Chapter Two

It is time to go to Japan, and with her first plane ride comes her first new friend. But when she learns some startling news, she begins to questions just how she got here.

            The airport was filled to the brim with diverse people going various places. Gaby took the sight of the large building in front of her, her luggage in hand, and carry-on on her shoulder. Her other hand clutched her stomach with anxious anticipation. She licked her dry lips to wet them.

            Her grandmother, Nancy, came up from behind her and put her hand on the unoccupied shoulder. “Gabriella, are you going to be alright waiting to board your flight alone?”

            Gaby bit her lip slightly. “I… I think so. All I have to do is wait for the flight to be called, right?”

            Nancy nodded, “Yes. But you’ve never flew before. It’s also over a ten-hour flight.”

            “At least it’s a direct flight.”

            “That’s true.”

            Nancy noticed her granddaughter’s white knuckles made from gripping her luggage too hard. She placed her hand over hers, and she spoke softly, “It isn’t too late to say no and come back home.”

            Gaby looked to Nancy and replied, “It is. I have to do this. I’ve waited almost a whole year.” She reached with her free hand and gave her grandmother’s hand a squeeze. “I… I can do this. But thank you, Nana. I will call you every Saturday and Sunday, okay? I promise.”

            “I will hold you to that promise, Gabriella,” Nancy warned her, “You better call me. Or I might come over there. And you don’t want me to come over there.”

            Her granddaughter laughed, “I know. I know. I will.”

            The pair walked into the building, hand-in-hand. The inside was way busier than the outside. And there was a plethora of people in large crowds going to-and-fro. There were escalators far in front of them that would take Gaby up to the second floor for her flight. To the right was the ticket counter and where you checked in your luggage. To the left was a plethora of benches and seats for people to sit at, and further down was the baggage claim. Dotted around was a few souvenir shops and magazine racks.

            “Gaby!” called a voice.

            Both Gaby and Nancy turned to the benches and found K waiting for them. They walked over to the woman.

            “K, you’re here,” Gaby smiled, “I’m glad you could make it.”

            “You seriously thought I would miss this?” K asked, “I wouldn’t miss you going away to college, you dummy!” K hugged Gaby tightly.

            Gaby hugged back. “Thanks for seeing me off. I thought I would only have Nana with me.”

            “I was the one to apply you for college. And we are also best friends.”

            Gaby nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, we are.”

            Nancy glanced at the enlarged clock that hung above the escalators. “Gaby, it’s an hour before your flight. We better get your luggage checked in and you up on the second floor.”

            “Right!” Gaby said as Nancy and K led the way. They checked in Gaby’s luggage and her ticket was held within her passport in her hand. The trio walked to the escalators and stopped just in front of the one going upwards. Gaby turned to the two.

            “I’ll miss you both,” she said, her eyes had gotten misty.

            K and Nancy both hugged her.

            “We’ll miss you too, Gaby,” K responded, tears formed in her tear ducts.

            “Make sure you call,” Nancy warned her, “I swear, Gabriella. I will get on a plane and go over there.”

            “I’ll call! I promise!” Gaby shouted. She put a foot on a step and then her other foot followed. She faced the both of them while riding the escalator backwards. She waved her hand dramatically and yelled, “I love you both!”

            “We love you too!” they shouted back.

            Gaby turned around and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Tears were pouring down her face rapidly. She quickly wiped them and slapped her cheeks to try and rid them of

puffiness. Upstairs was the metal detectors and scanners. Since she had never flown before, everything was a sight to take in. The airport personnel were surprisingly accommodating with helping her get her things checked and such. When she passed through the detectors and gotten her carry-on and luggage, she took out her ticket and tried to find her terminal.

            “This place is so big,” Gaby wondered to herself, “Will I get lost in here?”

            “What are you looking for, Miss?” an airport personnel approached and asked her.

            “Oh, um, I’m looking for this terminal.” She pointed to it on her ticket.

            “Ah,” they said, “Just go some little more ways down and you’ll see it.”

            “Thank you,” Gaby responded. She continued down the path. Several fast-food places and shops were on the right of her while on the left were the terminals to get onto the planes. She went down until she found her terminal and sat in one of the waiting chairs.

            The clock ticked on, and Gaby held onto her luggage tightly. Her knuckles turned white from the hold, and her leg restlessly bounced. Her eyes darted all over the place. She was nervous.

            “Now boarding Flight A476 to Tokyo, Japan.” The voice over the intercom sounded.

            Gaby sucked in a deep breath and gathered her luggage and bag. She placed her luggage in the cart and gave her ticket to the airport attendee. Her legs felt like lead as she walked down the hallway towards the plane. Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her chest with each step.

            “I’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.” Gaby chanted to herself. Passengers in front and behind her went about their business like it was nothing. She followed the people in front of her as they seemed to know where they were going. Gaby clutched her carry-on and got onto the plane.

            It took a while for everyone to board the plane. Gaby drummed her fingers on her leg repeatedly, staring out the window in her window seat. She laid her head back against the headrest and tried to calm her heart.

            “Nervous flyer?” a voice asked her.

            Gaby turned to see a boy with kind, brown eyes and soft brown locks pulled into a manbun on his head. She blushed lightly and replied, “I’ve never flown before. So probably?”

            “Never flown before?!” the boy smiled excitedly, “Well let me tell you, friend, that it is extremely fun. You might feel a bit apprehensive during the takeoff and landing, but I’ll be right here if you need someone to hold onto.”

            Gaby’s blush deepened. She fiddled with the strap on her carry-on nervously. She wanted to break the silence, but she felt awkward sitting next to someone so open with talking to a stranger.

            The boy thrust his hand at her. “I’m Nathan. Nathan Guzman. Call me ‘Nate’, ‘Nathan’, ‘Natey-Boy’, but just don’t call me a ‘loser’ because I’m sensitive.”

            A laugh forced its way out of Gaby, and she covered her mouth quickly to prevent more from coming out. The boy, Nate, smiled brightly.

            “You know, you look real cute when you laugh.” Nate stated, a sweet red tinted the boy’s freckles across his nose.

            “I was just thinking about your accent,” Gaby retorted. She bit her lip afterwards. That had sounded a little insulting.

            Nate placed a hand on his chest and, with a faked hurt expression, said, “Oh you wound me, ma cherie. I come from Montreal, Canada. And I speak both fluent English and French, but my accent is definitely more on the French side. I apologize.”

            “No, I’m sorry for being so blunt,” Gaby rushed out, “It isn’t bad at all! I’m Gaby, by the way.”

            The two shook hands. Nate’s grip on Gaby’s hand was gentle, and just when she was going to let go and return her hand back to its original position on her bag, he lifted it up to his lips and gave her knuckles a soft kiss. Gaby took her hand back quickly, which prompted a laugh from Nate.

            “Sorry,” he laughed gently, “If you feel a little flustered, I tend to have that effect on women.”

            “More like ‘creeped out’,” Gaby muttered.

            Nate’s laugh grew louder. “Okay, okay. I’m truly sorry this time. I’ll stop. You are just too funny, mon papillon. Yeah, that’s what I’ll call you. Mon papillon.”

            “What does that mean?” Gaby asked.

            “What?” Nate pretended not to hear before he changed the subject entirely, “Oh, I never asked where you were from? You live here in San Francisco?”

            Gaby shook her head. “No, I live in San Jose. Speaking of where we came from, why are you here in San Francisco if you are from Montreal?”

            “Ah, smart girl, you are. My brother happens to live here in San Fran. I decided to spend a bit of time with him before flying off to Japan to go to Tokyo University.”

            “What?! You are going there too?!”

            Nate smiled, “You are also going to Tokyo University?! How fortunate, mon papillon. I hope that means we’ll be seeing more of each other.”

            “I’m on that foreign exchange program they have,” Gaby explained, “I couldn’t afford it otherwise.”

            “I was also selected for that.”

            “Really?!”

            “Yes. What a small world we live in. What major are you going into?”

            Gaby replied, “Oh, I’ll be going into the Humanities major. I actually am unsure of what I want to do, so I figured Humanities would be an easy start?”

            “I am also going into the Humanities department,” Nate said, “Next thing you know, we’ll be roomed together.”

            “WHAT?!” Gaby squeaked, “No way! I’m in the girl’s dorm!”

            “I know, mon papillon. No need to get nervous. I am a perfect gentleman. I wouldn’t go as far as to live with a girl while unmarried.”

            “‘Perfect’, yeah okay.” Gaby whispered to herself.

            Nate chuckled, “You really are a funny girl, Gaby.”

            “We are taking off shortly. Please buckle in your seatbelts during ascension.” The captain told the passengers over the intercom. The buckle seatbelt sign was on, and Gaby watched as Nate put on his seatbelt.

            Everything felt too real for Gaby. She was going to be thousands of feet in the air. They say that air travel is the safest way to travel, but what if they happen to plummet while flying over the Pacific Ocean? Gaby can swim, sure, but out in the open water like that and she would surely drown, right? How would it feel to plunge into cold water infested with such things as sharks and other unsavory creatures? Gaby felt her heartbeat quicken as her fingers gripped the arm rests. Her knuckles turned white.

            “Gaby?” Nate called to her, “Mon papillon, you alright?”

            Being stranded out in the middle of the ocean wouldn’t be good. Why did she think she could do this? She’s never even been outside of California, much less the United States. If she died, how long would it take? Would she die from being drowned? Would she be eaten? Would she freeze to death?

            “Gaby?” Nate called again. He noticed her white knuckles and put his hand over hers. This seemed to work because Gaby jolted in her seat.

            “Nate? What?” she asked.

            “Are you alright? You seem to be out of it.”

            “Uh, I’m fine. Yeah. We’ll just be thousands of feet in the air over an ocean for ten hours, and if it plummets- “.

            “No worries, mon papillon. I’ll be right here with you, alright?”

            Gaby slowly turned to him and nodded. Her eyes were glassy, as if she was still in another place. The plane lurched forward and began its trek down the runway.

            Nate upturned his hand to Gaby, gesturing for her to hold onto his hand. Gaby bit her lip hesitantly, but she grabbed onto it and squeezed. The boy winced, but he didn’t pull away.

            “You know,” he began, “The first time I flew, my dad was with me. We flew to New York to see my mom while she was interning for a fashion magazine. I was extremely nervous to fly, but my dad kept me distracted by telling me useless, but interesting facts about Canada. You want to hear some?”

            Gaby nodded, watching the plane move faster along the runway. Nate began spouting off facts about Canada while Gaby closed her eyes as she felt the plane tilt. They were ascending.

           Gaby took a deep breath, and slowly let it back out. She sucked in another shaky breath, her eyes tightly squeezed shut. Nate’s voice was deep and it resonated pleasantly on her eardrums. It was very soothing to hear him speak. Somewhere along the way, he switched from English to French. Gaby didn’t know if he did it intentionally or unintentionally, but she didn’t mind. The French sounded gentle, as if he were speaking to a child, yet it wasn’t condescending in nature.

            She relaxed into her seat, and her hold on his hand lessened to where they lightly held hands. She noted his hands larger than hers and felt very warm, and her hands must have been sweating at this point since she noticed. Has she ever held hands with a boy before? She can’t seem to remember.

            Gaby popped open an eye to look out the window. Why she wanted a window seat was beyond her understanding. They were still ascending, but she could clearly see the ocean below her. She could also see San Francisco still in the background. The place looked tiny, and she giggled silently to herself at the sight. With both eyes open at this point, she stared out the window. The ocean’s waved lapped over each other, and the thought of plummeting came back to her.

            She closed her eyes again and leaned back into her seat. Nate was still speaking in French; he probably didn’t notice that Gaby had stopped listening, but then again how could she listen intently when she didn’t even know what he was saying? She opened her eyes to look at him, and he turned to her with a small smile on his face.

            “Feel better?”

            Gaby nodded, “A little bit. Thanks.”

            “Of course. Anything for mon papillon.”

            “Um…” Gaby breathed in. The anxiety was feeling rather heavy on her. “You mentioned your parents earlier. What are they like?”

            Nate got uncharacteristically quiet. Gaby opened her eyes and found a frown on his face. He noticed her stare and smiled once again.

            “Well… my dad owns an auto shop in Montreal. He got it from his dad, who got it from his dad, you know how family businesses go. He’s a hard a*s who wants his business to be passed down to every generation. Now my mom is great. She is a fashion blogger, currently. I told you that she interned at a fashion magazine in New York, right? Well, she gained lots of experience from it and started her own blog for all things fashion. She even has been making clothes herself. I don’t know what she sees in my dad, but maybe he has a gold penis or something.”

            Gaby laughed loudly, “Oh my gosh, you did NOT just say that out loud.”

            “What? That I think my dad has a golden penis and that’s the only reason my mom is with him?”

            “You said it again! Not only is that embarrassing to hear out loud, isn’t that insulting your mother?”

            Nate stopped to think about it. “Hmm, maybe? I guess it depends on how you look at it?”

            “No matter how I look at it, it sounds like you are insulting your mom by calling her a gold digger,” Gaby stated.

            “We all gotta make money somehow, right?”

            Gaby shook her head, “Let’s change the subject. Tell me about your brother?”

            “Ah,” Nate said, “He’s great. He’s super into robotics and wants to build giant robots. He goes to some tech college in San Francisco, and he is captain of the Robotics Team. Here’s the real kicker: his name is Nathaniel. Yup. We are Nathan and Nathaniel. Nate and Nate, if you will.”

            “Wow! Why would your parents do that?”

            “My uncle and my dad made a bet in a game of pool and my uncle won.”

            Gaby raised a brow, “Are you joking with me?”

            Nate smirked, “How’d you guess? Too farfetched of a joke? They literally named us that because they could. I guess they thought it’d be funny. But jokes on them because we were terrors as children. We’d pretend to be each other, even though we look nothing alike, so my mom would call one of us and the other would show up. She got really frustrated at us for those times. We’d also pour vegetable oil all over the kitchen floor and start crying so Mom would run in and slip on the oil.”

            “Jeez!” Gaby said, “You could have seriously hurt her, you know.”

            “Yeah, but we were stupid kids. That’s what we did to entertain ourselves since we didn’t have a PlayStation or Xbox. I’m glad I have a 3DS to relieve my boredom now, but I really wish I had an Xbox at least.”

            “I’m more of a PlayStation gal, myself,” Gaby responded, “But I also have a 3DS. In fact, I have it with me right now.”

            “Oh yeah? I have mine with me too! Think we can play together?”

            “Depends. Do you have any Pokémon games?” Gaby asked.

            Nate placed his carry-on bag on his lap and plucked out several Pokémon games out of it, “Duh.”

            Gaby smiled and grabbed her 3DS along with some games out as well. The plane had stabilized and the seatbelt sign switched off, so they were free to roam the plane. The two battled their Pokémon teams throughout several games. Gaby won the majority, surprisingly since she didn’t strategize like Nate did.

            “You’re not letting me win, right? Because if you were, that’s not a win to me,” Gaby said while tapping her short nails on her 3DS.

            “How could I let you win during Pokémon?” Nate asked, “It isn’t as if I’m purposely using ineffective moves against your Pokémon.”

            “You better not be! I’d be super pissed!”

            “Oh, mon papillon, how cute you look when you’re mad.”

            “Fight me again, loser.”

            “Whoa! I told you that I am sensitive!”

            The two eventually switched to Super Smash Brothers Brawl, where Gaby could easily see if Nate was taking it easy on her. And she believed him when he said he wasn’t taking it easy. He played primarily as Ike, but sometimes he would switch it up to play as Sheik. Gaby played as Ness, but Marth was a close second. The two were locked in several fierce battles, but Nate won the five out of nine games they played. Their 3DS’s lights both flashed red.

            “Uh oh,” Nate stated, “Looks like we played too much.”

            “Yeah,” Gaby responded, “But it was fun.”

            “Definitely,” Nate agreed, “We’ll have to do it again sometime, after we charge our 3DS’s first.”

            Gaby nodded. She put her stuff back into her bag and looked out the window. The ocean was still under them with no signs of land anywhere. The sight didn’t feel so bad anymore. Maybe it was because of Nate’s presence? Gaby shrugged inwardly.

            “Tell me about your family, Gaby,” Nate broke the short silence between them, “I’ve told you about mine, yeah?”

            “Yeah, okay,” Gaby replied, “But there isn’t much to tell. I live with my grandparents. And my grandma, she didn’t really want me going to Tokyo University, but I convinced her to let me go.”

            “Oh yeah?” Nate inquired, “I can relate to that. Dad didn’t want me going either.”

            “You convinced him, too?”

            “Uh, something like that.”

            Gaby raised a brow, but she didn’t question any further. Nate did not seem willing to continue with the explanation, so it was best to let it go. The time seemed to go by extremely slow. The two continued to play around by playing games such as Ro-Sham-Bo (or Rochambeau, as Nate spelled it), Tic-Tac-Toe (paper and pencil curtesy of Gaby’s carry-on), Hangman, and Two Truths and a Lie. Gaby’s favorite had been Two Truths and a Lie, because she was surprisingly good at finding Nate’s lies. Though he was probably going easy on her, considering one of the lies was “I am Neil Armstrong”.

            “Only three hours to go,” Nate mused, “Time is going by pretty fast.”

            Gaby disagreed, “It’s going by super slow. Ugh. I’m anxious. And hungry. Damn, I wish there was a McDonald’s on this plane.”

            Nate laughed, “That’s in first-class, mon papillon.”

            “Really?!”

            Nate shrugged with a smile. Gaby frowned. She leaned into her chair and stared out the window. The chair wasn’t too bad, but it was slightly scratchy on Gaby’s bare legs. What a time to wear shorts. The girl rubbed the sore spots on her thighs from the fabric. The ocean carried on as far as Gaby’s eyes could see. She rubbed said eyes and let out a deep sigh.

            “Bored?” Nate asked.

            “A little,” Gaby responded.

            “Take a nap. I’ll wake you up if you sleep for too long.”

            Gaby nodded and reclined her seat as far as it allowed.

           Thankfully the plane had a comfortable space between chairs so Gaby wouldn’t infringe on anyone else’s space. She stared out at the clear blue sky. The color was beautiful. Her eyes batted slower and slower, until she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

            It seemed like only a minute had gone by when she was being shaken gently awake.

            “Mon papillon,” Nate called softly, “Mon papillon, we’re descending.”

            Gaby shook her head, relieving herself of the sleepiness she had. She glanced out the window to see all the large buildings that seemed to touch the sky. The plane was close to the airport, and Gaby got ready to eventually get off the plane. She saw Nate mirroring her with his own stuff.

            The plane touched down and slowly skirted to a stop on the runway. Gaby’s legs bounced restlessly. She was ready to go and explore the city. Maybe not ‘explore’ per se, since it was so large, but she could do a little exploring while on her way to the university. She looked over at Nate, who smiled sweetly at her, and she returned said smile.

            The door opened and the captain bid everyone a farewell. Everyone got up and formed a single-file line towards the door. Nate offered to carry Gaby’s bag, but she politely declined. She needed something to squeeze all her anxiety out on. When they finally got out of the plane, the pair headed into the airport. The Tokyo Airport was massive, Gaby didn’t know if the Tokyo or the San Francisco Airport was larger. Both seemed to go on forever.

            The place was packed with a plethora of diverse people. Gaby was glad to have Nate with her because she definitely would have gotten lost if she was on her own.

            “We should get our bags before we find our buddies,” Nate suggested.

            Gaby raised a brow, “Buddies?”

            Nate nodded, “Yeah. The university assigns one native student to buddy up with a foreign student. It helps both students in the long-run. Didn’t you read your packet?”

            Gaby huffed in embarrassment, “Look, I was too busy being excited, okay?”

            The boy laughed and ruffled her hair, to which she slapped his hand away. She stomped away from him, but only slightly since she didn’t want to get lost. The two made their way over to the baggage claim area designated for the plane that they had just departed from. They waited patiently for the bags to make their way down the rotating machine. Nate’s bag, Gaby saw, had a cute maple leaf pattern that made her laugh lightly. How very Canadian. And Gaby’s Marvel luggage came through, which Nate commented a “Nice!” and high-fived her.

            “You think our buddies know English?” Gaby asked as they headed out of the area.

            “Probably,” Nate said, “I’d assumed so because even though we had that grueling Japanese Proficiency Test, it’s not like we can fully grasp the language. That’s why we’re here to learn.”

            “Japanese Proficiency Test?” Gaby asked.

            Nate gave her a confused look. “Yeah. To apply to their program, you had to take two standardized tests. One was a simple standardized test for many subjects, and then they had the Japanese language test so they could weed out the people who just wanted to go to Japan because they liked anime and stuff. Gaby, you did those, right? I mean, you got in.”

            Sweat formed nervously behind Gaby’s neck. She swallowed a lump in her throat before she shouted, “Of course I did those! I was just messing with you!”

            If Nate thought she was being suspicious, he didn’t let on. “Oh gosh, mon papillon. You scared me for a second.”

            Gaby laughed nervously. She refused to look him in the eye as she dug out her new smartphone her grandmother got her as a present. She quickly typed a message to K back in the U.S. The message read: “We need to talk.”

            “Ah!” Nate exclaimed, “I think those are our buddies! Is your last name ‘Garnica’?”

            Gaby nodded. She looked over to where he had been pointing and saw two people, a boy and a girl, standing a bit far from each other, but they both held up signs. The boy, who had odd, bright purple hair formed into a fauxhawk, smiled brightly at them and held a sign that said, ‘Nathan Guzman’. The girl, who looked extremely bored, had strawberry blonde hair in a high ponytail and bright red lipstick, held a sign that said, ‘Gabriella Garnica’.

            “Yeah, I think those are our buddies!” Nate waved at the two, “Yooo! What’s up?!”

            The boy waved back excitedly and said with a heavy accent, “Yo, dude! You Nathan?!”

            “Yup! Call me ‘Nate’, my dude.” He shook the guy’s hand, “What’s your name?”

            “Takashi Yuki. But call me ‘Ricky’.” The two shared a laugh at this.

            Gaby smiled at the two and turned to her own buddy, hoping to make the same connection with her, but her buddy glared at her and examined her nails, which were press-on nails covered in jewels. The girl looked Gaby up and down, and sneered.

            “Gabriella?” she asked, her accent wasn’t as thick.

            Gaby nodded, “Yeah! And you?”

            The other girl raised a brow and barked out a laugh.

            “Yamada. Yuka. I can’t believe you are the girl who scored 100% on both tests.”

            Nate and his buddy, Ricky, both gasped and said, at the same time, “YOU are the ‘Legend’?!”

            “Legend?” Gaby asked, “What did I do?!”

            Yuka, still with a bored look, continued, “You scored 100% on both standardized tests for the Foreign Program. I’m amazed that such a plain looking girl happened to do that. I’m not one for compliments, but I have to congratulate you on that. Don’t get used to it.”

            Nate rushed to Gaby’s side and shouted out, “I heard that a student got 100% on both tests, but I didn’t really believe it! I thought it was just a myth! I got a decent score, but those tests are notoriously hard! How’d you do it?!”

            Panicked rose in Gaby’s being. All three of them stared at her intently. She felt her fingers start to tingle, her blood pressure was definitely rising. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her phone buzzed and she thanked God for the save.

            “H-Hold on a moment,” she said to the others as she picked up her phone. It was a text message from K. It read: “Yeah? What’s up?”

            Gaby frantically texted back: “I’M GOING TO CALL YOU LATER TO CHEW YOUR BUTT OUT. BE READY.”

            Putting her phone back into her pocket, she laughed a nervous laugh and addressed the others, “I just did what I do best… hehehe.”

            Nate and Ricky looked impressed, but Yuka scoffed and her sneer grew. Gaby shrank in her own skin. Yuka seemed extremely judgmental, and Gaby didn’t know how to handle that. It was a shame that she couldn’t have a buddy like Ricky who seemed pretty carefree, from what she has seen anyways.

            “Dude,” said boy, Ricky, talked to Gaby, “When we heard that someone did that well on the tests, my girlfriend, Miya-Chan, told me, ‘Why can’t you be that smart, Yu-Kun?! You make me look bad!’ and I replied with, ‘Miya-Chan, why must you hurt me so bad?!’ And then I cried and she beat me up, but then she bought me ice cream. What was I talking about again?”

            Nate and Gaby both shared a look. This guy was an oddball, which you could tell straight away by the crazy hair and fast-talking he seemed to do. He racked his brain to remember what he had been saying, “I usually forget what my point is when I start talking about Miya-Chan. My sweet, beautiful Miya-Chan. She is the prettiest, most beautiful, sweet, kind, gentle, smart, hard-working, and lovely angel! She is even better than Suzuki Emiri!”

            He seemed like he was going to go on forever, but Nate cut him off by saying, “You were talking about Gaby getting 100% on the tests.”

            “RIGHT,” Ricky exclaimed, “The whole school knows about ‘The Legend’! There has been other Legends, but you are the second foreign student to be one of them. It’s been ages since the last one though, so everyone is super excited to meet you! I can’t believe Mean Yamada gets to be your buddy!”

            Yuka slammed her high heel into Ricky’s foot, smiling widely as he squealed. “I WAS excited,” Yuka stated, looking Gaby up and down once more, “Until I saw what a disappointment she was.”

            Gaby huffed. How rude could this girl get? Yuka gave Gaby a challenging glare, which Gaby was involuntarily giving back. Yuka began to growl, and Nate quickly stepped in.

            “Okay, let’s all settle down,” Nate said, “How about we head to campus? Yeah?”

            It was Yuka who broke the stare off as she walked away from them with speed. Gaby and the others had to run to catch up with her, even though she was in heels. Yuka led them to the station, where they would take the bullet train to the university. They got on without any obstacles, and once they were on, Gaby began to feel excitement once more.

            She had never been on a train before. She took a seat next to Nate, because she would be damned if she had to sit next to her supposed buddy, Yuka. Yuka seemed put off by it because when Gaby chose to sit next to Nate, Yuka scoffed and turned away from them.

            While Nate and Ricky chatted away, Gaby stared out the window with sparkles in her eyes. The scenery moved quickly, and her eyes had to keep up with the rapid movement. The train wasn’t too crowded, thank goodness, so Gaby was a comfortable space away from any strangers. And since she was close to Nate, who wouldn’t let anything happen to her, hopefully, she could let her guard down to take all of it in.

            She was finally in Japan. Many, including herself, have said she’d never be able to go, but she had done it. Or so she thought. Her mind lingered on the fact that Ricky, Nate, and Yuka have called her the “Legend”, meaning she had scored 100% on both tests required for Tokyo University. Only a few people have done it, yet Gaby was one of them. Here was the twist; Gaby never took any tests. She just got the letter saying that she was in. In fact, her tutor, K, was the one to apply for her. Did that mean…

            “Gaby?” Nate asked when he swore he could see smoke coming out of Gaby’s head, “You okay, mon papillon?”

            Gaby’s brain stopped working so hard in an instant. She gave Nate a smile and replied, “Yup! Just super excited to get to Uni!”

            Nate mirrored the smile. “It’ll be so fun! I’m sure we’ll have some of the same classes since we have the same major! And we can study together, if you want!”

            “Of course! I’ll need all the help I can get!”

            Nate laughed and went back to talking with Ricky. Gaby turned back towards the window, and in the reflection, she saw Yuka’s searing glare. Maybe she was onto Gaby before Gaby was onto anything. Gaby bit her lip in anxiousness and tried to calm herself. She’d just have to ask K what the heck happened. And hopefully it wouldn’t be bad.

Author's Note

This chapter was 5,458 words long, which is 5 times the length of the other version. This is turning out to be quite a lengthy story, which is what I was going for. I'm challenging myself to write at least 4k a chapter to make up for the lack of words in the old Dorm Life book. I apologize to anyone that wants to read this now since the chaps are out of whack due to being re-written, but please have patience. I don't know when I'll be done with this, but I'll try my best.

I'll be adding new characters to the story such as Nate and Ricky from now on. Though Nate is more of a main character, while Ricky is more side character. There will be plenty more side characters to come, so please stay tuned.

On another note, I've been making the font bigger and the text more spaced out to make it easier to read. Please let me know if it is more tolerable or not.

Also, I'd like for anyone to point out any errors that I have made. I'd greatly appreciate it. And throughout the story, if anyone could also point out if I am not being true to any one's character, that'd be swell. I'd hate to accidentally make someone say something completely out of character. It would help me become a better writer if I had some corrections.

Let me know what you think. ^^

Reviews

[Ashimoto]

Question: Do Gaby and Kyo fall in love? Because it would just seem that way because he saved her and all. :D

[Ace D Portgas]

Aww poor Dai, the Butt Monkey of the group lol...They've only been in one chapter and I think I can get a feel on their personalities and thats what I like in a story...Kyo seems to be the type to get along with anyone...Looking forward to seeing the other characters!

[Emunah June.]

"Gaby didn't know him all that much, but she had taken a few years of self-defense classes, so she was ready to punch out any pervert that laid their hands on her."

I lol'ed REALLY hard when I read that XDDD

I like AKFG too :D They are awesome XD.

[Ali]

lol awesome chapter!! cant wait for the next one!!

[Gaby]

OMG! Aqua Timez! YUSH~! They're the best, and so are you! This chapter was awesome, and I can't wait for the next one. I wanna know what Ryuusuke looks like :DDD