Chris, Ayumi, and Jake were waiting to greet Alice and I. I had offered to pick Alice up at the airport. We had cheesily greeted each other with, "Oh my god, you cut your hair!" "Oh, my goodness, you're so tall!" "You curled it too, didn't you?" "Yes, thank you for noticing." "HI!!!"
Chris waved nervously and Alice's face lit up.
"Chris!" She beamed, running up to him and hugging him.
Chris hugged her back and grinned, "Hi! I haven't seen you in forever!"
At least he was happy to see her.
They started babbling and I noticed that Ayumi was staring at Chris in a really not-Ayumi-like way. Crap.
When Chris and Alice broke apart, Chris kept his arm around her waist, catching her a bit by surprise. She glanced at him like he was crazy.
No one said anything for a while and Jake watched them expectantly.
"What?" Chris said nervously.
Jake gestured to Alice, "Aren't you gonna kiss her?"
Alice and I stared at Chris and he laughed nervously. What the heck was going on?
"Chris, what is he-" Alice started to say. Chris cut her off and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Alice looked more confused than anyone I've ever seen, I swear.
Jake rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Figures."
"Chris," Alice said, "Why did you do tha-"
"Oh, I guess boyfriends and girlfriends do things a bit differently where you're from, eh?" Chris said nervously, patting Alice's shoulder.
It took all my power not to throw my head in my hands when I realized what was going on. Well, they wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. Both Alice and Chris are terrible at lying.
Alice picked up on what was happening and nodded, "Yes, boyfriends and girlfriends do things differently where I'm from."
Chris smiled with relief and Alice went on, "Chris and I have been together for a while. Yes, we have known each other for a while too. We're in a relationship now and-"
Chris squeezed her shoulder and he said, "That's wonderful, Honey."
Alice nodded and mouthed, "We're together."
I rolled my eyes. Why is everyone I know terrible at lying? Well, I guess I don't know about Ayumi.
Ayumi kept sneaking glances at Chris and smiling. Weird, she had never shown any signs of having a crush on him before. I guess I had figured that she was too sucked into her own little world to date.... Maybe not.
"So," Chris said to Ayumi and Jake, quickly trying to start a different topic, "Would you two like to come with us to our high school reunion this weekend?"
"Sure. Yes. Hai." Ayumi said instantly.
All of us eyed her and she mumbled something in fake Japanese.
Jake shrugged, "Will there be girls?"
Chris was about to say something, but suddenly, all the color drained from his face.
Alice eyed him and said, "Chris, are you okay?"
Chris swallowed and nodded, "Yes and yes."
Jake smirked and shrugged again.
"Well," I said, "Jake can meet Leo if he comes."
It then occurred to me how long it had been since we had seen Leo. I almost.... Missed him.
Out of nowhere, Ayumi grabbed Alice's wrist and said, "Oh my gosh, strike of genius! I have the perfect cosplay for you!"
"Cosplay?" Alice said as Chris pulled Ayumi's hand away from her wrist.
"I'm sure Alice isn't interested. Arigato, Ayumi-chan." Chris said, putting his arm around Alice again.
Alice sighed, probably completely lost.
Ayumi shook her head, "No, really. It's perfect! Look at her hair and her.... She's perfect! I'm talking about the Mikuru Asihina cosplay!"
Chris and I exchanged a glance. For once, we both knew what she was talking about.
Chris blushed and I said, "The bunny one? You mean the red leotard and th-"
"Shh!" Ayumi said, smiling cheesily at Alice, "Yeah, it will be perfect."
"Um, no, thank you." Alice said politely, "Not really my thing."
Ayumi looked a bit disappointed and said, "Are you guys all going to your high school reunion thing?"
We nodded and Ayumi grinned. Skipping away, she called, "Jya na!"
Whatever that meant, if anything.
The costume that Ayumi told Alice would be perfect for her.
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