CHAPTER TWO

"Friends"

She couldn't sleep well again last night. Besides her insomnia, she was disturbed about the goose bumps that came over her when Sendoh had touched her. It was hard to understand why. Nevertheless, she kept on avoiding the thought and said it was no big deal. The next day, she dreaded going to school because of embarrassment about what happened the other day…the more reason she kept on bowing her head low.

"Jade! Good morning!" a familiar singing voice caught her attention.

Anna had been very welcoming. Something inside her was thankful of having her besides being a little annoying.

"Hi Anna." Jade gave a smile that was somehow a little unusual for her.

"We won! We won by five points. Too bad you weren't there to see the action." She exclaimed.

"That's okay."

Again, Jade was reminded about Sendoh. The feeling of wanting to see him shocked her.

"Sendoh was just so adorable in court! You're so luck you bumped into him!"

Lucky? Hitting your head hard on the wall is lucky? Jade thought to herself. The bell rang ordering everyone to go to his or her classes. Jade and Anna went inside their classroom and settled down. It was Jade's first to join the history class so she sat in the back row beside an empty seat by the window. Mr. Tau, their geeky history teacher greeted the class and checked the attendance. Everyone raised their hands after hearing the name.

"Akira Sendoh…" Mr. Tau called. Jade suddenly looked up surprised to realize he was her history classmate. No one answered.

"Sendoh?" he repeated.

Again, there was no reply. Jade looked over the empty chair next to her and guessed it was his seat.

"Oh well…" Mr. Tau sighed, "So about history…"

After a long gruesome day, the dismissal bell rang and everyone filled the hallways. Jade walked towards her locker but got bumped by Mr. Tau.

"Oh, hi miss Asakura"

She greeted back.

"I'm so glad I bumped into you! Could you do me a favor?" he handed her a bunch of books, "could you give these to Sendoh and tell him I need them tomorrow. These are his assignments. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the help."

Jade didn't have time to resist because Mr. Tau had already walked away.

"What's that?" Anna asked startling Jade.

"Mr. Tau asked me to take these to Sendoh. Do you know where he is?"

"He must be in the gym practicing."

Jade sighed, bid her friend goodbye and headed towards the gym. When she reached her destination, she noticed there were no sounds from the inside. No running, shouting, whistles… Empty?

"Excuse me? Are you looking for someone?" A voice behind her suddenly asked.

She twirled around and saw Ren, a co-basketball played of Sendoh's.

"Yeah, do you know where Sendoh is?"

"They're not back yet, but if it's really important he'll be back here by seven cleaning the gym as punishment." His friend said smiling.

"Thanks."

Great… she gloomily thought.

"Whew!" Sendoh sighed after successfully cleaning the gym floors. He looked at the watch that read 7:20 pm. He had returned from a practice game between Tategami and Kainan high studying the performance of their opponents. Suddenly he noticed someone enter the gym.

"Hey." He called after approaching her.

The girl stopped and turned around with books on her arms.

"What are you doing here at this hour?"

She handed him the books quickly. "They're your assignments. Mr. Tau said he needed them tomorrow."

"Oh…history." He said smiling.

Then silence.

"You're Jade right? Jade Asakura?"

"Yes."

"Akira Sendoh." He introduced himself without taking that big smile off his face. "And I'm sorry again about the other day."

"It's okay." She smiled back and quickly looked away.

She always had a hard time looking into people's eyes whenever they talked.

"Are you heading home?"

"Yes it's getting late." She glanced at her watch.

"Can I walk with you then?" Sendoh grinned.

Jade felt the goosebumps again and hesitated for a while.

"Don't worry I'm not gonna bite."

She chuckled. It was as if the laugh was new to her because she suddenly stopped. It's been quite a while now since she had had a good laugh. The moment just caught her unprepared.

"Okay, she finally agreed.

While they were walking side by side, half of her was enjoying his company while the other half seemed to want to avoid him. Finally, they arrived at Jade's place.

"Thanks for the walking with me." She said still surprised at herself.

"No problem." Sendoh smiled charmingly. Jade felt her cheeks flush so she turned around and walked ahead to her gate. Before she could get inside, Sendoh called after.

"Hey… If you want to have someone to walk home with again, feel free to ask."

Jade nodded and disappeared inside the house. Sendoh walked away with a smile playing on his face.

Jade got to bed and recalled her moment with Sendoh. She had felt undeniably happy although she had just met him. The beast part was that he made her laugh. Laughing had become rare to her. Now, she felt like wanting to do it all over again. Had she almost forgotten her trauma? She didn't mind…surprisingly. And for the first time since the accident, she was able to close her eyes and fall soundly to sleep without a sign of nightmare in thought.

Sendoh had fallen asleep on his desk in class. Jade, who sat next to him couldn't help but snigger at the sight of him sleeping stupidly with his snores quite loud. Her face somehow lightens up whenever Sendoh was around. Suddenly the teacher threw a piece of chalk at Sendoh who immediately woke up. Everyone nervously laughed.

Then a nock on the door came and caught everyone's attention. Immediately the teacher went to talk to the strangers. After a while, he came back inside and nodded for Jade to come. She knew who it was. The strangers were her parent's lawyers. They have been checking on her every now and then sometimes with Mr. Chan, the vice president of the company. Every color had drained from her face. She was back to her old self. Looking down, she stood up and headed to the door slowly. She knew what this was all about. They'd be talking about her money, possessions, and everything of value that her parents had left her with. She was always annoyed and frightened about thinking everyone was concerned with her money. She was about to think that nobody cared for her anymore but looking back and seeing Sendoh smile warmly at her stopped her from believing in that.

She was right. They talked about "business" all over again.

Don't they care that my family is dead? She thought bitterly trying to push back the tears.

"Jade are you listening?" One of the lawyers asked.

"We need you to sign right there on the dotted line." He said pointing to the stack of papers in front of her.

She knew that signing it would mean she has failed her father. She was tasked to take care of the business but she had failed. She was close to tears, her hand shaking as she slowly signed the papers that meant she was giving up.

"Thank you miss Asakura…we appreciate your understanding for the needs of the company." Mr. Chan said taking all the papers and filling his briefcase with them.

He gave a pushed smile and Jade knew it was fake.

This is what you wanted all along jerkface… to own father's business! Happy now!

"Are we done?" she asked almost choking on tears.

"Yes thank you for cooperating with us."

She stood up quickly and the gentlemen followed, when they were already out of sight, she ran towards the stairs and headed to the rooftop where no one would see and hear her cry. There she sulk in one corner and sobbed. She couldn't bear the fact that his father's prized possession had easily slipped away from her hands. She had failed him. She was devastated. She cried for hours not minding her classes. She felt very much alone and isolated until she felt someone sit beside her.

"Here…"

Jade looked up to see Sendoh handing out his handkerchief for her. Quickly, she wiped her tears embarrassed that he saw her cry like that and ignored his offer.

"You're not supposed to be here." She declared a little shaky.

Sendoh smiled captivatingly and replied, "So are you."

"Would it bother you if I asked why you're crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry…I just don't like to see girls cry. I have this little sister and it breaks my heart every time she cries. I guess that's my weakness."

Jade looked at him surprised he could tell his weakness so easily with a person he barely even met.

"Why are you doing this Sendoh?" She blurted out.

"Do what?"

"Talk to me…make friends with me…everybody else seems to talk behind my back but you-"

"They do?" he asked unknowingly. "Why do they talk about you behind your back? Sorry I'm always late about happenings in school." He said scratching his head.

Jade laughed.

Sendoh smiled.

"You're very funny Sendoh…" she said in between laughs. When she stopped, he stood up.

"If I make friends with people, I don't care what others would say about that person. If I know we'll get along very well, why not?"

"So you think we'll get along very well?"

"Is there any reason not to?"

Jade grinned at him not minding the swelling of her eyes.

"Not that I can think of."

"I'm right then." He said giving a big smile as he walked back towards the door.

Jade had become relieved, like her pain somehow lifted slightly from her shoulders. She had forgotten for a while why she cried. It was a very beautiful feeling for her.

"Thank you…" she called after.

Sendoh looked back and grinned. "I'll be at the gym if you need anything. Take care…"

Take care… It's been a while since someone had said that to her. She smiled at the thought of knowing that somehow, she wasn't alone. That somehow, somebody actually cared for her. She held on to that thought and knew that somehow, Sendoh had made her happy.