As Planned

"Amelia! Come on, sweetheart. I know it`s early but you need to get up and go to school," Mom said as she ran her hand through my hair after she woke me up.

"So tired," I whimpered as I attempted to roll over to get away from her.

"It gets better. Now up," Mom urged, pulling my blankets off.

I whined and curled up in a ball in effort to stay warm. But it`s awfully hard to stay warm when you only sleep in an oversized shirt that barely covers your ass by two inches. Add in the fact I`m naturally cold now due to all the chemo I went through before my doctors realized it was making me sick. So I am very, very cold. And of course mom knows that. I could tell by the smirk on her face.

"Fine," I huffed as I sat up and got out of bed. Mom flashed me a grin before leaving my room. I grabbed the uniform laying on the end of the bed and wrinkled my nose as I looked at it. Of course it was a short skirt. Now, I wouldn`t of minded as much if I was able to wear some form of tights with it. I wore stuff like that all the time. But no. I quickly grabbed some undergarments and socks and shuffled to the bathroom.

I took a quick shower, thankful for the warmth, and put on a bit of makeup. I`ll always be grateful for Emily and her makeup skills. After I was diagnosed she taught me how to make myself look relatively healthy with makeup. I did some light eye makeup and some lip balm that had a very light red tint to it. Now if this was any other school I would of done whatever I wanted makeup wise. But I`m not sure if there are any rules regarding makeup and I`m not going to get in trouble of my first day. Especially over something so silly.

As I went to fix my hair I couldn`t help but give myself a once over. My black hair just barely brushed along my jawline. It looks thin and brittle despite the good shampoo I use. I have always been pale but over the past few months Iv`e seemed to of gotten paler. Almost deathly so. My once bright green eyes have gotten dull and have faded to an almost pale green. The only thing that hasn`t changed is my height. I`m still a measly 5`3.

After putting my clothes in the hamper I grabbed my bag and made it downstairs. When I walked by the big window in the living room I froze. The sun was just rising over the city. Normally I would stop and admire something so beautiful. But I`m too annoyed to do so.

"Mom!" I called as I all but stomped into the kitchen. "Why did you get me up so early?"

"It`s only an hour," Mom answered with a laugh. "I gave you extra time so you would make it to school on time."

I pursed my lips and nodded. "What`s for breakfast?"

"Don`t ask," aunt Sarah said as she walked into the kitchen.

"I`m going to be hearing that a lot, aren`t I?" I asked with a slight laugh.

"Yes," Mom and aunt Sarah chorused.

I nodded and carefully hoped up on one of the counter tops and watched mom put something in a bowl before handing it to me. I didn`t bother to try and figure out what it was. I just ate it. I mean, if my mom is feeding it to me it can`t be too bad, right?

After breakfast mom gave me directions to the train station and where I would go from there to get to school. I quickly left, having to stop more than once because of the stairs, and followed her directions. Thankfully I made it to school on time. I grabbed my schedule and went to my classes, giving my teachers a note to let them know of my condition and what to do if certain things happen. Throughout the day I was very thankful for Alex teaching me Japanese. If it wasn`t for her I would of been completely lost.

By lunch it seemed the buzz around school about the new girl was dying down, something I was happy about. I don`t enjoy being the center of attention and I definitely don`t enjoy people staring at me for no reason whatsoever. Well, technically they did have a reason. I`m the new kid. I`m like that shiny knew toy you get on Christmas you get so excited about and it captures your attention for a while until something else distracts you and you completely forget about the other thing a week later. Hopefully they`ll forget about me very quickly.

"Hey new girl!"

I bit back a groan and spun around to see a very adorable boy jogging up to me. He was probably a year or two younger than me. And he was definitely an American. I wonder what he wanted.

"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked when he was close enough to hear me clearly.

"Your new here," He stated.

I raised an eyebrow, "I think that`s already been established.

"My names Twinkie," He said with a grin.

"I`m Amelia," I replied while shaking his hand. I wonder how he got a nicknamed 'Twinkie' of all things.

"Now I noticed you don`t have a computer. I happen to have one," Twinkie said with a grin as he took off his backpack and unzipped it.

I smirked, "You wanted to sell me something? And here I was hoping someone actually wanted to be my friend."

He smirked and zipped the backpack up, "I`m sure we can fix that. Come on."

I nodded and let him take my hand and lead me over to one of the many tables in the cafeteria. In retrospect I probably shouldn`t be following a random boy around. But if it`s only in the cafeteria it can`t be that dangerous. We were almost to the back of the room before he stopped at a table with a girl sitting at it. She was a cute little thing. She might of been my age but I`m not sure.

"Who`d you find, Twinkie?" The girl asked in a slight Australian accent.

"Neela, this is the new girl Amelia. New girl, this is Neela," Twinkie introduced with a grin.

"Please sit down. And It`s nice to meet you," Neela said with a smile.

"It`s nice to meet you too," I replied as I sat down across from her.

"Hey, did you get lunch yet?" Twinkie asked.

"No. You found me before I could get in line," I teased.

He nodded, "I`ll be right back." With that he left for the lunch line.

I looked back at Neela to find her staring at Twinkie with a raised eyebrow. "I take it he doesn`t do that often."

"Not at all. He must like you," She said with a slight laugh. "So has he tried to sell you anything yet?"

"That`s what he tried to do after he introduced himself," I answered with a grin.

She nodded, "I think that`s how everyone meets Twinkie."

I nodded and glanced around the room before looking back at her. "So what`s an Australian girl doing in Japan?"

"What`s an American girl doing in Tokyo?" Neela shot back with a little grin.

I grinned and nodded, "Fair enough." I like this girl already. She kind of reminds me of Alex.

"Hello, ladies," Twinkie said as he sat down next to me with a tray all but covered in food.

"Erm, Twinkie is all that necessary?" I asked as I stared at the tray.

He shrugged as he answered, "I wasn`t sure what you would like so I grabbed a bit of everything. And what you don`t want I`ll eat. Just remember, don`t ask what it is."

"Iv`e been hearing that a lot," I muttered as I grabbed the chopsticks Neela handed to me and began eating with Twinkie while Neela finished her own food.

For a while we ate in silence until Neela was done eat and Twinkie was still randomly eating what I wouldn`t. It was then they started talking about random things like how Twinkie found a new car he want`s to custom and how good Neela`s date last night with her boyfriend went. That is, until they started talking about something very surprising. Races.

"You mean car races?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Twinkie nodded, "Street racing is popular here."

"Have you ever been to one?" Neela asked.

"No. The closest thing Iv`e ever come to any form of a race is roller derby," I answered.

"They sound nothing alike," Twinkie argued.

I laughed and nodded, "Do you see what I mean? Besides, I don`t really like being inside cars."

"Phobia?" Neela asked.

I shook my head, "Not exactly. I just don`t like being inside them. I can look at and appreciate a nice car. As long as I don`t have to be in one."

"Were you in a crash or something?" Twinkie questioned.

"Something like that," I muttered, not wanting to talk about the subject any longer.

"Would you like to go with us tonight?" Neela asked before Twinkie could say anything else.

I raised an eyebrow, "As in the street races?" When she nodded I frowned. Would my health allow it? "I don`t know."

"Come on. Just tell your parents you made a new friend and they invited you over," Twinkie urged.

"It wouldn`t be a complete lie," Neela commented.

I pursed my lips and nodded slowly, trying to figure out how to explain. Do I tell them about my health, paraphrase my situation a bit, or just completely lie? None of those options are good. "How do I know you two aren`t serial killers or something?" Okay, apparently blurting out the first thing that comes to mind is also an option. Thankfully they both started laughing.

"She`s smart. That`ll do her some good here," Twinkie said after recovering from his laughter. Though he was still grinning.

"You really don`t want to come to the races, do you?" Neela asked.

"No, no. It`s not that," I explained while shaking my head. "I`m just..."

"Nervous?" Neela suggested.

"That`s one way to put it," I muttered.

"Look, you don`t have to go. But we`d like it if you would," Twinkie said.

I nodded and bit at my bottom lip before looking up at them, "Can I think about it and then give you an answer at the end of school?"

"That works," Twinkie replied while Neela nodded.

"What do we have here?"

I half turned around to see a guy walking up to us. He looked like he could be my age. He was kind a cute, despite the bad color job someone did to give him blonde hair. He seemed kind of cocky, the way he walked gave it away. But the smile on his face gave the impression that he was a goof ball. Let`s hope the goofy side out weighs the cocky side.

"Hello, Morimoto. I`d like you to meet my new friend, Amelia," Neela introduced with a smile.

Morimoto nodded and sat down next to me. "So you`re the new girl everyone keeps talking about."

I frowned and nodded, "I was hoping all the talk had died down by now."

"Give it a couple of days," Twinkie said. "They always find something new to talk about."

"You going to the races tonight?" Morimoto asked, turning his attention to me.

"I might," I answered. "I haven`t decided yet."

"You should come. I can guarantee you`ll have a good time," He said with a grin that was a little too suggestive for my liking.

"Not her," Neela hissed in Japanese. "I like this girl, Morimoto. I don`t want to lose a new friend because you see a shiny new toy."

"Yeah, yeah," Morimoto spoke back in Japanese while waving his hand dismissively. But when Neela glared at him he sighed and nodded, muttering what almost sounded like an 'I understand'.

Twinkie suddenly tapped my shoulder, making me look at him instead of the two bickering in Japanese. "Don`t worry, girl. You`ll love it here. Trust me."