Chapter TwoA Chapter by RaeIt is time to go to Japan, and with her first plane ride comes her first new friend. But when she learns some startling news, she begins to questions just how she got here. The
airport was filled to the brim with diverse people going various places. Gaby
took the sight of the large building in front of her, her luggage in hand, and
carry-on on her shoulder. Her other hand clutched her stomach with anxious
anticipation. She licked her dry lips to wet them. Her
grandmother, Nancy, came up from behind her and put her hand on the unoccupied
shoulder. “Gabriella, are you going to be alright waiting to board your flight
alone?” Gaby
bit her lip slightly. “I… I think so. All I have to do is wait for the flight
to be called, right?” Nancy
nodded, “Yes. But you’ve never flew before. It’s also over a ten-hour flight.” “At
least it’s a direct flight.” “That’s true.” Nancy
noticed her granddaughter’s white knuckles made from gripping her luggage too
hard. She placed her hand over hers, and she spoke softly, “It isn’t too late
to say no and come back home.” Gaby
looked to Nancy and replied, “It is. I have to do this. I’ve waited almost a
whole year.” She reached with her free hand and gave her grandmother’s hand a
squeeze. “I… I can do this. But thank you, Nana. I will call you every Saturday
and Sunday, okay? I promise.” “I
will hold you to that promise, Gabriella,” Nancy warned her, “You better call
me. Or I might come over there. And you don’t want me to come over there.” Her
granddaughter laughed, “I know. I know. I will.” The
pair walked into the building, hand-in-hand. The inside was way busier than the
outside. And there was a plethora of people in large crowds going to-and-fro.
There were escalators far in front of them that would take Gaby up to the
second floor for her flight. To the right was the ticket counter and where you
checked in your luggage. To the left was a plethora of benches and seats for
people to sit at, and further down was the baggage claim. Dotted around was a
few souvenir shops and magazine racks. “Gaby!”
called a voice. Both
Gaby and Nancy turned to the benches and found K waiting for them. They walked
over to the woman. “K,
you’re here,” Gaby smiled, “I’m glad you could make it.” “You
seriously thought I would miss this?” K asked, “I wouldn’t miss you going away
to college, you dummy!” K hugged Gaby tightly. Gaby
hugged back. “Thanks for seeing me off. I thought I would only have Nana with
me.” “I
was the one to apply you for college. And we are also best friends.” Gaby
nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, we are.” Nancy
glanced at the enlarged clock that hung above the escalators. “Gaby, it’s an
hour before your flight. We better get your luggage checked in and you up on
the second floor.” “Right!”
Gaby said as Nancy and K led the way. They checked in Gaby’s luggage and her
ticket was held within her passport in her hand. The trio walked to the
escalators and stopped just in front of the one going upwards. Gaby turned to
the two. “I’ll
miss you both,” she said, her eyes had gotten misty. K
and Nancy both hugged her. “We’ll
miss you too, Gaby,” K responded, tears formed in her tear ducts. “Make
sure you call,” Nancy warned her, “I swear, Gabriella. I will get on a plane
and go over there.” “I’ll
call! I promise!” Gaby shouted. She put a foot on a step and then her other
foot followed. She faced the both of them while riding the escalator backwards.
She waved her hand dramatically and yelled, “I love you both!” “We
love you too!” they shouted back. Gaby
turned around and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Tears were pouring
down her face rapidly. She quickly wiped them and slapped her cheeks to try and
rid them of puffiness. Upstairs was the metal
detectors and scanners. Since she had never flown before, everything was a
sight to take in. The airport personnel were surprisingly accommodating with
helping her get her things checked and such. When she passed through the
detectors and gotten her carry-on and luggage, she took out her ticket and
tried to find her terminal. “This
place is so big,” Gaby wondered to herself, “Will I get lost in here?” “What
are you looking for, Miss?” an airport personnel approached and asked her. “Oh,
um, I’m looking for this terminal.” She pointed to it on her ticket. “Ah,”
they said, “Just go some little more ways down and you’ll see it.” “Thank
you,” Gaby responded. She continued down the path. Several fast-food places and
shops were on the right of her while on the left were the terminals to get onto
the planes. She went down until she found her terminal and sat in one of the
waiting chairs. The
clock ticked on, and Gaby held onto her luggage tightly. Her knuckles turned
white from the hold, and her leg restlessly bounced. Her eyes darted all over
the place. She was nervous. “Now
boarding Flight A476 to Tokyo, Japan.” The voice over the intercom sounded. Gaby
sucked in a deep breath and gathered her luggage and bag. She placed her
luggage in the cart and gave her ticket to the airport attendee. Her legs felt
like lead as she walked down the hallway towards the plane. Her heartbeat
thudded loudly in her chest with each step. “I’ll
be okay. I’ll be okay.” Gaby chanted to herself. Passengers in front and behind
her went about their business like it was nothing. She followed the people in
front of her as they seemed to know where they were going. Gaby clutched her
carry-on and got onto the plane. It
took a while for everyone to board the plane. Gaby drummed her fingers on her
leg repeatedly, staring out the window in her window seat. She laid her head
back against the headrest and tried to calm her heart. “Nervous
flyer?” a voice asked her. Gaby
turned to see a boy with kind, brown eyes and soft brown locks pulled into a
manbun on his head. She blushed lightly and replied, “I’ve never flown before.
So probably?” “Never
flown before?!” the boy smiled excitedly, “Well let me tell you, friend, that
it is extremely fun. You might feel a bit apprehensive during the takeoff and
landing, but I’ll be right here if you need someone to hold onto.” Gaby’s
blush deepened. She fiddled with the strap on her carry-on nervously. She
wanted to break the silence, but she felt awkward sitting next to someone so
open with talking to a stranger. The
boy thrust his hand at her. “I’m Nathan. Nathan Guzman. Call me ‘Nate’,
‘Nathan’, ‘Natey-Boy’, but just don’t call me a ‘loser’ because I’m sensitive.” A
laugh forced its way out of Gaby, and she covered her mouth quickly to prevent
more from coming out. The boy, Nate, smiled brightly. “You
know, you look real cute when you laugh.” Nate stated, a sweet red tinted the
boy’s freckles across his nose. “I
was just thinking about your accent,” Gaby retorted. She bit her lip afterwards.
That had sounded a little insulting. Nate
placed a hand on his chest and, with a faked hurt expression, said, “Oh you
wound me, ma cherie. I come from
Montreal, Canada. And I speak both fluent English and French, but my accent is
definitely more on the French side. I apologize.” “No,
I’m sorry for being so blunt,” Gaby rushed out, “It isn’t bad at all! I’m Gaby,
by the way.” The
two shook hands. Nate’s grip on Gaby’s hand was gentle, and just when she was
going to let go and return her hand back to its original position on her bag,
he lifted it up to his lips and gave her knuckles a soft kiss. Gaby took her
hand back quickly, which prompted a laugh from Nate. “Sorry,”
he laughed gently, “If you feel a little flustered, I tend to have that effect
on women.” “More
like ‘creeped out’,” Gaby muttered. Nate’s
laugh grew louder. “Okay, okay. I’m truly sorry this time. I’ll stop. You are
just too funny, mon papillon. Yeah, that’s what I’ll call you. Mon papillon.” “What
does that mean?” Gaby asked. “What?”
Nate pretended not to hear before he changed the subject entirely, “Oh, I never
asked where you were from? You live here in San Francisco?” Gaby
shook her head. “No, I live in San Jose. Speaking of where we came from, why
are you here in San Francisco if you are from Montreal?” “Ah,
smart girl, you are. My brother happens to live here in San Fran. I decided to
spend a bit of time with him before flying off to Japan to go to Tokyo
University.” “What?!
You are going there too?!” Nate
smiled, “You are also going to Tokyo University?! How fortunate, mon papillon.
I hope that means we’ll be seeing more of each other.” “I’m
on that foreign exchange program they have,” Gaby explained, “I couldn’t afford
it otherwise.” “I
was also selected for that.” “Really?!” “Yes.
What a small world we live in. What major are you going into?” Gaby
replied, “Oh, I’ll be going into the Humanities major. I actually am unsure of
what I want to do, so I figured Humanities would be an easy start?” “I
am also going into the Humanities department,” Nate said, “Next thing you know,
we’ll be roomed together.” “WHAT?!”
Gaby squeaked, “No way! I’m in the girl’s dorm!” “I
know, mon papillon. No need to get nervous. I am a perfect gentleman. I
wouldn’t go as far as to live with a girl while unmarried.” “‘Perfect’,
yeah okay.” Gaby whispered to herself. Nate
chuckled, “You really are a funny girl, Gaby.” “We
are taking off shortly. Please buckle in your seatbelts during ascension.” The
captain told the passengers over the intercom. The buckle seatbelt sign was on,
and Gaby watched as Nate put on his seatbelt. Everything
felt too real for Gaby. She was going to be thousands of feet in the air. They
say that air travel is the safest way to travel, but what if they happen to
plummet while flying over the Pacific Ocean? Gaby can swim, sure, but out in
the open water like that and she would surely drown, right? How would it feel
to plunge into cold water infested with such things as sharks and other
unsavory creatures? Gaby felt her heartbeat quicken as her fingers gripped the
arm rests. Her knuckles turned white. “Gaby?”
Nate called to her, “Mon papillon, you alright?” Being
stranded out in the middle of the ocean wouldn’t be good. Why did she think she
could do this? She’s never even been outside of California, much less the
United States. If she died, how long would it take? Would she die from being
drowned? Would she be eaten? Would she freeze to death? “Gaby?”
Nate called again. He noticed her white knuckles and put his hand over hers.
This seemed to work because Gaby jolted in her seat. “Nate?
What?” she asked. “Are
you alright? You seem to be out of it.” “Uh,
I’m fine. Yeah. We’ll just be thousands of feet in the air over an ocean for
ten hours, and if it plummets- “. “No
worries, mon papillon. I’ll be right here with you, alright?” Gaby
slowly turned to him and nodded. Her eyes were glassy, as if she was still in
another place. The plane lurched forward and began its trek down the runway. Nate
upturned his hand to Gaby, gesturing for her to hold onto his hand. Gaby bit
her lip hesitantly, but she grabbed onto it and squeezed. The boy winced, but
he didn’t pull away. “You
know,” he began, “The first time I flew, my dad was with me. We flew to New
York to see my mom while she was interning for a fashion magazine. I was
extremely nervous to fly, but my dad kept me distracted by telling me useless,
but interesting facts about Canada. You want to hear some?” Gaby nodded, watching the plane move faster along the runway. Nate began spouting off facts about Canada while Gaby closed her eyes as she felt the plane tilt. They were ascending. Gaby took
a deep breath, and slowly let it back out. She sucked in another shaky breath,
her eyes tightly squeezed shut. Nate’s voice was deep and it resonated
pleasantly on her eardrums. It was very soothing to hear him speak. Somewhere
along the way, he switched from English to French. Gaby didn’t know if he did
it intentionally or unintentionally, but she didn’t mind. The French sounded
gentle, as if he were speaking to a child, yet it wasn’t condescending in
nature. She
relaxed into her seat, and her hold on his hand lessened to where they lightly
held hands. She noted his hands larger than hers and felt very warm, and her
hands must have been sweating at this point since she noticed. Has she ever
held hands with a boy before? She can’t seem to remember. Gaby
popped open an eye to look out the window. Why she wanted a window seat was
beyond her understanding. They were still ascending, but she could clearly see
the ocean below her. She could also see San Francisco still in the background.
The place looked tiny, and she giggled silently to herself at the sight. With
both eyes open at this point, she stared out the window. The ocean’s waved
lapped over each other, and the thought of plummeting came back to her. She
closed her eyes again and leaned back into her seat. Nate was still speaking in
French; he probably didn’t notice that Gaby had stopped listening, but then
again how could she listen intently when she didn’t even know what he was
saying? She opened her eyes to look at him, and he turned to her with a small
smile on his face. “Feel
better?” Gaby
nodded, “A little bit. Thanks.” “Of
course. Anything for mon papillon.” “Um…”
Gaby breathed in. The anxiety was feeling rather heavy on her. “You mentioned
your parents earlier. What are they like?” Nate
got uncharacteristically quiet. Gaby opened her eyes and found a frown on his
face. He noticed her stare and smiled once again. “Well…
my dad owns an auto shop in Montreal. He got it from his dad, who got it from
his dad, you know how family businesses go. He’s a hard a*s who wants his
business to be passed down to every generation. Now my mom is great. She is a
fashion blogger, currently. I told you that she interned at a fashion magazine
in New York, right? Well, she gained lots of experience from it and started her
own blog for all things fashion. She even has been making clothes herself. I
don’t know what she sees in my dad, but maybe he has a gold penis or
something.” Gaby
laughed loudly, “Oh my gosh, you did NOT just say that out loud.” “What?
That I think my dad has a golden penis and that’s the only reason my mom is
with him?” “You
said it again! Not only is that embarrassing to hear out loud, isn’t that
insulting your mother?” Nate
stopped to think about it. “Hmm, maybe? I guess it depends on how you look at
it?” “No
matter how I look at it, it sounds like you are insulting your mom by calling
her a gold digger,” Gaby stated. “We
all gotta make money somehow, right?” Gaby
shook her head, “Let’s change the subject. Tell me about your brother?” “Ah,”
Nate said, “He’s great. He’s super into robotics and wants to build giant
robots. He goes to some tech college in San Francisco, and he is captain of the
Robotics Team. Here’s the real kicker: his name is Nathaniel. Yup. We are
Nathan and Nathaniel. Nate and Nate, if you will.” “Wow!
Why would your parents do that?” “My
uncle and my dad made a bet in a game of pool and my uncle won.” Gaby
raised a brow, “Are you joking with me?” Nate
smirked, “How’d you guess? Too farfetched of a joke? They literally named us
that because they could. I guess they thought it’d be funny. But jokes on them
because we were terrors as children. We’d pretend to be each other, even though
we look nothing alike, so my mom would call one of us and the other would show
up. She got really frustrated at us for those times. We’d also pour vegetable
oil all over the kitchen floor and start crying so Mom would run in and slip on
the oil.” “Jeez!”
Gaby said, “You could have seriously hurt her, you know.” “Yeah,
but we were stupid kids. That’s what we did to entertain ourselves since we
didn’t have a PlayStation or Xbox. I’m glad I have a 3DS to relieve my boredom
now, but I really wish I had an Xbox at least.” “I’m
more of a PlayStation gal, myself,” Gaby responded, “But I also have a 3DS. In
fact, I have it with me right now.” “Oh
yeah? I have mine with me too! Think we can play together?” “Depends.
Do you have any Pokémon games?” Gaby asked. Nate
placed his carry-on bag on his lap and plucked out several Pokémon games out of
it, “Duh.” Gaby
smiled and grabbed her 3DS along with some games out as well. The plane had
stabilized and the seatbelt sign switched off, so they were free to roam the
plane. The two battled their Pokémon teams throughout several games. Gaby won
the majority, surprisingly since she didn’t strategize like Nate did. “You’re
not letting me win, right? Because if you were, that’s not a win to me,” Gaby
said while tapping her short nails on her 3DS. “How
could I let you win during Pokémon?” Nate asked, “It isn’t as if I’m purposely
using ineffective moves against your Pokémon.” “You
better not be! I’d be super pissed!” “Oh,
mon papillon, how cute you look when you’re mad.” “Fight
me again, loser.” “Whoa!
I told you that I am sensitive!” The
two eventually switched to Super Smash Brothers Brawl, where Gaby could easily
see if Nate was taking it easy on her. And she believed him when he said he
wasn’t taking it easy. He played primarily as Ike, but sometimes he would
switch it up to play as Sheik. Gaby played as Ness, but Marth was a close
second. The two were locked in several fierce battles, but Nate won the five
out of nine games they played. Their 3DS’s lights both flashed red. “Uh
oh,” Nate stated, “Looks like we played too much.” “Yeah,”
Gaby responded, “But it was fun.” “Definitely,”
Nate agreed, “We’ll have to do it again sometime, after we charge our 3DS’s
first.” Gaby
nodded. She put her stuff back into her bag and looked out the window. The
ocean was still under them with no signs of land anywhere. The sight didn’t
feel so bad anymore. Maybe it was because of Nate’s presence? Gaby shrugged
inwardly. “Tell
me about your family, Gaby,” Nate broke the short silence between them, “I’ve
told you about mine, yeah?” “Yeah,
okay,” Gaby replied, “But there isn’t much to tell. I live with my
grandparents. And my grandma, she didn’t really want me going to Tokyo
University, but I convinced her to let me go.” “Oh
yeah?” Nate inquired, “I can relate to that. Dad didn’t want me going either.” “You
convinced him, too?” “Uh,
something like that.” Gaby
raised a brow, but she didn’t question any further. Nate did not seem willing
to continue with the explanation, so it was best to let it go. The time seemed
to go by extremely slow. The two continued to play around by playing games such
as Ro-Sham-Bo (or Rochambeau, as Nate spelled it), Tic-Tac-Toe (paper and
pencil curtesy of Gaby’s carry-on), Hangman, and Two Truths and a Lie. Gaby’s
favorite had been Two Truths and a Lie, because she was surprisingly good at
finding Nate’s lies. Though he was probably going easy on her, considering one
of the lies was “I am Neil Armstrong”. “Only
three hours to go,” Nate mused, “Time is going by pretty fast.” Gaby
disagreed, “It’s going by super slow. Ugh. I’m anxious. And hungry. Damn, I
wish there was a McDonald’s on this plane.” Nate
laughed, “That’s in first-class, mon papillon.” “Really?!” Nate
shrugged with a smile. Gaby frowned. She leaned into her chair and stared out
the window. The chair wasn’t too bad, but it was slightly scratchy on Gaby’s
bare legs. What a time to wear shorts. The girl rubbed the sore spots on her
thighs from the fabric. The ocean carried on as far as Gaby’s eyes could see.
She rubbed said eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Bored?”
Nate asked. “A
little,” Gaby responded. “Take
a nap. I’ll wake you up if you sleep for too long.” Gaby nodded and reclined her seat as far as it allowed. Thankfully the plane had a
comfortable space between chairs so Gaby wouldn’t infringe on anyone else’s
space. She stared out at the clear blue sky. The color was beautiful. Her eyes
batted slower and slower, until she closed her eyes and went to sleep. It
seemed like only a minute had gone by when she was being shaken gently awake. “Mon
papillon,” Nate called softly, “Mon papillon, we’re descending.” Gaby
shook her head, relieving herself of the sleepiness she had. She glanced out
the window to see all the large buildings that seemed to touch the sky. The
plane was close to the airport, and Gaby got ready to eventually get off the
plane. She saw Nate mirroring her with his own stuff. The
plane touched down and slowly skirted to a stop on the runway. Gaby’s legs
bounced restlessly. She was ready to go and explore the city. Maybe not
‘explore’ per se, since it was so large, but she could do a little exploring
while on her way to the university. She looked over at Nate, who smiled sweetly
at her, and she returned said smile. The
door opened and the captain bid everyone a farewell. Everyone got up and formed
a single-file line towards the door. Nate offered to carry Gaby’s bag, but she
politely declined. She needed something to squeeze all her anxiety out on. When
they finally got out of the plane, the pair headed into the airport. The Tokyo
Airport was massive, Gaby didn’t know if the Tokyo or the San Francisco Airport
was larger. Both seemed to go on forever. The
place was packed with a plethora of diverse people. Gaby was glad to have Nate
with her because she definitely would have gotten lost if she was on her own. “We
should get our bags before we find our buddies,” Nate suggested. Gaby
raised a brow, “Buddies?” Nate
nodded, “Yeah. The university assigns one native student to buddy up with a foreign
student. It helps both students in the long-run. Didn’t you read your packet?” Gaby
huffed in embarrassment, “Look, I was too busy being excited, okay?” The
boy laughed and ruffled her hair, to which she slapped his hand away. She
stomped away from him, but only slightly since she didn’t want to get lost. The
two made their way over to the baggage claim area designated for the plane that
they had just departed from. They waited patiently for the bags to make their
way down the rotating machine. Nate’s bag, Gaby saw, had a cute maple leaf
pattern that made her laugh lightly. How very Canadian. And Gaby’s Marvel
luggage came through, which Nate commented a “Nice!” and high-fived her. “You
think our buddies know English?” Gaby asked as they headed out of the area. “Probably,”
Nate said, “I’d assumed so because even though we had that grueling Japanese Proficiency
Test, it’s not like we can fully grasp the language. That’s why we’re here to
learn.” “Japanese
Proficiency Test?” Gaby asked. Nate
gave her a confused look. “Yeah. To apply to their program, you had to take two
standardized tests. One was a simple standardized test for many subjects, and
then they had the Japanese language test so they could weed out the people who
just wanted to go to Japan because they liked anime and stuff. Gaby, you did
those, right? I mean, you got in.” Sweat
formed nervously behind Gaby’s neck. She swallowed a lump in her throat before
she shouted, “Of course I did those! I was just messing with you!” If
Nate thought she was being suspicious, he didn’t let on. “Oh gosh, mon papillon.
You scared me for a second.” Gaby
laughed nervously. She refused to look him in the eye as she dug out her new
smartphone her grandmother got her as a present. She quickly typed a message to
K back in the U.S. The message read: “We
need to talk.” “Ah!”
Nate exclaimed, “I think those are our buddies! Is your last name ‘Garnica’?” Gaby
nodded. She looked over to where he had been pointing and saw two people, a boy
and a girl, standing a bit far from each other, but they both held up signs.
The boy, who had odd, bright purple hair formed into a fauxhawk, smiled
brightly at them and held a sign that said, ‘Nathan Guzman’. The girl, who looked
extremely bored, had strawberry blonde hair in a high ponytail and bright red
lipstick, held a sign that said, ‘Gabriella Garnica’. “Yeah,
I think those are our buddies!” Nate waved at the two, “Yooo! What’s up?!” The
boy waved back excitedly and said with a heavy accent, “Yo, dude! You Nathan?!” “Yup!
Call me ‘Nate’, my dude.” He shook the guy’s hand, “What’s your name?” “Takashi
Yuki. But call me ‘Ricky’.” The two shared a laugh at this. Gaby
smiled at the two and turned to her own buddy, hoping to make the same
connection with her, but her buddy glared at her and examined her nails, which were
press-on nails covered in jewels. The girl looked Gaby up and down, and
sneered. “Gabriella?”
she asked, her accent wasn’t as thick. Gaby
nodded, “Yeah! And you?” The other girl raised a brow and barked out a laugh. “Yamada. Yuka. I can’t believe
you are the girl who scored 100% on both tests.” Nate
and his buddy, Ricky, both gasped and said, at the same time, “YOU are the ‘Legend’?!” “Legend?”
Gaby asked, “What did I do?!” Yuka,
still with a bored look, continued, “You scored 100% on both standardized tests
for the Foreign Program. I’m amazed that such a plain looking girl happened to
do that. I’m not one for compliments, but I have to congratulate you on that.
Don’t get used to it.” Nate
rushed to Gaby’s side and shouted out, “I heard that a student got 100% on both
tests, but I didn’t really believe it! I thought it was just a myth! I got a
decent score, but those tests are notoriously hard! How’d you do it?!” Panicked
rose in Gaby’s being. All three of them stared at her intently. She felt her
fingers start to tingle, her blood pressure was definitely rising. She opened
her mouth, but nothing came out. Her phone buzzed and she thanked God for the
save. “H-Hold
on a moment,” she said to the others as she picked up her phone. It was a text
message from K. It read: “Yeah? What’s
up?” Gaby
frantically texted back: “I’M GOING TO
CALL YOU LATER TO CHEW YOUR BUTT OUT. BE READY.” Putting
her phone back into her pocket, she laughed a nervous laugh and addressed the
others, “I just did what I do best… hehehe.” Nate
and Ricky looked impressed, but Yuka scoffed and her sneer grew. Gaby shrank in
her own skin. Yuka seemed extremely judgmental, and Gaby didn’t know how to
handle that. It was a shame that she couldn’t have a buddy like Ricky who
seemed pretty carefree, from what she has seen anyways. “Dude,”
said boy, Ricky, talked to Gaby, “When we heard that someone did that well on
the tests, my girlfriend, Miya-Chan, told me, ‘Why can’t you be that smart,
Yu-Kun?! You make me look bad!’ and I replied with, ‘Miya-Chan, why must you
hurt me so bad?!’ And then I cried and she beat me up, but then she bought me
ice cream. What was I talking about again?” Nate
and Gaby both shared a look. This guy was an oddball, which you could tell
straight away by the crazy hair and fast-talking he seemed to do. He racked his
brain to remember what he had been saying, “I usually forget what my point is
when I start talking about Miya-Chan. My sweet, beautiful Miya-Chan. She is the
prettiest, most beautiful, sweet, kind, gentle, smart, hard-working, and lovely
angel! She is even better than Suzuki Emiri!” He
seemed like he was going to go on forever, but Nate cut him off by saying, “You
were talking about Gaby getting 100% on the tests.” “RIGHT,”
Ricky exclaimed, “The whole school knows about ‘The Legend’! There has been
other Legends, but you are the second foreign student to be one of them. It’s
been ages since the last one though, so everyone is super excited to meet you!
I can’t believe Mean Yamada gets to be your buddy!” Yuka
slammed her high heel into Ricky’s foot, smiling widely as he squealed. “I WAS
excited,” Yuka stated, looking Gaby up and down once more, “Until I saw what a
disappointment she was.” Gaby
huffed. How rude could this girl get? Yuka gave Gaby a challenging glare, which
Gaby was involuntarily giving back. Yuka began to growl, and Nate quickly
stepped in. “Okay,
let’s all settle down,” Nate said, “How about we head to campus? Yeah?” It
was Yuka who broke the stare off as she walked away from them with speed. Gaby
and the others had to run to catch up with her, even though she was in heels.
Yuka led them to the station, where they would take the bullet train to the
university. They got on without any obstacles, and once they were on, Gaby
began to feel excitement once more. She
had never been on a train before. She took a seat next to Nate, because she
would be damned if she had to sit next to her supposed buddy, Yuka. Yuka seemed
put off by it because when Gaby chose to sit next to Nate, Yuka scoffed and
turned away from them. While
Nate and Ricky chatted away, Gaby stared out the window with sparkles in her
eyes. The scenery moved quickly, and her eyes had to keep up with the rapid
movement. The train wasn’t too crowded, thank goodness, so Gaby was a comfortable
space away from any strangers. And since she was close to Nate, who wouldn’t
let anything happen to her, hopefully, she could let her guard down to take all
of it in. She
was finally in Japan. Many, including herself, have said she’d never be able to
go, but she had done it. Or so she thought. Her mind lingered on the fact that
Ricky, Nate, and Yuka have called her the “Legend”, meaning she had scored 100%
on both tests required for Tokyo University. Only a few people have done it,
yet Gaby was one of them. Here was the twist; Gaby never took any tests. She
just got the letter saying that she was in. In fact, her tutor, K, was the one
to apply for her. Did that mean… “Gaby?”
Nate asked when he swore he could see smoke coming out of Gaby’s head, “You
okay, mon papillon?” Gaby’s
brain stopped working so hard in an instant. She gave Nate a smile and replied,
“Yup! Just super excited to get to Uni!” Nate
mirrored the smile. “It’ll be so fun! I’m sure we’ll have some of the same
classes since we have the same major! And we can study together, if you want!” “Of
course! I’ll need all the help I can get!” Nate
laughed and went back to talking with Ricky. Gaby turned back towards the
window, and in the reflection, she saw Yuka’s searing glare. Maybe she was onto
Gaby before Gaby was onto anything. Gaby bit her lip in anxiousness and tried
to calm herself. She’d just have to ask K what the heck happened. And hopefully
it wouldn’t be bad. © 2019 RaeAuthor's Note
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5 Reviews Added on June 8, 2011 Last Updated on January 23, 2019 Dorm Life
Chapter One
By Rae
Chapter Two
By Rae
Chapter Three
By Rae
Chapter Four
By Rae
Chapter Five
By Rae
Chapter Six
By Rae
Chapter Seven
By Rae
Chapter Eight
By Rae
Chapter Nine
By Rae
Chapter Ten
By RaeAuthorRaeAboutSome interesting facts about me: I'm non-binary and use They/Them pronouns, I'm a Taurus, and I have severe depression that self-sabotages me every waking moment. I've been writing since I was in 5.. more..Writing
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