Kalina H...
Yokota Middle School
I was on the Japanese preschool bus going home. “You’re so lucky, Kalina,” I hear a familiar Japanese voice from behind and notice that it's my friend Yūta, who looks out the bus window that shows the Yokota Air Base.
“Why?” I ask as I position myself facing him.
“Why?! Because you get to live in a military base, so you’re protected and you get to eat American food!” He tells me, surprised that I don’t feel special.
“Actually, I should be more of a target to serial killers and also American food isn’t even that good.” I reply calmly unlike him.
“Well, it's still cool, “he insists, tears filling his eyes up like a small pond. I suddenly remembered that Yūta has an interest in American stuff. So, I decided that he'd be pleased if I asked him if wanted to come over. Before I can think about asking my mom about it, I blurted out,
“Can you come over tomorrow?” Suddenly, his face lit up with joy like he talked to a superhero or something.
“Yes, Yes, YES!” He yelled so loudly that the bus-monitor told him to sit down. I giggled at the event and he laughed back at me.
2 minutes later I realized that the bus had reached my stop, so I told Yūta goodbye and left the bus. As soon I hopped off, I told my mom, “Guess what!? I’m inviting Yūta over tomorrow!” At the moment, I saw my mom’s smile fade and turn into a disappointed face.
“Kalina! We are busy tomorrow! We can’t let him over.” my mom said trying her best to keep calm. I started crying out loud not even caring how many people were watching. I was scared that Yūta was going to hate me because I lied to him. Instead of getting mad, my mom told me that I could play during the weekend, but I didn’t stop crying until she gave me a cookie.