned slightly and rubbed his head in pain with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Don't you guys get it? This is girl talk!" She almost screamed.

"What about Sanako?"

"I'm a girl, remember?"

"No you're not! You're a tomboy!"

"HEY!" Before I could come up with a good reply, Mrs. Tachikawa, our teacher, entered the class and asked all of us to sit down at our places. I went to my seat beside Kouichi's and took out my pencil box and notebook and started doodling on a piece of paper. I have to admit, I have a wide sense of imagination. Just give me a pencil and a paper and I can draw something nice.

I was so wrapped up in my little drawing that I didn't notice Kouichi eyeing me doing that. I was drawing a field of white flowers, it was the only thing that I could do without color pencils.

"That's nice," Kouichi commented and I quickly slammed the book shut. I wasn't used to people looking at my work, not even my best friends or family. It's just a habit of mine to be secretive about my drawings, mostly because I'm embarrassed.

"Don't stop because of me. I really think it's beautiful." Kouichi said again, encouraging me to open the book again. He's really nice to say that. I mean, another person would just say that it didn't look appealing or the likes. Never mind…

"You really think it's nice?" I asked, blushing. Stupid, really. Why should I blush? It's Kouichi, for goodness sake! My childhood friend who's nice, caring, really helpful and cute too. STOP THAT! Something is seriously wrong with me. Where the heck is my medicine?

Anyway, I forgot what Kouichi told me and I finally noticed a pretty girl standing behind Mrs. Tachikawa.

A few boys tried to get her attention, but she simply ignored them. That's a first. Other than Izumi and myself, I really thought other girls would go crazy when the boys in our class even made a lame effort on getting their attention.

"Class, this is Ryota Shinju. She will be joining us in class from today onwards," Mrs. Tachikawa explained.

Shinju smiled sweetly at all of us and bowed a little.

"Alright, why don't you sit beside Takuya?"

Takuya raised his hand to show who Mrs. Tachikawa was actually referring to.

Let me get this straight. Takuya's sitting behind Kouichi and in front of Kouji, which means that Shinju would be sitting behind me. Like I said I wouldn't have minded if it weren't for her stupid attitude. At first I was planning to talk to her when the first lesson ended, but I instantly changed my mind when I saw how she acted throughout the class.

First, she pretended that she had forgotten to bring her pencil, when I could clearly see it under her table. As it was her first day there, I simply tolerated it, thinking that it might be her way of getting a friend.

Then she said she didn't know the answer for the first question and took a peek at Takuya's book. Except instead of looking at his book, she looked straight into Takuya's light brown eyes. Takuya moved back nervously and I could feel Kouichi shudder a bit. I glanced at Izumi who was sitting near the window and she gave me a look that said, 'What's up with her?'

I shrugged and continued on with my work. I was kind of sorry for Takuya but I couldn't do anything at that time. The same thing happened over and over again that I just had to glare at Shinju. Not that she noticed.

"You think Takuya'll survive through mathematics?" I asked Kouichi and he smiled back a bit nervously.

"I don't know… she's kind of friendly, don't you think?"

I stared him in a funny way. That was a polite way to put it. Typical Kouichi…

"A bit too friendly if you ask me," I replied.

"Kouji's pretty much disgusted with her already…" I heard him mumble and I looked behind Takuya. Sure enough, Kouji was writing in his book with a frown on his face and Izumi was doing the same thing. Only hers were more vicious.

Mental note: Don't ever cross Izumi or you would really suffer a fate worse than death.

"Frightening…" Kouichi let out a laugh.

When the bell rang, indicating that it was recess time, Takuya sighed in relief. He grabbed his food and rushed out of the class without waiting for anything or anyone else.

"Looks like someone's been having a bad day," I said mostly to myself.

"Go ahead and run after him. I'll catch up with you later,"

I nodded and ran after Takuya. Soccer practice benefited in his speed, perhaps, because he was extremely fast. It was a good thing I'm in the school's netball team. I heard footsteps from behind me and knew without looking that it was Izumi's and Kouji's.

"WAIT UP!"

"Don't leave us here!"

"Just slow down!"

Takuya stopped and, as if just realizing that we were there, grinned at us.

"What's the matter? I'm too fast for you?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I would have done the same thing if a girl acted like that around me. You were practically turning pale!" Izumi implied.

Kouji and I sniggered. We couldn't help it because what Izumi said was true. Takuya really did turn pale at that time.

"Thanks a lot. Hey, where's Kouichi?" He asked.

"In class," I replied and they all stared at me.

"What?"

"Shinju's in there…" Kouji pointed out and I could figure out the rest by myself.

"Bad idea, huh?" The three nodded.

The next thing I knew, I was running back to class. I didn't care about the weird looks I get from other pupils. Kouichi was in real trouble and it was all partly my fault. I was the one who left him there.

Before I entered the class, I heard a girl's voice talking to familiar voice which was definitely Kouichi's.

"Oh, come on… You know you want to be my boyfriend," The girl, Shinju, said in that irritating tone of hers.

That was enough to make me push the door open with so much force that it was a wonder that it was still usable. Shinju glared at me when she saw me while Kouichi was staring at the floor, blushing horribly.

"You haven't got a girlfriend, right?" Shinju continued as if I wasn't even there.

"Uh… Kouichi shot me a pleading look.

I didn't know what came into my mind when I said the next sentence. I was so angry that I wasn't thinking straight. It was so embarrassing! Thank god the others weren't there.

"He does have one. I'm going out with him."

Smart thing to say, huh? NOT!

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A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews. You don't know how much I appreciate them! More please!