I awoke with a start; sweat drenching my blanket. As I sat up I felt something hard hit my head. "OW! Shit, Dani!" a familiar voice shouted. "It's not my fault you have a hard head Jase." Ahh, Jase, otherwise known as Jason (A.K.A my older brother). "Anyways what are you doing in my room?" I asked flamboyantly. "Waking you up for school. You're going to be late if you don't get up, and it's only the first day." he said as he walked out and slammed the door. Ugh! That's right, it's August 25, 2020. This is the one day a year that he's always grumpy on, (believe it or not it's not because of school) it's because it's our birthday. Our parents normally only celebrate me per his request, he asked not to celebrate on the same day, so tomorrow we'll celebrate him. Although, this year is my sixteenth birthday.
I opened the closet door and looked inside. I looked in the little mirror hanging in the door and saw a red mark on my forehead. "Ugh! Great, that's definitely going to bruise." I said to myself. I shook my head and looked over at my clothes. I had to find something to wear that would go well with my straight, long black hair and misty blue eyes. I noticed a plain black tank top hiding in the back and then right next to it was a translucent green zebra print crop top. I grabbed the both of them before I walked over to my dresser and grabbed my black leggings. I slipped off my camo tank top and short-shorts before I pulled up my leggings and put my shirts on. I smiled looking down at my outfit, it looked pretty cute. I walked over to my restroom and looked in the mirror. If you were just paying attention to the way my body was shaped with the clothes draped over, I looked a-ma-zing. Now if you were paying attention to my face and hair you would probably scream your fucking head off. My hair was standing up on its own, going in all sorts of crazy directions. I had bags under my eyes that made it look like I hadn't slept in months. I sighed. "I look like my brother took a shit and threw up all over the walls." This was unacceptable. I grabbed my brush and ran it through my hair. It was a bit better but still not where I wanted it so I grabbed my straightener and ran that through my hair as well. I smiled, 'Much better.' I thought to myself. I put on a slight amount of makeup not wanting to overdo it. "Alright, I'm ready for school now," I say as I walk out of my room and into my hallway. Yes, my hallway. My room is under the house in the basement. The seclusion is really nice with the way my brother is, although it doesn't always work. I also don't like dealing with Jason's girlfriend Kari. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Kari... I do, but when she and Jason are together it's sickening. Normally my brother is a major asshole but bringing Kari around makes him act like a love-struck puppy. I'm getting off track. The seclusion's great but my brother is really heavy. He'll sit on the panel door in the living room just to mess with me, and it works. So as I'm trying to get into the living room I push on the panel and it won't budge. "Ugh! Jason, get your fat-ass off my door!"
"Sorry sis, I can't hear you." I can hear the smirk in his voice. I start to growl as my frustration rises. "MOOOM!" I scream loudly to get my mother's attention. I can faintly hear her voice as she tells Jason to move. "But mom..." I can hear him say. "What's the point of being a big brother if you can't pick on your younger siblings?" THAT was a lie. "Excuse me? Jason Micheal Kyoko, you may be older than me, but I sure act older than you!" I could hear him chortle. Ugh! He was such an asshole. Why did he have to do this every day? I could hear the door open as my father walked inside, just getting off work. "Hey kiddo," he said to Jason. "Look what I found outside." as he said that I could hear footsteps coming inside. Oh my god, yes! Kari, you are a life-saver! As she walked in I could hear my panel squeak as the weight was released from on top of it. I knew I had to be quick so I lifted the panel and climbed into the living room before I went and sat on the couch. I huffed with relief as my father sat in his chair. He chuckled at me and my frustration. "I'm glad things have worked out the way that they have," he said. "What do you mean by that Dad, there are many things that could mean?" I asked in reply. "Your brother and Kari, they look so happy together. But you'll always be my baby girl without a boyfriend until you're eighteen." I scoffed. "The only reason I'm not in a relationship yet is that I haven't found the guy for me." My mom walked into the room behind the couch and kissed my forehead. " Happy birthday you two." I smiled over at her as my brother and I spoke in unison, "Thanks, Mom." He looked at me. "Just because you're my sister doesn't mean you have the right to read my mind." I rolled my eyes. My brother and I, of course, weren't twins but for some reason, we always knew what the other was thinking. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I stood up and opened it up. It was my best friends Tamiya and Sam. Tamiya was amazing, she knew me inside and out but she was a bit of a computer geek. She had a strange sense of fashion, she had to wear a tie. Even with dresses! I loved her anyway. Sam was chill, he was a Gothic boy. The funniest thing about him was that his family was loaded but he didn't want anything to do with it. He wanted no part of the money or the company his father ran. He also hated meat, the smell was enough to make him vomit. I guess you could say we were the outcasts of our school if you thought like that. We weren't though, for some strange nonsensical reason the three of us were the most popular kids in the school, even for Sophomores. I smiled at them and said goodbye to my family before I stepped outside.
"Hey, guys! How have you guys been?" I asked with true intrigue.
It looked as if Tamiya was about to speak before Sam beat her to it. "Ugh! Don't even get me started. So that trip my parents took me on to "learn the beauty of bright colors and the importance of meat in your diet" was horrifically boring. I was just glad when it was over and I could go back to my normal every-day life and so I could see my two best buds."
Tamiya and I smiled at him. "Awh! Sam has went and gone soft on us Tami."
She laughed. "You said it, Dani."
"Ugh. Are you girls always like this? And you Dani, those colors are too bright."
"I'm not a mole like you Sam. I enjoy my bright neon colors." I retorted back.
"Well let's get going before we end up late you guys. Carpe diem, you know." Tamiya said to us. So laughing and chatting the three of us walked the three and a half blocks to Casper High School. Heaven and Hell all wrapped up in one with a nice little bow. Now you might be wondering why I say that. Just wait and see.
. . .
As we walked up the thirty-five steps to the front door of the school we could already hear the boys gawking about the school's Senior beauty queen, Desiree. As Tamiya, Sam and I walked inside the giant twelve-foot double-doors we could see the large group of jocks surrounding poor, sweet and innocent Desiree. Hah! What a load of bull-shit! Desiree was the exact opposite of all that. She was like the Wicked Witch of the West and that would've made me Dorthy, Tamiya - Glenda the Good Witch and Sam... Oh god! There he was, at it again. Desiree truly was an evil bitch! She even had Sam drooling over her. Her clothes were even brighter than mine and there was Sam; eyes wide, jaw dropped, drooling and mumbling the girl's name. Tamiya and I just rolled our eyes and shook our heads as we walked off leaving him behind. Before we headed off to our homerooms we stopped by our lockers together to put our textbooks inside. After shutting our lockers, we headed towards our homerooms since they were right across the hall from each other.
Tamiya and I walked to our homerooms even though we still had twenty minutes before the first bell rang. Good thing too, because as soon as I walked in and put my bag down I was called to the principal's office over the P.A system. Ugh! Just my luck. I grabbed my bag and made the trip across the building to the office. I sat down in the waiting area until I was called back into Mr. Tanaka's office. Teresa told me that he was available and that I should go in his office now. I thanked her before I walked into his office and sat down on the other side of his desk. Something was wrong. Mr. Tanaka isn't known for being the most strict or uptight of people so to see his usually welcoming, wrinkled face so grim was unsettling. He stood there quietly for seconds before moving in his seat and lacing his lightly wrinkled fingers. He looked at me, his eyes were worried. I smiled to try and ease the tension in the air but he regards my smile with the same look. He finally spoke. “I apologize for the silence, Ms. Kyoko but I...” He paused then sighed before continuing. “I have just received a very, very disturbing phone call. I don’t know how to say it any other way but I am afraid that your parents and brother... They’re... They’re dead...” I froze before the last sensible part of me asked. “H-how?” My voice was trembling and my eyes started to drip with tears. I wouldn’t normally believe something like this but mister Tanaka would never dare joke about something as serious as what he just told me. He spoke again. “A car accident. It happened earlier this morning. According to the paramedics, they all died at the scene.” I swallowed nervously hoping that it wasn't anything to do with the fact that my family was Yakuza. "Your brother and parents were in a car crash today, they were announced dead on the scene. At least that’s what the person on the other end of the phone said... I want you to go away for a few months at least. You need time, time to adjust.” I didn't know what to say. I felt as if my heart was just ripped out of my chest, I couldn't breathe. Before I started crying I grabbed my bag and ran out not saying a word to Mr. Tanaka. I ran out of the office as fast as I could, I even ran into someone in the halls sending us both flying. My notebooks flew out of my bag, they were strewn all over the floor. While still on the floor, I looked up at the person I ran into. A handsome boy around my age. He had neat black hair and light green eyes. He had a white and black scarf wrapped around his neck with an abstract pattern. I saw thick scars crawling out from above his scarf. He said nothing. He didn’t even look at me. He only sighed and opened his locker. I quickly gathered my books before I got back up on my feet now sobbing from the sudden pain of being alone. "I-I'm sorry... I... I gotta go!" I held my bag and notebooks close to my chest as I ran out of the school. Knowing that my brother and parents were never coming home I ran to end of our small town in the middle of nowhere. I dropped my bag and sat down crying into my knees. I never thought my last words to my family would actually be good-bye. I heard footsteps drawing near and I pulled my knees closer to my chest. The footsteps stopped and I looked up to see who it was. My eyes widened with fear as I saw the exact same creature from my dreams. I started to breathe heavily as I jumped up and ran. Instead of running towards the next town I ran back towards my home. I knew if I had run into the next town I would have run into the woods and would've been killed, just like in my dream (although I always woke up before my gruesome death).
I ran to my house and made the door fly open as I immediately shut it behind me and locked it. I peeked through the curtains to see if it had followed me this far. It was gone, I couldn't see it. I sighed with relief. I was safe with what I knew. I walked upstairs and down the hall towards my parents' room for what seemed like forever. I slowly opened the door and looked around. I started to cry to myself as I walked in and closed the door. I walked up to their bed and crawled in like I was six again. I folded the pillows to where they had the same basic shape as my parents. I started bawling as I settled in. "Good-night Mom, good-night Dad." I said as I kissed the pillows and fell into a despair-filled abyss-like sleep.
. . .
The next three months went by in a blur. Every simple task, such as, taking a shower and eating became impossible to do. I felt like I had done enough grieving and feeling sorry for myself. I had to get out of this funk and go back to school. I put on a simple school uniform since it was no longer my birthday and that was the only day I was allowed to wear normal clothes. I walked outside for the first time since that day I lost everything. I turned around and locked the door before I walked to the school alone. I walked into my homeroom and looked around for an empty seat and sat down.
After I went and sat down in the empty seat a tall, bulky, blonde boy with a Letterman's jacket walked up and sat in the seat next to me. "Hey cutie, name's Jun. I'm on the football team, ya know... on varsity. Anyways, I haven't seen you around before. Are you new to Casper High?" Yup, my first day back at school and I already had someone trying to flirt with me. I sighed and just ignored him as I pulled out my phone to listen to music. I closed my eyes and mouthed the words to every song until I heard the first bell ring over "My Sacrifice" by Creed. I took my earbuds out and turned my phone on silent. I put them in my bag and pulled out my notebook. Miss Kino walked into the room and we all stood up to bow showing her respect. "Sit down class," she said and we all sat back down in unison.
"Aro?" A boy responded saying, "Here." This continued on and on until "I don't expect her to be here because of the three-month elusion but... Danielle?" I sighed. "Here ma'am.
"Oh? You are here Miss Kyoko! How nice of you to grace us with your presence." I sighed. "I apologize, ma'am, I was given permission from Mr. Tanaka to be out of school. Here's all of your classwork for the past three months." I pulled a folder out of my bag and walked it up to her desk. She picked it up and looked through the immense stack of Trigonometry papers. I walked back to my seat and sat down.
I opened the closet door and looked inside. I looked in the little mirror hanging in the door and saw a red mark on my forehead. "Ugh! Great, that's definitely going to bruise." I said to myself. I shook my head and looked over at my clothes. I had to find something to wear that would go well with my straight, long black hair and misty blue eyes. I noticed a plain black tank top hiding in the back and then right next to it was a translucent green zebra print crop top. I grabbed the both of them before I walked over to my dresser and grabbed my black leggings. I slipped off my camo tank top and short-shorts before I pulled up my leggings and put my shirts on. I smiled looking down at my outfit, it looked pretty cute. I walked over to my restroom and looked in the mirror. If you were just paying attention to the way my body was shaped with the clothes draped over, I looked a-ma-zing. Now if you were paying attention to my face and hair you would probably scream your fucking head off. My hair was standing up on its own, going in all sorts of crazy directions. I had bags under my eyes that made it look like I hadn't slept in months. I sighed. "I look like my brother took a shit and threw up all over the walls." This was unacceptable. I grabbed my brush and ran it through my hair. It was a bit better but still not where I wanted it so I grabbed my straightener and ran that through my hair as well. I smiled, 'Much better.' I thought to myself. I put on a slight amount of makeup not wanting to overdo it. "Alright, I'm ready for school now," I say as I walk out of my room and into my hallway. Yes, my hallway. My room is under the house in the basement. The seclusion is really nice with the way my brother is, although it doesn't always work. I also don't like dealing with Jason's girlfriend Kari. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Kari... I do, but when she and Jason are together it's sickening. Normally my brother is a major asshole but bringing Kari around makes him act like a love-struck puppy. I'm getting off track. The seclusion's great but my brother is really heavy. He'll sit on the panel door in the living room just to mess with me, and it works. So as I'm trying to get into the living room I push on the panel and it won't budge. "Ugh! Jason, get your fat-ass off my door!"
"Sorry sis, I can't hear you." I can hear the smirk in his voice. I start to growl as my frustration rises. "MOOOM!" I scream loudly to get my mother's attention. I can faintly hear her voice as she tells Jason to move. "But mom..." I can hear him say. "What's the point of being a big brother if you can't pick on your younger siblings?" THAT was a lie. "Excuse me? Jason Micheal Kyoko, you may be older than me, but I sure act older than you!" I could hear him chortle. Ugh! He was such an asshole. Why did he have to do this every day? I could hear the door open as my father walked inside, just getting off work. "Hey kiddo," he said to Jason. "Look what I found outside." as he said that I could hear footsteps coming inside. Oh my god, yes! Kari, you are a life-saver! As she walked in I could hear my panel squeak as the weight was released from on top of it. I knew I had to be quick so I lifted the panel and climbed into the living room before I went and sat on the couch. I huffed with relief as my father sat in his chair. He chuckled at me and my frustration. "I'm glad things have worked out the way that they have," he said. "What do you mean by that Dad, there are many things that could mean?" I asked in reply. "Your brother and Kari, they look so happy together. But you'll always be my baby girl without a boyfriend until you're eighteen." I scoffed. "The only reason I'm not in a relationship yet is that I haven't found the guy for me." My mom walked into the room behind the couch and kissed my forehead. " Happy birthday you two." I smiled over at her as my brother and I spoke in unison, "Thanks, Mom." He looked at me. "Just because you're my sister doesn't mean you have the right to read my mind." I rolled my eyes. My brother and I, of course, weren't twins but for some reason, we always knew what the other was thinking. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I stood up and opened it up. It was my best friends Tamiya and Sam. Tamiya was amazing, she knew me inside and out but she was a bit of a computer geek. She had a strange sense of fashion, she had to wear a tie. Even with dresses! I loved her anyway. Sam was chill, he was a Gothic boy. The funniest thing about him was that his family was loaded but he didn't want anything to do with it. He wanted no part of the money or the company his father ran. He also hated meat, the smell was enough to make him vomit. I guess you could say we were the outcasts of our school if you thought like that. We weren't though, for some strange nonsensical reason the three of us were the most popular kids in the school, even for Sophomores. I smiled at them and said goodbye to my family before I stepped outside.
"Hey, guys! How have you guys been?" I asked with true intrigue.
It looked as if Tamiya was about to speak before Sam beat her to it. "Ugh! Don't even get me started. So that trip my parents took me on to "learn the beauty of bright colors and the importance of meat in your diet" was horrifically boring. I was just glad when it was over and I could go back to my normal every-day life and so I could see my two best buds."
Tamiya and I smiled at him. "Awh! Sam has went and gone soft on us Tami."
She laughed. "You said it, Dani."
"Ugh. Are you girls always like this? And you Dani, those colors are too bright."
"I'm not a mole like you Sam. I enjoy my bright neon colors." I retorted back.
"Well let's get going before we end up late you guys. Carpe diem, you know." Tamiya said to us. So laughing and chatting the three of us walked the three and a half blocks to Casper High School. Heaven and Hell all wrapped up in one with a nice little bow. Now you might be wondering why I say that. Just wait and see.
. . .
As we walked up the thirty-five steps to the front door of the school we could already hear the boys gawking about the school's Senior beauty queen, Desiree. As Tamiya, Sam and I walked inside the giant twelve-foot double-doors we could see the large group of jocks surrounding poor, sweet and innocent Desiree. Hah! What a load of bull-shit! Desiree was the exact opposite of all that. She was like the Wicked Witch of the West and that would've made me Dorthy, Tamiya - Glenda the Good Witch and Sam... Oh god! There he was, at it again. Desiree truly was an evil bitch! She even had Sam drooling over her. Her clothes were even brighter than mine and there was Sam; eyes wide, jaw dropped, drooling and mumbling the girl's name. Tamiya and I just rolled our eyes and shook our heads as we walked off leaving him behind. Before we headed off to our homerooms we stopped by our lockers together to put our textbooks inside. After shutting our lockers, we headed towards our homerooms since they were right across the hall from each other.
Tamiya and I walked to our homerooms even though we still had twenty minutes before the first bell rang. Good thing too, because as soon as I walked in and put my bag down I was called to the principal's office over the P.A system. Ugh! Just my luck. I grabbed my bag and made the trip across the building to the office. I sat down in the waiting area until I was called back into Mr. Tanaka's office. Teresa told me that he was available and that I should go in his office now. I thanked her before I walked into his office and sat down on the other side of his desk. Something was wrong. Mr. Tanaka isn't known for being the most strict or uptight of people so to see his usually welcoming, wrinkled face so grim was unsettling. He stood there quietly for seconds before moving in his seat and lacing his lightly wrinkled fingers. He looked at me, his eyes were worried. I smiled to try and ease the tension in the air but he regards my smile with the same look. He finally spoke. “I apologize for the silence, Ms. Kyoko but I...” He paused then sighed before continuing. “I have just received a very, very disturbing phone call. I don’t know how to say it any other way but I am afraid that your parents and brother... They’re... They’re dead...” I froze before the last sensible part of me asked. “H-how?” My voice was trembling and my eyes started to drip with tears. I wouldn’t normally believe something like this but mister Tanaka would never dare joke about something as serious as what he just told me. He spoke again. “A car accident. It happened earlier this morning. According to the paramedics, they all died at the scene.” I swallowed nervously hoping that it wasn't anything to do with the fact that my family was Yakuza. "Your brother and parents were in a car crash today, they were announced dead on the scene. At least that’s what the person on the other end of the phone said... I want you to go away for a few months at least. You need time, time to adjust.” I didn't know what to say. I felt as if my heart was just ripped out of my chest, I couldn't breathe. Before I started crying I grabbed my bag and ran out not saying a word to Mr. Tanaka. I ran out of the office as fast as I could, I even ran into someone in the halls sending us both flying. My notebooks flew out of my bag, they were strewn all over the floor. While still on the floor, I looked up at the person I ran into. A handsome boy around my age. He had neat black hair and light green eyes. He had a white and black scarf wrapped around his neck with an abstract pattern. I saw thick scars crawling out from above his scarf. He said nothing. He didn’t even look at me. He only sighed and opened his locker. I quickly gathered my books before I got back up on my feet now sobbing from the sudden pain of being alone. "I-I'm sorry... I... I gotta go!" I held my bag and notebooks close to my chest as I ran out of the school. Knowing that my brother and parents were never coming home I ran to end of our small town in the middle of nowhere. I dropped my bag and sat down crying into my knees. I never thought my last words to my family would actually be good-bye. I heard footsteps drawing near and I pulled my knees closer to my chest. The footsteps stopped and I looked up to see who it was. My eyes widened with fear as I saw the exact same creature from my dreams. I started to breathe heavily as I jumped up and ran. Instead of running towards the next town I ran back towards my home. I knew if I had run into the next town I would have run into the woods and would've been killed, just like in my dream (although I always woke up before my gruesome death).
I ran to my house and made the door fly open as I immediately shut it behind me and locked it. I peeked through the curtains to see if it had followed me this far. It was gone, I couldn't see it. I sighed with relief. I was safe with what I knew. I walked upstairs and down the hall towards my parents' room for what seemed like forever. I slowly opened the door and looked around. I started to cry to myself as I walked in and closed the door. I walked up to their bed and crawled in like I was six again. I folded the pillows to where they had the same basic shape as my parents. I started bawling as I settled in. "Good-night Mom, good-night Dad." I said as I kissed the pillows and fell into a despair-filled abyss-like sleep.
. . .
The next three months went by in a blur. Every simple task, such as, taking a shower and eating became impossible to do. I felt like I had done enough grieving and feeling sorry for myself. I had to get out of this funk and go back to school. I put on a simple school uniform since it was no longer my birthday and that was the only day I was allowed to wear normal clothes. I walked outside for the first time since that day I lost everything. I turned around and locked the door before I walked to the school alone. I walked into my homeroom and looked around for an empty seat and sat down.
After I went and sat down in the empty seat a tall, bulky, blonde boy with a Letterman's jacket walked up and sat in the seat next to me. "Hey cutie, name's Jun. I'm on the football team, ya know... on varsity. Anyways, I haven't seen you around before. Are you new to Casper High?" Yup, my first day back at school and I already had someone trying to flirt with me. I sighed and just ignored him as I pulled out my phone to listen to music. I closed my eyes and mouthed the words to every song until I heard the first bell ring over "My Sacrifice" by Creed. I took my earbuds out and turned my phone on silent. I put them in my bag and pulled out my notebook. Miss Kino walked into the room and we all stood up to bow showing her respect. "Sit down class," she said and we all sat back down in unison.
"Aro?" A boy responded saying, "Here." This continued on and on until "I don't expect her to be here because of the three-month elusion but... Danielle?" I sighed. "Here ma'am.
"Oh? You are here Miss Kyoko! How nice of you to grace us with your presence." I sighed. "I apologize, ma'am, I was given permission from Mr. Tanaka to be out of school. Here's all of your classwork for the past three months." I pulled a folder out of my bag and walked it up to her desk. She picked it up and looked through the immense stack of Trigonometry papers. I walked back to my seat and sat down.