Hey! This is my first manga story. I wish I could draw… cuz then I’d have a real manga! This story is based on my own love experiences in high school. However, because of certain instances (you’ll see) it is a work of fiction. Anyway, enjoy! Everything’s mine except for a few the name of the academy they go to – Eitoku. I borrowed that from my favorite manga, Hana Yori Dango J.

Note: Italics indicate thoughts.

Accidental Wish

Chapter One The Wish

“Mei, you don’t think he thinks I’m a loser, do you?”

            Mei, a pretty girl with short black hair and green eyes, looked up from reading her book on the evolution of cnidarians. “Of course not. Why would he think that, Haruka?” she asked mildly. Gosh all she thinks about is him.

            Haruka, an equally pretty girl with long black hair and expressive chocolate eyes, looked miserably at her friend. “’Cause everyone else does!”

            Mei sighed and put down her book. She wasn’t going to be able to study today. Her best friend needed her to nurse her self-esteem again.

            Haruka and Mei attended the Eitoku Academy. They were sophomores in high school. They’d been best friends since grade school, though their personalities were complete opposites. Haruka was rather emotional, but usually was cheerful and naïve. Mei was more down-to-earth and soft-spoken. She definitely was the mature one of the two. However, they balanced each other out – making an ideal friendship.

            “The only people who think you’re a loser are the girls who are jealous of you,” Mei told her patiently. “They feel threatened by you.”

            “Really?” Haruka sniffed. “Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better…”

            Mei sighed again. “Well then does the fact that I overheard Jin saying to Rui that he thinks you have a nice laugh make you feel any better?”

            Haruka perked up, eyes widening. “REALLY? He said that?” At last, the boy I’ve had a crush on for a year has signs of liking me, too!

            Mei nodded. Geez, you’d think that after a while she’d lose interest in guys. No, then again it’s Haruka.

            Haruka was jumping up and down, squealing. “Oh my gosh! He likes my laugh! I can’t believe it!”

            Everyone in the library stared at her outburst. Haruka blushed furiously, muttered a quick apology, and sat down in her seat, burying her red face in the manga she was reading.

            “So, when are you going to tell him you like him?” Mei questioned Haruka calmly.

            “WHAT?” Haruka exclaimed, mortified. This earned more stares from the people in the library. Haruka blushed again and lowered her voice a notch. “I never planned on actually telling him!”

            Mei put a hand to her forehead and shook her head hopelessly. “Haruka, what did you plan to accomplish by liking him, then, if not to go out with him?”

            Haruka’s puppy dog eyes took on a dreamy look. “I was going to love him from afar… He’s too good to take an interest in the likes of me.” She suddenly turned serious again. “Besides, everyone knows Junya likes him. I don’t stand a chance against her – slutty snob or not.”

            Mei hung her head. Haruka! You’re too dramatic!

            “Hey, guys!”

            The two girls looked at the new arrivals. A petite black-haired girl with glasses walked hand in hand with a tall boy with laughing eyes. Just behind them was an equally tall boy with blonde hair and strikingly blue eyes.

            “Hi, Aiko!” Haruka greeted her friends with a smile. “What are you, Koji, and Hiro doing here?”

            “We wanted to finish the literature assignment here so we don’t have to do it later,” Aiko explained.

            “Speak for yourself!” Hiro retorted, grinning. “Actually, Koji and I wanted to shoot some hoops, but she dragged us along telling us we’d never graduate if we keep on procrastinating.” Aiko tried to kick him, but he easily dodged her.

            “Stop it, Hiro. You’re not the one that has to face her wrath alone later,” Koji jokingly warned his best friend, earning him an elbow in the ribs. “Ow!”

            “Anyway,” Aiko continued, rolling her eyes. “I want you to meet my friend, Nobu.”

            “Nobu? The egotistical football player?” Hiro piped up. “What do you want to introduce him to Haruka-chan for? You’re not trying to set them up are you?”

            Aiko didn’t reply.

            “You ARE?” Hiro exclaimed. “But he’s not the right guy for her!”

            Haruka and Mei blushed. What’s that supposed to mean?

            “Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean nobody else can,” Aiko responded primly.

            “Aiko, since when did you become a matchmaker?” Koji questioned his girlfriend. “You have no right to meddle in other people’s love lives, especially our friends’.”

            “But Haruka’s never had a boyfriend! I’m just helping her out!” Aiko blurted out angrily. “Whose side are you on, anyway??”

            While Aiko and Koji argued with each other, Hiro maneuvered himself to sit next to Mei. Haruka hid a smile behind her hand. He’s making his move again!

            “What’s up, Mei,” Hiro said casually. “You’re studying again? You’re always studying. I like an intelligent girl.”

            Haruka giggled. Mei, blushing, glared at her before saying, “Really.”

            Hiro gave Mei what he thought was one of his award-winning smiles, his blue eyes glittering, and leaned on the table so his face was closer to Mei’s. “Yeah, but I think you need to kick back and relax once in a while. So, uh, do you wa-…”

            “You know what? You’re absolutely right.” Mei abruptly stood up, gathering her books.

Hiro raised his eyebrows. That was easy…

Mei turned to the chortling Haruka, whose face was hidden by her manga book. “Let’s go shopping, Haruka.”

Haruka looked up, startled. “But-…”

Mei dragged Haruka out of the library, yelling goodbyes to Aiko and Koji as they left. She didn’t let up on her death grip until they were a block away from the library.

“What was that about?” Haruka demanded, rubbing her sore arm.

“Sorry,” Mei apologized. “I panicked. He was about to ask me out.”

Haruka gave her a disbelieving look. “Well, if you didn’t want to, you could’ve just said ‘no’.”

“I know…”

There was a pause.

“He’s kinda cute, though.”

“Yeah…”

“Why don’t you go out with him?”

“…”

Haruka gasped and whirled around to face her best friend. “You like someone else, don’t you?”

Mei didn’t answer, but her flushed face answered for her.

“You do!” Haruka exclaimed. She put her hands on her hips. “And you never told me?”

“I’m sorry, Haruka, but I really don’t want anybody to make a big deal out of it,” Mei explained. “That’s why I never told you, ‘cause you can be very enthusiastic sometimes.”

“Well… Are you guys going out?” Haruka pressed. I gotta know everything now!

Mei smiled shyly and nodded.

Haruka’s jaw dropped in shock. “How long?”

Mei counted on her fingers thoughtfully. “Hmm… About three months.”

“Three months?! Wow, Mei, you really can keep a secret.” Even from your best friend. “You really won’t tell me who it is?” Haruka asked softly with a tinge of hurt in her eyes.

Mei smiled. “I’ll point him out to you in school tomorrow.”

“YAY!” Haruka cried, jumping and giving Mei a giant hug. “Mei’s got a boyfriend! Mei’s got a boyfriend!” she sang loudly.

Mei sweatdropped. “Haruka, quiet down please. People can hear you…” Maybe I should have kept it a secret.

They eventually reached Mei’s house. They really weren’t going to go shopping. It’s a school night!

“Good night, Mei-chan!”

Mei laughed. “Good night, Haruka.”

Haruka smiled and continued to walk down the street. So even Mei’s got a boyfriend. It seems like everyone’s got their own special someone…except me. Haruka sighed. I have no chance with Jin…But there’s this Nobu guy that Aiko mentioned. Maybe I’ll like him once I meet him. Maybe he can be my special someone. I wonder what he looks like? Hiro said he was a football player.

An image of a tall shirtless boy with rippling muscles and a sparkling smile floated through her mind. Haruka turned beet red. What am I thinking??

She turned right onto her street. Her house was down the road. Oh, well. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. Maybe I’ll finally have some excitement in my nonexistent love life.

“Mrrrroooowwwww!!”

Haruka screamed at the sudden noise. What was that? I’m too young to die…

A black cat appeared in front of her. “Save me!” it cried.

“Ahh! A black cat crossed my path! I’m going to have bad luck!” Haruka cried, dropping her bookbag to put her hands on either side of her face in horror. Then… Did it speak?

Right behind the cat were two dogs that were chasing it, barking. The cat ran around Haruka and the dogs determinedly followed it. Soon the three of them were running circles around the dumbfounded Haruka. She knew she couldn’t move without hurting someone, including herself, so she had to do something to stop this nonsense. When the black cat ran in front of her, she easily scooped it up into her arms. The dogs stopped running and growled menacingly at her.

Haruka scowled at them, unperturbed. “Shoo! Go on, scat! Leave the poor kitty alone!” She gave them the meanest face she could muster, sticking her tongue out.

Surprisingly, they whimpered and ran away. Haruka smiled triumphantly, then thought, Am I that scary-looking? Haruka frowned and shook her head. She looked down at the black cat staring solemnly at her. She started. The cat had purple eyes! Can cats have that eye color?

“Thank you,” the cat told her. “You can set me down now. I think the brutes are gone.”

Haruka, surprised dropped the cat. It screeched in surprise before landing agilely on the ground.

“You – you TALK? But you’re a cat!”

“Looks can be deceiving,” the cat told her wisely. “You saved my life, so I shall grant you a wish. I can make your heart’s desire come true.”

Haruka looked at the cat skeptically. This is too weird…Nobody’s going to believe this… “Uh… Anything? I can wish for anything?”

“Anything,” the cat repeated. Did it just smile??

“Hmm…” Haruka said thoughtfully. My heart’s desire… Well, right now that would be to have an interesting love life, but…-

“Your wish is granted,” the cat said suddenly. It started to walk away.

“Huh? What?” Haruka exclaimed. “But I didn’t wish for anything yet! I was still thinking it over!”

The cat turned around and stared at her. “But you did wish for something. I read it in your heart and heard it in your thoughts. From now on you will have an interesting love life.”

Haruka’s jaw dropped for the second time that day. “You can hear my thoughts? What kind of cat are you? Hey, that’s intruding on my privacy!”

“I don’t have time for your stuttering. Goodbye.”

“Hey, wait! What’s your name? Do you have one?” Haruka called after the cat.

“Maybe we’ll cross paths again,” the cat replied before disappearing into the shadows.

Haruka was left standing alone in the middle of the street. “Uh…” Was this just an illusion? A mirage? Am I going crazy? Am I dreaming? She abruptly pinched herself as hard as she could. “Owww!” Nope, it’s real.

Haruka continued to her house in a daze. Tomorrow she would find out whether her wish came true or not. Little did she know that her life was never going to be the same.

            She stopped in front on of her house, at a sudden thought. “The stupid cat didn’t tell me its name!”

So wat’d you guys think? Good? Bad? Reviews are appreciated! Here’s a bonus I’ll always add on to the end of my chapters:

Sneak Peak at Chapter 2:

            Suddenly she felt eyes on her. She looked up instinctively and her eyes met Jin’s. He was standing against the wall, alone, looking impassively at Haruka’s group. After a second, he averted his eyes. Haruka, shaken, continued talking as if nothing had happened. It seemed as if nobody else noticed the odd exchange. Haruka’s heart was beating fast. Was he staring at me?

With that, I’m out! See you in chapter two!