Author's Note: Hi! Thanks for stopping by to read this! If you get a chance, please review so that I can get an idea of how I'm doing so far and what I need to work on. I want to get this straight before anything, but don't expect an epic tale out of this. I want people who click on this story to come in here and read something fun and dandy for them to keep up with. Expect a fun and dramatic high school drama, not a moral story on how cheating boyfriends should be ethically disciplined (even though they should be at times, lol). Anyway I hope you enjoy this, and please review!!

CHAPTER 1

Today was going to be absolutely perfect.

She felt it for sure in her veins when she stepped onto the white, glittering concrete of the prestigious Osaka Ringo Senior High School with a clean-cut uniform and shoes that were on the verge of sparkling.

Not to be mistaken for a perfectionist, Sango Horimoto was your average high school Japanese student. She had the typical Japanese hair of straight side-swept bangs and wavy hair that reached a little past her collarbone. However, despite her typical Japanese appearance, Sango, as an academic force, was not to be underestimated by freaks and geeks who saw her as a sarcastic, blunt, and immature character. She was infamously known by members in her class to have burnt her parents’ bank accounts on an Anna Sui handbag, which was rumored to cost more than 100,000 yen, as a deal with her parents for making it into the top ten ranks of her class.

It propelled her into the limelight at the end of the school year, since her friends knew that her parents owned a restaurant that was doing financially well, but the not the kind that could support a 100,000 yen-daughter.

None of this mattered, she thought chirpfully. She almost skipped into the classroom building when she saw her friends, who seemed just as thrilled as she was.

“Sango!” one girl with the straightest, healthiest black hair ran over to hug her. “It’s the new school year! New first-years, new boys, and a new outlook on life!”

“Megumi, this will be our year!” Sango grabbed her hand and Ayumi’s hand who was lost in the excitement. “What’s wrong, Ayumi? It’s the first day of our lives as second-year students!” Ayumi didn’t return her stare but sighed helplessly, allowing an awkward silent to fall among the three best friends.

“I wish I can be excited,” Ayumi’s long bob-cut seemed to tremble as she bowed her head. Megumi frowned and linked arms with her. “It looks like you still can’t get over that loser.”

“What happened?” Sango asked. “Oh my gosh...something happened!”

“Her butt-ugly boyfriend dumped her last night.”

“Why did you tell Megumi and not me? I would have helped you bury him alive,” she said seriously. Megumi shook her head quickly.

“No, I found out just now before we saw you. Ayumi, Sango, it’s time we go to check out those first-year boys. I heard that at least half of them are good-looking. Besides, Ayumi, admit that you’re crying because you had a hard time looking at his face. And you know how boys prefer older girls...” she linked arms with Sango as well. They, Ayumi being the exception, walked joyfully towards their auditorium where the opening ceremony had recently ended for the incoming three-hundred new students that would live up to Osaka Ringo Senior High School’s name.

“That’s not good. We got competition too,” Sango frowned tugging on Megumi’s sleeve. “I feel like as we get older, the girls get more mature. Soon, they’ll, like, be older than us.” Megumi didn’t bother to decipher the meaning but let go of both of her girls and tossed her perfectly silky hair around.

“Here’s the goal, girls. We’re all going to get a boyfriend. Yes, Ayumi, you won’t have time to recover because I’m sure out of almost a hundred-fifty virgin boys in here, I’m sure at least one of them will sweep you off your feet.”

“I don’t want anyone else to sweep me off my feet. I don’t want anyone to ever pick me up...”

“Um, Megumi, how about you go scout some boys for us. Do you mind if Ayumi and I meet up with you at lunch?”

Megumi hesitated as she obviously didn’t want to be the only one who was picking up guys. Reluctantly, she nodded.

“Guys get intimidated anyway if they’re approached by multiple girls.”

“Be sure to tell us who to look out for,” Sango smiled. She and Ayumi then left the auditorium where Ayumi must have finally felt comfortable enough to sink into a deeper level of moping. Sango wasn’t sure what to say as she never had a boyfriend before. The promise she made to herself going into high school—like all those girls in the shoujo manga—was that she was going to find love. Actually, she remembered, the larger goal she had in mind was to do well for her parents so that she could be rich someday and force her parents close down their restaurant so that they could travel around the world without worrying over how many dishes of takoyaki or ramen they had to sell in order to stay debt-free.

Her possession of her most prized Anna Sui handbag made her guilty at times, but she told them that if she was given one, it would be a great substitute for a boyfriend who would ultimately interfere with her studies anyway. Her mother, who grew up poor and had to share her bed with five siblings when she was little, had always wanted her to find love, and that she should come back to help the family business. However, Sango had a thick head, and she insisted that if an Anna Sui handbag doesn’t make her happy, she could use its expensiveness to charm Japanese aristocrats.

But now that love was taking away from her best friend, the first girl in their trio to nab a boyfriend, Sango wasn’t so sure about falling in love.

“Can you be cured by a huge shopping spree?” Sango asked sincerely. Ayumi shrugged and couldn’t say a word. It was as if the youth from her face and posture was dehydrated by Cupid’s cruelty.

“What am I going to do? What will I do when I see him in class?”

“He’s in our class?” Sango frowned. “If I were you, I would smile as radiantly as I could to make him doubt his decision. If he doesn’t do that, at least, do it so well that at least he will think, ‘wow, she’s hot...no wait! That was my ex,’” Sango stared Ayumi straight in the eye. “My hot, hot ex. That didn’t work, did it?”

“Just don’t bring it up, alright?” Ayumi stared at the ground. “Just pretend like nothing ever happened.”

“I brought some magazines for us to look over during break. They’re the ones with models and white guys and good clothes in it, so you’ll feel better, ok?” her friend slowly nodded and the two walked slowly to their class without another word.

Arata Kawamoto was the class clown and also the class playboy. Everyone knew he was a part-time model, and that he was an exception to a lot of restrictions place by ORS High School, because of his special family circumstances. That gave girls so many reasons to sympathize with him, admire him, and love him all at the same time.

He was a tall, charming, and extremely popular with at least half the female student body. It was normal for any girl to fall in love with someone like Arata who was the ultimate prince charming, that was, until you become his girlfriend.

Ayumi and Sango entered the room with their schoolbag, and the two didn’t acknowledge his presence even though he waved cheerfully.

“Ouch, and you were just trying to be nice,” Sachiko laughed. It was safe to say that she was the extremely popular gender opposite of Arata when it came to boys. Girls wanted to be her and boys wanted to be with her. “Tell me, Arata-kun, how’d you break up with her?”

“I told her over the phone,” he said without looking back. Ayumi had her head down on the table and Sango glared at Arata’s back. Today was supposed to be the perfect first day of school for second-year students where dead dreams from their first-year experience could be revitalized with whole new meanings. She saw her bright day already beginning to dim by summer drama that she had no part of. “Then, she kept trying to call me back and it was creepy so I never responded.”

“And you did this all last night?” Sakura gasped. Sachiko’s best friend grinned beautifully glancing at Ayumi and back at Arata. “So you’re single again?”

“Yeah, I’m finally free. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?”

Sango scowled but couldn’t say anything. She was compelled to when she saw Ayumi’s back tremble. She thought about the girls from the shoujo manga that would fight for their friends immediately and make a stand against the prettiest boys and girls in the school without flinching.

“Can you guys keep it down?” Sango asked. “We’re sort of allergic to rudeness.”

Before the Sakura-and-Sachiko team could verbally challenge her, Arata turned around and smiled curiously. There had to be have been at least twenty other students in the classroom before they realized the potential of an argument.

“I wasn’t being rude, Horimoto. How was I being rude?” Arata asked the S girls innocently.

“I don’t know. You were just telling us what happened,” Sachiko frowned at Sango. “The truth is always good, right, Horimoto? That you were the only girl last year to not have a Valentine’s gift.” The other students stared at Sango for a reply.

“But at least I don’t send Valentine’s gifts to myself.” Their eyes then shifted to Sachiko.

“Maybe you should have. It would have made you at least seem a little more attractive. I mean, so what if you have some stupid handbag? You think it’ll make you feel better?”

“Yes, it owns your cheap chocolate.”

“You guys,” Arata laughed uncontrollably. “This is so funny,” he kneeled over his table and the sound of his laughter was like medicine to Sachiko’s ears as she seemed to have calmed down. “Man, this is why I miss school. Let’s go get some stuff from the vending machine?” the two girls followed obediently but not without glaring at Sango before leaving.

After some of the other students waited for them to leave, one of them shouted out to Sango.

“Good job, Horimoto,” a boy said, which followed by some laughter at the situation.

Sango sighed and fell in her seat out of embarassment. “Ayumi, I wish I was like those girls from shoujo manga. They always say noble, moral things, like ‘can’t you consider her feelings? You’re all so selfish! Why are you doing this, does this make you happy to put others down?’ But no, I say stupid things like my handbag trumps cheap chocolate.” She stopped when she saw Ayumi’s back tremble a little more, alerting Sango. “I’m so sorry! That’s what I mean, see? I never even defended your feelings.”

“No,” Ayumi raised her head allowing her weak smile to be seen. “Actually, that was so bad of you,” she pushed Sango’s arm. “You insulted Sachiko’s chocolate. I heard the chocolate she makes is really good.”

“Which kind? The ones she made with her hands or the other kind?”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Ayumi sat up in her seat. “You know, today might not be so bad after all.”

“That’s why we’ll scout for first-year boys during lunch, we’ll go shopping after school, and then go to your place and burn all the pictures you have of Arata Kawamoto. These are the first steps to a full recovery, Ayu.” As if I should know, Sango thought. I’ve never had a boyfriend but I certainly have seen thousands of manga and real-life relationships to believe that this can work.

The three sat together during lunch Ayumi was peer-pressured into revealing the whole conversation and what exactly happened between her and Arata.

“I’m so sorry! I should have spent time with you guys over the summer. It was so stupid for me to spend all of that time with Arata knowing that there was a big chance we were going to break up.”

“That’s why being young and single is so rewarding,” Megumi sighed cheerfully. “Those first-year boys are so good-looking compared to our year,” she grinned. “And as Sango said, the younger students seem to be growing up much faster each year, so it’ll be good for us. Maybe a younger guy is what we all need. Being with an older girl humbles them because they realize their asses are on the line. It boosts their egos in the right places.”

“I don’t know about you, but I prefer older guys,” Sango said. “or guys our age. Otherwise, I feel like I’m a pedophile. No girl looks at a guy and thinks, ‘yes, I want to become a pedophile.’”

“But what if it’s true love? What if it’s fate?” Megumi gasped. “You can’t deny true love!”

“Yes, I can. If he snores, if it makes me a pedophile, if he drinks, smokes, overweight, too ugly to look at, short, stupid, uneducated, boring, dirty—”

“That’s what true love is though!” Megumi exclaimed. “It allows you to look past those things. You’re not letting it happen to you. For example, in Ayumi’s situation, it’s not true love because Kawamoto is a dumbass. The one thing true love cannot conquer is a dumbass. I love that word.”

Ayumi smiled and nodded as cheerfully as she could.

“Take your time,” Sango reminded. “It’s only day one, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll find someone better than Arata-kun.”

“No, the first thing to do is to refer to him as Kawamoto. It’ll help you,” Megumi instructed. “What are you two doing after school?”

“We’re going to go shopping,” Ayumi said. “...to cure my sadness.” Sango grinned and wondered to herself if it would be wise to take her Anna Sui handbag along. She loved it very much and found it to be her soulmate during times when she felt she was lost and single. The next thing she could use was a diamond but that would be if she could pull of a feat at the end of this year like she did the previous school year.

When they finished and headed back to the classroom buildings, Sango did not realize she had stopped to look over at the earth surrounded by a couple trees that would have kept the ground among it hidden from the school building. There were a few guys sitting there but she couldn’t tell what they were saying or doing from the distance she was standing at.

“What’re you looking at?” Megumi leaned over. Sango gasped and smiled.

“Nothing!”

“Are you sure?” she looked around, attempting to pinpoint what boy Sango could have been looking at.

“I’ve always wanted to see the people that were over there,” Sango pointed to the trees. Megumi stared off for a moment and her eyes widened with surprise.

“No, Sango! Don’t do it...anyone but them! You’ll never go to college if you even think about looking at any of them. Sure, they’re cute, but they’re creepy. I hear they do dangerous things...like smoke!”

“You mean those emo kids?” Ayumi stared off dreamily at the four trees. “I hear that even educated girls confess to them.”

“Eh, you two are so paranoid! They go to the same school as us. Of course girls from our school would confess to them! And besides this is the best public school in the district so they can’t be that stupid, and who says I’m interested?”

“For someone who isn’t interested, you’re very sensitive about that,” Megumi laughed. “But remember your goal of wanting to go to college and become rich? You can lose that by speaking to those emo kids. As cute as they are, I heard that they’ve killed someone before but the police and the school didn’t have enough evidence to have them expelled and exiled.”

Sango rolled her eyes and resumed walking to the classroom buildings with Megumi and Ayumi going right after, discussing about the dangers of smoking and bad hygiene to a relationship.