"College is a time to experiment." I'm pretty sure it was Ryosuke who first told me this. I think at the time he was trying to get me to buy into some kinky fetish he wanted me to do, but still maybe he was right.
When I first started going out with him, I had this picture that the two of would have this romantic relationship, holding hands, moonlit walks on the beach, sipping milk shakes with two straws from the same glass. We did have some of that, but there was this more confusing side to our relationship. One thing was when I first arrived in Oceanview, he'd already been here for two years, so there were other girls he maybe dated or... I don't know... did whatever with. I didn't ask for details. Honestly, I didn't want to know.
I had met at least two of these women: Masayo and Kiyomi. It was weird because even though he was with me, I think these two in particular still liked him. I went camping with Ryosuke, Kiyomi and her new boyfriend Eden, and that was so messed up. Eden was just weird. He'd been spying on us, and then he got all excited, and told us these crazy stories about what he was dreaming. I don't know what he thought was going to happen between the four of us. Partner swapping? An orgy? A foursome? It was a bit hard to imagine. Anyway, I was just glad to get back to Oceanview, and have things go back to normal. I'll tell you that whole story some time.
My intention, my plan was just to keep things simple. I liked Ryosuke. Any other guys I knew would just be friends. As long as they understood that, things could work. That was still true more or less, but as I'll explain, it sometimes got complicated. Anyway, I shouldn't blame this on Ryosuke. What did happen was my doing, my bad. Sometimes I get carried away, and end up getting into trouble. Life is never simple.
I think the summer after my freshman year was when I first met Takuya and his best friend Hiro. The two of them were Japanese exchange students, living in my friend Satomi's dorm for the summer. Takuya is very tall, like I mean American-size tall, and he's funny, the way he acts. Maybe he does it on purpose. He's not movie star handsome. He wears horn-rimmed glasses, but he does have a certain kindness in his face, something you wouldn't expect from the way he talks. He has dreams too. He wants to be a movie director. I can appreciate that, being creative I mean, having big dreams. I like movies too.
Hiro is much shorter, maybe even shorter than me, but he is very cute like a Japanese pop idol. He's a little bit nervous, and gets himself in trouble, but after coming to America, he relaxed, and matured a bit. He'd make a nice boyfriend for someone I thought. Satomi was a bit interested in Hiro. Just to help her out, I used to hang around with the three of them, be her wing-woman or whatever.
My relationship (if you can call it that) with Takuya was pretty much of a non-starter at first. He proclaimed quite loudly that he did not like "older women." He was 18, and I was like 21 when we first met. I'd really never encountered this before, being treated as "older" I mean, and it bothered me. It almost felt like a challenge, to win him over, show him what it was like to go out with someone with a bit more experience.
I hung around Satomi's dorm a lot that summer. When Satomi would go to sleep early, I'd come down to the common room, and sit with the group of them, Takuya, Hiro, Jorge and Ricardo, their Mexican friends. We'd mostly just watch TV, and chat making jokes about whatever came on. The boys would be drinking, and offer me beers, but I don't drink beer. I don't drink much at all actually.
One night Takuya brought me a can of a drink I'd never seen before. It said yogurt peachtree fizz or something like that on the label. I thought it was just a yogurt drink, but after I drank it, I felt lightheaded. It must have had peach liqueur in it. The details of that night are a bit hazy, but after the others went to bed, I have this vague memory of Takuya asking me what my sexual fantasies are. I don't remember now exactly what I told him. I probably shouldn't have told him anything, but like I said, I might have been a bit drunk.
Then one day, I went up to Satomi's room, and found her talking with Takuya and Hiro. I said hi, and chatted a bit, and then out of the blue, Takuya asks,
"Hey. Do you girls want to go out sometime?"
I was a bit surprised. I thought he was interested in some Portuguese girl in his English class.
"Like where?" Satomi asked. I knew that Satomi is a bit interested in Hiro, and I wanted to help her.
"How about the beach?" I suggested.
"The beach? Not again!" Satomi moaned. I often drag her to the beach, but we'd never been with these two.
"Or maybe we could go shopping first," I singsonged. "I want to get a new swimsuit."
"We just bought new suits!" she protested. Even though it sounded like a complaint, she looks cute when she says these things, blinking her big eyes, batting her eyelashes. I think she likes to make a big deal about little things, overreact. That's just part of her sense of humor.
"Yeah, but you never wear yours, and mine is a bit too..."
"Too what?" Takuya perked up. I was tempted to say 'indecent.' One suit I'd bought had an indented seam that runs along the crack of my yoohoo. I couldn't very well wear that in front of Takuya and Hiro. They already have the impression that I'm a bit of a 'bad' girl. A lot of people in Oceanview, my host family, my classmates, seem to think I'm a good girl. Who knows? Maybe I'm a bit of both.
"Anyway, I want a new suit," I insisted.
"OK. When?" Hiro asked.
"Saturday maybe around 10, 10:30?" I suggested.
"Sounds good. Let's do it!" Takuya beamed.
That Saturday, I woke up, had a shower, and came back to my room to decide what to wear. That was still early days, so I hadn't completely Americanized my wardrobe yet. I did have a comfy white stretch cotton t-shirt and a pair of stone-wash blue jean shorts, kind of coming apart at the bottom. Nothing fancy. I kind of wanted Satomi to be the star of the show. She's the one without a boyfriend. I pulled on a bra and panties, plain white, and then my shorts and t-shirt. I did put on a black hair band around my wrist and my black leather choker with a bell and a ribbon bow on it because I thought they look cute. When I went downstairs, I pulled on my tan sandals, and buckled them up. I brought a little purse with my smartphone, sunglasses, a baseball cap and other stuff inside.
I took a bus downtown, and met them at the entrance of the largest mall in Oceanview. Satomi came early. She was wearing a turquoise sweater and white pants, a bit baggy, but cute I guess. Takuya was wearing a cap and a navy suit jacket over a grey hoodie, his movie director look I guess. Hiro must have spent hours on his hair. I began to fool with my own long hair, a bit self-conscious. I checked myself in a mirror. I looked OK I guess.
We paired off, Takuya walking next to me, and Hiro with Satomi.
"They make a cute couple," I whispered to Takuya.
"What? Who? Hiro and Satomi?" He seemed surprised.
"All they need is a little time alone together."
He mulled this over.
Once we walked down further, this girl cried out,
"Takuya! Hiro! Over here."
The girl was Japanese, around the same age as Takuya. She was a 'Gyaru,' a 'Ganguro,' a girl with a deep tan and hair dyed blonde. She had on bright pink lipstick, silver eye shadow and lots of mascara. She wore a tight-fitting bubblegum pink halter, hip-hugger jeans and a low-slung gold belt. You don't see a lot of girls dressed like this in the States, but I'd seen them before in Tokyo. It was quite the trend at one point.
"Ooh, Yuuki. How's it going?" Takuya smiled.
Satomi didn't look so happy that they knew this girl. I knew Takuya likes girls, but I guess we hadn't really seen them hanging around with other girls in the dorm.
"Who are your friends?" Yuuki asked Takuya.
"This is Emi, and that's Satomi. Satomi lives in our dorm on campus."
"Nice to meet you," Yuuki smiled, sticking out her hand for me to shake. I took it, surprised she was so friendly. Maybe she wasn't after Takuya after all.
"Yuuki here runs her own store," Takuya explained, pointing to a cart in the middle of the plaza. It was mostly Japanese character goods: Hello Kitty or Sailor Moon smartphone cases, purses or umbrellas. I'd seen similar things in other stores in Los Angeles. I was impressed by her drive. Here she was fresh out of high school and a businesswoman already.
"I don't actually run it," Yuuki told us. "I just take care of it for Mr. Kishitani. He brings all the stuff over from Japan. Is there anything you are looking for?"
"We came here to shop for swimsuits," I told her.
"Oh, I'm afraid I don't have any swimsuits. Maybe I could get Mr. Kishitani to order some. What kind are you looking for?"
Yuuki was quite the salesgirl. Guys who passed by would turn to look at her. I guess that's why she dressed in such a glitzy way. She was trying to attract customers.
"No, that's OK," I told her. "I think there's a swimwear store in the mall."
"Bikini Typhoon!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, it's just down the way a little."
Takuya and Hiro kept talking with Yuuki, but I wanted to get moving, so I grabbed Satomi's sleeve, and signaled her we should go.
"Hey! Listen, guys. We're going on ahead."
Takuya paused for a second, but then told Yuuki,
"I guess we'd better go too. Anyway, nice to see you, Yuuki."
"Drop by anytime," she purred. Satomi seemed pretty jealous, but I think she was worrying about nothing. They didn't seem that close anyway.
"Are you guys shopping for anything?" I asked.
"No, not really. We just thought we'd hang with you," Takuya grinned. Satomi looked a bit nervous. I took her hand, nodding that it would be alright.
We walked down a bit further, and found Bikini Typhoon. I'd been here before with Ryosuke. The salesclerk this time was an American woman, perky and smartly dress. She said hi when we walked in. The inside was done up in a Polynesian theme with these really brightly colored swimsuits and pareos and Hawaiian music playing. It reminded me of when I lived in Hawaii.
"Can I help you?" the saleswoman asked us. Her name tag said Patricia.
"Some kind of one-piece maybe," Satomi murmured shyly. Takuya rolled his eyes. Most of the girls on the beach in Oceanview wear these skimpy little bikinis. Patricia did manage to find some one-pieces for Satomi to try.
