Dad began to back up. "Dad! Don't hit the-" There was a thud. "Trash cans..." Abeoji began to laugh. "Shut up, both of you! I'm trying to back out!" Abeoji tried to stifle his laughter. Dad backed out and began to drive. "Am I allowed to speak now?" "Yes, May." "Ok, so, where are we going shopping? And do you know where we're going?" "Yes, May. I just need it quiet for at least 2 minutes, so I know where we're going." Dad kept driving. He made a turn. "Are we there yet?" "No, May." Dad replied. I leaned against the door. Dad made another turn, then I felt the car stop. "May, we're here!" Dad called. I looked up. I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door. I stretched a little. Dad got out of the car and walked to the other side to let Abeoji out. Dad opened the door. Abeoji got out and put the crutches underneath his arms. "Let's go!" Dad said cheerfully. I rolled my eyes, along with Abeoji. We began to walk across the parking lot. I was behind Abeoji. I grumbled, "Oh my God, Abeoji, you walk so SLOW!" "May! I'm on crutches, you think I can go any faster?" "YES!" "Go around me then!" I walked around Abeoji. I then tripped on something. I grabbed Dad's shirt to catch myself. I fell, on my face, while bringing Dad down with me. My face was on the warm pavement. I could hear Abeoji laughing hysterically. "Dad, get off. People are staring." I mumbled. Dad stood up. I got off the ground and stood up. I dusted myself off. "You ok, May?" "Yeah. I'm good." I replied. I kept walking.
Dad led us into the store. I shivered. "It's cold in here." I said, rubbing my arms. "Yeah, the air conditioner's on." Abeoji replied. "I'm gonna go get us some food. May and Gackt, if you wanna stay behind, that's fine." "I'll stay." "I'll go with you, Dad." I said. "Good. Let's go, May." Dad replied. We began to walk, leaving Abeoji behind. "Ok, what do you want for the week?" "Anything edible." "I know that, May." "If they have what I like, I'll eat this week." "If not?" "I'll go to Kimi's. She knows what I like." Dad picked up a square watermelon. "Want one for this week?" "Yeah!" I agreed. "May, get me a small basket that I can carry the food in." I picked one up. I handed it to Dad. "Thank you." He put the watermelon in. "Now, what does Gackt like to eat?" "I don't know. Ask him." "May, I am not going back to him. You do it." "And miss you looking at fruit? Rather not." I said, sarcastically. "May." "Fine!" I turned and walked back to Abeoji. "What do you want to eat?" "I don't know. Why?" "Dad sent me over here to bother you. I can make something if you and I can't decide." "Sure. I honestly don't care." Abeoji replied. I turned and walked back to Dad. "May, look at this! And it's 50 percent off!" Dad held up a package of fish. "What kind is it?" "Salmon! I can make something with this!" Dad said excitedly. He went to the candle aisle. "What scent?" "Sakura. I wanna impress Gackt and show him we're not that bad because we're American." "Ok." Dad picked out a sakura candle. "May, can you make those fried apples for this week?" "Sure. What kind of apples did you get?" "Fuji." "I can make it work." "You usually do!" Dad replied cheerfully. "You ain't wrong." I retorted.
"Ok! So, fried apples for dessert tonight? I don't know if Gackt has any cinnamon. I'll ask him when we get home." "And, for dinner?" "Probably salmon. Or we can order take out." "I told Abeoji I would cook." "You did what? You're gonna cook?" "Yes. I took cooking class. I think I would know how to cook by now, Dad." "Ok, have fun with that." Then our favorite song began to play on the radio. Bamboleo by Gipsy Kings. "Dad, it's our favorite song." "I know." When it got to our favorite part to sing along to, Dad put the basket down and spun me. I took a couple steps back. I spun and walked back while doing shenae turns. Dad grabbed me and lifted me over his head. He spun, then put me down. I found an empty box and ran. I jumped over the box onto some other ones and spun on the top. Dad was on the other side. I jumped into his arms. Dad spun once more and then dipped me. Several people were staring. They began to clap. Abeoji was staring at us in a mix of embarrassment and wonder. I looked over. "Oh. Hi, Abeoji." "Hi, May. What was that?" "Dancing." "Very nice. Is that salsa dancing of sorts?" "Yes." I replied. "I'm Puerto Rican, on my mom's side. But we're white, unlike my mom and her sisters. My dad was white, so, yeah." "Uh-huh." "My last name used to be Gonzalez." "Really?" "Yeah. Before I changed it." Dad replied.
"Ok." "May, let's keep going. I need to pick up some other things." Dad winked at Abeoji. I looked at the two of them. "I'm telling Hiromi." I said, before bursting out into a fit of giggles. "What?" "Nothing." I sighed. I pulled out my phone and called Hiromi. "Hello?" "Hey." "May, it's 5 in the afternoon. What?" I went into a corner and mumbled so Hiromi could hear, "The ship has sailed. This is not a drill. I repeat, the ship has sailed." Hiromi began to scream. I could hear Hiromi's dad, Hiro, yelling, "Hiromi Momoko! Stop screaming!" "Hi, Hiro!" I said, loudly. "Hello, May." He called. "Hiromi, let me talk to your dad." "Why?" "I wanna talk to him." "Dad!" "What, child?" "May wants to talk to you!" "Ok." I could hear Hiromi handing the phone to Hiro. "Hello, May." He said. "Hey, Hiro. How's it going?" "Fine. How is your father?" "He's great. How's Lui?" "Still pretty. Even after 13 years of marriage, Lui is still beautiful." "That's good." I said, confusedly. "May! Is that Hiro you're talking to? Let me talk to him!" "No, Dad!" "May. I'll hand you back to Hiromi. Yoshi spilled something and they're freaking out about it." "Ok." I heard Hiro hand the phone back to Hiromi. "So, the ship has sailed, huh? What's your dad buying now?" I peered over. "Strawberries and whipped cream." I whispered. "HOOOOOOOO BOY!" Hiromi yelled. "Hoooooo boy." I repeated. Hiromi began to laugh. "And what about Gackt? Is he buying anything?" "No. He's kinda just following us." "Gotta go. Update me on this after I eat. I'll text you. See ya." "See ya." I hung up. "May! I wanted to talk to Hiro! See if he's still up for the thing we're gonna do for your birthday!" "Dad, no, not the thing." "What's 'the thing'?" Abeoji asked. "You don't wanna know." I replied. "Ok."
"Ready to check out?" Dad asked. I nodded. "Let's go." Dad walked around cluelessly. "You don't know where you're going, do you?" "No, I do not." I turned around a corner. "There it is." I pointed. Dad looked over. "Oh. Good job finding it." He said. Dad walked to the checkouts. I followed Abeoji. "You walk too slow." "I'm on crutches, remember?" "I know." Dad began placing the items on the counter. The lady at the counter looked familiar. "Did you find everything ok?" "Yes. Thank you." "You look familiar." "Oh," The lady giggled. "How so?" "You look like one of my friend Kimi's moms." "Oh! That's because I am one of Kimi's moms!" "Wait. Which one are you?" "I'm Aimi. People confuse me with Riko, but that's ok!" Aimi giggled. Aimi rang our things up. "I'm very sorry about Lapis." "Thank you. At least she's in a better place now." Dad replied. "It's a shame, honestly." Dad nodded. "24.52, please." "Really? That's all?" "Dad, in yen, that's 2,674.80, so, yeah, it's not that much in U.S. dollars." "She's right." Aimi remarked. Dad took his credit card out. He swiped it in the machine. He pressed a few buttons, while Aimi put our items in a bag. "Thank you, have a great day!" Aimi said, cheerfully. "Thanks, you too." Dad and I said together. "Jinx." I said. "Knock on wood." Dad replied. I gave Dad a look. He gave me the look back.
"Let's go, child and housemate." Dad remarked. I waved to Aimi. She waved back. Dad started to walk, while Abeoji followed. I, of course, was stuck behind Abeoji. I huffed, "OH MY GOD, WALK FASTER!" I screamed. "May, if I would if I could, but I can't so, STOP COMPLAINING." Abeoji hissed. "Well, excuse me..." I retorted. I got tears in my eyes. I had never heard Abeoji hiss like that, ever. I wiped the tears away quickly. Dad walked out, whilst Abeoji and I followed. I sniffled a little. Dad found the car and unlocked it. He opened the back and put the stuff in. I climbed into the back and slammed the door. "May, are you being angsty again?" I shook my head, letting the tears roll off my cheeks. "May, what's up? You're crying." "I'm not." I argued. Abeoji peered over, "Hey, what happened?" I turned away. "May, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything. I would never tell anyone unless you're hurting yourself or someone else." "You hissed at me..." I whimpered. "Huh? What do you mean?" "To her, if you 'hiss' at her, it means you kinda yelled at her." "Oh, May, I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" "Sure." I turned back, to face Abeoji. I sniffled. "Wanna hug?" "Sure." Abeoji wrapped his arms around me awkwardly. I took a deep breath and nearly gagged, again. I squirmed a little. Abeoji let me go. "Thank you." I began to cough. Dad got in his side of the car. Abeoji opened his door and got in, while pulling the crutches behind him. "May, hold these for me, will ya? Please and thank you." Abeoji handed me the crutches. I laid them across my lap and sighed. "May, stop being angsty." Dad started the car and began to back out. "I'm not being angsty, I'm upset." I growled. "May, stop it." Dad warned. I sighed and slumped down more in my seat. I grabbed my phone and earbuds. I plugged my earbuds in and put them in. I began to play Cocky by Kid Rock. I closed my eyes.
I placed my feet on a seat. "May, feet off the seat." I growled at Dad. "May. Rain." I took my feet off. "Thank you." I sighed. My phone vibrated. I opened my eyes and looked. Hiromi. It read: 'Ok, done eating. Update??' I replied, 'I'm now officially in a salty mood, sorry. Dad told me he wanted to show Gackt that we're not bad because we're American. I got hissed at. The usual.' I saw the text bubble appear, meaning Hiromi was typing. It read: 'Unfortunate, to be honest with ya. I can't wait for you to come and see us for your birthday. Oh! You know that new Korean girl in our class, Hye?' 'Yeah. Why?' 'She was dressed up as Gakuko from the Gakuensai shows.' I giggled to myself. 'Really?' 'Yeah. I have video of her doing the poses from that one show I took you to.' I replied, 'Send it to me when I get home. I'll text you.' I skipped to my next song, The Mirror, by Kid Rock. I sighed and closed my eyes. After what felt like an hour, I felt the car stop. "May! We're home!" Dad called. I paused my song and took my earbuds out. "May, crutches." I handed them to Abeoji. "Thank you." He looked over. "You ok? You don't look good." "I'm fine." "You sure?" I nodded. "Ok, just making sure." I got out of the car and stretched a little. Abeoji was trying to unlock the door. He unlocked it and opened the door. I walked in after Dad. I sighed. I texted Hiromi, 'I'm home. Send me the video.' I saw the video pop up. Hiromi had put underneath, 'Watch it with headphones. Because we played Koakuma Heaven, the remix, and Hye was on a table in the cafeteria, during lunch, so you can hear us laughing and swearing.' I sighed, smiling.
I tapped on the video. It began to play. Hye was standing on the table, in her Gakuko outfit. Koakuma Heaven began to play, while Hye starts dancing, on the cafeteria table. I hear a scream, Hiromi's, as Hye does a split. Hye started to do the dances from the show Hiromi took me to. Hye then lost her footing, and fell off the table, landing on her side. I heard Hye giggling, and then the screen went black. I didn't realize I was laughing the entire time. I texted Hiromi, 'Why did you let Hye do that?' Hiromi replied, 'She insisted I record it for you.' I texted, 'Hye is so sweet, shows what I'm missing. I can't wait to come see you all.' Hiromi replied, 'Gotta go. I'm going to go watch Steven Universe and then binge-watch Moon Child. Love you. Bye.' I typed, 'Love you, too. Good night, Hiromi.' I unplugged my earbuds and put them, plus my phone in my pocket. I heard a knock on the door. "May! It's Kimi! I have a spare uniform for school tomorrow. I told Amano-sensei that your house burned down. I'll just leave this on the doorstep. Bye!" I heard Kimi place something and run off. I went to the door and opened it. There was a bag, and inside it, my new school uniform, and a bookbag. There was a note attached. It read: "May! Hi! Hi! It's Kimi! I got Amano-sensei to get you a new uniform! I got you the backpack! No need to pay me back!- Kimiko Itachi." I picked up the bag and brought it inside. "What's that?" Dad asked. "My new school uniform. Kimi dropped it off. And strangely, Kimi got me a new backpack." I replied, tossing the bag over to Dad. "Well, I'm going to change and do nothing." I said, grabbing my clothes and walking to the bathroom. "You could always go to Kimi's." Dad suggested. "True." I replied, before walking into the bathroom. I closed the door. I took off my shirt and put on the one I had on before. I changed into my pajama pants and my blue fuzzy socks. I took my spare pair of clothes and folded them. I sighed and opened the door. I called, "Dad! Where do I put my clothes?" "Give them to me! I'll have Aimi wash them!" I walked to where Dad was and threw my clothes at him. "Heads up. I'm going to Kimi's." "Ok. Put shoes on and have fun." "What shoes am I supposed to wear with my fuzzy socks?" "Your platforms." I took my socks off and put them in my pocket. "Your sandals." "Fine." Dad took off his sandals and handed them to me. "Thank you." I said. "You know what, change of plans. May, you and I are going to church." "Dad, please, no..." "Yes. Ask Kimi if she has flats and a skirt. You need to at least look decent." I glared at Dad.
I turned, and walked to the door. I opened the door and walked out. I closed the door and walked to Kimi's. When I got there, I knocked on the door. Kimi opened the door. "Hi, May!" Kimi hugged me. "Come on in!" Kimi held the door open. "I'm only here for a couple things, Kimi." "Ok!" Kimi grabbed my hand and skipped upstairs to her room. We walked in. "What do you need, May?" "I need a skirt and flats." "Ok!" Kimi rummaged through her closet. She pulled out a black skirt and flats. "This good, May?" "Yup. Thank you." Kimi skipped up to me and handed me the clothes, then kissed me on the cheek. I blushed. "May! Are you ok? Your face is turning pink." "I'm good, Kimi. Thanks." I turned and walked out, my face still pink. I walked down the stairs and opened the front door. Thoughts were running through my mind. Should I tell Dad? No, May, don't tell Dad. Tell Abeoji. He can keep secrets. I think. Yeah. He can keep a secret. I sighed and walked out, closing the door behind me. I walked back. I opened the door and closed it after walking in. I was still blushing, as I could feel a slight warm sensation on my cheeks. I walked to Dad. "May. Why are you blushing?" Abeoji asked. I stammered, "K-Kimi kissed me on the c-cheek." Dad spat out the water he was drinking, all over Abeoji. "What?" He asked, excitedly. "You spit on me." Abeoji remarked. "I'm sorry." Dad replied. "Yeah. She kissed me on the cheek before I left." Dad smiled. "I'm not surprised. Kimi really likes hanging out with you, May." "I know." I replied. I walked to the bathroom. I changed back out of my pajama pants and into Kimi's skirt. I smoothed it, and twirled. I took off Dad's sandals, and put on the flats Kimi let me borrow. I ran my hand through my hair. I put my hands on my hips and smiled. I folded up my pants and walked out. "Heads up, Dad!" Dad caught my pants and put them next to my other clothes. "Give my sandals back." I tossed Dad his sandals. He caught them and put them back on. "Are you fine with us leaving you for a couple minutes?" "Yes." "Can you promise me that you won't do anything stupid?" "You have my word." "Good. C'mon May, let's go." I groaned loudly. "What?" "I don't wanna go!" "I know, May, but, please. Do it for me." "Dad, there's a lot of things I would do for you, but going to church is not one of those things." "What if I bribed you?" "With what? Pay up." "5 bucks." "Deal." Dad pulled a 5 dollar bill out of his pocket. I grabbed it and put it in the skirt pocket. "Thank you." I said. "C'mon, let's go, May." Dad ran his hand through his hair. I turned and walked to the door. Dad followed. "I'll see you later." "Yup. I'll call if I need anything." Abeoji replied.