Chapter 3 - Chapter 3

“Call me Ana, all my friends do.”



I was greeted by a chorus of, “Hey Ana,” and I smiled, glad that I was managing to fit in so well, and only on my second day. We all ate lunch together, and I smiled as they laughed and joked, talking about card games, and other such things. They kept going on about this fad in Japan, Duel Monsters, a card game in which the contestants duelled against each other to win. Yugi, it turned out was quite a pro at this, due to the fact that a spirit, who played shadow games, possessed him. Joey, on the other hand, was crap. And he always lost, much to everyone's annoyance, as he always insisted on another game. I was lost when they talked about this, and it was only when they spoke to me, asking me what I was interested in.



“I play the piano, and I read a lot. Oh yes, and I am one of the top dressage riders in the world for my age.”



They all made sounds of awe, so I quickly added, “But I'm out of practice at the moment.” I blushed, and they all laughed. It was fun, having friends, a new experience.



***



It soon turned out that we had most of our lessons together, apart from a few different, like Music, and some of the others took Drama, and Dance. One morning, we were sitting in Physics, and there were huge rumours going around that Kaede was going out with Joey, no, she was going out with some guy called Kaiba, and it was all slightly alarming. So we were just trying to get all this sorted out, and having a fun physics lesson, in the boy-girl layout. There was Yuula on the end of the middle bench, with Ryou next to her, then Kaede, then Honda, then me, and on the front bench, there was Duke, Tea, Joey, then Sakura, and then Yugi. We sat like this, and I was doodling all over my physics book, whilst Kaede talked with Honda and Ryou, Yuula was doing the same thing as me. I wasn't sure about the others, and didn't even notice that the teacher had walked in, and started to talk about gravitational forces and waves….blahblahblah. I had totally turned off.



The day passed, and it cam to the end of school, and the ten of us walking towards the entrance, having got rid of any book we didn't need. I was walking along, and finding myself a bit tense, so I swung my bag round to face me, and pulled out a lighter, and a packet of cigarettes. Lighting one up, I began to inhale, and let the smoke act as a relaxant, enjoying the sensation, I exhaled, and felt the smoke rush from my body. The others had stopped, and were staring at me. Sakura nearly had heart failure, and I could feel that a huge lecture might be coming, so I simply explained that it was what everyone in Paris did.



“You're not from Paris, you come from a little village near Toulouse!”



“Merde!” I forgot I had told them all that. I continued smoking, until Tea began to cough, at which point Kaede walked over and tore up my cigarette, warning me against ever smoking again. Or never to smoke in front of her again, anyway.



After that, I would have thought things might have been awkward, but they weren't, and we were soon out of school, and laughing again. We stood there, and said goodbye before all going our separate way, Ryou and Sakura going home, Yuula and Kaede going somewhere, and Joey, Yugi and Tea going to Yugi's family's shop. Duke, Honda and I started to wonder in the direction of the Mall, to think about doing some shopping, and the like. We walked into the mall, and started going in and out of shops, when Duke realised the time, “Hey, guys, I've gotta go, there's um something I need to do.”



“Oh, ok,” I acknowledged, “Like what?”



“It's nothing.” He was blushing, “Just something which I never really sorted out. Well, something which I need to get round to doing. Well, something…”



“WHAT?!” Honda and I both shouted.



“I need to get Yuula's stuff sorted out and give it all back to her.”



“What do you mean, Yuula's stuff?”



“I mean the stuff she left at my house, when we were going out, like t-shirts and pictures, and…”



“Hang on, did you just say `when we were going out', meaning you went out with Yuula?”



“Yes.”



“YUULA and YOU went out?”



“Yes.”



“NO WAY. She like, totally wouldn't.”



“Well she did.”



“Whoa! Totally unexpected.”



“Well, anyway mate,” Honda interrupted, seeing Duke's nervousness, “See you tomorrow, right?”



“Yeah, ok. Well, bye!” and he left.



“So, what do you want to do now?” he said, turning to me.



“Can we go get a coffee?”



“Sure.”



We walked into the big coffee shop, and whilst Honda went and got our drinks, I settle into one of the big sofas in the café, resting my eyes for a minute. Shopping sure was hard work, and all I'd bought was a few new tops, a new skirt, dungarees, and curtains. I had been so tired lately, due to the fact that I had been redesigning our whole house, and had done every single room, and was finally doing a loft conversion. It was nearly done, it just needed one final coat of paint, and furniture, and then it would be finished. Marc and I were planning to have a party at the weekend, to `celebrate' it all.



Honda came back, and passed me a vanilla latte, before fwomping onto the couch next to me. We sat and talked for half an hour, before noting that it was nearly 6 o'clock, and I was meant to be home, helping Marc to finish the painting. “I'd better go. Thanks for today. It was fun.”



“Yeah, it was.”



“Anyway, better go.” I stood up to leave, and then turned round, “Do you want to come back with me? You can help me, and Marc.”



“Sure, why not?” He stood up with me, and helped me carry some of the bags. My house wasn't that far from the mall, so we soon got there, and dumped loads of stuff in the hall. I called up the stair, “Marc, we're home!”



“We?” he was in the loft already, so I ran up the stairs, and stood at the bottom of the ladder, “I brought a friend with me, he said he's help for a bit.”



“He?”



“Oh, shut up.”



“Ok, hang on, I'm coming down.”



Honda stood beside me, looking confused, as we had just spoken very fast and in French. I smiled, “Honda, this is my brother, Marc. Marc, Honda.”



They shook hands, and did the manly thing. “ Honda is one of my FRIENDS, Marc,” I told my brother. “He said he's come and help finish the loft, and maybe stay for dinner.”



“Oh, ok cool. What is for dinner?”



“Umm…no comment. Pasta?”



“Ok. Do you wanna come and see what I've been doing then?”



The three of us climbed into the loft, and I was shocked at what Marc had done. Not only had he finished painting, but he had also got it totally furnished, with really nice furniture. “Did you get the curtains?” he asked.



“Yep.”



I climbed back down the ladder, and ran down the stairs, grabbing the curtains, before running back up the stairs, and up the ladder. The three of us soon managed to hang them, and the room looked brilliant. It was hopefully going to be my little roomie thing, where I could bring friends. Marc had got another TV for in there, and had it fitted with loads of good movie channels, and a DVD player. My piano wouldn't fit, unfortunately, and was still sitting in the dining room. It would just have to stay there.



We all climbed back down the ladder, and shut it all away, before Marc walked off to his bedroom, telling me to call him when supper was ready. I led Honda to my room, and told him to wait in there while I got changed. I went into the bathroom, and quickly pulled off my school uniform, and changed into the short skirt I had bought earlier. It hugged my figure, and looked great with the black t-shirt I combined it with, that read angelus de caelum, a Latin inscription that I had written on it, for fun. It meant `angel out of heaven', and I actually loved the t-shirt. I pulled a fitted jumper on over my head; it was getting white cold, now that winter was coming.



Opening the door, I walked into my bedroom, to find Honda walking around the room, looking at all the pictures. At random, he began pointing at all of them, and asking me what they were, “What's that one?”



“A horse.”



“Well, duh, but what kind of horse?”



“An Arab.”



“That one?”



“Thoroughbred…French saddle horse…my horse…Marc's horse…my old horse…my mum's horse…my mum…my dad…Marc aged three…me aged two…me and Marc…random horse…that's enough…let's go make supper.”



I walked out of the room, and he followed me into the kitchen. I was big, and modern, with high-tech equipment. The floor was slate, and the metallic cupboards contrasted with the blue-grey of the walls and the floor. The counter was black, and I lit the hob, and out and pan with tater in it on top, starting to cook. Under my instruction, Honda managed to make a salad, and also create a dressing. The pasta and sauce were soon done too, and I yelled for Marc, who came down.



Supper was fun, with the two boys laughing and joking, whilst I sat and listened. I was glad that they were getting on.



After dinner, we left Marc to do the washing up, and went into the lounge to watch TV. Whilst I channel hopped, Honda was looking at my feet weirdly. “What happened there?” he asked.



I looked at my foot, and remembered the large scar that covered part of it, “When I was about 6, and Marc was 8, he took one of my horse toys, and wouldn't give it back. I got really mad with him, and he stood on a chair so I couldn't reach it, so I stood on the glass coffee table to try and reach it. He was laughing, and I got more and more stressed, and I stamped my foot, and it went through the coffee table, cutting it. I then tried to pull it back out, and it got even more cut. I remember there was blood everywhere. And then Marc got some tissue, and helped to stop the blood flow.”



“Does it ever hurt?”



“You mean like a phantom pain?” He nodded. “No, not really. I get that more with this one,” I pointed out the one on the back of my leg, “this one was when I was having a piggyback from my dad, and I got caught on the top of a railing spike, and it dug in. I had to have like, 12 stitches, all the way along.”



He cringed, “That's gross.”



I shoved him playfully, “Thanks.”



We spent the rest of the evening together, and he finally went home, and I went to bed. I hoped everyday with friends could be as good as that afternoon had been. And it looked like it could be. And I still had the party to look forwards too!

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