“Howdy Felix!” She said, calling me by my first name. I cringed, some boys eyeing me jealously. “That darn thing there’s the hoot these days,” she continued, pointing at the newest gadget from the science club.
“Er... not exactly, Bloom Chan,” I said, scratching my head. How exactly would I explain this gear? I was indeed interested in technology, but the nerds and geeks were far beyond me. Before I could explain, my other friend Dula Chan interrupted me.
“Baka, why would you get something that you don’t even know how to use?” Dula Chan teases, pouting her mouth. “And you, Bloom San, don’t think you can get so close to him, he hasn’t even accepted you on a first name basis! Only I can claim F... F... Garusho San...” She said, stuttering while trying to say my first name, then settling on my last.
“Uh, no idea what ya talking bout, sweetheart.” Bloom said, tipping her hat, “I still ain’t used to ya culture, so do pardon me if I miss out on anything.” Dula Chan blushed in embarrassment, but at the same time had a look of jealousy at Bloom’s confidence. “And uh, I did say you could all call me Apple.” Now everyone nearby was ohhhing and making our recent classmate even more confused. By this point the boy who had long time crush on Dula, Kashu, was getting furious.
“That’s it, Bloom Chan, or Apple! Whatever you call yourself! For respect out of Dula Chan, I challenge you to a fight!” He said, and that got everyone riled up.
“You sure sugar?” She responded, hands on her hips, looking curious. “Now I ain’t gonna go all violent, but if it’s a duel you want I can arrange for something like that.” She handed a toy gun to Kashu’s surprise. “I like keepin these around, they remind me of family while I’m away.”
But Kashu wouldn’t be swayed. He took it in one swift motion. And hence, high noon came and I watched curiously, still fidgeting with my strange gadget. The two faced each other, eye to eye, hand near gun. “It’s the end of the line, son.” Kashu said, imitating those cowboy films he had seen. But Bloom just responded with a smirk. And then it happened— my gadget broke apart at a crucial moment, bouncing off of Bloom’s chest, causing... ahem... much awkwardness. Kashu panicked, shooting wildly, while Bloom dodged in a swift motion and landed a solid hit on his chest. “No fair!” He complained, but it was clear as day he had lost.
Fortunately Dula Chan was sympathetic. “Ah, you don’t need to prove yourself anyways,” she said with a tongue out, “we got better friends than Bloom.”
And so Bloom was somehow left the loser even though she won. Despite this, I congratulated her and said that she had shown me a brand new perspective to school life. It was truly eye opening. Her frown disappeared and she was her original self again. “Well, thank ya, partner! Perhaps we can do something else again soon.”
The bell rang, releasing us. Some had our parents to pick us up, and Bloom even had her own wagon. As I walked home I thought about her, who she was, what she could do. Maybe I should call her Apple after all.
She was praying during lunch. “O lord, who art in heaven, give us our daily bread, so that we may—“ But Kashu interrupted her with a rude “Itadekimas!!” And begun chomping into his food. Dula chan laughed, and Apple shot both of them a glance before sighing. I groaned, when were my friends’ antics going to end?
It had been a week since the day of the duel between Apple and Kashu. Since then, Kashu and Dula have gotten really close. Like, absurdly close. Granted, my change to first name basis with Apple may have been part of the cause; Dula seemed furious and stormed off, yelling “Baka Baka!!” And now... Well, if they weren’t a couple I didn’t know what they were.
Even Apple seemed mildly uncomfortable as she watched them hold hands while walking through the hallway, and so now even she was reaching her breaking point. “Now y’all just listen here...” she said in her serious voice, but gave up as she realized Kashu didn’t even really care. But suddenly an idea sprang to mind. “Hey! Since we all wanna eat good food, why not have a cookin contest?” Now this, This was something Dula could get into. She had cooked countless gourmets before, and she wasn’t about to lose to some country girl. I eyed Apple, not particularly certain she knew how to do this kind of thing. “But... there’s a catch! Literally, y’all have to catch an animal!” But still, the couple was undeterred. Kashu had some hunting experience after all.
So now I was the judge and as they wandered through the forest I couldn’t help but feel how ridiculous these competitions were getting. “Hey, shouldn’t we reconsider?” I asked both sides, but neither would budge. As a western movie would say, “it’s my way or the highway”. And so they begun, but as Kashu and Dula confidently looked through the forest, finding game and setting traps, Apple confidently held her lasso, not really doing anything herself. I realized a bit too late her plan; the others were merely too absorbed with chatting to realize. Apple wrapped her roped around the couple, with Dula Chan tripping, snagging her shirt and accidentally revealing her midriff. Kashu’s face grew a deep red as the trap released and the hunt was Apple’s.
“Ya two want to be together, well, there you go.” She said, laughing at them. But I couldn’t help but intervene. I put a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, Apple. Let’s call it off. It’s not worth it. It’s kind of my fault that my other two friends didn’t receive as much attention. To be honest... I’ve been getting captivated by you, in a way that I’ve never felt before. And I guess we all got caught in our thoughts.” Everyone was surprised by this confession, including myself. But I felt it was the right thing to do.
“Aww shucks,” She said, her face growing red for the first time in forever, “thanks for that. And folks, I’m sorry too for getting carried away.” The two hesitated a little, but then their faces relaxed. We had been friends for years, after all. We embraced each other in a group hug.
“Uh, can you release us though, Bloom Chan? This rope’s uncomfortable...”
And so class and our social circle resumed normal activity. Everything seemed fine... until the transfer student arrived. But that’s a story for another time...