The eyes fell on Gabrielle who had offered to supply the horses from her family’s ranch. Her face tinged. Haruna knew what that meant. Gabrielle’s parents must have been talking with Haruna’s grandmother.
“Uh, Dad didn’t want me to lend them out… b-but I got you this.”
Tracy took the parcel.
“No presents until after the cake!” Mrs. Hasan interjected, appearing suddenly and to Tracy’s chagrin. By that point everyone, including Mr. and Mrs. Hasan and her little sister, Saniya, joined in for an enthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday. Everything seemed to happen fast, and in no time they were eating chocolate truffle cake and Tracy was diving into gifts.
“From Haruna and Ryu? I wonder what it could be?” Tracy looked up from the gift tag with a slick grin. She unwrapped and the room filled with her shrill squeal. “Oh my gosh! Mini onigiri and sushi plushies! So cute!”
“Straight from Japan,” Haruna noted. Tracy was an avid plush toy collector, so Haruna had gone online and ordered it the day Tracy had expressed her love for the real thing.
Haruna became wooden with surprise as Tracy threw her arms around her. Haruna fell into a giggle, but as Ryu met her eyes with a half-smile, she felt her cheeks burn.
“Wah! A My Little Pony plushie! Sweet!” Tracy squealed, unwrapping Gabrielle’s gift last.
“In lieu of an actual horse,” Angelique observed.
“Less manure, for sure,” joked Seth.
“Man, your jokes are just bad,” Damon teased, elbowing him.
Tracy ushered them all down the hall to the rec room. Since the extravagant bash wound up being just the small group of seven, they made the most of things, keeping it casual.
“This is the closest thing to privacy we’ll get. I bet Ahmed wouldn’t have so much policing if it was his birthday. Boys get all the freedom.”
Ahmed was Tracy’s older brother. He must have been just a year older than Gabrielle’s brother, Sam, and the last thing Haruna heard was that he was well on his way to becoming a surgeon, set to follow in his father’s footsteps. Haruna thought it wasn’t so much that he was a boy, but more that he was way more responsible than Tracy was. His grades were better too. Haruna wouldn’t have been surprised if ten-year-old Saniya had more privileges than Tracy.
Not too long into their conversation, the distant cry of Tracy’s mother could be heard through the walls, “Sumayah! Someone’s at the door!”
The girls traded puzzled looks. All their close friends were here… so who was the eighth person? Tracy got up, and Haruna took it upon herself to follow, but before either of them could move Mrs. Hasan appeared, leading the guest inside.
His mouth formed an awkward grin; his light blue eyes lined in charcoal were set on Tracy. He looked like he’d walked straight out of a Hot Topic, his dyed jet-black hair spiked up, his wiry frame clothed in black skinny jeans and a graphic tee set under a white blazer. He wore studs in his ears, under his lip, and over his brow. In his hand was a sparkly, purple gift bag.
The group gawked, paying no mind as Mrs. Hasan tilted to whisper in Tracy's ear. Haruna could faintly overhear, “Sumayah, I like none of these boys, but that one looks like trouble, I think.”
Tracy stared as though her soul had left her, and her mother hastily made her exit, smiling stiffly at “that one” as she passed. Ryu and Damon seemed more confused than anything. The rest of them, most of them, only gawked, flabbergasted. Not just because this boy looked like a long lost member of My Chemical Romance, but because this boy was the shy and reserved Arlen Caige. Debbie’s twin brother, Arlen Caige.
Tracy’s hands balled into fists, and her eyes thinned.
“Why are you here?” Her tone was biting like dry ice.
"I wanted to come to your party," he said, quietly.
"Is this some joke?"
"Huh? No… I just thought—"
"Did Debbie send you?"
Arlen knitted his brows, looking like he was carefully choosing his words before answering.
"This has nothing to do with her. I don't agree with the stuff my sister says.” He dipped his head and his voice was quieter still as he said, “I think you're great, so…"
The others exchanged looks as Arlen lifted his arm, holding the purple bag out to her. He met her eyes with a shy grin."I got you something."
The rest of the evening progressed without a hitch. The group gathered before a massive plasma television, cheering on Tracy and Damon as they played one-on-one Mario Kart. Tracy had managed an easy defeat against Seth. She flew up from the sofa, hooting. She’d finally beaten Damon as well.
“Whoo! Donkey Kong, what-what!”
“No fair! Yoshi’s ride was rigged,” Damon retorted, smirking.
“Spoken like a true L-O-S-E-R,” Tracy derided, throwing up L's with her fingers as she spelled out each letter.
“I’m in for round three,” Seth declared, and he plopped down beside Damon and snatched up a controller.
Tracy pulled away for a drink, and the girls gathered around the refreshments table.
“Your parents are so nice, Tracy,” Gabrielle gushed.
“They’re totally faking it,” Tracy said with a snort. “We don’t do birthdays—so this is new. And my mom really hates that there are boys here. I’m surprised she’s kept so calm.”
“Even so, you have no clue how lucky you are. I couldn’t even dream of doing something like this at my house with my grandmother,” Haruna added.
Tracy gave a small shrug and took a sip of her soda.
“By the way, have you noticed,” Angelique purred, casually lifting her brows and glimpsing suggestively into the distance. Tracy turned. Arlen jerked his head away and casually fiddled with his blazer's zip.
“He’s been staring at you the whole night,” Angelique said to Tracy with a grin.
“He must really like you,” Gabrielle agreed.
Tracy shrugged again. “I’ve known him for years. You know me and Debbie used to be friends. If… it were anything like that, he could have said something a long time ago. Showing up randomly like this? I don’t trust it.”
Haruna looked back at Arlen who turned his head again, for a second time pretending not to have been staring. Her gaze began to wander to Ryu who had been standing in the corner, on occasion taking sips from a can of Coke. He hadn’t spoken to any of the guys, let alone Seth.
“I wonder what happened between them,” Haruna said.
“Seth won’t say anything to me about it,” Gabrielle said with a shrug.
Tracy sighed loudly. “I can’t stand to see them like this. It’s just so weird.”
Haruna nodded. Ryu ogled the two gamers on the sofa with a bitter scowl. Feeling guilty, as though she had abandoned him for her own friends, Haruna started to walk over—but at that exact moment, Ryu set down his Coke can, pulled on his jacket, and turned for the exit.
“Where's he going?” asked Tracy.
“I don't know,” Haruna said. She called after him.
“Just getting fresh air,” Ryu replied gruffly, not slowing, not stopping, and not looking back. Her eyes darted to her handbag left on a seat in the corner. She'd almost forgotten.
Ryu reached into the pocket of his jacket where he kept his smokes. He lit up a single stick, watching its orange flame in the dark. He relished the ambience. Still and quiet save for the occasional caw of a crow. The night air was cool. Peaceful.
The party wasn't bad, but uncomfortable was one way of describing it.
Seth being there was bad enough. The fact that Seth and Damon had been friends this entire time? It was surreal. It was unreal. But the hardest part was reality. Ryu wasn't used to this. At all. He didn't just hang out with people, nice people, without the pressure to act tough or the need to show off. He didn't play video games or binge on candy, chips, and cake. Yet there they were. Relaxing and having fun whether they were hardcore gamers or not. Nothing fancy or pretentious about an
ything. Most of all, to be around Haruna the entire time—not in uniform, not for school, out of freewill and not force, to be in this house and in this neighbourhood… Ryu was overwhelmed. In over his head, it felt like. Did he even belong here?
Seth seemed to be fitting in.
Maybe Ryu could now see what Seth loved so much about being around them. If Seth, let alone Damon, could adjust, it shouldn’t have been that hard. But while all of them could laugh without a care in the world, could he? At the end of the day, he wasn't like any of them.
Ryu watched a thin wisp of smoke ascend from the end of his cigarette.
The front door creaked open and closed.
“Fresh air?”
Ryu pivoted. Haruna stepped away from the door but hesitated, shivering slightly from the very top of the stairs.
“Uh, yeah, ‘spose,” Ryu grunted.
She remained at a distance and brought up a hand to stifle a small cough. Ryu lowered his eyes. Right. His fix was her Kryptonite. He dropped the cigarette and crushed it under his foot. It was the cue she'd been waiting for. Haruna moved in closer towards him, and that's when he saw the small book in her hand.
“Um, I nearly forgot. This is for you. In return for the chopsticks you gave me.”
The first thing he noticed was the design, the cross on its cover, the Gothic letters. The alarms in his brain went off at the word “Bible.” Ryu frowned and tossed back his head.
“Look, I’m not—”
“I’m not trying to convert you,” Haruna said, arm still outstretched. Her voice was soft. “You asked what motivates me. It’s a prayer book, actually… with verses and explanations. This book has gotten me closer to figuring it out. It might help you too, to understand things… me.”
Ryu took the book and stared lamely at it. So this was the big “surprise”? It wasn’t what he’d expected, so maybe it truly was a surprise. Then again, this was do-gooder Haruna Mitsukai. It shouldn’t have been a surprise at all. Ryu managed to find a spot for the book in his coat’s inner breast pocket. Once it was put away, he faltered. Haruna was glaring.
“What?” Ryu sputtered.
“You don’t like it?”
“Well, when you said surprise, I thought you meant—”
"Meant what?”
“I—uh, nothing—I just thought maybe you meant something else.”
“Something else? Like what? Cupcakes?”
Yeah. Cupcakes. That’s totally it. But suddenly Ryu saw it—a shift—a single look, her crooked grin, a daring hint of… wickedness? She had done it before. Back in the public library a month ago. Back in the classroom when she’d invited him here. She was doing it again, and by now Ryu wasn't sure if she even knew it; knew the way she drew him in so subtly, so cleverly, so perfectly.
What was this? Was she flirting?
Was someone like her capable of flirting?
The answer had to be “no.”
But…
Ryu began to wonder.
He'd been wrong about her before.
“It’s cold,” Haruna said, shuddering just a little. The sweat started along the back of Ryu’s neck. Was it cold? He hadn’t noticed. He watched as she brought her arms up to hug herself. What would it be like, to be those arms wrapped around her? His eyes shifted, drawn like a bee starved of nectar to her lips, wondering what they tasted like. What they felt like.
“Haruna! Ryu!”
Wrested from his thoughts, Ryu turned. Angelique was peeking from a gap in the door. Judging from the enormous smile on her face, she seemed to think she had interrupted something. She blinked innocently.
“You should come inside. We’re going to play Truth or Dare,” zeroed in on Haruna, her voice lowered, “Tracy wants to force ‘the truth’ out of Arlen—but secretly, the rest of us are going to try to set them up.” She added a small wink before twirling back inside.
Ryu shook his head. Girls. So shrewd. So manipulative.
Haruna started up the front steps. She tugged gently at Ryu's sleeve to coax him inside and released as he began to follow. He watched from behind, wisps of coppery threads shimmering along the nape of her neck, her bare shoulders, down her back, admiring the sway of her hips, the way her skirt hugged her thighs, her calves, her slender frame… She moved with purpose and poise. Then he looked to her waist, wanting nothing more than to reach for it and pull her back.
Feeling hotter than before he’d gone outside, Ryu whisked off his jacket and tucked it under his arm. Just short of arriving in the room where everyone else waited, Haruna spun around, near crashing into him. Ryu skidded to a stop.
“I’m scared. I’ve never played…” she paused, her words fading away as her eyes dropped to his arms. He looked down. Crap! Ryu rolled down his sleeves and like a royal guard, affixed his arms to his sides. But with a force he couldn't fathom, Haruna snatched him by the wrist. He flinched.
“Who did this?”
“Nobody—I…” Ryu cursed under his breath. Just two words, but he’d blurted out too much.
Her face mangled and she let out a gasp, “You did it to yourself?”
Ryu didn’t answer. He didn’t know how to. She guessed right.
“Why would you do this?” she pressed, beginning to sound angry, maybe delirious.
Finally pulling himself together, Ryu wrenched his arm back. He draped the jacket over it.
“Ryu?”
“Your cheek from the other day? Where did the bruise come from?” he shot back.
Haruna fell silent.
“That’s what I thought. We all have things we don’t want to talk about." Ryu's deflection was swift. Efficient. A complete shutdown. He was wrong to do it and hated himself for it, but there was no sense guilt-tripping. Not sparing a second more, he breezed past her.
Ryu feigned interest as the others went around the circle with questions and dares. In the fifteen minutes they had played, Seth had managed to lose his pants. Though he was reduced to his boxers, he didn’t remain that way for long since Tracy panicked about her parents coming in “at the wrong time." Meanwhile, Gabrielle had been forced to quack like a duck while flapping and hopping on one foot… for an entire round. Damon was made to swallow whole a samosa that Angelique had garnished with half wasabi, half chilli sauce spice blend. Damon was sent circling the room and howling. Even Ryu knew that was a bad idea. Arlen, to both his and Tracy’s embarrassment, had been dared to lick her face. Although… Arlen did seem quite into it in the end.
It turned out that Panic! At The Disco super-fan Arlen Caige loved asking truth questions. Pretty dull ones. Which worked out fine for Ryu who had flat-out refused to do any dares. From the looks of it, Haruna’s friends just might have asked him to do something he really didn’t want to. And it wasn’t so much doing things that bothered him, as it was he didn’t want to be asked to trade clothes with someone. Trading clothes was one thing. Having to reveal his back and his tattoos was another. So Ryu consistently went with truth, knowing he could stretch that truth to a lie as he pleased. Fortunately, the only questions he’d received had been ‘softball questions,’ including one from Arlen.
“What’s the craziest, most insane thing you’ve ever done?”
Ryu smirked. The craziest? Most insane? Where would he even begin? Nah. Arlen couldn’t handle Ryu's truth.
“I dunno,” Ryu muttered, not hiding his amusement, “Might’ve hit someone in the face once. Self-defence.”
Yeah. Hit ‘em with a 9-mm. But why quibble over details?
The room got a little quieter after that. Ryu noticed Seth and Damon glance at him oddly, in particular Seth who seemed to be shooting him glares all night. Ryu scoffed, but then his face fell. He caught Haruna staring back at him. Their eyes locked for a split-second before she looked elsewhere. They continued around the circle, but Haruna wouldn’t look at him anymore.
"Why do you go by Tracy, anyway?"
It was Arlen's turn. Again.
"Why not?" Tracy countered with a shrug.
"I've always wondered too," Angelique said. "It's not because you're ashamed is it?"
Tracy rolled her eyes. "No way. I like ‘Tracy.’ Besides, it's just easier to say. You know what I mean, don't you? You can't say no one's ever messed up yours?"
Angelique nodded. "Oh gosh, you're right. All the time."
Gabrielle turned to Haruna, tapping her on the arm. "Haruna! Tell them about grade one at St. Jill's."
Ryu watched as Haruna assumed an uneasy grin.
"Oh, the teacher accidentally read my name out as ‘Hakuna Matata’ once. So that stuck for at least three years. "
Ryu held back his mirth, but couldn't suppress his grin once the others burst into roaring laughter.
"Horrible," Damon choked, shaking his head.
Haruna sighed. “They say it means ‘no worries,' but that’s a lie. Pretty sure my anxiety peaked around then. The next year I just told everyone to call me Katie.”
“What made you switch back?” Seth asked.
Haruna raised her shoulders with a smile. “I didn’t care anymore. I wanted to stand out. Plus 'everything Japan' suddenly became cool and trendy, or whatever.”
Ryu studied her, noticing she was very deliberate in not looking at him. He thought back to all the fuss he'd given her about mispronouncing his name. He never for a moment thought she might have gone through the kinds of things he had, or even entertained the idea that she'd ever been teased at all. Ryu lowered his eyes, and before allowing the regret to take hold, he forced his mind to go blank. After who knew how long, his trance was ended by a nudge at his arm.
“Your turn!”
Ryu glanced at Damon, then at the bottle at the centre of their circle. Hesitating, Ryu hunched over to give it a spin and it wobbled until it landed on Seth.
“Truth or Dare?” Seth asked.
“Truth,” Ryu muttered robotically under his breath.
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