by Tanya Mindo
Zoe glances at her gang. Taylor notices her and then quickly approaches the others. Kaito winces when their gazes meet. She struggles to focus on the person in front of her.
She doesn’t want to be rude and judgmental, but the worry on her friends’ faces make her stomach quiver.
“Ah, yes... I’ve met some of them.”
“That’s great.” He chuckles then tosses his hair back. “Anyway, this welcome party is almost over. Would you like to come with us to an afterparty?”
“An afterparty?”
“We’re hitting the bar. I’d show you around,” Taiki murmurs, scooting closer to Zoe. She gets goosebumps as she leans back in her chair.
“As the TGIF president, I’m the best tour guide you’ll have. We could dance and have some really good time.”
“Um, well, actually… I’m—”
Kaito interrupts, his voice sharp. “We got her.”
Taiki turns around, cringing. They both stand up, and Taiki shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Kaito folds his arms.
“Oh, if it isn’t you again, Kaito,” Taiki grumbles, his eyes scanning the people who arrived at her rescue. He’s probably looking for his archenemy. Zoe immediately moves next to Marie and Jesse, who both grab her arms.
“So, are you guys having fun?” Taiki changes the topic, although agitated.
“The food could have been better,” Kaito answers casually.
Marie gives Zoe a gentle tap on her shoulder and then whispers, “You okay?”
Zoe nods. Perhaps they noticed that she was trapped. If they didn’t come to save her, she would have said yes.
“Anyway, we’ll take it from here. She came with us,” Kaito adds then gives her a wink. Zoe’s lips break into a small smile.
Taiki’s eyebrows narrow.
“Is Naoki behind this?” he hisses.
“Behind what?” Taylor asks, also folding his arms.
Taiki grits his teeth. Without throwing Zoe a last glance, he leaves.
Relief surges through Zoe’s chest, though she is also embarrassed.
“I could have escaped on my own. You didn’t have to do that.”
“You don’t know him. He’s quite persistent,” Marie replies, shaking her head.
“Really?” Jesse raises her eyebrows. “Well, it kinda looked like he was cornering you, Zoe.”
Marie grimaces. “I was his target last semester. I spent time with him before I met Kaito and the others. We were on this trip, and he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. He often touched my arm and my shoulders.”
Marie clenches her jaw.
“At first, I tried to ignore it. But it got worse. Naoki helped me, so they argued. It was such a mess. I have no idea why he’s still the president of TGIF.”
“I see… Thank you,” Zoe mumbles bashfully, feeling grateful, especially to Kaito who did most of the chasing away.
She meets his gaze. His expression, as usual, is blank, so she can’t figure out what he’s thinking.
“It’s quite noisy now. Let’s get out of here,” Jesse coaxes, fixing her short bangs.
Taylor grins, obviously excited to leave. “I know a food park in Ginza. I’ll call Naoki.”
They walk past the throngs of people. It still fascinates Zoe how there are numerous languages she can’t decode. Instead of making her feel insecure, however, it piques her interest. The simplicity of conversing with others in this place also intrigues her. Nevertheless, if it weren't for Kaito and Jesse, she doubts that she’ll have a consistent set of friends.
I’m lucky to have met them.
Thinking about ‘luck’ automatically brings her back to the embarrassing conversation that happened last night.
At the back of her mind, her issues with Seth continue to knock and disturb her. She hates it. A lot. It’s frustrating because she won’t be able to do anything about it now that she’s away.
Moreover, it sucks that he can pin it on her. Because she isn’t there. He can simply say that they’re having problems because she left. It isn’t even because he always gets the upper hand in deciding what’s right for them, and she’s finally defying him.
They are on the train to Ginza when Zoe unconsciously grunts and stomps her feet.
“Whoa there, tiger.” Marie puts her arm around her shoulders. “Don’t let it get to you. He’s never going to bother you again.”
Everybody’s eyes turn on Zoe.
“Ah, no, I’m not thinking about him.” And then they give her questioning looks. She contemplates whether she should tell them about what’s going on with her and Seth.
That they aren’t official, but he always gets to decide what she should do with her life.
Ah, it just sounds so foolish.
Zoe still doesn’t want to lose him. She just wants change. She wants to know where she stands in his life, and to feel like she’s her own person, too. That they are equals.
“I’m alright. I’m only a little under the weather because of my cold.”
“I told you to take my meds,” Kaito interjects with a mark of irritation.
“Onii-chan is mad,” Taylor teases Kaito glares at him.
“Onii-chan?” Zoe repeats.
“It’s ‘older brother’ in Japanese,” Jesse explains.
Ah, great. It seems like she’s the only person who is oblivious to the language. She tried to study Japanese vocabulary but being unable to use it led her to forget instantaneously.
“Don’t call me that,” Kaito hisses.
“Why not? You’re always acting like an older brother,” Taylor utters and wraps his arm around Kaito’s shoulders.
“He constantly phoned to remind me to do my papers last semester. It’s like having my Mom here except that I receive no allowance.”
Marie laughs. “Yes, I remember when I forgot my Suica card. He nagged all the way to Shimo-Kitazawa. What a pain.”
They continue to make fun of Kaito. Meanwhile, Zoe becomes conscious of the fact that everything Kaito has done for her since day one is just out of his good nature. She also remembers him saying that he has a little sister.
Stupid, stupid her for trying to tell him about Seth during her first night.
They get off at Ginza station, cross the street, then enter a crowded food park. Once more, the diversity astonishes her. The menus offer a variety of dishes from different continents. Latin American music is playing in the background, giving out an even more lively vibe. People speak in their native tongues. They chat and laugh and cheer. The atmosphere itself exhilarates her. They climb upstairs and occupy the vacant seats at the rooftop. The noise still resonates, making the city feel more alive than ever.
“Can I go first? My throat is dry,” Jesse pleads.
“I’ll go with you,” Marie says then shoots a look at Zoe. “Did you see anything that you like?”
“I’ll take care of it, thanks,” she answers. “You can go first.”
She was busy inspecting the surroundings that she forgot about checking out the menus.
“Actually, all of you can go ahead, I’ll come to buy later,” Taylor says and then starts typing on his phone. “I’ll watch our seats.”
Everyone, except Taylor, climbs down. Zoe scans the food park for anything familiar but fails. Besides, she isn’t exactly hungry.
Marie, Naoki, and Jesse walk ahead, while she and Kaito stand near the stairs.
“You hungry? Thirsty?” Kaito asks.
“No, not really. We just ate, but I still want to buy something.”
“You definitely should,” Kaito says. “TGIF’s free food is garbage compared to this. Just so you know, all the welcome parties will have the same dishes that will make you regret that you even came.”
“Then why did you come? I’m sure you’ve attended a lot of welcome parties before.”
“It’s free,” he replies, wiggling his eyebrows. “And we like making acquaintances.”
She rolls her eyes at him and starts walking, with Kaito ma
tching her pace. They scan the food stalls. She wants to try everything, but her appetite is down.
“Ah, this is annoying. I want to eat that—” She points to the German hotdog sandwich, “and that—” then her finger moves to the Pad Thai. “...but I don’t think I can finish them all. I don’t want to waste food.”
Kaito crosses his arms. “How about this? Let’s share.”
Her eyes flicker to him in anticipation. “You serious?”
“Yeah. I’ve also eaten so I don’t mind.”
She grins. “Sweet!”
As discussed, they buy four dishes for sharing. She buys the hotdog and the pad thai, then Kaito goes to buy tacos for everyone else to eat. He also buys draft beer. He offers to buy her a glass, but she refuses. She and Seth are already arguing. If he learns that she drank alcohol, it wouldn’t end well. Lying isn’t an option for her either. She must stand on her ground and clarify to him first that she wants things to change between them.
Everyone is already eating something, even Taylor, when Kaito and Zoe return to their seats. Most of what the gang purchased are enough to share like potato fries, nachos, and baklava. Kaito places the tacos on the table.
“Wow, you guys are still hungry?” Taylor asks Kaito and Zoe as he chews on his fries.
“Nah, we’re sharing,” Kaito answers.
“I wanted to try other countries’ dishes,” Zoe explains.
“Oh here, you should try this,” Marie hands her a fork and a plate of fries with gravy. “This is poutine from Canada.”
“Thanks,” she replies and then grabs the fork to taste.
It tastes salty and cheesy but with the right amount. In the end, however, it’s only fries with cheese and gravy. She doesn’t want to say that, so she exclaims, “This is delicious!”
Everyone bursts out laughing, even Marie.
“You don’t have to pretend, Zoe.”
“Huh?”
“It’s just fries sprinkled with cheese and gravy,” Marie says, giggling. “Thanks for trying, but with us, you can be real.”
She bites her lip and laughs.
I guess I could be real.
They spend the rest of the night chewing and chatting about random stuff. Taylor tells them about his dog that pees everywhere it wants despite years of training. Zoe learns that all of them own pets, and she becomes jealous again. Why is her life so different?
Jesse mentions the places that she wants to visit like Kyoto and Nara. The gang has gone there except for Kaito who had to stay because of his finals last semester. The conversation continues until Naoki brings up the Golden Week.
“It’s a long holiday. The streets will certainly be filled with people, but staying in the dorms will also be boring. What do you think? Do you guys wanna go somewhere?”
“Let’s go to Kamakura and visit the Buddha!” Marie exclaims.
“Yeah, let’s do that. And I heard about this movie festival in Zushi. I think it’s pretty close to Kamakura,” Jesse adds.
“That’s gonna be on a beach, and just in case you’ve forgotten, it’s still pretty cold,” Taylor rebuts.
Zoe finishes her share of the German hotdog. Kaito hands her tissues which she gladly uses to wipe her face. After listening to them whine about Kaito’s penchant to act like a brother, Zoe has been more relaxed around him. The conversation last night still horrifies her, but Kaito hasn’t mentioned anything about it, so she might as well drop it and return to normal.
She was overthinking. Kaito doesn’t care about her relationship with Seth.
“We can just go to the festival and come back to swim in the summer,” Kaito suggests.
“Alright,” Taylor surrenders, throwing his arms up.
Zoe beams. She’ll go on her first trip with her friends.
“You look excited,” Kaito utters, staring at Zoe.
Everything excites her.
“Well yeah… This is actually the first time I’ll go on a trip with friends,” Zoe confesses.
He isn’t surprised. There are a lot of things he wants to show her.
“Then we’ll make sure that you have fun,” Kaito says.
The rest of the night is filled with nothing but booze and laughter. Zoe briefly forgets that her current relationship sucks.
Around 11 PM, everyone heads to Shibuya. Marie, Taylor and Jesse will walk to Komaba lodge from the station. Naoki will take the train to Hachioji. Meanwhile, she and Kaito will take a different line to Kichijoji and then ride the bicycle home. She asked for this, but it would have been a lot convenient if she heeded her Mom’s request to stay in the lodge.
But she wouldn’t have met Kaito if she had chosen the lodge. The thought of it saddens her. If things didn’t turn out the way it did, would she even become his friend?
Maybe. She could have still met Jesse and the others.
But their friendship is different. It’s a kind of friendship she won’t trade for convenience.
Everyone says their goodbyes and begins to walk in different directions.
“So, you used to go home alone to Mitaka?” Zoe asks. They tap their Pasmo cards on the ticket gates and enter the waiting area.
“Yes,” Kaito replies. “I couldn’t afford the lodge. Too expensive. How about you? Why did you choose Mitaka? I heard Shirokanedai is the best among all the dormitories.”
“I applied for Shirokanedai, but I didn’t get accepted,” she says. The train arrives. The two of them step aside to give way to the people getting out of the train.
The train is cramped, and there are no available seats, so they have no choice but to stand. Kaito holds on to a hanging strap. Zoe grabs one as well. It is, however, more difficult for her because of her height.
“Are you okay?” Kaito asks.
She nods, trying her best to keep her balance.
“Are you sure? You can just hold onto me.”
Zoe reddens.
She knows that Kaito didn’t mean anything, yet she becomes flustered at the idea of touching him. She immediately averts her gaze.
“Ha-ha! It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
The train gets more cramped at every stop. Zoe exerts so much effort not to touch Kaito, but the pushing and the number of people forces her to lean onto him. Her head accidentally comes in contact with his chest. Zoe inevitably feels his breath on her nape, and she feels chills.
Crap, why is it so populated in Tokyo?
“I’m sorry, Kaito…” she whispers.
“It’s cool.”
Kaito smells earthy, like sandalwood. Contrary to the usual men’s fragrance, it doesn’t sting her nostrils.
She heaves a sigh of relief when more people get off at Kugayama station. They finally get to sit. Kaito appears normal but not Zoe. She has never gotten that close to any male other than Seth.
“You okay? You look flushed.”
Zoe covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh no, I’m okay. It was just hot with all the people coming in…”
“I see,” Kaito replies casually.
The inability to read him frustrates Zoe, but she wishes that he believes her.
She peeks on her watch. It is 11 PM. Alarmed, she fishes out her phone. She completely forgot to message her parents and Seth.
Luckily, her parents are fine about it. They just remind her to be careful. Being away on vacation somehow forces them to accept that they can’t monitor her every single move.
But not Seth.
She apologizes for not texting him for the entire day, but he’s indifferent and a little sarcastic. Seth also forgets to text her, but she never complains. She doesn’t want to lie, so she also tells Seth about the night that she’s had and that she is going home with Kaito.
Again, he doesn’t seem pleased.
Seth: Oh, you mean your new bff?
Zoe winces and glances at Kaito, hoping that he didn’t see the message.
They get off at Kichijoji station and descend the stairs. They reach the parking lot in no time.
S
he unlocks the padlock of her bicycle and holds it with one hand as she types a message to Seth.
Zoe: Kaito’s my friend, ok?
She pauses for a few seconds before adding another sentence.
Zoe: We need to talk.
