Fic: Time to Pretend {Part 1/??}
Title: Time to Pretend {Part 1/??}
Characters:Mainly Akanishi Jin and plenty of minors.
Summary: Jin couldn't get scouted for his dancing. But Jinnifer could. What happens when a boy sneaks into an all-girl school.//Move in day
Rating: pg-13
Disclaimer: Owning no one. =)
A/N: This chapter is going to be kinda long, it's an introduction to the characters. They wont all be in every chapter but might have a chapter revolved around them later on. They'll all be apart of a storyline eventually. The main focus is Jinnifer though. =)
The bras were his least favorite part of being a woman. The tiny clasps on the back were hard to properly put together. He would always miss a hook and the whole thing would be skewed and awkward feeling against his back. Akanishi Jin only knew how to take them off, not put them on. He repeated that thought in his head like a mantra as he finished putting it on in front of the mirror, trying to wink at himself as encouragement.
“I make a hot girl,” Jin asserted himself, putting on a white polo. The wig he bought was perfect. Large brown curls cascaded to his shoulders, almost the same color as his eyes. Jin was surprised at how hard it was to apply make-up as well. He poked himself with the eyeliner three times. Plucking his eyebrows really hurt, but not as much as waxing his legs. Why did girls do this to themselves willingly?
“Well, a decent-looking one,” a low chuckle from the doorway of the bathroom and he twirled around, the plaid skirt flowing around him. Before him stood Yamashita Tomohisa, wearing baggy jeans and an even baggier, slightly ratty shirt. An amused expression spread across his face.
“Damn it Yamapi. I told you I don’t want you here until I’m done,” Jin gritted through his teeth, watching his best friend closely to make sure the other man didn’t try to reach for his phone to take any pictures.
His friend ignored him and walked over to the mirror, checking his own reflection before jumping onto the bathroom counter to take a seat. “Tell me again why you’re dressing up like a schoolgirl?”
“I told you this a million times. St. Lilium is one of the biggest private high schools for performing arts. A ton of scouts will be there to sign talent-”
“But-”
“And you know how important dancing is to me! They accepted me so I’m going and-”
“Hey-”
“I’m going to be famous Yamapi. I’m going to be a backup dancer for some big pop star and then I’ll meet a hot singer on the set of a music video and marry her,” Jin puckered his lips at the mirror before nodding. Perfect.
“St. Lilium is an all-girl school,” Yamapi reminded him, swinging his legs below him as he stared at his best friend in a girl school outfit.
“And I’m obviously a girl,” Jin toyed with the bottom of his skirt while he grinned at his friend. “Jinnifer Akanishi has already been accepted and is moving into her dorm room today. Her boyfriend, which is you, is helping her bring her stuff.”
Yamapi rolled his eyes and before he leapt off the counter. He made his way out of the bathroom and paused at the doorway. “Come on. We have to be there in a half hour. I can’t believe you’re going to be living in a dorm with a bunch of teenage girls. Including my sister.”
“Hey, I said I wouldn’t do anything to her,” Jin whined, already forced to listen to the threats Yamapi told him should he touch dear Rina.
“You better,” a small growl escaped Yamapi, before a quick smile quirked his expression. “I thought you would have given yourself bigger breasts.”
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“You lucky bastard,” Yamapi’s jaw dropped as he gripped Jin’s suitcase tighter, his knuckles turning white over the plastic handle. The dorm building was huge. The hallways were filled with paintings and random polaroids of smiling girls on the walls. And the girls! So many of them. Giggling uncomfortably if they were meeting for the first time. Chattering animately if they were already aquatinted.
“Hello!” a cheerful girl with an absolutely adorable smile hopped over in front of them. Her hair was a dark brown, almost like Jin’s wig, but a bit shorter and wavy. Her uniform was perfectly in place but a bunch of bead bracelets decorated her wrist, jingling as she waved at the couple in front of her. “I’m Nagasawa Masami! Call me Masami.”
“So cute,” Jin uttered, earning a pinch on his back. Yamapi rose his eyebrows, reminding Jin that he was now Jinnifer. The straight and taken schoolgirl. “I’m Jinnifer,” he attempted the girly voice he was practicing in front of the mirror all summer. It didn’t sound bad. “And this is my boyfriend, Yamapi.”
“You two look very cute together,” another voice appeared and the couple almost sighed in relief when they saw the familiar figure standing beside Masami. Rina had her hands on her hips and a knowing smile on her face. “I hope things will work out long distance.”
“Oh, I’ll be here to check up on her,” Yamapi looked directly at Rina, “lots.”
“Jinnifer is going to be my roommate!” Masami grinned widely. “I hope we have a great year!”
“We will,” Jinnifer nodded slowly.
“Who’s going to be your roommate?” Masami looked over at Rina, who immediately blanched.
“They stuck me with Leah Dizon,” she answered gloomily, looking over to the end of the hallway where three girls in the corner were deep in discussion about one of the girl’s sunglasses. Their outfits were the same as the rest of the students, but they still seemed better dressed. They adorned bright and dangling necklaces, high heeled shoes that would probably get them written up and wore their skirts a bit higher than the dress code required.
“Whoa,” this time it was Yamapi who sighed, earning a glare from his sister and girlfriend.
“I know,” Rina rolled her eyes. “I would end up with one of the Plastics. At least she’s the harmless one.”
“Plastics?” Jinnifer asked, still looking at the girls.
“They’re as beautiful as dolls but have no substance. They expect that everything will be given to them and take out their anger on the other girls if they don’t get it.”
“They’re not that bad,” Masami waved her hand, her bright attitude almost contagious when Rina smiled as well.
“Remember when they locked you in the bathroom?”
“Yeah but-”
“They’re evil. Now I’m going to finish unpacking before Leah takes both closets. Have a fun stay here Jinnifer,” with a small nod to her brother Rina slowly walked away.
“I should get going as well,” Yamapi announced, dropping a bag against a wall and slowly walking away.
Jin cleared his throat. “Are you forgetting something?” Crossing his arms he looked over at his friend expectantly.
“Forgetting something?” Yamapi looked confused before shooting the other an annoyed look. He reluctantly walked back over and winced to himself before kissing Jinnifer’s cheek. “Bye baby.”
“Call you later sweetheart.”
“How cute!” Masami squeaked, grabbing onto Jinnifer. “Now let’s check out the room! I’m sorry, but I started organizing the furniture already. I thought a bunk bed would make more room though!”
“That’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“Top or bottom?” Masami asked as soon as the door opened.
She was only answered by a loud snickering sound. Jinnifer was definitely going to be a girl with a dirty sense of humor.
“I don’t get it. What was so funny?”
This was going to be the greatest times in his life.
“Why are you laughing so hard?”
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“We definitely have the best door decorations on the floor! Shoko-chan, you’re an amazing artist!” Inoue Mao cried out, wrapping her arms tightly around her roommate’s shoulders. It was indeed an amazing door, covered in scraps of construction paper with intricate doodles of the pair drawn on them. It was colorful and very personal.
Nakagawa Shoko stiffened slightly at her overtly touchy friend, but straightened her glasses and gently patted the other’s back. “They were from last year. Remember goofing off in history?”
“Of course,” Mao nodded, pulling away and crossing her arms, “You were always drawing anime characters in your notebook and I was always snoozing in class.”
Shoko frowned and dejectedly opened the door to the room. Walking over to her desk, she slumped in the seat and stared off into her sketch pad. “If I do poorly again I’m going to have to see that damn tutor again. He was annoying to the max degree.”
“Are you talking about Turtle Boy? I always thought he was teasing you because he liked you,” Mao teased, messing with the corner of one of her movie posters that was peeling off the ceiling.
Her face heated up, and Shoko had to cover it with her hands. “I have no time or energy for boys. They’ll never understand a geek like me.”
Mao was about to open her mouth to say something comforting when a sinister voice came from the doorway. “They do understand you geeks and that’s why they want nothing to do with either one of you.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than torture us?” Mao walked over to the Plastic trio.
The leader, Erika Sakajiwa, shrugged with a smirk. Looking over Mao’s shoulder, she saw that Shoko seemed to be hunching her shoulders, sinking into herself. “Well, since we’re done here, yes.”
Mao didn’t give them a satisfaction of a comeback and slammed the door in their faces. “Shokotan?” she kneeled beside her best friend, rubbing her back comfortingly. “Ignore them. Anyone would be lucky to have a girlfriend like you.”
“Really?” She sniffed behind her hands.
“Really. I bet you sometime this year some boy is going to come around and gobble my best friend up away from me,” Mao said with a small, almost sad smile. She couldn’t imagine every parting from Shoko that way.
“That would never happen. You’re really important to me,” she replied, removing her hands from her face and grinning widely. “We still ditching next week to go to the Cosplay convention?”
“You’ll never believe who I’m going to be.”
------------------
There was something about Yuki Tegoshi that was off with Becky. The way she looked at her made her uncomfortable at times, as though she was being studied. The way she was always trying to sit on her lap when the two sat together on their futon. But Becky always managed to shake off the uncomfortable feeling. She was a bit weird as well.
She turned up her radio that was playing showtunes of an American musical and began to think of the moves in her head. The stage was big enough for this number. The school could totally produce it. She could see it so clearly in her head, she was in front of the cast, belting out the hard chords of the song and delivering the comical relief. She was a star and at least she knew it.
“When are we heading off to dinner?” Yuki’s soft voice broke through the music and Becky was pulled away from her dreams. Sighing slightly in disappointment, she couldn’t frown at her roommate’s wide and infectious grin.
“Now. I’m starving,” she hopped off the seat and hooped her arms with her fellow drama club member. “This year’s going to be great. What do you think of a Chicago musical for this year’s play? We’d all wear flapper outfits and heavy make-up. It’d be fun!”
“Whatever you want Becky!” There was that weird vibe again. “I mean, you’re creative enough to think it through.”
Becky shrugged off the feeling and nodded. “You betcha.”
-------------------
“You’re smoking in the dorm room? We just moved in!” Ichikawa Yui cried out, walking across the room to rip the cigarette out of her roommate’s hand.
“That’s why I needed a smoke. I’m exhausted,” Koda Kumi replied in an amused tone, taking the cigarette back and taking a deep drag before stomping it out on the carpeted floor.
“We’re going to be fined for that!” Yui pouted. How did she end up with this roommate? She was the girl who had the grades and reputation to go to a world-wide renowned school like Harvard or Oxford. What was she doing paired with the school’s infamous bad girl?
Kumi shrugged. “Aren’t your parents loaded or something?”
Yui closed her eyes and repressed the urge to shriek. One year. She would only be sleeping in here anyways. There was always the library.
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Otsuka Ai didn’t get the chance to see her roommate on move-in day, already knowing that Minami was probably in the Art room constructing a sculpture that looked like a zombie duck or something. Smiling softly at the thought of her artistic friend coming back to their room covered in glue and paint, Ai packed the last of her clothing into her closet. She walked over to her desk and lifted her guitar onto her lap. Absently strumming a couple cords her mind drifted to memories of her summer and meeting her boyfriend Eita.
Eita with his big ears and bigger heart. Encouraging her to begin writing music of her own rather than covering songs she could hear and play by heart. But Ai was insecure. What if she was only meant to cover and never create? She was never as creative as Minami nor as outgoing as Eita.
Tapping the wood of the guitar impatiently she looked over at the smiling couple of her and Eita in the framed photo sitting on her nightstand. Could she really make him proud and prove herself wrong?
---------------
How lucky was she to get her own room? Kuriyama Chiaki made the room completely her own, changing the lightbulb to a red tint and adding black curtains. Even her uniform was a bit darker than her classmates.
Goth. That was the word to describe her and although Chiaki hated being labeled and placed into those expectations she didn’t argue. She just didn’t talk much. But she had her own room and she didn’t need to very much. Just get through classes without being noticed and hide in solitude the rest of the day.
She heard the door handle move and her gaze shot up. “I’m pretty sure that’s your room!” a helpful voice from the other side shot out.
“Thanks.”
Chiaki couldn’t help but glare at the girl who walked in. She looked like one of those damn ‘Plastics’. Not only would she lose her peace but she would have to be picked on in her own room.
“I’m Keiko Kitagawa. And I can already tell this has gone off to a bad start.”
------------------
“Billy’s Bootcamp?” Toda Erika asked her roommate as she inspected the box and the man yelling in English on the television screen. “There’s already a gym here.”
“It’s distracting over there,” Ueto Aya countered, only partially paying attention. Her focus was now on feeling the burn in her abdomens. She wasn’t going to lose another damn baseball game. This was her last year in school, she had to go big or go home. Plus there were rumors of scouts patrolling her games this year.
“Don’t work too hard,” Erika yawned from over her laptop, messaging one of her friends from across the hall.
“How the hell are you able to be one of the fastest runners in the school and not work as hard as the others,” Aya clenched through her teeth when breathing started to become a slight problem.
Erika shrugged. “An old friend of mine always taught me that if I was going to run, it better be fast and far away. Did you know that your face is red?”
-----------------------
The shared room of Ueno Juri and Aragaki Yui was void of its residents but already set up and unpacked. Rumor had it that last year Juri attempted to set up a cot in the closet of the music room and that Yui fell asleep on the art table a few nights a week on a regular basis.
It wasn’t that they didn’t like each other. They just liked their respective arts more.
----------------
“What are you doing smarty pants? Reading the books from the summer’s assigned list?” Kuroki Meisa took a seat beside her friend on the futon. They were wearing matching yellow pajamas, which was completely unintentional. They were just that much in sync.
“Re-reading. I finished the list as soon as I found out where I put it,” Horikita Maki defended herself, setting the book down on her lap and resting her head on Meisa’s shoulder.
“When was that?”
“A month ago,” Maki yawned.
“Thirty books in thirty days? You really had no life,” Meisa chuckled, wrapping her arm around her friend’s shoulder. Soon they would have to go to sleep and deal with school, work, classmates, drama, basketball practice (for Meisa) and violin recitals (for Maki) but for now they were in the safety and tranquility of their room and company.
“You were supposed to visit me,” Maki reminded her passively.
“My family went to Spain.”
“Does that guy still call you?” she asked, slowly getting up and going to her bed. Tucking herself in she smiled gently at Meisa. “Ah summer love.”
Meisa threw a pillow at the other and wrinkled her nose. “I hope that giant stops. He was such a sleezeball. Now go to sleep so I forget about him by the time I do.”
“Sweet dreams darling.”
“Good night.”
--------------------
Suzuki Emi studied her reflection in the small compact mirror she kept on her nightstand as she went to lay down on her bed. The mirror was gold with shimmering gems encrusted on it, a gift from one of her admirers. She usually stayed with the gifts longer than the admirers. Usually they were a lot nicer to look at.
“You’re honestly the only person I know who puts on make-up before going to sleep. Doesn’t that give you acne?” Erika Sakajiwa snapped, slightly annoyed that the other looked so good going to sleep.
“What if someone attempts to get our attention with the window? I want to look my best,” Emi winked at her reflection before setting the mirror back down. Even the way she laid down looked like a screencap from a random romantic movie.
Erika was always a bit relieved that Emi never attempted to talk back to her. Emi was only interested in the popularity bit for the luxury and what came with it. With Leah Dizon she didn’t even choose to be popular, but her looks demanded attention with her large eyes and soft features.
The three of them were called the Plastics by their classmates. Resembling the classic Barbie dolls that were considered the perfect beings by all who saw them.
Which is exactly what Erika wanted. Perfection.
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“Three different agencies wanted me to model for their advertisements but I chose to work with this one for vanilla fragrance because it smelled so yummy!” Leah smiled widely, clutching her teddy bear tightly and looking across the room at Rina.
Rina thought her roommate was such an oddball. So childlike and naive, yet beautiful and sexy. Take now for instance, wearing pink lingerie with a small, silk red robe. Yet holding a worn out teddy bear. “Did you get to keep any?”
“Three bottles! I gave one to my mom and the other two to Erika and Emi,” Leah replied, her eyes slowly closing.
Rina walked over at the lamp to turn it off, catching her reflection on the way there. Her hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail. She was wearing her brother’s old shirt from his chubbier days and a pair of shorts. So plain, she thought to herself as she turned off the light. “What about you Leah? Where was yours?”
The room was dark and she was not answered. She didn’t know if it was because the other fell asleep or if she just didn’t want to reply.
---------------
“You insisted on being top. Are you happy up there?” Masami asked, finishing putting her hair up into pigtails and heading off to her own bed.
Jin finally found the joke to be a little less entertaining and didn’t giggle this time. “It’s cool. I can hang posters on the ceiling now too!”
“Oh, of what?” Masami stood beside Jinnifer, who was laying down on the bed and looking at the white, chipping paint.
Jin shrugged. It couldn’t be of half naked women anyways.
“Good night! Tomorrow is going to be fun. And luckily our schedules are the same so I can show you around!” Masami crawled into her own bed.
The first day was almost over, Jin thought to himself. And it wasn’t so bad so far. It could only get better, right?
Characters:Mainly Akanishi Jin and plenty of minors.
Summary: Jin couldn't get scouted for his dancing. But Jinnifer could. What happens when a boy sneaks into an all-girl school.//Move in day
Rating: pg-13
Disclaimer: Owning no one. =)
A/N: This chapter is going to be kinda long, it's an introduction to the characters. They wont all be in every chapter but might have a chapter revolved around them later on. They'll all be apart of a storyline eventually. The main focus is Jinnifer though. =)
The bras were his least favorite part of being a woman. The tiny clasps on the back were hard to properly put together. He would always miss a hook and the whole thing would be skewed and awkward feeling against his back. Akanishi Jin only knew how to take them off, not put them on. He repeated that thought in his head like a mantra as he finished putting it on in front of the mirror, trying to wink at himself as encouragement.
“I make a hot girl,” Jin asserted himself, putting on a white polo. The wig he bought was perfect. Large brown curls cascaded to his shoulders, almost the same color as his eyes. Jin was surprised at how hard it was to apply make-up as well. He poked himself with the eyeliner three times. Plucking his eyebrows really hurt, but not as much as waxing his legs. Why did girls do this to themselves willingly?
“Well, a decent-looking one,” a low chuckle from the doorway of the bathroom and he twirled around, the plaid skirt flowing around him. Before him stood Yamashita Tomohisa, wearing baggy jeans and an even baggier, slightly ratty shirt. An amused expression spread across his face.
“Damn it Yamapi. I told you I don’t want you here until I’m done,” Jin gritted through his teeth, watching his best friend closely to make sure the other man didn’t try to reach for his phone to take any pictures.
His friend ignored him and walked over to the mirror, checking his own reflection before jumping onto the bathroom counter to take a seat. “Tell me again why you’re dressing up like a schoolgirl?”
“I told you this a million times. St. Lilium is one of the biggest private high schools for performing arts. A ton of scouts will be there to sign talent-”
“But-”
“And you know how important dancing is to me! They accepted me so I’m going and-”
“Hey-”
“I’m going to be famous Yamapi. I’m going to be a backup dancer for some big pop star and then I’ll meet a hot singer on the set of a music video and marry her,” Jin puckered his lips at the mirror before nodding. Perfect.
“St. Lilium is an all-girl school,” Yamapi reminded him, swinging his legs below him as he stared at his best friend in a girl school outfit.
“And I’m obviously a girl,” Jin toyed with the bottom of his skirt while he grinned at his friend. “Jinnifer Akanishi has already been accepted and is moving into her dorm room today. Her boyfriend, which is you, is helping her bring her stuff.”
Yamapi rolled his eyes and before he leapt off the counter. He made his way out of the bathroom and paused at the doorway. “Come on. We have to be there in a half hour. I can’t believe you’re going to be living in a dorm with a bunch of teenage girls. Including my sister.”
“Hey, I said I wouldn’t do anything to her,” Jin whined, already forced to listen to the threats Yamapi told him should he touch dear Rina.
“You better,” a small growl escaped Yamapi, before a quick smile quirked his expression. “I thought you would have given yourself bigger breasts.”
-------
“You lucky bastard,” Yamapi’s jaw dropped as he gripped Jin’s suitcase tighter, his knuckles turning white over the plastic handle. The dorm building was huge. The hallways were filled with paintings and random polaroids of smiling girls on the walls. And the girls! So many of them. Giggling uncomfortably if they were meeting for the first time. Chattering animately if they were already aquatinted.
“Hello!” a cheerful girl with an absolutely adorable smile hopped over in front of them. Her hair was a dark brown, almost like Jin’s wig, but a bit shorter and wavy. Her uniform was perfectly in place but a bunch of bead bracelets decorated her wrist, jingling as she waved at the couple in front of her. “I’m Nagasawa Masami! Call me Masami.”
“So cute,” Jin uttered, earning a pinch on his back. Yamapi rose his eyebrows, reminding Jin that he was now Jinnifer. The straight and taken schoolgirl. “I’m Jinnifer,” he attempted the girly voice he was practicing in front of the mirror all summer. It didn’t sound bad. “And this is my boyfriend, Yamapi.”
“You two look very cute together,” another voice appeared and the couple almost sighed in relief when they saw the familiar figure standing beside Masami. Rina had her hands on her hips and a knowing smile on her face. “I hope things will work out long distance.”
“Oh, I’ll be here to check up on her,” Yamapi looked directly at Rina, “lots.”
“Jinnifer is going to be my roommate!” Masami grinned widely. “I hope we have a great year!”
“We will,” Jinnifer nodded slowly.
“Who’s going to be your roommate?” Masami looked over at Rina, who immediately blanched.
“They stuck me with Leah Dizon,” she answered gloomily, looking over to the end of the hallway where three girls in the corner were deep in discussion about one of the girl’s sunglasses. Their outfits were the same as the rest of the students, but they still seemed better dressed. They adorned bright and dangling necklaces, high heeled shoes that would probably get them written up and wore their skirts a bit higher than the dress code required.
“Whoa,” this time it was Yamapi who sighed, earning a glare from his sister and girlfriend.
“I know,” Rina rolled her eyes. “I would end up with one of the Plastics. At least she’s the harmless one.”
“Plastics?” Jinnifer asked, still looking at the girls.
“They’re as beautiful as dolls but have no substance. They expect that everything will be given to them and take out their anger on the other girls if they don’t get it.”
“They’re not that bad,” Masami waved her hand, her bright attitude almost contagious when Rina smiled as well.
“Remember when they locked you in the bathroom?”
“Yeah but-”
“They’re evil. Now I’m going to finish unpacking before Leah takes both closets. Have a fun stay here Jinnifer,” with a small nod to her brother Rina slowly walked away.
“I should get going as well,” Yamapi announced, dropping a bag against a wall and slowly walking away.
Jin cleared his throat. “Are you forgetting something?” Crossing his arms he looked over at his friend expectantly.
“Forgetting something?” Yamapi looked confused before shooting the other an annoyed look. He reluctantly walked back over and winced to himself before kissing Jinnifer’s cheek. “Bye baby.”
“Call you later sweetheart.”
“How cute!” Masami squeaked, grabbing onto Jinnifer. “Now let’s check out the room! I’m sorry, but I started organizing the furniture already. I thought a bunk bed would make more room though!”
“That’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“Top or bottom?” Masami asked as soon as the door opened.
She was only answered by a loud snickering sound. Jinnifer was definitely going to be a girl with a dirty sense of humor.
“I don’t get it. What was so funny?”
This was going to be the greatest times in his life.
“Why are you laughing so hard?”
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“We definitely have the best door decorations on the floor! Shoko-chan, you’re an amazing artist!” Inoue Mao cried out, wrapping her arms tightly around her roommate’s shoulders. It was indeed an amazing door, covered in scraps of construction paper with intricate doodles of the pair drawn on them. It was colorful and very personal.
Nakagawa Shoko stiffened slightly at her overtly touchy friend, but straightened her glasses and gently patted the other’s back. “They were from last year. Remember goofing off in history?”
“Of course,” Mao nodded, pulling away and crossing her arms, “You were always drawing anime characters in your notebook and I was always snoozing in class.”
Shoko frowned and dejectedly opened the door to the room. Walking over to her desk, she slumped in the seat and stared off into her sketch pad. “If I do poorly again I’m going to have to see that damn tutor again. He was annoying to the max degree.”
“Are you talking about Turtle Boy? I always thought he was teasing you because he liked you,” Mao teased, messing with the corner of one of her movie posters that was peeling off the ceiling.
Her face heated up, and Shoko had to cover it with her hands. “I have no time or energy for boys. They’ll never understand a geek like me.”
Mao was about to open her mouth to say something comforting when a sinister voice came from the doorway. “They do understand you geeks and that’s why they want nothing to do with either one of you.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than torture us?” Mao walked over to the Plastic trio.
The leader, Erika Sakajiwa, shrugged with a smirk. Looking over Mao’s shoulder, she saw that Shoko seemed to be hunching her shoulders, sinking into herself. “Well, since we’re done here, yes.”
Mao didn’t give them a satisfaction of a comeback and slammed the door in their faces. “Shokotan?” she kneeled beside her best friend, rubbing her back comfortingly. “Ignore them. Anyone would be lucky to have a girlfriend like you.”
“Really?” She sniffed behind her hands.
“Really. I bet you sometime this year some boy is going to come around and gobble my best friend up away from me,” Mao said with a small, almost sad smile. She couldn’t imagine every parting from Shoko that way.
“That would never happen. You’re really important to me,” she replied, removing her hands from her face and grinning widely. “We still ditching next week to go to the Cosplay convention?”
“You’ll never believe who I’m going to be.”
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There was something about Yuki Tegoshi that was off with Becky. The way she looked at her made her uncomfortable at times, as though she was being studied. The way she was always trying to sit on her lap when the two sat together on their futon. But Becky always managed to shake off the uncomfortable feeling. She was a bit weird as well.
She turned up her radio that was playing showtunes of an American musical and began to think of the moves in her head. The stage was big enough for this number. The school could totally produce it. She could see it so clearly in her head, she was in front of the cast, belting out the hard chords of the song and delivering the comical relief. She was a star and at least she knew it.
“When are we heading off to dinner?” Yuki’s soft voice broke through the music and Becky was pulled away from her dreams. Sighing slightly in disappointment, she couldn’t frown at her roommate’s wide and infectious grin.
“Now. I’m starving,” she hopped off the seat and hooped her arms with her fellow drama club member. “This year’s going to be great. What do you think of a Chicago musical for this year’s play? We’d all wear flapper outfits and heavy make-up. It’d be fun!”
“Whatever you want Becky!” There was that weird vibe again. “I mean, you’re creative enough to think it through.”
Becky shrugged off the feeling and nodded. “You betcha.”
-------------------
“You’re smoking in the dorm room? We just moved in!” Ichikawa Yui cried out, walking across the room to rip the cigarette out of her roommate’s hand.
“That’s why I needed a smoke. I’m exhausted,” Koda Kumi replied in an amused tone, taking the cigarette back and taking a deep drag before stomping it out on the carpeted floor.
“We’re going to be fined for that!” Yui pouted. How did she end up with this roommate? She was the girl who had the grades and reputation to go to a world-wide renowned school like Harvard or Oxford. What was she doing paired with the school’s infamous bad girl?
Kumi shrugged. “Aren’t your parents loaded or something?”
Yui closed her eyes and repressed the urge to shriek. One year. She would only be sleeping in here anyways. There was always the library.
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Otsuka Ai didn’t get the chance to see her roommate on move-in day, already knowing that Minami was probably in the Art room constructing a sculpture that looked like a zombie duck or something. Smiling softly at the thought of her artistic friend coming back to their room covered in glue and paint, Ai packed the last of her clothing into her closet. She walked over to her desk and lifted her guitar onto her lap. Absently strumming a couple cords her mind drifted to memories of her summer and meeting her boyfriend Eita.
Eita with his big ears and bigger heart. Encouraging her to begin writing music of her own rather than covering songs she could hear and play by heart. But Ai was insecure. What if she was only meant to cover and never create? She was never as creative as Minami nor as outgoing as Eita.
Tapping the wood of the guitar impatiently she looked over at the smiling couple of her and Eita in the framed photo sitting on her nightstand. Could she really make him proud and prove herself wrong?
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How lucky was she to get her own room? Kuriyama Chiaki made the room completely her own, changing the lightbulb to a red tint and adding black curtains. Even her uniform was a bit darker than her classmates.
Goth. That was the word to describe her and although Chiaki hated being labeled and placed into those expectations she didn’t argue. She just didn’t talk much. But she had her own room and she didn’t need to very much. Just get through classes without being noticed and hide in solitude the rest of the day.
She heard the door handle move and her gaze shot up. “I’m pretty sure that’s your room!” a helpful voice from the other side shot out.
“Thanks.”
Chiaki couldn’t help but glare at the girl who walked in. She looked like one of those damn ‘Plastics’. Not only would she lose her peace but she would have to be picked on in her own room.
“I’m Keiko Kitagawa. And I can already tell this has gone off to a bad start.”
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“Billy’s Bootcamp?” Toda Erika asked her roommate as she inspected the box and the man yelling in English on the television screen. “There’s already a gym here.”
“It’s distracting over there,” Ueto Aya countered, only partially paying attention. Her focus was now on feeling the burn in her abdomens. She wasn’t going to lose another damn baseball game. This was her last year in school, she had to go big or go home. Plus there were rumors of scouts patrolling her games this year.
“Don’t work too hard,” Erika yawned from over her laptop, messaging one of her friends from across the hall.
“How the hell are you able to be one of the fastest runners in the school and not work as hard as the others,” Aya clenched through her teeth when breathing started to become a slight problem.
Erika shrugged. “An old friend of mine always taught me that if I was going to run, it better be fast and far away. Did you know that your face is red?”
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The shared room of Ueno Juri and Aragaki Yui was void of its residents but already set up and unpacked. Rumor had it that last year Juri attempted to set up a cot in the closet of the music room and that Yui fell asleep on the art table a few nights a week on a regular basis.
It wasn’t that they didn’t like each other. They just liked their respective arts more.
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“What are you doing smarty pants? Reading the books from the summer’s assigned list?” Kuroki Meisa took a seat beside her friend on the futon. They were wearing matching yellow pajamas, which was completely unintentional. They were just that much in sync.
“Re-reading. I finished the list as soon as I found out where I put it,” Horikita Maki defended herself, setting the book down on her lap and resting her head on Meisa’s shoulder.
“When was that?”
“A month ago,” Maki yawned.
“Thirty books in thirty days? You really had no life,” Meisa chuckled, wrapping her arm around her friend’s shoulder. Soon they would have to go to sleep and deal with school, work, classmates, drama, basketball practice (for Meisa) and violin recitals (for Maki) but for now they were in the safety and tranquility of their room and company.
“You were supposed to visit me,” Maki reminded her passively.
“My family went to Spain.”
“Does that guy still call you?” she asked, slowly getting up and going to her bed. Tucking herself in she smiled gently at Meisa. “Ah summer love.”
Meisa threw a pillow at the other and wrinkled her nose. “I hope that giant stops. He was such a sleezeball. Now go to sleep so I forget about him by the time I do.”
“Sweet dreams darling.”
“Good night.”
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Suzuki Emi studied her reflection in the small compact mirror she kept on her nightstand as she went to lay down on her bed. The mirror was gold with shimmering gems encrusted on it, a gift from one of her admirers. She usually stayed with the gifts longer than the admirers. Usually they were a lot nicer to look at.
“You’re honestly the only person I know who puts on make-up before going to sleep. Doesn’t that give you acne?” Erika Sakajiwa snapped, slightly annoyed that the other looked so good going to sleep.
“What if someone attempts to get our attention with the window? I want to look my best,” Emi winked at her reflection before setting the mirror back down. Even the way she laid down looked like a screencap from a random romantic movie.
Erika was always a bit relieved that Emi never attempted to talk back to her. Emi was only interested in the popularity bit for the luxury and what came with it. With Leah Dizon she didn’t even choose to be popular, but her looks demanded attention with her large eyes and soft features.
The three of them were called the Plastics by their classmates. Resembling the classic Barbie dolls that were considered the perfect beings by all who saw them.
Which is exactly what Erika wanted. Perfection.
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“Three different agencies wanted me to model for their advertisements but I chose to work with this one for vanilla fragrance because it smelled so yummy!” Leah smiled widely, clutching her teddy bear tightly and looking across the room at Rina.
Rina thought her roommate was such an oddball. So childlike and naive, yet beautiful and sexy. Take now for instance, wearing pink lingerie with a small, silk red robe. Yet holding a worn out teddy bear. “Did you get to keep any?”
“Three bottles! I gave one to my mom and the other two to Erika and Emi,” Leah replied, her eyes slowly closing.
Rina walked over at the lamp to turn it off, catching her reflection on the way there. Her hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail. She was wearing her brother’s old shirt from his chubbier days and a pair of shorts. So plain, she thought to herself as she turned off the light. “What about you Leah? Where was yours?”
The room was dark and she was not answered. She didn’t know if it was because the other fell asleep or if she just didn’t want to reply.
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“You insisted on being top. Are you happy up there?” Masami asked, finishing putting her hair up into pigtails and heading off to her own bed.
Jin finally found the joke to be a little less entertaining and didn’t giggle this time. “It’s cool. I can hang posters on the ceiling now too!”
“Oh, of what?” Masami stood beside Jinnifer, who was laying down on the bed and looking at the white, chipping paint.
Jin shrugged. It couldn’t be of half naked women anyways.
“Good night! Tomorrow is going to be fun. And luckily our schedules are the same so I can show you around!” Masami crawled into her own bed.
The first day was almost over, Jin thought to himself. And it wasn’t so bad so far. It could only get better, right?