My Living Nightmare (REWRITTEN)

Blooming

I closed my eyes slowly and let the music enwrap me, I felt myself drifting into a peaceful slumber. A 9 hour shift at the café has finally caught up to me. The world seemed to slow down just for a brief moment, that was until I heard a loud slam of a door hitting the wall. I jerked awake and sat up looking around in disarray.

"W-wha?" I mumbled.

"Taylor!" Ria waltzed into my room, wearing the skimpiest outfit I had ever seen to date.

Today, she wore a low-rise denim mini-skirt paired with a bedazzled belt. Her top was a reflective silver spaghetti strap, and she had stilettos on which were also silver. Ria had her usual brown curly hair flowing down her back, and sparkly makeup that beautifully complimented her almond skin tone.

Ria smiled a mischievous smile; one that I knew all too well. She was always up to something when she smiled that way. I rubbed both my eyes as she turned around, swaying her hips from side to side and revealing the blooming lotus flower tattoo she had on her lower back.

"Isn't this outfit sooo cute?? You can actually see my tattoo!" She beamed.

I yawned.

Ria turned back around to face me "We gotta get matchy ones together"

"In your dreams, Ria. I am not the one" I fell back on my pillow and prepared for my slumber that was rudely interrupted. I could not imagine myself ever getting a tattoo at all. Ria was always persistent on us getting matching tattoos together. She can dream about it all she wants.

Ria really did seem like the complete opposite of me. She is extroverted and not afraid to take a leap of faith. I, on the other hand, dressed comfortably and did not speak all that much unless spoken to. I preferred to relax at home most of my days. I was paler than the average person and had long pin-straight copper hair. Even though we are so different from each other, Ria is my best friend. We talked nearly every night for hours. When I would have a terrible day, I could always count on Ria to cheer me up and offer words of affirmation. My best friend through thick and thin, I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Although, Ria has been going out nearly every night now since we moved to Tokyo together and got our own little apartment. It made me afraid that she is hanging out with the wrong crowd of people some nights. Just the other day, she came home completely drunk out of her mind and slept through the entire day. She seemed in good spirits now, luckily.

It had been a dream of ours to move to Tokyo as kids. Our childhood flew by in a blink of an eye. Before I knew it, at 20 years old, we had finally saved up enough money to buy a ticket to Tokyo and actually rent this apartment. My parents were so happy for Ria and I. I could still see their smiling faces when I told them the news. Both of us decided to take a gap year. So far, the said gap year has turned into two. Neither of us really know what we want to do. Currently, we are thinking about perhaps applying to colleges here in Tokyo. It felt like I was finally getting out of my comfort zone since moving out of the states after living there my entire life. Coming to Tokyo has been an immense stepping stone for me to get out there and experience a whole new culture. Despite this, sometimes I still find myself a homebody even now.

"Where are you going this time?" I interrogated Ria, mainly worried about her safety.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ria paused briefly "Would you like to know?"

I sighed, preparing myself mentally for what she will tell me this time. It could be anything. "What is it?"

"There's supposed to be this huge car race going on tonight with a group called Tokio Hotel. Taylor, you gotta see them in person"

A car group? With people yelling over some revving? I already disliked the idea of it. I never was much into cars. Not only that, it was quite literally 1am.