Alexandria High School

Untitled Part 1

  I remember when I opened my door to enter into my room. This was not the first time it was opened however. The movers were now gone and my dad and I were left to unpack these new-smelling boxes. My room was already the way I wished it to be, a shade of light blue with a white trim. Blue, because that is my favorite color and white because to me it shows purity, which my dad says I have lots of compared to the other teenagers he has seen recently. My dad has painted had painted a part of both sides of my door and part of my wall with a fancy paint-chalk. It is a special kind of paint where you can draw chalk on it.
My black bookshelf was next to this spot. The shelves were attached to the wall, which made the shelf look cooler, to me anyway. As I stared at my shelf with all of the books I read, such as "The Great Gatsby," "Pride and Prejudice," "Frankenstein," and more, I remembered when my aunt had gotten me a pink bookshelf to congratulate me on reading my first book. It was "Hello Kitty" and rather small. I soon out-grew it, since I love to read so much. I decided to donate it to a children's charity, along with some of the books that were on it. Who knows, maybe I've inspired someone to love reading as much as I do.
I had little pieces of chalk waiting for me in a bowl on my desk, so I picked it up and wrote on my door:

"You can never cross the ocean
Unless you have the courage
To lose sight of the shore."

This quote was the last thing my best friend Leia told me before I left America to come to Japan. I don't know much Japanese, unfortunately, but the school I'm going to is an American-style school, so I guess I got pretty lucky there. The only main reason I am here is because of my father, he received a job transfer. Not only that, but I also applied for a school scholarship at Alexandria, a very prestigious school, if not the most in Japan.
I was unpacking one of my boxes, which consisted mostly of books and composition notebooks. In these composition notebooks, I wrote poems, stories or just my feelings in general, character anaysis, and more. My father tells me I'm smart in both the left and the right side of my brain, since I am a straight A student and more creative than most. Laying at the bottom of the box was a notebook that was pale pink with brown and silver music notes on it. That was my song book. I guess dad was right in the creative part of that.
I placed everything on my shelf, in an organized manor of course. I heard my dad call my name. I thought he wanted me to go get more boxes. I unpacked the box he handed me and set up my charger on my desk. My desk was black, like my shelf, and had compartments on the top for me to put papers and such. I plugged in my blue laptop my dad had gotten me a few years ago for my birthday. It wasn't top of the line, of course, but it was excellent nonetheless in my opinion. I put a pencil container on my desk and filled it with my creative writing pens and pencils. I smiled and dusted off my laptop, since it had gotten a bit dusty on the way here. My dad had come up and hooked up my speaker for me since I was unpacking. My dad is great, he works really hard.
I took the pastel-blue headphones Leia had given me. On the cord, it had a message.

"Have fun in Japan, don't forget to visit! Love you!
~Leia

She gave them to me as a goodbye gift. Well, not goodbye, but as a 'until we meet again' kind of gift. They were the best kind out there, and not just because they were from her, although that does play a factor in the matter. These reminded me of Leia and I's farewell. It was the first time I have cried in forever, and the only time I saw her cry. Dad told me the news, and I was both happy and sad. She came over for a sleepover the day my dad told me and I broke the news. She was my only friend in America. I set the headphones near my bag for school, which I started tomorrow. I played music through my speaker and played "Brand New Me" by Kana Nishino.
Dad called me downstairs so I rushed to see what he needed. He handed me another box and before handing it to me, he told me it contained the toys from when I was little. I could never bear to part with them, even though they could make another little girl happy, I have never had the heart to do it. A lot of these toys were given to me by my mother, and also Leia. It became like a tradition. This box contained things by two very special people in my life and I did not intend to give them away no matter how childish it seemed.
I walked up the stairs and into my new bedroom. I set the box on my bed and stared at them for a few moments. I was debating on whether or not I could handle opening the box right now or not. I looked around my room and realized how different my life will be. Life in Japan is different than America, and me not knowing the language is an issue. He signed me up for classes at school. I'm wondering if I'll make friends here. I took a deep breath and saw that my phone had buzzed. It was Leia! I take my phone and read what she sent me. It read:

"Hey there stranger! How's life doing for you in the big Japan?"

I laughed a bit. "It's confusing. If only you could've come with me! XD"

"I know right, we could've been room-mates, it would've been so perfect!"

"Indeed! It would have. Then I wouldn't be so alone."

"You'll make friends, you're super nice girl, don't be so modest!"

"Okay because you saved my life silly!"

"Okay okay, I'm fabulous too, we are the fabulous twins."

I laughed again. "Yes we are!"

"You better not go replacing me, I will find you!"

"Oh come on Leia! Why would I replace you, you're like the sister I never had!"

"Ditto there. I so don't wanna go to class, save me! DX"

"Sure, get on a plane and head on over."

"Ha, I wish."

"Me too."

"XD"

"Well, I gotta jet, I have class now, I'll talk to you when I'm home."

"Yeah, and I have to get some sleep."

"Have fun!"

"Oh yeah, lots, just as much as you in class, if even."

"Haha, ttyl!"

"Byeee"

I put my phone on the charger and set it on my desk. I couldn't help it anymore, I turned my speaker up and started dancing throughout my small room. Listening to music helps me think straight and can almost always put me in a good mood. Not to mention I always feel like I'm stronger around music, as if I'm transported to some other far off realm and escape the real world.
I ultimately decided to open the other box that contained more notebooks of mine that I would need for school tomorrow. After unpacking the notebooks there was one notebook that I didn't quite remember. Was it placed in this box by mistake? It was a brown leather notebook, one you would typically find in a bookstore, and it had my father's name engraved on the front in gold letters. Normally I wouldn't intrude, but it was my curiosity that won this battle. I opened it up to the first page and there was a message written in ink. IT read:

To my beloved,
May this notebook aid you in
mapping out this long journey
you will take on the long road ahead to become a professor
May you inspire students in the future as
you have me.

~Loving you always
Maria Garcia

Maria Garcia, who is that? I put down the notebook near all of my other books on the shelf on my desk. I would ask dad about it later possibly. Who in the world was this woman? Was she a lover besides mom? Why didn't dad mention her before to me? He and I never keep secrets from each other. She couldn't have been after mom, dad would never do that. If she was just a friend then why didn't dad ever tell me about her? She obviously wasn't a nobody to him. I guess a better question is why does dad still have this notebook that had been given to him by a woman other than mom?