Chapter 11: Slow Dance

"Miss, Miss? It's time to get up," Hinata said as she tapped on my door.

"Go away," I moaned, "I don't have school for the next week." She entered my room anyway.

"Yes, I know, but," she said, opening my curtains, letting in the bright sunlight. I cringed away from the brightness and hid under my covers, "that doesn't mean you have nothing to do." She sounded too cheerful.

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly peeking out from under the covers. She grinned and held up what looked like a weekly planner; it was filled with appointments and scribbles written in pen.

"Your father took the liberty of signing you up for extra lessons while you're out of school," she announced happily.

"What!" I screamed, jumping out from under the covers and grabbing the planner.

Friday: (That would be today)

~Breakfast

9:30 - 11:30 ~ Lessons with Mrs. Hampton

~Lunch

12:30 - 3:00 ~ Dance Lessons with Miss Ross

3:30 - 7:00 ~ Homework

~Dinner

Saturday:

~Breakfast

6:30 - 12:00 ~ Dance Lessons with Miss Ross

~Lunch

1:30 - 5:00 ~ Lessons with Mrs. Hampton

5:30 - 7:00 ~ School Homework

~Dinner

Sunday: Free day

Monday:

~Breakfast

7:00 - 11:45 ~ Lessons with Mrs. Hampton

~Lunch

12:30 - 3:00 ~ Lessons with Mrs. Hampton

3:30 - 5:00 ~ Dance Lessons with Miss Ross

5:30 - 7:00 ~ School Homework

~Dinner

Tuesday:

~Breakfast

8:00 - 11:30 ~ Dance Lessons with Miss Ross

~Lunch

12:30 - 5:00 ~ Lessons with Mrs. Hampton

5:30 - 7:00 ~ School Homework

~Dinner

(You get the idea)

"What the hell is this!" I yelled; she just kept smiling.

"The master knew you would ask that, so he sent a reply," she said.

"And what's that?" I asked, irritated.

She replied, her grin remaining in place, "Punishment."

I stood there frustrated, but I couldn't put it into words. I checked the clock.

8:27

"Screw it all!" I said, heading into the bathroom for a shower.

'From my father's perspective, I guess I deserve this,' I thought as the water ran over my hair and face. 'But could he at least see this from my perspective? Misawa got what was coming to her. She deserves punishment more than I do! As for those other boys and the girl, I hope they know to stay away from me. And Kasanoda-' I opened my eyes at the thought of him. 'I got him in big trouble too, he didn't deserve this... and Shiori she got hurt as well.' The idea made me ashamed.

"I'll need to repay them, but how?" I said, turning off the water and stepping out of the shower. 'I wonder if they like sweets?' I thought, drying off with a towel. I got dressed and ready for my lesson and decided to skip breakfast and just go to my etiquette lessons.

Mrs. Brenda Hampton, my etiquette teacher, was an older lady who always wears dress suits and high heels. She has gray hair that she keeps up in a tight bun and reader glasses on one of those old lady necklace things. She was always tidy, looking, and organized.

Today's lesson was on having conversations with useful vocabulary. When it was all over, she gave me the assignment to learn a total of 50 new vocabulary words before tomorrow.

'Late night studying here I come, ugh,' I thought on my ride to my dance lessons.

"Excellent!" my teacher commended, "Your timing for the waltz is perfect, but we need to work on the leading."

"What do you mean?" I questioned her.

"Miss Sohma," my partner Andrew said with a smile, "You tend not to follow my lead but try to lead with me." He laughed a bit.

"Oh," I said quietly, a bit embarrassed.

"Here," Miss Ross said, stepping in, "Let me show you." I stepped back and watched.

Andrew bowed, and Miss Ross curtsied, then Andrew put out his hand, and they stepped closer to each other. They danced together, Miss Ross moving her feet with his, both perfectly in time. When the song finished, she turned to me.

"Now you give it a go," she said, stepping to the CD player and pressing repeat. I stepped forward, and Andrew gave me a grin.

The song started, and he bowed, I curtsied, and he put out his hand towards me. I took a deep breath before taking his hand.

'Let him lead,' I reminded myself as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

I tried to relax and let him lead, and it was difficult at first, but eventually, I got the hang of following his movements. My steps were in time with his, and we seemed to flow with the music easily.

"Beautiful, I think you've mastered the waltz," my teacher said when the dance was over, "That's all for today. Next is the slow dance." I must have made a face because she smiled playfully. "It's not that bad, and pretty easy overall," she said. "See you in the morning!"

I thanked her for the lesson and went home.

Once in the car, I slumped into my seat with a sigh; I was getting tired.

When I got home, I did some school work. My father had asked my teacher to assign me extra homework for the classes I would be missing. I had a chicken dinner, then went to my room and found the phone.

I dialed Ann's number and waited.

"Hello?" Anne's little brother answered.

"Hey Jake, it's Ayami," I said.

"Oh! Hi Aya, long time no talk! What'cha up to?"

"Nothing much, you about to go to soccer practice?"

"Yep!"

"Is your sister still asleep?"

"Uh," he said, unsure, "yeah."

"Go wake her up for me," I said with a grin.

"Uhhh," I heard him gulp.

"If she gets mad and attacks you, I'll owe you one, but this is payback for yesterday."

"Urr, well... okay," he agreed reluctantly.

I listened as I heard him go to her door and knock.

"Hey, sis," he called, "you have a phone call."

"Go away, you little runt." She threatened through the door.

"It's Aya."

I heard the door open.

"Hand over the phone," she commanded next thing I heard was the door slam shut.

"Aya?" she said, her voice sounding dark.

"Good morning, Ann!" I chirped, "It's almost 8 PM here, so it should be about 6 AM there. This is payback."

"I hate you," she replied.

"No, you don't; you're just sleepy," I said, grinning, "Go downstairs and get some coffee."

"Mm'k," she consented without much argument.

I waited while she went to the kitchen and got herself a cup of joe.

"Awake yet?" I asked.

"Getting there," she said with a yawn.

"So do you remember what you said yesterday about me being able to get away with anything, well you're going to get a laugh out of this one..."

I explained to her everything that had transpired in the past two days as she sipped on her coffee and, of course, she found it all hilarious.

"WOW! You're in deep crap now!" she barked on the other end.

"Yeah," I said, falling back on my bed, "I think my dad's pretty upset with me."

"But wow, he really suspended you for the whole week and gave you all those lessons, what kind of guy is he?"

"I'm still figuring that out," I said, "Sometimes he seems very carefree and kind of klutzy, but yesterday he was really serious. But I'm guessing that if I get in any more fights, he'll probably force me to take anger management therapy or something."

*Snicker* "He sounds funny."

"Yeah, about as funny as a hangnail," I replied, we both laughed.

"You haven't changed," she said with a sigh.

"Neither have you," I said with a grin, then I checked the clock.

"It's getting late, and you need to get to school," I said.

"Crap! Yeah, I've already missed first period," she answered.

"Okay, tell Cindy, Shelly, and Jessica, I say, 'hi.' and tell Jake that I think his voice is getting deeper." She laughed at that one.

"Oh, and tell Mark, David, Theo, Brandon, and the rest of the basketball team I say 'hi.' Also, don't forget to tell Cindy about Chad, it's better to tell her about it than go behind her back."

"Yeah, you're right, ttyl!"

"Later," I said and hung up the phone. I got dressed in my PJs and tucked myself into bed.

"Day one of torture over," I said with a sigh as I drifted into sleep.

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock. I trudged out of bed and got ready for my morning dance lesson.

After a quick breakfast, I rushed over to the studio. I arrived early and did a few stretches and practiced a few turns and things by myself before my partner arrived.

"Good morning," Andrew greeted with a kind smile.

"Morning," I replied.

Andrew Williams, my dance partner, is a tall, muscular figured, twenty-five-year-old man with messy red-brown hair.

My teacher, Madison Ross, is a twenty-three-year-old, pro ballet dancer with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

Both of them have amazing dancing skills and kind personalities.

"So do you have any experience in slow dance?" he asked, placing his bag on the floor.

"Nope," I replied.

"Don't worry, it's effortless, mostly swaying back and forth," he said with a soft grin. I smiled back. He then began stretching beside me.

"So why aren't you in school?" he questioned.

"Um," I said, blushing a bit, "I've been suspended for a week."

"Suspended," he said, surprised, "Now, what could you have done to deserve that?"

"I hit a girl," I said, stretching for my right foot.

"No!" he said, sounding somewhat disbelieving, "You didn't." I nodded, releasing my stretch.

"Why?" he asked.

"She was asking for it. She did something that, in my book, was unforgivable and I gave her what she deserved," I said in a justifying tone.

"What did she do?" he asked.

"She pissed me off," I said, and he laughed.

"Remind me never to piss you off."

"Well," I said, looking down at my hands. "It's not so much that she pissed me off, she's been doing that since I entered school. It's just-" I paused. "She hurt someone else for something I did. I just couldn't forgive her for taking out her hatred towards me out on others; I hate people like that..."

'Harvey and my mother are two that come to mind, although I wouldn't say that I hate my mother.' I thought as I looked at him; he was smiling.

"You're a very kind person," he spoke softly it caught me off guard.

"I'm a kind person for giving a girl a broken nose?" I said sarcastically.

"You broke her nose?!" he exclaimed then laughed some more. "Well, you were protecting a friend, right?"

"I guess so," I answered.

"See, you are very kind," he declared again. I blushed a bit looking away.

"Good morning!" Miss Ross said, entering the room.

"Good morning," Andrew greeted her.

"You ready to dance?" she asked, grinning at me. I glanced at Andrew, and he smiled. I looked away, still a little embarrassed from our conversation.

"Whatever," I said uneasy, Miss Ross looked at us both curiously but brushed it off. She put down her bags, then went to the CD player and put on the music.

"Andrew, shall we," she said, smiling. He walked towards her and then began a demonstration of a slow dance.

They danced in step together just as they had done so yesterday.

"Okay, now it's your turn," Miss Ross said once her demonstration was over. Andrew held out his hand and smiled.

"I don't want to do this," I said flatly.

"Oh come on," she said, walking towards me and putting her hands on my shoulders. "It's not that bad," she urged, giving me a push forward toward Andrew. The next song began to play as Andrew walked up to me.

"May I have this dance?" He asked with a slight bow, putting his hand out towards me; I blushed and took his hand.

"Now," Miss Ross called, "Let him lead!"

I glanced up into his grinning face, irritated at myself for being embarrassed, then I looked away. I placed one hand on his shoulder, the other in his hand, and he put his free hand on my waist.

He took us into a small sway, and we began turning slowly. I kept my eyes averted from him as I tried to follow his movements.

*Ring-Ring-Ring* It was Miss Ross' cell phone.

She picked it up and looked at the number.

"I need to take this," she said, walking towards the door, "Andrew, you know what to do, I'll be right back."

"Rodger that!" He grinned.

We danced for a bit more before he said something. "You know," he said, and I looked up at him through my bangs. "It's insulting not to look at someone when you're dancing with them." I blushed scarlet red and stopped dancing.

"I'm done," I said, trying to leave, but he held on to me tightly.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant," he said, laughing; I looked at him irritated. "I meant that I wish you would look at me while we're dancing." I felt my face heat up even more.

"That's - you!" I stuttered, and he began chuckling. "Shut up!" I shouted at him, but he only laughed more.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed," he said, pulling me towards him and starting us dancing again.

"Really, you had better stop talking before this turns into a different kind of dance," I warned while glaring at him.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, "Would hate to end up with a broken nose." He was still grinning as he took me for a turn then a spin.

After a bit of dancing, he pulled me closer, placing his head next to mine.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I was just wondering," he started.

"Wondering what?" I asked suspiciously.

"How it would feel to hold you closer."

"WAH?!" I exclaimed, and my blush exploded across my cheeks. Just then Miss Ross re-entered the room, and he backed away.

"How's she doing?" she asked Andrew. I kept my head down so that she couldn't see how red I was.

"Great!" he answered back.

"You're doing wonderful!" Miss Ross complimented when the dance had ended, "but you're still not letting him lead. I saw you almost trip over each other's feet more than twice."

"Sorry," I apologized.

"It's fine. We have the rest of the week for you to learn this. For now, let's go over the waltz and traditional ballroom dances again." She said with a smile. I nodded, and Andrew and I went into the next dance. Of all the songs so far, the waltzes were my favorites, but I found it easier to dance the traditional ballroom dances.

When class was over, I plopped onto a bench in the hallway, fried out.

"Miss Sohma," Andrew called, and I looked up at him.

"You were excellent today," he said, coming up to me, "Both Miss Ross and I are impressed with how well you're learning the dances and picking up techniques."

"Thanks," I said with a half-grin.

"May I sit with you?" He asked, politely.

"I guess," I said, looking down at my shoes. He sat next to me, and we were both quiet for a moment before he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable while we were dancing. I just wanted to test something."

"Well, I'm glad you got a chance to test it, whatever it was," I replied sarcastically and a bit irritated.

"Really, I just wanted to see what your reaction would be if a guy showed romantic interest in you."

"Ahh! You-"

"No, you've got the wrong idea. Although I do like you, I don't have those kinds of feelings for you," he said as a disclaimer. "But, you reacted the way I thought you would."

"Oh, really, how's that?" I asked, confused.

"It takes you a second to see when a guy is making a move on you, maybe it was just because you were trying to focus on the dancing, but I think it's because you believe guys aren't interested in you, or at least, it never occurs to you that they might be." I press my eyebrows together, trying to see where he was headed with this.

"So?" I said.

"So you need to pay closer attention," he said, and I blinked confused.

"Pay closer attention to what?" I asked, and he sighed.

"You are so observant of others, but you don't consider it possible for a guy liking you more than a friend as a reason behind their actions. Take for instance today, I complimented you many times, I said something mushy about how I wanted you to look only at me while we were dancing, I even called you cute, but you still didn't know that I was trying to flirt with you until I made a move," he explained. "You don't see guys liking you as a factor in their behavior towards you."

"But you don't like me," I said, "so it wasn't a factor in your behavior today." he sighed again.

"Yeah, but I was trying to make it look like I did like you."

"You're confusing me," I said, and he sighed once more.

"Has there ever been a guy that has said lots of nice things about you?" He asked.

"What does this-"

"Just go with me on this one," he interrupted, "A guy who likes to spend time around you? Is sometimes nervous around you? Gets embarrassed when you talk about him? Wants to buy you things?" I could see the picture he was painting, and I didn't like it.

It was the perfect picture of Mark.

"Great shot Aya!" Mark said with a fist pump.

"Thanks," I replied, walking to the bench.

"Hey Aya, you're coming to the park with us, right?" Mark asked, looking hopeful.

"Sure," I replied, and he smiled widely.

"What were you thinking, Aya? Taking on three guys twice your size is dangerous! You could have been killed!" he yelled.

"So what?" I said, irritated.

"So- so you're not that strong! You're a girl! You should have yelled for help or something!"

"I can take care of myself, Mark, I don't have to ask anyone for help!" I shouted back. He looked angry and hurt.

"Fine, I don't care anymore!" he yelled, turning to leave, "Next time I'll just let them break your neck!" He stormed off.

"I heard that you're moving back to Japan," Mark said; I turned towards him.

"Yeah," I said, noticing how his face looked red, and he had his jaw and fists held tightly.

"When do you leave?" he asked.

"Next week," I answered, and he clenched his fists tighter. It was quiet for a bit while I waited for him to say something.

"I'm going to miss you," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss beating your ass in basketball," I said with a grin. He looked at me like he wanted to say something more, but whatever it was, it never made it to his lips.

"I guess," he said with a pause, "Have a safe trip!" He said with a smile.

"Thanks," I said, smiling back.

My face went blank as I realized what Andrew was talking about, and he saw my expression change.

"There is, isn't there?" he asked.

"Was," I corrected, and we sat there in silence.

"It's okay, it's not your fault, or maybe it is?" He said with a grin, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"You're not helping," I said, staring at the floor tiles.

"What are you doing?" I heard Miss Ross say.

"Ah, Miss Sohma and I were just talking," Andrew replied. At that moment, she took notice of his hand on my shoulder.

"Really?" she doubtful as she raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't how it looks," he denied, removing his hand, "I was just talking to Miss Sohma about boys and their feelings."

"Is that so?" She said darkly, looking a bit like Medusa. "Then you weren't just flirting with my student?"

"No, really, we were just talking," he desperately explained.

"Miss Sohma, I'm sorry if my fiancé was hitting on you, he has flirtatious tendencies." Miss Ross said scowling at him.

"No, we were really just-"

*Ding*

"Fiancé?" I said, confused.

"Yes," she answered with a smile.

"You two are engaged?"

"Yep!" Andrew said, sticking his arm around her.

"Get your hands off me! The same betraying ones that were just caressing another woman!" She hissed at him. He just laughed and smiled as he tried to give her a peck on the cheek.

"Wah?!" I shouted in surprise.

'That really surprised me,' I thought as I got into my car.

"Miss Sohma," Christopher said from the front seat, and I looked at him.

"Where would you like to go for lunch?" he asked, looking at me in the rear-view mirror.

"Take me back to the mansion," I said, and he nodded.

We began our drive home as I thought over what Andrew had said.

'I guess I never really thought about guys liking me. I just thought that a guy would never like me, but what with what Andrew said... I think that Mark may have liked me,' I thought, staring out the window. 'If I had known then, would I have treated him any differently?' I asked myself.

I sat there muddling in my thoughts all the way home, through lunch, and even into my etiquette lessons.

"Miss Sohma?" Mrs. Hampton called, and I looked up at her. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm sorry I was lost in thought. What was it?"

"I asked if you had memorized the vocabulary words I gave you yesterday?"

"Oh, um," I mumbled, looking away, "I didn't get around to it."

"Miss Sohma, I don't know why you even bother to come to my class," She sighed, exasperated with me.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"For that, I'll give you another thirty to study by the next class, in addition to the original fifty," she said, writing something on a piece of paper.

"Yes, ma'am," I answered.

"Yes, Mrs. Hampton," she corrected me turning up her nose slightly.

"Yes, Mrs. Hampton," I repeated, and she nodded.

"Now, I want to go over dining. I think you'll need a refresher course in table manners for formal dinner parties." She said, shuffling some papers and putting them on the table. "Come with me, please," she said, standing. I stood and followed her into the next room, where a table sat prepared with two complete place settings, plates, glasses, and silverware.

"Take a seat," she said, sitting down. I walked up to the table and sat across from her. "Now, let's start with the easy part, your utensils," She started explaining the different kinds of forks and spoons. She went into all the details on the correct plates and cups to be used for different things. I had a hard time remembering everything.

"Now, which glass is this?" she asked, pointing to one on her right. Of course, I had no clue which was which because there were five glasses.

"Um, the tall one?" I said, and she got irritated.

"It's the champagne glass," she said flatly.

"Okay, the tall one is the champagne glass," I mumbled to myself, "and the fat one is the water glass, right?"

"Yes," she said flatly. "Now, how about the other three?"

"The short one is the sherry glass, and the other two are wine?" I said in question form.

"Yes, but which is the red wine glass, and which is the white wine glass?"

"Um," I said, looking at them, "I don't remember." She sighed.

"Stop saying that, um is not a proper word," she corrected me.

"Sorry, Miss Hampton," I answered, and she nodded her head and pointed at the taller fatter glass. "This one is the red wine glass, and this is the white wine glass." Pointing at the shorter glass.

"Okay, I think I've got it," I said.

"Good," she said, "Now let's talk about table manners." I sighed. She went on and on about how to sit appropriately, where to place one's hands, and what to do with your napkin; it was excruciating.

She sent me home with another list of vocabulary words and a placement setting chart to memorize over my day off from lessons.

When I got home, I fell on the couch in the sitting room.

"Oh my!" Hinata exclaimed when she saw me. "Young miss, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just tired," I said.

"Would you like me to bring you some tea?" she asked politely.

"No, I'm just going to take a nap for now. Tell Georgina I'll be skipping dinner," I said, and she nodded and left the room.

I lay there, thinking over all that I had learned today.

1. Let guys lead when dancing.

2. I'm an idiot when it comes to romance.

3. Place settings are too complicated.

I dozed for a bit but never really fell into sleep. When my napping was over, I looked at the clock; it was almost nine.

"Hinata," I called. I heard her shuffle into the room, and I sat up to look at her.

"Yes, Miss?" she asked.

"Could you bring me the phone, please?" I asked. She nodded and left the room.

She wasn't gone long before she re-entered phone in hand.

"Here you are, Miss," she said, handing it to me.

"Thank you," I said, dialing Ann's number as she left the room.

"Hello?" I heard Ann answer.

"Morning, Ann, it's me," I greeted.

"Aya, I've been waiting for you to call!"

"You seem to be in a good mood. Something happen?"

"Mmm-hmm! Cindy gave me the okay to date Chad!"

"That's great," I said, sounding not as enthusiastic as her.

"Yup, actually, we have a date here in an hour or so, so I'm getting all fancy-ed up!"

"Having fun?"

"Of course! How about you, what were today's lessons?" she asked.

"Great, if you like to know the names of pointless amounts of cups, forks, and plates," I answered, and she laughed. I talked to her about all I had learned today and some of my vocabulary words.

"How about this one; opulent: rich and superior in quality," I read off my paper, and she giggled.

"It sounds like someone with bad body odder," she said, and we both laughed. "Well," she said with a sigh, "I need to go soon so that I can take a shower before my date. Oh, I almost forgot! Everyone says 'hi' back, and 'we hope you're getting settled in well.' Even Mark says that he hopes you're doing well in your new school."

"Uhhh," I moaned at the mention of Mark.

"Huh? What's with that response? I thought you would be happy," she said, confused.

"No, I am; it's just..."

"What is it?"

We were silent for a bit.

"Ann," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Did Mark have a... crush on me?" I asked, blushing a bit.

"You're asking this now?" She laughed.

"Just answer me," I said, bothered.

"Well, yeah, he had the biggest crush on you ever since you moved in," she answered.

"Really?!" I said, surprised.

"Yeah, I can't believe you didn't notice! Everyone else could totally see it. I mean, he was totally transparent!"

"Crap! Andrew was right, I am so stupid!" I complained, very annoyed at myself.

"No, you're not," she giggled, "just a little slow, maybe."

"Ugh!" I groaned, putting my hand over my eyes.

"It's okay, I think he's gotten over it, to be honest," she said trying to comfort me.

"But seriously, why did he never tell me?" I asked somewhat irritated.

"WELL, DUH! You threatened people just for looking at you the wrong way! He thought you would kill him if he ever confessed to you!"

"Oh, is that so..." I said. "I didn't even realize." She laughed.

"Aya, you were the scariest girl in school. Rumors were going around of you being the leader of a gang, for Christ's sake!"

"Seriously?" I said.

"Yeah, you have a tendency to make a strong first impression." She added with another laugh.

"I guess I never really thought about it," I admitted.

"But really I think Mark has moved on, after all, it was just a crush." She paused for a few seconds before adding, "Shit, it's getting late! I gotta go now, call me later and I'll tell you about the date, 'kay?"

"Okay," I said, "Have fun." Just then, Hinata returned with a cart of tea and sweets.

"Of course, bye-bye!" she said, and she hung up the phone

"Would you like some tea now?" Hinata asked as I placed the phone on the coffee table.

"Yes, please," I answered, "anything other than green tea sounds good." Green tea was all I was allowed to drink during any of Mrs. Hampton's lessons so it got tiring really quickly.

"Is Darjeeling fine, Miss?" she asked, pouring a cup.

"It's fine," I said, tilting my head back. "I need new glasses," I said, not moving.

"Excuse me, Miss," she asked, confused, "but did you not just get new glasses?"

"If there's nothing wrong with them, then why am I so blind?" I asked while looking up at her. She was surprised at first, but her expression changed to something more understanding.

"You're not blind, Miss." She handed me the teacup. "Sometimes we just miss what's standing right in front of us; it happens to everyone." She smiled at me.

I looked into my cup searching for something; answers perhaps.

"I guess you're right," I said, taking a large gulp of tea and finishing the cup in one swig. "Thanks for the tea. I'm going to do some homework before going to bed." I said, handing her my empty cup.

"Uh, okay, Miss," she said a bit surprised.

I left the sitting room and went upstairs to my bedroom. I studied some of the vocabulary words a bit before going to bed.

'I guess I do need to pay closer attention to others' feelings,' I thought as I lay in bed. 'Hmm, and here I thought I had good emotional awareness. I wonder what the host club thinks about me? I wonder if they think I'm a crazy loose cannon too.'

The last conversation I had with Mori came to mind and how he always seems so level-headed and cool.

'I wonder how someone like him reacts when he has a crush on someone. I can't imagine him being anything like Mark.' The thought of Mori reacting like the impulsive mess that was Mark made me giggle a bit as I drifted off to sleep.

Please review!

~Thanks for reading~

~MiraCarpathia