I am now looking at the tall glass of the ever-famous Hula Twister Drink.
There's nothing weird about it.
It looks like a regular drink which is similar to pineapple juice...
"Are you ready?" I heard the newspaper's voice again.
The crowd lets out an enthusiastic series of shouts.
"You'd better prepare all the meal stubs, newspaper boy!" I glared at him.
"Oh,don't worry, I got them right here. See?" Van showed me 10 meal stubs on his hand.
I gave him another challenging stare.
"I'll definetely won't lose to you, newspaper boy!" I muttered at him.
"Let's see about that." Van shot back, as he gave me a playful wink.
At the same time, Van's brother, Ren, and Mika are just looking at them.
"Are you sure your sister wants to do this?" asked the worried Ren to Mika.
Mika just sighed.
"Looks like it." she answered.
Van started counting.
"Ready...Set...Go!" he announced.
On his signal, I started drinking the Hula Twister Drink as fast as I could. When the cold liquid started hitting my throat, I tasted its sweetness at first, and then it turned sour and then it became salty!
My tastebuds are like having a war inside my mouth!
I quickly stopped drinking, as I grimaced in disgust.
"Are you giving up now?" Van said,in a teasing tone.
My eyes suddenly turned to slits.
"No way!" I spat out.
With all of these people watching me, I couldn't afford to lose...
I took a deep calming breath,and after that,I went back on drinking the Hula Twister again.
The crowd cheered again.
After a few seconds,I finally raised the empty glass in the air, while smiling triumphantly at the newspaper boy.
Van was clearly disappointed at the outcome.He had never thought that this weird girl managed to finish the drink.
The audience clapped non-stop while looking at me with amazement. I was like
walking in the Cloud, while feeling proud of myself.
I suddenly felt a sudden blow on my stomach, as if someone punched me.
My face suddenly went pale.
"Nao! Are you alright?" Mika asked, with so much concern on her face. She quickly went to my side.
"I...think...I'm...going...to...be...sick!" I weakly voiced out. My hand quickly went
up to cover my mouth.
"Ren! Take her to the bathroom!" Mika frantically asked.
"I-I'll show you the way!" Ren offered.
The crowd grew silent, as they watched me rush to go to the bathroom.
After a few seconds of silence, Van was the first one to speak.
"Does this mean---?" he stopped at mid-sentence when someone spoke from the crowd.
"You won the bet,silly!"
Van blinked his eyes in disbelief.
"I did?" he dumbly inquired.
====================
After a few agonizing minutes, I leaned at the comfort room wall after throwing up. I pulled out my handkerchief from my jeans pocket and wiped my mouth. I feel so drained.
"Nao? How are you feeling now?" I could hear Mika's voice outside.
I reached out for the doorknob and opened the door.
"I'm a little...okay." I hoarsely answered.
Just behind Mika, Ren suddenly appeared.He was holding a glass of water.
"This will help you a bit." he advised.
"Thank you." I thanked him, while still feeling weak.
After drinking a glass of water, I glanced at Mika again.
"Let's go home, Mika..." I whispered at my sister.
"Alright,sis. Let's go." Mika agreed.
Mika held my hand, and she escorted me as we're making our way outside.
Once we were outside,I saw Van humming happily while waiting for us.
"So... When are we going to have our date?" Van asked right away once he saw me.
"You idiot...You knew all along you'll win the end..." I grumbled.
"If I'm not mistaken,Mika gave you a warning, right? But you still decided to go ahead with it." Van did a counter attack.
I shook my head in disgust.
"Whatever.Let's go,Mika!" I ordered my sister.
"If you're planning to forget our date, then think again. I have no choice but to personally talk to Doctor Nishikawa. Surely, she can see no harm on letting her daughter to have a date with me. We're really close, you know." Van sweetly said.
I looked at Mika for confirmation
.
"They really are, Nao." confirmed Mika, while nodding in return.
My jaw fell open in shock.
"I'll make you regret this..." I angrily spat back at him.
Without any word, I turned my back at him and rode on my bicycle.
Mika hurriedly followed me, while riding on her own bicycle.
========================
At the opposite side of the road, Reiko was on her way to the snackhouse as well.She's feeling hungry, after their practice.
Their school's swimming team is getting ready for the upcoming Annual Prefectural competition.
She pulled the breaks on her bike as she reached the snackhouse. Reiko was about to go inside when he suddenly heard Ren's puzzled voice.
"What are you planning to do with Mika's sister?"
"Why would I tell you?It's a secret!" Van responded.
"Are they talking about that girl from Tokyo?" Reiko puzzily wondered.
"---Well,I'm a bit curious,that's all.I've never seen you like this." Ren spoke again.
Van glanced at his younger brother.
"Don't worry.I'm sure she'll enjoy her date with me." assured Van.
"Okay, if that's what you think..." said Ren.
When Ren walked inside the house,Reiko decided to make her entrance.
"Already cleaning up?" it was obvious, but she just wanted to start a casual conversation with him.
"Reiko! How's the swimming training coming along?" Van inquired, while smiling.
Reiko's heart secretly did a sommersault inside her chest, just by looking at Van's boyish smile.
She never thought that she will have this kind of special feeling for her childhood friend.
"Well,so far so good...I've gotten hungry after all of that practice." she forced herself to answer as normal as she could.
Van walked towards her direction and out his hands on Reiko's shoulders.He guided Reiko at her favorite table.
Reiko gulped an imaginary lump on her throat. Whenever she makes a slight contact with Van, she feels a little awkward.
"Then take a seat. So, what do you want to have? The usual?" Van asked.
Reiko absent-mindedly nodded.
"Coming right up!" Van said, and then went inside the kitchen to prepare her order.
Reiko hopelessy sighed as she watch Van go.
There were times when she tried to confess her feelings for him, but whenever she has the chance,she always get nervous at the end .She doesn't have the courage to do it.
"I'm such a coward." she whispered to herself.