As Planned

After a far too long plane ride we finally landed in Tokyo, Japan. It was nine at night when we landed and I was exhausted. I barely got any sleep while on the plane. Though that was probably in part to a little girl about five years old that sat in the seat in front of mine and just about every chance she got she would turn around in her seat and insist on playing peek a boo with me. I didn`t really mind it though. I mean, it did keep my mind off leaving my friends and moving to a whole new place just for a treatment that probably won`t work.

Mom and aunt Sarah met me and aunt Lauren at the baggage claim and after more than a few hugs we left the airport and unfortunately had to get in a car to head to the house mom and aunt Sarah bought. By now your probably wondering how many aunts I have, huh? Just the two, I promise. My mom is the middle child while Sarah is the oldest and Lauren is the youngest. I however am an only child like my dad was.

"How was the flight?" Mom asked, glancing at me from the rear view mirror.

"It was okay," I yawned. "Too long though."

"You should of seen it. There was this little girl in front of us that kept getting Amelia to play peek a book every chance she got," aunt Lauren said with a laugh.

"You`ve gotten better with children," aunt Sarah commented with a smile.

I shrugged and looked out the window as I replied, "After spending so much time around them in the cancer ward you kind of get used to them."

"I see," aunt Sarah whispered.

I didn`t bother to look away from the window after that, knowing the conversation was dropped. Instead I decided to focus on the lights that seemed to make all of Tokyo glow in every color of the rainbow. Alex always used to say that this place came alive at night. And from the looks of it, she was right. This place is a far cry from Florida. It reminds me of New York and Las Vegas more than anything. I would know, I lived in both places for a few weeks because of treatments. And needless to say, those treatments failed just like the others.

I watched thousands of lights pass by before focusing my attention on the cars. Alex used to say that you`ll find some of the best cars here. Now I may not want to get in one, but I do like how a few look. That and motorcycles. Iv`e actually been on the back of one a few times. Kim and Emily have a cousin that`s a mechanic and a bit of a car and bike enthusiast. The day I found out I had cancer he took me out on his motorcycle for the first time. And I loved it. I felt absolutely free and I didn`t have to worry about the disease in my body. And every time after that, when a treatment wouldn`t work, he`d put me on the back of his bike and we`d be gone for hours. It always made me feel better. That`s probably the only reason mom let me on it.

When the car finally stopped I was all too happy to get out. I was surprised at what I saw though. What was supposed to be a house turned out to be a very big brick apartment building. This is either going to be really good or really bad.

"Mom? What floor are we on?" I asked as I stared at the building.

"Seventh," Mom admitted sheepishly.

"In apartment seven," aunt Sarah added.

I nodded slowly and turned my gaze to the two sisters, "Is there an elevator?"

Mom shared a look with aunt Sarah before looking back at me as she answered, "Yes. But its broken at the moment."

I groaned. And it`s bad. Because of the cancer my body can be quite weak in certain aspects. Like running out of breath very easy when climbing stairs. And by climbing up to the seventh floor I`ll probably need a damned oxygen mask.

"Is it at least scheduled to be fixed?" aunt Lauren asked.

"The owner says yes. But a few of the residents say its been broken for three years," Mom answered with a wince.

"Perfect," I breathed, tilting my head back to look at the sky and take a deep calming breath.

"But the apartment makes up for it!" Aunt Sarah interjected eagerly.

I stared at the sky for a moment before looking back at my family. "Alright, let`s go see this amazing apartment." As I walked around the car I muttered to myself, "Let`s just hope I don`t cough up a lung first."

I followed my family into the building and found myself a bit surprised at how nice it seemed to be on the inside. It wasn`t as fancy as to have a front desk or anything but it was definitely nice. Unfortunately it only had one elevator that apparently hasn`t been fixed in the three years its been broken. And of course by the second floor I had to take a breather for about fifteen minutes. And again in the fourth floor and sixth floor. So by the seventh I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to pass out for the night. But I had to unpack the last of my clothes that I brought with me.

After a breather I finally walked into my new home. The living room and kitchen combination was the first thing you see when you walk in. It was surprisingly spacious. The living room walls were white with pictures in black frames hanging everywhere. The furniture, save for the black coffee table and two end tables, were a light gray. On the living room back wall was a floor to ceiling window on the right. On the left there was a book case that took up the rest of the wall that the window left. And in front of the book case was an old looking black spiral staircase.

"Of course," I whispered as I stared at the stairs before slowly climbing them. Surprisingly it was fairly easy to climb and only took a few minutes. Plus the cool metal of the railing felt good against my heated skin. That little piece of knowledge will definitely be stored away in my brain for future use.

I reached the top of the stairs to find it lead up to a loft like space. The back wall contained three doors. The middle door housed a fairly large bathroom with a nice claw foot tub. The left door lead into my aunts room and the door on the right was a small closet. Then on each end of the room was another door. The one on the left was moms and the one of the right turned out to be mine. I suspect this was done on purpose because mom and aunt Sarah`s rooms are right next to each other. They have always been the closest out of the three sisters.

I carried my bags into my room and couldn`t help but grin at what I saw. The room wasn`t very big but it was still big enough for me. The walls were such a dark blue they were almost black. The ceiling however was black with little yellow stars painted on it along with an orange ish red moon. That made me chuckle. Iv`e always loved the night sky and mom and myself have talked about painting my ceiling in such a way but never got around to it until now. The floor was a dark hard wood just like the one in my room back in Florida.

The bed wasn`t a four post with a canopy like I was used to but it was still just as good. It was a queen size though like my old one and it had my black and red sheets and blankets on it. The headboard was rod iron. It looked like it was made of silver vines. There were two black bedside tables on each side. Both were all but covered in candles and little pictures of my friends and family. Above the bed was a small window that was longer in length than width. It was covered by a heavy velvet looking blood red drape. The left wall had a ceiling to floor book case that covered half the wall and was almost full of books. Next to it was a decent sized dresser. Straight across from my bed on the other wall was a door that contained a closet housing the rest of the clothes my dresser could not.

I placed my two bags on the floor and walked over to the bed and plopped down on it. I cast another glance around my room before laying back. This room could work. I don`t know how mom and aunt Sarah found this play but I`m thankful they did. Even if the one elevator in the whole building doesn`t work.

"How do you like it?"

I turned my head to see my mom standing in the doorway with a small smile on her face. "It`s nice," I replied. "There`s a lot of stairs though."

Mom laughed and walked over and laid down next to me. "This was the best place we found. I thought I`d make it as comfortable as I could despite the stairs."

I nodded, "When does it start?"

"Two weeks," She answered softly. "You finish taking the rest of the medicine you have, give it a week to get it out of your system and then we go to the hospital to get you evaluated and if the doctor thinks your healthy enough for it you start treatments."

I nodded and looked back at the ceiling, "And school?"

"That starts in two days. Sarah figured that would be enough time to let you try and get used to the time change before having you start back up," She explained.

Oh yeah, because two days is going to completely fix that. Please. I`ll probably need two weeks at the most to get used to time change alone. Not to mention getting used to a new schedule, school, and doctor. But at least I don`t have to learn Japanese. Alex took care of that when I was thirteen. That and Spanish. Having a Japanese mother and a Latino father can really do you some good in the language department. That and food. I swear her parents can make some of the best food.

"Well," Mom sighed as she sat up. "I guess I`ll leave you to unpack."

I nodded, "Thanks. I`ll see you in a little bit."

Mom nodded and left the room. I laid there for a few minutes before getting up and going over to my bags. I unpacked my clothes and laid them out on the floor, making sure everything was folded and went over to my dresser to check how full it was. Thankful there was enough room since most of my clothes seemed to be in the closet along with my shoes.

After putting everything away and getting it organized I went down stairs to get a quick bite to eat. I wasn`t all that surprised to see my aunts and mom sitting on the kitchen counter tops munching on some form of food in little bowls with chopsticks. There could be just about anything in those bowls.

"Do I want to know what your eating?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," aunt Sarah answered with a laugh.

I nodded and walked over to them, "Can I have some?"

"Of course. It`s the first tupperware container on the second shelf," Mom replied with a grin as she got me a bowl and chopsticks.

I grabbed the container from the fridge and scooped out some rice and something that looked suspiciously like squid and put it into the bowl. Something tells me I don`t want to know if it is squid or not. After putting the container back in the fridge I grabbed my bowl and chopsticks, hopped up on the counter next to aunt Lauren and started eating. It was actually pretty good.

I spent the rest of the night talking with my family, soaking in the tub and finally going to bed. Thankfully I was so exhausted that the time change didn`t bother me much. But as for the rest of the week? I`m fucked. Let`s hope I don`t fall asleep during school. Again.