NOTE/DISCLAIMER: Konnichiwa minna-san! This story was actually written by my tomodachi but she couldn't finish it because she wanted to focus on other things. The first part of the story has a different writing style but I've done my best to make it my style. So, initially the characters were original characters from my friend but I've replaced most of them with the arrancars and humans from Bleach. I do NOT own the characters from Bleach and they rightfully belong to Tite Kubo.

Prologue

One more day before summer vacation. I can't believe it's finally here. For the whole, entire year, I've been waiting for this day. And now that it's here... I just feel like taking a Geometry quiz. I do sound insane right now, but this is probably how my overly responsible mind reacts to freedom. Maybe it'll wear off after a couple of days.

Anyway, tomorrow is going to be an exciting day. For my friends, at the very least. Tatsuki and Roxanne already have boyfriends, so now we're all counting on Chris to ask Amy out. Okay, not so much me, but the rest of my friends are definitely all over it. For them, it's practically the one thing that's gonna decide whether the summer is going to be an awesome one, or just a normal one.

But I'm not worked up at all, and here's the reason: I have a knack for observing things with much more detail than needed. And it is this trait that makes me able to read people. I can usually tell is someone has a low personality or is a decent person, and lately I've noticed that Chris had been showing a lot of interest in Amy. The most obvious sign would be when he skipped soccer practice to tutor her Math. Sooner or later, I'm very sure he's going to ask her out. And it's most probably tomorrow. Very obvious, in my opinion.

Even though I have all this information, I'm not telling my friends. I want to be a good friend, so I'm not planning on ruining the suspense for them. May as well let them have their fun, right?

So, back to where I was, I'm just going to keep it all to myself and see what happens tomorrow. Right now, I need to get to sleep or I'll have to drag myself out of bed tomorrow. Naze ka? Staying up late has never been my strong point.

Chapter 1

First thing I'd normally expect in the morning would be my alarm clock. But today, it's different. I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. Turns out I forgot to switch it off last night. So now, I'm going to have to wake up even before my alarm clock rings. I wonder how early it is? I fumbled on my table to look for my cellphone. Once I had it in my hand, I pressed the 'answer' button and said "hello?"

A loud squealing came from the other end of the line. I held my phone away from my ear until the squealing stopped. "Today is the last day of school before the summer! Can you believe it?"

I recognized the voice as Amy's. "Uh, yeah. Sure I can," I replied, still half-asleep. Amy on the other hand sounded as though she had been awake for hours.

"Oh. My. Gosh. I'm so nervous," she said. "Tell me honestly, do you think Chris will make a move? Is he going to ask me out? 'Cause today is, like, the last day. If we don't get together today, I really don't think I will ever get to date him."

I blinked a couple of times, trying to wake up my sleepy brain. Amy had been talking very fast (a habit that shows whenever she's nervous) and I couldn't quite catch what she was saying. "Um, I don't think you have to worry," I answered. "You're pretty. And I think Chris will have the guts to ask you out. If he's brave enough to score goals on the soccer field, I'm sure he's brave enough to ask you out on a date. Especially since today is the last day. Relax. Everything will be fine."

"You think so?" she asked, sounding genuinely worried. Knowing her, she probably has butterflies in her stomach right now. I knew her for long enough to know that she really took this seriously. More seriously than even the final exams we've been sitting for for this whole week.

"Definitely," I said.

"Okay." She sounded slightly more cheerful now. "I gotta go now. Thanks so much. Love you, Orihime."

"Love you too. See you at school," I said, and heard her click off. Moments later, my alarm finally rang. Weird...

I ignored the strangeness of my alarm clock's timing, and got out of bed. After I got myself dressed, I grabbed a brush and started brushing my bushy orange hair. I rarely ever changed my hairstyle. It was pretty much the same everyday. I didn't posses much creativity where hair was concerned. I sometimes did it up with chopsticks, or tied it up in a simple ponytail. And I definitely didn't do neat and tidy up dos. It just wasn't included in my range of skills. I stared at my face in the mirror. I love my unique set of eyes. They were a cross between dark purple and light gray. That eye colour belongs to my father's side of the family. As for my thick, bushy orange hair, it is from my mother's side. Most people thought that it was odd that a Japanese girl like me wouldn't inherit such eye and hair colour but that wasn't the only odd characteristic about me.

The way I dressed was also considered strange among my friends. They predicted that I would be like the kids in Harajuku, cosplaying as some anime characters or dress up outrageously. Besides that, the only apparels I wear for summer are t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. I wore minimal accessories, and usually stuck to what was practical. My friends say I dress bad, but I just call it casual. I took one more look at my clock. Oh well, better get going. A couple more minutes before Tatsuki gets here to take me to school.

I waited outside my front door for a few minutes before a shiny, white BMW stopped in front of me. Everyone was already in the car. I was usually the last to be fetched. Roxanne, seated at the passenger side, waved at me. She was a very girlie girl, with gorgeous, blue eyes and long blond hair that was styled in tight curls. She loved the beach, and was a real fan of surfing. "Get in!" She called.

I got in, and we were off. Tatsuki, who was driving, turned to smile at me. Tatsuki Arisawa was a serious soccer jock. She short black hair which stuck out at odd ends. She was definitely NOT girly. She was very tomboyish but even so, her boyfriend loved her the way she was. Tatsuki loves kendo, hand to hand combat but when she was with her boyfriend, she toned down her aggressiveness and violence.

Amy Blackstone, sitting beside me, was the girl who was going to be getting all the attention today, was a redhead with layered, shoulder-length hair. Today, her fringe was pinned up over the top of her head and her hair was flat-iron-straight. This girl was a fashionista, and changed her hair practically everyday. She was also the one responsible for most of the comments I got about my clothes.

The moment I was in the car, Amy stared me up and down, before rolling her eyes and smacking her forehead with her hand. "Orihime," she whined. "Do you realize that you wore that exact same t-shirt four times this month?"

I looked down at the t-shirt I had on. It was snug, but not too tight. The t-shirt was white with black splatter designs near my left shoulder. It was one of my favourites.

"And you wear those sneakers every, single, day! I keep telling you to wear heels. Trust me, it looks better."

Now I stared at my scuffed, black, sneakers. What was wrong with them? They were comfortable. More comfortable than even the comfiest heels. "Maybe next time," I told Amy. I knew she would be satisfied with my answer.

She pouted a little but let the subject drop. Then she poked Roxanne on the shoulder and they started chatting.

The gorgeous BMW was given to Tatsuki by her parents as her sweet sixteen present, though she didn't have sweet sixteen parties. Tatsuki actually whined and begged for a Harley Davidson bike but her parents wanted her to be more practical and feminine and so they got her this car. Amy and Roxanne chastised her for not having a sweet sixteen party, but I didn't mind. I wasn't a party-person anyway. But Tatsuki, being the kind 'ol soul that she was, made up for it by taking us all to school everyday. So after that, me and my three friends all rode one car together to and from school. Tatsuki was the most generous person I knew eventhough she could be violent at times.

"I'm going to die if he doesn't ask me out," Amy said.

I did a mental eye roll. There she goes again about Chris.

"I don't blame you," Roxanne replied. "He really is kinda cute."

"Are you kidding? He's absolutely hot!" Amy started fanning herself with a piece of paper, and her eyes glazed over. "Aw, he looks so good with that messed up blond hair of his, and baby-blue eyes. And, and, he's so frigging tall. Plus he's so athletic, and plays awesome soccer..."

This was the kind of conversation that would work only with Roxanne and Amy. Tatsuki and I weren't so into this sort of talk. 'Girl-talk', that is. I admit that I am girly but I do not really like to have this type of conversation. Not because I didn't want to annoy Tatsuki but I was just simply the quiet one. I don't really talk much to people because I am quite a shy person. Already, Tatsuki was giving me an eye roll before looking at the road again. I chuckled to myself.

This conversation continued until we reached the school. Tatsuki found a parking spot and parked her car before we all got out.

"Anyone see Chris?"

That was Amy's first question as soon as she got out of the car.

"I don't see him," Tatsuki said.

"Don't worry," Roxanne said soothingly, patting Amy's back. "You'll see him soon."

We didn't see any sign of Chris for the rest of the morning, and we didn't see him at all until recess. He was a junior, and so were we. But none of us shared any classes with him. Okay, I did have Gym with him, but he usually ditched that class. So I wasn't surprised to find he was missing from Gym. Even for the last day of school. So while I waited in the lunch line, Amy spotted Chris at a table with the other soccer players.

"I'm gonna go see if I can get him to ask me out," she said into my ear before hurrying off. I watched her walk toward Chris's table, and as she reached him, I saw her deliberately trip and drop her books. She was carrying only two books; novels. So I knew she was faking. I watched on to see how her trick would work.

Turns out her trick worked like a charm. Chris instantly got up from his seat to pick up a book which had slid under somebody's chair before helping her up. They started talking, but I couldn't watch anymore because someone shouted at me from behind.

"Oi! Move it, will you?"

I turned back to see who was shouting, and moved away from the line with my tray. I went to sit with my other friends, plus their boyfriends. Tatsuki's was Jared Coleman. He had messy, brown hair, and was the school's sprint star. Roxanne's boyfriend is Brandon Tesmer. He had short, blond curls, braces, and was a surfer, like her.

After I sat down, I took the apple from my tray and bit into it with unnecessary force. Looking at my friends, I had a high chance of being the only one in the group with no guy for the summer. Not that I minded, don't get me wrong. But I had a feeling I was going to be 'hassled' by my friends, mainly Amy, to get myself a boyfriend, and I really wasn't looking forward to that. I chewed my apple while I thought. I didn't even notice Amy banging her books onto the table and growling in frustration. I only snapped out of my daydreaming when she spoke.

"Still nothing," she grumbled. I knew what she was talking about. She didn't want to directly say that Chris still hadn't asked her out (seeing that Brandon and Jared were at the table too), but wanted to make sure that we knew anyway.

"Don't worry, Amy," Roxanne said, smiling sweetly. "I'm sure that you'll get what you want before the last bell rings."

"Yeah," Tatsuki joined in. "Take a deep breath and just be patient."

Amy gave a tight smile, but sat down anyway. She plopped down on the seat beside me and bit into her apple moodily. I had already finished mine and was chowing on my sandwich that I brought from home. The one and only weird thing that Amy and I shared was the deep and utter dislike for cafeteria food. We usually just bought an apple or pear and ate food from home. Amy sometimes didn't even eat anything apart from an apple. She sometimes liked to diet, and I (thankfully) didn't share that trait with her.

When the bell rang, Amy looked thoroughly depressed as she collected her stuff from the table. "Orihime," she moaned. "Do you really think he'll ask me out?"

She looked so upset that I tried to console her the best that I could even though it wasn't my forte. "Of course he will," I told her, giving her a tight hug. "If he doesn't, I'll eat my sneakers," I said, trying to joke.

She smiled faintly. "Okay, let's hope you're right. Then you won't have to eat your sneakers."

I sat through the rest of my classes with what could only be classified as boredom. Even during History, my last class, which consisted of an impromptu water balloon fight started by a bunch of well-known trouble makers didn't amuse me. Sure, it was kinda fun being able to throw water balloons at random classmates for a couple of minutes. But the consequences were rather off-putting. Our grumpy History teacher, Mr Wright, made us all clean up the mess that we made. We did so, only half-heartedly, because when the bell rang, everyone simply left even though Mr Wright was shouting himself hoarse for us to complete our cleaning. Only the really unlucky ones, dragged by the collar of their shirts, were forced to clean up.

I walked to my locker, and was given the shock of my life when Amy suddenly embraced me in a very rough and slightly painful hug. All this, while screaming into my ears. I would have been deaf if the screaming continued for another ten seconds and before I knew it, the paramedics would have arrived in ten minutes.

"OH. MY. GOOOOOOOSH!" She squealed at the top of her voice. She let go of me and started jumping up and down. I didn't need to ask to know that Chris had finally asked her out. "Guess what?" she excitedly asked me, shaking my by the shoulders.

"What?" I said, pretending to be clueless, my body shaking back and forth due to her strong grip, shaking me madly.

"I'm officially Chris's girlfriend!"

I smiled awkwardly and noticed that Tatsuki was rolling her eyes, and Roxanne had her arms crossed over her chest, smiling but shaking her head at the same time. They had obviously already heard Amy's good news.

"Um," I began. "Not to burst your bubble or anything, but this is only your first date with him. Aren't you going to wait, maybe a week, before you call yourself his official girlfriend?"

Amy stopped hopping around. "Oh yeah. You're right. I guess I'm just excited!" Then she promptly started hopping again.

I sighed. Her summer looked like it was going to be an amazing one. Mine, however, was still foggy. Now, I had to prepare myself for the hassling that was going to come. About getting myself a boyfriend, that is. Gaaah! Doushite doushite doushite?

We slowly made our way to the school's parking lot to Tatsuki's car. Once inside, Amy seemed to had finally calmed down a notch and stopped chattering at top speed. Tatsuki started the engine and started to drive while Amy and Roxanne chatted about what to do during the summer. I was just sitting quietly in my seat. Everything was fine until Tatsuki suddenly spoke.

"I'm going hiking with my family for the first week of summer," she said.

Amy and Roxanne fell silent. "Why?" Roxanne demanded. "I was planning for you to come surfing with us."

"And what about Jared?" Amy added.

"Oh, Jared's coming along too," Tatsuki answered. "I'm sorry, Rox," Tatsuki apologized. "But I already promised my mom and dad I would go. Besides, it's only one week."

"Okay," Roxanne said, pouting. "Guess it'll just be me, Amy, and Orihime then."

I snapped out of my day dreaming. "Wait, what?" I said quickly. "I can't surf!"

"Which is why I'm teaching you," Roxanne said smoothly. "Duh. What is wrong with you and Tatsuki?" She glared at Tatsuki and me.

"Plus," Amy said to me. "It'll be the perfect opportunity to hook up with someone. Maybe a really hot lifeguard or something."

Oh, great. I knew this was coming. Ahh! Urusai na, Amy!

"Yeah!" Roxanne agreed, nodding. "Just make sure he's not hotter than my Brandon."

My three friends cracked up. But I couldn't find the strength in me to laugh. I pressed my lips together to try to cook up an excuse. "My mom got me a summer job at the library," I said.

Amy and Roxanne's faces fell almost at the same time.

"You're working at the library for the whole summer?" Roxanne asked, looking as mournful as though it was she who was going to work at the library.

"Aw... Can't you get out of it?" Amy pleaded.

I shook my head as Tatsuki slowed the car to a halt in front of my house. I opened the car door and got out.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Amy yelled from the car. "I'm calling you when I get home."

"Yeah!" Roxanne agreed. "We're both so not gonna let you ditch us like that."

"Sayonara!" I said, walking to my door.

"Sayonara!" Amy and Roxanne called together. Tatsuki gave me a two-fingered wave before driving off.

Once inside, I heard my mom talking to someone on the phone. My parents were divorced, so I just lived with mom here in Portland, Texas. We sometimes visit my dad, who lives in Tennessee. But most of the time, it's just mom and me, and we have a pretty quiet house.

Sometimes I wish I could visit Japan again. I really missed speaking my language freely without people asking me the meaning. I missed the kawaii shops, the sushi bar, the vending machines and the smell of fresh Yen notes in the palm of my hands. Well, not so fresh because they have been passed around from one person to another. If I could get the clean notes from the ATM machine, I'd start kissing the Yen notes, giving other an impression that I had gone insane.

I smiled at mom on the way to my room, making sure that she saw that I was home. She smiled distractedly at me and nodded. Then I went up to my room to do some Internet-surfing before dinner.

I tossed my bag onto my bed and had just clicked into my inbox when my phone rang. I didn't even need to look at the name that flashed on the screen to know it was Amy.

"Hello?" I said.

"Orhime, you really gotta get out of that librarian job!" Amy wailed. She spoke as though we were just continuing our conversation from the car. It didn't seem to matter to her that there was a space of twenty minutes between our last conversation and this one.

"I can't," I replied. "My mom already got me the job, and she's not taking 'no' for an answer."

"But you can't spend your entire summer in a stinky ol' library."

I laughed. "The library's not stinky!"

"Well, stinky or not, you're not working there," she said firmly. "Libraries are for old ladies that wear weird glasses."

"Aw, c'mon," I said. "Give those 'old ladies' a break."

I heard Amy give an exasperated sigh on the other end of the line. "You do get Saturdays and Sundays off, right?"

"Yup." The library didn't even open on Sundays. Not that she would know. She hated the library.

"Then can you hang out at the beach with us, then?"

"I'll try," I said.

"Aw, can't you promise?" She whined. I suddenly heard my mom calling me from the living room.

"Listen, Amy," I said urgently. "My mom's calling. I gotta go."

"So will you hang out with us?"

"I said I will try," I said, desperate for her to hang up quick.

"You better!" Then she clicked off.

I hurriedly placed my cellphone on my table before rushing to the living room. "Chotto matte, oka-san," I said on my way there.

Once there, I saw my mom seated on the sofa. "Orihime-chan," she said. "Your uncle Kenji called me just now with some interesting news. Why don't you sit for a minute?" She patted the seat beside her.

"Sure." I sat myself beside her.

"Kenji-san says that there's a job opening at his sports equipment shop, and he's offering that spot before he opens it to the public. He wants you to know that you'll get paid too."

Oh, great. A job opening.

"Mom," I said slowly. "I don't like summer jobs."

"Aw, c'mon honey," she said, patting my shoulder. "Why don't you try this one?"

I sighed. "I'll think about it."

My mom shrugged her shoulders and got up. "Okay. But if you want that job, you have to tell me fast, alright?"

"Hai, oka-san."