Chapter 4—Friends
"Hey, Lila! Wait up!"
Lila turned around to see her friend, kiki, running along the hall towards her. She stopped and waited until kiki came to a halt next to her.
"Hello, Kiki how was your second day?"
Kiki smiled and fanned herself as she tried to catch her breath. "It was good. I had to help Mr. Watinaka during lunch, but I heard that you ate lunch with Hatsuharu and Momiji Sohma!"
Lila just nodded and Kiki squealed. "But Haru-san is the most popular, cutest guy in our grade! Even with his freak-outs!" Lila just stared at her, trying to hide her blush. "So? He is actually pretty nice."
"Pretty nice?" Kiki looked at her in awe, "Pretty nice? Just the other day he yelled at you, called you a twit, and tore the cafeteria apart! And you think he is 'pretty nice'?!"
Kiki finally noticed the blush and smiled. "Oh…I get it. You like him!" She immediately began to prance around Lila, singing, "Lila loves Haru! She wants to be Mrs. Haru Sooohma! She loooves him—"
"What are you doing?"
They both looked over to see their friend, Nozomi, walking toward them. Kiki immediately stopped prancing and stood still, grinning from ear to ear. After saying a proper hello, Nozomi turned toward kiki. "What exactly were you doing when I walked up?"
Kiki just grinned, "Oh, nothing, Zoë, nothing at all."
Lila could've sworn she saw smoke pouring out of Nozomi's ears. "Do not call me Zoë, Kohaku! My name is Nozomi! Not Zoë, not Zo, or No-no or Zomi! No-zo-mi!"
Kiki paled at the mention of her full name. She hated being called Kohaku. "Oh, ok! Sorry, Nozomi!"
Lila looked around suddenly before turning to Nozomi and Kiki, "Has anyone seen Risu?" They both shook their heads and Nozomi spoke up, "I think she called in sick today."
Lila and Kiki nodded, Risu had been calling in sick a lot last year and it must have carried over this year as well. Kirisutina, Nozomi, and Kohaku were Lila's best friends and had been since they were toddlers. Ever since Lila could remember, they were always there. Her earliest memory of the four of them was when she was four years old. A new little boy had moved in and was very, well, she wanted to say mean but she couldn't remember. All she remembered was sitting up in her room and crying and Nozomi, Risu, and Kiki trying to cheer her up. She couldn't imagine her life without them, and she didn't know what she would do if something ever happened to them. If only she knew the sorrow her future held.