One

Leia finds an interest in a familiar-looking boy and her best friend, Aiko, tries to convince her to enter a writing contest. Aiko discovers someone she likes is single and wants to make a move.

  The bus halted in front of my house causing a large puddle in the middle of the road to splash up and land right on my shoes, the cold water seeped through and soaked my toes. Feeling as if I had no time to change, let alone breathe, I scurried onto the bus and made my way into the back next to my best friend--Aiko.

 "Good morning Leia" she greeted me, scooting a little closer to the window and playing with the fringe on her bag. I nodded and slid into the seat just as the bus started to lurch forward, I could feel the hum of the engine below my feet and smelled the putrid smell of the fake leather seats.

 "Are you going to sign up for the contest?" she asked, nudging me with her elbow. I raised an eyebrow and glared at her for a second before she finally responded.

 "There's this big writing contest and the winner gets a scholarship to any university of their choice as long at it's right here in Japan" she beamed.

 "Oh, that contest" I said quietly, mostly to myself. She looked at me with a look of disappointment and let out a heavy sigh.

 "What's wrong?" I asked looking up into her chestnut brown eyes.

 "Of all people I thought you'd be the most enthused about this. You're a writer and the prize is a scholarship, someone must have pissed in your cheerios this morning" she said gazing back at me.

 "No, I'm just not really all that into it I guess. The prize wouldn't be mine anyways since my parents are choosing which college I attend, and besides my chances are awfully--slim" I said as the bus hit a bump in the road, just a few more blocks to go.

 "Oh, that" she said, turning from me to the window.

 "Listen Leia, you don't have to go where they send you. In the end you're getting an education for a better paying career and they'll be proud of you. I think you should at least try to do it, better to say you tried instead of regret never shooting for it" Aiko said, she always held such wise words--although I'm pretty sure I remember hearing her older brother tell her that when she was about to bail on the beauty pageant back in seventh grade.

  "Alright, I'll think about it" I said, forcing a smile upon my face.

  "That's a start" she said as the bus pulled into the school parking lot. I gathered my leather satchel and held onto the balance bar above our seat. As I stepped into the aisle I felt a sense of dread wash over me as I felt my shoes slosh and water seeped through my socks. With a sigh, I proceeded to get off of the bus and waited for Aiko to push through our peers to meet me at the front of the building. Here we are- Musashino North High School.

 "Come on" Aiko said and slapped her hand down onto my shoulder causing me to jump. I followed her up the stairs and into the overwhelmingly crowded halls, I passed a few familiar faces and stumbled over my feet. Someone caught my arm, definitely not Aiko, and helped me before I fell face down.

 "Watch where you walk, don't want you getting hurt" a male voice said. He said it in a kind, caring tone which made me guess he was in the Gentleman's Honor Society.

 "Thanks" I said, straightening my skirt and tucking a lock of my long, dark brown hair behind my ear.

 "Leia, come on" Aiko said, looking at boy who just help me--saved me. She looped her arm around mine and pulled me forward to continue walking.

 "Thanks again" I said, looking behind me. He looked familiar but I just couldn't put my finger on where I'd seen him before.

 "So, guess what I heard" Aiko said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned my attention to her and gave her a faint smile.

 "What'd you hear?" I asked, pretending to be interested.

 "Hiro and Maki broke up last night! Oh-and Maki is moving to the United States so she's definitely not getting back with him. Do you think I have a chance?" she asked enthused over someone else's heartbreak.

 "Yes, you are very smart and beautiful and amazing but I think in order for you to have a chance you must first start, I don't know--speaking to him" I said.

 "I know, I know. I promise I will at lunch today" she squealed and pushed me into my classroom, I didn't even notice when we arrived. I waved as Aiko continued walking down the hall to her class and quickly made my way to my seat. My shoes make a squeeky noise every time so I tried to make the trip in as few steps as possible.

 I looked down at my watch and noticed that we still had about ten minutes until the bell rang, I sighed and took out my pencil for the test we'd be taking today.

 "Hey" someone whispered behind me, I peeked over my shoulder and noticed Cheng biting her lip.

 "Oh, hey Cheng. Do you need help with anything?" I asked. Usually she didn't talk to me, or anyone, unless she was in dire need of a favor.

 "The test, did you study? I can't afford to fail it again or it will be no-go for my scholarship" she whispered frantically.

 "Here are my study flashcards I used, I don't need them it was fairly easy for me to remember" I said, pulling out my notecards and sliding them onto her desk.

 "Thank you so much Leia, you are a life saver" Cheng said with a smile.

 I played with my pencil, moving it from the left of my notebook to the right and then back again until the teacher burst into the classroom.

  "I am sorry that I am late children but a tardy teacher doesn't mean no test unfortunately. So if you're up talking to your friends I'd advise you sit down and start studying for the next six minutes or so" Mr. Watanabe said.

  Chatter died down in the room and everyone scrambled around to get into their assigned seats, I looked to my right and noticed the boy who helped me earlier. That's where I know him from, trigonometry class-though that didn't seem like the right thought.

  "Mr. Watanabe" someone from the front called out.

  "Yes Yusi?" he replied as he pulled a thick stack of tests out.

  "Can we use our study guides on the test?" she asked.

  "No Yusi. That's the whole point of a test, to show what you know and remember" Mr. Watanabe said in a tired manner.

  "Oh, I get it" she giggled. I shook my head and focused on moving my pencil from side to side as Mr. Watanabe began passing out the tests and the bell finally rang.

  "Notes away, time to get these tests done and over with. They will determine your final grade for this school year before your summer vacation in a few weeks. And for some of you it will be your final grade to determind whether or not you graduate" he said, laying my test onto my desk and looking straight at me. I felt confident that I would not only get a passing grade for graduation, but a grade high enough to get me a scholarship to Seikei University!

  "Notes away Cheng" he said.

  "But Mr. Watanabe-" she started.

  "No, notes away Miss. Tabe" he said, and she slid the notes into the pocket of her desk.

  I felt bad for Cheng, if she didn't get a passing grade for this class then she'd be held back from graduating this year and denied a scholarship. I looked over my shoulder at Cheng and her eyes looked as if they were pleading for help. Was there even anything else I could do to help her?

 "Eyes on your own paper Leia" he called, I blushed and immediately turned back to my test as the room filled with snickers.

 "So how do you think you did on your test?" Aiko asked four classes later, during lunch period.

 "Good" I said. I was tempted to tell her about Cheng but I didn't feel it was necessary.

 "So did you ever think about that contest?" she asked, grabbing an apple from the cart.

 "Yes, I'm not sure what I'd write about. The theme is life but my life isn't really that fantastic" I said, partially lying because the contest was the last thing on my mind.

 "Then make something up" she said.

 "Then it won't feel genuine, and if I don't feel it how will the reader?" I asked.

 "Then write about your dream life" Aiko suggested.

 "I never really gave much thought to my dream life, I like how it is now. Simple and easy" I said as I dumped apple sauce onto my tray and headed for a table.

 "Sure, going to the college that your parents are choosing for you and not going to Senior's Final Ball is the best life ever. Oh, not to mention the fact that you're almost sixteen and have never in your life gone on a date. That's not boring at all" she said.

 "Hey, don't pick, prod and judge my life from the outside. You don't know how thankful I truly am to have simplicity. I could be in a worse state like an orphan or--or not graduating" I said, thinking of Cheng. I shook the thought from my mind as we sat down and started examining what the hell we just dumped on our trays.

 "I'm sorry Leia, I just want you to have to best. You deserve nothing else but the best, like a better friend. I just want you to be happy, you need happiness and fun" she said.

 "I already have to most amazing friend in the world. Although she doesn't stay true to her word" I said.

 "What?" she asked, looking a bit scared as if she did something wrong.

 "Hiro" I said, nodding my head towards a few tables behind her. She made an odd high pitched gasp in the back of her throat and slowly turned her head around too look at him.

 "I totally forgot about that" she said. I smiled and poked at what I assumed was supposed to be a salad but looked more like pureed lettuce.

 I watched as Aiko got out of her seat and strided over to Hiro, crossing my fingers and examined their body language.

 Aiko smiled, leaning into his ear a bit seductively and Hiro laughed as he scribbled something down on paper then slid it between her fingers. He stood and gave her a quick hug before she started back towards me.

 "How'd it go?" I asked looking at her as she twirled the paper in between her thumb and index fingers. Aiko bit her lip and closed her eyes, she was definitely on cloud nine right now. Just as quickly as she floated away, she snapped back to reality.

 "Easier than I thought it would be, glad I did it! I was all 'Hey' and then he was all 'Aiko right?' and I was all 'Yeah, how'd you know?' and he was all 'I just know you from a few classes.' Can you believe it he knows me from a few classes!" she said so fast that it'd be hard to keep up if you didn't know her like I did.

 "And then?" I asked when she paused as if stuck in the moment.

 "Oh and then I was all 'So I was wondering if you wanted to hang out some time to study maybe' and then he was all 'Well sure, as long as we get to hang out having fun too' and then I was all 'Sounds great' and then he gave me this!" she held up the paper with his name, address and number scribbled on it.

  "Wow, all that in just a few minutes? Well I'm not surprised, you're quite a looker" I said, poking at my mush some more.

  "Oh hush it, you're just as beautiful as I am if not-more" she said as she tucked the paper into her cardigan pocket. I'm sure she was only saying that because she was my best friend but I didn't argue.

  "Who knows maybe you will get your first kiss" I said smiling, I felt genuinely happy for my best friend.

  "Maybe" she said and bit her bottom lip. I looked down at my watch and smiled, good we still have about twenty minutes until the bell.

  "Come on, want to go boy scoping for you?" she asked.

  "No, that's fine. When the right time comes it will happen and it will be an amazing moment. It is not meant to be rushed" I said, more-so lecturing myself as if I were my own mother.

 "It's not like we're going to make you two get married, it's just for fun and to kill time" she said and swept some of her short, almond coloured hair out of her face. I hesitated for a moment but then I scanned the room and my eyes landed on my classmate, the one who helped me earlier. Gosh he looked so familiar and no, it wasn't from trigonometry class.

 "See one" I said, nodding towards him. She followed my gaze and whipped her head back at me smiling.

  "Really? Is it because he helped you earlier?" she asked. I blushed and shook my head, it really wasn't why. That sense of just knowing came over me and I smiled; she stood from her seat and brought me to my feet as well.

  "What are we doing? I thought we were only looking" I said.

  "Nah, changed my mind. It's time for you to meet someone new" Aiko said taking my hand and leading me in his direction, my stomach dropped but I knew that she was right and I ought to try something new.

Author's Note

Feedback is much appreciated.