A/N: There aren't any romance stories involving Omoharu Nakanaka that I can find so I hope this hits home with my readers. Nakanaka will be the main focus of the protagonist who is a quiet loner.


Chapter 1: You Had Me At Hello

Sandy, Utah. August 5th 2008.

It was my first day of school this year and the usual was happening of course with the other students.

They all lined up around the building and waited, chatting away as usual and having fun.

It was a decent town I lived in; not huge but not tiny and it was a good place to be and I enjoyed it and a lot of people were familiar with each other and most of us went to school together dating back to elementary school.

One guy I knew very well who I had been friends with actually looked at me but ignored me as we walked to the back where they had a big back entrance. He was this blonde guy called Drake and he was a swell guy he really was and I'd known him for years and we would talk and were good friends him and me- but him ignoring me and giving me the cold shoulder like that this year on the first day really hit me hard deep down and I wondered why he did that.

I wasn't sure what that was all about and it's not like I expected anyone to be my friend or anything the first day even though many of us knew one another, it had been a while since we'd all seen each other and I had been going to another school (well homeschool actually) so I hadn't seen anyone I knew in quite some time.

I guess he and I weren't friends anymore. Oh well.

And there were tons of people I didn't know either so on top of that that might've been why social interaction felt so distant to me.

It wasn't the fact that I was tired or that I was dreading going to school again and being away from home that bothered me the most, it was the fact that everyone seemed so happy and cheerful and they all mostly were socializing but to me, well… they were all giving me the cold shoulder.

The silent treatment.

I didn't understand why, I hadn't done anything to anybody.

Well, after a few sighs of frustration I continued to walk to the building with my backpack on and I felt so awkward and I always felt I was the only person in school who felt this way.

First period, history, second- math, and the third science. In the hallways between periods everyone chatted and laughed away and acted silly, just being happy teenagers.. except myself.

It went on and on like that as usual but with a different feeling and different faces but I knew school was all the same every year and the only thing that changed were the names and faces, but all the teachers were the same and I knew them.

My teachers always liked me and were happy to see me but the classmates weren't usually interested in me at all. I mean sure I'd had friends in the past but now it's like nobody knew me or was interested in me at all.

They weren't mean but they just didn't pay me any attention which- felt mean in itself…

Well I guess that's what I'd always wanted since I always was so shy and I never wanted to talk to anybody. I guess I was finally getting what I wished for but it wasn't quite as good as it was in theory when I actually thought about and wished for it.

Hmmm.. it was a long day hearing our teachers introduce themselves and everyone socialize except for me.

It wasn't that I wanted to be dramatic and feel sorry for myself or like I wanted anyone to pity me, I just wished I had someone to talk to, that was all.

Just someone, anyone.

The teachers would talk to me but they never quite did it for me in terms of being friends, I preferred someone my own age I could hang out with.. I mean, that's fair.. right?

As the day went on I felt more and more lonely and isolated and I just couldn't stay focused and I zoned out quite a bit in my classes.

It was in my science class that finally something unusual happened. Our teacher Mrs. Scott who was a nice older lady with long dark gray hair and glasses told us during the beginning of class that we had a new person in class and she was from Japan and she wanted us to all give her a warm welcome when we interacted with her.

She mentioned her name but I didn't catch it.

Mrs. Scott pointed to a girl off to the side across the room from where I was sitting at my desk and I noticed the girl in question.

I remembered seeing her in the hallway before getting to class, mostly just my observation skills I didn't think much of her I just recalled seeing what she was wearing and recalled seeing her before class started and now here she was, I recognized her mostly form her clothes.

She was a regular looking girl but I only could see her from the side so I couldn't really see all her face. She had a very light complexion and shiny black hair from what I could see and she had a dark coat around her.

Oh well that was cool, and Japan of all places? Wow I wondered what she was doing here? Probably not an exchange student because it was rare that happened around here so my interest was piqued just a little bit but not completely.

But I did wonder why she was here, maybe she recently moved here? But why here and not somewhere exciting like California or New York or Chicago?

Ha, maybe those places weren't so great I don't know, it was just speculation I hadn't even been to any of those places and I hadn't even left the state to be completely honest.

I mean I had gone to Colorado once to visit family but the city it was in was just over the state lines so I didn't suppose that really even counted so technically yeah I did leave the state but really it was just a couple miles out of the state borders.

But I did wonder why this city of all places. She probably moved here most likely I thought.

Oh well I didn't think much of it other than I thought it must've been hard making a move like that, I mean it's a different world right? Not like Japan was another planet but she must've had to know English and everything and then to come to a new school in a different country? That had to have been hard on a person.

The class went on as usual and I didn't talk to anyone as usual I just sat quietly and listened to the teacher up until around the end of the class the teacher said that the Japanese girl had a few words for us all and that she was gonna introduce herself.

Alright I wanted to hear it.

"Omoharu, please." the teacher said motioning for her to stand up.

The girl stood up and in a very quiet voice (but loud enough to clearly hear) she introduced herself as Omoharu Nakanaka, then she went on to say, "I'm from the Hokkaido region in Japan and I moved here this year."

It sounded really nice actually, her voice I mean.

She had a laid-back sounding voice, like she was a calm and measured individual but I also picked up on the fact she sounded like a dork kinda.. not to be rude but it was true, and I also picked up on some shyness in her voice because she did kind of sound a little awkward, like she wasn't too excited to be here but she made an effort to be polite I could tell.

That was all she said, she just said her name and she moved here this year and that was all. I was kinda expecting she'd tell us more but she didn't and she sat back down after she spoke.

I mean she spoke perfect English and I didn't notice anything unusual about her accent either she sounded American actually, so I wondered if she had been here before or maybe she just took learning English very seriously?

Beats me.

The teacher clapped and announced that she was happy she was with us this year, enthusiastically wishing that, "We all hope you have a good year with us here at Sandy High School, honey!"

Ugh, I couldn't stand Mrs. Scott when she tried to be all happy-go-lucky. She was a good lady I just thought she tried too hard for a class mostly comprised of students that didn't give a damn and didn't appreciate her kindness.

She was too nice a lady for this job I thought and they probably didn't pay her enough to do it, especially for a bunch of unappreciative assholes.

Sigh…

Well anyway that was nice to hear we had a new student but I felt bad for her, or sympathy rather that she had to be here because she didn't seem too stoked to be at this school like I said.

Omoharu, that was an interesting name. I wondered what it meant.

I got up once class let out and went to lunch and sat alone as usual and of course nobody sat with me or spoke to me but that was what I'd grown used to so I didn't expect anything less.

The lunchroom overlooked a large green field in the back of the school, not the football field but another with small hills rolling around the field and it was beautiful. There were large windows to look out of and an outdoor eating area outside with tables and chairs but hardly anyone went outside to eat, they usually stayed indoors and socialized and laughed as they ate with friends.

I didn't though I just sat there alone like I said at the end of an empty table near the back and ate my lunch my mom packed for me.

A plain chicken sandwich with mayonnaise and white bread with Pringles and can of MUG brand root beer.

Not my favorite drink but the sandwich and Pringles were okay.

I mean I liked root beer just not this brand and my mom tried to pack my lunch with things I liked so I didn't fault her or anything I just sometimes wished I had something tastier for lunch because the usual was starting to get old. But then again her and I never really talked all that much these days so she probably didn't even know that so I couldn't fault her like I said for not knowing I didn't like the usual stuff all that much anymore.

I really didn't like school either, I just..

I often wanted to just go home and not talk to anyone anymore. I really didn't like school.

Well there wasn't anything I could to do- except for waiting, I waited the day out and that was it, I walked home because I lived close and when I got home I went to bed because it was a hell of a day.

The next few school days were pretty much what you'd expect; I spoke little, did my class work and nobody talked to me except the teachers. Things got so bad that when we had a fire drill I was almost happy to just have something different happening for a change.

During this fire drill I was in my science class and we evacuated the school and in an orderly single-file fashion and we all went outside onto the soccer field just as we were taught so many times before which was surrounded with pine trees and very nice beautiful homes just behind them.

And you know who was in front of me when we all gathered and lined up for my class to take roll call and count heads?

The Omoharu girl.

I hadn't noticed her before then which was unusual for me since I'm usually pretty good at being aware of my surroundings.

I was able to get a much better look at her and I noted that she wore a white shirt and a black and red striped dress, black stockings which went down into some very gnarly combat style boots and she wore a black denim jacket around herself but she didn't have her arms through the sleeves she just kept it draped around herself like a poncho or something like that. Kinda like how the outlaws used to do or Clint Eastwood in The Good the Bad and the Ugly if you've ever seen it.

I liked westerns.

She had a pale complexion as well and her skin was very fair and it looked soft and healthy.

Kinda funny truthfully because she looked like she hadn't been in the sun much if at all in quite a while because her skin was so fair.

I kinda wanted to touch her and feel her soft skin because it was so pretty and soft looking but I knew obviously that would be extremely creepy and uncalled for so it's not like I'd actually do that.

See? I'm smart!

It was a nice thought though.

And I guess I apparently thought she was pretty because I thought her skin was.

As she stood there she didn't look at me she just looked off to the side and twiddled her thumbs occasionally. She didn't look at me.

The other thing I felt was very strange was that she wore a black fingerless glove on her right hand and her left hand was wrapped in bandages of some kind or some type of white tape maybe but it looked like it was medical in origin or maybe even something that was sports related, like I know boxers and wrestlers and other athletes use a type of tape they put around the hands for various reasons to help with performance or injuries.

It reminded me of that kind but I wasn't sure what it even was or why she had it on.

Her hand was wrapped in it but it didn't cover her fingers and whatever it was it was wrapped around most of her left arm all the way up the forearm but I couldn't see how far exactly because her jacket was in the way.

Also her hair, it was actually really nice. It was a silky and shiny black and shoulder length and she had very nice bangs that slanted down over her left eye halfway and it looked a little messy but was otherwise straight and very pretty.

She looked very healthy.

Also another thing that arguably stood out the most of all about her was that she had a white patch over her left eye which was a bit odd but it looked like it was for some kind of medical reason like she maybe injured her eye or something to that effect.

I did wonder at first if she actually had lost an eye but I reasoned that wasn't likely because it didn't look like a conventional eye-patch. I thought she most likely had an eye injury of some kind and that was the reason for the patch she wore.

I also wondered if she was okay- like I hoped it wasn't anything serious because that would suck to have a permanent eye injury or god forbid lose eyesight.

Yikes that was a scary prospect and I really kind of got worried surprisingly which I thought was a bit odd, because it's not like we were friends or anything.

The funny part was I hadn't even spoken a single word to her, hadn't so much as said 'hello', so I did think to myself and wonder why I even cared?

Sigh, I was very nervous about the idea of making friends.. I never knew how.

I mean this girl she piqued my curiosity and I thought it was interesting she was from Japan, I wondered why she was here and I thought it would be nice to know who she was and get to know her.

She was different and I thought that was really cool actually.

I… I think I actually wanted to talk to her!

I thought twice about it though because I was nobody special I was just me.. why would anyone even wanna talk to me? Especially a really cool girl from Japan like her.

Heh, I guess I must've really liked her then since I so easily called her 'cool'.

But you know I just figured at this point in my life what was the worst that could happen? I could just start talking to someone that was fine right? That's what people did?

I got a feeling that pulled me out of my nervous and shy state and I opened my mouth.

And she sensed I was about to say something because without me even saying anything yet she turned and looked at me. Her eyes were a light brow almost honey-like color.

Man I really liked that.

It frightened me though when she looked at me and I think I frightened her as well because she looked surprised and also very shy like she was uncomfortable talking to someone she didn't know.

I knew that look she had on her face because it's how I looked a lot of the time as well, I knew exactly what that look was and it was so strange it's like I immediately understood her.

If my hunch was right then she was probably a lot like me.

I hesitated for a moment but that feeling deep inside my heart pushed me to speak and so I did, I took a leap of faith and spoke,

"Hello. Umm, Omoharu right?" I inquired.

Her eyes (or eye rather) widened and she looked shocked when I spoke her name and I instinctively put out my hand to shake and she looked down at my hand with the same wide-eyed expression. She put a hand up like she was contemplating what to do but she was hesitant.

Oh, I forgot I think Japanese folks were more accustomed to bowing rather than shaking hands. At least I think that's how it was.

I figured she must have known what hand shaking was I mean, Japan was different but it wasn't that different, was it?

I got anxious and I withdrew my hand quickly and apologized, "Oh- um I'm sorry, I'm- you're probably more used to bowing than shaking hands, um I'm sorry.."

She spoke to me just then, "No!" and she looked anxious as well after saying that but I could tell she pushed herself to keep talking, "It's totally okay I just didn't- I, I didn't realize you wanted to shake my hand, I'm sorry."

I put out my hand again and she took it and we shook hands.

She had a good handshake for a girl, it was pretty decent and she wasn't too weak or flimsy like the infamous dead fish handshake as they call it, and she didn't have a death grip either it was just a nice handshake.

I liked the feeling of her fingerless glove it was a coarse texture and that coupled with her soft fair skin was a nice contrast.

It was nice. I felt she was like.. really nice after shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you Omoharu."

"Thank you, nice to meet you too, thanks so much for pronouncing my name correctly and actually remembering it.. most people don't." she looked embarrassed but kept talking,

"S- so, um- what's your name?"

Aw jeez I hadn't even told her my name. Did I seriously forget that?

Ughh I'm dumb.

"Oh, Sam Baker."

She raised her eyebrows, "That's a really cool name, n- nice to meet you, Sam? Right? I- Is that what you like t- to be called? Or do you prefer Samuel?"

"Yeah Sam if you'd like. How do you say your last name again?"

"Oh it's, it's Nakanaka."

I was interested in everything she was saying so I kept speaking with her,

"That's really cool, can I call you Omoharu then? Is that alright?"

"Absolutely! That's just fine, is just- Sam's good for you, you say? Not Samuel or anything?"

That was nice her trying to be sure what I liked to be called and I could tell she was a very polite person.

"Yeah, yeah totally that's right, everyone calls me Sam. So.. um, so you're not from here, yeah?"

She adjusted her stance and she looked like she was cool with talking like this so that's why I kept on. I secretly hoped I wasn't screwing up.

Her eyes lit up and she answered me without any problem, "Y- yeah I'm from Japan, I- my mom and I moved here earlier this year, mostly for her job and some other reasons it's- it's nothing worth hearing really.."

I could tell she had the exact same problem I did, she got nervous and was having a hard time finding her words which is exactly the same thing I had. She was trying though and I could tell she was putting in a lot of effort just to speak to me like she was and I felt bad I mean, I didn't want to make her uncomfortable or anything.

She seemed very polite and I was appreciative of her effort to talk to me.

"Hey that's really cool, I mean I think it's worth hearing? It's not every day I get to meet someone from Japan. Are you gonna be here for just a spell or longer term?" I asked.

"Just a spell?" she asked me and then I realized she maybe didn't understand what I meant by 'spell' so I clarified, "Oh shoot, sorry I mean- a short time, you gonna be here just a short time?"

She raised her brows again as if to signal that she understood, "Oh no, no we're going to be here permanently. I live here now."

That was cool,

"That's really cool! Um, so you grew up in Japan then I assume?"

"Yes I did, born and raised there."

I thought that was interesting. She spoke very good English so I thought I'd ask her about that,

"Right on, and also you speak good English, did you ever live here before or something?"

Her eyes lit up again and she smiled, "Oh.. arr- I mean thank you, no I haven't lived here in the past but I did learn English when I was in middle school or junior high which is what you all call it here."

Really? That was impressive to speak two languages like that and especially in the way she spoke, her grasp of English was very impressive might I add.

I thought it was a little surprising because I didn't notice anything unusual about her voice. She didn't really have an accent that I could tell and she honestly sounded like a native English speaker with a neutral accent kind of like myself, but I did pick up on her not understanding some expressions like 'spell' as I mentioned before.

It wasn't something she likely learned in school and I was able to tell that about her.

Not that I thought she was lying or anything I believed her, I just thought it was a little surprising she spoke English so good I couldn't tell she was from another country, I mean it was possible but I just thought it was surprising because I wouldn't ever have guessed because she spoke it so perfectly.

She must've been very smart I thought and she looked super smart as well because she, well.. she just looked like an intellectual to me and she looked really smart in my opinion.

That was so cool she was from Japan and she knew English and she was here now, she was here I guess for her mom's job like she had said and you know she was really cool I thought and I wanted to compliment her since I thought she was so awesome so I tried my hand,

"Well you speak it very well. Actually you speak it perfectly." I complimented her or at least tried to make it a compliment.

She looked down and smiled a little before saying, "Thank you that's very nice to hear, I don't get complimented on my English skills much."

She then brushed her hair aside a little more so she could see me better and continued, "Thank you very much I appreciate it."

"Ha, yeah no worries you're probably much better at school than I am anyway, I couldn't learn another language I barely speak English myself." and I chuckled as best I could so as to keep any tension at bay.

It was probably true that's the ironic part. Truth was she probably spoke better English than I did.

"Heh, thank you Sam Baker."

"No problem um, Omoharu. That's a cool name." I smiled.

She looked down and to her side before replying, "Thank you."

She sounded embarrassed so I reasoned that compliments made her feel nervous but I sensed she liked them but just got embarrassed when someone gave her a compliment.

Same as me. And I was sure to consider I may have been wrong I just reasoned I was likely more or less accurate in those assumptions. I didn't wanna shower with compliments either since that was liable to come off as creepy so I wanted to be careful about it.

And besides all that she was still standing there facing me and she looked like she was comfortable talking to me, so I followed that feeling in my heart and I kept communicating with her,

"Heh, so umm like- what happened to your eye? Are you alright?" I asked her. She looked a little surprised again when I asked and she touched the patch over her eye for a moment and looked a bit self conscious before she replied.

"Oh this, yeah y- I, I got pinkeye." and she chuckled softly as she said it.

I on the other hand was relieved that she wasn't missing an eye and I said,

"Oh, oh okay.. I kinda thought maybe you'd lost an eye haha- I'm glad you're alright dude."

She looked at me like she was surprised again, "D- dude?" she inquired.

I could tell she was thinking because of the look on her face now, she looked like she was searching her thoughts for a moment before she realized something and finally responded with,

"O- oh, dude! Oh o- okay! Heh thanks. Yeah, I'll be alright!" and she gave another soft smile.

"Oh god I'm glad, haha- that would really really suck to lose an eye, hahahaha." I laughed.

She caught on and joined me in chuckling herself and we both had a good hard chuckle together for several seconds until she finally spoke to me again,

"Well I appreciate the concern Sam, haha."

I just grinned and looked down at the ground. This was actually really nice to talk to someone like this and Omoharu was actually very friendly.

She was super nice actually… much nicer than anyone I'd ever really met before and I wondered if it was because she was from Japan or if that had anything to do with it.

Like she was normal in every sense of the word but she- well it's hard to explain but even though she seemed like any normal person it was like she was different somehow in addition to being Japanese, like her personality was different and it's like she thought differently or something, it wasn't what I was used to seeing in other people.

It was strange, it's like most folks around here were one way, but she was another if that makes any sense?

She was warm, I think that's the right word for it. Like she acted friendly and well mannered but I could tell she wasn't from around here and she wasn't a boring sleaze-bag like a lot of folks here.

She was warm.

Just then the teacher came by with a clipboard and did the headcount and marked each one of us off as she went down the line.

Then after the count the bells at the school all rang three times which meant that the fire drill was over and we were to go back inside.

Omoharu turned around and faced the way everyone else was as we walked back inside and back to our class and the sad part was she didn't look at me or say anything else again and just went with the rest of the class back to her assigned seat (well they weren't really assigned they were just what we all picked and that's how it worked) and didn't talk to me or look my direction even for the rest of the class.

I mean she was on the other side a few seats away from me so it's not like we could talk to each other and I knew she wasn't obligated to even look my way if she didn't want to… we had only just spoken for a few minutes outside and that was all- we weren't friends or anything.

Obviously.

I just felt really bad that she had just walked with everyone else back to class and to her desk without saying anything or even looking at me or…sigh I- I didn't… I was just really upset now.

But that was how things went, I couldn't expect her to be my friend- how could I? We just spoke and that was all and she didn't have to talk to me obviously.

I just did my part and buried myself in the class work and stayed that way until class was over and the class all got up except me, I stayed seated while everyone else including Omoharu got up and left for next period.

I just sat there and thought for a moment as they all left until it was just me and then I got up and said bye to Mrs. Scott and took my notebook and left.

I gave up carrying the backpack because it was too heavy and it's not like I needed it for anything anyway

The only thing I think I regretted in that moment was talking to her in the first place because if I hadn't spoken to her in the first place then this wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't have felt bad…

Oh well, I just went about my day and went home once school was over. I also noticed Omoharu was in my P.E. class (physical education for those of you who called it gym) and that was all. My science class and P.E. class I saw her and that was all.

Not that it mattered anyhow because she didn't wanna talk to me anymore that much was clear. I didn't try to talk to her in P.E. and she didn't look at me so it was fair trade I guess. I just didn't understand why this happened or why I had to meet her and have such a nice chat with her only for her to go on to ignore me like most people did.

Well I mean, most people did as I just said so I guessed it wasn't all that surprising then.

Whatever I just went home once school let out and looked around the neighborhood and enjoyed seeing the homes and families around town, the trees and the birds going about business. It was a nice town to live in and I was really glad I lived in such a nice neighborhood in such a nice town.

When I got home I went to bed and rested for a short while.

My thoughts did however go back to Omoharu once I got home and I found myself thinking about her for the most part for the rest of the day.

I really wished I had tried to talk to her in P.E., maybe ask her what was wrong- what happened… and why she didn't even look at me anymore…

It didn't matter anyway how nice a place I lived in if I didn't have even have a single person in my life to call a friend and I know- I shouldn't complain, my parents always told me that and told me I should be thankful for what I had and I was, I swear I was so grateful for what I had in my life so far… it's just that every time I looked around me I realized I didn't have anyone special in my life.

I- I was so… I was just- I was lonely.

I admit it.

I know I've said that already or I think I did at least, and as I laid there in my bed I just had all these feelings I didn't want coming over me in waves and I was reluctant to try and resolve them on my own. It's times like these I wished I had someone to be here with me and reassure me, lend a hand maybe and comfort me.

Sigh

After a nap I ate dinner alone and went to bed.