Chapter 2

“Grr, it’s so like Miriam to be late…” Simone muttered under her breath, leaning against the rail outside the coffee house.

A mistake.

Her elbow slipped, knocking down a motorcycle. Then another. And another. Until a row of motorcycles were fallen on top of each other. Simone gasped and stepped away, bumping into something hard behind her. She turned around slowly, and in front of her were a group of angry looking delinquents.

            “Whadduh fuh ‘ou do, stup’ g’rl!” One of them slurred, drunkly waving his arms around.

            “Ahh, I can’t really understand you, so I’ll just be on my way now…” They jabbered some other words that made absolutely no sense and cornered her. Fear shot through every limb of her body.

            “H-hey!” she heard a nervous voice of a young boy. “L-leave her alone!” The delinquents immediately whipped around. They snarled some words at the boy and the one that had yelled at Simone pushed him to the ground, ready to beat him, until a group of villagers came out from the shops and from their cars and surrounded them. Sweating, the delinquent gave the boy one last kick before running off with his friends. Satisfied, the group of villagers went on with their day.

            Simone jogged over to the boy and held out her hand. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” The boy took her hand and got up. He was a couple inches taller than her, with blonde clean-cut hair and a sweet, mellow face.

            “What are you sorry for, Miriam? They were harassing you, dummy, not the other way around.” He laughed and patted her head.

            Simone, confused, realized he was probably a friend of her sisters. Blushing, she thanked him.

            “It’s what friends are for, right?” He stated, scratching the back of his head awkwardly and flashing her a grin. “Well, no one messes with my friends, at least. And look how many people came out to help you, of course it’s expected, you being the daughter of the Sonozaki family and all.”

            “R-right…” she stuttered, and he beamed at her. She blushed even more, her heart skipping a beat.

            “Heee-eeey!” Miriam called out from behind, making her way towards them. When the boy saw Miriam, he jumped back.

            “Wait, what?” he asked, baffled.

            Miriam explained to the boy, whose name was Michael, that Simone was her twin sister and was staying at the hotel near Golden Bull for a while to visit. Michael seemed a little lost, but accepted it abruptly. Simone acknowledged how easily her sister told him all of this, which meant he was very trustworthy.

            “Well, nice to meet you then, Simone. I’ll be seeing you at school, won’t I?” he said, smiling.

            “Oh, um, I don’t know…”

            “No, you definitely should! Then you get to see everyone else too. So come, okay?”

            “I don’t know if I can, but I can try,” Simone said, smiling back at him shyly.

            “Good,” He said, patting her back. “I have to get going now. See you guys later.”

            “B-bye!” Simone sputtered out.

            Miriam snorted at Simone’s stuttering and awkwardness. “Bye, Michael.”

            Simone knew it was love at first sight. Michael’s soft, gentle voice made her feel so safe and protected. His genuinely nice, caring personality triggered her emotions, making her also want to be a nice and caring person. Simone wanted to get to know him better, to spend more time with him. She turned to Miriam.

            “I have a favor to ask you, Miriam…”