Roses and Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 7

"Are you sure my dress is okay?" I ask Cupcake, again, playing with the bottom of it.

The dress is a short sleeved pink floral dress, it is very pretty. But, I have never done this kind of thing before, so I don't know if it is appropriate for the occasion.

"Yes, Princess, it is perfect. And you look beautiful." Kai assures me.

He holds my hand as we walk to his front door.

"And you told your mom-" I start.

"That you are vegetarian. I remembered, don't worry." Cupcake already can read my mind!

We really are best friends!

He doesn't let go of my hand as he leads me into the house.

We slip off our shoes and leave them by the door when we enter. Apparently, there are no shoes allowed in the house here.

"You must be Evangeline!" I hear from their kitchen, if I am remembering the house right. I already know it is his mother based on the voice. Cupcake told me that she moved here in her twenties and it is hard for her to say some things because the sounds don't exist in Japanese.

I turn around and see a lady, she is about two inches shorter than me, so probably four or five inches shorter than Cupcake.

She is wearing skinny jeans and a lacy white top, she is so pretty, just like I imagined Cupcake's mom to be. Her hair is to her collar bones and she has thick bangs.

"It is nice to meet you, Mrs. Matsushima." I greet her with a smile.

"Please, call me Yumi." She says, pulling me into a hug. "It is so nice to finally meet you, I cannot believe my son finally found a friend!"

"Okaasan!" Kai says, suddenly speaking what I can only assume is Japanese.

"You know I am right, Kai." She teases, I let out a little giggle.

"What are we having for dinner?" Kai asks his mother.

I hear footsteps on the stairs, based on how loud they are, it must be Mia.

"Kare-raisu, I wanted to do something a bit more simple for Evangeline. And I used tofu this time, so hopefully it is okay." She says with a smile, stumbling over my name once again.

"You went out of your way to change it for me." I say, my eyes wide. I feel absolutely horrible. I know I asked Cupcake to tell her I was vegetarian, but I just wanted her to know so she didn't think I was rude for not eating something!

"Sweetheart it is not a big deal, I have been wanting to try it with tofu instead for years. If anything, the tofu was easier anyway." She assures me. I still feel bad.

"Hey." Mia says when she gets to the bottom of the stairs.

Over the last week now, Mia and I have become sort of friends. We hang out in gym class, she helps me understand what is going on. We are friendly whenever I am here, but we don't really talk outside of that.

"Hi Mia." I smile at her.

She just sends me a smile back.

I wasn't really worried about meeting Mrs. Matsushima, but I am a tad bit scared to meet Mr. Matsushima.

From everything Kai has told me about his dad, I am not sure how to feel about him.

How could he treat Cupcake like he does? My Cupcake deserves all the love in the world!

"Let's all go sit for dinner." Yumi says with a smile.

Still holding my hand, Cupcake leads me into the dining room.