Imprisoned to Love You [Edited]

♦⊱ Chapter 1 - Stunned ⊰♦

Ruka pov:

"Finally! Exams are over!" my best friend Kiyo wheezed, dragging herself out of the school building with Yuri and Akira.

"This was by far the most stressful week of my life," came Akira's response. He ruffled his hair causing it to become a bird's nest, "We should do something to lift the mood and start summer vacation with full gusto."

"I agree!" I chimed and linked arms with Yuri. "Let's go to the amusement park tomorrow!"

"That's an excellent idea! I couldn't have thought of anything better," grinned Kiyo. "I'll ask my mom if she can take us there. She's off from work tomorrow, after all."

With our plans for the next day decided, we parted ways to head home and get some rest after the month's slogging to do well in our finals. I had a bucket list of things I wanted to do during the summer vacation, one of the main things being starting a music band with my three best friends. I didn't want to boast but I had practiced playing the guitar for years and I was pretty good at it. Kiyo was great at playing the flute, Yuri, the drums and Akira was a blessed pianist. Yuri and I sang too and we wanted to put together our skills to make people who listened to our songs happy.

Besides planning to spend a good amount of time on that, I wanted to join pottery classes and learn how to make porcelain ware that I was so fond of. I always loved how delicate they were, their beauty accentuated by simple patterns of different colors.

There were several more small-scale things I wanted to get done that I hadn't been able to spare time for during school including learning to drive a bike, ride a skateboard and a couple of other exciting things that most people would call unladylike. I also hoped to date too, on the insistence of my friends, for I had lived close to sixteen years of my life without a boyfriend.

I was close to almost everyone in my class. I was closer with the guys though, since they saw me like a guy friend thanks to my love for adventure, music, and my jovial attitude. I was closest to Kiyo, Yuri and Akira though, since we had been together since kindergarten. We shared all secrets with each other for we saw each other as family instead of friends.

Having scanned my pass over the ticket sensor, I walked past the rotating rails to enter the subway station. I regarded the familiar faces I passed by with smiles and evening greetings. Most of them were elderly women and returned my greetings with toothy grins, some even close enough to tease me about getting a boyfriend soon so he could pick me up and drop me home from school every day. I helped a group of them get onto the train, holding their hand to ensure they didn't lose balance when steeping over the gap between the platform and the train's floor while I rewarded their teasing with a flushed smile.

We took seats and I settled to looking through the messages in my phone – it was one of the latest prototypes, a high-end, have-it-all gadget that was to be soon released in the market. My parents being rich and running their own big business had bought it for me despite me not being very particular about owning overly fancy stuff. However, it was a matter of maintaining status for my parents when in front of other people in his business circle so I had no choice but to use this phone. Besides, this prototype was actually designed by a very close business partner and he wanted a few people to use it and review it before it was released for the public. With the cool, advanced features, I was sure it would be a hit.

It wasn't just my phone though – I had an expensive laptop, clothes, jewelry, and shoes. It was annoying to have expensive things though because I always had to be extra careful to make sure nothing was stolen or damaged. I didn't want Father's hard earned money to be wasted.

Sighing and pushing the unnecessary thoughts out of my head, I put on my headphones to listen to some music for the remaining fifteen minute ride. I managed to doze off for a few minutes too before I alighted at the platform of the station closest to my house. I put away my phone and enjoyed the short walk to my house, gazing at the blue sky, relishing the gentle breeze that kissed my skin.