“I’m off for school! Have a good day at work, Mom!”

“You too, sweetie!” Mom called in response to my usual farewell.

Mom worked constant long hours and the only times I saw her were in the mornings and maybe one day every weekend. My father left my mother shortly after learning that she was pregnant with me, so she needed to work twice as hard to provide for us. She was still young, only in her early thirties, and extremely beautiful, a trait of hers that I didn’t inherit, but was a dedicated mother before anything else.

While Mom got some much-needed rest, I headed to school for my first day of my final year of high school. The previous two years were largely uneventful; my grades were near the top of the class, I was part of the cooking club, and I kept a low profile overall. Standing out was not something I wanted, and I was fully content to be another face in the crowd and live in obscurity. The benefit of not inheriting my mother’s looks was that I never got much attention from boys, nor did girls feel threatened by me.

As I neared my school, I could see students swarming around the large notice boards that displayed the class rosters. First-years were fervently scrambling to see what class they were in, silently praying that their friends from junior high that got into the same school were also in their class. Second-years were anxiously searching for their name, hoping that they would be with their friends or, at least, not with their bullies. Third-years, like myself, were more lazy in their approach in an attempt to seem cool and composed to the underclassmen.

“Sayaka-chan!” The familiar voice of Aoi Koga, my best friend and classmate since junior high, called to me.

“Good morning, Aoi-chan. Excited to start our final year?”

“You betcha! We better be in the same class again this year, I don’t want to spend the time and energy to make new friends right before we graduate.”

We walked over to the area where the other third-years were to find out what homeroom we would be assigned to. For the previous five years, Aoi-chan and I had been in the same class. My outward appearance didn’t show it, but I was just as anxious about not being in the same class as my best friend.

“Let’s see… Aoi Koga, class one. Aaaaanddddd…. Sayaka Tanaka, class one! Yes! Six years straight!” Aoi-chan exclaimed jubilantly. She was very high energy, a member of the tennis club and popular with the boys, but she was a genuinely sweet person.

“It would seem so. Shall we head there now?” I started to walk away but she was still fixated on the class roster. “What is it, Aoi-chan?”

“We’re in the same class as Rina Sasaki.” She sounded like we were going to meet our doom because we were in the same class as a gyaru.

“So? We probably won’t interact much since we have nothing in common. Look, we’re also in class with Hideyoshi Sato. Remember him? We were friends back in junior high. Why are you focusing on the one person we have no connection with?”

Aoi-chan was acting unreasonably, showing her bias against gyaru and ignoring my argument altogether. “Because with her you never know what’s going to happen! She’s a tsunami of drama waiting to happen!”

“Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Aoi-chan. Come on, let’s go to class.”

It was too early in the semester to be judging people we had barely interacted with for our first two years. The rumors about Sasaki-san didn’t make her sound like a great person, but that’s how rumors are. Most people weren’t going to gossip about how kind she was to a grade schooler who scraped their knee, they would naturally focus on the bad things they perceived about her. It was unfair and cruel, but teens weren’t known for being rational and empathetic.

We found our classroom and we were immediately introduced to our homeroom teacher.

“Oh! Good morning! I’m so happy you’re in my homeroom!” Our homeroom teacher, Kazuma-sensei, welcomed us. She was still young, maybe in her mid-twenties, and had only been teaching for a couple years. As such, she wasn’t jaded by the yearly cycle of new students and was excited to meet her class of third-years.

We greeted her with kind smiles and waves of acknowledgement. Knowing how to respond to an overly excited teacher wasn’t a skill many of us learned, so we were all a bit shell shocked by her outgoing nature. Inevitably, she would lose that excitement and begin to feel the weight of the mundane of a new crop of students every year for the next thirty years of her teaching career.

A cursory glance at the board informed students of their seating assignments. Like most years, Aoi and I weren’t anywhere near each other. Instead, I was between Sato-san and Sasaki-san. At least there would be one familiar face while I was surrounded by a crowd of strangers.

Sato-san and I met during our first year of junior high. From what I could remember, he was very friendly, good at sports, and outgoing. We were in the same class through junior high but, even though we went to the same high school, we rarely saw each other. Thus, I was a little excited to reconnect with an old friend.

Just as I was beginning to relax, the proverbial tsunami entered the classroom. While I wasn’t a fan of judging based on rumors, it was hard to deny that Sasaki-san was boisterous. Her appearance was that of a typical gyaru; messy uniform, hair dyed blond and put into a side ponytail, way too many brightly colored accessories, and sweet-smelling perfume. She was admittedly gorgeous, just a little too loud for someone like me to not feel intimidated by.

“Hey-o! We’re third-years now!” She yelled unnecessarily.

Every eye in the classroom seemed to roll in unison at her overly joyous entrance. Gyaru had the reputation of being girls who peaked in high school, despite them never doing well academically. As such, most students preferred to avoid them and looked at them like they were compensating for something.

“Take your seat, Sasaki-san.” Even Kazuma-sensei wasn’t impressed by the gyaru’s positive attitude.

“Yup yup yup!” Her cheerfulness was enviable to a degree.

She made her way to the desk next to mine and immediately began playing on her phone, expressing no interest in socializing with me. This was fine with me as I preferred to mind my own business. A girl like her was bound to bring drama just because of how she was viewed, not necessarily because she deserved it.

“No way! Tanaka-chan?!”

My internal thoughts were interrupted by a familiar male voice. Sato-san had grown up since junior high, especially in appearance. He was objectively handsome, checking all the boxes for the stereotypical “perfect” guy. Short brownish-black hair toned but not overly muscular, high cheekbones and strong jawline, and a gentle smile to boot. If I had any interest in dating, he would’ve been my top choice. However, I had no interest in romance.

“Good morning, Sato-san. It’s been a few years; I hope you’ve been well.” Many people had pointed out that I had a very proper way of speaking. Most people were turned off by it since it made them think I was unemotional and disinterested. While it wasn’t far from the truth, it wasn’t an intentional choice.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen you since junior high, right? How’s your mom? I remember she was always working.”

Sato-san was a very kind person who seemed to genuinely care about people, which only made him more desirable to most girls. His charms didn’t work on me, but I could appreciate how some girls could fawn over such surface level attention to detail.

“She’s still working too much and refuses to let me get a part-time job to help. Thank you for asking, I’m sure she’ll appreciate that she was in your thoughts. What have you been up to since junior high?”

He sat down and leaned against his palm, making it look like he was holding his head up with his arm. “You know me, always the overachiever. I’ve been on the student council since our first-year and somehow balance that with the baseball club. Most of my friends are in different classes this year, so I’m happy that you’re here.”

“Aoi-chan is here too, I’m sure she would like to catch up with you too. You’re still playing baseball? You used to complain all the time about how bored you were with it.” My conversational skills were based solely on polite small talk, because I never wanted to get too familiar with people.

“Ugh, my parents pushed me to keep playing once I got to high school. I like it well enough, but I’ll be happy once I go to college and never have to play again. Speaking of college, have you decided what you want to go for yet?”

“Ideally, I would go to culinary school to become a chef. However, I’m still considering whether I should just enter the workforce so I can help my mom.” My ambitions were admittedly boring, but I was solely focused on making life easier for Mom. She worked hard to raise me and pay the bills; I didn’t want to make her work that way her whole life.

“Is your mom really okay with that? Don’t you think she’s been working hard so you can succeed and reach the highest you can? She may feel like you’re throwing away all her hard work by giving up on your dreams.”

Sato-san was trying to speak for Mom despite not seeing her for two years. “That may be true, but I’m not going to stand by and watch her work herself to death just so I can find success. However, I appreciate your concern, Sato-san.”

He sat in stunned silence for a few seconds before a smirk grew on his lips. “...Selfless as always. You really haven’t changed at all, Tanaka-chan.”

Before I could respond to his observation, Kazuma-sensei called for our attention and our first day as third-years officially began.

The entrance ceremony went by in a flash, and before I knew it, the first day of school was over. The first day was never that exciting, especially because it was half day, which the majority of that time went into welcoming the first-years and listening to speeches. It felt like a waste of time, especially for third-years, but I was content to enjoy the abridged school day.

Aoi-chan left for her part-time job as soon as school let out. She worked at a local grocery store a few days a week and helped out at her family’s market the remaining days. We still hung out a couple days a week, but she had an inconsistent schedule, which meant I was alone at home the majority of the time.

What would have bothered many people, didn’t seem to affect me much. It’s not like I wanted to be alone, but I enjoyed the quiet time to work ahead on schoolwork, read, or research new recipes that cut grocery costs. Mom was always bugging me about going out and having fun, but how could I be so selfish as to goof off with classmates while she was working herself to the bone?

After a quick stop at the market to pick up ingredients for dinner, I headed home. The streets were alive with students from surrounding schools returning home or going out with their friends. The early April air was crisp, but the bright sun warmed me as I walked in silence.

The closer I got to home, the more aware I became that someone was walking behind me in the same direction. They weren’t trying to be sneaky, evidenced by the rustling of their grocery bags and the loud sipping noise they made, presumably from some kind of thick drink. I wasn’t aware of any students that I went to school with that lived in the same apartment complex as me, but I also never paid much attention to other people.

It was only when I was walking up the steps of the building that I began to worry. Whomever was behind me, was still following me, loudly stomping up the same stairs I was. Once I got to my floor, I hoped that they would keep going up and rest my nerves. However, their footsteps were right behind me as I neared the door to my apartment.

Right as I reached my door, the sound stopped, and I took a peek to the left to see where they were. To my surprise, it wasn’t a creepy stalker or possible assailant at all. In fact, it was the opposite of that; a gyaru. The gyaru that sat next to me, to be exact. Apparently, I was neighbors with Sasaki-san and never noticed.

She fumbled with her keys repeatedly until it became obvious, she didn’t have her house key. “Great. Fucking perfect. Ergh!” Even her exasperated sighs were unrefined.

As I opened the door to my apartment, the urge to help out the unfortunate gyaru became overwhelming. She was like a lost child; irresponsible and solely focused on having fun so that it was easy to forget important things.

In a moment of weakness, I called out to her. “If you forgot your keys, you could wait inside until your parents get home.”

She looked over at me in shock, as if she didn’t notice me being there. How did she walk the whole way and not notice me? She was either more airheaded than she let on, or she was easily distracted.

“Huh? No, no, it’s fine, I don’t want to impose.” She was being polite, but I could tell by how nervously she sipped on her tapioca drink that she was worried about being locked out.

“You’re not imposing, you can just sit and wait for a while.” Even I was surprised by how insistent I was, but I didn’t want to leave her alone.

“Umm, sure. Thanks.” She sounded uncertain, as if she was afraid of me. Her reaction was confusing since I was the least threatening person ever.

She followed me into the small apartment that I shared with Mom. There was only one bedroom, which I insisted Mom use since she had crazy hours. There was a futon in the corner of the main room which I slept on every night. Anyone who entered would immediately pick up on the fact we were poor, but I loved our home.

While the gaudy gyaru curiously looked around the room, I dropped my bag next to the futon before addressing her. “You can relax on the couch until you can get into your apartment. I hope you don’t mind but I need to do some chores.”

“Thanks… Umm, what’s your name?” she asked with obvious embarrassment.

“I’m Sayaka Tanaka, we sit next to each other in homeroom. You’re Sasaki-san, correct?” I asked politely as I tied an apron over my uniform.

“That’s right… Umm, can I use your stove to heat up some water? I’m starving and I was going to make this curry cup for lunch.”

“Absolutely not. I won’t let you eat that crap. Sit down, I’ll make you lunch before I clean.” Instant food was banned in our household since I required Mom to eat nutritious food to keep her healthy.

“Eh, are you sure?” She sounded skeptical even though I already started to chop vegetables.

“It’s fine. Just relax until I’m finished cooking.”

Because Mom worked so much, I was used to cooking every day. It was something I enjoyed doing and I liked to make people happy with my cooking. Mom would always praise me no matter what I made her, but that’s what made me love her even more.

“...You were talking to Sato-san earlier today, right? How do you know each other?” She probably had a crush on him, as most girls assuredly did. Why she thought I was a threat was beyond me.

“We were friends in junior high and we haven’t seen each other since we graduated. That’s all there is to it.”

“I see… What do you think of him?” she asked shyly. It was becoming ever more obvious that she liked him.

“He’s nice, but he’s always been that way. Back in junior high, he used to come over to help me out with the housework. That’s just the kind of person he is.” My answer was cold and detached, but it was honest. I had no romantic interest in him, and he never showed any interest in me.

“That’s really nice of him… So, you guys never…” She trailed off, clearly implying that we had more than the wholesome relationship that I described.

“We never dated, if that’s what you’re implying. I have no interest in that stuff.”

“Seriously?! He’s perfect and you never liked him?!” She was smitten to be sure. 

“Perfect?” An eyebrow raised in response to her odd reply. “You might see him that way, but I don’t like to idealize people. Do you prefer spicy or mild?” My focus was solely on my cooking and not her strange discussion about a friend I had in junior high.

“Spicy. What if he asked you out? You would accept in a heartbeat, right?”

“It’s unlikely he would ask me out, but if he did I would reject him. If you like him, you should just ask him out instead of interrogating me.” The constant barrage of questions was tiring so I decided to end things before they continued for the remainder of her visit.

“Eh?! There’s no way I could ask him out! Come on, you’ve heard the rumors about me, you can’t imagine a nice guy like him actually wanting to go out with me.” At least she was aware of the things people said about her.

“If he believes in rumors without knowing the person then he isn’t as perfect as you say he is. I prefer not to judge people without talking to them first, but that doesn’t make me perfect either. To be frank, I have no idea what kind of things people say about you, and I don’t care at all what they think about you. Start with finding someone who doesn’t let gossip influence their feelings about you, then you can think about dating. But what would I know that world doesn’t interest me at all. Lunch is ready.” 

After I placed a plate of Indian style curry on the table for her, I went back to the kitchen to clean up. Making a meal like that was easy for me, especially when I had all the ingredients already on hand. Dishes that made a lot of food were the best since it allowed me to pack the leftovers for Mom’s lunches.

“Woah this is really good! I haven’t had a home cooked meal in ages!”

“What do you eat then?” I asked passively as I cleaned the dishes.

“Convenience store food mostly. My parents live overseas for work, and I just moved in next door a few weeks ago. I’m not used to cooking my own food, so this is a nice change.” She was more talkative when she wasn’t discussing a guy, she thought was cute.

“Do you know how to cook at all?”

“Not really. I don’t even know how to do laundry so it’s starting to pile up.”

“...What?” The idea that I was living next to a toxic waste dump was too much for my brain to handle.

Once she finished eating, she called the building supervisor to let her into her apartment. My curiosity had gotten the better of me, so I followed her into her apartment. What I saw was atrocious.

Fast food bags and convenience store containers littered the floor. Half empty bottles of water and soda were everywhere. Dirty clothes were thrown around the room without regard. Dishes were piled high in the sink, unwashed and covered in food residue. It was worse than I imagined.

“This is it. Home sweet home!” She sounded proud of her disaster zone of an apartment.

“...This is disgusting. Go back to my apartment and don’t touch anything. This might take a few hours to clean up.”

“Huh?! You’re seriously going to clean this mess by yourself?!” She was hopeless on her own and I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing she was living in squalor.

“Your mess will undoubtedly attract pests, if it hasn’t already. Leaving it like this could cause them to migrate to our apartment eventually. This is as much for me as it is for you. Now get out of here until I’m finished.”

She left with a look of horror on her face, scared by my intensity. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was filth, and her apartment was the embodiment of it. All the rumors and lies about her didn’t bother me in the slightest, but her being an unapologetic slob was infuriating.

Three trash bags worth of assorted garbage were collected, including some very questionable personal toiletries that I didn’t want to know the origin of. A pile of dishes that filled the entire sink and counter space took an hour to wash and dry. At least two loads worth of laundry scattered the floor despite her having an in-unit washer/dryer combo. The bathroom was covered in hair, makeup, and soap scum.

The worst was her bedroom. Touching the underwear of a gyaru was not on my list of things I ever wanted to do. Her ability to wear skimpy undies when it was still cold out was a testament to her dedication to her style. Makeup and accessories were thrown around the room, and bags of chips and candy were haphazardly placed around her bed.

When I found a box of condoms, I decided to ignore them and placed them in the nightstand drawer, which contained other things that I refused to think about. Her sexual interactions were none of my business, but I refused to touch anything that was used for that purpose.

Four hours passed before I could stand back and look over my handiwork. Everything was cleaned, organized, and put away. I even rearranged her closet and dresser once the laundry was finished. It was probably the cleanest it would ever be, which only made me dread the fact that I would undoubtedly have to clean it again in a week.

With nothing left to be done, I went back to my apartment to fetch the lazy slob who created such a mess. She had fallen asleep on the couch, bored from waiting on me to finish cleaning her mess. She was extremely pretty yet totally useless when it came to anything domestic.

“Wake up. Your apartment is clean so you can go now.” My patience for the girl was totally spent and I wanted nothing more than to lie down and relax.

“Mmm, five more minutes…” She groaned sleepily.

“Absolutely not. Come on, get up.” I gently shook her in an attempt to wake her.

“Ugh! You are so rude!” She complained as she sleepily sat up.

“I just cleaned your apartment, did your laundry, and made you lunch, I think you can forgive me.”

“Eh?! You actually cleaned?!” She grabbed my arm and dragged me back to her apartment for some unknown reason.

“Holy shit! This place looks totally different! You’re amazing, Sayaka-chan!” She was already comfortable enough to use my given name. Such a gyaru.

“Let go!” I pried my arm free of her grasp and took a step back. “Your clothes are put away and your makeup desk is organized too.“

“You cleaned my bedroom too?! Ehhh… You didn’t find anything weird, right?”

“You mean the condoms, lingerie, and that thing in your bedside table? They’re none of my business so I just put them away. Please don’t try to explain, I’m not interested in your sex life. Can I go now?”

Before I could do anything, I was in the firm embrace of a surprisingly pleasant smelling gyaru. “Thank you so much, Sayaka-chan!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“...Are you going to tell everyone about that stuff?” She asked that with me in her firm grasp. Even if I was planning on telling people, I would be too scared to tell the truth while in her arms.

“Like I said before, I’m not interested in your sex life, nor do I want to feed the rumor mill. Can you let me go?”

Instead of letting me go, she grabbed a lock of my hair and sniffed it. “You have really nice hair, Sayaka-chan. Is that coconut and almond butter?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Why are you smelling my hair?”

She ignored my question and instead cupped my breasts. “You’re bigger than I thought. Damn, no wonder Sato-san would fall for someone like you.”

“Will you stop groping me!?” I pushed out of her embrace and moved out of her reach. “Why are you so interested in Sato-san liking me? I told you before, I have no interest in him. In fact, I have no interest in dating at all.”

“In that case… You should teach me how to be the kind of girl Sato-san would fall for!” She was really intense, too intense for someone like me.

“Eh? What do you mean? I’m not special or anything. You’re much prettier than me and more outgoing. I don’t do anything to attract attention at all.”

“That’s it! Every guy wants a girl who can cook and clean and be a mom stand-in! I bet you’re a freak in bed though!”

That was a step too far for me. I was a pretty forgiving person overall, but I didn’t appreciate her making assumptions about my sexual interests.

“Shut up! How many times do I need to tell you that I’m not interested in that stuff before you listen, you stupid gyaru!? He’s just a guy, he’s not special! If you want to sleep with him, just do it! Don’t drag me into your insanity!”

I stormed back to my apartment and slammed the door behind me, immediately locking it. She really knew how to set me off with her lack of basic common-sense boundaries. And I was doomed to deal with her everyday since she was my neighbor at home and at school. My final year of high school was off to an ominous start.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“How’s living next to a gyaru?” Aoi-chan asked with a half smirk on her face.

It had been a couple weeks since the semester began and, luckily, I had very little interaction with Sasaki-san since that first day.

“It’s not like her apartment is also gyaru. It’s pretty uneventful. We don’t interact in class or at home, so there’s not much to say.”

“Aren’t you lucky? What’re your plans for this weekend, by the way?” she asked before stuffing an octopus sausage into her mouth.

“Mom is working overtime, so I’ll be doing housework and I want to start studying for exams. Why? Did you want to do something?”

“I can’t, I’m helping out at the market this weekend. Maybe you could hang out with Sato-san, you guys seem to be hitting it off lately.”

For some reason, everyone was obsessed with me getting together with Sato-san. We got along well enough; we talked every morning for a while, sometimes the three of us had lunch together, occasionally he would help me out with class duties. There was nothing special about our interactions, just normal things friends did.

“Why does everyone seem to think I’m interested in dating him? He’s just a friend.”

“Is that so? He’s kinda great though, right? Attractive, kind, and really personable. Plus, your mom loved him back in junior high.” Why was Aoi-chan just as staunchly convinced that I should date Sato-san as Sasaki-san was?

“Still not interested. How many times do I need to tell you that I don’t want to date anyone? It’s the last thing on my mind right now. In fact,… I’m helping Sasaki-san get together with him.” It was a sudden impulse that made me say something so blatantly false. I hadn’t even talked to her since the first day of school, let alone teach her how to cook and clean.

“Seriously? Why would you want him to get together with her? He’s your friend, you should at least have some kind of standards for the kind of girl he should be with.”

“She asked me to teach her how to clean and cook so she can be the kind of girl for him. I think it’s admirable for her to put in the effort to improve herself for the person she likes.” I was absolutely lying but I had to double down before she called my bluff.

“Well, it’s good she’s trying to be less awful. But I’m still not a fan of you hanging out with her.” Aoi-chan unfortunately didn’t share my objection to believing in rumors.

Lunch ended and soon so did school, and the weekend officially began. Weekends were typically time for me to catch up on housework, get ahead on assignments, and reading. Mom worked most weekends, so she was barely around, and when she was she spent the majority of the time sleeping. She worked as a bartender at night and during the day she would work at a local florist. She only had a high school education and was largely unskilled, which meant her options for jobs were rather limited and the pay wasn’t great.

While my mind was occupied trying to find ways to cut costs, I couldn’t help but notice the uneven walking pattern of the person behind me. It was made even more distracting by the constant jingling of their keychains.

My annoyance boiled over after another five minutes of that frustrating noise. The source of the sound was none other than the gyaru who was the topic of discussion during lunch. Her left ankle was heavily wrapped, and she was limping with every step.

“Why didn’t you ask for help?” I scolded her as I went back to help her. Her arm rested across my shoulder, and I gripped her waist to support her left side.

“I didn’t want to annoy you again.” She replied meekly. She was strangely shy whenever she was around me, as opposed to her typical ebullient self.

“It was more annoying because you didn’t ask for help. Come on.”

We walked in silence the rest of the way home. She was surprisingly light despite her being taller and more physically gifted than myself. The hand that rested on her waist made me realize just how soft and warm she was. Whenever I looked at her profile, I was struck by how pretty she was. Despite her being rumbustious the majority of the time, she had a side that was shy and helpless that I found endearing.

As we neared our apartments after an interesting climb up the stairs, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. None of her friends offered to help her home and she never had guests over. I had a growing suspicion that the gyaru part of her was just a front to mask her insecurities. Of course, I may have been looking for an explanation for her inconsistent behavior.

“Here we are… Actually, do you want to come over for dinner? I’m guessing you don’t have much to eat at home.” My motherly instincts were kicking in again. After years of taking care of Mom and my friends, I had become an adept caretaker.

“Oh, umm… I would love to, but I don’t think I should impose on you again.” At least she was honest with why she was rejecting my offer.

“Do you want to learn how to cook and clean for Sato-san or was that just a line? Come on, let’s go.”

She hesitantly agreed and limped pathetically into my apartment. Mom usually had the evening off on Fridays, which made me assume she would be sleeping when I got home. Unfortunately, she was wide awake and dressed only in a loose-fitting robe.

“Welcome home, sweetie!” She called the moment she heard the door close, taking no notice of the fact we had a guest.

“We have company, Mom. Please put some clothes on.” I scolded her as if our roles were reversed.

“Oh please, Aoi-chan has seen me in my underwear a million times.” It spoke volumes about the kind of person she was that she believed that was an acceptable rebuttal.

“As disturbing as that is to hear, this is actually our neighbor, Sasaki-san.”

Mom looked over in complete horror as the news sank in that she looked like a slob in front of a stranger.

“...Ahh! I’m sorry! I’ll be right back!” She rushed past us to get to her room, presumably to change.

“Ugh, she’s such a child sometimes. You can leave your bag next to the futon.” I dropped my bookbag next to the aforementioned futon and went to the kitchen to put on my apron.

“Your mom is different from what I imagined.” Sasaki-san was justifiably shell shocked by the stark difference between my personality and my mother’s.

“Did you think she and I would be exactly alike?” My words were dripping with annoyance at her observation.

“Uhhh no, it was just a surprise.”

Before I could rebut her continued idiocy, Mom came out wearing real clothes. Unfortunately, her usual clothes were booty shorts and a tight tank that was stretched thin by her large breasts.

“Sorry for my rudeness, Sasaki-san! Sayaka, why didn’t you tell me you were bringing a friend over!?” Mom was extremely laid back and lazy whenever she was off from work. Some may have been annoyed by their mother bumming around the house, but I wanted her to relax whenever she could.

“She’s not a friend. She doesn’t know how to cook, so I invited her over for dinner.” My intention wasn’t to be rude to Sasaki-san, but I could see how she could interpret it that way. Her downcast expression was all the evidence I needed to figure out that she thought I was being vitriolic.

“Umm, sorry for the intrusion, Tanaka-san.” Sasaki-san bowed to my mother awkwardly, clearly not knowing how to interact with her.

“Oh my, such good manners! You really don’t need to be so formal, Sasaki-chan! Oh! I don’t know your given name.” It was obvious in these moments that Mom was a former gyaru who acted just like Sasaki-san back in high school.

“It’s Ren.” Sasaki-san replied shyly.

“Ren-chan! It’s so nice to meet a new friend of Sayaka’s! I only see Aoi-chan these days. Whatever happened to that boy you were friends with back in junior high, Sayaka?” Mom was way too friendly, but that’s probably why she was good at her jobs.

“Sato-san is doing fine, we’re just not that close since we started high school. He asked about you the other day, he’s always been a worrier.” My focus was barely on the conversation since I was trying to prepare the tofu we were going to have for dinner.

“Oh, that was sweet of him! You should invite him over sometime; I would love to catch up with him! Is he still playing baseball?”

“Yup and he still hates it. I just wish he wouldn’t lecture me every other day about my future.” The plan of teaching Sasaki-san was no longer on my mind, I just wanted to cook and ignore Mom’s incessant questioning.

“He probably agrees with me that you should go to college! I knew I liked him for a reason!”

“You’re not going to college, Sayaka-chan?” Sasaki-san had long forgotten about learning to cook and was resting on the couch with Mom.

“No. I plan to work as soon as I graduate so Mom doesn’t work herself to death.” I angrily sliced the tofu in a miraculous form of restraint.

“Huh?! Don’t you get good grades and stuff?!”

Mom put her arm around Sasaki-san in a show of comradery. “Thank you, Ren-chan! See, all your friends agree with me!”

“Shut up!” I had reached my limit of annoying arguments. “I’m not going to lose you because you’re too selfless to admit you need help! What do they know!? They don’t see how hard you work! Stop being stubborn and let me help!”

“...Oh, you and your silly outbursts!” Mom was unaffected by my shouting fits after years of me scolding her for a million things. Instead, she reacted by hugging me from behind while I attempted to chop onions for dinner.

“Ugh, you’re too careless. Besides, how could I leave you behind when you’re hopeless without me taking care of you, silly gyaru.” I kissed her on the cheek and then pushed her away with my butt so I could continue chopping in peace.

“Eh!? Do you use gyaru as an insult or something!? You called me a stupid gyaru the first time we met!” Sasaki-san picked that similarity up quickly, apparently.

“Hahaha! No way! She probably thought you were annoying her just like I do. She jokes around since I used to be a gyaru back in high school. Well, before I had her, that is.” Mom was an open book and shared too much with absolute strangers.

“Oh. So, she doesn’t hate gyaru like me?”

“If she hates you, it’s not because of your clothing or your makeup. You probably pissed her off for some silly reason.” What did Mom know about it!?

“No, she molested me and suggested I was a rambunctious lover!” It was about time I made things clear to my mother.

“...Really? Oh, if that’s all, then I’m sure she doesn’t hate you! Sayaka just gets uncomfortable whenever the subject of sex comes up.” What was Mom doing, sharing information like that to our neighbor!?

“Why is that subject so touchy with her?”

“Ehhh, I better not share anything more while she’s holding a knife.” Mom wisely restrained herself from saying too much. It was bad enough that she thought it was fine to tell someone she just met personal things about her daughter, at least she had a limit.

“Thank you for keeping your daughter’s private business to yourself. Dinner will be ready soon; can you get the dishes ready?”

Dinner went by with some awkward small talk between me and Sasaki-san and a giddy discussion between the two gyaru at the table. It was obvious who had things in common and who was the outlier. All the talk about clothes, makeup, and hair went over my head, and made me feel like a vestigial limb of unwanted conversation.

Dinner concluded with me washing the dishes while the two boisterous kindred spirits continued to yap about who knows what. They had a lot in common, at least more than I had with either of them. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was a little jealous of how well they got along.

While they played a board game, I worked on organizing the budget. When they did each other’s hair, I worked on fixing a leak under the sink. They watched a movie, and I spent two hours studying for midterms even though they were a long way off. Mom was probably having more fun with Sasaki-san than she would’ve had if it was just the two of us.

The sun set and Mom went to bed so she could catch up on sleep, leaving me with Sasaki-san. She sat in awkward silence as I kept my focus fully on my book. I was just buying time until she got bored and went back to her place so I could have some peace and quiet.

“...Sorry. I’m sure you wanted to spend tonight with your mom.” If she was really sorry, why didn’t she leave earlier!?

“It’s fine. She probably had more fun with you than she would’ve had with me.”

“She went on and on about what a great daughter you are. You can’t seriously believe she would prefer to spend time with me instead of you.” She sounded saddened by my pessimistic view of myself.

“She probably liked having a fellow gyaru to hang out with. She hasn’t had someone to talk to about hair and makeup for years. I’m admittedly very boring, not especially fun or entertaining to spend time with. It’s not a big deal, that’s just how it is.”

“...Do you take after your father then?” she inquired innocently.

“No clue, he left as soon as he learned Mom was pregnant. She’s been working ever since I was born to raise me on her own, I couldn’t care less about my father.” Vitriol oozed from my mouth every time I needed to speak of the man who I ashamedly called my father.

“Oh. Sorry…………… Can I come over again? It’s a bit lonely to spend every day alone in my apartment, which is kind of a mess again.”

“Yeah, whatever. I still need to teach you how to cook anyway. Hopefully, Mom made it clear that I have no interest in that guy you think is perfect.” The real reason she was at my place had not slipped my mind. She wanted me to teach her to be the kind of girl that Sato-san would be into, she obviously had no interest in being my friend.

“...Do you think I have a chance?” She asked bashfully.

“How should I know? It’s not like I’ve asked him about his type or if he’s looking for a girlfriend. If you really like him, then none of that should dissuade you from trying.”

“...Can you talk to him? Just see if he has someone he likes or what kind of girls he’s into.” She was smitten with a guy she was too scared to talk to. It was pathetic to see a confident gyaru get nervous about a guy.

“What’s the point if you’re too scared to talk to him?”

“I’ll talk to him eventually; I just don’t want to get rejected because of some rumors. If he’s kind enough to look past those things, then I want to be the kind of girl he could fall for.”

“But why him of all people? If you feel like you aren’t a good match, how did you even fall for him?” That question had been bugging me for a while. It didn’t make sense for her to like a guy she was too scared to even talk to.

“Well… I guess you could say I see him as the type of person who would be there for me. He’s kind to everyone and genuinely cares about the people that are important to him. Maybe he can see me as the person I am and not what people believe me to be. It’s foolish to idealize him, I know, but he’s been that way since we were first-years.” She sounded like she was describing someone who could save her as opposed to someone who could love her.

“If that’s how you see him then it would be hard for me to not help you. You make him sound like your last hope for a normal life but is it so terrible to be yourself? Do you want to stop being a gyaru for a guy who might like you the same way you like him?”

“I’m not sure. Ideally, I would want him to accept me as I am, but that might be a long shot. You’re not the judgmental type yet you absolutely have a poor image of me.” She seemed to understand she had problems but had no intention of improving herself.

“You’re a lazy, hopeless slob who’s more interested in your appearance than your grades. Your sexual life is not for me to comment on, but I assume you aren’t like me. However, I don’t think that stuff makes you a bad person. I’ll talk to Sato-san and see what I can find out, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“Thanks… Can you help clean my apartment again? I tried to clean it the other day, but I just made it worse.” She was such a pain in the ass!

“Ugh. Fine, whatever. You owe me big time after all these favors I’m doing for you.”

Shortly after that, she went back to her landfill of an apartment for the night. My precious alone time with Mom was stolen from me by a helplessly smitten gyaru and there was no end in sight to her intrusions.

It was strange, even though she annoyed the hell out of me, and she caused me nothing but trouble, there was something inside of me that wanted to help her. As I laid on my futon that night, I replayed the events of that evening, focusing specifically on Sasaki-san to hopefully figure out what it was about her that drew my attention. She had a nice smile that seemed to light up the room, a cute, feminine laugh, and an air of confidence that I envied, even if it was shrouded by her insecurities.

In the end, I couldn’t figure out what it was that beguiled me. The only thing that I learned from my introspection, was that my heart skipped whenever I thought about her smiling.