Chapter Two

Rushing out of her room with books in her hand, Lauren bolted down the mahogany staircase towards the large modern kitchen where her mother stood-back facing her- preparing lunch and coffee humming to herself, her red locks swaying and bouncing as she moved.  Her ever sunny disposition always seemed to befuddle her especially in the early hours of the morning. It seemed like no matter the time of day or how tired or stressed she was, the woman couldn’t get cranky. It made Lauren briefly wonder what would happen if and when her mother’s morning mood suddenly flip.   

“An apocalypse,” Luke responded absentmindedly.

Smiling to herself she approached the counter next to her mother, gaining her attention.   As Lauren proceeded to wash her hands to rustle up something for lunch, her mother simply stood there assessing the outifut- or rather rags- that her sixteen year-old daughter was wearing.   A glare formed on her face which Lauren ignored- she wasn’t sure if it was purposefully or not.

“Ahem,”

Lauren’s gaze landed on her mother knowingly.  “Yes?”

Her mother just continued to stare at her- well, more like glare at her- as if she were trying to bore holes into her outfit making her roll her eyes in annoyance.

    “What?” she asked as she finished rinsing her hands.

    “What in God’s wonderful name are you wearing?”

        “Honey?” she asked, her green eyes bulging out of her socket in shock at her daughter’s wardrobe malfunction.  “What ARE you wearing???”

       

        “Clothes,” she said, her head inside of the fridge searching.  

“And what do you think you’re doing?”  her mom asked tapping her heels impatiently.

        Lauren came out with a container of cream cheese and crackers that stood at the very back of the fridge.    Smiling triumphantly she turned towards her mother.

        “Rustling up something to eat, mom,” she beamed.

        “Well why do you have that hat on while your heads all in my fridge?  I should’ve closed the door on you,” she muttered under her breath.

        “Mom, you’d do that to your own child?  Your firstborn daughter? I am shocked and apalled at you,”

        “Yea well I could just make another one so it’s not really that big a deal now is it?”  

        A sly smile crept onto her mom’s face and Lauren couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.  However before she could inquire the matter, the kitchen was overcome by the footsteps of two identical little boys stampeding like frightened cattle, one running towards the girls with the other one close on his tail.  

        “Ah! Nikos! Leemee alone!!” he squealed as they ran round and around the island relentlessly.   Lauren and her mom just watch in amusement each trying to keep from snickering as they watched the boys- who seemed to have more energy than one of those 5-hour drinks.  Nikos just snickered and continued his assault on his brother. A frantic whine escaped him and he let out a loud plead of exasperation.

        “Nikos!! Please stop, I don wanna play anymore!”  He was waving his hands frantically and was panting by now and in need of a break but Nikos didn’t seem to know when to quit.  He ran over to the two women and hid behind his mother’s legs.

        “Mommy!  Tell him t-stop!!”

       

    Biting back a laugh at her son’s antics, “Nikos, leave your brother alone,” she cooed, thus ending the game.

    Nikos’s face was red and thick with sweat making his brown hair that hung in his face stick to his forehead a little.  An adorable scowl marred his features and he folded his arms in displeasure.

        “But I was jus- playing with him… wimp,” he muttered the last part under his breath and began to stalk away, making their mother shake her head at his pouting.   They were a handful, she thought to herself as she looked down at the other twin peeking out from behind her, no doubt checking to see if the coast was clear.

        “You can come out now, Ezio,” she said resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

   

    Both she and Lauren watched as he slowly crept out and looked at her with his wide, lively green eyes.  His brown hair was also sticking to his face but he didn’t seem to notice as he was beaming at her manifesting

the dimple in his left cheek.  This was one of the few differences between the two brothers- his dimple was in his left cheek while Nikos’s was planted on his right.   He wore a navy blue jean vest over a black jordan shirt, blue jeans and black jordan shoes- the exact same outfit as Nikos except his shirt and shoes were white instead of black.   Hugging his mom’s legs, he thanked her as if she just saved her from imminent death.

    “Thank you, mommy,”

    “You are welcome, Ezio, darling.”

    Unlike Nikos, Ezio was a momma’s boy and  was not ashamed to admit it or manifest it.  That was another thing that set the two of them apart: while Nikos was more reserved and rough, Ezio was timid and thrived off of the love and affection from his mother.

    “G’morning, Ezio,” his big sister beamed, causing him to release his mother and sprint into his sister’s clutches.  

    “Laurie!!!” he exclaimed as he snatched his sister’s free hand and started running around her, making her spin as he did so.  She made it her life’s mission to spoil her two little brothers and succeeded, sometimes to her detriment. All of a sudden, Nikos came bolting back into the kitchen, his face no longer a tomato, charging straight for Lauren.  

“Nikos, babe, what are you- Oof!” she let out a loud groan as Nikos collided with her thighs, knocking her backwards a little.  

“Laurie, Laurie!!!” he exclaimed, clenching her legs tightly while Ezio continued swinging her free arm wildly.  She shot her mom a pleading look, to which she only responded by pulling out her smartphone and taking a picture of the adorably hilarious moment.  

“Uh, moom,” she whined, “I gotta get to school, you know,”

“Though we both know you really don’t want to,” Luke grumbled in response.  

Nikos- who had was nuzzling his sister’s legs- suddenly looked up at her.  “No, you can stay with me today,” he beamed while Ezio yelled in agreement.

“Yea! Stay with me and Niki!!”

The two little boys held their sister in an iron grip as if she might disappear at any moment.   They were determined to keep their sister home from school so she could spend the entire day with the two of them.   

“Please stay with us, Laurie,” Ezio pleaded, nuzzling his small head in her jeans.

“Yea, we’ll have so much fun together.  Stay and play with us!” Nikos added as he jumped up and down excitedly.

“Alright you two, release your prisoner.  Just because the two of you don’t have school doesn’t mean that you can imprison your sister here as well,”

A deep manly voice silenced everyone in the kitchen to the point where one could hear a pin drop.  Everyone- save their mother who was now finishing up the coffee- turned to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.  There, in the doorway to their large and open kitchen, stood a well-tuned man of thirty-nine leaning against the archway with an amused smile etched onto his chiseled face.  Stuttle pricked the skin around his mouth and jaw giving him a rugged look that one would normally find with one of those male supermodels in the magazines. His rich, hazel eyes scanned over the two little boys clutching their older sister’s legs for dear life, then at the young lively girl standing next to the beautiful woman working at their coffee machine.

“Morning, everyone… I see some people are already bursting with energy, and,” he glanced down at the silver watch on his wrist, “it’s not even 10 in the morning yet.” He beamed as he looked at his glorious children.  They were, no doubt, his greatest achievement, and it was all thanks to the beautiful angel whom he called his wife. Stocking up to her, he took in every inch of her hourglass figure and the clothes that framed her smooth vanilla-colored skin.  He then took his long, muscular arms and wrapped it around her waist, earning a squeal from her.

“Morning, beautiful,” he whispered kissing her luscious red hair.  

“Eric!” she squealed as her ruthless husband proceeded to tickle her relentlessly.  “Good morning! Now s-sto!” loud laughter filled the air- both hers and her amused children who were laughing at their mom’s feeble and futile attempts to escape his grasp.   Finally after deciding she had enough, Eric released his hold on her and turned to his children.

“Who’s next?” he asked stalking towards his three children playfully.  The three of them looked at each other for a moment- their faces blank- then suddenly took off running and giggling.

“Oh no you don’t!” he exclaimed grabbing Lauren just in time before she got away.  He hugged his daughter tightly as he proceeded to drown her cheek in fatherly kisses.

“Morning, L-dawg,” he teased using the nickname her special nickname.  

She giggled loudly as she responded with a “good morning” while her father rocked her back abd forth while he relentlessly tickled her sides.   Her stomach clenched and her chest began to burn from all of the hysterical laughing she was doing.

“Da-!! Daaad!! I gotta go to school!” she squealed, squirming like a fish to get out of his arms.    

Her and her father were always close, and her mother knew that despite the rough-and-tough personality she had,  Lauren was and would always be ‘Daddy’s little girl’. She smiled at her husband’s antics and decided to save her daughter from his clutches.  

“Alright, you two, Lauren still has to get to school,” she said, her green eyes glossy with tears of laughter.  She wished she had a camera to capture this father/daughter moment, but the walls in their house were already lined with plenty of other father/daughter, father/son, father/mother, and plenty of other moments- there wasn’t much room for anymore.   She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice that Lauren had grabbed the crackers and cheese, her shoulder-bag and skateboard, and rushed out of the house to avoid another assault.

…

The wind blew wildly through her hair as Lauren flew down the sidewalk on her skateboard on the way to school, the houses and streets whizzing by her.  Since her father blatantly refused to allow her to own a car- even though she had her driver’s licence, and they had more than enough money to get her one- she had to settle for her trusty skateboard that she owned since she was eleven. However it wasn’t like she was too upset by this; she loved the way  her ponytail swished wildly in the wind, giving her a sense of freedom and serenity that she enjoyed while it blew in her ears, drowning out all sounds save her breathing and Luke’s endless nagging and questioning. She knew that he wanted her to be fully prepped for the dreadful Chemistry test, but it didn’t stop her from being annoyed, especially since she knew that he could just tell her the answers on the test and no one would ever know. However she knew that Luke would never allow that.  Taking a deep breath, she let the sound of the rushing wind drown out all of her thoughts, leaving her mind beautifully empty- that is until Luke decided to shatter her peaceful oasis.

“Maybe you should like, I don’t know… open your eyes,” he bluntly stated declaring that he was too young to die, making Lauren roll her eyes mentally.  “It’s these kind of things that make dad anxious about buying you a car,”

“I passed my driver’s test and you know it,” she muttered, “The only reason that he doesn’t go on and get me one is because he’s just being overprotective… you know how he can be,” she finished convincing herself that she was right in her assumption when in actuality she knew that he was right.   She also knew that it wasn’t a money issue because he was already a well-known architect and contractor of a large company that was on the verge of expanding, and her mother owned her own catering and wedding boutique that was becoming more and more popular. Therefore, there was no other explanation as to why she could not own her own car save they were being overprotective.  Letting out a sigh, she decided to block Luke from her mind, close her eyes and listen to the wind as it hit her face and rushed through her hair not noticing that she was on a dangerous collision course with a car that was about to cut across from her right. It was a large, black SUV with tinted windows and a I LUV JB license plate. Three blaring honks resounded in the morning air, drawing her mind back to the harsh reality.

“Oh my God!  Lauren watch out!!!”   Luke squealed as Lauren’s eyes went buck wide.   The driver attempted to screech to a stop causing the car to swerve to the live of Lauren who was still frozen in shock at the almost devastating collision.  “Bout to die before we finish high school,” Luke retorted sarcastically, “and I had so much I wanted to do with my life,”  

Not bothering to respond to Luke’s statement, Lauren took her skateboard in her arms and rushed over to the SUV, hoping that nothing was damaged.  If her father got wind of this, she thought gravely with a shiver, she would never get a car until she was fifty years old. Praying she bolted to the driver’s window and knocked frantically.

“Hello!?”  she panicked when no one responded, “Are you okay!?  Do you need me to call an ambulance!? Can you hear me!? Please don’t be dead,  God!!! I killed a person with an ever-loving skateboard! Who does that! Ohmygod, ohmygod I’m going to jail… Dad’s gonna kill me!  Mom’s gonna ground me and never look at me the same way again! Ohmygod I’m a murderer…. I’m a murderer, Luke!”

She was full out panicking so she didn’t notice the driver window roll down to reveal a girl looking at her with amused eyes.  She was a beautiful Japanese girl with a round, white face framed by long straight black hair which was currently in a fishtail braid. A bang hung on one side of her face almost- but not quite- covering her right onyx eye.  He gaze was fixated on the panicking girl outside of the door.

“I aught to sue you…. Laurie-chan,”   she then bursted into a fit of giggles at she watched her friend’s meltdown.

“Please do-”  she then got a good look at the girl who was addressing her and her face turn cherry red.  

“Akari-chan!!!!  Oh my god!!! Are you okay!?  Are you going to sue me!? Please Akari-chan, don’t tell my dad…”

“Calm down, girl I’m just messing with you…” she laughed and looked at her friend turn fifty shades of red, her laughter making Lauren blush harder.  

“You better be glad you didn’t hurt Akari-chan, Lauren.  I told you you should look where you are going,” Luke scolded making Lauren roll her eyes.  

“It’s partly your fault Luke… you are supposed to be my eyes and ears when I’m not paying attention.  The fact that I didn’t notice the car until it was almost too late is your fault.” she retorted trying to take some of the blame off of her and throw it onto him.

    “Laurie-chan?  Laurie-chan!”

Her hazel eyes widened as she pulled herself out of the mental conversation she was having with Luke to answer Akari who was looking at her with obvious worry.

“Maybe we should take you to the hospital instead?” she asked.

“No no gomen!” she exclaimed waving  waving her free hand. “I’m fine, it’s you we should be worried about,” she finished.

“Nope, my awesome-sauce driving skills are to thanks for that,” opened her door and climbed out of the car, revealing her 5’5 frame.  She was considered tall for a japanese girl but moderate for an American which was lucky for her, she considered, so that way she would fit in her school.   She wore a pink off-the-shoulder t-shirt with a tight white tank top underneath, tight white pants with pink and white leg warmers at her ankles and white kicks on her feet.   The outfit seemed fitting since she was on their school’s Varsity Dance squad- and she was good too. The team had a huge state competition coming up and they knew scouts would be there looking for young dancers who had serious talent.   Lauren knew it was very important to her and would have hated if she had gotten hurt to the point where she wouldn’t be able to attend. Silently, she thanked God for watching out for her and her friend.

“Just a small dent in the back but it’s nothing… other than that it’s all good,” she speculated making Lauren rush over to her.    The back of the black SUV indeed only had a small dent, but she still felt responsible for the little bit of damage done her ride so she offered to pay for damages to which Akari adamantly refused.

“It’s all good Laurie-chan.  It’s really not that big of a deal.  C’mon let me give you a ride to school before you wind up in an accident,” she joked striding back to the driver’s side of  her car.

She was about to refuse but the hard look on Akari’s face told her that she would just be wasting her time trying to reject the offer.  So instead she shook her head and mumbled an “arigatou,” before climbing into the front seat on the right side of the vehicle.

***

“So,” Akari asked glancing at Lauren before casting her onyx eyes back to the road, “You ready for the test today?”  

“Hai,” she said absentmindedly earning a scoff from her friend.  

“I don’t know why you try to lie to me, Laurie-chan, I know you better than that and besides, I called you last night and know for a fact that you didn’t study,”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Cuz I wanted to see if you would lie or tell the truth, and the fact that you lied breaks my poor little foreign heart,” she pretended to be hurt which in turn made Lauren roll her eyes at her.

Ever since third grade when she stopped a few narrow-minded bullies from teasing her,  Lauren and Akari had been best friends- inseperable even. It was as if something clicked: they felt drawn to each other and over time discovered that they shared a lot of the same talents, passions, and tastes making them like sisters.  Lauren was intrigued with Akari’s culture and heritage, and she was intrigued with Lauren’s. Everyday they would spend time together and Akari would teach Lauren Japanese and Lauren would help Akari out with English. Overtime, they developed an interest in language and now they were both assigned as the school’s interpreters for when exchange students transferred or visited their campus.  Today they were well liked by a good amount of the students there, and Akari had more than one person hit on her subtlely and otherwise, however each one that confessed she turned down saying that she didn’t have time for a relationship. Her parents sacrificed a lot for her to get a good education and she knew better than to waste the opportunity they presented her with. A lot of people didn’t have such luck, her parents would say, so she had to put all of her time and effort into school, grades, and a scholarship.  Consequently she was a straight A student and if she kept it up she would be a valedictorian of the school which naturally made her parents proud of her.

“Laurie-chan you need to put more effort into your work… I mean your track game coming up you could get yourself on the list for a scholarship but to stay on the track team, it’s required that you maintain a eighty-five percent or higher on your exams,” she said.

“I know Akari-chan, I know,” she said as they reached the school campus with five minutes to spare.  Akari proceeded to pick a parking spot. “I’ll be fine… you should just worry about your dance competition coming up.   I know you and the team are working hard on your routine,” she replied eager to change the subject. Akari knew this, but allowed her to get away with it.   

“Yea, I can’t wait.  My parents are going to be there and everything. I’m so excited,  but also so nervous Laurie-chan…. I’m nervicited I guess,” she said with a chuckle, “What if i completely mess everything up and ruin my chances of going to a good college.  Then you get to a good college and I’m stuck here working at a cafe trying to make ends meet making minimum wage and my parents die of sadness and depression after they disown me because I am a failure and-”

“Whoa!” Lauren chuckled at her distraught friend, “Calm down, Akari-chan. Ochitsuku, ochisuku,”  

Akari paused and looked at her red-headed friend.

“You are an amazing dancer, one of the best- if not the best- on the team,” she began putting emphasis on the word best, “You guys are going to do great...you’re just overthinking things.  Just take a breath and remember, Tsuitachi ni tsuitachi sore o toru,”

Akari took a deep breath and turned to her friend after shutting the car off, “You’re right, Laurie-chan… arigato.”   

Hugging, the two of them exited the vehicle just as the bell rang.   

“Here we go… you ready Lu?” Luke question mentally.

“Another day,” she sighed “let’s do this,” she replied and her and Akari entered the doors to the school, ready to start their classes,”

Author's Note

For the Japanese I used Google Translate so if there's anything wrong please feel free to let me know. I will be going back to revise this as I personally don't think it's post worthy but nevertheless, enjoy and don't hesitate to review and constructively criticize.