Dear Diary,
I can't believe it. I should be looking forward to camping but I'm not. Why? Well, because he is coming too. This is not going to be fun. He'll most likely poke fun at me, pinch me, pull my hair, make faces at me when I'm not looking, follow me everywhere, and if he has the chance to he'll break all my Barbies. I can't believe that he broke the head off my favourite one. Maybe I should mutilate his transformer and bury it somewhere to teach him a lesson.
Hitomi read her journal entry over. Satisfied, she snapped the fuzzy blue book shut. She grabbed the pile of clothes neatly folded on her bed and crammed them into her suitcase. As an after thought, she placed her diary inside on of the suitcase pouches beside her beloved stuffed animals and Barbies.
"Hitomi, are you ready yet?" Merle bounced into her bedroom without knocking first, as usual. She had a grin on her face. Unlike Hitomi, Merle was looking forward to this trip.
"Yeah, I'm ready now. When are we leaving?" Hitomi zipped her bag closed and threw it carelessly over her shoulder.
"I think everything's packed. Folken says he just has to pick up his girlfriend." Merle immediately erupted into giggles.
"Oh, you mean Sora? The one with the pretty hair."
Merle nodded. "Yeah, she's really nice. Maybe when we get there they'll take us to the beach!" Still grinning madly, Merle grabbed Hitomi's arm and dragged her towards the door. "Come on Hitomi. You're sitting with me." Hitomi couldn't help but smile back at the enthusiastic little girl.
"Okay Merle. I'm coming. Let go of my arm will you?" Merle, who was still giggly, completely ignored Hitomi's plea. "We can sing songs, colour in my colouring book, play with your Barbies, and do each other's hair. I brought these really pretty butterfly clips. Then we can talk about stuff." Merle rambled on. Hitomi managed to pry Merle's tight grasp from her arm.
"Okay Merle!" She desperately tried to think of a way to get out of this cruel and unique torture. It was no use. There was no escape. Merle opened the front door casually.
"This is going to be so great!" She practically shoved poor Hitomi out the door.
"Hey Merle watch it," she snapped, regained her balance. Outside, the adults were busy packing the camping equipment into the vehicles. " Merle, how come you're not sitting with Seth?" She was beginning to wonder. The two were usually inseparable.
"He told me that he thinks that I have cooties so I told him that I think that he has cooties and now he's avoiding me." Hitomi blinked three times. It amazed her how fast Merle was able to talk.
"Cooties? Where did he get that idea?"
Merle shrugged her shoulders in response. She didn't seem upset at all. "I don't know but I guess I'll hang out with you until I'm cured."
Mr. Kanzaki looked up from the van and beckoned the two girls over with a hand. Hitomi handed him her suitcase. "Dad, are we going now?"
He stuffed her bag into the trunk. "As soon as we're ready. We're waiting for Folken to get back with Sora. Don't go anywhere." The two girls nodded. "We'll call you when we're ready to go."
"Okay," they said in unison.
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"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Hitomi, why aren't you singing along?"
Hitomi looked up from her novel, boredom slapped across her face. "How about we do something else?" She sighed with exasperation as she watched the twitchy seven-year old tap the window in a crazy manner.
"Merle stop tapping the windows," Varie lectured from the front seat. "It's very annoying"
Merle started to simper and pout. "I'm sorry, it's just there's nothing to do." It was eerily quiet for a blessed few moments. Hitomi was thankful for the silence. She was about to start reading again when she heard Merle pipe up once more. "Are we there yet?" she asked.
In frustration, Hitomi threw down her precious reading material. "I can't take it anymore. Merle can't you be quiet? I've had to listen to you talk non-stop for about three hours now. We're almost there, so can't you have a nap or something until we get there? I need some quiet time." Merle stared at her in complete silence, frightened at her friend's outburst. Cautiously, she scooted over and slowly rested her head against the window, cowering away from Hitomi's gaze. Feeling triumphant, the honey-haired girl gracefully picked up her book and started reading again. Merle didn't say a peep.
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She hates me. If she hated me before she hates me even more now. I've tried being nice to her. I've tried being her friend. Folken was right, girls are trouble. Van stared off towards the side of the road at the never-ending line of trees.
"Hey Van, I wonder if we'll see a deer." Seth, who sat behind the brooding boy, mused aloud.
"Maybe, who knows."
Seth leaned forward to talk to Van again. "Van, are you sure that all girls are trouble? Merle's a girl and she's gotten me into loads of trouble but…"
Van raised his eyebrow slightly "But what? All girls are trouble, trust me. Especially your sister."
Seth's eyes widened "But Merle isn't all bad. Sure she's loud and annoying sometimes, but she's my friend. That's why I was wondering if you were sure that all girls were trouble."
Van sighed "Think what you want, I guess. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Seth looked out the window again. "Is Hitomi still mad at you? She was real upset when you broke her Barbie. Did you tell her that you were sorry?"
Van started to fidget nervously "I tried to, but she ran off before I could say anything."
Seth nodded "Why didn't you tell her today, when we were all in the kitchen eating breakfast? Now that I think about it, you didn't talk to her at all."
Van looked down at his feet.
"Van, you should apologize. That's the only way she'll forgive you."
The black-haired boy remained mute.
"Hey Van, look! We're at the campground. Now you can talk to her." Seth was on the edge of his seat with anticipation.
Van slumped over with dread. "Great," he mumbled to himself.
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Putting up the campsite went smoothly. Mr. Fanel, Mr. Kanzaki, and Folken put up the tents after finding the instructions. Hitomi and Merle looked very proud at their attempt to put up a clothesline. It was a bit on the slanted side, but it was still functional. Well, if one wanted their clothing all bunched up near the end of the rope. Folken quickly fixed it when he was sure that they weren't looking. Mrs. Kanzaki and Mrs. Fanel took a rain check and left to have a little time to themselves. Seth and Van were too busy pestering the wild-life to care about anything.
After awhile of sitting around playing Barbies with Merle, Hitomi was beginning to wonder if she was stuck hanging out with Merle for the rest of the trip. "No Merle, that shirt doesn't match with that skirt."
Merle looked at the doll and then at Hitomi again. "What do you mean it doesn't match? Orange and purple are great colours."
Hitomi sighed and reached for the doll "Yes, they're great, but they don't go well together."
Merle snatched the doll away from Hitomi's reach. "Says who?"
Hitomi reached for the doll again "I do." She looked mortified and shocked when Merle tried to bite her. "Merle, I don't want to play this anymore. I'm going to the beach."
Merle shrugged. "Okay, I'll stay here."
"Fine." She was glad to get rid of the pest but now she didn't have anyone to talk to. Sulkily, she changed into her bathing suit and headed out for the beach. On her way over she saw Folken and Sora strolling down the dirt path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Folken stood in front of her, blocking her path.
"To the beach." She tried moving around him, but he stepped in front of her again.
"By yourself? Why don't you take Seth, Van, and Merle with you? It's no fun going by yourself and not very safe either." Folken looked concerned, so Hitomi stopped to explain.
"Merle didn't want to come. As for Van and Seth…they didn't want to come either and besides I just wanted to go by myself."
Folken shook his head. "I can't let you go by yourself."
Sora nodded in agreement. "Folken, why don't we take her? We were going to wander around anyways." She smiled at Hitomi
"Okay, I guess but…" Folken stopped for a moment and rubbed his chin slowly "Only if you wear that bikini you said you were going to bring." He looked Sora up and down with a smug, mischievous smirk on his face.
She pushed him teasingly "As if I'd put that on just because you wanted me to. Sorry Folken, it's not going to happen."
"Pretty please?" Folken smiled hopefully.
"No Folken, and that puppy dog look isn't going to work either. Come on, Hitomi. I'll take you to the beach even if adorable pervert here doesn't want to come along." Hitomi blinked at the couple, puzzled. There were so many things she didn't understand about being in love.
"Okay, I'm coming." Hitomi followed Sora towards the beach.
"Damn, the puppy-dog look always gets her." Sheepishly, he raked a hand through his silvery locks, frowning. "Am I having a bad hair day?" He shrugged. "Sora, wait for me. Why did you call me a pervert? I'm not a pervert." He chased after her while trying to fix his hair.
"Sure you're not," Sora remarked sarcastically.
Folken sighed. "At least I'm a sweet adorable pervert. That has to count for something, right?"
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Hitomi sat bleakly at the edge of the dock, listening to the frothy waves lap the underside of the weathered dock. Periodically, she dipped her toe into the dark abyss of the lake water. Now what? I'm finally out here and now I still have nothing to do. Curving her toes into an arch, she flicked water out towards the lake. Boring, boring, and boring. Maybe I should go for a swim since I'm here. She looked over her shoulder at the couple watching her from the shore. Sora waved happily to her. She looked completely content sitting there with her arm wrapped through Folken's. Hitomi waved back unenthusiastically. She glumly shed her towel from off her shoulders and eased herself into the water. The cool water swept shivers through her body. She gasped lightly at the sudden shock, but quickly got accustomed to the temperature. Breathing slowly through her mouth, Hitomi took deep strokes through the water. She made her way out along the shoreline. Hitomi soon became tired. She was no competitive swimmer.
As she made her way over to the shore, she noticed a girl about her age sitting down on the sand. The girl had deep burgundy-red shoulder length hair. She wore dark red shorts overtop of black bathing suit. Hitomi stopped to observe her. The girl crouched over a mutilated sand castle. The castle became smaller with each new wave that came in. The girl was slowly building up the walls of the castle,a frown etched into her features. Building up her courage, Hitomi walked out of the water.
"Hi." The girl looked up with intense brown eyes.
"Hi."
Hitomi sat down next to her shyly. "My name is Hitomi. What's yours?"
"Yukari." Yukari brought her knees to her chest awkwardly. She watched her sand castle slowly waste away.
"Are you camping here by any chance?"
Yukari slowly swiveled away from her sand castle, that had transformed into a shapeless blob and slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'll be here for about another week or so. I'm camping with my aunt and uncle while my parents move our stuff into our new house." Yukari seemed unhappy when she mentioned the new house.
"Oh, you're moving? Where are you moving to?" Hitomi smiled kindly.
"Fanalia. It's going to be awful. I'll have to go to a new school with new people that I don't know and leave my old friends behind." She sighed deeply and buried her face into her knees.
"To Fanalia? That's where I live! Cheer up, Yukari. Maybe we'll end up going to the same school." Hitomi beamed brightly at the thought of having a new friend.
"Really?" Yukari lifted her chin off her knees, brown eyes wide.
"Now you know someone from Fanalia." Hitomi stood up and brushed the sand away from her swimsuit. "Do you want to be friends? You could come over for a bit. We could play a game or something." She reached down and pulled Yukari up by the hand.
"Okay Hitomi. That sounds like fun." It took her a moment to let it all sink in.
"Come on Yukari. Let's go over to your camp site first to let your aunt and uncle know where you'll be."
Yukari blinked and jolted back to reality. "Coming"