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another-weather-story · 5 years

Text

A Summer Breeze Through Winter: Act 1

(i dunno i just think this songs fits Adadata's POV more than the story itself

anyways)

Chapter 5: Girls (specifically her)

Otoro

For the first week of school I didn't suspect anything odd about the girls. Arguably, I did only direct my focus on friends and classwork so it wasn’t much of a surprise that it took me a while to realize other people. The day I began returning glances, I saw from the reactions I got that I must have been a sort of model to the female students.

This was still kind of my first time really going outside of the little secluded area of my street. I didn’t know why I was being so admired until I brought it up to Gean during our lunch period. Ian and Z didn’t share the same period, so it was just the two of us.

It began smoothly. I mentioned how no matter where I walked there was always someone looking at me to him. In a borderline vent, I began describing how whenever I would look back at the girls they’d always giggle and look away.

He didn’t seem too amused when I tried to defend them, saying I didn’t want to antagonize them and maybe they just were too shy to come up and talk to me. Maybe they just wanted to be friends.

“There’s no way high school girls look at you like that and don’t wanna fuck.” Gean laughed. “This school in particular seems to have the thirstiest girls out there. Like all the rest in the area, we have popular kids, the hot girl, and the hot guy. Guess you just had the unfortunate luck of taking the last hot guy’s place.”

“You make it sound like something happened to the boy.” I laughed.

“Well, he did transfer districts last year. But that’s besides the point. How did you even attract all of the girls in such little time?”

“That’s what I don’t understand! I’m not hot at all. I have messy hair, I’m skinny, I don’t even have a chiseled jawline! Every other guy is the exact opposite of me.”

Gean began looking at me oddly.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just you remind me of a kid from my freshman year.”

I leaned in. “Elaborate?”

“I didn’t know anything about him, really. He was two years ahead of me, a junior. He was the kind of kid that was hot to everyone else, but to you just a nerd. He wore glasses for most of the year and always had mismatched socks on. Why he was hot, I don’t know. I guess just that reminded me of your situation. But arguably, you do have pretty eyes and a nice voice.”

I nodded and took the information in.

The bell rang right as I was about to say something.

“Next class. I’ll see you after school, later.” Gean said, grabbing his bag and lunch tray.

“Later, Izzy!” I waved, struggling to get the straps on my backpack to straighten. By the time I looked up, a quarter of the cafeteria was already gone, along with him.

I didn’t share any of my last classes with him, so I was alone. I became most anxious here because he was really the only person I had. But now knowing that for the rest of the year I would most likely be the hot boy, it was harder to focus on the lessons. Girls stares burned into my back and I was conscious of it.

This wasn’t how my first month of school was supposed to go.

In my last class of the day I got a tap on my shoulder. Someone leaned close to my ear.

“Hey, can I borrow a pencil?”

Definitely a girl.

“Sure.” I handed her my extra pencil I always had on my desk. “Just give it back when you’re done.”

Suddenly she announced, “Thanks!”

The teacher heard and turned around.

“Mayodori, were you just speaking to Otoro?”

“I was just asking for a pencil!”

He looked at her, then at me. I got nervous, feeling the whole class now eyeing me. Finally he turned around and continued teaching.

“Guys, oh my god, you will not believe what happened in class today. This girl just asked me for a pencil, right? When I gave her one, she just fucking- SCREAMED thank you!”

“That’s rough, buddy.” Z said.

Gean clicked his tongue. “Damn.”

“The teacher was like, ‘did you just scream in my classroom?’ and she responded all calm like, ‘oh, it’s fine. He gave me a pencil and I decided to deafen him, no biggie!’ He was fine with it, too!”

“I wish I was there, bro. That sounds hilarious.” Ian laughed at me.

“Shut the hell up!

“Plus, she shot back in her chair or something and I got her hair in my mouth! I swear I got some hair dye or something with it and I almost choked.”

“Girl probably ain’t wash her hair in weeks!” Ian wheezed.

“Probably! Shit was greasy!”

He bent over and nearly fell.

“Dude, are you good?” Gean asked.

Through painful laughs, Ian replied, “Fuck no, bro! Totoro over here is funny as hell!”

“I mean, yeah, but he isn’t so funny that it’s worth dying for.” Z joked.

A middle finger flew up into the air. “Get off my dick, bitch!”

The walk home with Gean was less eventful than usual. We had mostly talked about the more important thing going on around school during lunch, so there wasn’t as much to say now.

Gean isn’t good at small talk, but I still tried.

“So, uh… how’s Rachel? I heard she got into trouble at school the other day.”

“She’s all right. How’d you hear?”

“Well, my mom was on the phone with Kathy a while back and I just happened to hear her talking about your sis. What happened?”

“Nothing major, just a fight she got spiraled up in. Two girls in class were fighting and she tried to break it up, I guess. What about Akasai?”

“Honestly? She’s been odd. I’ve been walking to school alone since I was a sophomore, but now she walks with me.”

“Maybe she’s just scared you’ll get hurt since you moved here.”

“I don’t know, that’s not like her. She’s more of the type to care but also not give a shit if I got kidnapped.”

Gean didn’t really know what to say so he stayed quiet.

“Say, hasn’t she been wearing big ass sweaters recently?”

“Yeah, she has! It’s, like, 36 degrees out here, too.”

“Only 36?” he laughed.

I looked over. “Fuck. Sorry, what’s 36 in fahrenheit again?”

“You didn’t learn fahrenheit?”

“Well, yeah. I did. Just my family always uses celsius so I’m used to that.”

“What, is your family from another country, too?”

“My dad’s side is. What do you mean ‘too’?”

He looked like he said something wrong. “Nothing! Er- m-my mom is from, uh… Norway?”

“Gean, I can tell you’re lying. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re lying.”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Uh…”

Our street was in sight. “Hey!” he said. “I think I should go. Call you later!” With that, Gean ran off and into his house. I tried to catch up with him but to no avail.

I was always horrible at track.

Next day. Girls. Everywhere. Staring at me, now comfortable enough to invade my personal space.

One girl, though. One girl went too far. She came up to me directly right as I was entering class with Gean and asked, “Hey, can I have your number? You’re cute.”

She sounded like the pencil girl from yesterday. I rejected her hesitantly.

“Sorry, no. I don’t know you-”

“I’m Adadata Mayodori! I sit behind you in AP Calculus and Biology, asked you for a pencil the other day! Which, now that I think about it, I think I have it right now.”

“Just scram, Adadata.”

She looked up. “Oh, you. I’m not talking to you, Gean. I’m talking to Otoro.”

I looked between the two. “Do you guys know each other?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Hey, losers, move aside and stop blocking the doorway!” some kid yelled and pushed us aside.

I nearly fell into Adadata but Gean quickly grabbed and pulled me back before I could make contact.

“I’ll see you in class, Izmael.” Adadata glared. “And you, Otoro!” She grinned as she said my name, handing me my pencil from yesterday. She skipped into class.

“What’s up with you and her? Did something happen?”

“Don’t worry about her. She’s just like all the other girls here.”

Gean seemed upset but refused to explain as we made our way in and took our seats.

“Whatever you do, don’t look behind you.” he whispered to me quietly.

I forgot this class was Biology. So Adadata was behind me. Great.

“Okay students, settle down. Stop talking. Focus here.” the teacher yelled as she walked in.

The class went silent and directed their attention to her.

Not Adadata. I felt her studying my back.

This was going to be a long year.

#ASBTW

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another-weather-story · 5 years

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if your’re racist, transphobic (this includes being a tr*nsmed), lesbophobic, homophobic, biphobic, ace/arophobic, ableist, etc you’re not allowed to enjoy my content sorry

#reblog

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another-weather-story · 5 years

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A Summer Breeze Through Winter: Act 1

Chapter 4: Adadata Keeps Data

Gean

The second day of school brought more stress. Last night I helped Otoro create a Discord account and made a server with Ian, Z, and him. The group talked until the sun went down, and even when Otoro had to go home we chatted. We pulled all-nighters and were fucked up by the time the sun came up. All of us forgot we still had school the next day.

I didn’t have time for breakfast, nor time to completely pack my bag. I forgot one of my binders and my stationary. But I did stick to routine and left my house early for school. I dropped Rara off at her middle school and everything else was pretty normal from there. School was what threw my train off the tracks.

There was another girl waiting at the front of the school.

Usually I would be the only one here as I left my house and arrived at the building around 30 minutes earlier than I needed to. 40 if I'm lucky. Today I was an hour early, so seeing her here at this hour surprised me.

I casually walked over and pretended to not see her. Claiming my spot by one of the main bushes, I sat down and pulled out my phone.

After about ten minutes the girl came up to me.

“Uhm…” she began.

I looked up at her. “What do you want?” There was no way I was sane enough to normally talk and communicate. Not right now.

“Do you know when the school opens..?”

“Maybe 20 or so minutes from now. Are you a freshman?”

She looked nervous. “Mhm. How did you know?”

“No other student has been here with me at this hour and I haven’t seen you around.”

The girl seemed to understand. In hopes that that would be all she wanted to talk about, I looked back at my phone and tried to ignore her again.

A minute passed.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

‘Won’t she just leave me alone?’

“Gean.” I tried to sound tired.

“Gean?” She smiled. “I like that name. I’m Mayodo- er, Adadata. Sorry, I’m from Japan and sometimes I forget that people here in America use their first names exclusively.”

Adadata wouldn’t stop talking. She went on a rant about her childhood in Japan and how hard learning English was for her when she was 9. No matter how many times I just muttered in response and made it clear that I was more interested in my phone than her, she still continued.

I looked at the horizon. 'Lord, save me. What have I done to deserve this?'

People gradually began to arrive and wait with us for the last couple minutes until the school opened.

“Say, I heard a name similar to yours on the news. That’s crazy! Was that you?”

I groaned silently.

“I heard someone like Gean went camping and got lost last year! He was found around the beginning of the new year! Hey, if that was you, then you got lucky. The boy you were stranded with looked beautiful.” Adadata sighed pleasantly. "My, that had to have been you."

The boy she's talking about must be Otoro. I couldn’t disagree that he was beautiful but that didn’t mean I wasn’t tired of her shit.

From what she's said, she watches news. Just a logical guess since she must have seen a visual representation of Otoro to deem him as pretty which would mean she didn't just hear the news around town. So that must also mean she knew that Otoro was on the verge of death when we were found, and yet all she focused on was how handsome he was.

Otoro rolled up soon after with Akasai again. I stood up and walked over to him, abandoning Adadata gladly.

“I’m so gonna die.” Otoro laughed. “I nearly passed out walking here."

“You don’t say.”

I looked back at her one last time and saw her eyes become hearts upon the sight of him. Forcefully I asked him, “Hey, I feel faint. Can I lean on you?”

Otoro seemed hesitant, but agreed. As we walked into the building, I maintained eye contact with Adadata while resting my head on his shoulder with my arm wrapped around him.

She seemed to lose any sort of respect she had for me before upon the sight of this.

She would be trouble one way or another. I could feel it.

#ASBTW

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another-weather-story · 5 years

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A Summer Breeze Through Winter: Act 1

Chapter 3: High School

Otoro

The week before school I was hanging out in my room, talking with Gean. We were on the topic of senior year.

I knew this before, but only really realized mid-conversation that I was going to the same school as Gean where I knew no one but him. I was going to be practically alone this year if he left. For as long as I have known him, it was always just us two. What will happen when we’re both brought back into the crowded society that is the outside world?

Paranoid, I asked, “Gean, you’ll stay by my side, right? For our last year of high school?”

Gean tilted his head to the side. “What? Of course I will, silly! Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was thinking how I know no one in the area and you’re the only person I trust. I’m just scared that if you left-”

“Oh, Otoro, don’t even think of that!” Gean placed a hand on my shoulder and shook me, scooting closer on the bed. “I barely know anyone as well and I’ve been here since the 1st grade. Sure I have a small group of friends, but they already know about you and I’m sure they’ll accept you into the gang!”

I smiled slightly. “Thanks, Gean.”

“Of course, Otoro!”

There was an awkward silence.

He said they knew about me. So he must talk to them some way. They have social media, probably. But at one point he brought up me - just someone he met by pure coincidence - to his best friends. Just me. I was the main subject.

This made me feel special.

“Say, what are your friends like? Their names and stuff?”

Gean’s eyes lit up. “Oh god, where do I start? Well, first, there’s…”

The day came where school began. I was nervously checking and double-checking my bag. Did I have everything? Did I forget anything? Eventually, Akasai called me downstairs.

“Hey, loser, hurry up. The walk is 10 minutes, we’ll be late.”

I dropped what I was holding in my bag. “Sorry, I’m coming!” I slung my backpack over my shoulder, grabbed my water bottle and shoved it into the side pocket, then proceeded to stumble downstairs.

Aka was waiting in one of her oversized sweaters from winter.

I nodded in her direction. “I’m here, let’s go.”

She looked me up and down, unimpressed. “You look boring.”

“Shut up, you look like you’re burning.”

“Yeah, okay. Fuck you.”

I rolled my eyes and headed out the door. “Why are you even walking with me anyways?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Awww, you’re a dick.”

Akasai re-adjusted her collar. “Shut the fuck up and let’s go. Directions are on my phone.”

We were silent for the whole walk. It was uncomfortable at most, but Akasai didn’t seem to care. Eventually I didn’t either.

Once we arrived, Akasai pushed me towards the front steps.

“Bye, loser. I won’t walk you home.” she yelled to me.

“Later, sis.” I smirked. “Hey, your bra strap is showing.”

She looked and flipped me off. “Fuck you.”

“Love you too!” Before she could catch me, I ran off into the building.

The day finished and I was exhausted. I was hanging around with Gean and his group afterschool.

“Say, rumour has it you have a hot sister, Otoro.” Z said. He was that player in high school that girls hated. After his mini glow up in sophomore year, his reputation eventually went down.

“What? Who told you that?” I asked, sweating nervously.

“I saw someone drop you off who was definitely not your mommy.” Ian teased. He was definitely a type of geek. Also someone who refuses to believe there’s more to life than girls.

Gean looked away, cringing.

I didn’t really have anything to say. All that came out was, “Y’all thirsty fucks.”

They laughed. “You are definitely gonna fit into the dumbass squad.” Z grinned, slapping my back.

“Bro, we should make a groupchat with Totoro.” Ian mentioned.

“Why not use the other one?” Gean asked.

With a bullshit expression, he said, “Dude, no shit, he ain’t seein-” He then whispered something in Gean’s ear.

“Oh.”

A car pulled up and someone inside yelled, “Hey, Alphabet Boy!”

Z turned to look at the car, then to look at us. “I gotta bounce, y’all. See you guys later.” Without waiting he ran off and hopped into the backseat.

Once Z was gone, Ian said, “Y’know, the nickname Z’s bro gives him changes every year. Last year it was Loser Letter, and in 8th grade it was Zed.”

Gean nodded. “Yeah. I’ve noticed.”

A minute or so later an old woman walked up to Ian. “Hi, sweetheart!”

Ian grinned up at her. “Hey, Mom! I gotta go, see you guys later!” He waved and walked off with his mom as we said goodbye.

Now there was only Gean and me. He looked over and straightened his backpack.

“Hey, is anyone gonna pick you up?”

“Nah, she told me I’d have to walk home.” I replied with a laugh. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I normally walk to and from school.” Gean looked away, biting his lip. “So, uh…”

“Do I wanna walk home with you?”

Gean nodded.

“Sure!” I smiled.

His gaze flickered and met mine. “O-okay.”

I stared at him for a second.

“Well, are we gonna go or what?”

Gean rushed to comply, apologizing for nothing. I laughed at his embarrassment.

As we began walking, I started up a conversation.

“Y’know, I wanna do this every day. Can we walk home together for the rest of the year?” I asked in excitement.

“If you want to, sure.”

“Yay!” I clenched my fists happily.

We talked the whole way home and when we arrived I nearly entered Gean’s house because I was so captivated in our discussion.

I caught myself quickly and backed away from the front door. “Ah, my bad.”

“You can come in if you wanna, Otoro.” Gean stuttered.

I looked around. “Only if I ask my parents. I don’t want them worrying if I don’t come home first.”

“Oh, okay. I mean, if you wanna ask I can wait.”

“Please? I wanna stay.”

Gean understood as I walked away.

#ASBTW

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another-weather-story · 5 years

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Note

So from now on, I'll be making chapter covers. This may add extra time between posts, but it'll be worthwhile, I promise.

Update: There will also occasionally be linked songs at the beginning of each chapter ;))

#post

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another-weather-story · 5 years

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A Summer Breeze Through Winter: Act 1

Chapter 2: Neighbourhood

Gean

Miracles had to be real, because how else would you explain this? It was almost pure luck that he moved into the house just across the street.

I had prayed one day I’d see Otoro again, and I guess my prayers were heard.

I heard news around the block that someone or some people would be moving in the house. The details weren’t clear and there was definitely some controversy about the situation.

At first it was owned by a sweet old man who would always pick fresh vegetables from his garden to share with the street residents. When he was too old to live on his own, one of his grandchildren apparently moved him to a retirement home. Ever since then no one had lived across the street. Every one missed him and his tomatoes. I never knew him very well and didn’t really care to.

My little sis Rachel kept making up stories about it being haunted and that was the real reason the old man left. But that isn’t as important. What is is that he was the one who moved in.

I saw a car pull up to the structure one day, maybe a week after the news. It was silver and shined brightly in the afternoon sunlight. At the time I was in my room on the top floor. I had been waiting there for a few days to see when the family would arrive.

A man stepped out first. I stared at him, excited. Who was he? How did he look? Unconsciously, I began studying him.

He had short borderline white hair that stuck to his head. He was medium toned and short, just taller than the window.

I was captivated in the moment. I don’t know why, but I had just then realized that was the family.

I opened my window and let the summer breeze in and closed my blinds slightly. I didn’t want to seem so obviously staring at them.

The man yelled something in a foreign language at the inside of his car, probably to another person.

It became apparent there was indeed someone else in there.

This was the first time I saw Otoro. My heart jumped in my chest. I clutched my chest as a warm heat filled up my body, and a lump formed in my throat.

It was like he was a new person. When I found him last year after I got lost he had long, brown hair that was held together in a fragile side ponytail by a weak hair tie. Now his hair was down and only reached his shoulders. It curled at the end and bounced whenever he walked. Before, he had bangs that would cover his eyes. Now you could clearly see his light blue irises, glowing no matter the time of day.

I had to catch my breath as to not make any sound. I needed to be silent so I could hear everything.

My heart jumped when I heard him speak in the same foreign language as who I could only assume his dad was. It slipped off his tongue so perfectly, I was jealous and in awe.

They exchanged a few words as they studied the house, backs facing me.

The dad then opened the trunk of the car. Mounds of boxes and luggage sat inside. The boxes were labeled in what looked like Chinese.

If that was indeed Chinese, then Otoro knew how to speak Chinese. The lump in my throat grew bigger at this thought.

A half an hour passed and another car drove up. This one was a solid white colour, with more volume than the other.

Out stepped a woman who looked nothing like the dad. Probably the mother. She had solid brown hair with greying roots, a pale skin tone, and antique-looking glasses.

After her came another girl. She looked about Otoro’s age, very young, and bitchy. A resting bitch face and constantly crossed arms signified she was a troublemaker. She looked more like the father with shoulder long black hair and fair skin. That must have been Otoro’s sister he always talked about. I forgot her name, but it most definitely started with an A.

Otoro was the tallest. The sister came in a close second place, then the mother and father. I studied them and their posture, making a hypothesis about each family member as they made their way around the plot.

A only spoke English. Whenever anyone else talked, A would always jump in and mention how she couldn’t understand them. Otoro would need to translate most everything as the parents would persist in talking in Chinese. I could only assume she didn’t know Chinese because she didn’t care enough to.

The mom was optimistic. She wore a constant smile, even when Otoro and A would be tearing each other's heads off.

The father seemed too tired to healthily function. He would seem to fall unconscious for periods of time and when he would start yelling at A or Otoro his voice appeared to trail off.

I didn’t need to study Otoro, but still I did. He didn’t change at all. He was ever so childish, happy, and teasing. His upbeat personality always lifted everyone’s spirits. Even if he was loud and everyone else got easily annoyed by it, I loved it.

I watched everyday as he and his family worked. Eventually I learned they were speaking Japanese and not Chinese. Also that A’s name was Akasai. And she was indeed a cunt.

One day I was looking at Otoro through his window. He was relaxing on his bed, his back facing me. Everything was calm and for once no one was screaming. I was resting my gaze on his reflection in the big mirror set up on his opposing wall. He looked so beautiful, even in a low quality resolution.

It caught me off guard when he suddenly turned and looked directly at me. It took me a second to realize, but once I did, I panicked. When I closed my blinds I almost ripped them and nearly fell off the barstool I had set up by the window. I collected myself and sat on the ground underneath the windowsill, biting my nails.

‘He saw me. Holy shit.’ My heart was pounding and my mind began playing the entire scene on repeat. It kept speeding up each time.

Finally, after a while I stood up. The sun had gone down. For a while I stood in the middle of my room, then made my way to my bed.

I needed sleep.

Rachel barged into my room suddenly.

“GG!”

I jumped and bumped my head on my bed frame. “Ah! Rara-”

“Wanna go say hi to the neighbours? Mommy said we could go and see them now!”

She had startled me awake so quickly I lost any grip on reality. “God, what time is it?”

“3 pm. You missed breakfast and lunch.”

I had slept in, damn. It was already noon.

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Just get out of my room so I can change.”

“Yay! I’ll do the same, I want to make a good first impression. Don’t take long, too.” She whispered, “Mommy’s gonna beat your ass if you do.”

I waved her off. “Okay. Now leave.”

She skipped away, beaming.

It took a minute for me to sit up, but just a few seconds to remember what happened yesterday. My face heated up quickly. My heart sped up again.

‘No, wait. Don’t think about that. Just change and if he asks, explain everything.’ I thought to myself.

I rushed to get ready. A solid t-shirt, jeans, shoes. That was all. I snatched a small handful of cereal from a box and shoved it down my throat so I wasn’t starving. I didn’t have time to grab my phone, but then again I didn’t really need it.

Before I knew it, I was standing with my mom and Rachel on their front doorstep, anxious and nervous. I was bouncing and chewing my knuckles. Mom rang the doorbell and waited calmly.

Otoro’s mother opened the door.

In English, she greeted us. “Hi!”

My mom waved politely. “Hi there! We’re your neighbours and wanted to say hi.”

She nodded and grinned brighter than before. “You must be from across the street. I saw you mowing your lawn the other day.” Her hand stuck out. “My name’s Katherine, but you can just call me Kathy.”

My mom took Kathy’s hand and shook. “My name’s Irene. These are my kids, Gean and Rachel.”

Rachel waved and grinned “Hi!”

Kathy took her hand back as my mom did. “Wait, did you say Gean?” At the same time she greeted Rara.

My head perked up.

“Yeah, what about him?”

“I think my son may know him. Has he ever gone missing?”

“Uhm… yeah, he has. Why, exactly?”

“I knew the name sounded familiar. My son’s name is Otoro, Gean may know him.” Cathy paused. “Ah! How rude of me! Please, come in!”

“No, it’s alright!” My mom laughed and stepped in. Rachel followed.

The mothers continued talking. Rachel turned and grabbed my hand.

“Are you coming or what?”

I jumped. “Yeah, I am.” I stuttered, not realizing I was still outside.

Then I saw him.

My heart pounded again.

All I could wave as he stood dumbfounded on the steps.

It took him a minute to come down.

He began talking after Kathy said we were neighbours.

“Uh, hi? My name’s Otoro. Nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

I stopped biting my knuckle and fiddled with my shirt. “Er- Gean. We’ve met before.”

“We have?” He thought for a second. “Oh! Izmael?”

“Yeah…”

“We have! God, it’s been so long! I’m so sorry I forgot!” He seemed less awkward now and much happier.

“It’s all right.”

We talked for a while there in the foyer, catching up little by little.

“Hey,” Kathy jumped in. “Otoro, why don’t you go show Gean your room and hang out while I talk with Irene?”

“Sure! C’mon, Izzy. Let’s go, I’ll show you my room.”

I nodded and followed him upstairs.

I didn’t leave his side since that day.

#ASBTW

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another-weather-story · 5 years

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A Summer Breeze Through Winter: Act 1

Chapter 1: Home

Otoro

I moved to California back in June, a week or so after school was let out for summer break. It’s August now and I still will never forget the day and those few days after moving.

At the time, I was thrilled to leave but also a little sad because that would be the last year I would ever see anyone from my Florida high school again.

Akasai, my older sister, was salty and sour about moving. She was a 20 year old woman, very much capable of handling a job or going to college to get a degree for her dream job back in Florida, along with friends whose houses she could live in. But she decided she would rather come and continue to live off of our parent’s money.

My mom never was and still isn’t very supportive of these decisions but tries her best to let Aka take her time to break out of her shell. My father on the other hand would never stop talking to her about how ‘you could have gone to college to be a nurse’ or ‘maybe if you got a job you could handle the student loans that came with college.’

In California, Akasai mentioned finding at least a job and restarting her life or something. I think we all know she’s bullshitting us.

The night before moving day, I was daydreaming about the new state. I’ve always wanted to live in California, or visit at the least. Back in Florida it’s humid and hot and a straight hellhole to live in during the summer. In contrast, I’ve heard that during summer California, while still hot, has cooler nights. For my family, that’s a win-win as we’re all of nightowl nature. It would save a few dollars, too, that went into the bills.

It took us a long time to get from point A to point B, as we drove. There were two cars, my Mom’s and my Dad’s, each carrying a huge load of boxes, suitcases, et cetera. A couple of times we lost each other, and eventually one car got to point B much quicker than the other. I was lucky enough to get there first.

When I first saw the house, I was excited. It was two stories, a white brick texture and a beautiful front yard. The grass could have been greener, but I couldn’t complain. There was a walkway that led across the grass to the front door and porch. Inside was mostly empty except for the main kitchen setup and bathroom essentials.

I had fun exploring after Akasai caught up, arguing with her which bedroom upstairs we would claim. There were two regular rooms and then the master bedroom. Mom and Dad called their dibs on the master bedroom at the end of the long hall, so it was off limits.

One of the rooms had a bathroom inside and the other a walk in closet. Akasai wanted both and teased me, saying ‘Maybe you could go sleep in Mom and Dad’s room, Auto-Mobile, so I can have both.’

I didn’t care and proceeded to argue I should take the room with the bathroom. Strategically, it was at the other end of the hall and the leftover room was closest to our parent’s room. So that would mean I could tease Akasai all I wanted for sleeping so close to our parents.

After the room situation was settled and we got our rooms, there was the moving. We had to move everything out of my Mom and Dad’s cars and into either the house or garage.

Akasai decided to push me away from moving things because ‘I was a shrimpy little 17 year old boy who didn’t have the strength to handle such heavy items.’

What’s funny is that not even 20 minutes later she complained to Mom that ‘Otoro isn’t helping us at all!’

For a while we slept in sleeping bags on the ground because the bed frames we had back home were sold. We kept our pillows and blankets and such, but no bed. My parents didn’t want their bed frame, along with Akasai because hers was too small. I was neutral about everything.

We couldn't fit all of the furniture into the cars as well, so we needed to say goodbye to some of it.

When we finally settled around the beginning of July, we still had not met the neighbours or explored the neighbourhood. We were in a bubble.

I didn’t think too much of it until I looked out my window to the front of the house where I saw someone on the other side of the street watching. They looked younger and pale from the glimpse I got of them. The moment they saw me they shut the blinds.

It was creepy at the time.

Then the next day they introduced themselves and it all made sense. He was someone I knew from a year ago. Gean Izmael, a boy I got lost with in an Oregon forest. We made the headlines of every news article for days and really made a bond in a less than likely situation. Apparently he still remembered me. I was as surprised as he was that we met each other. Like a dream that seemed too unrealistic to come true, but did.

Every Saturday we began hanging out and catching up. We learned about each other’s families and home life.

In short, I had an enjoyable time during those two weeks.

But what also came was school.

That was the worst part of the whole situation, as well as the worst coming year of my life. My senior year of high school was supposed to be fun, but instead I met her.

#ASBTW

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