Strawberry Girl

Hi, my name’s Akabane Ichigo, I’m a 17-year-old girl who’s trying to survive in this world. Although, you may know me as the eldest daughter of Akabane Chiharu. But I don’t want to be known for who my dad is, I want to be known on my own accord.

Before I dive into further details, let me tell you a little bit about myself. So, you already know my name and my age, but I think you should know the one thing I love more than anything else in the world is books!

Whether it’s reading them or writing fanfics of my favourite ships. There’s just a wonderful thing about them that just makes me think that there is something right in the world, it’s an escape route for me, unfortunately, my family think I’m weird.

You see my dad’s always busy with the business. What business is that? You may ask, well it’s Wine. And not just any wine, it's Strawberry flavoured. If you’re wondering about my mum then don’t bother, she dotes over my little sister, and spends every waking minute on her, and that little sister of mine. Well…she has her moments.

Sometimes we’re the best of friends and sometimes we’re like enemies, I promise it’s not my fault I try to keep the peace but she has a way of really ticking me off. Which I guess is normal between siblings, but she gets away with a lot of things because she’s younger which is not fair!

I sometimes feel like the disappointment of the family, I’m always in my room, I’m not social in any way, and I think it embarrasses everyone. “Strange one she is” I hear people comment when I walk past someone my parents or I know.

It hurts though it hurts being treated like this, I tried everything to please my parents, and from the time I was little, I always tried to make them proud. I had good grades, I excelled in sports, and I even made some contributions to the business, anything to make them see me in a different light, but nothing.

I didn’t have any friends either, well not physically the characters in my books were my friends. But they weren’t that nice either, sometimes they made me smile and laugh with their interactions with the male characters, but sometimes they made me cry, you tell me what friends make you cry?

The kids at my old school made me feel isolated, they made fun of me for loving books at school and my family made fun of me for loving books at home, either way, I was in a lose-lose situation and I was ready to give up! I was ready to give in when I got some news.

My Dad decided to come here and that was the best decision he ever made, of course, my sister and mother were angry about it. It made sense though, they were leaving their friends and their life here of course they would be upset, but not me I was ready to go!

I was so happy knowing I would be going to a new school; I thought maybe this was finally the chance to meet some new people. I was hoping the people here wouldn’t judge me over the fact that I loved books, I was hoping that maybe, just maybe the people would be kind enough to be friends with me.

As soon as I entered the new school, I was approached by a few guys, I still remember exactly what happened, one of the guys stepped forward “Hey, kitty! You new here? I’m sure I’ve never seen someone as beautiful as you around these parts.”

I cringed so hard at the nickname he gave me, my perception of the people in this place changed, no matter where you go, you’re bound to find these types of people.

“Yes, I am, why?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm interesting,” he smirked.

How many days of suspension do you think would I have to go if I punched him resulting in permanent damage to his face and causing difficulty to smile let alone smirk at anyone.

“You free tonight? I was hoping I could show you around,” he took a step forward.

The whole time I had kept a neutral expression on my face, I had dealt with guys like him at my previous school, and I had no problem having the reputation of ‘Boy Breaker’ over here as well.

Despite the anger bubbling inside of me I decided to be polite, “Sorry not tonight.”

I tried to go past him but he blocked my path, “Hm, not tonight? Come on don’t be such a bore,” he says, his face was just inches away from mine and I had to lean back a little.

Despite what anyone would think, I was not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking he was getting to me, I look up at him, put my hand on the middle of his chest and gently push him back, “Look I already told you not tonight, maybe some other day.”

I gripped my bag with my right hand and started to walk when I felt something cold clasp onto my left wrist and tug me back, I looked back to see him holding my wrist, he pulled me towards him so I collided with his chest making me let out a soft gasp.

Without warning my knee connected sharply with his groin making him let me go instantly, I smirked as I watched him writhe at my feet, I crouched down in front of him.

“Let this be a warning to you, the next time a girl says ‘No’ it means fucking ‘No’ understand? You better understand, Kitty” I winked.

Argh! Calling him that nickname didn’t make things better, I felt the need to rinse my mouth out with detergent, it did put me in a bit of a bad mood though and made me feel highly uncomfortable. But, during homeroom, I was lucky enough to meet the most wonderful guy there is.

I have to admit when I first saw him, I thought he was a little weird, he was coughing a lot and then he was staring at me, like was there something on my face? Did I have butter on the corner of my lips from breakfast that morning that I didn’t quite wipe off?

It was later on did I find out that I was sitting in his seat and he was going to ask me to move to a different seat, but he was kind enough to let me sit there so I had to give him the benefit of the doubt, plus I did have to admit he was really cute.

Average height, with chocolate brown hair and red eyes the shade of his eyes reminded me of cherries. Although I had my favourite book right in front of me, I couldn’t help but sneak glances at him.

But that was when I saw him do something that made my heart skip a beat, he took out his phone and placed it on the table in front of him to record the lesson, he then reached into his bag and took a book out.

I felt this sort of happiness when I saw him read, it felt nice knowing that there were other people out there like me. For once, I felt normal like I’m not the most boring person on the planet!

I tried to see what he was reading but he turned to look at me, so I diverted my gaze back to my book. I felt so embarrassed, but hang on! I was trying to steal a glance at his book, not at him!

I did end up getting caught up in my book halfway through, but felt this strange sense that someone was watching me, I quickly scanned the room with my eyes and saw that no one was looking at me, but then I quickly found the source when I turned and saw ‘Cherry boy’ looking at me.

I could tell he was trying to catch a glimpse of my book, but I decided to play with him a little and tilt my book a little so it would be harder for him to see the cover, I know I’m being a bit mean though.

I felt especially bad when he leaned over so much, he almost face-planted the floor, I flinched a little when he almost fell, but he quickly composed himself. I tried so hard not to laugh and ask him if he was okay, but I know if I did do that, he would’ve felt even more embarrassed than he was feeling at the time.

After class was over, I put my things away and saw that ‘Cherry Boy’ still had yet to pack his things away. I was going to tell him but he looked so engrossed in his book I didn’t want to disturb him, instead I left him alone but not before writing him a note and dropping it in his open bag.

‘Hey,

It was kind of obvious that you wanted to know what type of book I was reading, and don’t worry I didn’t see you almost face-plant the floor.

I was pretty intrigued with the book you were reading, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone get so lost in a story that they forget where they are, other than me of course, so if you want to know more how about you meet me in the library at lunch tomorrow.

xoxo Akabane Ichigo’

I felt pretty bold writing him that note, I had never done anything like that before. But it felt pretty good and I was excited to see him the next day, and I was curious as to what he was reading as well.

Unlike him I did have a little glimpse of the cover from the book he was reading, it showed a girl and boy standing in front of a beach. It was giving such summer vibes that I loved it, especially now that it’s summer its obvious that you would read something with that aesthetic.

That day I went home with a different spring in my step, after a long time I felt happy I finally felt like I belonged. Moving to a different place was definitely worth it all and it just felt right and finally felt like I was home. But of course, not all good things last for long.

“What’s wrong with your face?” my sister asked as soon as I walked in.

“What do you mean?” I replied, confused.

“You look different,” she grimaced.

After a few seconds, it dawned on me.

“Oh,” I laughed, “I’m happy.”

“Isn’t that nice!” she clapped sarcastically, “At least someone is.”

She stormed off and shut her door with a bang, I looked towards Mum who rolled her eyes at me before walking off as well. I didn’t have time to be sad over their reactions, I skipped to my room and fell on the bed with a big smile on my face.

Unlike most nights I didn’t cry myself to sleep either, that night I slept pretty well I even read a classic romance instead of the sad ones I used to read that summed up my entire existence up until that point in time.

I was looking forward to going to school the next day, although I did have a very interesting interaction with a girl who was coming on a bit strongly to ‘Cherry Boy’ so I did what anyone would do and stood up for him, he was looking uncomfortable.

I’m not going to bore you with the details, but ‘Cherry Boy’ and I got to talking for a bit, I did notice that his hair looked different than it did yesterday, and I didn’t want it to seem like I was being creepy so I didn’t say anything to him, but he looked really cute with his hair up like that.

I learnt that his name was Sakurai Kyo and he also loved books a lot! I never knew I would find someone who would have the same interests as me, and to tell you the truth having someone to talk to about these things is so nice.

I realised that like me he doesn’t have many friends either, I guess it's really rare to find someone who reads as much as you, let alone is willing to talk to you about some of the books they have read with the same passion that you have.

We both exchanged information on our favourite books as well as swapped books as well. I know it was difficult for him to give me his favourite book but I reassured him that I would take care of his book just as much as I take care of my books.

I also took the liberty to give him my books as well, I was a little hesitant myself as that was my favourite book too, but I know he’ll take really good care of it, so I trust him!

A few days ago, I was just a girl who had no friends and tried to search for an escape through the books she was reading. Now I’m a girl with a really good friend who shares the same interests as she does and doesn’t judge her for anything.