The city is special

Having not slept was a little advantage for Mai, as she was already awake bright and early before the meeting time. Which meant she had time to choose what she wanted to wear for that day.

Although, quickly going through her wardrobe of all days, no matter what she tried on everything just made her look a little….

"Like a cow."

That was right, a little fat.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing here!" Mai shouted at Cindy, her little sister who had sneaked into her room.

"You think I can sleep with your big feet creaking all over the floorboards, look, just wear this, trust me." Cindy said, rummaging through Mai's wardrobe. A few seconds later and items were being placed on top of her bed and it was a set of clothes that she would have never worn.

First, they were her uncomfortable over the knee black boots she had only worn once, then a small checkered skirt in brown, and finally a thick black top. It was summertime and the village was often hot so at least Cindy had taken that into consideration.

Putting it all on, she decided to trust her sister, who was younger than her, but Mai at least knew she didn't have a clue about fashion, and her sister did seem to be popular with other kids.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she had the whole outfit on and she noticed that the black boots and top went together, making her look slim. While the checkered skirt showed off her legs making them look almost longer and taller.

"You're a magician." Mai said, admiring her own legs.

"No, I just know how to dress, now go out there and get that boy." Cindy said, smiling and walking away.

Mai hadn't mentioned anything, but her sister had realised due to how strange she had been acting. She had never seen her like this, and she was depressed the other day, so she could only assume it was boy trouble.

Seeing what the time was, and not wanting to ruin her figure, Mai decided that it was best for her to skip breakfast and head to the meeting spot a little early. She always thought that being on time was late and on time was fifteen minutes before the meeting time.

Leaving the door, she started to head towards the bus stop. Being a small village there weren't many bus stops, and even the closest one was around a fifteen minute walk for her, but those few minutes felt like the longest fifteen minutes of her life.

With every step, her heart started to thump louder, and soon she felt like she couldn't breathe.

'What is wrong with you, he already rejected you. You have already been through the worst thing.' She said to herself and was ready to move on.

Finally, seeing the bus stop on a one way empty road, there was a little seating area. There was no one at the bus stop, even though it was early morning. Those in the village just didn't like to travel. The village had an older population and as soon as the young ones finished school they would head straight into the city.

Standing at the bus stop made Mai think of the Other world, where she had lived in the city.

'I never really had the desire to move out, maybe it was more of Chris's thing.'

Just as she said that, she could see Chris walking from the other side of the road, going slightly uphill where the bus stop was.

'It had to be him of all the people who came here first!' She cursed herself, but deep down she knew this was a possibility and it was one of the reasons why she had truthfully left early.

When Chris's eyes met with Mia's he gave a gentle wave and smile. As for what he was wearing, it was quite plain, but at the same time he managed to make his simple clothing look amazing. It was a pair of blue jeans that wrapped around his well suited thighs, and a plain white top that allowed to show his smooth skin on his forearms.

"Hey, you look a lot better out of school." Chris's first comment was, as he looked her up and down.

The way he stared at her, was making Mia feel even more nervous and her face was soon turning bright red.

"Thank…thank you." She managed to blurt out. "You look good as well."

"I'm not late am I, it's the first time I've been to one of these things." Said Chris.

It seemed like Mai was right, she really didn't see Chris hang out with anyone else, and she couldn't help but wonder what the reason was, but she couldn't ask it now, for some reason the question just seemed so personal.

For a while, it was quiet between the two of them and Chris would continue to stare out. Looking at her phone she noticed that it had gone ten minutes past the initial meeting time. Not being able to stand the quiet anymore Mia just had to say something.

"Hey, have you ever thought about leaving this village when you finish school." Said Mai. "I mean a lot of kids do it. I wonder why that is."

"That's my plan." Chris said. "I have a lot I plan to do with my life. I want to live a long one and do as much as I can, and in this village it just seems kind of impossible if you know what I mean."

'Live a long life.' Mai clung onto these words, as memories of attending Chris' funeral appeared in her mind. 'I guess he never achieved that.'

Thankfully, there was no need for any more small talk between them, as Simon was seen arriving with Shirley by his side, and the two of them were talking away and smiling.

When they joined up, Mai quickly took Simon to the side, and it looked like from the view on the side of her head was about to burst from the anger.

"What the hell took you so long! You're thirty minutes late!" Mai said.

Simon looked back at Chris.

"So, my plan worked right? I told you and Chris to meet us at a different time. I thought it would give the chance for the two of you to talk together. So any progress?"

Although Mai was still annoyed at him for coming late, knowing that Simon had done it for her benefit for some reason she just couldn't be angry at him anymore.

"Alright everyone, the bus will be here in five minutes!" Simon said, to the other three who were lined up. It looked like Shirley and Simon were satirical about the trip.

"Because today, we're all going to head to the city!"

"What!" Mai was visibly shocked.

There were many places that the bus would take them. To the hot springs nearby, to the nearby town where there would be a small little cafe and restaurant, but she never expected that Simon had planned to take them to the city of all places.

'Well, at least I can see if it's a nice place to go now.'

The bus had arrived, and everyone got on. And for the first time before Chris was getting in his seat, she could see a smile on his face. She had seen him smile before but before they all seemed so fake, but this one was clearly real.

'I wonder what attracts you to the city so much. Are you running away from something?' Mai thought.

The four of them sat together, with Chris and Mai in a double seat and in front of them was Shirley and Simon, just as they had planned.

What they didn't notice was at the very back, were three girls, who wore facial masks that one would wear when they were sick and each of them had sunglasses covering their face.

'If you think I'm going to let you have this little get together and it goes smoothly, you're dead wrong.' Vicky thought.