Chapter 14: A Surprise Visit

Theme #18 – The Wrong Words

She wiggled her toes in delight, trying not to giggle as he continued to blow on her toes gently.

“Enjoying this, aren’t you?” Yunta asked with a snicker as he shook the bottle of pink nail polish. “Why do I have to do this anyway?”

“Because you keep leeching off me,” Aurora replied as she tapped his forehead gently. “How many times have you stayed here to watch TV or borrow some of my make-up?”

“Hey, you know you like me hanging around you. I’m just about the only friend you’ve got here.” He snorted and continued to paint her toenails with an expertise that amused Aurora greatly. She hated to admit that he was right. He was the only real friend she could boast of having so far and she did enjoy his company even though he could be a pervert half the time. The teen’s hair was streaked white today in honor of a video game character, he had said. His finger and toe nails had been painted both white and black and even his outfit - a loose pair of black jeans and an oversized white jersey – went well with his look. His pretty eyes had been highlighted with dark kohl and he had gone the extra mile today with light pink gloss on his lips.

“You look like a girl,” Aurora finally said with a warm smile, ruffling his hair gently.

“Hey!” He pouted. “I’m not…”

“I said you look like a girl. I didn’t say you acted like one. You’re a male chauvinistic pig.”

“Thanks!” He grinned and continued with his work, greatly pleased that his masculinity wasn’t shot to hell. “I like the way I dress. It drives my mother crazy of course, but…” He shrugged. “It’s who I am.”

“That’s good. You shouldn’t lose your individuality,” Aurora agreed with a nod. She thought of Tony and how sloppy he dressed sometimes. She had tried times without number to get him to dress decently but for someone who could afford a whole new wardrobe of good clothes, Tony seemed determined to dress like a hooligan with his endless array of baseball caps or even worse, his fedoras. She shuddered at the image and eyed Yunta again. She wondered how well he would fit in American society with the way he dressed and acted. Aurora was sure that his looks would get him a modeling job and such ‘wild’ teens like Yunta were a growing rage now. Hollywood would be all too happy to get hold of a boy like him.

“Have you ever thought of going to America?” she asked quietly.

Yunta, who was working on her little toe, pursed his lips in thought. “Hmm…well, yes. Many of us do.” He laughed and lifted his gaze to meet hers. “We watch all the cool movies and wish we could see what it’s really like in the flesh, you know? We even try to talk like you…all slang and stuff.”

“But you all have much cooler stuff,” Aurora argued. “You have no idea how many American teens wish they could come here.”

That seemed to floor Yunta and he sat back on his haunches. “Really?!” He laughed again. “Why?!”

Aurora thought of all the anime and manga craze she had noticed back home. Not that she was into it but back in high school many girls had gone gung-ho for things like that and even the boys too! She and Eden had even had to suffer through Tony and Ethan’s obsession with several video games she couldn’t even pronounce…at least back then.

“Well, you all have great anime shows and graphic novels,” she explained as she lifted her left leg to inspect the work he had done. “And more video games that many of the kids in the States would kill to get their hands on. Also, many of them try to talk like you and act like you. Isn’t that ironic?”

Yunta grinned and shook his head. “Yes, it is. We want to be like them and they want to be like us.”

“Indeed!” They both giggled and Yunta, who was now curious to know more, opened his mouth to ask another question when the doorbell rang.

They looked at each other in surprise. Aurora didn’t get a lot of visitors besides the landlady, Yunta’s mom, or perhaps a neighbor – and that had only happened once before.

“Did you order something?” Aurora asked in bemusement as she rose to her feet, being careful not to place her drying toes too close to the floor.

Yunta shook his head, the same quizzical expression on his visage. “No. I thought you did.”

She eyed her jeans shorts and baby t-shirt with a light frown. “Do I look decent enough?” she asked, hoping it wouldn’t be someone old and disapproving of how short her well…shorts were or the way her midriff showed each time she moved.

Yunta gave her a thumbs up sign. “You look sexy, Aurora-chan…ouch!” She had thrown a pillow at him, before making her way towards the door. The bell rang again and she gritted her teeth, wishing the visitor wouldn’t be so impatient.

“Coming, coming,” she muttered beneath her breath. She ran damp palms through her hair, wishing she had taken the time to make the ponytail a bit neater and took a deep breath she threw the door open with a welcome smile on her visage.

“Ohayo…?! Eeek!” She slammed the door shut and leaned against it. Her heart pounding fast within her chest as she tried to will her mind to process just who had been standing outside her door.

“Aurora-chan!” Yunta cried out in concern as he ran towards her. “Who was it?! What’s wrong?! Why did you…?!”

“I’ve got to get dressed!” she interrupted with panic in her voice as she ran towards the bathroom. Yunta, who was almost pushed to the floor as the woman sped past him, blinked in confusion at the sudden flush of color on her face and why she was acting this way. Who was waiting out there for her?

“Oh fuck! Where’s my good dress?!” Aurora was screaming as she ran back and forth between the bathroom and the living/bedroom.

“Anoou…do you want me to open the door?” Yunta asked, scratching his head in confusion. Aurora stopped long enough to nod at him.

“Just…tell him I had to go to the bathroom, okay?”

Him?! Yunta frowned, watching her dart back into the bathroom. Did Aurora have a boyfriend he didn’t know about?

“And get this place cleaned up first!” she whispered harshly as she stuck her head out of the door. “I don’t want him thinking I live like this!”

“Ah…” But she had vanished again, leaving Yunta to snort in exasperation. He eyed the door balefully before making his way towards it. He got ready to put on a frown, having no intention of letting just any man talk to Aurora. However, anything he had planned to say died on his lips as he noticed who stood out there with a bemused expression on his handsome visage.

“Hayakawa-sensei!” Yunta gasped in surprise. “What…what are you doing here?”

“Yunta-kun? What are you doing here?” Adam asked with a raised brow as he eyed the teen warily. He had heard the voices behind the door after Aurora’s ‘welcome’ and even though he knew it was a weekend and she had the right to do whatever she wanted during her spare time…the idea that she would be with this boy…

Admit it, you’re just jealous Adam.

Why? He had no idea. It wasn’t as if he and Aurora were already a couple and besides, wasn’t that why he was here to begin with? To ask for a favor that could earn him ridicule or scorn?

“I’m here because Aurora-chan says I can,” Yunta replied with a light smugness in his tone. He folded his arms before his chest and seemed to block the way into the apartment. “What did you want, Hayakawa-sensei?”

Everyone around the neighborhood knew about the teacher – well everyone did know about everyone else – and Adam had visited his mother several times in the past but that still didn’t give him a right to come to Aurora’s home like he had a right to be here. Yunta had no intention of sharing her with anyone else let alone Adam who was older, smarter and more good-looking – things Yunta had to reluctantly admit he was no match for.

“I wish to speak to her about something rather important,” Adam began explaining as patiently as he could.

“Why couldn’t you call her first to let her know you were coming?”

Because he didn’t have her phone number. But he could see the smug look on the boy’s visage and Adam struggled to maintain his smile. “Look, I won’t keep her away from you for too long. I just want to talk to her for a few minutes…”

“Ready!” Aurora called out and both men turned to look at the young woman who was now a far cry from the casual picture she had presented earlier. She was now in a floral print dress with narrow straps that showed off her slightly bronzed shoulders (thanks to hours spent in the sun tanning). Her once messy ponytail was now loose to allow her shoulder length hair to brush against her neck and shoulders. Her cheeks were still flushed with color and her eyes were lit with barely concealed pleasure or excitement or both. She clasped and unclasped her hands before her in nervous gestures and as her eyes met Adam’s bright blue ones, time stood still for a heartbeat. Her breath caught in her throat at how good he looked today – which was funny considering he was dressed in nothing more than a simple dark blue shirt and black pants. It was nothing too fancy and yet he seemed to ooze a sexuality that had her knees trembling in awareness.

Adam, for his part, struggled to gather moisture in his throat as he took a tentative step forward. Yunta was forgotten, his entire body attuned to the beautiful young woman before him. When was the last time he had felt his heart skip a beat for any member of the opposite sex? He doubted he had even felt his intensely for the very first girl he had fallen in love with and that relationship had been a disaster, hadn’t it?

Love? What love? I’m not…it’s just physical attraction, that’s all.

“Free…” He cleared his throat, blushing faintly at how thick his voice had sounded. “Freewill sensei…”

“Call me Aurora, please,” the girl interrupted with a soft laugh that sent delicious shivers down Adam’s spine. “The whole sensei thing is beginning to sound too redundant.”

“Aurora it is then,” Adam replied with a warm smile, amused to find her cheeks darkening with color as she lowered her lashes shyly. “I was hoping we could talk for a while…”

“Aurora can’t go out with you today,” Yunta interrupted coldly. He was no fool. He had noticed the tension between the older couple and it annoyed him greatly. He felt left out and to think that just minutes ago, he had had Aurora’s complete attention. He glared at Adam. “We’ve got plans.”

Adam was jerked out of his stupor with Yunta’s cold words and he asked Aurora an unspoken question.

“Yunta…” Aurora growled softly. She walked up to tug the teen’s arm. “If you would excuse us for just a few minutes,” she said to Adam with a wide smile before yanking the boy into the bathroom and locking the door behind them.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” she hissed, watching his scowl with bemusement.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” he replied now sulking like a petulant child. “Why are you acting all shy in front of him?”

“Because…!” She stomped a foot in frustration. “Listen to me, Yunta. I like Adam, okay? And even though he’s been a jerk, I think that maybe he really likes me too.”

He felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart. “But…”

He gasped as he suddenly felt her arms around him in a tight embrace. He closed his eyes and inhaled her sweet scent – a smell of roses that he had come to associate with the American. He would have stolen a kiss on her cheek, but she pulled away gently to smile at him.

“Don’t screw this up for me, Yunta,” she said softly. “I don’t know…there’s just something about him that I really admire and I want…or at least hope to make this work.”

“But Hayakawa-sensei already has a girlfriend,” Yunta blurted out quickly, “He’s just going to use you just like he uses Miyabi-san…”

As soon as he said that, Yunta knew he had uttered the wrong words. He watched her features darken with hurt and he kicked himself inwardly for allowing his jealousy to be so evident. She pulled away from him completely and he winced, wondering if he could say anything to make it up to her.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” he finally muttered but she was already shaking her head.

“It’s okay,” she replied. “I wasn’t really getting my hopes all that much either. Just make sure you lock up my door behind you when you leave, okay?”

She ruffled his hair again and left the room quietly without a second look. He sat down heavily on the toilet seat and listened to their voices from the hallway. Soon enough their voices faded, followed by the sound of the front door closing shut behind them.

He raised his knees to his chest and buried his face against them and in the heavy silence that had fallen upon the apartment, Yunta had never felt more alone in his entire life.