Summer's Promise

Chapter 1: "This looks weird, but surprisingly cute."

"Are you excited?"

"Not really, Dad," Luka answered, putting her earphones on to shut the world away.

It was the first week of summer and the sun was shining bright. With the car window by Luka rolled down and the car's speed over 100, the wind blew on her face while her hair fluttered and swayed. She closed her eyes to prevent her parents or her younger siblings from asking anymore questions about how she was doing.

Luka and her family just arrived in Japan after a 12-hour flight from the United States. Luka and her siblings were Japanese, but she was born in Tokyo and grew up in the States, where her half-siblings were born, because her stepfather's job required him to move there shortly after Luka was born. After 15 years of staying in the States, Luka's stepfather was required to move back to Japan if he wanted to keep his job. Therefore, whether he or his family liked it or not, they flew to Japan after Luka's school year finished.

The pink-haired girl closed her eyes and remembered her sad goodbyes with her childhood friends.

"You're coming back, right?" Teto asked, holding both of Luka's hands up.

"I will," Luka smiled while tears fell down her cheeks.

"Pinky promise?" Teto requested as she held out her pinky finger.

"Promise," Luka replied, though her heart ached for she knew that she might never come back.

Luka and Teto had been best friends since they were in second grade in elementary. They were in the same class every year, also always on the top of the academics. They were known by a lot of people for being nice and friendly, and they were always together. Of course, that was until Luka had to leave in the summer after her first year in high school.

After they said their goodbyes, they hugged each other, not wanting to let go. They cried and sobbed their heart out even though it wouldn't really do anything.

A tear slipped from Luka's eye, dreaming of the past. Without her knowing, the car had already stopped, and they had arrived at their destination. Luka's father woke her up out of nowhere, telling her to get out of the car and take her luggage. Following her dad's orders, she grabbed her things and walked up the stairs to her room.

Since they had sent their furniture and things earlier than their date of arrival, their house had already been fixed and prepared by the workers who delivered their things. Her room was also fixed, surprisingly just the way she wanted it. The walls were a relaxing color of pale pink, her white, wooden furniture matching. The pillowcases, blanket, and bed sheets were of the same shade of pink, but a little darker. The stuffed toys had been placed on top of her bed, bookshelves, and desk, too.

Right away, Luka took out her clothes from her suitcase and organized her closet. When she opened the closet, she found her summer and winter school uniforms, all ironed and ready to use. Not wanting to accept that she was going to attend a different school after summer vacation, she quickly folded and hung her clothes in the closet to take her mind off of her problems.

Without Luka's knowing, time had passed by and she took the rest of the afternoon since she arrived at their new house to fix her closet. Before she could relax, she checked the pockets and spaces of her suitcase for anything she forgot to take out. In the back pocket, she found the picture of her with Teto on their last day as eighth-grade middle school students. Not wanting to cry anymore, Luka quickly took it out and framed it by her desk. Contented of how her desk looked, she smiled and wiped the tears that slipped once again.

"Luka, dinner's ready," her mother called from downstairs.

"I'm coming," Luka replied.

Luka ran down the stairs and hurried to the dining room, where her mother, father, and siblings awaited.

"Itadakimasu," the family said in synchrony, a part of their culture and tradition.

Surprisingly, Luka seemed much better from how she was earlier in the car. The family talked about plans for any vacation opportunities they have. When Rin, Luka's younger sister, asked if they were going anywhere for the summer, their father answered them with a 'No' because he and their mother were busy with their jobs.

"Why don't you all look around by yourselves?" their father kindly said, sipping some water.

"School already started here in April, so you three are going to be transfer students when school gets back after summer vacation in September, which is in a month," he explained.

"I think I'll be fine, Dad. I'm probably going to stay in the house for most of the summer since my friends from the States want to chat with me," Luka replied after chewing her food down.

"Won't the time difference be a hassle? Just don't do it! You'd have to stay up all night," their mother protested.

"I'll be fine, Mom. I'm still not used to the time difference anyways, so I probably won't be able to sleep at night," Luka countered.

Dinner ended and they all decided to watch a movie in the living room together. Even though they were back in Japan and their actions and morals were based on Japanese culture, Luka's family still lived like Americans in a Western house. They all spoke fluent Japanese, but they spoke English at home. They watched American movies, sometimes Japanese.

After the movie ended, they all said their goodnights and walked to their own bedrooms. Everyone was tired, except for Luka, who caught more sleep in the car-ride from the airport. Luka put her pajamas on and got on the computer to try and contact her friends. She got on her social website and messaged a few of them, her boredom getting to her.

"They're probably still asleep," Luka thought, looking at the US time on her desktop, which showed 12 pm.

Just before she could log out, one of her friend's chat status changed from 'Offline' to 'Online,' much to Luka's happiness. She quickly messaged her friend again, hoping her friend would reply right away.

"Hey, I miss you guys," Luka said out loud as she typed those said words.

A few seconds after Luka's message was delivered, her friend changed her status from 'Online' to 'Busy.' Luka was a little disappointed that she didn't message her friend fast enough for her to see it. Luka frowned and went back to the home page to look at her newsfeed when suddenly, a new status was posted by the friend she tried to contact.

"'Hanging out with my new best friend. Excited!'" Luka read in disappointment.

Another tear slipped out of her eye, her mind telling her that her friends didn't want to talk to her. Ignoring it, her heart said that they were probably just busy.

She immediately turned off her computer and went to bed, her mind still thinking about what happened just then.

"Yeah," she told herself.

"They were probably just busy."

The whole summer passed by and Luka was starting school in a week. To get ready, she went out by herself to buy her own school supplies. Taking her bicycle with her, Luka rode down the sidewalk to town.

"Wow. They're so cute!" Luka thought, seeing great amounts of adorable stationary and school supplies in the stationary store.

First, using the money that her parents gave her for her school supplies, she bought a brown, handheld satchel and plain white uwabaki slippers that were both required by her school. Then, she bought notebooks for each subject, cute pencils, and a pencil case.

"This is so cute," Luka said to herself, spotting an adorable phone charm.

Luka quickly fell in love with the keychain she found in the back of a shelf. It was a long, pink-haired chibi that looked like an octopus. It looked weird to other people, but she found it adorable. Since she had already used all of the allowance that her parents gave her, Luka bought the phone charm with her own money.

"Mission accomplished, huh," Luka smiled staring at the plastic bags full of school supplies.

As she headed out of the store, her eyes still stuck on the cute things she bought, Luka ran onto a man's chest all of a sudden. She dropped her things in shock of the impact, feeling embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry," she apologized as she picked up her things, also hiding her face.

"It's okay," the man said, helping.

The shy Luka quickly ran to where she parked her bicycle as soon as she gathered all of the things she dropped. The man found a keychain on the ground, knowing that it was probably owned by the girl he bumped onto.

"Wait!" the man called back, extending his hand.

His efforts in vain, Luka quickly rode her bicycle away from the store, not turning back. Her things were on her bicycle's basket, the plastic bags' sound muffling the man's voice as the wind blew on her face.

"That was so embarrassing!" Luka thought, her cheeks red.

The man looked at the keychain once again, realizing that he wouldn't be able to catch the pink-haired girl who owned it.

"This looks weird," he said to himself, looking at the chibi-looking octopus.

"But surprisingly cute," he smiled as he placed it in his pocket, keeping it safe.

Author's note:

itadakimasu- doesn't really have a definite meaning, but is said before eating meals

uwabaki- hallway slippers used as inside slippers in Japanese schools

chibi- Japanese slang word for "small child" or "small person"