God, balancing this and school is harder than it looks. -_-

Also, the school here is based on my school. If you want reference, look up "Hunter High School Utah".

Thursday brought with it various issues. News that my father was in the hospital had reached the school staff, and therefore I was being showered in attention by teachers and counselors. It annoyed me greatly and by the end of the day I was very close to punching anyone in the area in the face. That, and apparently some big tests were coming up, so all of my classes were required to review vocabulary and go over test procedures before the end of the term (which is tomorrow—and we seniors don't have to go!). Classes were so boring that I hadn't paid any attention in them, fancying daydreaming over doing the actual work.

Yawning, I collected my things off my desk, listening to students outside in the hallway chat about the big party happening tomorrow. My guitar teacher—Ms. Saral—was standing beside the bases and cellos (we shared with the orchestra and band classes) talking to a fellow student about grades. I rolled my eyes; my grades would be floating around since I had just barely started here, and honestly, I didn't care what they were. I was tired of trying to get straight A's and being smacked around by my father for every grade lower than an A-. Which was stupid, according to Rio.

I strode out of my class with bag in tow, looking around through the hall for Droite, Rio, and Rio's twin brother. Word had it that they would be hanging around the G Hall after school, so I took to leaning against the wall beside the classroom doors and watching as seniors and juniors passed by me on their way out or to clubs. Again, there were several couples loitering around, occasionally pecking each other on the lips or cheek, depending on how far they were (yes, I'm that observant). After a few minutes, I located Droite with Rio in tow, and the angry looking twin brother behind the two girls. I smiled slightly at the sight; it was amusing to see how they worked together in these situations.

"Hey girl," Rio greeted, dragging her twin up beside her.

"Hi," I replied, dropping my gaze to my feet.

I felt Droite grip my arm and pull me forward. Off balance, I landed in her arms; she apparently didn't mind, because she helped me stabilize and just gave me a lopsided grin in apology. Rio's twin scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Oh stop it, Ryouga," Rio muttered, smacking the boy upside the head. He glared at her and tried fixing his already weird-looking hair.

"Tell me again why I'm coming with you guys," Ryouga stated, frowning as he looked down at me. I glared right back at him; he was irritating and he deserved every bit of bad treatment he got.

Droite turned to him, still holding me in her arms. I looked over her arm to gaze at him. "Because we need male opinion on the outfits we find," she answered. As one of her hands began to lower to the small of my back, I shivered.

"Hey!" I heard Ms. Saral yell form inside the classroom. I shifted around to her voice, wondering what her problem was. "Yamamoto! Tenjo! Stop that before I report you to the principal!"

Oh. "Sorry," I said, pushing Droite away, feeling her protective embrace leave my body. Her eyes met mine, and I could tell she hated having to abide by the rules, but why? Did she actually…?

Nah, couldn't be. We've only known each other for a few days—no way could she already start to have a thing for me, as Americans say. Droite suddenly turned away and guided us out to the parking lot, to her car—a Jeep, without a roof and cloth-like doors. It was painted black, as far as I could tell, and a little muddy from some possible off-roading. I decided to sit in the back, hoping up into the cab and plopping myself into the chilly seat. Ryouga sat next to me and completely ignored me, all while I sat there shivering and having pulled my arms inside my hoodie.

How did these guys deal with the temperature? It was freaking cold!

After a very awkward ride (at least, that's how it was for me—Ryouga was busy on his phone and the other girls were chatting about possible costume arrangements), Droite pulled off to the side of the road, right in front of what I assumed was the shop we would be buying our costumes from—I wasn't sure because I haven't explored town yet. We gathered our things and headed into the aging building. Inside was rather cramped, but racks of costumes and parts for costumes lay around, perking interest in me as well as my friends. While Droite and the others went to a rather… inappropriate section of the store, I went on towards a costume that perked my interest.

"Ah…" I sifted through the rack and found what I was looking for. A costume that was basically the human version of my favorite mammal. And it was in my size, too—a rare occurrence considering my small frame. I plucked it off the rack and hurried off to the dressing rooms, where I spotted Rio going into one while Droite searched for something to wear and Ryouga sat begrudgingly on a couch, waiting to see what his sister had chosen. I smirked at him as I went into a changing room, locking myself in before swallowing the nervousness I had and pulling out all the required clothing to make this work.

First was the actual dress, which was basically plastered to my body and gave my breasts a little extra form, but did little to hide the fact that my frame was less than feminine. However, I still went with it and pulled the black stockings up, then secured the hat and gloves on. I debated about wearing the white flats, but decided against it for now. Making sure the outfit was complete, sans the shoes, I unlocked the door and opened it.

Droite was back an in a maid's outfit, Rio was in some kind of magical girl costume, and Ryouga was simply gazing at us like he had expected something different. Droite's eyes were on me and I gave her a wink, feeling too brave for my own good.

"I am choosing this one," I started, crossing my arms, "And nobody can change my mind."

Rio laughed. "You look adorable, Kai."

"Thank you!" I sent a glare in Ryouga's direction with a smirk. He just rolled his eyes and began to argue with his sister.

Droite came over and put her hands on my shoulders, directing my eyes to hers. I raised an eyebrow and blinked at her, frowning. "What do you want?" I asked rather harshly, my confidence beginning to falter.

She smiled. "Just wanted to say that you made a good choice in costume, Kai."

I let my frown falter. "Hey Droite?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you come to my place today?" I turned around, indicating that I was going back to the changing room whether or not she gave me an answer.

After a few moments, she replied, "Sure."

…

We had left Rio and Ryouga to their own devices, considering how much they were arguing over Rio's costume. I helped Droite to my house, directing her through our neighborhood until we reached the house. It took only a few minutes to get there, but still… it seemed like forever. She gazed through the windshield up at the house with a bit of a perplexed expression; I could tell that she was surprised over the fact that I had this entire house to myself.

As we stepped out of her Jeep and to the front door, I stated, "I hope you don't mind a randomly squawking bird."

"I don't," she answered as I unlocked the door. "I love animals; I have a cat and a lizard at home."

"Oh?" I guided her inside and dropped my keys into the dish on the small table beside the door. "I didn't know that."

"Most people don't, really." She took her shoes off after I had, and I went over to one of the couches, dumping my bag and the costume onto the leather. Then she began to complain about me not possessing a TV, and so we exchanged various snarky replies as I showed her around the house.

The kitchen was the first stop, and she helped herself to a ramen cup. Then we went upstairs, where I pointed out the separate bathroom if she didn't feel comfortable using mine, and eventually we got to my room. Galaxy cried out as he spotted the new person in the house and flapped his wings in alarm.

"It's okay, Galaxy," I started, opening his cage door and taking him out while holding him down with my thumb on his foot. "Galaxy sweetie, she's a friend." Still, he freaked out, and even though I didn't want to speak Japanese around my newfound friend (who was watching me with a raised eyebrow), it was the only way to calm the poor bird down. "My baby, please hush. She is not a danger to us."

Galaxy calmed slightly, still keeping his crimson eyes on Droite. I gazed directly at her with a heavy blush, but she just smiled at me. "Sorry. He's usually not like this."

"It's okay," she replied, coming over to me and Galaxy. "He's just protecting his girl."

I laughed at that, a sound so foreign that I almost stopped. My bird chirped at me, looking up from his confined perch on my hand. "Yeah, I guess so."

The girl sat down on my bed while I took a seat on the chaise. I allowed Galaxy to find a different perch, and he flew over to the lamp on the nightstand, preening himself.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese," Droite started, catching my attention, "Although, that explains your extreme accent."

"Yeah, well…" I paused, playing with the tips of my skirt. "My father tore me away from my mother and brother and it was so rushed that I didn't have a whole lot of time to adjust."

"Ah, that explains a lot." She laid back on the bed, turning on her side to look at me. "I was adopted and brought here from Japan, so you're not the only one who was forcibly taken from their home."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She gazed at Galaxy, who had finished preening and was now chirping a quiet song. "I'm half Japanese, half Scottish. My mother, who was thirteen when she had me, just left me out on the street, not wanting me. Which is understandable, considering she was raped by a tourist…" Flipping onto her stomach, she kept her eyes away from me. "But my adoptive parents are so strict and everything, I haven't been able to tell them that I don't want to date a man, that I'm not interested in them. Like you."

"I haven't come out to my father, either." God, this was a territory I didn't want to spend too much time in, but we shared some similar problems… Maybe she'd be able to help me. "My mother knows, and she's accepting even though in Japan it's really… y'know, a problem. Against culture. But my father… he'd kill me if I told him. And he's got the power—and guts—to do so." Adjusting my legs on the chaise, I gestured Galaxy over to me, and he landed on the front of my hoodie, snuggling into my chest.

"It sucks to be us, doesn't it." She looked at me and gave me a sad smile; her sudden switch in language had caught me off guard, but I respected her a lot more now that she knew Japanese. "What? Didn't know I'm fluent in Japanese?"

"Well… no, but I like it that you know it." Rubbing Galaxy's feathers, I broke the connection I had with my friend's eyes. "Anyway, care to tell me about that 'boyfriend' of yours?"

"What, Gauche?" She sat up, crossing her arms. "He pisses me off, honestly. His family wants me to marry him, and my parents might actually agree. That's why I can't wait to turn eighteen—they can't control me once I'm an adult."

"Arranged marriages are honestly the worst." Galaxy snuggled up under my chin, and I held him there, feeling the tiny amount of body heat he gave off. "My mother wanted to arrange a marriage for me, but that plan got ruined quite fast."

"Yeah." Droite yawned. "Hey, want to have a sleepover? I'll make you free breakfast. Plus I can help you with some, y'know, American traditions and things."

I shrugged. What the hell? Even if my dad was in the hospital, I was going to live my life. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay great! Let me run home and grab a few things." She stood while I just continued to sit there, not wanting to get up. "I'll be right back." She ran out of the room, and soon I was left alone in the house once more.

I put Galaxy back into his cage after refilling his food and cleaning out his water. Before I forgot, I took off my school outfit and got into a comfier one; black yoga pants and a grey sweatshirt. I nearly laughed at my appearance in the mirror as I washed out my hair in the sink, getting out all the hair gel and making my hair soft. I heard my bedroom door open as I was drying off my head; I walked out into my room while still rubbing the towel against my wet locks, seeing that Droite had returned with a small bag containing her stuff.

"That was fast," I commented as she dropped her bag in front of my dresser.

"Yeah, well, I live nearby, so it didn't take long." She smiled at me. "Alright, what shall I teach you first?"

…

By midnight we had gone through six ramen cups, a few cans of soda, and were a giggling mess on my bed. Droite had told me about the basics of teen parties, or at least the ones she had gone to, and in my sleep-deprived state, I was able to take it in stride, all while allowing myself to laugh like I was insane. I honestly never knew I could be such a weirdo (a term she had taught me) when this tired. Galaxy had gone to sleep while watching us, his head against the side of his cage and his beak hanging open as he slept. So it was just me and her joking about the topics she brought up.

"Ah man," she started after managing to calm herself. "I needed that."

"Me too." Falling back against my pillows, I yawned and absentmindedly tossed my chopsticks onto the nightstand. "Ahhhh… I really need some sleep. I'm going to crash soon."

"Sounds like a plan." Getting off my bed, she went over to her bag and pulled out a sleeping bag. "Brought this comfy thing because I wanted to, hella."

"Ohhhh." Rubbing my eye, I yawned again. I pushed the ramen cups off the side of the bed, and they hit the wood floor quietly. "Well, you do what you have to; I'm going to sleep. Get the lights if you can—"

Before I could finish my sentence, Droite came forward and tackled me in a hug. I sprawled out underneath her, her larger frame pinning me down to the bed. Awkwardly I put my arms around her, unsure of how to take this situation. She held me tightly, face pressed to my shoulder; I just sat there, getting more uncomfortable by the second; I hated being trapped underneath someone.

"Thanks for listening to me," Droite murmured into my shirt. "I really needed to tell somebody how I felt."

Smiling just slightly, I lifted my hands to the back of her head and caressed her scalp. "You're welcome." Together, we lay there, and after a moment I realized her grip was beginning to loosen. Blinking, hoping that she hadn't done what I figured she had, I shifted around underneath her.

And then she snored.

"Dammit Droite!"

Ahahaha well. Hope you enjoyed! And remember to review, please! Reviews give me more inspiration. :)