• Luka hopped off his shabby bike, and kicked the kick-stand in place with one of his faded red converse. The blonde sixteen year old nervously walked up the cobble stone pathway and to the door of Kiyoshi's large, off white house. He walked up the steps and glanced around at the bushes and plants placed nicely in the flower bed. Then he turned his attention back to the big wooden front door. He gulped, and hesitantly rang the doorbell. It went off with two loud chimes. Luka waited for a few seconds, and considered jumping back on his bike and riding off. He didn't really want to be here, did he?
    Suddenly, the door swung open. There stood Kiyoshi, barefoot, with a perplexed look on his face. Then he smiled. "Hey man!" He said, still grinning. "Uh, hi Kiyo." Luka avoided making eye contact with his friend. "You okay?" the dark haired boy said softly. "Yeah, I'm great!" Luka lied awkwardly, faking a smile. He wished he'd have ran away when he got the chance, the butterflies in his stomach just wouldn't go away. Friend's houses are supposed to be enjoyable, right? Luka asked himself. But in the frail teen's head, he dreaded things like this. Luka inhaled slowly, and walked reluctantly inside.
    As soon as he did so, he realized Kiyoshi wasn't the only one home. There was a petite girl, who looked strikingly similar to Kiyo, sitting in the antique arm chair, her nose in a book. She quickly glanced up from her book and to the unfamiliar boy. "Hi, you must be Luka." She said, her bored expression unchanged. "Yeah... that's...uh.. me." He stammered, and attempted to smile again. Realizing how stupid he must have looked, Luka stumbled backwards a few steps. Uninterested, the girl returned to her novel. Luka caught his breath and shut his eyes for a moment, trying to calm down. "Earth to Luka!" Kiyoshi said, waving his hand in front of Luka's pale face. "Oh, sorry." He mumbled. "Whatever. That's just my sister Akiko. Now are we gonna play Halo or just stand here and chat?" Kiyoshi said, rather rudely, to his friend.
    Then Kiyoshi grabbed the blonde haired boy by his arm and practically dragged him to his room. Luka, reluctantly again, followed him anyway. Then he turned his head to look back at the mysterious girl, who was still reading. Her expression was also the same, bored. Luka sighed deeply and entered Kiyoshi's room, grabbed a controller and sat on the bed next to his friend.

    ."Okay then!" Kiyoshi said, rather loudly. "Let's play!" He slid off the bed and reached toward the Xbox to turn it on. Then he scrambled back on the bed and picked up his controller. A few moments of silence later, he had the game set up. "You ready to-" he started, before being interrupted by Luka. "I, uh," He paused to think of an excuse to leave the room "...have to go to the bathroom." And with that he sprang up and ran out into the hall, leaving a rather p*ssed off Kiyoshi behind. Luka shut the bedroom door and sneaked around the hall to the living room.
    He peered around the wall and saw Akiko. She was, of course, still reading. I have to figure out a way to get her to talk to me! He thought. He looked at the girl once again. Her dark hair was smooth and well-kept, her deep brown eyes focused on her novel. Luka just couldn't help but admire her delicate features. He loved the way her lips were always pressed to a pout. He knew he felt strongly about her, but he tried to deny it. No, he thought. That would be too weird. She's Kiyo's sister after all.
    He sighed, forgetting he was in hiding. Akiko looked up from her book at last, and noticed the boy, half covered by the wall. Luka panicked,and immediately froze. Well, crap. He thought. She saw me. What am I supposed to say?
    "Luka?" said the girl. Then she added, rather jokingly "What are you doing over there, spying on me or something?"
    Luka could feel his cheeks turning red from embarrassment. "Oh, I was...just...going t-t-to the bathroom." He stammered. Luka decided in the 8th grade he had a girl phobia and couldn't talk to them with out freaking out. Obviously this was still true.
    Akiko giggled, but tried to hide the fact she was amused by him. "Then why are you over here? The bathroom is to your left." "Yeah, I'm sorry." He replied, a bit more clear than before. "You okay?" Akiko asked, Luka couldn't tell if she actually cared or not, but he nodded his head "yes" anyway. "I, er, better... leave." He said the last word so softly only he could hear it. Then he started to disappear back into the hallway. But the second before the girl was out of his view, Luka swore he saw her wave goodbye.