Chapter 2

"The advantage of love at first sight is that it delays a second sight."
-Natty B.

I woke up at 4:30, my internal clock still not accustomed to being on the West Coast. I crawled out of bed and made my way over to the computer. I turned on the monitor to discover that Morning Sedition was already streaming and being saved to an MP3 file. I went ahead and turned on the speakers so I could listen to it while I went through my morning ablutions in the bathroom.

I discovered that the intercom system set up throughout the house was also connected to my bedroom computer, so I was able to listen to the Air America program in the kitchen while I made myself a modest breakfast. After eating and cleaning up, I turned off the intercom and went into the living room to watch some television. I watched a NHK news program until it was time for me to get ready for my appointment at school. I threw any documents that I might need into a backpack and decided that jeans and a polo shirt would work for today. I went ahead and decided to wear a pair of Birkenstocks since it would fit into my role of a Californian. I left the house at 6:50, giving myself plenty of time to get to school.

Did I want to excel or blend in at school? I had been told that I could keep this identity or choose a new one when I reached twenty-one. I had around six hundred thousand dollars in off-shore accounts and about one hundred thousand divided between my checking and saving accounts. The thousand a month that I got from the government was one-fifth my usual income, but that should cover food and utilities. In addition, in a couple of months, that amount might increase. The drawback with my current cover was that it would be difficult to get financial aid; so if I wanted to attend college, I would have to earn a couple of scholarships, unless I wanted to pay for it out of my own pocket. The best course of action would be to excel academically but try to avoid drawing too much attention. I planned to keep this identity unless something drastic occurred. I came to these conclusions as I pulled up to the bike rack.

It took about fifteen minutes to complete all of the forms that they required, then I was ushered into a small conference room where there were already two other teens sitting at a table. We waited about five more minutes before a fourth teen arrived and a teacher made sure we were widely dispersed around the table. We were then given a booklet and an answer sheet, and we were told that we had an hour for this portion of the assessment. Even forcing myself to read slowly and to take my time, I was done in half an hour. I double-checked my answers and waited patiently for the hour to be over. The next two booklets were like the first, except the math portion had space to work out the answers. I went ahead and even wrote out the process for the ones that I could figure in my head. I even missed a few on purpose to make sure that I did not raise too much suspicion. The fourth booklet was on foreign languages, and since they were German, Spanish, and French, I breezed through it as well. We were allowed an hour lunch break, and then when we returned, we would meet individually with a guidance counselor.

Miss Simms was the Honors counselor, and it was no surprise that I was assigned to her. She guided me into her office and asked me to take a seat. She was about five-foot-four and had long, straight, red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. I estimated her to be in her early thirties, and I noticed that the third finger on her left hand had a tan line from a wedding ring that was slowly fading. It was when I figured that she was around just over fifty kilograms that I realized that I was automatically looking at her as if I was going to write up a report of our encounter. I made a conscious note to stop looking at people this way, but doubted if I could.

Miss Simms said, "Chad, you should be pleased to know that you did extremely well on your assessment. You could enter as a junior or even a senior if you so wanted."

I smiled and replied, "I would really like it if I could enter as a sophomore. I have not been in an environment like this and would like to at least be with kids my own age."

Miss Simms agreed and suggested that I would be enrolled in Honors or Advanced Placement Math, English, Science and World History. I had to take P.E. and choose an elective. I had looked through the registration guide before, but I was still undecided.

"I noticed that according to your file that you play the flute. Perhaps you might like to enroll in band?" she asked.

I kept my expression neutral, but inside I was laughing. Alan knew that woodwinds were a weak point, and yet he included it in my background. "Sure, why not. Also, instead of P.E., could I take Dance instead?"

"Well, Dance does count for P.E., but only for one semester. Also, are you interested in trying out for any sports?"

Actually, that had not even crossed my mind. I know that my chances for scholarships would improve if I had extracurricular activities like band and sports. "Miss Simms, I had not really given it much thought," I replied.

"Well, I'll go ahead and give you the forms you need to have filled out and signed. This evening, there will be physicals given here in the P.E. locker rooms, or you can always see a private physician, but you must have a physical completed before you can attend any practice sessions."

As I was leaving her office, she reminded me that, besides offering career guidance, she was always available if I had any personal problems. She was aware that I was living alone and that I might need somebody to talk to. I told her that if I had any problems, I would let her know.

When I got back to the house, I had to stop in the driveway to fish out the remote for the garage opener from my backpack. I detected movement from the house to my left. I glanced over and saw the curtains in one of the windows fall back into place. I went into the garage, and since it was a nice day, left the garage door open. I debated if I should mount the garage opener on the handlebars or not; it would make life a little easier, but then again, somebody could gain access to my garage if they pried off the remote from my bike. As I started to look through a workbench for the parts I would need, I was startled by a voice coming from behind me.

"Hi. Do you live here?"

I turned around to see a very pretty young girl. She was five and a half feet tall, early teens, with straight, shoulder-length brunette hair. She had a very nice figure -- I guessed her breasts were 32B, which fit her perfectly -- and had a very healthy tan.

"Yes, I do. My name's Chad Johnson, and I just moved in," smiling at her as I replied.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Traci Caspar. I live next door to you."

She must have been the one that I saw in the window earlier. I decided to give up on my current project and asked her if she would like to come inside.

She looked slightly nervous but said, "Sure. Let me just go and tell my sister."

"Okay. I'll leave the front door unlocked. Just come on in."

She left, and I closed the garage door and entered the house. I quickly disarmed the alarm, went over to the front door, and unlocked it. I then went to the refrigerator and grabbed a Zima and a couple cans of soda. When I heard her come in, I called out if she wanted some potato chips and if she wanted regular or diet soda.

Traci replied, "Chips sound good. I'll have a diet if you have it."

I emptied a bag of chips into a large bowl and brought it, along with the diet soda and Zima, to the living room. I set them on the coffee table in the living room, then asked, "Would you like a tour of the place?"

"Sure," she replied, so I showed her around the house. She wondered why the four upstairs bedrooms were barren except for beds, dressers, and desks. I explained to her that the previous owners had left them. When I mentioned that, she said, "You're the fifth family to move in here in the last five years, but I have never seen the inside before."

"Well, I am the only one who will be living here, for now. My parents and sister are traveling right now. I think they are currently in Ireland. My sister might join me later on, so a bedroom is set up downstairs for her."

We went downstairs, and I showed her the rest of the rooms, excluding the basement. She asked about my anime collection, and I told her that I was an "otaku".

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's a Japanese word. An "otaku" is an obsessive fan of any one particular theme, topic, or hobby. With me, it is anime, Japanese animation, and manga, Japanese comics."

"Oh, like Sailor Moon or Cowboy Bebop," she smiled when she said that.

"Yes. Have you watched Sailor Moon before?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but it has been a few years. It was on the Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. I liked it, it was pretty cool."

A grin spread across my face as I said, "Then I have something that you might enjoy. Let's go back to the living room."

It took me a few minutes to turn on everything and find the file that I was looking for. Luckily, I had a fansub (an episode that a group of fans had subtitled) besides the raw (an episode that was not modified) of the file I was looking for. I sat down next to her on the couch, started the fansub, and opened the Zima.

After a couple of minutes, she started to laugh aloud. "Oh my God! Is this what I think it is?"

"Yup. It is a live-action version of Sailor Moon," I grinned at her as I said it.

I had already watched it, and since I knew Japanese, I did not have to look at the subtitles to follow the story. I was able to spend most of my time watching her reactions. She had a wonderful laugh, and when Luna, a talking cat, made her appearance, she really lost it. Half the time, they used CGI, and the other half they used a doll. She also enjoyed the transformation scenes.

Traci asked me, "Why do they keep showing her panties?"

"That's called 'fan service'. They like to do that in anime to appeal to horny guys like me."

She laughed and asked me if that made me horny. I chuckled and told her no, it did not. I thought about saying the pretty girl sitting next to me did that, but I held my tongue.

After the first episode was over, I asked her if she wanted to see the second episode. She said yes, so I started that one up and went to the kitchen to grab two more diet sodas. When I returned with the drinks, I had noticed that she had unbuttoned the top button of her blouse.

Again, I paid more attention to her than I did to the episode. Don't get me wrong; the actress who played Usagi, a.k.a. Sailor Moon, was kawaii (cute). I just found Traci more interesting. She glanced at me a couple of times, and I was able to hold her gaze for a little bit before she smiled and returned to watching the plasma. When it was over, I asked her if she was attending Central City High.

"I'm going to be a freshman. I have to stop by there tonight because I am going to try out for water polo and need to have a physical. I could have gotten one for free at the hospital that my mom works at, but I figured it would be easier to get it done at the school."

"Oh? Does the school have a girls' team?" I asked her.

"Sometimes they do. I don't think there are enough people interested in it this time, so I'll have to play with the boys."

Passing the chance to point out what she had just said, I made up my mind that I would also try out for water polo. I knew the basic rules, but I had not trained in that sport. Part of the domestic training that we had to undertake was to be familiar with all types of sports, including lacrosse and hockey. There were times when our target might be part of a team, so we had to be good enough so we could be close to them. She grew excited when I mentioned that I was going to be in band and taking dance.

"So am I. I play the piccolo, and I'm also taking dance."