Chapter Two

Our family moved, to get away from the memories of Daddy. We moved, not back to Japan, like I had hoped. We moved to somewhere in Britain, where the roads were busy, and all the other teenagers stared at Aiko and I, because apparently we looked Asian. Aiko explained over and over that we were half-Japanese, but no one listened to her, just continued staring, so she eventually gave up, like I had without even trying.

We also had to move schools, naturally. According to everyone there, I lived up to my name. A male teacher said that I was extremely pretty, like a beautiful flower, and I didn't know what to say. One of the girls in the classroom laughed at my wary expression and explained that the teacher, Mr Robinson, was just overly kind, and that he said that to all the girls, and complimented the boys too. I was still wary, but the girl's friend assured me, "Don't worry, I was suspicious too at first, but he's just a kind old soul."

I was eventually consoled, but in my next class one of the girls there warned me. She said, "There's a girl in this class, a disgusting girl. Her name is Leila. She's a lesbian."

The word 'lesbian' was said like the word trash would have been said. "Watch out, she's a player, and comes after all the girls, even though they're all straight, including you, right?"

I laughed and said, "Of course not." But my expression was black and I glowered at the girl who'd warned me after.

It turned out Leila was in all my classes, and I smiled at her in all. She winked each time, but I just smiled and looked away.