1 The End of the Beginning

"Tina and Misaki! Come down to eat!" My mother exclaims. "Coming!" Misaki replies.

This was a normal school night at our house. Mom would yell for us to come down to eat and Misaki, my older brother, would yell, "Coming!" I'd go down and join them, then afterward, go to bed. Not much happens around here; the only thing that's different about our lives is Misaki. The doctors swore he was going to be a girl, but somehow he turned out to be a boy instead. He ended up with the name Misaki, the name of a girl.

I make my way downstairs a little later usual. "Tina, what took you so long?" Mom asks worryingly. I'm never late for dinner so I could see why Mom would question it.

"Sorry, I was finishing up some homework," I say. Misaki glances over at me and gives me the "eat your food or I'll eat it for you," look, and I start eating my rice right away. After I ate, I thanked my Mom for the food.

"Goodnight, everyone!" I bellow, then go to bed. I have a long day ahead of me, with a test in the afternoon.

*ʙᴇᴇᴘ*

*ʙᴇᴇᴘ*

*ʙᴇᴇᴘ*

". . . .It's not time to get up. . . . I have a few more hours. . . ." I open my eyes all the way to get a clearer look at my alarm.

"OH CRAP I'M LATE! THE TEST IS IN TWO HOURS!!" I can't believe Misaki didn't wake me up! He knew I had a test, so why didn't he at least try? I get my backpack, grab a slice of toast, and run out the door as quickly as possible.

When I get on school grounds, everyone was already in class. I go to my locker to put my things away, hastily messing with my stuff. I look around and see Misaki and his friend, Blaze.

Blaze isn't his real name, it's only a nickname. He has yet to tell us his real name; he claims to tell us when we all graduate.

As I look at them talking, I wonder what they are doing out of class. I go over to yell at Misaki for not waking me up . . . and not being in class. When I walk up to them, Misaki is standing dead still, anticipating what I came up to him for.

"Ah, so I take it you know what I came here for?" I say slyly. He slowly turns his head while Blaze just stands in confusion. "H-hey little sister; lovely weather, isn't it heh. . . ." I look him in the eye, my eyes burning with fury.

"DON'T YOU GIVE ME THAT! WHY DID YOU NOT WAKE ME UP; DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?" I screech as my anger echoes down the long halls.

"No need to get mad; at least I had the decency to TRY to get you up, so I don't want to hear it!" he says defensively. I stare at him before darting my eyes to Blaze.

"So Blaze, what's up? How have you been?" I ask him, just to get on Misaki's nerves. "Oh, I'm good; thank you um. . . ." Blaze says awkwardly before looking at Misaki as if he's trying to ask something.

Misaki lets out a sigh and nods his head to Blaze. I watch the whole ordeal in confusion. "So, Tina, Misaki and I are going to study later and I was wondering if you would want to join us?" Blaze asks expectantly. I don't have much to do tonight, and I can lay off for a little bit after the test.

"So, you invite me to go to study with you even though I'm almost 3 years younger. I'd feel like more of a distraction than someone there to learn more." Blaze looks like he has something to say but can't quite get to it. His mouth opens but no sound comes out.

"Tina, with someone like you, you could use a little more studying. Even if it's a few years ahead with the way your grades are looking," Misaki states bluntly. I mean, he's right, I'm struggling in some classes. And with Misaki saying it like that, do I really have a choice? If I want to get into college, I need to get my grades up.

"Hmm... well, I don't have anything to do after school, so I guess you guys win," I say, pretending to be defeated. Misaki smirks and I watch as Blaze's eyes light up. "As if you would say no." Misaki says smugly.

Misaki is having his little moment while Blaze is creepily smiling at me and wishing me good luck on my test. It's nice to see them right before the test and have someone to be there for you. I just hope I get through this like it's a breeze.

After the test, Misaki and I are walking home. The sky slowly morphs into a darker yellow as the shadows of this world are accentuated. "Remind me why we're using our feet to walk home? Why couldn't Mom get us?" Misaki states, looking as tired as I am.

"Mom is going to be out late tonight so that's why we're walking. We're almost there, so stop being a pain; complaining won't do us any good," I say, shaking my head vigorously.

When we finally get home, I am so tired, I don't even know if I'll make it through studying. As we relax, I turn my droopy eyes to Misaki and ask, "Misaki, Blaze should be here soon, right?" He nods and starts taking the studying supplies out.

Soon after we hear a knock on the door. Blaze is finally here! I smile happily as the door opens. "Oh sorry I'm late, it was so hot outside I nearly died," Blaze states, clearly frazzled about the heat.

Misaki looks as if he expects me to get something. "So um, would either of you like anything to drink or snack on?" I ask, almost telepathically knowing what Misaki wants of me. They both say yes and thank me while I go into the kitchen to get food and drinks.

"Do you like her?" Misaki asks accusingly. Blaze gets flustered. "W-what? Why would you say something like that? Not implying I don't like her, I just-"

Misaki stops him there. "It's okay, you can be honest. We're best friends and I support you if you do." Blaze sighs. "Well. . . I do like her. . . . I might like her a lot."

Misaki grins. "You should ask her to go to the party tomorrow night!" he offers. "WAIT, I'M NOT READY TO ASK HER, IT'S ALMOST LIKE ASKING HER ON A DATE. I CAN'T DO THAT YET!!!"

I finally get everything together and overhear them talking about a girl. "Oooooh, who's the lucky girl?" I ask accusingly. They both look shocked.

"Hey, Tina! Be a good sister and set the snacks on the table, and why not tell me what you heard?" Misaki says, ready to interrogate me. They both look worried. I mean, is this girl that important?

"I just walked in, so don't panic." They calm down and we start to study. It only lasted two hours before it got late and Blaze was getting ready to go. "Thanks for having me over to study, I should get going now."

He says his goodbyes and is about to walk out the door before I stop him. "Wait! Before you go, I want to say thanks for inviting me to study. That was nice of you," I say, genuinely thankful.

He blushes ever so slightly. "Thanks, but it was Misaki's idea to invite you, he just wanted me to ask since I-" He quickly cuts himself off. "Ah . . . never mind. Just know he wanted you to join so I think you should be thanking him."

I looked over at Misaki and he smiles. "You still need to get your grades up, so don't think I'm letting you off. You will be joining us more," he says as if it was just nothing. I turn over to wish Blaze goodbye, but he is already gone.

Tonight I have no idea what to do but lay in bed thinking about how stressful today was. I think I'm going to stay inside all weekend; I'm too tired to go out anywhere.

I got a nice amount of sleep last night, but I could still use a nap. Now that it's officially Saturday, I'm going to watch things all day! I am mentally preparing for the laziness of the day when someone knocks on my door.

"Who is-" The door flies open. "TINA GET UP, YOU HAVE FIVE HOURS TO GET READY!" Misaki storms into my messy room, yelling at me to get ready for who knows what. What a nice way to start my first interaction with a human being on a weekend.

"YOU COULD BE LIKE A NORMAL PERSON AND OPEN MY DOOR INSTEAD OF KICKING IT DOWN; WHAT DO YOU NEED ME FOR?!" I howl back at him. He looks me up and down and evaluates how unprepared I am. "Find a nice outfit to wear, you and I are going to a party! Mom is working late all weekend and she won't be here, so she wants me to watch you while she's away."

I don't want to do this at all. Mom lets me stay home alone all the time. "Can't you leave me here, and not tell Mom that you left me here alone?" He stares at me for a while, as if he is trying to think of what to say.

"What if you burn the house down while I'm away or get hurt? Mom would never let me go out again!" Misaki says. I sigh, before replying, "Not much of my issue."

He barks in response. "Remind me who gets you ice cream when you want some, but Mom says no." I get up right away and start getting ready. No one is taking away my frozen goodness.

"Such a good sister," he says. I roll my eyes and start to find an outfit.

We get to the party, and from a distance, I see what looks like the house the party is held in. In the distance, through the noise and lights, I see who I think is Haruku? I haven't seen him for such a long time. I wonder if this was planned.

"Haruku! Over here!" Misaki yells for his attention. Haruku looks our way. "Hey, you two! Tina, I haven't seen you in a while; it's been about seven years!"

Has it been that long? I wonder. Misaki and Blaze have been friends since they were six, and they both met Haruku when they were eight. Although Blaze and Haruku haven't been the best of friends, they still get along. It's almost like they are siblings. The three of them fit like puzzle pieces, and in the end, it makes a beautiful picture.

"Hey, Haruku! It's been a while; it is so good to see you!" As Haruku and I are saying hello, I notice Blaze walk over to Misaki and whisper something in his ear. They both nod like they're agreeing on something.

"Misaki, I'm starving and I didn't eat before we left," I complain. Haruku lays out an offer. "Well, I saw some cake when I was in there; I can show you where it is if you want."

I get excited over cake. "REALLY? THANK YOU SO MUCH!" I scream, drooling at the thought of cake. We start to head in. "Don't get lost, you two!" Misaki shouts after us.

When I look back, I see Blaze with an almost sad look on his face. He also looks confused and upset. I hope I didn't do anything to upset him.

I make sure I have my phone with me just in case I somehow get lost. We walk in and there are people everywhere. The lights were slightly dim, and so much other light colors were spread everywhere around the house.

"Tina; here it is!" I grab a slice of lemon cake and sit down. "Haruku, how have you been all these years?" I ask. "Well, I've been okay; I saw Misaki a week ago and thought I'd invite you both to this party." He looks a little overwhelmed for a second after he says that.

"Are you okay?" I ask. "Oh, um . . . yeah, I'm okay." He starts to look a little more scatterbrained. "Look, um . . . Tina . . . the last time I saw you, seven years ago at the park, I wanted to tell you something before you left."

I'm surprised he remembers the last time we saw each other. What he has to say must be important, if he waited all this time to tell me. "What is it?" I ask.

He mumbles something softly. "Sorry; I couldn't hear you, could you speak up?" He looks in my eyes, and I hear footsteps approaching us muffled in the loud music. "I like-"

"Hey you two, found you!" Misaki and Blaze cut Haruku off. "We were talking! Ugh, what do you two want?" I say. They both smile. "Well, we may or may not have stumbled across someone while we were here, and their name may or may not be Katelynn," Misaki says nonchalantly.

I suddenly feel tears start to blur my vision. "You better not be joking," I blurt out. Misaki points to the opposing direction from where we are standing. "She's waiting upstairs in the first room to the left."

I immediately bolt through the thick crowd of people to get upstairs as fast as possible, trying not to bump into people, and almost tripping a few times on my way up the stairs.

I then open the door and see her standing there. "KATELYNN!" I run and jump into her arms, tears still in my eyes. We've been best friends since middle school. She's always been there for me in the worst situations possible.

"TINA!!! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?!" she says in an exciting tone. "I'VE BEEN GOOD! I'M JUST SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!" I start to calm myself down a bit.

We both take a moment to calm ourselves down before continuing our reunion. "How goes life?" I ask. "Well, it's okay, I guess; work is a lot, along with having to stay on top of homework. . . . It's complicated." She lets out a sigh as she speaks.

"Have you been keeping up with Lily? I haven't heard from her in a while. You two have been best friends for a long time now," I say. She mumbles before answering.

"She was just here, but had to go home to take care of some cats she found a few days ago." It gets quiet for a while after that; the awkwardness is almost unbearable.

"We should go and see the others downstairs," I suggest. She nods, and we walk down to them.

"Tina and Katelynn, we just got done talking, and we think we should all go for a walk. The moon is bright tonight!" Blaze exclaims cheerfully.

"That's a great idea!" Katelynn and I agree. We start to head outside into the midnight breeze.

"It's nice to have us all together again. I wasn't expecting to have a bonding moment with us for a while," I comment while the others smile.

We walk out of the loud party house and in a small group down a concrete hill. The hill is surrounded by various plants and flowers growing in the frequent cracks. I can hear someone whispering, although I can't tell who it is because of how low they are speaking. I decide to ignore it and pay no attention to it.

"I think, on the way here, I saw a little pond with benches just down here. Do you guys want to go?" Haruku asks us all. We nod in agreement, then continue a bit farther.

We reach the area Haruku mentioned. Trees are surrounding the whole area while fireflies fly past, lighting the outside perfectly. The cool and gentle breeze softly brushes past us. The crickets' chirping fills the silence, and the moonlight reflecting off the water is extra bright, so much so it barely seems natural.

"Oh cool! There are flowers in the pond! Uh, what are they called again?" Misaki points out the obvious. "Pink water lilies; that's it!" He comes to a realization. I sigh at his incompetence and stare at the flowers as they float along the pond.

Haruku and Blaze have a mischievous look plastered on their faces. "Someone knows they're flowers, flower boy," Haruku says in a smug but sarcastic way. "Can you tell me what kind of grass I'm standing on too, flower boy?" Blaze teases.

Misaki turns bright red before saying, "Leave me alone." Meanwhile, Katelynn looks puzzled. I quickly turn my attention to her. "What's wrong Katelynn?" I ask, curious as to what could have her in a knot.

"The flowers aren't entirely bloomed, even though it's nighttime. All of them are closed except one," she says. Her words fill me with confusion too.

Misaki turns to us with a smirk on his face. "I'm not the only one who's educated with the art of flower," he says to boost his confidence.

"Oh, shush; of course flowers close at night, it's a common fact almost everyone knows; that doesn't count," Katelynn barks at him. I chuckle to myself a bit. "Don't you think it's a bit weird though?" I reply to their bickering.

"Well, yeah, it is in a way, but it could be just nature acting up," Haruku says, not knowing much about the situation. We all went around the flower to see what might be the issue. I was about to reach out to touch it when the flower started to bloom quickly. We all flinch.

"What was that?" Katelynn exclaims. "I don't know! You think Mister Flower Boy over here would have some 'rational explanation' for this?" Haruku says while looking at Misaki.

"What do you mean?! There's nothing rational about this whole situation!" Misaki snaps. I look around and start to notice fireflies circling us. The flower was now completely open, its pollen glowing a bright yellow almost as vibrant as the fireflies.

"Oh my god, guys, look at this!" I say in a panic while they are still fighting. "Well then, it's decided we will all touch the flower!" Katelynn suddenly announces.

"What's going on?" I ask, completely confused as to what's going on. "It's too late, Tina, we all decided and there's no going back." Katelynn shushes me.

"What do you mean? I didn't-" Haruku cuts me off. "Everyone on three." They get their hands in place, ready to touch it, while Katelynn has her hand guiding mine.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"