Alex lay awake, the hours blurring
into one long, oppressive stretch. The
ceiling above him seemed to swim
with patterns only a sleep-deprived
mind could conjure, and his eyelids
felt weighted with lead, each blink a
conscious, monumental effort. Every
subtle shift of weight from the other
side of the bed, every quiet creak of
the old house, had pulled him further
from rest these past two nights. His
body ached with a fatigue deeper
than mere lack of sleep-a weariness
born of constant, low-level vigilance.
Alex's bare feet hit the cold floor. He
moved over to the door. His palm
connected with the cold steel. He
twisted, pushing the door open with
his whole body. He stumbled into the
bathroom. The bright light slightly
blinding him. He moved over to the
sink. The cold steel sent a jolt as he
twisted. He splashed his face with
cold water. He turned off the faucet, the last bit
of water going down the drain as
Alex was about to try to tame his
messy hair. A loud clicking sound
echoed through the bathroom,
immediately grabbing his attention.
Alex's eyes instantly locked on the electric shaver on the floor. He looked up to see Yuki emerging from the bathroom, her face flushed a deep shade of red. Her wet hair clinged to her forehead.
###
The sun glows bright, casting long
shadows behind Alex and Yuki as they walk. Alex's mind still replaying what
happened in the bathroom. His eyes
unfocused on the walk ahead. Then
the sudden chirping of some birds
snapped him back to reality. Yuki,
seemingly oblivious, turns to him.
"Alex, are you okay?"
Alex's body instantly
stiffened at Yuki's voice but quickly
relaxed. "uh oh I'm fine." "I'm just thinking this is your first day
in an American High School. Must be
nervous, huh?" Yuki fidgets with the
hem of her skirt, her eyes focused on
the ground. "Um, yeah.... a little."
"You shouldn't be so nervous, Yuki.
You're in my class, and we have the
same schedule."
Yuki looked up at Alex, her eyes wide.
"Wait, really?" Her voice came out
high-pitched. "Why didn't you tell
me?"
"Uh, I thought I told you." "Sorry, I thought I told you. I'm a little
tired right now. Haven't been getting
much sleep these past few days."
"Although I'm a little surprised that they allowed you to use your own school uniform." Yuki did a little spin, her gray skirt swaying, her light gray blouse moving with the motion, "Yeah, me too. " Although I'm a little happy they allowed me to use it. It makes me feel a little more comfortable."
"I just have a question though, are
the knee-high socks really
necessary?"
Yuki stopped spinning and
immediately took the lead, stepping
in front of Alex. "Yes, it is necessary.
And I think it's cute and it looks good
on me."
Alex fully examined Yuki for the first
time this morning. "Yeah, I'd say it
looks good on you." Her cheeks
Flash pink at his compliment.
"How do they say it back in Japan?
Oh, kawaii." Yuki's face flushed a
deep shade of red. "Y-you... you have
any idea what that word means?" "Uh, it means cute, right?" Alex
asked, still a little confused.
Yuki, still flustered, said, "Yes, it does
mean cute, but you should try using
other words... like `cute.' No need for
'kawaii.'" She huffed and turned
around, beginning to walk a little
faster.
Yuki slowed down as the sound of
students could be heard. She peeked
around the corner to see students of
different heights and skin colors,
some in uniform and some not. She
instantly backed up, walking to Alex
and practically becoming his second
shadow. As they rounded the corner
together, As they walked onto the school
campus, all eyes were instantly on
Yuki. She unconsciously moved
closer to Alex as they entered the
building, everyone's attention now
focused on her.
"Well, Yuki, this isn't much of a
surprise. You are the talk of the
school right now. Every girl envies
your Japanese beauty, and every guy
wants to know who the new hottie is."
Alex leaned against the wall, letting
his bag drop to the floor. "Good thing
we have the same schedule, or your
introverted ass wouldn't survive." He
chuckled before looking at her. "Are
you sure you're going to be okay,
"Y-yes, I'll be okay," her voice barely
above a whisper. "Okay. Well, let's get to our first class,
then. We can sit down and relax for a
bit; class doesn't start right away."
He grabbed his bag, tossing it over
his shoulder. "Okay, let's go."
As they continued their walk, a girl
with brown hair tied in a messy bun
jumped out from a corner. Yuki let
out a light scream.
Alex: "Hey, Ashley, what's up? You
can stop trying; you're not going to scare me."
Ashley: "One day, Alex, one day. I'll
scare you."
Alex: "Stop trying already."
Narrator: "Hey, you. Yes, you. First of
all, I just want to say I'm the narrator.
Anything on the story's information
or just anything in general, I'l be
there. So, let Alex and Ashley argue a
little more while I tell you a little about Ashley." Ashley: "Why stop trying when I know
I'm going to get you one of these
days?"
Alex: "We are not rehashing this
argument again. Stop trying; you're
not going to get me."
Narrator: "Ashley is a semi-popular
girl; she's quite popular with the guys
and the girls. As you can see from
her introduction, she's playful, and
she and Alex tend to argue like a married couple."
Ashley: "Oh, yes, we are. I'm bringing
back this argument. Why should I
stop scaring you? Oh, you poor
baby."
Alex: "Screw you. Fine, you're lucky
I'm not in the mood to argue." Narrator: "See what I mean? You guys
just need to get a room already." The
narrator let out a heavy sigh before
continuing. "lf you're wondering
about Yuki, she was looking like a lost
puppy between those two. Okay, l'll
see you very, very soon. I still have
two more characters to introduce."
Ashley: "Okay, fine. Let's go to class.
Wait a minute." Ashley darted toward
Yuki. "And who might this be, Alex,
your new girlfriend?" Alex's face flashed a slight shade of
red as he turned away. "No, she isn't
my girlfriend." Ashley: "And what might your name be?"
Yuki: "Yu... My name is Yuki."
Ashley: "My name is Ashley."
Narrator: "I know you're surprised,
Alex, because I am too. Who knew a
playful person could be so...so..."
The narrator began to fake cry.
Yuki: "Very nice to meet you,
Ashley-san. Alex: "I'm not even going to ask
about Josh because I know what he's
doing. So, what about Chris? Did he
manage to find his way to school on
time?" Ashley glanced at Alex. "Oh, believe
it or not, he managed to make his
way to school on time without getting
lost or sidetracked."
Alex: "Really? History has just been
made," his voice came out in an
enthusiastic tone. Alex pushed
himself off the wall. "We should
probably go before he wanders off." Ashley: "I agree. Knowing him, he's
probably planning what we`re going
to do after school." Alex: "All right, Yuki, let's go. Off to
class we go. Trust me, you're going to
like this Chris guy."
As the three of them continued their
walk down the hall, the attention on
Yuki only grew.
Narrator: "That's right, guys and girls.
Keep staring."
As they walked, Yuki unconsciously
moved closer to Alex. Girls could be
heard whispering about Yuki. Some
were jealous, some were curious, and
some were envious.
As they entered the classroom, the
once-talkative and bustling
atmosphere went completely silent.
The silence was so thick, you could
feel every eye turn toward them.
Then, a loud clicking sound echoed
through the room.
Narrator: "Ah, so I can interact with
items. My apologies for the
interruption, but I just had to test
that."
A girl with long black hair spoke up.
"So, are we going to acknowledge
the pin dropping, or are we going to
leave it at speculation?"
Ashley: "I don't know, Miss Class
Representative. Can we acknowledge it?"
Saya yelled back, "You can
acknowledge it. I don't care. I don't
dictate what you guys do."
Narrator: "The girl with the temper is
Saya, who is also the class
representative. And as you can see,
Ashley loves to aggravate her."
Ashley walked off, allowing Yuki to
fully enter the classroom. As soon as
she did, several girls began to squeal
and surrounded her within a matter
of seconds, pushing Alex to the side.
One girl asked, "What's your name?"
and another followed with, "Where
are you from?"
Alex followed Ashley, leaving Yuki to
deal with the attention. Ashley
walked up to a boy and kicked his
chair, causing him to startle upright.
"Good morning, sleepy head," she said.
Alex, following right behind, said,
"Hey, Chris."
Chris, rubbing his eyes, looked at the
crowd of girls. "What's going on with
the girls? l've never seen them this
excited. Is there a new guy? That's
got them this wild up."
Alex cut him off. "No, it's a girl. She's
a cultural exchange student. Just
wait for the teacher; she`ll give more
information."
In the background, Saya could be
heard trying to free Yuki from the
girls that had surrounded her. "Give
her some space, people! This is no
way to treat a new student!"
Chris laughed. "Someone has already
got Saya worked up this morning.
Ashley?"
Alex replied, "The reason she's
worked up is because of Ashley as
usual and the giris in our class
swarming our cultural exchange
student. Although you`re not wrong
for pointing fingers at Ashley."
Chris: "So this
cultural exchange student... does she
have a name?"
Ashley clapped her hands together.
"Her name is Yuki! And she's my new
friend," she said enthusiastically.
Alex: "Please, Ashley, you're friends with everybody."
Ashley: "Yes, that's right. But this friendship is going to be different. I can feel it." She crossed her arms. "For someone who's so social, Alex, you don't have many friends. Luckily, I'm here, so don't worry."
Chris: "Wait, you guys are talking about friends?"
Both Ashley and Alex looked shocked.
Alex: "Y-yes, we are, Chris. I've never asked you this, but how many friends do you really have?"
Chris: "Let's see… Alex, Ashley, and Josh."
Ashley: "You poor boy. You really are lonely. Too much time adventuring."
Alex: "You're not helping, Ashley."
The sound of someone clearing their throat instantly sent the room into silence.
Narrator:" Now that's the teacher for you. Sumi, I believe her name was. I can't believe she sent the room into silence like that."
Sumi: "Okay, everyone to your seats now."
Her commanding tone sent everyone scrambling to their seats, leaving Yuki standing there forgotten.
Sumi: "Ah, Yuki, please come up to the front of the class."
Yuki began to walk up to the front of the class, her palms sweaty, her breathing quiet, and her heart pounding. As she arrived at the front, the teacher began speaking.
Sumi: "Class, I would like to introduce you to our cultural exchange student, Yuki Shinasuwa."
Yuki: "Hello, everyone. Very nice to meet you all." She somehow managed to make her voice audible enough for everyone to hear.
Sumi: "Yuki, why don't you sit down next to Alex? I'm pretty sure you two had a lot of time to get acquainted over the weekend."
Sumi: "Just take the empty desk next to Alex. As if that idiot can take his time off training and actually get to class on time."
Yuki: "Okay."
As Yuki began to walk to her desk, the door swung open and someone stumbled in, still damp from a shower.
Narrator: It doesn't take long for you to realize this is the idiot that Sumi was referring to. Josh, the athlete that takes his sport a little too seriously. I don't know who can like sports, especially track and field, but what do I know? I don't have a physical body.
Josh: "Sorry I'm late, teacher. I got a little carried away."
Sumi: "You got a little carried away every day. Anyways, go get a seat and a chair and finish the third row. You lost your seat to our cultural exchange student, Yuki Shinasuwa."
Josh quickly got a new chair and seat and finished up the third row.
Sumi: "There. We're now an even number of 20 students."
Sumi: "All right, class, that's it for today. You are all dismissed."
Alex leaned back in his chair, letting out a heavy sigh. "Finally, we're free."
Yuki: "Yeah, we are," she said, beginning to pack her stuff.
Chris walked up to them both.
Alex: "All right, Chris, tell me, what do you have planned for us?"
Chris: "That's a very good question. We are going to enjoy our time at the new arcade that just opened up."
Saya: "Oh, I've been to that place. Really fun. I dropped about a thousand dollars on the claw machine and won nothing."
Yuki: "A thousand dollars?"
Alex: "It's the fact that she said it so casually."
Saya: "What? You guys can't drop that type of money on a claw machine?"
Chris: "So out of touch."
Alex: "We're talking about Saya's out-of-touchness with the world."
Saya: "I'm not out of touch," she snapped.
Chris: "You are. Who can drop a thousand dollars and then say it so casually?"
Ashley: "I always knew rich girl was out of touch with us."
Saya: "I'M NOT!"
Sumi said from her chair, "Maybe you should try being more considerate of others."
Narrator: "Sumi isn't trying to escalate the situation; she loves drama. So she's trying to escalate it, but I want to see this arcade everyone is talking about. So..."
Josh walked in, freshened up and ready to go.
Josh: "Sorry for the wait. Let's go."
Narrator: "Finally."
###
The score is 5 to 6. The sound of the hockey puck can be heard as Alex and Josh compete for the winning spot. The cheers of Chris, Yuki, Ashley, and Saya can be heard, pressuring Alex to put Josh in his place, but Josh isn't making it easy.
Ashley: "Come on, Alex! Is that all you got? Put this competitive idiot in his place!"
Saya: "If you don't win this, you're a dead man, Alex."
Yuki: "Just one more point to tie it off, Alex. You got this."
Their hearts pound in anticipation as Alex makes a shot and scores, putting the game into a match point. They all shout in celebration for Alex's small victory, but their noises are quickly drowned out by the sound of other arcade games and patrons.
Narrator: "Come on, Alex. You cannot lose to Josh. Not like you can hear me, anyway, or see me."
Ashley grabbed Alex's shoulder. "Now you win this one or you die where you stand."
Sometimes I wonder if they're also scared of Ashley like I am, Chris thinks to himself.
Saya: "I agree with Ashley, Alex. You lose this and you die. This is only going to make his ego go up even more if he wins, so win!"
Yuki: "You got this, Alex."
Alex: "Okay, guys, don't worry, I'll win." Alex readies himself.
Josh: "You might as well give up now, Alex. You're not going to win against me. Just because I do track and field doesn't mean I'm not good at air hockey, too."
Alex: "I'll make you swallow those words."
The game began, the puck moving aggressively between both Alex and Josh. Alex's heart pounded against his chest. His eyes focused only on the puck; nothing else mattered. There's no doubt about it: Josh is just as focused as he is. Alex makes a shot, dead straight for Josh's goal, but Josh defended, sending the puck back to Alex. The puck moved quickly toward Alex, bouncing left to right. He barely defended, sending the puck back but not with too much force, giving Josh an opportunity to go for his goal once more. And so he did, but Alex managed to defend. Alex tried what Josh did and succeeded, but Josh defended. Taking advantage of the lack of defense, Alex moved in and scored. The scoreboard reads 6 to 7.
The sound of Ashley's knuckles
cracking sent a shiver down his
spine.
Alex: "Okay, Ashley, look, I tried my best." His nervous voice was not helping his situation at all.
Ashley: "You had one job! ONE JOB! And you failed. Now you die."
Josh: "Ashley, what were you expecting? He wasn't going to beat me. Not even if you threatened his life."
Saya: "Would you please shut up? Yay. Congratulations. You won. You want a medal?"
Josh: "Of course I want a medal! I'm the greatest."
Saya: "Greatest my ass. You can only be the greatest if you have a good attendance record."
Chris: "Guys, instead of arguing, let's enjoy our time at the arcade."
Ashley: "Okay, okay, fine. Me, Yuki, and Saya will all be in a group, the girl group, and the boy group will meet back up later."
Alex: "Okay, I think that can work for all of us."
With that, the groups all parted ways for a while. Alex and Chris found a racing game, while Yuki and Ashley were trying to get Saya away from the claw machines. Josh started shooting hoops while Alex and Chris fought for first place in the racing game. The girls decided to take their hand at air hockey. Ashley and Saya were crushed by Yuki.
Narrator: "Maybe you guys should have put Yuki up against Josh and see how that would play out."
After a few hours, they all emerged from the arcade, defeated, with no prizes to their name.
Saya: "We spent two hours in there and we have nothing to show for it."
Chris: "Yeah, maybe I should pick a place next time that doesn't include eating our pockets and giving us nothing in return. I think we should call it a day."
"Agreed," they all said in unison. It's clear they are all defeated.
Alex and Yuki departed from the group, going their separate ways.
Alex: "So, Yuki, what do you think of your first day?"
Yuki: "It was great, a lot of fun. Your friends are very nice and interesting."
Alex: "Yes, they are extremely and very interesting, especially Josh and Ashley. One's not afraid to threaten you, and the other one is overly competitive."
Yuki giggled. "I know. That's why they're so interesting. I can't wait to see what Chris has planned for tomorrow."
Alex: "Hopefully it's something we can keep up with. We got lucky this time. Hopefully, he picks something good."
Yuki: "Yeah."
As they continue their walk, the sun showers them in a stream of golden light, the light casting long shadows behind them as they walk off.
Narrator: "Look at them walking off. Well, it looks like that's it. Hopefully, the stupid writer does not take two months to write another chapter."
TO BE CONTINUED