Chapter 5
The young tealette practically skipped home in unusually high spirits. When was the last time she felt this happy? Giddy, even. The delighted aura around her quickly dissipated as soon as she approached the front door of her home. She glanced at her wristwatch; 6:57pm. Her eyes grew wide with panic, how long had she been talking to Luka? Had she really enjoyed her company that much she lost track of hours of her time?
All she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She gulped, although her mouth was dry. Her hand uneasily opened the door and reluctantly stepped inside, attempting to mentally and physically brace herself for the storm that was about to hit her.
First came the stomping as heavy feet pounded down the stairs, second came the slurred yelling and thirdly, came the sadly expected strike across the face ashand met cheek. A strong stinging sensation rippled through her supple young skin and the flesh now tainted with red fingerprints was immediately covered by Miku's shaking hand. She'd been struck so hard she stumbled backwards into the door. Her watering eyes remained locked to her shuffling feet, not daring to make direct eye contact.
"W-wort time d'ya call this Mi-miku?! Where w-were ya? You're n'hour after ya curfew, I was worried s-sick! Stupid girl!".
Her mother was so obviously drunk but Miku had seen her like this way too many times to argue with her and routinely accepted whatever it was her mother gave her. She'd learnt from previous mistakes the consequences of verbally retaliating.
"I'm...I'm s-sorry mother...I..." her voice wavered and a lump formed in her throat, but she didn't know whether it was because her face stung like mad or because she was genuinely scared of what was going to happen next.
Her mother continued to fiercely stare at her expectantly but once she saw that her child was on the verge of tears, her personality drastically changed.
"Ooh, n'ver mind, swee'heart, jus' c'mere" she stumbled towards Miku and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her into an unwanted hug, although she was oblivious to the fact her daughter despised the contact.
The tealette knew that it was the alcohol that caused the sudden mood swings, because even though she was strict when she was sober and clear-minded, she never laid a hand on her until she was under the influence...which unfortunately, was not uncommon.
"I won't be late again...I-I promise" she whispered, barely inaudible. She knew that at any moment she would break down. She couldn't handle this emotional trauma. Her drinking was becoming far too frequent and Miku always got the backlash from it. It just wasn't fair. She gently pried herself out of her mother's grip and wobbled towards the stairs, still covering her sore cheek as if caressing it eased the pain.
"I ha-have a lot of homework t-to do now, I'll be going to bed afterwards. G-goodnight..." she somehow managed a slight smile which her mother turned away from, "F-fine, y'got no dinner n'yway..." she spat before entering the living room, disappearing from sight.
Her mood had turned once again and Miku bolted to her room to avoid any repercussions. In truth, she had no homework, it was summer half term now, but she'd use any excuse she could to get away. She threw herself onto her bed, laying in the foetal position and sobbed her heart out. She knew she had to be quiet because she didn't want the woman downstairs to get angry with her loud bawling, so the tealette silently cried into her pillow until there were no more tears left to shed, and she soon fell asleep when exhaustion had gotten the better of her body.
XXXXXXXXXX
"So where'd'ya run off to earlier then?" Lily questioned as she nonchalantly sprawled across her neighbour's sofa, eyes fixated on the interesting new celebrity gossip show that hooked her attention to the TV.
Luka entered her living room from the kitchen with a beer can in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She rolled her eyes at the non-ladylike blonde and passed her the can.
"Ah, cheers!" she swiftly took the can, snapped it open and guzzled the cold beverage before letting out a loud burp, smiling as if it was something to be proud of. Luka grimaced and clicked her tongue, "Have some manners will you?" she whined. She wished her friend would have at least some refinement about herself but she'd known Lily since high school and had learnt to deal with her ungraceful behaviour as a woman.
"Anyway, I went to the cafe" the pinkette spoke, answering the earlier question as she sat on the opposite sofa, trying to distract herself with the talk show. She found gossiping tedious and knew that most of the things the media said about celebrities was untrue.
Lily raised an eyebrow, "On your own? Why?".
Luka really didn't want to tell Lily what she was doing, because she was a tad nosy and had a habit of always blowing things out of proportion.
She silently exhaled, contemplating how to answer without finding a way around it.
"I wasn't on my own. I met up with a friend". She hoped dearly she wouldn't press further, but alas, she did.
"A friend? Who? Do I know 'em?"
"Well, no...I only met her today" the pinkette continued, smiling innocently.
"Ah!" Lily sat up in response, suddenly intrigued and she wiggled her eyebrows up and down, "...her, hm?" she particularly exaggerated 'her', knowing full well the kind of response she'd receive.
Luka sighed and put her elbow on the armrest of the sofa with her fingers pressed against her temples, ever so slightly rubbing. Here we go again...
"It's not like that Lily..." she huffed.
"Ooh! Are ya sure? You seemed pretty chirpy when you said you were her 'friend'", her grin was unbearable and the pinkette turned her head back to the TV.
"Like I said...she's just a friend" Luka flatly responded.
Lily seemed somewhat unconvinced that there was absolutely nothing so thought she'd try and go around the rock to see what could be dug up.
"Hm, ok, so..." she began and Luka slowly diverted back to Lily, slightly worried as to what she would say next. "What's her name?".
The pinkette was unsure if she should tell her or not but thought there'd be no harm. Even though she lives across the road from their apartment building, there's no way she'd know her...right? She was rather dubious of the blonde interest.
"Miku...Miku Hatsune..."
"My god! Are you kidding me? Seriously? Miku?! I mean, yeah she's attractive an' all but really?...she's not the type I thought you'd go for..."
Luka's cheeks instantly flared. Crap! At first she panicked, and then she felt somewhat insulted at Lily's remark.
"How do you know her? And what do you mean by 'not the type I'd go for'?"
"We just regularly pass each other, y'know...cause we're neighbours an' all. And by that, I meant she's..." Lily huffed and scratched the back of her head, trying her ultimate best to word herself politely about the girl, Luka deepened her gaze, curious as to what Lily had to say about the tealette.
"...it's just that she's...real small..."
Luka blinked. "Huh? She's not that much shorter that me?"
"No, no, no...I mean she's small!" she exaggerated the last word, placing her hands on her own D cup breasts and Luka's blush flared. "I thought you were into the big ones!" Lily snickered.
"That doesn't matter to me!" the pinkette barked, "Anyway, it's not like she's completely flat..." she tried justifying to herself, but she truly didn't care.
The blonde threw her hands in the air in exaggerated defeat, "Alright, alright!".
The cheery atmosphere slightly dulled, along with Lily's expression which didn't go unnoticed by the pink-haired host.
"Say, Luka...", Lily now toyed with the empty can in her hands.
"Hmm?"
"Don't get attached too quickly this time, yeah?"
Lily had her flaws, but she genuinely cared about Luka and it worried her to see her become so interested in another woman so quickly. The last time it happened, Luka had her heart broken and Lily was there to pick up the pieces. Luka was always the cool, calm and composed type, so seeing her shattered like that just didn't feel right to Lily.
"I told you Lily...she's just a friend".
Continued in Ch. 6