After school, I went downstairs with Clayden to meet Zenji by the school gate. At least, that was what I had planned, but before we could even get down the stairs... 'They are at it again.' I thought as I got pushed away, making me look back to see a group of girls flocking around Clayden. He looked in my direction and lip-synced "Sorry." with a smile on his face. Somehow, I didn't get angry at Clayden. I just sighed and continued to walk my way towards the lockers to leave some unnecessary textbooks, and I would be going straight to the school gate where Zenji was waiting for me.
I was about to close my locker when I heard, "Raven!" Someone called my name. I instantly looked in the direction where I heard the voice that I would be in class. It was Heather, Heather Alejandro. She's my classmate and also the only female friend I get along with in my class. Heather is popular. Maybe it was because her blonde hair and sage-green eyes always captured people's attention. In short, she's pretty.
"What's wrong, Heather?" I asked as she was getting closer to me, running. She stopped, almost stumbling. Despite Heather being really pretty, Heather's gullible. She placed both of her hands on her knees and was trying to catch her breath. "You ok?" I asked as she went ballistic, talking about some guy that I couldn't even understand. She was blushing so hard that I already knew she was talking about a guy. "Speak slower, Heather. I won't understand anything about what you are talking about if you keep on talking like that." I told her. It made her stop talking and kept on smiling. I sighed since it made me have a hard time processing what she was talking about, and I got dizzy. I thought that she wouldn't act out of her whim without telling me, but I guess I was wrong.
Heather dragged me towards the window and started pointing outside. "Look!" She said with stars in her eyes, continuously pointing outside. I glanced through the window and looked in the same direction where she was pointing. Heather was pointing at Zenji, who was currently talking to two guys by the school gate.
'Are those guys even smart?' I thought while staring at them, remembering what Zenji told me when we were kids: " I only hang out with smart people." I sometimes do wonder why Zenji would still hang out with me, especially Clayden. I continued to watch him and his classmates laugh. I never saw Zenji laugh genuinely except when he talked with my brother Royce.
"Do you know him?" Heather asked me. I nodded, and that certainly made her look more curious. "What's his name?" She asked, and that made me quite confused since Zenji is popular despite his attitude. His looks and voice never fail to please girls, and Zenji's popularity must've at least reached Heather.
"Zenji?" I mentioned his name in a questionable tone since I'm still confused. She narrowed her eyes at me and sighed.
"I know Zenji already. I meant the other guy!" She said. 'Oh...' I thought, but it still made my sweat drop since I didn't know who was the guy she was talking about. I didn't know what to say and started panicking silently in my head when Heather suddenly asked me, "You don't know, do you?" As soon as she did, my sweat dropped constantly, making me look away. When I did, I flinched as I felt her glaring at me.
"Yeah..."
• • •
"Hey...Zenji?" I called Zenji. He immediately glanced in my direction as we were walking to Roy's school. 'I didn't want to ask this.' I thought as soon as I noticed Zenji looking at me. It only made me remember the conversation I had with Heather before meeting up with Zenji.
"Ask him." Heather told me. I was about to say that I didn't want to, but she suddenly frowned and started pouting. "Ask him." She begged as I tried my best to look away from those puppy eyes. I still gave in anyway.
"Ok! Ok! I'll ask him!" I said as I ran away from Heather, tears falling from my cheeks. I swear I know that Heather was really satisfied.
"Who's that guy with you earlier?" I asked, and my question seemed to have made him stop walking. He turned around to face me, looking a bit shocked.
"Are you interested in him?" He asked. I got flustered and crossed my arms repeatedly while telling him that I wasn't interested at all. 'So embarrassing...' This is another reason why I didn't want to ask Zenji. "Then why did you ask then?" Zenji asked, tilting his head as I looked away and mumbled.
"My friend was interested in him and wanted me to ask what his name is."
"Ohh- I see. His name is Tristan. You guys should at least know him by now. He is the student council president, you know?" Zenji told me as he continued to walk and flinched when I heard that guy was actually the president. 'I didn't pay much attention to the school campaign this year. I just voted whoever.' I thought as I looked away to avoid Zenji's gaze when I noticed Zenji glancing in my direction. "You're so easy to read. Oh, and I saw you and your friend talking earlier.." with a smile on his face.
"Why did you ask if I was interested in him when you had already seen me with Heather!?" I shouted at him, and he just started laughing.
"Big sis!" I heard Roy calling for me, It made me look in his direction while he was running towards me and Zenji. "Hasegawa!" He mentioned Zenji's last name as soon as he stood before us. Zenji then pats Roy's head with a smile on his face. Royce started learning about Zenji's culture little by little. I don't know what got him interested, but Zenji's gaze would always soften whenever my brother tried his best. Sometimes I wonder, does he miss his home? as I watched both of them chatting while walking together on our way home.
• • •
Zenji and I were in the kitchen cooking dinner while Roy was setting up the table. He looked happy when we decided to make Beef Stew, which he used to eat back home.
The sight of Zenji being happy whenever the conversation or what we do is connected to his homeland. "Do you ever get homesick?" I asked. The words just came out of my mouth while I was doing prep work and he was washing the dishes. I heard the water running and didn't hear the plates cluttering. That was when I thought. 'Did I go too far?'
"Sometimes. I don't really have a lot of memories back home. I only remember my mom cooking us a meal, and three of us would go to see the Sakura trees bloom." Zenji told me as he was wiping his hands with a towel. 'Right, Zenji moved in with his father here in Chicago.' I thought as I used a paper towel to dry the meat, Zenji noticed what I was doing and started peeling and cleaning the asparagus.
"You know Zen-" I was about to say something to Zenji when the doorbell rang, making me forget what I was supposed to say. "Roy, Can you open the door for me and check who it is!" I told Roy as I heard him running to the door.
"It's Clayden, big sis!" Roy shouted by the door, and a little later, I heard the door close. Of course, Clayden had already made a commotion.
"Oh comn' Roy! You're so cold!" Big brother Clayden told me as he ruffled my hair while I tried to shove him away from me since he was too close to my face, It just pissed me off, but then I heard a chuckle.
"What are you two even doing?" Big Brother Zenji asked with a gentle smile on his face, His Dark Ocean Blue eyes that you can barely see whenever he smiles... I looked away, and my action made Clayden let me go while I walked away.
I heard Zenji telling Clayden. "You tease him too much, Clyde." That made me take a glance to see what the commotion was about. I saw Roy blushing with messy hair, probably because of Clayden, as he walked towards the dining table and sat down. He was spacing out with his hand placed on his chin.
"Wait- was that teasing already to you?" Clayden cluelessly asked. Zenji let out a "pfft-" trying to hold his laughter back at Clayden, who went up to Roy. 'What's going on?' I thought, letting out a sigh, and just went back towards the stove, then grabbed a chopping board with chopped carrots and potatoes, putting them into the pot.
"It never gets quiet here if Clyde is here, huh?" Zenji said, leaning on the wall. His eyes were watching Clayden, trying to comfort Roy, knowing that Royce would only get annoyed at Clayden.
"Are you crying?" Clayden asked. Royce was trying his best to get him to go away. "No, I'm not!" Roy shouted as he looked away from Clayden. "Then let me see your face!" Clayden said, while I noticed Zenji laughing at the two of them. 'He rarely smiles like this.' I thought, almost wanting to have my phone with me to take a picture of him smiling. I smiled as I watched them have fun while waiting for the Beef Stew to cook.
We sat down and started eating. As soon as I was done cooking, since the table was already set. "When is your next project, Clyde?" Zenji asked out of nowhere while Clayden was still busy munching his food. He swallowed and licked his lips before answering.
"This Friday, I have a photoshoot on H&N." and continued to eat his dinner.
"Ahh, My Clayden has become famous. I wonder when Raven will." Zenji said while he looked in my direction with his other eye closed and a smile on his face, making me choke. Roy suddenly got off the table, and as I kept on punching my chest, Roy went back with a glass of water in his hand and handed it to me, and I immediately drank it.
I let out a sigh of relief. Glaring at Zenji, I said, "Stop talking nonsense." While looking away, Clayden said something I never expected he would say: "You're really pretty, Raven. There's no doubt that you'll become more famous than I am. Why don't you give it a shot?" It made me look at my food and thought. 'You said the same thing as my friend.' but then I remembered what happened back then.
"Don't force her if she doesn't want to." Roy said to both of them with pain in his eyes while looking away. 'I guess, even though Roy was young at that time, he still remembers...' I thought as Zenji suddenly broke the negative energy saying.
"Ok, that's enough." He smiled, making both Roy and I stare at him. "Sooner or later, someday...I know whether you'll be a star on the stage or not. I bet no one can reach you." Clayden said, making all of us stare at him in awe. I started feeling my cheeks heat up all the way to my ears as I hid my face with my arms and hands.
Zenji and Roy grinned. "You finally said something that makes sense." Zenji and Roy said in unison to Clayden, which made him blush and say, "Hey! I'm not that dumb. Stop staring at me like that!" This made me laugh at them as they laughed along with me.
I don't wish to go back and face the camera again.
To be Continued . . .