Design Project Team: Freshman Fall Semester

Scene 3 - It Went Well?

That went better than expected. Avery had hit the bathroom at the end, then stayed to help clean up, not that there was that much to do. I packed her up with about half the leftover pizza, including all of the veggie leftovers. Nobody here was vegetarian or gluten-free, so no future worries. Her Coke hadn't been touched, so she left that for Thursday.

Mason continued to be pretty quiet unless prodded by Avery but knew more than he let on originally. He did loosen up more toward the end, which was more than Naoko.

She was smart but very reserved in her speech and stayed formal throughout. I guessed it was because she was Japanese, and despite being in Dallas last year at some fancy prep school, she always went home afterward and stayed with her Japanese lifestyle. No sleepovers with American students or anything.

Her father ran an American subsidiary of a Japanese company. Avery managed to pry all that out of Naoko, though also found out that she thought Avery didn't dress respectfully to herself because of her frayed cutoffs and bare belly.

I wasn't sure if it was Avery's unkempt hair and clothes or if she was showing too much skin for Naoko's taste, but there did seem to be a clash of cultures between American summer casual and Japanese conservative dress. Avery had laughed it off with, "It's summertime. This is what we wear here if you hadn't noticed."

"I did notice, but I do not dress that way."

"What you're wearing looks hot, but," Avery fingered her dress's hem. "Is that silk?"

Naoko smiled. "It is, and it keeps me cool, even in the heat here."

"Well...," Avery replied. If...if you want a change in wardrobe, I'll...I'll be happy to help you."

"I do thank you," Naoko responded. "If my sister is too busy to aid me at that time, I will ask you," and finished the sentence with a slight bow.

I couldn't tell whether that was sincere or that it meant that hell would freeze over first.

After the other two had left, she said, "That Naoko is something else. She stands out like a sore thumb at school with what she wears."

"You think she should try to fit in more?".

"I'm not one to talk, but yeah. At least she isn't wearing a kimono." She chuckled. "At the same time, I could see her dressed like that with one of those red headbands and a samurai sword stuck in her belt. Did you see her when she came into class this morning?"

"She was already sitting next to you when I came in."

"She moves very gracefully, even in that plaid skirt and white blouse."

I snorted. She looked like she'd stepped out of some high school anime. "She could drop that school uniform look."

"That's what that was?"

"It's what it looked like to me," I said. "Japanese schoolgirl, or maybe that fancy prep school in Dallas has those, too. You don't watch anime, do you?"

"What is that on?"

"There's some on most of the streaming services."

"Oh," Avery replied. "Satellite internet sucked out on the ranch. I haven't seen it."

"Maybe I'll put some on for us to watch sometime."

Avery looked at me a moment, then smiled. "It's a date. I look forward to whatever it is, but right now, I need to go." She grabbed her pack and the box with some of the leftover pizza, slipped her sandals on at the door, then bowed.

"Thank you very much for the hospitality of your house and for the pizza," then flashed a wide grin. "She's weird, but I like her." Then she was out the door.

Date? As in, come over and watch anime or something more like Netflix and chill? The first was what I meant, but the second could be nice.