Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 1: The New School Year

"Miss Yamada?" The elderly maid gently shook Ayaka's shoulder trying to wake her up. Ayaka stirred before turning to the other side. The maid sighs as she walked to the gigantic window of the Miss room. She pulls away the heavy silk curtains letting the sun rays hit Ayaka's face causing her to jump up onto her bed.

"Yuki, do you have to do that early in the morning?" Ayaka complained, covering her face with her hands avoiding the sun harsh rays. "It is too early in the morning for that. Please let me sleep a little more."

Yuki bowed in apology, "I am sorry, Miss Yamada. But I received orders from your parents to wake you up now. Today is your first day of school."

"Shit." Ayaka cursed under her breath. She threw her silk sheets to the side, she slides down until her feet hit the cold, marble floor. Yuki excused herself leaving her alone in the gigantic room of hers. She closed the curtains as she disliked the sun rays, especially in the early morning. She saw that her school uniform was on her bed. Perfectly ironed and folded.

Ayaka groaned making her way to her bathroom to see how big of a disaster she looks this morning. She slightly smiled at her own reflection in the mirror. Her short dark hair was sticking up in usual directions. Her eyes had dark circles more than last school year, and her skin had more acne scars from her picking on her pimples.

"This year will be a good year," Ayaka said sarcastically to her reflection. This was her last chance to improve herself since her past years were not her best. She got kicked out from the best private schools due to her poor grades. She rather went to social gatherings than studying for her final exams. Her parents were extremely disappointed in her that they sort of gave up on her until they thought it was best to send her to a public school. She was against it, but she had no saying in the decision.

So like every other teenager would do in her place, she rebels against them. She broke many rules causing her to be kicked out from even public schools. Her parents once again were disappointed until they found one more school that was willing to take her in. Now here she is getting ready to go back to school.

She splashed cold water onto her tired face hoping to wake it up. She pats dry and brushes her hair to make it look decent. She grabs some concealer from her makeup box to hide her dark circles and some of the acne scars.

She walks back into her room and grabs her uniform from her bed. She observes and sees that the uniform was not as fancy looking as the ones she wore when she went to private schools. She removes her silk nightgown and threw it on the floor. She buttoned up the white short sleeved shirt, she slid the dark navy skirt up to her hips, and she tried the navy blue cardigan around her waist. She did not want to wear the itchy looking fabric.

She grabs a pair of black knee socks from her drawers and wore them. She grabs her black flats and slips them on. She walks to the full-length mirror next to her closet door. She never looks more tackier in her life than today, she practices smiling in front of the mirror but gave up seeing how fake her smiles looked. She grabs her backpack from her closet and headed downstairs.

When she reached downstairs, she walked into the dining room where her parents were there sitting silently their breakfast. Her older brother, Jun was stuffing his mouth grossly with food. Yuki bowed to her again greeting her, she moves to her to her seat where a plate of food was already in place. She sat down thinking that her parents would notice her presence but they didn't.

"Good morning, mother and father." She said glancing at their reactions. Her father places his newspaper down and said, "Good morning, darling. You look nice in your new uniform."

"Thank you, father," Ayaka said, taking a bite from her eggs. "What do you think, mother? Do I look nice in my new uniform."

Her mother took one glance at her not able to put down her phone.

"You look nice." She said simply. "I am hoping this uniform will be your permeant uniform. I don't want one call from school saying that you got kicked out for one of your stupid ideas."

"Don't worry, mom," Ayaka said, rolling her eyes. "I will be a good girl this year with good ideas and good behavior."

"Yeah, right." Her brother, Jun chimed in. "I am betting that you will be kicked before winter exams." 

Ayaka rolls her eyes, "Very funny."

"Your mother is right, Ayaka." Her father said, setting aside his newspaper. "Your actions caused an uproar at your previous schools. You need to get your behavior and actions cleaned up or what kind of future would you have with those grades of yours?"

Ayaka plays with her food staying silence momentarily as her father's words set in. This was the first time she heard her parents called out on her shit. She does understand some of what they are trying to tell her, but she honestly thinks they are the last people to call her out on her shit. They rarely paid any attention to how they handle the situations surrounding this family. 

Every time she does something stupid or gets kicks out, they share how disappointed they are in her. But when her brother does something stupid, they don't really scold him, they just let it slide. She does not see how is the fairness is being shared in this house, but her brother gets away with more shit than she does. Whenever she accomplished something, she rarely gets acknowledged by them on how good of a job she has done. She rarely gets compliments on her achievements.

Her father does not wait for her response since he did not care much about it. He looks down at his watch and stands up. "Well, I have to go now. I have an important meeting with an exclusive client." 

He kisses his mother goodbye, and he just pats her on the head before exiting the dining room. Her mother with her eyes glued on her phone screen followed behind her father, leaving without saying goodbye to her own children. Ayaka sighs knowing deep down this would happen. 

"Why you look upset?" Jun asks her. "This is not the first time you got called out for your shit."

Ayaka frown holding back the urge to throw a plate at his smirk face. She took a small bite on from her toast not looking at her brother because he was right. She knew deep down this would happen again. She just thought for one second that maybe this year, things would be different. That they would wish her good luck or that she will do well this year. 

She pushes away her plate not feeling hungry anymore. She grabs her backpack from the floor and exits the dining room leaving her brother alone. She walks back into her room to brush her teeth, she brushes her teeth furiously until her gums bleed.

"Yuki!" She calls out to her, she walks downstairs reaching the bottom. 

Yuki arrives and bows down, "How can I help you, Miss Yamada?"

"Call Yuto, and tell him to get the car ready." She orders her. "I am ready to be drop off at school."