Three seconds.
Yesterday, I had three seconds before the bell sounded. I had three seconds of lag before the school day started. I was that close to receiving a detention. I was that close to shattering my perfect attendance and being tardy. I was that close to doing something bad. That close.
Three seconds.
She was that close to escaping. She was that close to moving, taking it all with her. She was that close to punching me in the face. That close to shutting me up.
He was that close to impaling me with the steak knife I had used at dinner. That close to killing me. That close.
Three seconds was all it took to take in your surroundings. The game can change right before your eyes in a mere three seconds.
It probably took three seconds for him to bound my wrists together against a chair. Three seconds of resisting from the girl before she followed the other boy in the police car. Sirens. Motorcycles. Blood. Blood all over his face. -saki Rotso practically licked it off with a sadistic smile plastered onto his face.
Intimidation. That's how I'd describe this... feeling.
Three seconds to take it all in. One, Two, Thr-
"WAKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEE UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!"
"Wh-WHAT THE HELL!" I yell. What time was it? 1, 2, 3 am? Give me a break already?
"Come on Rimaaaaa~ it's 5:30. You need to waaakkkkeeee uppppp~" Hiro taunted. He had a way of droning every word he said when he was begging me to do something, much like a grade-schooler asking their mother for a pony, I'd imagine.
Truth be told, I didn't care about school today. I didn't want to go. I didn't want to be in this bed. I didn't want to be my goody-goody, knows-no-one Rima-self. I wanted to be back in that house with all the positive energy circling around me. I wanted to be awestruck by Naomi's happy smile in the morning, and I wanted to be giggling at Kyou's attempts to keep a spoon stuck onto his nose for an hour; the way he conducted confessionals right after dinner. I wanted a family that you could depend on.
Even a dysfunctional family like Naomi's would've been fine. It would've been great if I hadn't known-hadn't of found out. Maybe they wanted me to know so I could help out; so I could get high with them. They completely fooled me the first couple days. They cared. She cared.
"It's how we pay the bills, Reems. No big deal really. It's not hurting anybody. It's not hurting you, now is it. Not like your mother is."
And I had believed it too. Goody-goody Rima could act out too. What's a little marijuana? Probably profitable. No, definitely profitable. They didn't just a grow 'a little,' they had a garden of the stuff. People went homeless for the drug. Drug-dealers grew rich from it. This was the cycle of life. So, why couldn't I help them? After all, my good old friend, Naomi, wasn't messed up; she was more motherly than my own mom, and she sold it. And Kyou wasn't screwed up. Kyou was more brotherly than Hiro was awkward; and he sold it. I was coming to believe that marijuana was normal.
And I'd only known about it for a day.
The police came. "What's going on?" I kept repeated, searching for answers to no avail. Naomi was frantically moving marijuana plant, marijuana plant to the table. Next thing I know, Hiro burst through the door and told me I had to leave. They ended it all. -saki Rotso ended it all, I should say. All the other police officers searched the house like mice removing all the marijuana plants they could find from the basement. And in between all of that, somehow, Kyou gets a knife and Naomi tries to choke me and Hiro to death; did they think I betrayed them?
Do they think I betrayed them?
-saki Rotso checked into my record. Clean. Nothing. I definitely didn't have a drug-dealing file. I haven't even served a detention in my high school much less have been caught with an illegal drug in my procession. He was definitely shocked, but maybe that was good, because I was shocked.
We were let go. Hiro and I were set off, cast away like we had nothing to do with it. And really, Hiro didn't. This was more of a Rima problem.
All of that was so yesterday. That seems like something Hiro would say about last night's events. He was a really good stepbrother when it came down to it, despite his abilities to be able to act the part in some circumstances.
Today, as I think Hiro would say, you have to deal with getting up out of your warm, comfortable bed. School was definitely the last place I wanted to be. I didn't want to learn about formulas I'll never need to use in the real world or the impacts Shakespeare has to me or whatever. Today, I didn't care at all. Maybe Hinamori Amu would make it all worth it. Just the thought of her odd, bubble-gum pink hair, golden eyes, and sensational smile had me giggling my brains out. Amu-chan had that way of brightening up anyone's day with just a little bit of stupidly-helpful advice. She's just so blunt, it's funny; Amu acts like she can tell the blind to see, and then they can. But maybe that's what I needed to make me feel better after last night. I needed to be set straight by Amu's straight-forward advice. Would she tell me something stupid. Something cheesy like, "Let go of the old Rima. Let the new Rima take her place."
The new Rima? Could I be a new Rima now?
And just like that, I zoomed out straight from my bed and got ready for school...
I was ready to show off 'The New Rima'
Rebirth. Change. Rebirth. New.
It's funny how much Seiyo Academy has changed overnight. It's funny how much I've changed overnight. Just the sight of this place sickened me. Kids were crawling through the hallways, not eager to get to their first period classes. It's funny how everything looks more depressing as the new Rima. "Three seconds until the bell~" Yuiki mumbled with a lollipop in her mouth next to Amu. Yuiki Yaya is one of Amu's acquaintances. She's alright, I suppose. Her immaturity is shocking, seeing as she is fifteen. I don't really know many kids at Seiyo, considering that Amu is-was-the only kid I actually considered acceptable in this establishment, so I guess I wouldn't understand immaturity on a wide-scale of teenagers. I didn't like to branch out of my comfort zones; I preferred hiding behind Amu and letting her handle all the chaos. I'll make sure I am heard, and hopefully, liked, the next time I get the chance. "Three," Yaya says, "two, o-"
The bell had cut her off. I waved goodbye to the both of them and stepped into my first period classroom.
I took in my class eagerly with my new Rima eyes. Bored teenagers looking ready to fall asleep. Uninspired teacher looking ready to die in a hole. Oh goody! Should I really put up a warm front in an environment where the chill is practically cooler than the temperatures of Arctic winters?
Just as I was losing hope of anything studious in this classroom, that's when I notice him. A nuisance before, and maybe what could be a friend now. A pen at hand ready to learn. Through his bangs, I realize his eyes are a shade of gold that match mine. He's wearing the standard uniform alright, so why is he standing out? His purple hair flutters around his body, and it finally clicks in my mind. How many people do I know with that deep shade of purple-hair? I peer at him again. He's -saki Rotso. Oh my God.
And for the rest of first period, I stare at him from the corners of my eyes in hopes that he just might stare back.
...and I swear he did once.
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