When I woke up the next morning to do my 5:30 jog, I checked to make sure all of my things were still where they were; God knew what Mikhaila was going to pull. I changed into my sports bra and stretch pants, tied back my hair, then went out for the jog. It was strange, this mood I was in; I normally wasn't one to worry about someone pulling a trick on me, but then again, like I had said to that guy at the pool party, the last thing I was in the mood for was a bad joke. And when it came to bad jokes, Mikhaila almost seemed like the Queen of Hearts.
Determined to put her out of my mind, I went back to the house after my jog and decided to head to Xania's place early, just to avoid seeing that redhead. As a result, I was out of the house before 6:30 in the morning, and I knew Xania was going to be more than annoyed, but I decided I was going to entice her into waking up a little earlier.
When I reached her house, I hopped off the motorcycle, a paper bag in one hand and my helmet in the other as I walked up to the door. Setting down the helmet, I knocked on the door, and after a moment, her foster mom answered.
"You're a bit early, aren't you, Rocío?" she inquired, frowning slightly.
Hey, she actually looks like she's in a GOOD mood, I thought dryly. "Yeah, I am. Is Xania up yet?" I asked.
"Not yet, but it's about time for her to be." She looked down at the bag in my hand. "What's in there?"
"Just a little treat for her, sort of a reward for her getting up earlier than she absolutely has to," I replied cheekily.
"Come in," she said reluctantly, stepping aside to let me enter.
I stepped inside, then when Mrs. Peters actually decided to let me go and wake Xania up, I set my helmet down and walked up the stairs to her room. The door was shut, and when I knocked, there was no answer. I knocked again, this time a little harder, and this time all I got was a low groan.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," I said aloud as I opened the door slowly. "Wake up, you."
Xania pulled the sheets over her head, groaning. "Not time yeeeet…"
"C'mon, it's only ten minutes earlier than the time you normally get up at. Get up."
"Uh-uh."
"Yes-huh. I got somethin' for ya."
"Five more minutes," she groaned, holding up her hand, all five fingers spread out.
"Don't make me pull the covers off of you."
"I wouldn't do—" Xania's mom started to say from behind me, but before she could finish, I reached over and yanked back her sheets, and jumped back in surprise when I saw Xania had no clothes on whatsoever.
"HEY!" she protested, jumping up and covering herself with her hands. "What the hell!"
"I tried to warn you," Xania's mom said nonchalantly.
"J…just put on some clothes," I managed to stammer, blushing heavily. "I'll wait downstairs."
I stumbled down the stairs, my face still cherry-red, while Xania's mom followed me, a rare smile creeping across her face. "I thought you knew she sleeps nude," she said, chuckling.
"Um…I didn't," I said. "Now I do. Remind me never to do that again."
"I have the feeling I'll have to do just that."
"Isn't there some Christian law against sleeping nude?" I quipped. "Thought you'd have a problem with it."
"We're all born nude. Nudity is a natural thing. It's one of the few things I actually don't have a problem with her doing, as long as she's by herself and not with some man. I expect her to have SOME measure of decent clothing on when there's a man around."
I snickered in response. But before she could open her mouth to say something, Xania came down the stairs, looking a little pissed at being woken up so suddenly.
"So what was this thing you had for me?" she asked tiredly, yawning as she ran a hand through her tangled hair.
"Here." I handed her the bag, and when she reached in, she squealed and held up some donuts.
"Hey, cool! Free breakfast!" she exclaimed. "What's this for?"
"For being a good sport about getting up early," I quipped. Xania just snickered.
"Right, right. What're you here so early for, anyway?"
"Just wanted to get out of the house without seeing Mikhaila."
"Oh, I get it." She took a bite out of one of the donuts and offered me the other, which I declined. "Mom, we're gonna go now, ok?"
"That's fine, Xania. Just don't ditch again," Mrs. Peters warned, eyeing the both of us.
"We won't," I assured her jokingly as I grabbed my helmet and headed out the door, Xania following me.
"It's a miracle!" Xania remarked as we got on my motorcycle and headed off.
"What's a miracle?" I asked.
"She actually called me Xania instead of my real name!"
Gee, that explains a lot, I thought dryly. "I kinda figured that wasn't your real name. What IS your real name, anyway?" I felt a little embarrassed that I had to ask. I'd known her for two months, and I still didn't know it. I hadn't even heard her mom call her by name, by ANY sort of name.
Xania paused, and after a moment, reluctantly said, "…Do you really want to know?"
"Sure I do! Can't be that bad!"
"…Bridget."
"That's your real name?"
Xania flushed and fidgeted for a moment as she tightened her grip around my waist. "Yeah."
"I don't see anything wrong with it," I said, holding in a laugh.
"Sure you do! You're trying not to crack up! You think it's just hilarious, don't you!" she protested.
"No, no, don't mind me," I laughed. I finally had to park alongside the road to keep from swerving all over, I was laughing so hard. I could not picture that name on her! Bridget! It sounded so…formal! And Xania certainly was not a formal type of girl!
"See why I chose the name Xania?" she groaned. "It actually sounds cool, unlike Bridget."
"You're right, I do see why you go by that name now," I said, chuckling. "It suits you a lot more than…Bridget…" I started to crack up again.
"Stop laughing!" she yelled, looking more than annoyed at my reaction. I swore I could see her blush a little bit too.
"Ok, Bridget," I joked.
"I'm gonna regret having ever said that, aren't I," she mumbled to herself as I started up the bike and headed down the street again.
"Yes, I think you will," I said, still chuckling lightly. "…Bridget."
"Shut the hell up about that Bridget name! I'm Xania mother-fuckin' Peters, not Bridget Jones or whatever the hell her name is!"
"Sorry, sorry, I'll try to stop," I said, not able to stop grinning. "It's just funny!"
"How'd you like me to start calling you by your middle name, Rosho? Wanna start being called María instead? María María María!"
"Hey now!" I protested lightheartedly, laughing. "That's not fair!"
Of course, it was better than having her call me by my REAL name, Yumeko. But at the same time that we were teasing each other about our names, I inwardly longed to hear someone call out my real name. In coming to California, I had lost everything. My mom, and my friends, they weren't here. They were over in Tokyo. I had even lost my name. I just wanted something to call my own here, and I couldn't find a damn thing to do so with.
"Oh, solo mííííooo. My sweet Maríííía!" she sang.
"Ok, I'll stop!" I joked. "Enough of that!"
"No more Bridget then. I'll only stop then."
"All right, no more Bridget!"
"Ok, no more María then."
As we pulled up to the school parking lot, however few kids there were at the school at this early time were there to just stand and stare in disbelief as Xania and me started giggling like crazy. Sure, it was a stupid thing to giggle about, but at least it was something, I guess!
-----
All day at school, although I had told Xania I wouldn't call her by her real name anymore, I kept referring to her by it, and in return, she kept referring to me by my pseudo middle name. In reality I didn't have a middle name, so I pretended to be annoyed and jokingly told her to stop. It was hard enough trying to picture myself as a Rocío or Rosho, let alone a María. Even after two months of being called that, I could still only think of myself as Yumeko. I felt like screaming out loud, "My name is Yumeko Asagiri, not Rocío Monterrey! Rocío never existed! There is only me, the daughter of Priss Asagiri and the purple Knight Saber!"
But of course, I couldn't do such a thing. And if I did, the redhead named Mikhaila Brunstein would be the least of my worries.
On the bright side, me and Xania calling each other by our 'real' names helped distract me from the situation with Mikhaila, and when she, Sara, and Juliana invited me to go to the mall with them after school for what seemed like the five-hundredth time, I conceded and agreed to go, in part because Mikhaila had had her debit card taken away for the week and wouldn't be able to go along.
"Will you think of me when you see that $15 stick of lipstick I love?" Mikhaila asked dryly when Sara dropped her off at her house.
"Sure," I replied in the same tone.
"It's only for a week, Mikky," Sara said in her usual cheerful voice. "You'll survive."
"By then I'll be missing out on the latest fads and be totally out of style," she mumbled.
"Boo-freaking-hoo," I groaned. "See ya later." Xania snickered beside me.
"See? Nothin' to worry about," Xania said as Sara drove us down the street and towards the mall. "Just gotta show her that you're not some wimp who's got no spine."
"I've never been a wimp. The last thing I'm gonna do is let some stuck-up spoiled brat shove me around. I've dealt with bigger things than her."
"That's obvious enough."
"Sí, olvides sobre Mikhaila," Sara said, breaking out into her Spanish again. "Sobrevivirá. Creo que ella puede sobrevivir un día sin mirando a las ropas."
"Si crees que sí," I quipped.
"Translate for me," Juliana suddenly said, looking a little confused.
"She said forget about Mikhaila, that she'll live, and that she thinks Mikhaila can survive a day without looking at clothes."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Xania said, rolling her eyes. "And what was that last remark you made?"
"I said 'If you think so.'"
Juliana and Xania both started to laugh. "Well, I do NOT think so!" Juliana said between bouts of laughter. "Mikhaila's a definite shopaholic."
"Why do you think she took it so hard when Irodia and Tyler took away her debit card?" Xania asked, grinning. "They know it's the ultimate punishment for her."
"And what would taking away that AND her make-up do?" I asked, playing along.
Xania thought for a moment, flipping her tail back and forth as Sara pulled the convertible into the mall parking lot. "Honestly…I have no fucking wish to see WHAT would happen if that happened," she said, snickering. "I think Armageddon would be coming earlier than those wackos in the tabloids are saying."
"Is that possible? The tabloids say every year that the end of the present year is going to be the end of the world," Juliana quipped.
"Well, last I heard, November wasn't the end of the year," Xania replied as everybody got out of the car.
"Close enough to me," I interjected.
"What she said," Sara agreed, chuckling.
"Aw, looks like I'm the only one takin' your side, Juls," Xania said, faking hurt. "Traitors! We're surrounded by traitors! The whole fuckin' lot o' ya are traitors!"
"Y'know…you'd make a good actress," I said, smiling.
Xania stopped in the middle of her melodramatic scene and looked at me. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah. Better than a lot of kids at my old school were, when they tried out for plays."
"I guess I could try out for a play one o' these days," she said, then added wryly, "Unfortunately, I don't think there's any play that stars a spiky-headed girl with a monkey tail."
"Well, with your scenes at church, you do pretty well," I joked.
"Hey!" she yelled, the rest of us cracking up. "Cheap shot!"
While I was laughing, Xania came over to me, grabbed me in a headlock, and started giving me a noogie. "Cheap shot, you little fucker, you!"
"Hey!" I giggled, trying to get out of her grip, but I was laughing so hard it was hard to do much of anything.
"I wish I had a camera!" Sara laughed.
"Cute, you two, real comical," Juliana said, starting to get her breath back. She grinned and said, "People are starting to stare, now let's get going."
"Ok, ok," Xania said, releasing me. I was off-balance, so when she let me go, I dropped to my knees, and after I let out a few more laughs, I ran a hand through my now-messed-up hair and followed behind.
"Giving me a noogie, no fair," I said, still grinning.
"Serves you right," Xania said with a smirk, beating me lightly across the face with her tail.
"You KNOW I'll return the favor someday."
"Yeah, yeah, just try it."
-----
The afternoon flew by faster than I thought it would have. After all, the only person I really went to the mall with was Michiko. But that's not to say it wasn't fun hanging out with Xania, Sara, and Juliana, because it was. It was just a little different; they weren't Michiko, after all.
"Have fun?" Irodia asked when I got back to the house that evening.
"Yeah, I did," I said, grinning. "We didn't even really do that much shopping, though. We were too busy wondering how Mikhaila was gonna get through this week without her debit card."
"That's not funny!" Mikhaila yelled from her bedroom.
"It depends on your sense of humor, that's all," Irodia joked, her voice quiet enough so that Mikhaila wouldn't hear. "Oh, Tyler cooked dinner if you want any."
"What did you cook, Tyler?" I asked, looking at him as he washed dishes in the kitchen.
"Tuna casserole," he replied. I wrinkled my nose at the thought.
"He used his secret recipe," Irodia whispered, snickering. "Don't worry, it's edible."
"Well, anything I've eaten that's been cooked by him so far has been edible," I quipped, biting my cheek, "so I guess I'll try some."
As I took off my jacket and sat down in the dining room, Irodia fixed me a bowl and brought it in. She set it in front of me and said, "What's that look for?"
"It smells fishy," I said, wrinkling my nose again.
"That would be the tuna, Rocío," Tyler joked. "C'mon, tell me how you like it. My wife and daughter aren't honest enough to be true food critics."
"Oh, you," Irodia said, smacking him lightly on the arm.
"How come nobody else is eating?" I inquired, picking up my fork.
"We already ate."
"Oh." I scooped up a forkful of the casserole, and after sniffing it, I shoved it into my mouth. "Mmm! This IS good!" I exclaimed, swallowing it and digging in for more.
"Glad you like it!" Tyler said.
"What kind of mayonnaise did you use? It's really good!"
"Oh, I got it from a local mom-and-pop store about two blocks away. It's one of those kinds you can't find at the major chains."
"Makes sense." I shoved another forkful into my mouth and grinned. "Maybe you could show me how to make it sometime! I wouldn't mind having this more often!"
"Great! Maybe when you're not busy with homework, I'll show you."
"Sure, that'd be great," I agreed.
After I finished off the bowl of tuna casserole, I went back for another bowl, which seemed to thrill Tyler to no end. Once I finished that one, I rinsed off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, then went to my bedroom to do my homework. But when I got there, I could sense there was something different. Something felt like it was missing. I glanced around, confused for a moment as to what it could be, but when I drew my eyes over the desk for the third or fourth time, I realized what it was.
The spot on the desk next to the dried cherry blossom branch was empty.
"Oh dear God," I said aloud. "The picture…"
I ran around my bed to the desk, looking around it, under it, behind it, in case it had perhaps fallen off. When I couldn't find it, I turned and looked under the bed. Nothing. I threw back the sheets on my bed, looked under the pillow, in the drawers in my desk, but still, it was nowhere to be seen.
"Mikhaila," I growled to myself, trembling all over from anger. I stomped out of the room and down the hallway to her room, and burst open the door. "You bitch!" I yelled, grabbing her and snatching her from her desk.
"What the hell?" she protested.
"Where's that picture? I know you took it!"
"What picture?"
"Oh, you KNOW what picture I'm talking about! The one of me and Michiko that's on my desk! Where the hell is it?" I demanded.
"I didn't take it! Maybe you put it somewhere else!" she suggested, snorting. "And what're you gonna do anyway? Make BOTH my eyes black?"
"I'll do a HELL of a lot more than that if you don't tell me where that picture is!"
"What's going on?" Irodia asked, running into the room, followed by Tyler.
"She took my picture of Michiko!" I said, turning to her while still holding Mikhaila by the shirt.
"How do you know it was her, Rocío?" Tyler asked, undaunted.
"Who else would? She's had it out for me ever since I punched her for shoving me in the pool!"
"Let's talk this out like adults, ok? First, drop my daughter," he ordered.
I grudgingly obeyed. A split-second later, however, I was met with a blow to one side of my face, and my head being jerked to the side. "Don't you ever grab me like that again," Mikhaila growled through gritted teeth as I held a hand to my eye.
"That does it," I said softly before lunging at her. "You're DEAD!"
"Rocío, STOP it!" Irodia said, grabbing me from behind while Mikhaila jumped backwards onto her bed to avoid me.
"Let me go!" I demanded, trying to pull myself out of her grip.
"Get ahold of yourself, young lady!" Tyler ordered, grabbing my arm and forcibly pulling me towards him. "Violence will get you nowhere."
"It's the only thing that's gotten me anywhere my whole life," I said, frowning as I tried to throw his hand off my arm, but he held it fast.
"It's the only thing you've known, of course you would think that," he said.
I turned and glared at Mikhaila. "If you want to live through the night, I better see that picture back in my room in the next five minutes," I hissed.
"Enough of that," Tyler snapped, dragging me out of Mikhaila's room and into my room. He sat me down on the bed and said, "Let me ask again, what makes you think she took your picture?"
"I already said! She's wanted to get revenge on me ever since I gave her that black eye and got her grounded, which she DID deserve."
"She did deserve the grounding, yes, but I don't think you beating her up is going to get your picture back. Besides, even if you don't find the picture, as long as you have the original negative or disc it was on, you can print another one."
"That's just it. I don't." I fidgeted, rubbing my upper arm where he had grabbed me earlier; it was sore now. "The only reason I'm freaking out over it is…is because that's the last picture I have of Michiko. It's the most recent one I have of her before she got killed. If it was any other picture, I wouldn't be throwing a fit over it like I am this one."
"Ohhh, I see." He put a hand on my shoulder, and I pulled away in response.
"Don't grab me like that again…please," I said quietly. "That's how my dad grabbed me a lot before he'd beat the shit out of me." That was very much a lie, but Tyler didn't know that. After all, how could I tell him that it was Boomers that had been beating me up and not some fictional father figure?
"I'm sorry about that. Just a paternal response, you know, to seeing you trying to pummel my daughter." He paused. "If Mikhaila did take your picture, I'm sure me and Irodia can get her to return it."
"And if she doesn't?" I asked, dread creeping into my voice.
"If she doesn't…we'll beat it out of her ourselves," he joked. "No, we wouldn't do that. If she doesn't return it, then we'll just see what we're gonna do from there."
"I really need that picture back, Tyler…"
"I know. But pictures shouldn't matter, as long as you have them in your memories."
Says you, I thought. Memories fade, but pictures don't as long as you take care of 'em.
"Try not to worry about it too much, ok?" Tyler asked, standing up. "And try not to kill Mikhaila in the interim."
"I can TRY," I groaned. "Can't guarantee she won't get roughed up though."
"Well, do guarantee it."
After he left, I sighed, closed and locked my door, then flopped face-down on my bed. Vicky had been right all along about Mikhaila trying to find something subtle to exploit about me. I knew to expect something, and in hindsight, I knew I should've known that Mikhaila would target something relating to Michiko. But…I guess I had just been hoping.
Damn her, I growled in my head as I slowly got up and changed into my nightshirt and boxer shorts; I was too upset to try doing my homework now. Should've known, should've known, should have fucking KNOWN!
I swore then and there I was going to find that picture soon…but right now, I had to sleep on it. Perhaps in my sleep, I'd be able to think of something.
-----
"Mikhaila did what?" Xania exclaimed the next day when I told her what Mikhaila had done. "She took that picture? Cheap shot on her part."
"Vicky warned me she'd try something like this. I guess I just didn't take it to heart," I mumbled.
"I'm guessing she's denying all charges?"
"Yeah. But I know Irodia or Tyler wouldn't take it! They have no reason to! Only Mikhaila would dare touch it."
"Did you tear apart her room looking for it?" she asked as we walked down the hallway towards our literature class.
"Tyler dragged me out before I had the chance. I'd be in there looking for it right now if Irodia didn't make me come to school. And since Mikhaila's grounded for the rest of the week, I won't be able to have a chance to go in there and look," I said.
"You've lived with 'er for two months, I kinda figured you'd know that bursting into her room to look for it would piss her off," Xania remarked, pointing to my black eye. "Heh, you two kinda look like sisters, now that you BOTH have your left eye blackened."
"Thanks for the compliment," I said dryly, walking into the classroom. I dropped my backpack to the floor, then flopped down in my chair. "You've known her for longer than I have, Xania. Where do you think she'd hide it?"
"You really want that pic back, huh?" she asked, looking a little surprised. "But considering it's the last pic you have of your dead friend, I'd be throwing a hissy-fit if I was in your shoes, too." She thought for a moment, stroking her chin. "I know her locker combo. We could look in her locker during lunch."
"How do you know her locker combo?" I asked.
"When you're hanging out with somebody at their lockers, eventually you get to see what numbers they go to to open their locker." She smirked. "How else would I know it?"
"You don't look like the hacker type, so I guess that would be the only way," I quipped. "I never bothered to look."
"All right, everyone! Enough chitchat, it's time to start!" Mrs. Hoover called out as she walked in. Xania and I went silent as she sat down at her desk, the other students following suit.
-----
The next few classes went by slowly as I thought about Xania's little scheme to break into Mikhaila's locker to help me find Michiko's picture. It was a great plan, but…somehow, it just seemed too obvious. But sometimes, I suppose those are the best places to look. After all, if it was an obvious spot, who would bother to look there? Well, Xania did. But it still seemed like too convenient of a spot to hide it at. Nonetheless, when lunch break arrived, instead of heading to Larry's for some burgers, Xania and I hung out in the hall for a few minutes for the initial crush of kids to pass, then headed straight for Mikhaila's locker.
"You sure she won't catch us?" I asked.
"I'm sure," she assured me as she worked the combination. "She's probably tucked herself away in the library."
I shrugged. "That sounds like what Juliana would do."
"We should be doin' that too, but we're not them," she quipped. At that moment, the lock clicked. "Got it!"
Xania opened the locker, and we both dug through the books that were stuffed inside, but just like I had thought, there were only the typical school things in there, no picture. "Damn it," I cursed, banging my fist against an adjacent locker. "I KNEW it seemed too convenient."
Xania arranged the books in the order she'd found them, then closed the locker and frowned. "So much for that idea," she groaned.
"Is there anybody else that might've been in on this?" I inquired.
"No way," she said, shaking her head. "People avoid Mikhaila like the plague, 'cept for our little group." I groaned and leaned against the lockers.
"I'm gonna kill her, I swear," I vowed through gritted teeth.
"But then the secret of where the pic is will die with her," Xania quipped.
"Since when did you become the voice of reason?"
"I dunno, about five minutes ago," she said cheekily. "There's another option, you know."
"Like what?"
"You said you'd never be able to get into Mikhaila's room, right? So just have Irodia go in there and search herself. Mikhaila can't say no to her mom."
"I guess that might work. But what if it's not in there?"
"Then I dunno what to say, Rosho."
-----
The next morning, I did what Xania suggested and asked Irodia to search Mikhaila's room while we were at school. She wasn't too thrilled about it – she felt like it might look like she didn't trust her daughter at all – but she figured it was worth the risk. "And if you leave it the way it was when you went in there, she won't know the difference," I said.
"Maybe so, but you wouldn't like your mom going through your things to find something that might not be there, right?" she asked, her hands on her hips.
"Well, MY mom knows I'm not a thief," I countered. "So she wouldn't have reason to."
"Yumeko, you don't even have any proof that she stole it."
"There's nobody else that lives here who would! Unless you or Tyler took it!"
"That's a ridiculous suggestion."
"Exactly, which is why Mikhaila's the prime suspect."
She rolled her eyes. "You can be so manipulative at times, you know that?"
I managed a smirk. "I get it from my mom."
All day at school, I wondered whether or not Irodia managed to find that picture. I prayed that she did, and then I wouldn't have to worry any more, but at the same time, the question of what I'd do if she DIDN'T find the picture loomed in my head.
"For crying out loud, stop worrying about it," Karen said. "It's just a picture."
"You don't get it!" I snapped, clutching my half-eaten burger in my hands. "That's the last pic I have of her before she died!"
"You have other pics of her, right?"
"Yes, I do, but I want to treasure every last memory I have of her! So every picture I have of Michiko is important to me! If you'd lost someone close to you, you'd know that!" I grabbed the necklace that was around my neck. "She was wearing this when she died, so maybe in a way, it's even more precious to me than that picture! But in another way, the picture is even more important, because it's the only picture I have of her wearing it!"
"You're gonna give yourself a heart attack, Rocío," Vicky said, grimacing. "Worrying isn't gonna make the picture suddenly reappear."
"Maybe not, but it's the only thing I can do right now."
Xania just sighed and picked at her French fries.
After school, Xania and I ran to my bike as fast as we could and started it up; I couldn't wait to find out if Irodia had found it or not. Xania started to look a bit worried about how much I was worrying over what she was starting to think was a 'simple' picture. "Rosho, you sure you're not stressing out too much over this?" she asked as we roared down the street.
"I'm very sure."
"It's not like you getting home sooner is gonna make a difference."
"It will to me." I frowned. "Wouldn't you be acting the same way if someone took the last picture you have of your parents?"
Xania didn't answer, not in words anyway. The next thing I knew, I felt her fist slamming into my back, knocking the air out of me. I coughed and sputtered and was forced to pull over to the side of the road, Xania still pounding on my back.
I jumped off the bike and wheezed, "What the hell's that for?"
"Don't you bring up my parents!" she yelled. "I told you not to bring them up!"
"It was…just a remark," I protested, lifting up my visor as I winced at my now-throbbing back.
Xania jumped off the bike and got in my face, incensed. "I don't fuckin' care! I don't want anyone bringin' up my parents! And no, I DON'T have any pictures of 'em, and I'm glad, 'cause I never wanna see their fuckin' faces ever again!"
"What is it they did that makes you not wanna see them again?" I asked. She just shook her head and wagged her finger at me.
"Hey now, we agreed that if you asked about them, I get to ask you somethin' about YOUR past too, remember?" she reminded me, frowning.
I sighed and backed off. "Fine, I won't mention 'em again. Just don't go pounding on my back again! You almost made me wreck the bike."
"Sorry." She meekly scratched the side of her head and looked down. "I just get pissed whenever people bring 'em up."
"I know they were druggies, but that's about it."
"And that's all you need to know," she said quickly as she climbed back onto my bike. "So c'mon, let's go see if Irodia found that pic of yours."
"But it's 'just a pic,'" I quipped, echoing her words earlier.
"Well, apparently it's not just a pic to you, so I'm sorry I said that. Worry all you want about it."
"Apology accepted." I climbed back on and started it up again. "Though if you left any bruises, you owe me a back rub."
"Ok, fine," she said, chuckling.
A few minutes later, we arrived back at Irodia's house, and fortunately Mikhaila wasn't back yet, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. I climbed off the bike and jogged up the steps and inside, Xania close behind.
"Irodia?" I called out. A moment later, she emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands dry with a towel. "Did you find it?"
She shook her head and said calmly, "I'm sorry, I didn't find it, Rocío. I searched her room top to bottom, but I couldn't find it."
I slapped both hands over my face. "Shit!"
"Damn, tough break," Xania said.
"You sure there's not some secret storage area in her closet?" I asked dryly.
"Yes, I checked three times," Irodia replied. "I didn't find anything in there other than her usual stock of clothes and magazines."
"Maybe she threw away the frame and hid the picture between the pages!" Irodia shook her head again.
"I already thought of that, and flipped through all her books and magazines, but again, I didn't see it."
I groaned and flopped down on the couch. It's gotta be somewhere, I screamed in my head. "But it MUST be somewhere in this damn house!" I protested. "Maybe it's in the garage for all we know!"
"Rocío…you really want this picture back, don't you…" Irodia said, her eyes softening.
"Yes! Michiko was my best friend!" I felt like I was going to go crazy. Why didn't anybody seem like they could understand why I was freaking out over the loss of that picture! I stood up and stormed to my room, throwing myself on the bed. "Damn that bitch Mikhaila!" I yelled, punching the pillow. "I hate her!"
"Don't we all," Xania quipped, walking into the room and shutting the door. "Here's something about my past I'm willing to admit." She sat down next to me. "When I first made friends with her, it was because we had somethin' in common. We both loved to just cause trouble."
"When was this?" I asked, looking up.
"Three years ago. I was fifteen."
"So what happened?"
"After a while, it just wasn't fun anymore," she said, shrugging. "I mean, there's only so much pain you can put up with seeing before it finally gets to ya. Me, I do have a conscience somewhere in me. But Mikhaila, I haven't seen anything like that from her yet. She's almost sadistic at times. It's kinda like she has a voodoo doll that she just keeps poking and poking."
"So why do you still hang around with her?"
"Because both my foster mom AND Irodia insist on it. They say that since I've learned to 'mend' my ways, maybe my 'good example' will rub off on her."
"Haven't seen it rub off yet," I mumbled.
She smirked. "Well, of course, my ideas of 'fun' are different from Mikhaila's. My idea of fun is how long I can make the moves on a guy before he caves and besides to sleep with me."
"And how many HAVE slept with you?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.
Xania thought for a moment and said, "Twenty-two."
"Twenty-two?"
"Yup. Haven't had a guy that's refused." She grinned proudly.
"Knowing you, I thought your number would've been higher."
"Nah. I have my standards too. If the guy's gotten a girl pregnant, or has some disease, I won't go after 'im."
"Well, THAT'S nice to know," I said dryly.
"Oh, Rosho, this guy I know is gonna be throwing a party at his house this weekend. Maybe it'll help you get out of this funk you're in about the picture," she suggested.
"I dunno. I'm not much of a partygoer, and I'm not too anxious to go to another one after what happened at the last one," I groaned.
"Don't worry, it's not a pool party. It's just your normal house party."
"Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll?" I quipped.
Xania laughed. "Well, if you want any of that, it'll be readily available!" She cleared her throat. "Well, um, anyway, if you wanna come, you can."
"You sure it's ok?"
"Yeah! He said we can bring as many people as we want! 'The more, the merrier,' he said."
"So far, I'm not convinced."
"C'mon Rosho, you need to get out and enjoy yourself! Can't just mope around all day, or you're gonna drag everyone down with ya."
I sighed. "As long as I don't walk into a room and find you having sex with some guy you just met twenty minutes before."
She grinned. "Deal."
-----
Even though I was reluctant, I agreed to go to the party, but I almost wasn't able to go anyway. The night of the party, Irodia made it a point to make sure I had all my homework done. "A party isn't an excuse to ignore your studies," she said, almost sounding like that preacher at church. "You can go once you get your homework done."
"I can do it tomorrow after church," I tried to persuade her. She just folded her arms over her bosom and shook her head.
"If you can get it done now, then why put it off? Best to have it done early and get it over with, right?"
"Some people work better under stress—" I started to say.
Irodia smirked. "That game is not going to work on me, Rocío. Now get cracking."
I sighed and sat down at the desk. "Fine…"
For the next two and a half hours, I sat there at the desk, working on my math assignment, followed by doing a history essay on the most influential pharaohs of Egypt. Just the thought of a history essay made me shudder; I had been working on one the night of the summit attack. C'mon, that was then. That was an essay about the atom bomb and Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is an essay about pharaohs. Complete opposites, I thought. I sucked it up and managed to bullshit my way through the essay, and by the time I was done typing up the obligatory 'works cited' page, it was time for Xania to be coming by to pick me up.
And as I was printing out the essay, I heard the sound of the doorbell ringing. Just in time, I thought, stapling the pages together and putting them in my folder. I stood up, slipped on my jacket, and walked to the door, opening it up.
"Hey there!" Xania said, adjusting her shades. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah. You got great timing," I said in a low voice. "I just got done with that damn history essay."
"You did homework before heading out to a party?"
"Well, Irodia wouldn't let me go unless I did it."
"A blackmailer, she is," Xania agreed, rolling her eyes.
"Be careful, you two," Irodia called out to us as we headed down the walkway.
"We will!" I called back.
"Try not to hit on too many boys!" Tyler joked before shutting the door. I slapped my hand over my eyes in response.
"Was that directed at you, or me? I couldn't tell," Xania joked, opening the door to her car. I climbed in on the other side and buckled my seat belt.
"Isn't this your mom's car?" I asked as she started it up.
"Yeah. She's letting me borrow it for tonight."
I smirked. "Ok, what did you have to swear to her? I don't buy it that she'd just let you take it without making you swear on a Bible about SOME weird thing."
Xania returned the smirk as we headed down the street, then turned left onto the next street. "Well…" she started to say, then cleared her throat. "She made me swear to bring the car back in one piece, of course, but she also made me swear that I wouldn't touch any liquor or weed, if those're available."
"Sounds like what the typical mom would make you swear to."
"Yeah," she said, suddenly getting a goofy grin. "But she also made me swear not to go on another sexathon like I did at the New Year's party last year."
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Well, considering it's YOU, I guess you WOULD have to be sworn not to do that. How many did you bed at the New Year's party, anyway?"
"Heh…three. Most I've ever bagged in one night."
"Bet you're proud," I said sarcastically.
"Yeah, but I guess I'll have to wait for another day to break that mark," she said cheekily.
"Hey, you promised me I wouldn't walk in on you going at it with some guy anyway," I protested.
"Yes, I did promise that. But that just means I can't do it in a public place like the living room couch. It just means I'd have to lock me and some guy in the bathroom to do it."
I groaned. "I'll say it again. You're pathetic."
"Why, thank you," she laughed, bowing her head in response.
I just sighed and leaned my head against the car window. How could someone be so crazed over something that could be as potentially meaningless as sex? I just didn't understand it. Why share such an intimate moment with somebody if you're not going to be with them for the rest of your life? It almost made me wonder if Xania still had some self-esteem issues to work out from her past. I guess I shouldn't ask, I thought, lest I get a few more punches to the back again…
-----
It wasn't too hard to figure out which house the party was being held at; the one with all the lights on and a horde of cars parked in front of it seemed to give itself away as the one. Once Xania managed to find a parking place, she and I got out of the car and headed up the driveway, then after knocking on the door, the boy hosting the party answered.
"Hi there, Xania!" he said, grinning at her. "Brought a friend, huh?"
"Yeah. This is Rosho," Xania said, gesturing to me.
"Hi, Rosho," he greeted.
"Only Xania calls me Rosho. To you, I'm just Rocío," I said flatly. Damn, what I would do to hear somebody call me Yumeko again, I thought.
"Well, to you, I'm Rob, the party animal from hell," he replied, grinning mischievously.
"So should I shorten that to Rob, Animal, or Hell?" I quipped. Rob just laughed.
"C'mon in, ladies. This party's not gonna enjoy itself, ya know." He ushered us inside, then led us through the living room and the kitchen to the back yard. "Here's where it's all happenin'," he said. "Got food, booze, anything you could ever want at a party."
"Thanks, Rob," Xania said. "Go on, Rosho, jump right in. The water's fine."
"I wish you wouldn't say that," I groaned.
"It's a figure of speech."
"I know, but I'm not in the joking mood."
Xania shoved me towards the table of food. "Here, eat somethin'. You'll feel better."
"Where're you going?" I asked when she started to walk away.
"Oh, I'm just gonna go scope the cute guys," she said, flashing me the peace sign. "If ya need me, I'll probably be inside."
"…Fine," I said, turning back to the food as she went inside. I stood there and looked at the different kinds of food there were on the table, and after a moment, decided on some chips and hot wings. Once I grabbed those and a cup of punch, I went and sat down on the grass, watching the other kids have fun. For a moment, the loud music coming from the house stopped, but a moment later, the rock music was replaced by rap. I grimaced and took a bite into one of my hot wings.
I shouldn't have come, I thought. 'You'll have fun,' she says. Yeah right. What fun was it if your own friend ran off on her own to go pick up some guys, the music was bad, and the food was only lukewarm? I grimaced again, this time at the taste of the hot wings, then took a sip of the punch, only to nearly spit it out on the lawn. It tasted…sour! Great, the punch is spiked too, I thought, then after a moment, shrugged and took another sip. As bad as the punch tasted, at least it was washing away the taste of those awful hot wings. And it wasn't like things could get any worse, not after having my picture of Michiko suddenly disappearing off my desk and being away from my home and family and friends.
After my punch was finished off, I stood up and refilled the cup, then downed that one too, alone with that and my own thoughts as I pulled one blade of grass up from the ground at a time. Hate this, I thought as I pulled up blade after blade. If I were the host, this'd be the best damndest party anyone'd ever seen. And Mom, she throws the best parties. If she threw it, it'd be even better. Before I knew it, my second glass of punch was gone, and as I stood up to refill the cup again, I swayed for a moment. I had to grab the trunk of a nearby tree with both hands to keep from falling.
I managed to make my way to the table again – which by now was nearly devoid of food – then refilled my cup with the last of the punch. This time, I just stood there, leaning against the table while I sipped at the punch, looking around again. The other kids were laughing, hitting each other playfully…in other words, just acting like kids. Ah, fuck 'em, I thought. I'm fine just right here. I don't need 'em. Don't need anybody.
"Hey, Rocío," I heard Rob say. I turned to my right and saw him standing there, grinning. "Got into the punch, huh?"
"Yeah," I said lazily, nodding. "Tastes like shit, just like everything else."
"Well, if you'd gotten here earlier, it wouldn't be ice cold," he said, winking. "You look wasted."
"So what if I'm wasted?" I slurred, tossing my half-filled cup aside. "Does it matter to ya if I'm wasted?"
"Not if you don't." He put his hands on my shoulders and started rubbing them. "Ya know, if you can't get home, you could always stay here."
"Mmmmmaybe," I said, breaking out in laughter. "I could even sleep in ya bed!"
He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Yes, you could." He pulled back and said, "These crowds are getting to me. How 'bout we go upstairs and just…hang out?" I nodded eagerly and laughed again. "Ok, that looks like a yes to me."
He put his hands on my shoulders to steady me, then slowly led me into the house, past another crowd of partygoers, then up the stairs and down the hallway. Rob then opened a door near the end of the hallway and led me inside to his dimly-lit bedroom. He sat me down on the bed, then closed the door and locked it.
"There," Rob said, turning back to me. "Now nobody can barge in on us."
"Well, that's why they put locks on doors," I laughed.
He smirked. "Damn, you're just a laughing maniac tonight, arentcha!"
"Well, you're funny!"
"I'm funny, huh?" He leaned in towards me and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. "Y'know, you're the first girl I've seen with red eyes. Nice change from the blond-haired blue-eyed dimwits I see in this town all the time."
"I get 'em from my mom," I said. "People think I put in contact lenses to have 'em look like this, but they're au naturel."
"I like au naturel," he agreed. "People around here think it's cool to have a bunch of cybernetic shit attached to themselves, but it's just gross."
"Couldn't get 'em back home unless they were medically necessary," I droned. "Almost got one myself when I got shot in the leg."
"Really?"
"Yeah." I bent down, unbuttoned my jeans, then slipped them off and put my hand on the scar on my leg. "See? Took me four months to learn to walk again." I held up three fingers, then counted them and put up another one. "Four. Yup."
Rob leaned in towards me again, running his hand up and down my bare leg. "That's a tough break, Rocío. But you can forget about that when you're with me."
"I can?"
"Yeah. Just let me help you forget…"
He cupped his face in my hands, leaned forward, then gave me a gentle kiss on the lips. I started to pull away, but instead let myself take it in fully. Rob deepened the kiss, then slowly pushed me back until I was laying down on his bed. He crawled on top of me, then kissed me again, running his fingers up and down the insides of my thighs. I shuddered as I felt a wave of pleasure make its way up my body, then closed my eyes and let my body relax as he put his hands up my shirt and moved his fingers under my bra.
"I've never done this before," I moaned as he pulled off my shirt.
"Really?" he asked. "So I'm the first guy you've made out with, huh? I feel so honored." He grinned, reached behind me, and unhooked my bra, then pulled it away and tossed it to the floor along with my shirt. He kissed me again, then moved his lips to my neck, then down to my collarbone and down to my bare breasts. I let out a sigh, closed my eyes, and leaned back as he ran his hands over them, followed by his lips and tongue. When I felt him pinch my nipples, I let out a gasp, then relaxed, and moaned when Rob started sucking on them. What he was doing felt great; I didn't want this moment to end. In my mind, I pleaded for him to keep going, to do whatever he wanted with me.
"Does it feel good?" he asked, sitting up as he pulled off his own shirt. I nodded, then watched him eagerly as he ran his eyes over my half-naked body. "You're even prettier with no clothes on than you are with clothes."
"I work out," I laughed.
"I can tell," he replied, grinning as he bent down and kissed me again. I heard the rustling of clothes as he pulled off his jeans, and when he had himself on top of me again, we were both only wearing our underwear, though I was almost eager for him to pull those off of me, too. As he gave me a deep kiss, I felt him run his hand over one of my breasts, then down to my panties. My heart pounded as he worked his fingers underneath the fabric, and when I felt him touch my most private area, I gasped in pleasure.
"You like that?" he whispered as he started to move his fingers in a way that had me moaning.
"Y…yes…" I managed to say as he nibbled on my neck and continued moving his hand under my panties. I closed my eyes and moaned again as wave after wave of pleasure moved up my body, until I couldn't stand it anymore. I started to pull them down, but Rob stopped me.
"Shh, in time," he said with that mischievous grin. He nibbled on my breasts and moved his hand faster, making me moan louder. His other hand caressed the side of my breast, and he slowly moved it down until his fingers rested on my stomach scars, then traced his fingertips over each one. When he did that, images started flashing through my head, images of Boh. I could see him grinning as he gleefully shoved his knife into my gut again and again, getting a sick pleasure out of seeing me writhe in agony, and I could feel his kiss on my lips again, the kiss he gave me after he'd decided I had had enough.
"No…stop…" I moaned, all the pleasure gone from my body.
"Stop? You wanted me to keep going," I heard Rob's voice say, but above me, all I could see was Boh.
"No! No! NO!" I screamed. "STOP IT!"
Whatever happened after that, I couldn't remember, but the next thing I knew, I was standing up, breathing heavily, my fist clenched. I looked at Rob's bed, but he wasn't there. I blinked for a moment, wondering where he was, then I looked down at the floor. On the floor was Rob, beaten and bruised, with a swollen and bloody face and his nose crooked, obviously broken.
"Oh shit…I blacked out again," I said aloud. I bent down and quickly gathered my clothes, and threw them on. After I pulled on my shoes, I was just about to unlock the door when Rob sat up, groggy.
"W…what the hell was that for?" he demanded. "You wanted it!"
"You bastard," I spat. "Don't you try that again. You got me that time, but it won't happen again."
As I unlocked the door and walked out, Rob just sat there, looking dumbfounded, as if he couldn't understand what I was saying. But of course he couldn't; I'd been talking in my native Japanese, not English.
What happened back there? I thought to myself as I carefully made my way downstairs and outside to the back yard. Was I really laying there letting that guy seduce me? Those flashbacks of the night Boh stabbed me certainly had worked to sober me up quickly. I shuddered and rubbed my arms; I suddenly felt cold at the memories of that night. I looked around for my monkey-tailed friend, but she was nowhere to be seen. I headed back inside and asked some of the other kids if they'd seen her, but nobody had.
"Oh, the girl with the tail?" one girl with pink-streaked hair asked. "Yeah, I saw 'er. She went out to the front yard."
"Thanks," I said quickly, jogging past her and out the front door. Again, I looked around, but there was hardly anybody out in this part of the house. I sighed and looked down the driveway, and sighed again, this time in relief, when I saw that her car was still there; at least she hadn't abandoned me. Now where the hell could she have gone? I wondered when I happened to look up. Up on the roof by herself was Xania, leaning back and looking at the sky. I smiled, then walked to a nearby tree and climbed up to join her.
"Hi there," I said, stumbling over to her and plopping myself down next to her.
"Huh? Oh, hi Rosho." She sat up and flicked her tail. "Holy shit, you're wasted! Just look at yourself!"
"Don't remind me," I groaned, rubbing my face with my hands. "That…that what's-his-name guy that's hosting the party had me in his bed earlier."
"Really?" she exclaimed. "Did you fuck him?"
"No, I left, after beating his face in."
"Why'd you do that?"
"'Cause I had a flashback about the night Bo…I mean, my dad stabbed me, and I flipped." I laid my head down in her lap. "I was half-naked and didn't even resist what he was doin'…"
Xania stroked my hair and smiled wistfully. "Yeah, sometimes it just feels so good, you wish it could last forever."
I shuddered at the memory of his hands all over my body. Sure, at the time it felt good, but now I felt so…violated. Nobody had ever touched me like that before. "I'm gonna make sure…not to let him or anybody do that again," I swore, closing my eyes.
"I know a way to avoid that. Just avoid getting DRUNK!" Xania laughed. "You dunno how to handle bein' drunk, do ya!" I shook my head.
"Never been drunk before…I feel giddy."
"Ya just need to learn to gauge what your drinking limit is. First-timers get drunk easily 'cause they dunno their limit. But trust me, after a while, you learn."
"I'd tried beer before, but it tasted gross, so I didn't touch it again." I yawned. "Not like it tasted any better mixed in wizzat punch though…"
"Girl, you need to get to bed. You're about to nod off in my lap here," Xania chuckled, sitting me up. "Let's get outta here before anybody notices you beat the shit out of Rob," she added, barely containing a snicker.
After helping me climb down from the roof, Xania led me to the car and got me into the passenger-side seat. I managed to buckle the seat belt myself while she got in on her side and started up the car, buckling up her belt as well. "Well, I must say," she said as we started to drive down the street, "this was sure an interesting night. I didn't find anybody interesting for once, and you, you almost got your first lay!"
"Hooray," I yawned dryly, leaning my head against the window. Xania just laughed.
As tired as I was, I opened my eyes and managed to say one last thing. "Oh, that kid…his name ain't Rob."
"Oh?"
"Uh-uh. His name's Hell."
Xania started cracking up. "After what happened, seems appropriate enough." She started drumming on the steering wheel. "Suddenly, I got that song stuck in my head. We're on the hiiighwaaay to hell! Bum-bum BUM bum! Hiiiighwaaaay to hell! Bum-bum BUM bum!"
I just smiled weakly and closed my eyes again, hoping that the next morning, I'd be able to put this whole embarrassing episode behind me. And that hopefully by the time I got to school on Monday, I'd be able to save myself some face, and whatever shred of dignity I could find.
But right now…I just wanted some sleep. It wasn't much of an escape, but at least it'd get me away from this place for a while.