Disclaimer: Don't own Escaflowne, much to my chagrin. )
Comments are VERY welcome!
"Bye Mom, bye Dad"
"You be good now! And please do go easy on the Jetta! It's been in our family"
"Since your grandmother... ya I know ma. And I think anyone can tell, too! Bye"
"Bye Honey! Take care!"
The teenager, 5 feet 5 inches tall, held the car's rusty handle, opened the door with some amount of force, and jumped in the leather seat with a soft thud. Taking her keys from the pocket of her fairly tight flared jeans, she turned on the ignition of the car, and started backing up from the garage of their humble abode, causing her numerous keychains, composing of a small, white skull, a 2-d figure of a chibi Kenshin Himura, and a shiny plate with the word 'Hitomi' embossed in it, to jiggle and make imperceptible sounds as it competed with the loud roar of the car that needed a tune-up badly. The hood of her Jetta was down causing her shoulder-length chestnut hair to sway fiercely in a disorderly manner. 'And my friends wonder why my hair's always in a mess', Hitomi thought smiling.
As the view of her home and her waving parents blurred and slowly disappeared, Hitomi's slender hand reached for the radio, and cranked up the volume. Pretty soon, Jimmy Eat World's "In the Middle" blared up, as Hitomi once again placed her focus back on the open road, bopping her head and tapping her fingers on the steering wheel to the contagious beat.
The heat of the sun was causing her to squint, so she got her sunglasses from the glove compartment and placed it on. It was the first day of senior high and summer was still pretty much reigning the sky. But all was good for Hitomi Kanzaki. Her emerald green eyes were dancing with excitement for what this year had to offer for her... not the studies part though (since Hitomi barely liked any of them except for English and Philosophy), but the new people that she was going to meet... She couldn't wait to see her best friends, too - Merle and Dilandau, although she went out with them a couple of times over the summer vacation.
Merle moved to her school just three years ago. She came from the Philippines, which would explain her fair brown skin. There was nothing Filipino about her hair, though, which was dyed a bright pink. Amazingly, it suited her well. As soon as Hitomi met her, they became instant friends. They were both energetic people, Merle especially. Merle was as playful as a cat, or so Hitomi would say. Merle didn't seem to mind the metaphor. Their similarities, however, ended there. Merle loved dressing up and doing all sorts of girly things, like shopping and going to parlors, and getting her nails painted in different colors per week. Her idea of sports was going to every single shop in the mall as quickly and efficiently as she could. Hitomi, on the other hand, preferred what she would call 'more interesting' things, like tarot card reading and track and field. She didn't neglect the way she looked, of course, as she had a sense of fashion as well, although it was definitely more casual compared to Merle's skirts.
As for Dilandau, Hitomi and Merle had asolutely nothing in common with him. If one thing could describe Dilandau it was misunderstood. People found him weird, reckless, violent, dangerous even. His sense of clothing was also different (with his leather pants and his red tanktop). And his hair was just as odd (silver). Some people would go so far as to say he was gay. And though one would like to believe that the saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover" would apply, in his case it didn't. He was everything people perceived him to be (except gay of course). But he was more than that. People close to him knew that he was a loyal and caring friend. People who hurt his friends usually end up getting badly beaten. See? He's a sweet guy.
And those were the top two reasons why she wanted to go back to school - Merle and Dilandau. Because with the two of them, there was sure to be a lot of chaos and fun to get by through what could have been the most boring four years of a person's life in Hitomi's opinion.
The ride to school finally ended as Hitomi screeched to a halt at a parking lot near the school. Grabbing her favorite green duffle bag from the back seat, and grabbing her keys, she made her way towards the school. As she opened the doors to her high school, she could hear boys whistling at her. People were smiling and waving at her. Hitomi felt like she was in the wrong school. Since when did crowds gather before her anyway? She wasn't a popular girl, so why was everyone looking at her...? It couldn't have been her outfit either. She was wearing nothing special... just a normal baby tee, normal pants, and comfortable rubber shoes. Hitomi nervously smiled and waved until her confusion was appeased, when one of the guys suddenly shouted, "Millerna! Babe! You're looking fine as usual!"
Hitomi loked back and realized who the people were all focusing their attention to. Millerna Aston. She was, of course, one of the popular kids in school. And guys just loved her full lips, and her long, silky blonde hair; not to mention, her super model figure. Hitomi heaved a sigh of relief that nobody noticed her blunder. How could they when they're face to face with Millerna? Walking away from the tumultuous crowd that suddenly gathered around the blonde 'princess', she made her way upstairs. She didn't want people to know it but she wished that she would one day get as much attention from people. Shaking the thought away and realizing that it would only turn her into one of 'them' - ditsy, brainless chicks who walk in terribly uncomfortable high heels, she walked through the corridors and felt herself light up at the sight of her best friends. "Hey Merle! Dilandau!"
"Hey 'tomi! You have got to accompany me to the new mall just down the street! I hear they have all the designer labels I love!", Merle said in her preppy voice.
"'Tomi! Guess what? I went to this rock concert yesterday and the group lit the stage on fire at the end of the scene! It was cool!", Dilandau said, almost like a kid who was let loose in a candy store with 100 bucks to spend. Hitomi smiled. Everything was just like it was last year. Merle was still as happy-go-lucky and girly and Dilandau still had a sick obsession with fire.
"Oh oh! Before I forget! I'd like you to meet someone. He's my cousin, Van. He just moved here and he's in the same year.", Merle said in an excited tone. She leaned closer to Hitomi's ear and whispered, "I think you'll find him cute!", giggling a little. Beside Merle was a man with messy jet black hair that Hitomi failed to recognize a while ago. And at this moment, Hitomi couldn't help but agree with Merle's comment. He was cute and he had this mysterious aura about him that made Hitomi want to know him better. He had a lean body, not like the bodies of the jocks that girls usually swooned over, but he looked like he was athletic, too, with his tight muscles forming slight creases on his tight shirt.
Van smiled and Hitomi grinned widely. "Hey, how do you find our school so far?" "It's cool I guess but do they usually come in huge groups and bump into you as if they have to go somewhere important?", Van asked. Hitomi laughed. "No. It just happens when certain people of the popular kind come in." Van laughed with her. "I guess a typical high school should always have those kind right?"
Just then, the bell rang. Merle grabbed Dilandau by the arm. "Dilly, let's go! Class is about to start and I hear that the teacher's hot!"
"Hot. Oooh I just love that word. Flaming hot... Mmmm.. Fire"
The gang sweatdropped as they saw Dilandau's insane eyes come back to life once more.
"Dilly, quit it. You're scaring the newcomer", Merle said still holding on to Dilandau's arm, while her other hand patted her cousin's hair. Van sweatdropped some more.
Hitomi sighed. "Well anyway, I have to get going too..." "No you don't, Hitomi. Since your teacher, Mr. Terada, is absent, you can tour Van around our humble campus okay?"
"W..huh..Wah? How'd you know that Mr. Terada was absent?", Hitomi asked, perplexed.
Merle gave a sly grin and replied, "I have my sources...", Merle said with gestures that almost resembled a cat, minus the whiskers.
"Sometimes, I think you really are a cat, Merle", Hitomi replied with a half-grin.
Merle smiled but suddenly made an abrupt gasp as she pulled Dilandau to the other end of the corridor. "We really have to go now or I won't get the front seat!"
As Merle and Dilandau walked farther and farther away, Hitomi turned to Van, who had a look of confusion written on his face. "You okay?", Hitomi asked. "Don't worry. In time, you'll get used to their weird antics... though it would take longer to adjust to Dilandau's", Hitomi smiled, recalling how she took Dilandau's behavior the first time they met. She had seen him at a barbecue party and he was laughing jovially as he poured more and more lighter fluid into the grill... It wasn't a good impression at all. And yet, in time, Hitomi got to talk to him more, especially since they sat together during Social Studies class, and she found out that she wasn't bad at all, if one would look past his leather-clad clothes, his strange fascination for fire, his silver hair, his insane ruby red eyes, and his scary laugh.
Hitomi cut her deep thoughts and went back to her duty. "So Van, which part of the campus would you like to see?" Van shrugged and gave a half-hearted grin. "Anywhere's cool." Hitomi, at once, noted, how different he was to Merle. Merle, being the talkative woman she was, would have told Hitomi everything she wanted to see in the campus, and would have pulled Hitomi by the arms to hurry her up. Somehow, though, the differences did not bother her. It made her like him even more.
"Well then. Let's start at the cafeteria, where Fear Factor gets their food products for their show." Van laughed a little at Hitomi's joke, as they walked down the stairs. Somehow, Hitomi knew that it was going to be a special year... At least for her.
the title's crappy. i'll probably change it when i think of a better one. :p