A/N: I'mma keep writing so if you don't like my writing… suffer in silence.
"I need to talk." Yumi whispers into the phone.
"What's going on?" Jordan's voice is threaded with concern.
"I just can't be at Kadic right now. Can you meet me somewhere?" Yumi asks, tears threatening to spill.
"Of course. We can meet at Rise and Shine. Is that okay?" Jordan asks.
"Yeah… I'm gonna call my mom and let her know what's going on so she can call me out of classes for the rest of the day." Yumi explains.
"Sounds good… Is it cool if I bring Jill with?" Jordan asks as a door slams in the background and the sounds of key jingling can be heard.
"You don't even have to ask. I haven't gotten to talk to Jill in a long time and I need as much help as I can get." Yumi responds.
"We'll meet you there in ten minutes." Jordan says as the sound of a car door closing can be heard.
"Got it… Thanks again for doing this." Yumi sighs.
"Girl, you never have to thank us… This is what friends are for. Especially best friends like us. See ya there." Jordan hangs up and Yumi quickly calls her mom to explain that she wasn't feeling the greatest and doesn't feel like being at school. Without question her mom understood and said that she would call her out of class. Yumi then explained that she was gonna go talk with Jordan for a while before coming home. Her mom said no problem and hung up the phone to call Yumi out of class for the rest of the day. Yumi slides her phone into her pocket and takes a few deep breaths before she opens the door and steps out into the hallway.
"Hey Yumi!" She looks down the hallway to see Odd and Ulrich walking toward her and Odd waving happily. Without a second thought, she turns and walks toward the gate of campus. She can hear Odd and Ulrich calling for her but she just keeps walking, tuning them out completely. She walks five minutes to the Rise and Shine coffee house where Jordan was waiting outside with her other friend Jill. When Jordan spots Yumi walking toward the cafe, her and Jill open their arms and welcome Yumi into a group hug.
"Let's get a drink and we'll talk." Jordan suggests. Yumi nods and the trio makes their way inside the cafe. The three order their drinks and even get some bakery items. With their drinks and treats in hand, the girls find a booth and take their seats. They sit in silence for a few minutes before Yumi looks up to see Jill and Jordan staring at her.
"What?" Yumi avoids eye contact as she stares at her coffee cup.
"Girl, you call me sounding like you're about to burst into tears and now you're sitting in uncomfortable silence. What is going on?" Jordan says, looking at Yumi with concern.
"I don't even know where to start…" Yumi sighs as she pokes at her chocolate chip muffin with her wooden stir stick.
"Just start at the beginning." Jill reaches her hand out and places it on Yumi's hand to offer some kind of support.
"Well the beginning is messy but basic synopsis is, I've been kind of on and off with this guy…"
"Oh… that Ulrich guy right?" Jordan cuts her off. Upon hearing his name, Yumi's throat tightens and makes it hard to breathe. Yumi nods slightly before returning to the story she started talking about.
"Anyway, I had just gotten to campus today and I saw Odd, Ulrich and a few of the guys on the soccer team standing around, talking. I walked over to join the conversation when I heard them talking about me. Ulrich was saying how he can't remember the last time we had a conversation and how he doesn't miss talking to me." Yumi's voice breaks a little.
"What?" Jordan leans in a little to make sure she heard Yumi properly.
"That's not all…" Yumi lets out a humorless chuckle. Jordan and Jill sigh before they motion for Yumi to keep talking. "He went on to say that I'm way too complicated and that drama follows me everywhere and that he doesn't want that in his life and all the guys around him just started laughing." Yumi finishes staring off into the middle distance.
"Wow… That's awful…" Jill sighs.
"And really not true… Yumi, you gotta know that…" Jordan says, looking at the dark haired girl.
"I don't know…" Yumi quietly responds.
"Oh hell no… Yumi, every word that came out of his mouth is absolute bull. We know you better than anyone and we know that you are one of the sweetest, most loyal and understanding people we've ever met. If he thinks otherwise, he's wrong… very, very wrong." Jill chimes in and places a hand on Yumi's.
"Seriously…Give me five minutes with this guy and I'll show him what 'complicated' looks like and I can tell ya right now, it will not end well for them." Jordan suggests and for the first time, Yumi lets out a tiny chuckle. "You laugh, but I'm being serious." Jordan points a finger at Yumi then at Jill. "And you both know I would."
"We know, ya crazy little gremlin… We know." Jill laughs as she pushes Jordan's hand down then turns back to Yumi. "Well, soon enough you'll be outta that crap shack and you'll be with us in the land of opportunity."
"You're making Crossroads sound like a paradise or something." Yumi sighs as she rests her chin on her hand.
"It will be when you get there." Jordan says while winking at Yumi, who offers a small smile in return.
"You know, I've been thinking about this for the last few months and I've been thinking about how I've never felt like I really fit in at Kadic. Even when me and others would hang out, I was still an outsider." Yumi confesses.
"How do ya figure?" Jill cocks her head to the side in confusion.
"Yeah…" Jordan mimics the head tilt.
"Well, in the beginning, Jeremy, Odd and Ulrich were close and felt left out because I was the only girl. Then when Aelita came into the picture, her and Jeremy bonded and stayed close and Odd and Ulrich are roommates so they've been stuck with each other for years now. On top of that, I was the only member of the group that wasn't a boarder. So those four would have breakfast and dinner together everyday while I went home and I just felt like I missed out on things." Yumi explains.
"I can't even imagine that…" Jill sighs, looking at the raven haired girl. "But that won't be a problem once you're at Crossroads." Jill cracks a smile that mimicked Jordan's from earlier.
"You two are really sold on the idea of me being at Crossroads, aren't ya?" Yumi questions, looking at the two girls sitting across from her.
"Very much so… Yeah, absolutely." Both girls talk at the same time and nod their heads in unison. Yumi rolls her eyes before taking another sip of her coffee.
"You two are ridiculous." Yumi remarks, chuckling at the two girls. "Well, time for me to go home and think EVERYTHING through." Yumi grabs her bags as the other two girls nod and scoot out of their side of the booth. The three of them exit the coffee shop and pause by the patio railing.
"Give either of us a call if you need anything…" Jill says as she gives Yumi a tight hug. Yumi nods as the two separate.
"Yeah, I've got my phone on me 24/7 and we can be there in a heartbeat. All you gotta do is call." Jordan echoes the sentiment as she takes her turn hugging Yumi.
"I will. Thanks girls." Yumi sighs as she and Jordan separate. Jordan and Jill turn to go back toward their school's campus while Yumi turns to go home, but as she turns, she sees Ulrich and Odd, along with some of the soccer guys walking down the street. She looks at her phone to see the date and remembers that on Fridays the soccer team gets half days during the season and some of them like to walk around town before going back to the campus for practice. Luckily they didn't seem to notice her so she turns on her heels quickly and jogs around the corner to avoid a confrontation with those two. "I really can't catch a break today." Yumi mumbles to herself as she ducks into an alley and waits for them to walk away.
Once she's sure the coast is clear, she exits the alley to see their retreating forms walk down the road. She sighs and goes to walk home. While she strolls home, the sky begins to get dark with rain clouds. All at once, the sky opens and lets every ounce of water rain down on the city. Normally, Yumi would run home to avoid getting soaked but today, the weather seemed to be mimicking her mood. She slowly walks home and when she finally reaches her front door, she is absolutely drenched and shivering, even though it was a relatively warm May day. She opens her front door and steps inside only to be greeted by the smiling faces of Jill and Jordan.
"Honey, she's home." Jordan nudges Jill with her elbow.
"What are you two doing here?" Yumi asks as she hangs her bags by the door and takes off her shoes.
"Did you really think we were gonna let you wallow in self pity all by yourself?" Jill asks, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Not gonna happen. So we ran here and waited for you so we can have a girls movie night like we use to." Jordan smiles.
"Do I get a say in this?" Yumi asks as she pulls off her flannel and hangs it up on a hook to dry.
"No… not at all." Jordan and Jill shake their heads as they walk over and take both of Yumi's hands. "You are gonna shower and get into some dry comfy clothes while we get everything ready." Yumi nods as she goes up the stairs towards her bathroom. Once she's up the stairs, Jordan and Jill get to work making the living room comfortable, snuggly, warm and welcoming. After about ten minutes, Yumi comes back down the stairs in a pair of black sweatpants, a black racerback tank top and a pair of black and green fuzzy socks. Once she reaches the bottom step, she is greeted by the smell of popcorn. She follows the smell and when she walks into the living room she sees both Jill and Jordan, in comfy clothes, in a blanket fort with a huge bowl of popcorn, a ton of junk food and candy and a laptop that has one of Yumi's favorite movies on the screen, ready to be played.
"You two are crazy." Yumi remarks as she climbs into the fort with the two other girls.
"And that's why you love us." Jordan replies as she lays her head on Yumi's shoulder. "Let's get this movie night started, but first…" Jordan pulls out her phone and opens the camera. She snaps a selfie of the three girls and posts it to her social media page with the caption,
'Much needed girls night with the hottest girls in town! jillprice$$ yumi_ishiyama3'.
Little did the girls know, Jordan is followed by quite a few students over at Kadic because she is an up and coming social media influencer with a rather large following and Yumi's world is about to blow up.