Chapter III

The drive is soothing. Being away from my parents and just having me, myself, and I. The music is calm and just the right volume. The light sun shining on me. It feels too good to be true. But its all too good to refuse, so I soak it all in. The drive to his house isn't a long one, but it felt longer. Everything has been abnormally long today. I park my car in his driveway and get out. It seems he's been waiting for me, as he's just sitting on his porch. I walk to him, and he's zoned out beyond belief. I'm standing right next to him, and he doesn't notice. 

"Hey, you good man?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. just enjoying the view."

Well, at least he's doing alright. Akio has been a friend of mine since middle school. He's been through it all with me practically. He was actually the one who drove me over to the fight with Wakino. He probably is my only actual friend, I hope he is. He leads me into his house, and we go get some drinks. We then head to his room where we'd probably be spending the day. I walk in after him and close the door. I walk over to his desk chair and sit down.

"Man, today seems so long. It's weird."

"That isn't weird, but today's been a flash for me. It feels like I woke up like 10 minutes ago."

"Did you?"

"Hell no. I'm not old enough for that."

We share a good laugh. It's nice getting to relax and be away from the chaos known as my home life. If I'm being honest, I probably spend more time at friends houses and parties then I do at my home. It feels right to be away from them though after all the things I've done. I lean back in the chair, and we talk about random school and drama stuff. Not surprisingly, a lot of it was around girls. Apparently, there's been some rumors going around that I might be Interested in someone, but I quickly make it clear to Akio that it's false. Letting him know that I'm still a complete loner.

"Oh, hey I got a question."

"What is it?"

"You know about that party tonight?"

"I sure as hell do. It's supposed to be awesome. You plan on going?"

"I do. I just thought I should let you about it. We could pull up together, if you wanted"

I sit and wait for Akio's answer. It looks like he's thinking. If I'm being honest I'm might just not go if he doesn't. I don't know anyone else.

"...Yeah, we can do that. You wanna hit a bar up after, getting some drinks in a place where we won't be bombarded by other dumbasses."

I sit and contemplate for a moment. It's sounds like a good idea, and I really am only going for the fun of it. It also seems like a chance to just relax.

"I'm down."

We agree in where we're going after, and we just play some games and talk about women and guys who we want to beat up. You know, typical high school guy things. After a while, something Akio said reminded me of my sister. It reminded me of this morning. So I decide to tell him.

"No way! That actually happened?"

"Yeah... It did."

Akio, being the great friend he is, laughed his ass off. He started wheezing with how hard he was laughing. I calm him down and he just seems baffled by what I had just told him. We talk it over again and try to make sense of it, which absolutely didn't happen. After a moment of messing around, I take a look at my watch, it's 5:40. 20 minutes till the party starts. I let Akio know, and we get ready to go. We gather our things and leaves the house, and we go to his car. Guess he's driving.

The drive was short, so we got there 10 minutes early. But there was already a couple of people there helping finish set-up. I get out and motion for him to call me with. I know he doesn't want to help, but we really don't have anything else to do. He reluctantly got out of the car and jogged over to me. I give him a pat on the back for being the bigger person, and I got a slap on the head. There wasn't much to work on anyways, just a few tables to put up.

Turns out this party wasn't like the normal ones I go to. It's a celebratory one. For who? Must be for the person who asked me, I don't know. There probably won't be anything crazy happening, but that's fine with me, because the bar trip after is going to be worth it. After we finish up helping, we properly introduced ourselves to the people who where setting up. Turns out, there Shiko's parents. And that this is a party for getting Into a prominent university. I've heard of this guy before, and they've heard of me. Thankfully, only the good things, like the community service I do weekly. I may put up a dangerous front to other people, but I've matured.

We sit an hang out for a bit while we wait on everyone else to come. When the party started, Shiko showed up and everyone was showing him with praise. I can't blame them, he deserves it. Can't help but feel a little jealous, I couldn't imagine doing that. He walks away from the large crowd that was surrounding him, and he notices me. I can't tell if he's surprised, worried, or confused. It's doesn't matter anyways as he walks over to me and Akio where we're just eating and talking to his parents.

"Hey, it's nice to see you, Daiki."

"Yeah, same here. Congrats man. That one big achievement. "

He seems shy around me. He chuckles a little and says he gets to much praise. Somethings definitely off though, because over where he was before he was super lively. Maybe it's because we're by his parents, or me. Or it could also be me just reading too deep. I toss and arm around his shoulder and pat his arm, which startles him.

"C'mon man, be happy. It's all about you tonight. Go have some fun."

"Y-Yeah... Thanks Daiki."

Shiko seemly warms up a bit, and so do his parents. I hope I'm making him more comfortable around me, I don't want him to be scared. Me and Akio ask if they need anything help with anything else, and they say that we can help serve food if we wanted. We agreed of course, and they said we were too nice. Surprisingly serving food with a friend is actually quite a fun time. As I see familiar faces, they all seem surprised to see me being so... Tame. It's like I'm a completely different person to them.

After that, we sit and listen to a quick little speech Shiko made, and the same froms his parents. I honestly might start going to these parties more often. I won't be feeling like shit after, and that's a nice plus. Akio and I go gat some food ourselfs and go socialize with everyone. So many people didn't believe it was me, but they all seemed to like this side. I might stick to it now, putting the aggressive side of me away. The time flies by, and many people are leaving. We stay after a bit and say our fair wells. Both Shiko and his parents tell me and Akio to stop by again, as they had a blast with us over. It doesn't seem like a bad idea, I think I'll take them up on it.