My Backstage Prince

My eyes flew open in a dash.

                I found myself staring at an unfamiliar light-brown ceiling of a room-my new bedroom. It's been already a week since I first slept in this foreign room. It's been already a week since we left the true home and move inside this new house in Yokohama in Kanagawa, Japan.

                Yokohama was my mother's birthplace. And this is also the place where my dad spent his summer during his youth. But they both left this place to attend a prestigious university in Tokyo. Then they graduated and fell in love there. After that, they went there in Nagoya to start their family.

                My parents said that they simply want a change of environment but I was completely contented back home in Nagoya in Aichi. I sighed. Thinking of home saddened me, knowing that I won't be able to see it anymore. I won't be able to see my friends, my school, and the house where I grew up all my life. All I have now are the cherished memories of my past that were laid to be forgotten. I really miss everyone, especially my bestfriend, Shina-chan.

 I realized now that I was already crying. I always do whenever I think of home. Tears were already flowing down to my cheeks. I let them like that for a minute or two. I've decided that this will be the last time I will shed my tears for this matter. It should be that way. I will not waste the rest of my lifetime sulking around. I should think about my parents who were worried about me coping up.

                Besides, I already knew that I can't do anything about it. It was, after all, my parents' decision. Also, I have a new life here. I was just having a fresh new start of everything. It's a life that I will build again from scratch, with my past being my solid foundation. I have absolutely nothing here. But....Life must go on. I swallowed the pain and wiped the tears from my red puffy eyes.

                I sat up and shrugged. I looked around the room. It was still dark, being only lit up by a red bedside lamp. I looked sideways to my bedside table where an alarm clock stood. It was only five o'clock in the morning. Too early, I thought. I lie down again.

                5AM. That explained the air. I was shivering under my blanket even though I wore my thickest night sweater I could find. I rubbed my hands, desperate for heat, as I sunk deeper to my blanket, letting the heat of being wrapped enter me.

                Weariness was wearing me down again. Then I felt sudden sleepiness again. I sighed. I've always been a real sleepyhead. Today was not an exception. My eyelids felt heavy, wanting to be shut. So, I gave in to the temptation of closing them. And before I knew it, I was already unconscious again.

                I woke up again with a start. The room was a bit lighter than before. So, I checked again the time and it's already six in the morning. The air was warmer than before but it was still cold. And you couldn’t even hear any single sound. Complete silence.

                I stood up from my queen-sized bed and bent over it to arrange the blanket and sheets. As I reach for the pillow at the foot of my bed, a sudden sound rang. I jumped in fright.

                Then, I realized it was my phone so I jumped from the bed and walked towards my desk. I picked it up, without looking at the small screen to see who it was.

                “Hello?” I asked.

                “Yumi-chan?” a sweet voice answered. It made me exhale with relief.

                “Shina-chan!” I gasped. “How are you?”

                                Konishi Shina-chan is my bestfriend in Nagoya. We grew up together.