Beware: Japanese boy not paying attention! (open!)

[fryn]

"I swear it is the truth!" Takumi told the boy at his side. "She had a lot of proper equipmant and said she looked for ghosts professionally. She even played some recordings of what she'd found." Takumi beamed. "Sugoi! I mean, it was really amazing! Anyway, see you later," he added and he waved the boy off, heading from there to his locker.

His meeting with Kye - and then Elena - in the graveyard last night had been exciting beyond measure. More so that they'd both agreed to go to the lighthouse with him next week and see if that lady spirit really lived there. Izzy would love to find out for sure.

He sung softly under his breath as he walked... Not a tune anyone else would recognise as it was one performed by a band from back home. He swung his back pack slightly in his left hand, oblivious to the figure crouching down to his left. The pack whacked them in their left ear and he stopped mid chorus, looking down in astonishment.

"Gomen ne," he offered "I didn't expect to find someone on the floor." He peered closer. "Have you lost something?" he asked. The least he could do after almost tearing off their ear was to lend them a hand if so.

[Park Jung Hee]

"Behave well, little brother. Make good choices!!" Douglas waved from the car and drove off, leaving Jung making a face. A redheaded freshman looked at him weirdly, her hands both clutching the shoulder straps of her bag. "You have a really funny face." She said before walking off. Jung laughed and followed her in. "That's because you've never seen a handsome face before." He said teasingly. She gave him a scathing laugh before speeding up. "Oh come on, I was just joking!" He chuckle and shrugged before going to his locker to get all his books from the locker for the weekend. Last minute studying for a test tomorrow. Going to be hectic.

As he grabbed his books, his pencil case fell out of his bag and on to the floor, spilling out the contents across the grimy floor. Luckily there wasn't a lot of people so he could pick his stuff up without much problems but just as he was getting his last pen, something thwacked him on the left side of his head. The way he was crouching, it made him lose his balance and he ended up sitting on the floor.

Cursing in his native tongue, he heard an apology in Japanese and he looked up. He had seen the boy around before. He wasn't entirely sure who he was but he had seen him. How could he not? He was one of few Asians around school. And Jung kept tabs on most Asians. "Gwenchanh ayo." He dismissed it with a wave of his hand. With what little he knew of Japanese, he asked the other boy to help him up, a huge grin on his face to let the other boy know he was quite alright.

"You trying out for the baseball team or something?" Jung laughed and thanked the other boy when he was standing up again. "No, I have not lost anything. But I think my pen rolled away..." his voice trailed as his neck craned over the fellow Asian to look for his pen which was kicked to the door of a classroom just behind him. "Oh, found it!" He excused himself from the fellow senior to trek down his pen. Proudly brandishing the pen, he walked straight into an opened door.

Walking around the door, rubbing his forehead and nose, he returned to his first 'assailant' and patted his shoulder. "I'm Jung by the way. Well...my dad and brothers like to call me John or Johnny but I prefer Jung. It was my given name. Might as well use it. You're...Takumi right?" Jung asked, extending his hand for a shake.

[fryn]

Gwaenchanha Yo? The other boy knew Japanese? He didn't loom Japanese but.... he spoke it sooo... Don't make assumptions... right?

Better to play safe than to regret it later...

"Okage-sama de, genki desu, arigatou gozaimasu," Takumi replied with his usual dip of his head. "But no," he added with a grin. "I don't really understand baseball but..." Takumi shrugged slightly, "... I am willing to learn!"

He watched as the other boy got to his feet - and promptly walked into an open door. And Takumi had though HE was accident prone?

"Hajimemashite, Jung-chan. I am Takumi. Yoshino Takumi," he replied. "Are you Nihonji also?" He didn't honestly thing so but needed to ask.

[Park Jung Hee]

"Ani yo," he shook his head when he was asked if he was Japanese. He pointed a finger to his face and grinned. "Hangukin. But I've lived in LA practically my whole life. My mom's from here. But not my dad. I mean my dad's lived here a long time but he was from South Korea and that's as much as you should know about my dad because if I continue talking about where he actually came from, I'll have you skip class. No joke." He slung an arm around his new friend and started walking in the direction the Gould senior was already heading.

"I can call you Taki, no? So anyway. I personally don't know much about baseball but I do like seeing people hit things with a bat so maybe I'll get you to come with me to a game. Not much baseball going on around these parts of town but I'm sure a little road trip could be arranged. Get a couple guys from my side and yours and have a little fun, right?" Jung rambled, knowing that if the guy didn't like it, he would have left earlier.

"So, I'm from Silver which is my excuse for not getting to know you any sooner. And I'm sticking to it." He grinned, even though not even two months ago he made a new Silver friend. A senior no less. Oh well. It was always fun to meet new people anyway!

[fryn]

So his assumption had been right. The boy wasn't Japanese but Korean. At least partly so. "You speak Japanese well," he replied. He fell into step at Jung's side, not at all worried when the other boy draped an arm around his shoulders. Dare did it all the time anyway. "Hai! Everyone calls me Taki," he answered. "So you can too. I have to admit though... I have never tried to play baseball. It looks... confusing," Takumi admitted with a rueful smile. Any - and every - thing American seemed that way to him. Even their food had weird names. It had taken some time for him to understand that 'hot dogs' weren't actually made from canines! Even now he couldn't honestly bring himself to taste one. How could he eat something named like that?

"A road trip? To play baseball? Sugoi!" He nodded. "I would very much be... aaah.... upwards for that!"

"Just up... not upwards," corrected his new friend and Takumi committed that phrase (again!) to memory.

"I am honoured to be able to call you tomodachi, Jung-chan," Takumi replied. If he sounded a touch formal he could be excused given his heritage. "It makes me pleased to have struck your head with my pack!" he added with a laugh. "I should have left school this year but..." Takumi shrugged slightly. "I failed to graduate but all is not lost as now I get to make some new friends... such as yourself. It works out well for me." He'd be a year older than just about everyone else in his classes but it wasn't like he ever acted his age... was it?

"I shall introduce you to my friends. Izzy, Dare, Kian, Connor, Ben and Eden... They are twins. And Thad... He is like my little brother but he's been away from school for too long already." Takumi missed otouto-san. "Do you know any of them already?" Of course, he knew countless more friends as well!

[Park Jung Hee]

"Domo arigato. I've been learning languages for awhile now to be honest. It seemed only fair that I learn one of the major languages in the world no?" He took his hand from Taki's shoulder only to run back to where his bag was. "Jeez...absent-minded." He knocked on his forehead twice before running back to Taki, this time not slinging his arm around the other boy.

"Eh," Jung shrugged when Taki spoke of baseball's difficulty. "You don't have to know something explicitly to try your hand at it. Sometimes, it's when you try and try again that you learn, am I right? You figured out how to speak English through actually trying to speak it, correct?" He waved a dismissive hand. "Awesome! So you're up for it. Good, I'll get my brother to drive us over to the stadium soon this week or maybe next week."

"Oh please, don't need to be so formal please. I insist you just call me Jung. Or Park. I really don't mind either." Jung frowned slightly when Taki spoke of graduation. "I'm graduating this year in a couple months. I don't think I'm staying. I've got loads of things to do. Mainly getting out of my twin brothers' clutches!" Jung laughed boisterously.

"You know Izzy Chen? That's wonderful." Jung grinned widely. They haven't been properly introduced but Jung was always happy to know friends of friends so he was glad Taki knew Izzy. The rest of his friends didn't sound familiar to him at all so he was willing to meet up with all of them. "No...doesn't sound familiar but hey, I love making friends!" He admitted before stretching his arms out to Taki. "Exhibit A, uh? You hit me with your bag and we're instantly friends!"

[OOC: Did the seniors already have finals? I'm asking only because I don't know the American high school system >.<]

[fryn]

ooc: lord knows LOL! Its all I can do to understand the Brit school system ;P I assumed so as they were to graduate soon(ish)... maybe? Not sure >.<)

"Oh yes!" Takumi replied with a bright smile. "Izzy and I are dating," he told Jung proudly. "Since the Spring holidays at the beach. I met her family last week... Her father didn't like me much," he confided. "When we see her next we shall go and talk to her."

They wandered on towards their classrooms.

"Your brother won't mind driving us to this stadium?" asked the Japanese boy. "I only have my Vespa and while I can take a passenger I can't carry more than that. This summer I'm hoping to learn to drive but... buying a car...?" He shook his head. "That is expensive, hai? I doubt I could do that." 

Perhaps he needed to get a part-time job or something? That way he might be able to afford a car. Izzy would probably prefer that to his scooter. Definitely so once the colder weather arrived!

[Park Jung Hee]

[OOC: Let's just agree to disagree. We're both not from the US so we'll just stick to what we know >.<]

"Congratulations!" Jung patted Taki on his back at the good news. "Oh it must be serious to have met with the family so soon! Ah you shouldn't worry too much about that. I am quite sure your mother harbors resentment for Izzy too for stealing her boy from her." Jung of course was just assuming. For all he knew, Taki's mom loved Izzy. Well, in her defense, what is not to love, uh?

"I can't wait to talk to her. I hope she hasn't forgotten her culture." Jung hoped out loud. "Oh Douglas and Wesley love baseball just as much as they love themselves. They were set for the big leagues but somehow they both settled for being big wig lawyers. It's all just weird to me." Technically it really wasn't. Their mother had always taught them how lawyers were supposed to help people and helping people was the right thing to do. But Jung wasn't about to reveal that snippet of his life. Taki and himself had just met! It would just be very awkward.

"So anyway yes, they're willing to drive. Besides, they have a humongous truck that can practically fit a whole football team." Jung chuckled lightly. "Oh, do learn. It's quite pleasant. You get to play NASCAR driver for a bit what with changing gears and whatnot." Jung chuckled. "Expensive? Hmm...I dunno. If by expensive you mean it'd cost more than yoru Vespa then probably...but I'm sure if you wanted it enough, you'll find a way to get the money, yeah?" The Korean boy patted the Japanese boy's back.

[fryn]

Takumi glanced to his right and at his new-found friend. "Your brothers," he said with a look of curiosity etched across his face. "... they have western names..." Douglas and Wesley were most definitely not of any Asian origin. "And yet your name is very Korean. Why is that?"

Taki laughed. "I am being big-nosed," he said. "Ignore me, Jung." He made a mental note to look up the meaning of the word Jung had used in relation to his brothers' truck. Humung... No, Human... Ack... Forget it. He took it to mean the vehicle was big enough to take several of them at once... Or something along those lines.

He nodded slightly when Jung agreed a car would be costly. "I really would like to get one before winter," he replied. Learning to drive it came as secondary. Buying the car was the unlikely part of the entire idea. His father had always stressed his willingness to teach Takumi that particular skill anyway.

Jung was right... If he wanted the car enough then he'd find a way to raise the money. Perhaps he could learn how to rob a bank or something...

"Are you going to the prom on Saturday?" he asked as they neared the junction where they would have to part ways. Hopefully only until later when they could meet up again and talk some more!

[Shelby Grant]

Shelby walked down the hall. She'd spent a good deal of the morning spreading around that Roxy and Sawyer needed to watch their backs, hoping that she'd instilled some fear in the too girls. The way Shelby saw it, they'd attacked her personally and she couldn't have that. She couldn't let the other cheerleaders seeing her just fold. She had to act on this and further better her reputation with them. All the cheerleaders seemed to be looking to her to take care of the revenge after all since they were freshmen and the other girls didn't want to bother with them. Just like Aly had been in charge of the revenge when her step-sister and her friends had pranked them. Now it was Shelby's turn.

But of course aside from the revenge, Shelby had more important things on her mind. Like the prom. Shelby absolutely needed to go to prom. Being the only freshman at the prom would certainly solidify her place within the popular crowd. And as much as she wished one Tyler Durnham would ask her, she kind of knew that that invite wasn't coming. So she'd gone through her list of eligible guys...keeping track of who had dates and who didn't and who was more likely to agree to take her.

And her eyes settled on the candidate she selected. Jung. He was popular enough. Friendly with everyone, certainly no one would look down on her for having such a date. And more importantly, he hadn't already been claimed by anyone and would be likely to say yes when she asked him. She tossed her long blonde hair behind one shoulder as she walked over to him and some other Asian boy that he was speaking with. Her heels clacked on the ground and she was dressed in a short skirt paired with pale pink blouse.

"Hello, Jung," she said, being very direct. "Hello," she said to the boy she didn't know. "I'm Shelby," she said, introducing herself, making sure to be polite since she didn't want to give Jung any reason to deny her. She then turned back to Jung. "So I heard you don't have a date for the prom and I want to go," she said. "I'm wearing black and I can give you my address. We can share a limo with my brother, Lucas. That okay with you?" she asked, smiling at him sweetly and batting her eyelashes at him. She really hoped that she got her way.