I screamed so loudly that I probably made the Great Wall of China quiver. It was a Friday, a week since I had confessed to Kaito and had gotten rejected. There was an envelope in my hands. It was open. Inside were my exam results.
"Please don't kill me, mom!" I cried, hugging her feet as she scanned the results sheets.
"This is..." Her voice was monotonous.
Great, she's probably going to sic all of the neighbourhood's dogs on me!
"An all time low?" I said. "Extremely disappointing? Maddeningly horrible? Disgusting? Filth? Are you going to disown me?"
"This is actually an improvement, overall," she nodded, her eyes still on the sheets. Slowly, she rolled them up into a cylinder and I gaped at her.
"S-So I'm okay?" I asked.
"You still failed the Science one miserably," she scowled and bonked the roll of paper on my head. "You'll have to redo the exam!"
"I know!" I wailed. "They're going to make me stay after school for...tutoring!"
I said the last word like it was the worst thing in the world. I might as well have said "for whippings."
"You'll learn it better the second time around," she said, escaping my grip on her legs. "Well, no point in moping about it, not right now, at least. You can cry about it all you want once school actually begins. This might actually be good for you."
"Good for me," I mumbled, curling up into a ball and rocking back and forth. "Nothing good's happened in the past week..."
Bzzz.
"Gumi, lunch in twenty minutes!" My mom said as she walked out of the living room.
"Okay!" I yelled back, looking at my phone.
1 new message.
Miku: I'm meeting up with the others around three this afternoon, at the mall. We're thinking of planning that little sleepover!
I replied, saying that I'd meet up as well, frankly feeling a bit disappointed that it wasn't Naoki. Over the past few days, I had spoken with him a lot, about many things. He sometimes teased me and occasionally seemed creepy, but I got to know him well enough to tell that he was really just being playful and kidding around.
We had talked about food, for example.
Naoki: carrots? That's your favourite thing to eat?
Gumi: yeah, why?
Naoki: I don't really have a favourite food. Ice cream's good, I guess, but after having been forced to eat as much as me, it's really not my sweet of choice. Cake's nice.
Gumi: my mom's always making cake.
Naoki: lucky! Women are amazing.
Gumi: *facepalm* not this again...
Naoki: they're so soft! And warm! And squishy!
Gumi: STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT *plugs ears*
Naoki: plugging your ears won't help because I'm typing!
Gumi: argh...you know what I meant...
Somehow, most of our talks led to discussions about girls. It was funny, though. He always made me smile. I never told him about my heartbreak, though once or twice, I had felt the urge to talk to him about it. He seemed so well versed in the world of relationships, or so I assumed, with how he was always talking about girls. On the other hand, I felt that he had never been in a relationship, what with him mentioning that he hadn't spoken to a girl in a long time and how he always went on and on about how much he liked them and how amazing they were. I decided to keep my personal matters to myself.
"Mom," I said as I ate my lunch, which was a hard boiled egg sandwich. "Miku and the other girls are meeting up at the mall in a few hours."
"And you want to go," my mother finished. I nodded.
"And there's the slight possibility that a plan for a sleepover might arise from this little meetup," I said.
"Well, I don't mind," she answered. "No boys, right?"
"Obviously not!" I said, my face heating up.
"Not even Len?"
"Of course not! It's a girls-only thing."
My mom giggled. "Of course it is. A girls-only thing, where boys are discussed."
"Mom, you know it's not like that!"
"I'm teasing!" She swatted my shoulder. "Anyway, back to what you were saying. I'm letting you go to the mall."
"Thank you," I smiled. She grinned.
"You remind me so much of myself," she said.
"Well, I look just like you," I said.
"No, I mean, more than just looks," she stared at me, her lips pressed into a thin smile as her eyes scanned me up and down. "You act like me."
"Well..." I shifted uneasily, getting out of my seat and taking my empty plate over to the sink. "You're my mom, aren't you?"
"I am," she said.
"There you go," I said. "Obviously, I'd be like you."
"But you're like your father, too, you know?" She stood up and brought her plate over. "You're cute, like him."
"Y-You're the cute one!" I said. "How is dad cute?"
"He's very cute," she smiled slyly.
My face flushed and I hurriedly washed the dishes. The sponge I was using was blue, a very pretty, dark blue. I don't even know why my mind kept making the connection to Kaito.
"I'll have a breadstick."
We were sitting in the food court, Neru, Miku, Teto, Oliver, Piko and I. It was fairly quiet. Teto was drumming her fingers against the table and I handed a breadstick from a bag to her. She munched on it and Miku and I exchanged glances. Oliver was looking at a video game he had just bought. I think it's pretty obvious what Neru was doing.
"I wish Len came," Oliver mumbled.
"Where is he, anyway?" I asked just as my my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket.
"With Rin," he answered.
"I still can't believe Rin's dating Kaito," Teto mused as she chewed on her breadstick. "I'm so sorry for you, Gumi."
"You probably didn't take it the way Gakupo took Luka's rejection," Piko said. He was sitting next to Oliver, examining his friend's game box.
"Luka's single, though," Neru said.
"But she's also got an unhealthy obsession with Kaito," Piko said.
"But Kaito's dating Rin," Miku said.
"This is making my head hurt," I said, looking at my phone.
1 new message.
Naoki: hey. How are you?
"Is it him?" Miku looked at my screen. "The spammer?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Are you going to reply? I want to see!" She sounded excited.
Gumi: I'm at a mall, with some friends.
Naoki: huh. I'm at a mall, too.
Gumi: ...there's a salad bar in the food court at this mall.
Naoki: well, there's a salad bar at this one, too. >.>
"You think..." Miku cupped a hand over her mouth. I shook my head.
"It can't be," I mumbled, looking around frantically, trying to spot someone with a phone in their hands. There wasn't anyone who looked like they were texting.
"Text him," Miku hissed. "We'll all look around!"
"What's going on?" Oliver asked.
"It's this creepy spammer dude who loves girls," Miku replied.
"I love girls," Piko tilted his head to one side.
"But do you spam Gumi?" Miku narrowed her eyes at the small boy.
"N-No!"
"Then you're not Mr. Spammer."
"He calls himself Naoki," I said, glancing at Teto and Neru. They were discussing something else. "He says it's a fake name, but I'm wondering if it has some sort of significance."
Oliver shrugged. "He's probably some idiot who pulled the name out of a hat."
"Gumi's going to text him," Miku said. "He says he's in a mall where there's a salad bar, and as far as I know, this is the only mall in the city with one! We need to look around as she's texting, okay?"
Oliver and Piko nodded. Miku looked at me.
"Write something that requires a long time to reply to," she said.
"Right," I said, looking down at my phone.
Gumi: where did you get the name Naoki from? And are you teasing me, saying you're in a mall that's got a salad bar in it?
"Done," I said to the three. They started looking around. I glanced down at my screen occasionally. I could see that he was typing up a reply.
"I got nothing," Oliver said.
"There's some kid over there, doing something on his phone," Piko stood up and hurried over to a small boy with pale blond hair. He walked past him and then returned, shaking his head. "He's watching some video."
Naoki: I like how "Naoki" sounds. And no, I'm not teasing you, I'm being completely honest. As far as I know, this mall is actually the only one in my city that's got a salad bar.
"Oh my God," Miku exhaled. "He's...he's here!"
Gumi: this is scary.
Naoki: why is it scary? What do you look like? Maybe I can find you. Are you at the food court?
Gumi: stop, please stop. Stop stalking me.
Naoki: ?!
Naoki: I'm not stalking you!
Gumi: I need to see you first!
Naoki: I don't know where you are.
Gumi: well, why don't you tell me?!
"Where's Gakupo?" I asked the guys.
"He's actually..." Oliver glanced at Piko.
"He's out of the city," Piko finished. "With his parents."
"He hasn't gotten a new phone yet," Oliver said. "And Kaito's at his home. I think...I'm not sure...let me text him."
Naoki: I need to go.
Gumi: what?! What's that supposed to mean?! You never leave like this.
Naoki: well, right now, I need to. I'm sorry.
Gumi: wait!
"Kaito's not home," Oliver mumbled. "He says he's at the mall...this mall."
"What?" Neru looked at him. "Kaito's here? Where is he?"
"I can't tell you," Oliver stuck his tongue out at the blonde and she threw her phone at him. He dodged it, moving his head to one side, and it skittered across the floor behind him. Teto scrambled out of her seat to pick it up.
"Congrats, Ollie, now you're going to have to pay for the textaholic's phone," Piko elbowed Oliver.
"Actually, my phone doesn't break so easily," Neru glared at Oliver. "But I wanted it to break your face...or your wallet..."
"How about you take a picture of my face and pin it to your wall, Neru?" Oliver snapped. "You can throw your phone at it till it breaks, 'cause my picture sure as hell won't!"
"Shut up, stupid," the girl said, returning to her texting. "Wait till I publicly insult you in my status update."
"Like I care," Oliver said.
"They're like dogs," Piko rolled his eyes.
"Anyway! Sleepover!" Teto said. "Piko, breadstick!"
He groaned and reached into the bag of breadsticks that was lying next to us. Pulling one out, he tossed it at the redhead. She grabbed it and snapped a piece off.
"Luka's coming," she said with her mouth full.
"Luka's hot," Piko said. "Can I come?"
"No," Miku said. "It's girls only."
"Though you do kinda look like a girl," Teto giggled.
"I want to see Luka in a nightgown," the boy slumped. "She has the most amazing..."
"We all want to see Luka in a nightgown," Oliver cut his friend off suddenly, patting his back. "Maybe we can persuade the girls to send pics to Kaito. He can forward them to us!"
"You do realize we're right here?" Neru growled.
"Twenty dollars for a nice shot of Luka," Piko said, pulling a twenty out of his wallet. "Really, though, it's not fair that Kaito could easily get them for free."
"Rin will hate you all so much if you do that," Miku said to Neru and Teto. "But Kaito and Len will hate you more."
"I want a kiss from Kaito," Neru said, seeming as though she was actually contemplating taking the deal.
"We can't interfere with Kaito's relationship," Oliver said. "We kept it a secret for so long."
"Yeah, even though he gets all the girls, he doesn't want them, and his secrets are our secrets," Piko said.
"Fine, then I want a Kaito secret," Neru smiled slyly. "You'll get your Luka photos."
"You're willing to sell out your friend?" I asked.
"Luka would like a juicy Kaito secret," Neru shrugged.
"I don't know if I'm up for this," Teto nervously gnawed at her breadstick. "How risqué do you want the shot?"
"A pose would be nice," Piko said. "I want her emphasis on her chest. No bra under the nightgown is preferred. Lace is always good."
"You guys are disgusting," I said.
"I like her butt," Oliver said. "You think she could do something with a bit of that innocent, young girl style?"
"Maybe lie on her stomach and pout her lips?" Piko offered.
"A side pose?"
"Pressed against a wall."
"Her head thrown back."
"Stop," Miku said firmly, shutting the two boys up. "There will be nothing of the sort happening! If nothing else, Teto's mom will kill us if she walks in on Neru snapping pictures of Luka doing suggestive poses."
Piko snickered. "It'd look like something that it's not."
"I feel so out of place right now," I shook my head.
"It's not happening," Miku made sure everyone understood that.
"Sometimes I ask myself why I'm hanging out with girls, anyway," Piko slumped.
"Len does it all the time," Oliver said. "With these girls, at least."
"He's different. Even Gakupo doesn't do this."
"You're just gloomy 'cause you can't go to their sleepover," Oliver smirked.
"Gumi, how does two weeks from now sound?" Miku put a hand on my shoulder and I zoned out of Oliver and Piko's conversation.
"It's fine," I said.
"Okay, then," Miku turned to look at Neru and Teto. "Two weeks from now, Friday, at Teto's home. Let's all try to be there by seven!"
"I'm texting all this to Luka," Neru said.
"My mom's already said yes," I said.
"Same here," Miku nodded.
"You're not bringing Len, are you?" I asked.
"Of course not! It's only girls!" Miku laughed.
"It'd get really weird with Len, though," Teto mumbled.
"Do you like him?" I teased Miku, poking her arm. She blushed and nodded furiously. "A lot?"
"A lot," she said.
"You never talk about him," I said.
"Well, we haven't really gotten a chance to talk alone much, Gumi," Miku grinned. "But I like him, really. I wish I had told you earlier."
"It's fine, all in the past."
"I...I've actually kept count of how many times he's kissed me, and where," she whispered, making sure the others couldn't hear us. I leaned closer to her, intrigued.
"Really?" I whispered. "That's so cute, Miku."
"W-Well...he usually kisses my cheeks. He's done that about thirty times."
"And on the lips?"
"F-Five, I think, or maybe seven...or ten..." she stuttered. "I just die every time, it's so amazing! But he's hurt and I really want to comfort him."
"I think you're doing a great job," I said. "You're there for him. You love him in that very special way. That's comforting on it's own. It's a very special feeling."
"I didn't think of it like that," Miku said. "You're right. But don't feel that you've hurt him by saying no."
"I know I did," I said. "But I also understand that he's past it now. He loves you, too."
Len liked me. Miku liked him. I said no to Len, so he said yes to Miku. I liked Kaito. Kaito and Rin like each other. Kaito said no to me. I should be able to stop thinking about him now...but I can't.
Bzzz.
Naoki: eating vanilla ice cream! Sorry for disappearing earlier. I swear, I always get ice cream forced into me...it's not fun. Too much brain freeze.
This chapter...it's okay. .-.