"I'm back!" Yamuraiha's voice echoed through her house as she stepped into the foyer. "Sorry I was out, but I already had dinner so you don't have to worry about making me any," she took off her shoes and hung her coat. "Dad?"
She walked into the kitchen expecting to see him tapping his foot and shaking his head. Much to her surprise, he wasn't there at all. A note sat nicely on the counter, begging to be read.
'Out until tomorrow. Sorry for the short notice, work. Dinner is in the fridge.'
Yamuraiha let out a sigh of relief as she read that. He wasn't home yet to lecture her, but the note did worry her, perhaps even more than it should have.
She checked the windows and doors to see if there had been an intruder. No sign of anyone yet. She almost laughed at her paranoia. Almost.
But it wouldn't hurt to call him to see what he was up to. Or at least leave a message. She scrambled inside her bag to find a phone. She dialed his number as she got another incoming call.
Sharrkan.
She took a deep breath before she could finally answer. Now probably wouldn't be the best time to talk to him- after realizing she liked him and all.
"And why may I have the pleasure of speaking to you so late?" she noticed the sarcastic snark in her voice a bit too late. Ah, it was a force of habit.
"Did you ask you dad about spring break yet?"
Oh right. That. She would have to spend a lot of time with her friends- and him. Which really was a blessing, and she should have been more grateful. But again she was scared.
"No, actually he's at work right now," she said with relief. At least she didn't have to lie.
"Are you lying to me?"
Yamuraiha laughed, "nope, I really wish I was because I don't like being home alone in the middle of nowhere,"
"I can message Pisti, I think she has extra room at her place,"
"It's fine,"
"Well, if anything you can always call me, okay?"
"Okay," Yamuraiha realized that this was the moment she should swallow her pride, "Sharrkan, thanks for looking out for me,"
"It's not a big deal,"
"I mean it."
"I just called to finalize plans I didn't say I was going to pay for your eyebrows to be threaded, which you should really do by the way,"
Yamuraiha felt her brow with her free hand, it did seem a bit unkempt. "Yeah maybe I should- wait how do you even know what that is?"
"I drove a girl I knew out to get her eyebrows threaded, last year- kind of a neat process if you ask me."
"Well, as much as I would love to talk to you all night about getting my hairs torn off with a tiny thread, I do have to go to bed, goodnight Sharrkan,"
"Yeah you too,"
-x-x-x-x-x-
Yamuraiha woke up the next morning with her father sitting at the edge of her bed. He seemed as if he was about to shed a tear while he stared out.
"Dad?"
His expression changed immediately.
"Sorry I just came home and didn't want to wake you," he said with a smile. He had dark under eye circles and stacks on wrinkles which didn't appear to be on his face before. "How do you feel about me driving you to school today?"
"Not that I want to pass up a drive, but why? Don't you have work?"
Matal's faint smile faded. "I do, but I thought it would be good to have a little time off to spend with you." He let out a sigh, "I just thought that next year I might not be able to see you- with university and all."
"Dad," she said softly, "it really is alright, I mean just because I might be going away doesn't mean that I won't get to see you," she reassured him. "You make it sound like I'm going away forever,"
Matal nodded. "You're right, I'm being irrational," his smile reappeared. "But what do you say? You want a drive or not?"
"Obviously I do,"
It was going to be the perfect moment for her to ask him about spring break. Her father's behaviour seemed different, but what else was new? Ever since they moved he was acting more and more distant all while trying to get closer to her.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"So what's new with you?" he asked her as he started the car; it didn't make as much noise as it usually did.
"Well," Yamuraiha began, "I have a lot of friends here, surprisingly,"
"What are they like?"
Yamuraiha wanted to say 'oh they're just normal friends,' so desperately. Describing her friends was going to be difficult, not because they themselves were all colorful personalities with sass and bite, but because she didn't know how to make them appealing to her father without lying. So she did her best.
"There's Pisti who is younger than me, but she has the confidence of a thirty year old business woman who owns every large restaurant chain,"
Highlighting Pisti's confidence was better than highlighting her promiscuity and lust for rebellion- not that it was necessarily a bad thing in the first place; but because it was something her father would never really accept.
"How descriptive of you,"
"Thank you, and then there's her boyfriend Spartos who is the complete opposite- in both looks and personality. He works at the pharmacy that you sent me to!"
Her father winced. "Right the pharmacy…"
"And then there's also Sinbad, Jafar, and Hinahoho- who are all extremely successful and they all own large plots of land here,"
"How do you even know these people?"
"I was friends with them before apparently! Remember before we moved?"
That was the truth. She knew her father would be more likely to accept people that she had known previously.
"Oh right," he remembered. "I always thought you had a strange group of friends."
"And then there's also Sharrkan-" Yamuraiha cut herself off. She didn't know what to say without making it obvious that she really liked him. On top of that how would she even describe him if she didn't?
"What're they like?"
"Well he's," she paused, "he is a really nice person actually, but he has a lot of flaws- and I mean a lot- like for example he says unnecessary things he doesn't mean but then goes out of his way to do something good for others without any promises of a reward. And I don't like it when he calls me out on my flaws without mercy, I mean who does that? And not only that, he also had the nerve to somehow get me wound up in a school play- a play! The idea of presenting my work in front of others gives me a rash, but imagine me in front of a larger crowd-"
Matal laughed to himself. "He sounds like a handful. But it's good to have friends that bring you out of your comfort zone. You sound like you trust him a lot."
"Trust him?" Yamuraiha questioned. "I mean I guess I trust everyone of my friends now that you mention it."
"That's good, I know you choose good people to be around."
"Okay, who are you and what have you done to my father?" Yamuraiha asked. "It's so unlike you to be this lenient."
"What do you mean?"
"Well for one before you didn't like me being friends with girls that weren't academics, let alone let me hang out with boys. Now you're all calm even though I told you I have so many male friends and most of them are older than me-"
He sighed. "I guess I didn't want your memories of me to be uptight, it does worry me a little, but I think over the past few months I have changed and I learned to trust you more,"
"You make it sound like I'm dying,"
"No you're not the one dying," he paused. "Anyways, break is in a few weeks you excited?"
"Oh yeah, about that…" Yamuraiha's face turned red as it always did before she was going to ask a crucial question. "How do you feel about me-" she paused looking for a lie to tell him. Yes he was more relaxed than before, but that still didn't mean he would let her go for two weeks to a stranger's villa. "Going to a science camp with Pisti!" Oh boy, that was a lie he was sure to see through.
"Where is it?" he asked.
"I don't quite know, but Pisti's older sister works there and it's really great and she can drive me and-"
"Why are you acting like I'm about to say no? Yamuraiha your voice is jittery," he laughed. "You can go, I don't know why you're being so nervous."
Ah he bought it! Great. Yamuraiha smiled. "Really!?" She coughed, "I mean really?" she repeated herself this time squinting her eyes more.
"I don't see why not, you're old enough, you've shown me in many situations how responsible you are- no tattoos, no piercings, no attitude problem...for the most part," he laughed when he noticed her crossed arms and pout. "What I'm saying is, I think I need to learn to let you go a little. This is a good start."
Her mouth hung open for a second. This was her dad?! Her uptight, no nonsense, be back before ten, eat your vegetables, and studying is more important than friends dad?! "Yeah, this is an awesome start! Oh thank you! I can't wait to tell her the good news!" Yamuraiha wanted to hug him, but she didn't- his eyes were now focused on the road again. "Hey dad, after spring break we can do something too right?" she asked him feeling guilty.
He finally turned his head to her when he stopped at a red light. "Of course we can," he said quietly. "Of course we can."
Writer: guess who's back, back again! Haha I stopped writing for a while a lot of stuff happened and I'm not that interested in magi anymore, but I still wanted to finish this story. Sorry if my writing here is rusty. . Thank you for any reviews in advance! I LOVE TO READ THEM!