Wake Me Up When September Ends
My phone started ringing on my bed as I was getting ready for bed. Pulling down my shirt and tying a knot in my pajama pants, I bent over and answered the phone. "Hello?" I said into the receiver.
"Hey," the familiar voice answered back, "You got a minute?"
"Yeah, I was just about to go to bed," I said as I sat down on my bed, "What's going on Megan?"
"Eh, I just wanted to hear your voice," Megan said, sighing, "Even though you're my annoying big brother, I kinda miss you.
"I don't," I said bluntly as a joke, chuckling as I heard my sister curse profanities at me.
"Fuck you, suck a dick," she cursed at me. Whoops. Made her mad.
"Relax," I said, "I'm just joking. Don't get your panties in a bunch."
"Well I can't tell that you're joking, now can I?" grumbled Megan, "I can't see your ugly ass face."
"Ugly?" I said, "We come from the same mother, you bratty child."
"Ugh, it's too early for this shit," she groaned. "Three o'clock in the fucking morning. My head's killing me."
"Three o'clock in the fucking morning?" I said, shaking my head, "Go the fuck back to bed."
"I could if I would," she grumbled, "But I just can't sleep. That's why I called you. Besides, I'm still working on homework." Goddamnit, she's just as lost as Ono-chan.
"It's three in the fucking morning and you're still working on homework," I scolded her.
"Eh, fuck off, will ya?" Megan insulted, "You try having a shit ton of projects for art class but procrastinating on them until there's only a week left."
"Whatever," I said. "So how're things?"
"Meh, nothing in particular," said Megan, "Those guys at school didn't care about me for about a week, so I'm doing well. Dad's out of the house more than usual, which is saying something because he's always out of the house. There are times where he doesn't even come home at night."
"That's good, I guess," I said, "The more he's out of the house, the better."
"Yeah," signed Megan. "So what's going on in Japan? You get laid yet?"
"Nothing really," I lied, for I know about Saito-san's condition and how it's similar to Megan's. "And you think my dense-ass is gonna get laid anytime soon?"
"Well, it's not like those girls you talk about keep you around for your brains," she insulted. "Besides, if I wasn't your sister, I'd probably shoot my shot on you."
"What the fuck, Megan?" I exclaimed, astonished because of rather obvious reasons, "You're fucking sick."
"Relax, take a fucking joke for once, will ya?" Megan laughed. I, on the other hand, shook my head in disappointment. "Still, you're probably packing something down there."
"Megan!" I exclaimed as I heard my sister laugh even more. Goddamnit, just like that little sister character troupe bullshit in anime.
"Last one, I swear!" she exclaimed back. A moment of silence soon followed, which broke with me nervously laughing.
"You're so weird," I giggled. I yawned, stretching my arms. I guess I gotta go to sleep now.. "Anyway, I'm gonna go to sleep. Finish your work before hitting the hay, will ya?"
"Can't promise you anything," she said before hanging up. I then plopped my phone on my desk near my table and turned off the lights to go to bed for the night.
The next day
"Augh, Jesus," I groaned as I woke up from my dream in a cold sweat. Rock music blared from my phone, forcing my eyes to open, which was a good thing. Because when I closed my eyes for the night, I had another one of those dreams. A vision of my brother hanging. I wish those dreams could stop. But it can't.
I grabbed my phone to turn off my alarm. I looked at the date and time on the lock screen. 6:30 AM, the 30th of September. The last day of the month. Kinda wish I slept in the entire time, with my irregular sleep schedule and my tendency to procrastinate on assignments, but oh well.
Standing up, I stretched and yawned once more before heading into the shower. After the shower, I got dressed and ready for school.
Mr. Kobayashi was not up this time, nor was Ms. Kobayashi, which was unusual because they're always up early. Then again, they ended up working late into the night and they had the day off. So, slinging on my bag and affixing my dog tags to the bag, I figured I'd go get breakfast on the way to school. But first, I had to wake up a certain person.
When I went outside, I went next door to Ono-chan's house like I do every morning and threw pebbles at her window to wake her up. Seriously, she has a cell phone, right? Why can't she just set an alarm?
I tossed my fifth pebble at her window when I saw her face appear in said window. She looked tired like she had just gotten out of bed, which she most likely has, but as soon as she saw me standing there with a handful of pebbles, her face brightened up with a smile.
A few minutes of waiting, Ono-chan stepped out, dressed in our school's summer uniform. Today was the last day for these summer uniforms. On October first, we start wearing our fall uniform, the ones that we've been wearing at the start of the school year. But, because of our little incident with Saito-san earlier this year, the school had actually eased restrictions with uniforms, meaning that there will still be some kids in October wearing the summer uniform.
"Boy, you sure do look tired," commented Ono-chan, which was probably true because when I saw my reflection in the mirror, there were dark bags under my eyes. It could be because I was tossing and turning last night.
"Seriously? No hi or anything?" I said, saddened that the first thing she said to me in the morning was about my face, which probably looks like it went through a woodchipper.
She giggled with a big grin on her face, putting her hand to her mouth bashfully, her eyes glistening like the sea at a sunset. "Well, hello, Lee-kun," she chuckled.
"Atta girl," I said, smirking. From there, we started strolling to school like always.
"Let me guess," she said as we walked, with her by my side, "You stayed up watching anime again?"
"Good guess," I said, shrugging, "But no. Not this time."
"Really?" she said, leaning forward to see my face as I looked onward. "What did you do then? Surely, you stayed up last night. Your face says it all."
"Ah well," I said, looking back at her and smirking, "I was talking to my sister. Nothing much." Though technically true, I didn't really stay up talking to her, but still. I just didn't want to talk to Ono-chan about my dream.
"Sounds nice!" she exclaimed. "I wish I had a sister. It would be fun, wouldn't it?"
"Pfft, you kidding?" I said, "It's not as fun as it looks. Especially if you're the older one."
"Aw, c'mon," she said, looking up at the clouds as if she was imagining it, "It can't be that bad, could it? I mean, we could go shopping together, talk about boys, and other things as well."
"Well, I guess it's different if you're just the big brother instead of a sister then."
"What's it like?" she asked, "Being the big brother. You don't talk about your family often."
"Well, I don't really bring up my family too much because… well… you know, " I said, grimacing as I took a breath so I could gather my wits.
"O-oh," Ono-chan said, looking down, embarrassed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"It's fine," I said, taking one more breath, "Anyways, being a big brother is, well, hard. Really hard."
"Seriously?" asked Ono-chan, "Your sister is only a year younger. Why is that so hard?"
"Yeah," I continued, "But she's a feisty one, that girl. My sister keeps getting into fights, so it's my job to stop it. I've gotten in trouble because of it."
"Ah, well, you've already been in trouble here many times here as well," she laughed, "Remember the time you snuck into the girl's locker room and Monika ratted you out?"
"Ugh," I groaned, "That was awkward. At least I didn't really get in trouble for that though." Ono-chan laughed and I smiled. Not 'cause I was thinking about me getting in trouble, that was truly awkward. It's just… whenever I see Ono-chan, or any of the girls in fact, happy, then I'm happy.
"Anyways," I continued, "I guess it's just my sister. It's a pain in the ass, but I know she's a good person."
"Well, if I do have the chance to meet her, maybe we could be friends," Ono-chan smiled. "Besides, she has to be someone like you, right? And we get along pretty well."
"Eh, well," I said, "I guess she's not really like me. She's like if Saito-san and Nakano-san had a baby. A very aggressive person who keeps to herself."
"Aggressive as in her being mean?" she asked.
"No, not that," I said, "I… don't know how to explain it."
"Haha!" she laughed, "Don't sweat it. I'll meet her soon, I hope."
"Pssh, once you meet her, you'll understand."
"We'll just have to wait and see!" Ono-chan said. I looked back at her and she had a big grin on her face. Yeah, I guess she could meet Megan sometime soon.
On the way to school, I grabbed a sandwich and a small coffee from MickyD's. So I had a McGriddle in one hand and a cup in the other. I was eating it while I walked to school with Ono-chan. When we got there, she left to find a classmate of hers, probably to get answers to a homework assignment or something. I just decided to go to my homeroom class right away, wait for class to start there.
I crumpled the paper wrapping and threw it in the trash that was right next to the door. I took my last sips from my coffee and tossed it into the wastebin too.
In the hallway, students chatted up a storm as usual. On the contrary, there were few students in the classroom. There were three guys in the back who were just hanging out there. A couple of girls chattering in the far corner of the room, probably gossiping or something. And then there was one more girl sitting alone at her desk, writing in her notebook.
"Hey, Takeuchi-san," I said as I sat down, tossing my bag on the table. There she was, at her desk, working on I'm assuming her latest poem. She had her usual pink pen in her hand, writing words on a blank page. Her brow furrowed for a second and then turned her head to face me, sitting straighter in her seat.
"Hey Lee-san," Takeuchi-san said, smiling, "How are you today?"
"To be honest, kinda tired," I said, grinning back as I sat back in my seat.
"Let me guess, anime?" she said, twirling her pen in her hands. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Why the hell does everyone think that all I do is watch anime?" I said, rolling my eyes as I stared at the ceiling.
"I mean, look at you," Takeuchi-san shrugged as she put her notebook away. "Anyone would take you as someone who devotes his free time to watching anime and worshipping fictional female characters."
"N-no, I don't always do that," I stammered, "Besides, isn't it kinda normal to watch anime nowadays? And no, I wasn't watching anime, if you were asking."
"Oh?" Takeuchi-san smiled mischievously, "Were you watching something else? Porn maybe?"
"What the- No! I wasn't watching anything!" I exclaimed, my face feeling flushed. Where the fuck did that come from?
"Haha!" Takeuchi-san snorted in an unladylike way as she laughed. "I'm just messing with you. Besides," She leaned in closer as if she was about to whisper me a secret, "Even if you do, I won't say anything."
I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Can I just enjoy the rest of my morning?"
"Alright, alright," she said as she sorted through her papers on her desk, "I'll get off your rump." What's with her this morning?
Lunch
My stomach grumbled for food. I don't think the breakfast sandwich from McDonald's was enough for me this morning. Honestly, some days, I could go without eating, and other days, I'm always hungry. Don't know why. It's kinda weird.
I stuck my hand in my bag and felt for my bento box, which was neatly wrapped up in a little piece of cloth. Inside was just a chicken sandwich with a bag of chips, though my dumbass forgot to get a water bottle. Whatever, I'll just grab a bottle from the vending machine.
I walked out of the classroom with the box in hand. I didn't want to eat in the classroom because, well, none of my friends are in there. CJ and Takeuchi-san are off doing their own thing as usual.
In the hallway, there were students eating lunch and chatting to each other. It wasn't exactly crowded in the hallway, but there was a lot of students.
I made my way to another classroom nearby and poked my head in the doorway. There wasn't a lot of students in the classroom, most of them were out and about, eating in the hallways or courtyard. The triplets you all know and love were crowded around one desk. Meanwhile, there was some guys near the front of the classroom chatting nearby. And in the far back was a familiar face. She's eating alone, I thought to myself as I saw Saito-san take a sip from her thermos, probably filled with hot tea.
"Hey, Sawyer!" cried out one of the triplets as they noticed me in the doorway, "Come join us!"
"Sure," I said as I entered the classroom. I grabbed a seat and sat down, the back of the seat to my chest.
"So what brings you here?" asked Kaylee, who took a sip from her water bottle. Her glasses were a little crooked, but I guess that just made her look better. Meanwhile, there were breadcrumbs on Rose's cheeks, probably from her sandwich that she was eating. Zara was clean, though she kept eyeing Rose as if she wanted to wipe those crumbs off her face.
"Well, CJ took off as usual and I was left alone. Kinda wanted to eat with someone, so I came here since I knew you guys were here." And that Saito-san was here as well, I wanted to add, but kept my mouth shut.
"Aw, did little Sawyer get lonely in class?" cooed Rose, who grinned a cheeky grin. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying not to show these girls that I'm an antisocial fucktard.
"Alright, shut your trap, will ya?" I said, "I'm not that kind of guy who's incapable of making friends."
"Speaking of friends," asked Zara, leaning forward, "Any luck with that girl in your class?"
"Ooh, girl talk," squealed Kaylee as she leaned forward to hear better, with Rose following her lead, "I love this kind of stuff."
"What? Nooo," I said, dragging out that last word. "Takeuchi-san's just a friend. Nothing else."
"A friend, eh?" asked Rose, "Tell me. Are those girls in that club of yours only 'friends', so to speak?"
"Only friends," I said, trying to drop this conversation about me getting a girlfriend, "We're only friends."
"I don't know about that," smirked Kaylee, "You're the only boy in that literature club, yet they seem to be fine with you there. You sure none of them likes you for something more than 'just a friend'?"
"Yes, we're friends, nothing more," I said.
"Not even that girl in the back?" Rose asked, jabbing a thumb towards Saito-san, who looked up and met my gaze for a second before returning to what she was doing. I quickly said a silent prayer that Saito-san didn't overhear our conversation.
"Saito-san? Look, she's just a friend. All of them are. And that's that."
"Mmhm," Zara agreed sarcastically, eyeing me with suspicion. "You should talk to her. She's kinda lonely right now, isn't she?"
"Good idea," said Kaylee, agreeing with Zara, "You should totally try and shoot your shot with her. Besides, she's kinda cute, too."
I shifted in my seat once more, butterflies somehow building up in my stomach. I don't know why I was feeling nervous. Is it because I agreed with Kaylee? That I think that Saito-san is kinda cute? She's just a friend, I told myself, Ono-chan, Takeuchi-san, Saito-san, Nakano-san. They're all just friends.
"Fine," I said, raising my hands in surrender, "I'll talk to her. Not 'cause I like her or anything. Just 'cause she's alone, alright?"
"You go, Sawyer!" cheered on Kaylee as I stood up.
"I gotta get a drink of water first," I said, jabbing a thumb to the door.
I stepped out of the classroom and headed to the nearest vending machine down the hall. My wallet in hand, I took out some bills and inserted it into the slot. I then put in the entry for a water bottle, watching the machine grab a water bottle.
I was taking a sip from the water bottle when I heard some guys talking nearby, their voices drawing nearer and nearer. I can't make out what they're saying, but that's probably because I don't really care. Well, until I realized that they sounded familiar.
"Hey, you," said one guy in a sort of harsh way, which made me think that I was gonna get jumped or something. Relax, don't get scared, I reminded myself as I turned around and put up an act of confidence.
"Que pasa, mis amigos?" I said in Spanish as I pivoted around smoothly, a forced friendly smile on my face and my arms up as casually as possible. There were two guys standing in front of me, one slightly shorter and stockier than the other, the other was taller and more scrawny. They kinda looked alike, except for the fact that the tall guy had a small by his lip. Besides, I was still taller than both of them.
"Wh-what?" stammered the short guy, obviously confused. Suddenly, that's when I remembered why I thought their voices sounded familiar. They were the guys talking about me in the library.
"Oh, you didn't understand, I guess," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "It means 'What's up, my friends' in Spanish."
"Well," said the tall guy, "in this case, we're okay too. We, uh, um." He shifted his feet around as if he suddenly got nervous before composing himself, "We wanted to ask you how's Japan treating you?"
"Yeah," said the short guy, "Is Japan doing you good?"
"Well, can't say it's too bad."
"Good, good, good," said the short guy, who stepped closer, crossing his arms, "Now, I actually wanted to ask you a question myself, honestly."
"Sure thing," I said, "Shoot."
"How're the girls? The ones you see after school at that club of yours. You seeing any of them yet?" Uh, what the fuck? Why does he want to know?
"H-how did you know about that?" I asked, "How did you know I'm a member of the Literature Club?"
"I, er, we," he gestured to the tall guy, who seemed like he didn't want to be a part of the conversation, "Overheard in the classroom just now." Oh, they must've been a part of that group of guys in the classroom.
"They, uh," I struggled to find my words, "They're just friends."
"Really?" pressured the small guy, "You sure you didn't, you know, had your fun with one of 'em?"
"N-no, man," I stammered, "No. I didn't do it if that's what you're implying. Besides, why are you asking?"
"Eh, a guy just wants to know, you know?" he said.
"Hey, Mizuno, lay off, on him, will ya?" said the tall guy, "I don't think he thinks you're playing anymore, alright?"
"Nao? Get off my ass" the short guy, Mizuno I assume, pointed a finger to Nao, the tall guy, to shut him up before looking back at me. "Now, you really aren't goin' out with any of those girls, now, are ya?."
"Like I said," I explained to him, taking a deep breath, "I am not. Alright?"
Mizuno glared at me, angrily. His eyes somehow sent chills down my spine. He then smiled and forced a chuckle, patting my shoulders as if I was a friend. "Relax, man. We're all friends here, right?"
I nodded without a word to say.
He looked back at his buddy, who still had a nervous look on his face. He seemed to notice his buddy's nervousness and looked back at me. "Well, it's been fun talking to you, but I guess we gotta go. See you around, alright?"
"S-sure," I stammered, taking a deep breath, "See ya."
The two guys left, going the opposite way from the classroom, leaving me alone by the vending machine. That was weird, I thought as I took another swig from my water bottle before returning to the classroom. What the hell was that about?
When I entered the classroom, two guys from that group of boys earlier were missing. So they really were here, I thought. I shifted my gaze to the triplets, who noticed I had walked in. They all stared at me with a face that probably said "Go get 'em, Tiger". I smiled and shook my head and then looked to the back of the room, all the way in the far corner.
There still sat Saito-san, who was reading a book by herself, alone. Her eyes were glued to the book, going from left to right as she read each line one after another.
"Hey," I said as I sat down at the desk in front of Saito-san. She broke her gaze from her book and met my eyes, her eyes glistening in the sunlight streaming in from the window. Her face suddenly turned red as she blushed, surprised that I suddenly appeared.
"L-Lee-san!" she stammered, "You startled me!"
"Oops, did I?" I asked, placing my water bottle down on the ground by my feet. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
"I-it's okay," she stuttered, closing her book while keeping her thumb on the page she was reading, "I'm just glad you decided to come to talk to me." She smiled. Not just any good old smile, it really looked like a genuine smile. Maybe because she was finally able to be with someone after being left alone this lunch period.
"Ah, well, I got kind of lonely," I said, "So I decided to stop by."
"You wanted to see your exchange friends?" she assumed.
"Well, yes," I said, shrugging, "But I also wanted to see you too."
"M-me?" she stammered, "W-why me?"
"Should there be a reason why I should take time out of my lunch to see you?" I asked, smiling kindly. Of course, there was a reason. I just wanted to get closer to her so that she doesn't do that anymore. I figured the reason why she did that was that (excluding her father's death) she didn't have many friends. She told me that she was finally settling down, yet she probably wouldn't have made many friends since friend groups have already been established. So, as a friend, I wanted to help her.
Saito-san smiled once more, brighter than ever. "Thank you," she said, "for being a good friend."
We chatted about books in the little time we had before we had to go back to class. When I got up to go back, I noticed that the triplets were grinning right at me. Kaylee had two thumbs up. I rolled my eyes and smiled back before going back.
Later, in the club room
"Hey there, chucklehead," said a rather bratty kouhai of mine from behind me as I rummaged through some cabinets in the back of the classroom. "You got the manga?"
"Nakano-san, don't go around calling people chuckleheads," I chastised her as I turned around to face the pink-haired devil. She stood in front of me with her arms crossed, her eyes looking up at me with anticipation.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, probably ignoring my statement, "But did you get it?"
"The new volume of 'Parfait Girls'?" I asked, "Yeah. It's in my bag. Let me get it."
I dropped the papers that I was sorting through and went over to my desk to retrieve Nakano-san's prized manga. I bent over to grab my bag, opened it, and pulled out the colorful comic book, handing it to Nakano-san.
"Thanks, Senpai," she said as she took the book and hugged it. Takeuchi-san, who was sitting at the desk beside mine, looked up from her own book and scoffed.
Takeuchi-san and Saito-san argued that manga isn't literature, while Nakano-san did. I agreed with Nakano-san, but really, if club president Takeuchi-san bans manga, I could always read light novels. I don't know about Nakano-san though.
Nakano-san didn't notice Takeuchi-san's gesture. Instead, she looked at someone else across the room. She then looked back at me, leaning in close to my ear while tugging on my sleeve.
"Can I have a minute with you?" she whispered, "Alone?"
"Yeah, sure," I said as I put down my bag on my desk and went back to the back of the room.
I leaned against the filing cabinet that I was sorting through a minute ago, crossing my arms. Nakano-san looked around, wondering if anyone was watching. No one wasn't. Takeuchi-san was reading Shakespeare, Ono-chan was either doodling or actually writing a poem, and Saito-san was buried in her own book, the same one she was reading at lunch. So we're good, I think.
"You talked to Yuri, right?" she asked, whispering Saito-san's name so that she wouldn't hear us talking about her, "About why she's acting different, at least to me."
"N-no, I don't really see anything different about Saito-san," I lied so that I didn't make such a fuss over it. "You really sure she's acting differently?"
"Knowing your best friend since last year, you would see it," Nakano-san said, "She used to tell me everything. Ever since she transferred to this school halfway through the year last year."
"Halfway through the year?" I asked.
"Yeah, she transferred to this school in the middle of the year," explained Nakano-san, "She was new in town and didn't have any friends. I was already in the Literature Club when she transferred and Monika asked me to 'recruit' her if you know what I mean.
"After that, she joined and we got close," she continued, "She changed when a boy showed up to the club one day."
"MC," I said.
"Yes," said Nakano-san, looking up at me with her pink eyes (which I still am sure are just color contacts), "How did you know?"
"Ono-chan told me about him."
"Ah, MC's best friend," she said, "Well, he ended up joining and Yuri started acting weird. Sometimes she would try to avoid certain topics when we're talking. Though, after the festival at the end of the year, he stopped showing up to the club. That's when Yuri turned back to normal."
"As in, she's telling you everything," I said.
"Basically. And then when you joined, she became like that again. I don't know. Is it a thing with boys?" Well, I'm still figuring that out myself.
"I doubt it," I said, "I can't really tell though. But if you say she's acting weird, she probably is. I just don't see it."
Nakano-san sighed in exasperation as if she didn't hear what she wanted to hear. "I don't know how to explain it," she said, "It's just… I don't know. Sorry for bothering you about this though."
"It's fine," I said with a friendly smile, "I'll look out after her, alright?"
"Thanks," she said, nodding before going back to her own seat to read her manga. Damnit, I wish I could tell her, I thought to myself, But I don't want their relationship to go haywire.
I finished up sorting through the filing cabinet and went back to my own seat to read a light novel that I borrowed from the school library. I took the book out of my bag, as well as my phone and earbuds. I put my earbuds in and hit play on my playlist.
The plucking of a guitar filled my ears. The guitar player was just playing two notes. Down down up, pause, down up. Repeat. The singer started singing after that pattern played.
"Summer has gone to pass,
The innocent can never last.
Wake me up when September ends."
Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)
-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.
-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.
-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.
-chan: Feminine version of -kun.
Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.
Sensei: Master.
Translation notes:
1. Bento boxes are basically Japanese lunch boxes.
A/N: Hey y'all. Author here. I really don't have anything to say other than I hope you guys are doing well. I'm just here playing fuckin' War Thunder and TF2, as well as this one dating sim that I found online. Thanks for the reviews, I like reading them all. They make me happy to see you guys are enjoying it. With that said, I hope you guys keep reading. See you in the next one. Peace!
