"I'm getting married."
My eight-year-old self suddenly looked up at my mom.
"To who?", I asked.
She motioned for me to sit on her lap. "The man I met from America, Lawrence Gray, has asked me to marry him. I agreed and now we're going to live there."
I stared at her incredulous. America? My eight-year-old self was excited and hugged her mommy.
Mom chuckled, "Alright, go on and get some sleep. We're leaving in a couple of days."
~
"Ms. Fukuda."
"Ms. Fukuda."
"Ms. Fukuda, wake up!"
I was suddenly jolted awake. I'm dreaming about it again.
I looked around the classroom and smiled sheepishly.
Mrs. Curtin, my math teacher glared at me and said, "You have been sleeping during my class, Ms. Fukuda."
"Yes, I am aware of that, Mrs. Curtin." I said.
She pursed her lips and said, "You can be more aware of that in Saturday detention."
The class, who were watching the exchange quietly, laughed.
Great. Just great. The last thing I needed was detention.
After 30 minutes of being bored to death by math, the bell finally rang, signaling that it was time for lunch.
I hurriedly grabbed all my belongings and basically sprinted towards the cafeteria.
Once I was only a few more feet away, I heard my name being called.
"Brin!"
Groaning, I jerked to a stop and turned around.
I suddenly had trouble breathing. There stood my step-brother. Nick Gray. He was the school's star basketball player. Along with his talent were also his good looks. Everyone worshipped him like he was a god.
He stood tall at 6 foot 3 inches and towered over my 4 foot 8 inches frame. He was wearing a black and white hoodie that made him look even more attractive. If that was even possible. I know I'm not suppose to be having these thoughts, but I couldn't help it.
His piercing blue eyes were directed at me.
This was a first. He never really talked to me.
Being the curious cat I was, I ignored the voice in my head telling me to run and looked at him questioningly.
"Listen, Dad and Diane are going out of town. I doubt you paid any attention to the note on the fridge. So I'm just here to tell you that. And also to keep your mouth shut about whatever happens while they're gone," he said coldly.
Ahh, that, everybody, is my lovely step-brother. He's just a ray of sunshine right? Ha, no. He's practically the devil himself.
I nodded and made my escape.
I approached the round lunch table that were surrounded by my friends.
"Bri! I heard you got detention," said Kane Ross.
Kane Ross was my best guy friend. He was also a basketball player. However, he wasn't your normal stereotypical jock. He was actually nice and sweet. He hated the way Nick and his friends treated people around school, so on his first day here at Hamilton Academy, he befriended my group of friends.
I gave him a smirk and said, "What can I say? I'm just bad to the bone like that."
My whole table stopped what they were doing and burst into laughter.
"P-Please never say t-that again!" said my best friend, Maki Yu said.
Maki, like me, had long black hair that reached her bum. She wore glasses and was taller than an average asian. However, unlike me, she was born here in the States.
Beside Maki sat Kole Ross, identical twin of Kane Ross. At first I had trouble telling them apart until Kole got his haircut. Then it was somewhat easier to tell them apart.
He too was laughing at me.
I glared at my so-called friends and sat down.
"You guys are mean," I pouted.
"I'm sorry. But you being "bad to the bone" was hilarious. Can you imagine an Asian being badass?" Kane asked.
"Jackie Chan." I simply answered.
Maki scoffed, "Yeah, but he took karate. You didn't."
I decided that ignoring them was my next best choice, so I started eating.
Once the bell rang, we all got up and walked to Chemistry.
Kole groaned, "I hate Chemistry so much. My percentage is an 11. How is that even possible?"
We snickered. Out of our group of friends, Kole was the only one who put little effort in school.
"Well, if you actually tried-" Maki started.
"Shh! I don't want to hear you lecturing me, Asian." Kole grumbled.
She threw her hands up in a silent surrender.
When the classroom door was near, we all rushed to the door at once.
And that's how we got stuck.
"Guys! Four people can't fit in one door way!" I shouted.
"Ugh. Get off me you big oaf!" shouted Maki.
"Oaf? I'm not an oaf! You're just a munchkin." said Kole.
"Oh my god my genitals are touching my brother's butt! Somebody, anybody, help!" Kane also shouted.
We stayed like that for another five minutes. Shoving and screaming at each other until I managed to crawl away.
Freedom!
I turned and stared at the state of my friends. Goodness.
I shook my head and stood at my lab station.
Mr. Smith didn't believe in stools. He thinks that we would get injured by them. I completely agreed with him. With Kane and Kole in the same classroom, anything can happen.
Finally, they managed to get through the doorway, and they stood at their designated lab stations.
Just as they arrived, Mr. Smith entered the classroom carrying a box of supplies.
"Afternoon, class. Guess what we're doing today?"He asked cheerfully.
Kole raised his hand, "Ooh ooh! Dissection?"
Mr. Smith sighed, "No, Kole. This is Chemistry not Biology. Anyone else want to take a guess?"
Kole, looking like a little kid, jumped up and raised his hand again, "Ooh! I know! Explosions!"
I shook my head, "Give up, man."
He looked at me and glared, " Shut it, oompa loompa."
My mouth dropped and I started walking towards him, "Why you little-"
Mr. Smith, being the peace keeper, held me back from strangling the living daylights out of Kole.
"Alright, settle down. Don't bully Brinley because of her height, Kole. And Brinley, please ask nicely if you want someone to be quiet."
I stuck my tongue out at Kole and went back to my station.
"Since no one guessed it right, I'll tell you what we're doing. We're going to do a lab on Moles!" Mr. Smith said enthusiastically.
The whole class groaned, but nonetheless started setting up the lab.
~
I sighed and stepped out of the front doors. School was finally over. I couldn't be more happier.
I searched for Nick, since I didn't drive yet he was my ride to and from school. After five minutes, I gave up and pulled out my phone.
Ring. Ring.
'Hello?' an aggravated voice came through the line.
I sighed, 'Where are you?'
'None of your business'
Then I heard another voice in the background and immediately knew what he was up to, and I felt a pang in my chest.
'Nick, hurry up. I want to go home.'
'Whatever.' he said and the line went dead.
I sighed and started to walk towards the car. I sat down on the hood and waited for him to come.
There was something, or someone, poking me.
"Wake up. Brinley, wake up, or I will drive off with you on the car," and angry voice said.
I groggily opened my eyes and looked around me. Oh. I fell asleep. Again. I immediately jumped down and entered the car and faced an angry Nick.
"What the hell do you think you're doing laying on the car?" he yelled.
I winced, "Look, it's not a big deal. I just fell asleep."
He started the car and drove off school campus.
"I saw that. In fact, everyone did. You just don't randomly start falling asleep everywhere, Brinley," he stated.
"If you had been quick to do that damn girl then I wouldn't have fallen asleep.
I angrily looked over at him, and observed that his knuckles were white from holding on to the steering wheel tightly, and he was clenching his teeth.
I had made him angry. However, I didn't care. He didn't have a right to be angry.
"What I do with girls is none of your business, Brinley," he angrily said.
"It is when it involves me!" I exploded.
His head suddenly turned to look at me. For a moment, I forgot.
I forgot that we were in a moving car.
I forgot that Nick wasn't watching the road.