And so, 10 years have passed (it was 1985) and... Well, Samantha, now 16 years old, went to the town, as punishment, where her grandparents lived. This was because, according to her parents, she had neglected her studies (she was studying in a private school)... Although, in reality, she had only failed one subject, math.

For that reason, they sent her to the town where her brother lived, although this is already known. She went alone, in a bus.

It was a day in July, around the end of the month. Samantha arrived at three in the afternoon, carrying only a pink suitcase and a green backpack, which belonged to her brother Christopher. Around her neck was the wooden necklace that Mat had given her, though... It wasn't very noticeable.

- So here we are again... - she said to herself, still standing at the bus stop. - Well...

The thing is, Samantha didn't go back to her grandparents' house (her maternal grandparents by the way) all those years because... They got into a fight with her parents over the way they were raising their children. This happened a year after Sam left town. Samantha's parents decided not to take this case any further, as Andrew preferred to be with his grandparents, and they respected that decision.

- Afternoon!

Samantha had just arrived at her grandparents' house, after getting lost for about five minutes. It was a two-story, wooden house. It was painted blue with glass windows. The door to the house (which was white) was open.

- Oh... Isn't there any...?

- Sam, dear!

  After opening the door to the right (to the left was the living room), a few feet from the entrance, her grandmother came out of the room and hugged her. Her grandmother was a woman of slender build. She appeared to be a little over 60 years old and, at that moment, she was wearing a blouse and a large brown skirt.

- Grandma! - Samantha said, smiling, as she hugged her grandmother. - How are you doing?

- Fine, fine... - she replied. - And you, my dear?

- Me? Fine! I guess... - she was a little nervous.

- Sam, are you all right? - her grandmother asked, and looked her in the eyes.

- Yeah, yeah! I-I'm okay. Really! - She was a little uncomfortable with her grandmother's manner.

- If you say so...

- And where's grandpa?

- Ah, he's working in his store.

- Store? I-I didn't know you had one...

- We do! It's a hardware store, it's a few blocks from here.

- I see, and Andrew?

- Drew?

- Drew? - Samantha looked confused and surprised, as she had never heard anyone call him that before.

- He knew you were coming, that he was going to see you after years, yet he's not here. God, that boy... He left a while ago, but I don't know where he went. Wait for him here, if you want. Oh, yeah. Your room is on the second floor, down the hall.

- Okay. - She answered her and went up the stairs, which were in the living room, saying, - I'll be right back, I'm going to leave my things.

  And so she did. She settled into her new room, which was somewhat cozy. It had been arranged so that she could live there for a while. The room had a bed, a table that was next to her bed, a closet, a mirror and a window, through which she could see part of the forest and the town. She went to bed after putting her things away.

- So... This is like starting all over again, isn't it? - she said to herself. - It feels strange... But... I suppose it’s better.

And it was, though... It wasn't so bad after all. In the city she lived in she had no friends (she was kind of shy, but she tried not to be.) Besides, at school she only had one friend... With whom she got along well, but not that well. They only talked about class and ate together, talked about trivial things once in a while. Other than that... At her school she was sometimes teased and made fun of. Once they made fun of her when she was writing something on a piece of paper, they laughed at the content and tore up the paper. Despite these things, she was happy that they didn't take it any further, unlike some of her classmates or people in other classes, who had it worse.... At least for her. She was never hurt physically, whereas they were.

- Wait, if they knew I was coming, then why the heck didn't they welcome me? Uff... Never mind... I think it's better...

She grabbed a book from the table, it was a green book. Actually, it was a book she hadn't finished reading. She spent a while reading it until...

"Hmm... I don't feel like reading, I don't know why... Should I go into town to look for Andrew? I haven't seen him in a long time... But what if I get lost like I did earlier? Oh no... No, no, no... I got scared. But... Yes, I'm going to go out for a while to get to know the town and not get lost later, but... I should wait for Andrew, right? No... Or should I? Oh... I'd better go alone, okay?"

Sam left her room and went to where her grandmother was.

- Grandma, I’m going out.

- Okay, but don't be late.

- Okay!

She went out.

.

..

...

She got lost after walking ten minutes.

"This town is bigger than I remembered..." She thought, as she wandered around aimlessly... I think she got lost, because she was almost always looking at the ground and she didn't have a very good memory, but I don't really know.

Eventually she reached the park, where she saw a group of children playing. She sat down on one of the benches and thought, "Now what do I do? I shouldn't have gone out alone... I'm afraid to ask for directions... I want to cry."

She sat there, doing nothing, for twenty minutes. It was already going to be five o'clock and the kids had already gone somewhere else.

"I-I think I'm going to go back home."

She went back... The way she thought she had come. She kept looking more at the floor than her surroundings and, suddenly, as she came around a corner...

*clank*

- Eck! Ouch!

Samantha hit a pole and fell, unbelievably.

"...I hope no one saw me..."

- Hey, are you okay?

- !

Samantha turned to see who it was. It was a tall, blond-haired, black-eyed boy. He was somewhat stocky, wearing a white t-shirt with light blue stripes and jeans. He was holding out his hand to her. Imagining this as a scene from a badly done shōjo manga, with all its you-know-what effects, I guess. Yeah, I don't know what else to compare this to.

||||||||||||

- Uncle Zoron. - said the girl. She said my name. A.

- Yes, what is it? - I answered, with another question. The spiky-haired boy looked at me funny for saying out loud the actions that happened.

- What's a... Shoujou? That's what it was called, wasn't it?

She got something right at least.

- ? - Eliah.

- Yeah, let him explain it to you. - I pointed to the spiky-haired young man with the white stripe down the middle.

- Huh? Why me? - he said. - All right, I'll do it. So, ummm... They're manga for girls a little bigger than you... And they're romance, mostly.

"The latter I don't know, I only read one and couldn't research more about them."

- Oh, I see, and what's a "manga"? - the girl asked. "I thought it was a fruit?"

- That... It's like a comic book that you read from right to left... Just like you're used to read. - Eliah told her. "Your language is kinda strange."

- Ah... And what is a "comic book"? - asked the girl again.

- In what kind of world do you live in where you don't...? Ah... No wonder.

- ? - the girl was confused.

- Nothing, nothing... Sorry.

- Mmm... 'kay, don't worry.

- Well, let's continue. - I said.

||||||||||||

Well... Where was I? Ah, yes.

- I-I... - she extended her hand, and the boy lifted her up. Sam then said, shyly. - Y-Yeah, I'm fine, I think...

- I see. - he smiled at her... And they looked at each other for a while.

- Hey, Mat. - said a boy who was standing nearby, he had orange hair and part of it covered his left eye. He was wearing a white T-shirt, yes, and jeans. He avoided eye contact. - W-why are you staring at her like a fool? W-wait, she... Sam? Sam?

- Huh? Sam? She's your sister, Andrew, isn't she? - said a girl with black, frizzy hair, brunette skin. She was wearing a gray tank top and baggy jeans... W-why is everyone wearing jeans? Oh, also... In Andrew's shadow were two long red eyes, vertically. Weird. Samantha noticed that, but didn't think it was important. - You said she'd be here today and... Well, she's... Pretty much the same, I think. Only now she's taller than me. And her hair is short too.

"Wait, that guy is Andrew, the girl is... I-I don't know who she is and he's... Mat... Mathias?"

- Oh, you're Sam? - Mat said, surprised, still holding her hand. Andrew stared at him funny... - Welcome. <smiled at her again and Sam blushed>.

- Y-yes. - Sam noticed that they've been holding hands for a while and instantly removes it. Mat doesn't notice for some reason. - (S-Sorry...) <he didn’t hear her>.

It gives me the willies to relate this.

- Well... I-I don't know what to say... - Andrew said, somewhat nervous to see his sister after several years. He approached the black-haired girl. - O-Oi, Erin, help. Say something...

- Agh... "Erin, this, Erin that" - Erin replied to Andrew, furious. Everyone heard that. - Can't you do anything on your own? Agh, well. Let's go to your house.

They were heading there when they found Sam.

"Her name was Erin... I think I did know her..." Samantha thought.

- Okay, let's go! - said Mat, who started to walk away.

- Hey.- Andrew approached Mat. - Couldn't you try to be more... normal?

- Huh? Why?

- We tell you that almost every day and you're still like that, you're like a child. - said Erin, who also approached him.

With what right do you say that? Ah, she's kinda similar to him in that aspect.

- All right, I'll stop now.

- H-hey, wait for me! - shouted Sam, who stared at them, stunned, until she realized that they were leaving her. So, they went home, I mean... Sam's grandparents' house.

"It looks like being here is going to be interesting... and fun, yes. Although... I hope I didn't leave a bad impression."

...This was kind of weird. Help me.