Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
For three seconds, we manage to keep our faces straight.
But then Vivi realizes her mistake. “Oh, sorry. I meant you take the bull by the horns.” She gives us a regal nod. “You may laugh.”
And so we do. Hannah, bless her heart, is trying to be nice about it, pretending to cough instead of laughing out loud. I think it’s cute, and Ewan seems to think so, too, only in a romantic way. It’s hard not to miss how often the attractive Frenchman’s hooded glances go her way. I think Vivi’s just as aware as I am, but it’s Hannah who’s surprisingly dense about it. Or maybe it’s because she already has a guy she likes – and it’s not Ewan?
I mentally sigh, thinking that Cupid really doesn’t play any favorites. If the winged archer feels like complicating people’s lives, the naughty little boy does so without a qualm, even if it means striking multiple people with just one arrow.
“Earth to KC?”
It’s Hannah, and when I shake myself out of my thoughts, I realize the whole table is looking at me.
“You have got it bad for your ex, haven’t you?” Ewan remarks.
“Actually, I’m just taking a leaf from his book,” I explain with a wry smile. “He had all these one-liners that drove me crazy, but it also had me obsessing over him so I figured I could turn the tables around this time.”
“That is a good plan,” Vivi says approvingly.
“What’s your next step then?” Hannah asks.
“I texted him a while ago,” I confide. “I told him I needed to go to the library...and I also told him that all of you were busy—-”
Hannah grins. “Are we?”
“Yes,” I say with utter seriousness. “You are.” But now I’m grinning, too. “And so, I asked him if maybe he could go with me instead.”
“And he fell for that?” Ewan’s decidedly skeptical.
“To be honest, he hasn’t replied yet.” I pull my phone out from my purse and check it again. “Yup. Still no messages.” I gnaw at my lip. “Do you think I should text him again or is that too push—-” I break off when I realize that my friends are all wearing uncomfortable expressions. “What is it?”
Vivi turns towards the restaurant’s windows, so I do the same.
And that’s when I see what they’ve seen: Yuki, placing a hand on the back of another girl as he helps her inside a cab—-
And it’s the same darn girl.
Again.
Word of the Day: Jinja
1. Japanese word for ‘shrine’; Shinto shrines generally include the suffix ‘jingu’ in their names (e.g. Meiji Jingu or Meiji Shrine) and are characterized by having tori or archways by the entrance.
2. Must not be with Buddhist temples in Japan, which generally include the suffix ‘ji’ in their names (e.g. Sensō-ji in Asakusa, Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto); Ji means temple in English.
Blog #732
Earlier in class, I had a one-on-one with a professor, and she asked me why I’ve stopped drawing shoujo. Apparently, she’s seen my one-and-only published work, and she believes it’s really good.
I know the easy answer to it would be that I’ve outgrown the genre. Shoujo is more for teenage girls, and I’m way past that. I’m old enough to drink, which firmly puts me in josei territory.
So...nuff said, right?
If only.
I suppose I could have also told her the bull I used to feed myself with. I’m so broken I can’t write about true love anymore. I fell for a boy, and he left me. But I couldn’t do that either. That only worked when I didn’t know the truth. The boy I loved didn’t leave me. I drove him away.
So...knowing that, you’d think it would magically cure all my problems.
But it didn’t.
And since my professor looked like she was willing to wait forever until I gave her an answer—-
It took a really, really long time to figure things out.
But eventually, I got it.
In the world of shoujo, romantic love is the ultimate goal. Its heroes and heroines do everything just to stay together. In shoujo, even honest-to-goodness full-blooded siblings end up together, and readers actually end up cheering for them despite the incest.
And honestly, I don’t have a problem with any of that. But I’m also not the girl I used to be. Life’s changed me. Knowing how short it is, seeing how my mom has to fight to live – it all changed me. And that’s why I can’t draw shoujo anymore, I think. Because if God asks me to choose between a happy-ever-after with the boy I love and a longer life for my mom—-
I’d choose my mom in a heartbeat.
I’d choose her, always.
I wouldn’t be me – wouldn’t be the girl he loved – if I didn’t.
SHRINES IN TOKYO ARE as ubiquitous as your local 7-11. There’s almost always one around the corner, and my neighborhood in Shinjuku isn’t different. The local shrine is about eighty years old, which – believe it or not – is considered fairly new compared to most other shrines in Japan. The first time I came here, Vivi was with me, and she nearly died laughing when I drank the water from the purification fountain.