Scarlet Reflection

Chapter Nine: Daughter of God

Chapter Nine: Daughter of God

I awoke to a parched throat and a splitting headache. I sat up in bed, nearly smacking my head on the ceiling. I was sprawled out on the top bunk, my eyelids sagging and my hair a ratted mess. Rays of sunlight cast onto the floor through an open window. The room was a mess, with red plastic cups and dirty clothes scattered about on the floor. It was all coming back to me now. This place was my college dorm. We'd invited some friends over and had a party the night before. Needless to say, I was in the throes of a hangover.

The strumming of a guitar could be heard below me. A skinny, blonde-haired girl with a sour face peeked her head out from the lower bunk. "Morning, sleepy head. Ya gonna wake up or what? Don't you have rehearsals to get to or something? It's already 8:50."

I rubbed my throbbing head until the realization hit me. I had my rehearsals in 10 minutes. "Oh, shit!" I clambered down the ladder, trying not to tumble off and break my neck in the process. "Kanae, what the hell? Why didn't you get me up earlier?"

The blonde girl sat cross-legged on the bed with her guitar in her lap. She frowned at me. "What, you think I'm your mom or something? Welcome to university life, Shinku. You're accountable for yourself here."

I tore off my shirt and tossed it at her. "I hate you."

She smirked. "Pretty sure that means you love me."

Kanae Makino was my girlfriend, and she was the same age as me, but you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at her. She was a good head taller than me, and had a rougher, more mature countenance. We'd known each other since elementary school. Our first meeting was an abrupt and sudden encounter. Some girls were pushing me around and teasing me about my red hair, and when she saw what was happening, she beat the living shit out of all three of them. I'd never been bullied since. After that, we became lifelong friends, which eventually transformed into something much more intimate when I got into my awkward teenage years and learned I liked girls just as much as boys. Turned out she'd been into me for quite some time as well, and the rest was history.

Kanae came from a moderately wealthy family, but she had no interest in all the prim and proper rich girl things her younger sisters obsessed over. Instead, she took on a rebellious punk attitude and sought a career in music instead. After that, it was obvious to see how we both ended up together in a university for the fine arts.

I slipped on my uniform, a black sailor suit with a scarlet neck ribbon. I ran a brush through my wavy crimson hair, trying to pull it into some semblance of order. I held a hair tie between my teeth. "Hey Kanae, don't you have class soon too?"

"Eh, I still got an hour," she muttered. "Our professor's so damn lazy, he doesn't even care if we show up 20 minutes late. I got plenty of time to practice my new single."

I pulled my messy hair back into a ponytail. "Suit yourself." I leaned toward Kanae and gave her a small, soft kiss on the lips. "See you at lunch."

She smiled, her face an innocent blushing red. "Y-yeah, you too."

I briskly power-walked through the halls, swiftly moving from building to building to reach my class. Theatre was always something I had been passionate about, since I was a little girl.

I started out in school plays, and I one day dreamed of being able to perform on a true stage, to show off my talents to the world. But more than that...it was to honor my father. He had been a director for a local theatre as long as I remembered...all the way up until he died. He'd take me to see the plays as a child every weekend, and I was so enthralled by them. Those days I spent with my father...they were some of the happiest in my life. I wanted to join the theatre for him, so that he could see me shine upon the stage...even if only in spirit.