NOTE: I HAVE THIS AS A PDF FILE, SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY, COMMENT HERE AND I'LL EMAIL IT TO YOU.
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“Pour me another one, Joe.” I slid the empty glass toward the bartender, who caught it easily. “I’m cutting you off, Bianca.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s Cherry Coke.”
“Which can be just as dangerous as whiskey.” He put the glass on a counter behind the bar. “No more. You’ll thank me later. Caffeine headaches are a bitch, and I know how you girls are. When you gain five pounds, you’ll blame me.”
“Whatever.” So what if I gained weight? I was already the Duff, and the one guy I wanted to impress had a serious
girlfriend. I could gain seventy pounds and be no worse off.
“Sorry, Bianca.” Joe moved to the other end of the bar, where Angela and her best friend, Vikki, waited to order
drinks.
I drummed my fingers on the wooden surface of the bar, my mind far away from the music and strobe lights. Why
hadn’t I insisted on staying home with Dad? Why hadn’t I just made him talk to me? I kept imagining him, wallowing in his misery alone.
But that’s how we Pipers handled stress.
Alone.
Why was that? Why couldn’t either of us open up? Why couldn’t Dad admit that he and Mom were having issues? Why couldn’t I confront him about it?
“Hello, Duffy.”
Why did that jackass have to sit next to me?
“Go away, Wesley,” I growled, staring down at my restless fingers.
“I can’t,” he said. “You see, Duffy, I’m not one to give up easily. I am determined to hook up with one of your friends —preferably the one with the fantastic rack.”
“Then go talk to her,” I suggested.
“I would, but Wesley Rush doesn’t chase girls. They chase him.” He grinned at me. “It’s all right. She’ll be over here begging me to sleep with her soon. Talking to you will just speed up the process. Until then, you get the honor of my company. Lucky for me, it doesn’t look like you’re armed with a beverage tonight.” He laughed but stopped suddenly. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t look up. “Are you all right? You don’t seem as aggressive as usual.”
“Leave me alone, Wesley. I’m serious.” “What’s wrong?”
“Go away.”
The anxiety inside me needed to escape, to be released in some way. I couldn’t wait until Casey and I got back to her house to vent. I needed to let it out right then. But I didn’t want to cry, not in front of half the school, and there was no way I was going to talk about it with Joe or the douche bag next to me, and punching someone would just get me in trouble. I couldn’t see any other options, but I felt like I’d explode if I didn’t let it out soon.
Mom was in California.
Dad was drowning.
I was too much of a coward to do a damn thing about it.
“There has to be something bothering you,” Wesley persisted. “You look like you might cry.” He put a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to turn and face him. “Bianca?”
Then I did a really fucked-up thing. My only excuse is that I was under an unbelievable amount of stress, and I spotted an outlet. I needed something to distract me—anything far away from my parents’ drama—just for a second. And when I saw my chance I didn’t stop to think about how much I’d regret it later. An opportunity sat on the
bar stool beside me, and I lunged at it. Literally.
I kissed Wesley Rush.
One second his hand lay on my shoulder, and his gray eyes rested, for once, on my face, and the next my mouth was on his. My lips were fierce with bottled emotion, and he seemed to tense, his body frozen in shock. That didn’t last very long. An instant later, he returned the aggression, his hands flying to my sides and pulling me toward him. It felt like a battle between our mouths. My hands clawed into his curly hair, tugging it way harder than necessary, and his fingertips dug into my waist.
It worked better than punching someone would have. Not only did it help me release the agonizing pressure, but it definitely distracted me. I mean, it’s hard to think about your dad when you’re making out with somebody.
And as disturbing as it sounds, Wesley was a really good kisser. He leaned into me, and I tugged at him so hard that he nearly fell off his bar stool. In that moment, we just couldn’t get close enough to each other. Our separate seats seemed like they were miles apart.
All of my thoughts vanished, and I became a sort of physical being. Emotions disappeared. Nothing existed but our bodies, and our warring lips were at the center of everything. It was bliss! It was amazing not to think.
Nothing! Nothing until he screwed it up.
His hand slid up from my waist, trailing along my torso, and came to a stop right on my boob.
Everything flooded back, and I suddenly remembered exactly who I was kissing. I tore my hands out of his hair and shoved him away from me as hard as I could. Anger—fresh, hot anger—surged through me, completely replacing the anxious worry I’d been feeling a minute before. His hands dropped, one landing on my knee, as he pulled away. He looked surprised but distinctly pleased.
“Wow, Duffy, that was—”
And I slapped him. I slapped him so hard, my palm stung with the contact.
The hand on my knee flew to his cheek. “What the hell?” he demanded. “Why did you do that?”
“Asshole!” I yelled. I jumped off my stool and stormed onto the dance floor. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was
madder at myself than at him.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
The Duff by Kody Keplinger CHAPTER 2
NOTE: I HAVE THIS AS A PDF FILE, SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY, COMMENT HERE AND I'LL EMAIL IT TO YOU.
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There is nothing more peaceful than quiet on a Saturday night—or very early Sunday morning. Dad’s muffled
snores rumbled from down the hall, but the rest of the house was silent when I crept in sometime after one. Or
maybe I’d been deafened by the thudding bass at the Oak Hill party. Honestly, the idea of hearing loss didn’t bother
me too much. If it meant I never had to listen to techno again, I was all for it.
I locked the front door behind me and walked through the dark, empty living room. I saw the postcard lying on the coffee table, sent from whatever city Mom was in now, but I didn’t bother reading it. It would still be there in the morning, and I was just too tired, so I dragged myself up the stairs to my bedroom instead.
Stifling a yawn, I hung my coat over the back of my desk chair and moved over to my bed. The migraine began to subside as I kicked my Converse across the room. I was exhausted, but my OCD was totally calling. The pile of clean laundry on the floor, by the foot of my bed had to be folded before I’d ever be able to sleep.
Carefully, I lifted each piece of clothing and folded it with embarrassing precision. Then I stacked the shirts, jeans, and underwear in separate sections on the floor. Somehow, the act of folding the wrinkled clothes soothed me. As I made the perfect piles, my mind cleared, my body relaxed, and my irritation from the night of loud music and obnoxious, rich, sex-obsessed pigs ebbed. With every even crease, I was reborn.
When all of the clothes were folded, I stood up, leaving the stacks on the floor. I pulled off my sweater and jeans, which stank from the sweltering parties, and tossed them into the hamper in the corner of my room. I could shower in the morning. I was too tired to deal with it tonight.
Before crawling under my sheets, I took a glance at the full-length mirror across the room. I searched my reflection with new eyes, with new knowledge. Uncontrollable wavy auburn hair. A long nose. Big thighs. Small boobs. Yep. Definitely Duff material. How had I not known?
I mean, I’d never considered myself particularly attractive and it wasn’t hard to see that Casey and Jessica, both thin and blond, were gorgeous, but still. The fact that I played the role of the ugly girl to their luscious duo hadn’t occurred to me. Thanks to Wesley Rush, I could see it now.
Sometimes it’s better to be clueless.
I pulled a blanket up to my chin, hiding my naked body from the scrutiny of the mirror. Wesley was living proof that beauty was only skin-deep, so why did his words bother me? I was intelligent. I was a good person. So who cared if I was the Duff? If I were attractive, I’d have to deal with guys like Wesley hitting on me. Ugh! So being the Duff had its benefits, right? Being unattractive didn’t have to suck.
Damn Wesley Rush! I couldn’t believe he was making me worry about such stupid, pointless, shallow bullshit. I closed my eyes. I wouldn’t think about it in the morning. I wouldn’t think about Duffs ever again.
Sunday was fantastic—nice, quiet, uninterrupted euphoria. Of course, things were usually pretty quiet when Mom
was away. When she was home, the house always seemed loud. There was always music or laughter or something lively and chaotic. But she never seemed to be home for more than a couple of months, and in the time that she was gone, everything grew still. Like me, Dad wasn’t much for socializing. He was usually buried in his work or watching television. Which meant the Piper house was pretty much silent.
And, on a morning after I’d been forced to withstand all the racket of clubs and parties, a quiet house was the equivalent of perfection. But Monday sucked.
All Mondays suck, of course, but this Monday really fucked up everything. It all started first block when Jessica slumped into Spanish with tear-stained cheeks and running mascara.
“Jessica, what’s wrong?” I asked. “Did something happen? Is everything okay?”
I’ll admit it; I always got really freaked out on the rare occasions when Jessica came to class looking anything less than perky. I mean, she was constantly bouncing and giggling. So when she came in looking so depressed, it scared the shit out of me.
Jessica shook her head miserably and collapsed into her seat. “Everything’s fine, but I can’t go to Homecoming!” Fresh tears spewed from her wide chocolate eyes. “Mom won’t let me go!”
That was it? She’d gotten me all freaked out over Homecoming?
“Why not?” I asked, still trying to be sympathetic.
“I’m grounded,” Jessica sniffed. “She saw my report card in my room this morning, and she found out I’m failing chemistry, and she flipped out! It’s not effing fair! Basketball Homecoming is, like, my favorite dance of the year after prom and Sadie Hawkins and Football Homecoming.”
I tilted my chin down and looked at her teasingly. “Wow, how many favorites do you have?”
She didn’t answer. Or laugh.
“I’m sorry, Jessica. I know it must suck but I’m not going either.” I didn’t mention that I considered the whole
practice of school dances degrading or that they were just giant wastes of time and money. Jessica already knew my opinions on the matter, and I didn’t think reminding her would help the situation. But I was pretty happy I wouldn’t be the only girl skipping. “How about this: I’ll come over, and we’ll watch movies all night. Will your mom be cool with that?”
Jessica nodded and wiped her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve. “Yeah,” she said. “Mom likes you. She thinks you’re a good influence on me. So that’ll be okay. Thanks, Bianca. Can we watch Atonement again? Are you sick of it yet?”
Yes, I was getting very sick of the mushy romances Jessica swooned over, but I could get over it. I grinned at her. “I never get tired of James McAvoy. We can even watch Becoming Jane if you want. It’ll be a double feature.”
She laughed—finally—just as the teacher made her way to the front of the room and began obsessively
straightening the pencils on her desk before calling roll. Jessica tossed a glance at the scrawny instructor. When she looked back at me, her dark brown eyes sparkled with a few fresh tears. “You know what the worst part is, Bianca?” she whispered. “I was gonna ask Harrison to go with me. Now I’ll have to wait until prom to ask him to a dance.”
Because of her sensitive state, I decided not to remind her that Harrison wouldn’t be interested because she had boobs—big ones. Instead I just said, “I know. I’m sorry, Jessica.”
Once that little crisis was behind us, Spanish went by smoothly. Jessica’s tears cleared up, and by the time the bell rang, she was laughing giddily while Angela, a friend of ours, told us about her new boyfriend. I found out that I’d made an A on my last prueba de vocabulario. Plus, I totally understood how to conjugate regular present subjunctive verbs. So I was in a pretty damn good mood when Jessica, Angela, and I walked out of the classroom.
“And he has a job on campus,” Angela rambled as we pushed our way into the crowded hall. “Where does he go to school?” I asked.
“Oak Hill Community College.” She sounded a little embarrassed, and she quickly added, “But he’s just getting his associate’s degree there before he goes to a university. And OHCC isn’t a bad school or anything.”
“That’s where I’m going,” Jessica said. “I don’t want to go too far from home.”
Jessica and I were such polar opposites, it was sort of funny sometimes. You could always predict what one of us was going to want to do just by picking the reverse of the other. Personally, I wanted to get the hell out of Hamilton as soon as possible. Graduation couldn’t arrive soon enough, and then I’d be off to New York for college.
But the idea of being so far away from Jessica—not seeing her bounce by me every day or hearing her jabber about dances and gay boys—suddenly scared me. I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d handle it. She and Casey kind of balanced me out. I wasn’t sure anyone else would be willing to put up with my cynicism once I left town.
“We should get to chemistry, Jess,” Angela said as she shook her long black bangs from her eyes. “You know how Mr. Rollins gets when we show up late.”
They scampered off to the science department, and I started down the hallway heading toward AP government. My
mind drifted to other places, to a future without my best friends to keep me sane. I’d never considered that before, and now that I was thinking about it, it made me really nervous. I knew they’d tease me for it, but I would have to find a way to keep in constant touch.
I guess my eyes lost contact with my brain, because the next thing I knew, I ran smack into Wesley Rush.
That was the end of my good mood.
I stumbled backward, and all of my textbooks slipped from my arms and crashed to the floor. Wesley grabbed me by both shoulders, his large hands catching me before I had the chance to trip over my own feet and slam into the tile.
“Whoa,” he said, steadying me.
We were standing way too close to each other. I felt like I had bugs crawling under my skin, spreading from the places where his hands touched me. I shivered with disgust, but he misread it.
“Wow, Duffy,” he said, looking down at me with a cocky grin. He was really tall—I’d forgotten that, sitting next to him at the Nest the other night. He was one of the only boys in our school who was taller than Casey—at least six two. An entire foot taller than me. “Do I make you weak in the knees?”
“As if.” I twisted out of his grasp, fully aware that I sounded like Alicia Silverstone in Clueless but just not caring. I knelt down and began to gather my books, and to my intense displeasure, Wesley joined me. He was playing the Good Samaritan role, of course. I bet he was hoping some hot cheerleader, like Casey, would walk by and think he was being a gentleman. What a pig. Always looking to score.
“Spanish, huh?” he said, glancing down at the scattered papers as he grabbed them. “Can you say anything interesting?”
“El tono de tu voz hace que quiera estrangularme.” I stood up and waited for him to hand over my papers. “That sounds sexy,” he said, getting to his feet and handing me the stack of Spanish work he’d swept together.
“What’s it mean?”
“The sound of your voice makes me want to strangle myself.” “Kinky.”
Without another word, I jerked the papers from his hands, tucked them inside one of my books, and stomped off to class. I needed to put as much distance between myself and the womanizing bastard as possible. Duffy? Seriously? He knew my name! The egotistical jackass just couldn’t let me be. Not to mention my skin was still itching where he’d touched me.
Mr. Chaucer’s AP government class consisted of only nine students, and seven of them were already in the room
by the time I walked through the door. Mr. Chaucer gave me a dirty look through his squinting eyes, impressing upon me that the bell would ring any second. To be late was a felony in Mr. Chaucer’s opinion, and to be almost late constituted a misdemeanor. I wasn’t the last one to show up, though. That helped a little.
I took my seat in the very back of the room and started to open my notebook, hoping to God that Mr. Chaucer
wouldn’t call me out on my near tardiness. With my current mood, there was no guarantee I wouldn’t start cussing at him. He didn’t, and we were both saved the drama.
The last student entered just as the bell rang. “Sorry, Mr. Chaucer. I was putting up signs promoting next week’s inauguration ceremony. You didn’t start already, did you?”
My heart skipped a beat when I looked up at the boy who’d just come in.
Okay, so I’m not quiet about the fact that I hate teenagers who date in high school and constantly rant and rave about how much they “love” their boyfriend or girlfriend. I freely admit that I hate girls who say they love someone before they’ve dated them. I don’t hide the fact that, in my opinion, love takes years—five or ten at least—to develop, and high school relationships seem incredibly pointless to me. Everyone knew this about me but nobody knew that I was almost a hypocrite.
Well, okay, Casey and Jessica knew, but that didn’t count.
Toby Tucker. Aside from the tragic alliteration, he was perfect in every single way. He wasn’t a testosterone-loaded
football player. He wasn’t an overly sensitive guitar-playing hippie. He didn’t write poetry or wear eyeliner. So he probably wouldn’t have been classified as the typical hottie, but that worked in my favor, right? Jocks, guys in bands, and Emo boys didn’t look twice at—as Wesley would have so delicately worded it—the Duff. I probably had a better chance with intelligent, politically active, somewhat socially awkward guys like Toby. Right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Toby Tucker was my perfect match. Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware of this fact. That was mostly because I lost my
ability to form coherent sentences every time he got close to me. He probably thought I was mute or something. He never looked at me or spoke to me or even seemed to notice me in the back of the room. For a girl with such a fat ass, I felt pretty invisible.
I noticed Toby, though. I noticed his outdated yet adorable blond bowl cut and his pasty ivory skin. I noticed his green eyes beneath the lenses of his oval glasses. I noticed that he wore a blazer with everything, and I noticed the adorable way he bit his lower lip when he was thinking really hard about something. I was in okay, not love, but definitely like. I was deeply in like with Toby Tucker.
“Fine,” Mr. Chaucer muttered. “Just keep an eye on your watch tomorrow, Mr. Tucker.”
“Sure thing, sir.”
Toby took a seat in the front row next to Jeanine McPhee. Like a stalker, I listened in on their conversation while Mr. Chaucer started writing the lecture notes on the whiteboard. I’m not normally such a creep, but lo—like makes people do crazy things. At least that’s the popular excuse.
“How was your weekend, Toby?” Jeanine asked through her constantly stuffy nose. “Did you do anything exciting?” “It was pretty good,” Toby said. “Dad took Nina and me out of state. We toured the University of Southern Illinois
together. That was fun.”
“Is Nina your sister?” Jeanine asked.
“No. Nina’s my girlfriend. She goes to Oak Hill High School. Didn’t I tell you about her? Anyway, we both got accepted there, so we wanted to check it out. I’m looking at a few other schools, but we’ve been together for a year and a half, and we kind of want to attend the same school to avoid the long-distance issue.”
“That’s sweet!” Jeanine cried. “I’m actually considering just doing some classes at OHCC before I decide what university I’ll go to.”
My skin had stopped crawling, but now my stomach was doing sickening somersaults. I thought I was going to vomit, and I had to fight the urge to run from the room with a hand cupped over my mouth. Eventually, I won the battle to keep my breakfast where it belonged, but I still felt pretty shitty.
Toby had a girlfriend? For a year and a half? Oh my God! How had I missed that? And they were going to college
together? Did that mean he was one of those stupid, mushy romantics I mocked on a daily basis? I’d expected so much more from Toby Tucker. I’d expected him to be just as skeptical about the nature of teenage love as I was. I’d expected him to see college as a huge decision, not one that should be swayed by where your boyfriend/girlfriend got accepted. I’d expected him to be well, smart!
He wouldn’t date you, anyway, a voice in my head hissed at me. It sounded uncannily like Wesley Rush’s unnerving whisper. You’re the Duff, remember? His girlfriend is probably thinner with bigger boobs .
It wasn’t even lunch yet, and I already wanted to jump off a cliff. Well, okay, that was overdramatic. I definitely
wanted to go home and go to bed, though. I wanted to forget Toby had a serious girlfriend. I wanted to wash the feeling of Wesley’s hands off me. Mostly, though, I wanted to erase the word Duff from my memory.
Oh, yeah, and things got worse that day, too.
Around six o’clock that night, the guy on the news started talking about some big snowstorm that would show up in the “early morning hours.” I guess the school board took pity on us since we hadn’t had a single snow day so far, because they went ahead and canceled classes before the storm even hit. So Casey called at seven-thirty and insisted that we go to the Nest, since we didn’t have to get up early the next morning.
“I don’t know, Casey,” I said. “What if the roads are bad?” I’ll admit it. I was looking for any reason not to go. My day had been crappy enough on its own. I didn’t know if I could endure the torture of that hellhole, too.
“B, the storm isn’t supposed to even start until, like, three a.m. or something. As long as we’re home by then it’ll be cool.”
“I have a lot of homework.”
“It’s not due until Wednesday. You can work on it all day tomorrow if you want.”
I sighed. “Can you and Jessica find another ride and go without me? I just don’t feel up to it. It’s been a bad day, Casey.”
I could always rely on Casey to act at the slightest sign of trouble. “What happened?” she asked. “Are you okay? You didn’t look happy at lunch. Is it about your mom?”
“Casey.”
“Tell me what’s up.”
“Nothing,” I assured her. “Today just sucked, okay? Nothing major or anything. I’m just not in the mood to go partying with you guys tonight.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Finally, Casey said, “Bianca, you know you can tell me anything, right? You know you can talk to me if you need to. Don’t keep things bottled up. It’s not good for you.”
“Casey, I’m fi—”
“You’re fine,” she interrupted. “Yeah, I know. I’m just saying that if you have a problem, I’m here for you.”
“I know,” I murmured. I felt guilty for getting her nervous like that over something so stupid. I had a bad habit of
holding in all my emotions, and Casey knew that all too well. She was always trying to look out for me. Always coaxing me into sharing so that I didn’t wind up exploding later. It could get annoying, but knowing that someone cared well, that felt nice. So I couldn’t really get mad about it. “I know, Casey. I’m fine, though. It’s just I found out Toby has a girlfriend today, and I’m a little bummed. That’s all.”
“Oh, B,” she sighed. “That sucks. I’m sorry. Maybe if you come out tonight, Jess and I can cheer you up. Two scoops of ice cream and everything.”
I let out a little laugh. “Thanks, but no thanks. I think I’ll just stay home tonight.”
I hung up the phone and went downstairs, where I found Dad using the cordless in the kitchen. I heard him before I saw him. He was yelling into the receiver. I stood in the doorway, assuming he’d notice me and immediately lower his voice. I figured some telemarketer was getting an earful of Mike Piper, but then my name came up.
“Think of what you’re doing to Bianca!” Dad’s loud voice, which I’d taken for anger, sounded more like pleading. “This isn’t good for a seventeen-year-old girl and her mother. She needs you here at home, Gina. We need you here.”
I slipped back into the living room, surprised to realize he was talking to my mother. Truthfully, I didn’t really know
how to feel about it. About the things he was saying. I mean, yeah, I missed my mom. Having her home would have been nice, but it wasn’t as if we weren’t used to getting along without her.
My mother was a motivational speaker. When I was a kid, she’d written some sort of uplifting, inspirational book about improving self-esteem. It hadn’t sold well, but she still got offers to speak at colleges, support groups, and graduations all over the country. Since the book had flopped, she came pretty cheap.
For a while, she’d taken only local jobs. Ones she could drive home from after she finished telling people how to love themselves. But after my grandmother passed away, when I was twelve, Mom got a little depressed. Dad suggested she take a vacation. Just get away for a few weeks.
When she came back, she gushed about all the places she’d seen and the people she’d met. I guess maybe that’s
what sparked her addiction to traveling. Because after that first vacation, Mom started booking events all over the place. In Colorado and New Hampshire. She’d set up entire tours.
Only this tour, the one she was on now, had been the longest. She hadn’t been home in almost two months, and this time I wasn’t even sure where she was speaking.
Obviously that was why Dad was pissed. Because she’d been gone for so long.
“Damn it, Gina. When are you going to stop being a child and come home? When are you coming home to us for good?” The way my dad’s voice cracked when he uttered that sentence nearly had me in tears. “Gina,” he murmured. “Gina, we love you. Bianca and I miss you, and we want you to come home.”
I pressed myself against the wall that separated me from Dad, biting my lip. God, it was just getting pathetic. I mean, why wouldn’t they just get a fucking divorce already? Was I the only one who could see that things just weren’t working out here? What was the point of being married if Mom was always gone?
“Gina,” my father said, and I thought it sounded like he was on the verge of crying. Then I heard him put the phone
down on the counter. The talk was over.
I gave him a couple of minutes before I walked into the kitchen. “Hey, Dad. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. God, he was a bad liar. “Oh, it’s fine, Bumblebee. I just had a talk with your mom and she sends her love.”
“From where this time?”
“Um Orange County,” he said. “She’s visiting your aunt Leah while she speaks at a high school there. Cool, huh?
You can tell your friends that your mom is in the O.C. now. You like that show, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I liked it but it got canceled a few years ago.”
“Oh, well I guess I’m behind, Bumblebee.” I saw his eyes drift over to the counter, where he’d left his car keys, and I followed them. He noticed this and looked away quickly, before I could say anything. “Do you have plans tonight?” he asked.
“Well, I could make some, but” I cleared my throat, uncertain of how to say my next sentence. Dad and I really didn’t make a habit of talking to each other. “I could stay home, too. Do you want me to stay here and, like, watch TV with you or something?”
“Oh, no, Bumblebee,” he said with an unconvincing laugh. “Go have fun with your friends. I’ll probably go to bed early tonight, anyway.”
I looked him in the eye, hoping he’d change his mind. Dad always got really depressed after his fights with Mom. I was worried about him, but I wasn’t really sure how to approach the subject.
And in the back of my mind, there was this tiny fear. It was stupid, really, but I couldn’t shake it. My father was a recovering alcoholic. I mean, he quit before I was born, and he hadn’t touched a drop since but sometimes, when he got all pouty about Mom, I got scared. Scared that he might take those car keys and head to the liquor store or something. Like I said, it was ridiculous, but the fear couldn’t be vanquished.
Dad broke our eye contact and shifted uncomfortably. He turned and walked toward the sink, washing the plate he’d just eaten spaghetti off of. I wanted to walk over there and take the plate—his pathetic excuse to distract himself—and throw it on the ground. I wanted to tell him how stupid this whole thing was with Mom. I wanted him to realize what a waste of time these dumb depressions and fights were and just admit things weren’t working out.
But, of course, I couldn’t. All I could say was, “Dad”
He faced me, shaking his head, a wet dishrag dangling from his hand. “Go out and have fun,” he said. “Seriously, I want you to. You’re only a kid once.”
There was no arguing. That was his subtle way of telling me he wanted to be alone.
“Okay,” I said. “If you’re sure I’ll go call Casey.”
I walked upstairs and into my bedroom. I picked my cell phone up off the dresser and dialed Casey’s number. Two rings in, she answered.
“Hey, Casey. I changed my mind about the Nest and, um, do you think it would be okay if I stayed over tonight? I’ll tell you about it later, but I just don’t want to stay at home.”
I refolded the clean clothes on the floor at the foot of my bed before I left, but it didn’t help as much as it usually did.
---
There is nothing more peaceful than quiet on a Saturday night—or very early Sunday morning. Dad’s muffled
snores rumbled from down the hall, but the rest of the house was silent when I crept in sometime after one. Or
maybe I’d been deafened by the thudding bass at the Oak Hill party. Honestly, the idea of hearing loss didn’t bother
me too much. If it meant I never had to listen to techno again, I was all for it.
I locked the front door behind me and walked through the dark, empty living room. I saw the postcard lying on the coffee table, sent from whatever city Mom was in now, but I didn’t bother reading it. It would still be there in the morning, and I was just too tired, so I dragged myself up the stairs to my bedroom instead.
Stifling a yawn, I hung my coat over the back of my desk chair and moved over to my bed. The migraine began to subside as I kicked my Converse across the room. I was exhausted, but my OCD was totally calling. The pile of clean laundry on the floor, by the foot of my bed had to be folded before I’d ever be able to sleep.
Carefully, I lifted each piece of clothing and folded it with embarrassing precision. Then I stacked the shirts, jeans, and underwear in separate sections on the floor. Somehow, the act of folding the wrinkled clothes soothed me. As I made the perfect piles, my mind cleared, my body relaxed, and my irritation from the night of loud music and obnoxious, rich, sex-obsessed pigs ebbed. With every even crease, I was reborn.
When all of the clothes were folded, I stood up, leaving the stacks on the floor. I pulled off my sweater and jeans, which stank from the sweltering parties, and tossed them into the hamper in the corner of my room. I could shower in the morning. I was too tired to deal with it tonight.
Before crawling under my sheets, I took a glance at the full-length mirror across the room. I searched my reflection with new eyes, with new knowledge. Uncontrollable wavy auburn hair. A long nose. Big thighs. Small boobs. Yep. Definitely Duff material. How had I not known?
I mean, I’d never considered myself particularly attractive and it wasn’t hard to see that Casey and Jessica, both thin and blond, were gorgeous, but still. The fact that I played the role of the ugly girl to their luscious duo hadn’t occurred to me. Thanks to Wesley Rush, I could see it now.
Sometimes it’s better to be clueless.
I pulled a blanket up to my chin, hiding my naked body from the scrutiny of the mirror. Wesley was living proof that beauty was only skin-deep, so why did his words bother me? I was intelligent. I was a good person. So who cared if I was the Duff? If I were attractive, I’d have to deal with guys like Wesley hitting on me. Ugh! So being the Duff had its benefits, right? Being unattractive didn’t have to suck.
Damn Wesley Rush! I couldn’t believe he was making me worry about such stupid, pointless, shallow bullshit. I closed my eyes. I wouldn’t think about it in the morning. I wouldn’t think about Duffs ever again.
Sunday was fantastic—nice, quiet, uninterrupted euphoria. Of course, things were usually pretty quiet when Mom
was away. When she was home, the house always seemed loud. There was always music or laughter or something lively and chaotic. But she never seemed to be home for more than a couple of months, and in the time that she was gone, everything grew still. Like me, Dad wasn’t much for socializing. He was usually buried in his work or watching television. Which meant the Piper house was pretty much silent.
And, on a morning after I’d been forced to withstand all the racket of clubs and parties, a quiet house was the equivalent of perfection. But Monday sucked.
All Mondays suck, of course, but this Monday really fucked up everything. It all started first block when Jessica slumped into Spanish with tear-stained cheeks and running mascara.
“Jessica, what’s wrong?” I asked. “Did something happen? Is everything okay?”
I’ll admit it; I always got really freaked out on the rare occasions when Jessica came to class looking anything less than perky. I mean, she was constantly bouncing and giggling. So when she came in looking so depressed, it scared the shit out of me.
Jessica shook her head miserably and collapsed into her seat. “Everything’s fine, but I can’t go to Homecoming!” Fresh tears spewed from her wide chocolate eyes. “Mom won’t let me go!”
That was it? She’d gotten me all freaked out over Homecoming?
“Why not?” I asked, still trying to be sympathetic.
“I’m grounded,” Jessica sniffed. “She saw my report card in my room this morning, and she found out I’m failing chemistry, and she flipped out! It’s not effing fair! Basketball Homecoming is, like, my favorite dance of the year after prom and Sadie Hawkins and Football Homecoming.”
I tilted my chin down and looked at her teasingly. “Wow, how many favorites do you have?”
She didn’t answer. Or laugh.
“I’m sorry, Jessica. I know it must suck but I’m not going either.” I didn’t mention that I considered the whole
practice of school dances degrading or that they were just giant wastes of time and money. Jessica already knew my opinions on the matter, and I didn’t think reminding her would help the situation. But I was pretty happy I wouldn’t be the only girl skipping. “How about this: I’ll come over, and we’ll watch movies all night. Will your mom be cool with that?”
Jessica nodded and wiped her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve. “Yeah,” she said. “Mom likes you. She thinks you’re a good influence on me. So that’ll be okay. Thanks, Bianca. Can we watch Atonement again? Are you sick of it yet?”
Yes, I was getting very sick of the mushy romances Jessica swooned over, but I could get over it. I grinned at her. “I never get tired of James McAvoy. We can even watch Becoming Jane if you want. It’ll be a double feature.”
She laughed—finally—just as the teacher made her way to the front of the room and began obsessively
straightening the pencils on her desk before calling roll. Jessica tossed a glance at the scrawny instructor. When she looked back at me, her dark brown eyes sparkled with a few fresh tears. “You know what the worst part is, Bianca?” she whispered. “I was gonna ask Harrison to go with me. Now I’ll have to wait until prom to ask him to a dance.”
Because of her sensitive state, I decided not to remind her that Harrison wouldn’t be interested because she had boobs—big ones. Instead I just said, “I know. I’m sorry, Jessica.”
Once that little crisis was behind us, Spanish went by smoothly. Jessica’s tears cleared up, and by the time the bell rang, she was laughing giddily while Angela, a friend of ours, told us about her new boyfriend. I found out that I’d made an A on my last prueba de vocabulario. Plus, I totally understood how to conjugate regular present subjunctive verbs. So I was in a pretty damn good mood when Jessica, Angela, and I walked out of the classroom.
“And he has a job on campus,” Angela rambled as we pushed our way into the crowded hall. “Where does he go to school?” I asked.
“Oak Hill Community College.” She sounded a little embarrassed, and she quickly added, “But he’s just getting his associate’s degree there before he goes to a university. And OHCC isn’t a bad school or anything.”
“That’s where I’m going,” Jessica said. “I don’t want to go too far from home.”
Jessica and I were such polar opposites, it was sort of funny sometimes. You could always predict what one of us was going to want to do just by picking the reverse of the other. Personally, I wanted to get the hell out of Hamilton as soon as possible. Graduation couldn’t arrive soon enough, and then I’d be off to New York for college.
But the idea of being so far away from Jessica—not seeing her bounce by me every day or hearing her jabber about dances and gay boys—suddenly scared me. I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d handle it. She and Casey kind of balanced me out. I wasn’t sure anyone else would be willing to put up with my cynicism once I left town.
“We should get to chemistry, Jess,” Angela said as she shook her long black bangs from her eyes. “You know how Mr. Rollins gets when we show up late.”
They scampered off to the science department, and I started down the hallway heading toward AP government. My
mind drifted to other places, to a future without my best friends to keep me sane. I’d never considered that before, and now that I was thinking about it, it made me really nervous. I knew they’d tease me for it, but I would have to find a way to keep in constant touch.
I guess my eyes lost contact with my brain, because the next thing I knew, I ran smack into Wesley Rush.
That was the end of my good mood.
I stumbled backward, and all of my textbooks slipped from my arms and crashed to the floor. Wesley grabbed me by both shoulders, his large hands catching me before I had the chance to trip over my own feet and slam into the tile.
“Whoa,” he said, steadying me.
We were standing way too close to each other. I felt like I had bugs crawling under my skin, spreading from the places where his hands touched me. I shivered with disgust, but he misread it.
“Wow, Duffy,” he said, looking down at me with a cocky grin. He was really tall—I’d forgotten that, sitting next to him at the Nest the other night. He was one of the only boys in our school who was taller than Casey—at least six two. An entire foot taller than me. “Do I make you weak in the knees?”
“As if.” I twisted out of his grasp, fully aware that I sounded like Alicia Silverstone in Clueless but just not caring. I knelt down and began to gather my books, and to my intense displeasure, Wesley joined me. He was playing the Good Samaritan role, of course. I bet he was hoping some hot cheerleader, like Casey, would walk by and think he was being a gentleman. What a pig. Always looking to score.
“Spanish, huh?” he said, glancing down at the scattered papers as he grabbed them. “Can you say anything interesting?”
“El tono de tu voz hace que quiera estrangularme.” I stood up and waited for him to hand over my papers. “That sounds sexy,” he said, getting to his feet and handing me the stack of Spanish work he’d swept together.
“What’s it mean?”
“The sound of your voice makes me want to strangle myself.” “Kinky.”
Without another word, I jerked the papers from his hands, tucked them inside one of my books, and stomped off to class. I needed to put as much distance between myself and the womanizing bastard as possible. Duffy? Seriously? He knew my name! The egotistical jackass just couldn’t let me be. Not to mention my skin was still itching where he’d touched me.
Mr. Chaucer’s AP government class consisted of only nine students, and seven of them were already in the room
by the time I walked through the door. Mr. Chaucer gave me a dirty look through his squinting eyes, impressing upon me that the bell would ring any second. To be late was a felony in Mr. Chaucer’s opinion, and to be almost late constituted a misdemeanor. I wasn’t the last one to show up, though. That helped a little.
I took my seat in the very back of the room and started to open my notebook, hoping to God that Mr. Chaucer
wouldn’t call me out on my near tardiness. With my current mood, there was no guarantee I wouldn’t start cussing at him. He didn’t, and we were both saved the drama.
The last student entered just as the bell rang. “Sorry, Mr. Chaucer. I was putting up signs promoting next week’s inauguration ceremony. You didn’t start already, did you?”
My heart skipped a beat when I looked up at the boy who’d just come in.
Okay, so I’m not quiet about the fact that I hate teenagers who date in high school and constantly rant and rave about how much they “love” their boyfriend or girlfriend. I freely admit that I hate girls who say they love someone before they’ve dated them. I don’t hide the fact that, in my opinion, love takes years—five or ten at least—to develop, and high school relationships seem incredibly pointless to me. Everyone knew this about me but nobody knew that I was almost a hypocrite.
Well, okay, Casey and Jessica knew, but that didn’t count.
Toby Tucker. Aside from the tragic alliteration, he was perfect in every single way. He wasn’t a testosterone-loaded
football player. He wasn’t an overly sensitive guitar-playing hippie. He didn’t write poetry or wear eyeliner. So he probably wouldn’t have been classified as the typical hottie, but that worked in my favor, right? Jocks, guys in bands, and Emo boys didn’t look twice at—as Wesley would have so delicately worded it—the Duff. I probably had a better chance with intelligent, politically active, somewhat socially awkward guys like Toby. Right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Toby Tucker was my perfect match. Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware of this fact. That was mostly because I lost my
ability to form coherent sentences every time he got close to me. He probably thought I was mute or something. He never looked at me or spoke to me or even seemed to notice me in the back of the room. For a girl with such a fat ass, I felt pretty invisible.
I noticed Toby, though. I noticed his outdated yet adorable blond bowl cut and his pasty ivory skin. I noticed his green eyes beneath the lenses of his oval glasses. I noticed that he wore a blazer with everything, and I noticed the adorable way he bit his lower lip when he was thinking really hard about something. I was in okay, not love, but definitely like. I was deeply in like with Toby Tucker.
“Fine,” Mr. Chaucer muttered. “Just keep an eye on your watch tomorrow, Mr. Tucker.”
“Sure thing, sir.”
Toby took a seat in the front row next to Jeanine McPhee. Like a stalker, I listened in on their conversation while Mr. Chaucer started writing the lecture notes on the whiteboard. I’m not normally such a creep, but lo—like makes people do crazy things. At least that’s the popular excuse.
“How was your weekend, Toby?” Jeanine asked through her constantly stuffy nose. “Did you do anything exciting?” “It was pretty good,” Toby said. “Dad took Nina and me out of state. We toured the University of Southern Illinois
together. That was fun.”
“Is Nina your sister?” Jeanine asked.
“No. Nina’s my girlfriend. She goes to Oak Hill High School. Didn’t I tell you about her? Anyway, we both got accepted there, so we wanted to check it out. I’m looking at a few other schools, but we’ve been together for a year and a half, and we kind of want to attend the same school to avoid the long-distance issue.”
“That’s sweet!” Jeanine cried. “I’m actually considering just doing some classes at OHCC before I decide what university I’ll go to.”
My skin had stopped crawling, but now my stomach was doing sickening somersaults. I thought I was going to vomit, and I had to fight the urge to run from the room with a hand cupped over my mouth. Eventually, I won the battle to keep my breakfast where it belonged, but I still felt pretty shitty.
Toby had a girlfriend? For a year and a half? Oh my God! How had I missed that? And they were going to college
together? Did that mean he was one of those stupid, mushy romantics I mocked on a daily basis? I’d expected so much more from Toby Tucker. I’d expected him to be just as skeptical about the nature of teenage love as I was. I’d expected him to see college as a huge decision, not one that should be swayed by where your boyfriend/girlfriend got accepted. I’d expected him to be well, smart!
He wouldn’t date you, anyway, a voice in my head hissed at me. It sounded uncannily like Wesley Rush’s unnerving whisper. You’re the Duff, remember? His girlfriend is probably thinner with bigger boobs .
It wasn’t even lunch yet, and I already wanted to jump off a cliff. Well, okay, that was overdramatic. I definitely
wanted to go home and go to bed, though. I wanted to forget Toby had a serious girlfriend. I wanted to wash the feeling of Wesley’s hands off me. Mostly, though, I wanted to erase the word Duff from my memory.
Oh, yeah, and things got worse that day, too.
Around six o’clock that night, the guy on the news started talking about some big snowstorm that would show up in the “early morning hours.” I guess the school board took pity on us since we hadn’t had a single snow day so far, because they went ahead and canceled classes before the storm even hit. So Casey called at seven-thirty and insisted that we go to the Nest, since we didn’t have to get up early the next morning.
“I don’t know, Casey,” I said. “What if the roads are bad?” I’ll admit it. I was looking for any reason not to go. My day had been crappy enough on its own. I didn’t know if I could endure the torture of that hellhole, too.
“B, the storm isn’t supposed to even start until, like, three a.m. or something. As long as we’re home by then it’ll be cool.”
“I have a lot of homework.”
“It’s not due until Wednesday. You can work on it all day tomorrow if you want.”
I sighed. “Can you and Jessica find another ride and go without me? I just don’t feel up to it. It’s been a bad day, Casey.”
I could always rely on Casey to act at the slightest sign of trouble. “What happened?” she asked. “Are you okay? You didn’t look happy at lunch. Is it about your mom?”
“Casey.”
“Tell me what’s up.”
“Nothing,” I assured her. “Today just sucked, okay? Nothing major or anything. I’m just not in the mood to go partying with you guys tonight.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Finally, Casey said, “Bianca, you know you can tell me anything, right? You know you can talk to me if you need to. Don’t keep things bottled up. It’s not good for you.”
“Casey, I’m fi—”
“You’re fine,” she interrupted. “Yeah, I know. I’m just saying that if you have a problem, I’m here for you.”
“I know,” I murmured. I felt guilty for getting her nervous like that over something so stupid. I had a bad habit of
holding in all my emotions, and Casey knew that all too well. She was always trying to look out for me. Always coaxing me into sharing so that I didn’t wind up exploding later. It could get annoying, but knowing that someone cared well, that felt nice. So I couldn’t really get mad about it. “I know, Casey. I’m fine, though. It’s just I found out Toby has a girlfriend today, and I’m a little bummed. That’s all.”
“Oh, B,” she sighed. “That sucks. I’m sorry. Maybe if you come out tonight, Jess and I can cheer you up. Two scoops of ice cream and everything.”
I let out a little laugh. “Thanks, but no thanks. I think I’ll just stay home tonight.”
I hung up the phone and went downstairs, where I found Dad using the cordless in the kitchen. I heard him before I saw him. He was yelling into the receiver. I stood in the doorway, assuming he’d notice me and immediately lower his voice. I figured some telemarketer was getting an earful of Mike Piper, but then my name came up.
“Think of what you’re doing to Bianca!” Dad’s loud voice, which I’d taken for anger, sounded more like pleading. “This isn’t good for a seventeen-year-old girl and her mother. She needs you here at home, Gina. We need you here.”
I slipped back into the living room, surprised to realize he was talking to my mother. Truthfully, I didn’t really know
how to feel about it. About the things he was saying. I mean, yeah, I missed my mom. Having her home would have been nice, but it wasn’t as if we weren’t used to getting along without her.
My mother was a motivational speaker. When I was a kid, she’d written some sort of uplifting, inspirational book about improving self-esteem. It hadn’t sold well, but she still got offers to speak at colleges, support groups, and graduations all over the country. Since the book had flopped, she came pretty cheap.
For a while, she’d taken only local jobs. Ones she could drive home from after she finished telling people how to love themselves. But after my grandmother passed away, when I was twelve, Mom got a little depressed. Dad suggested she take a vacation. Just get away for a few weeks.
When she came back, she gushed about all the places she’d seen and the people she’d met. I guess maybe that’s
what sparked her addiction to traveling. Because after that first vacation, Mom started booking events all over the place. In Colorado and New Hampshire. She’d set up entire tours.
Only this tour, the one she was on now, had been the longest. She hadn’t been home in almost two months, and this time I wasn’t even sure where she was speaking.
Obviously that was why Dad was pissed. Because she’d been gone for so long.
“Damn it, Gina. When are you going to stop being a child and come home? When are you coming home to us for good?” The way my dad’s voice cracked when he uttered that sentence nearly had me in tears. “Gina,” he murmured. “Gina, we love you. Bianca and I miss you, and we want you to come home.”
I pressed myself against the wall that separated me from Dad, biting my lip. God, it was just getting pathetic. I mean, why wouldn’t they just get a fucking divorce already? Was I the only one who could see that things just weren’t working out here? What was the point of being married if Mom was always gone?
“Gina,” my father said, and I thought it sounded like he was on the verge of crying. Then I heard him put the phone
down on the counter. The talk was over.
I gave him a couple of minutes before I walked into the kitchen. “Hey, Dad. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. God, he was a bad liar. “Oh, it’s fine, Bumblebee. I just had a talk with your mom and she sends her love.”
“From where this time?”
“Um Orange County,” he said. “She’s visiting your aunt Leah while she speaks at a high school there. Cool, huh?
You can tell your friends that your mom is in the O.C. now. You like that show, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I liked it but it got canceled a few years ago.”
“Oh, well I guess I’m behind, Bumblebee.” I saw his eyes drift over to the counter, where he’d left his car keys, and I followed them. He noticed this and looked away quickly, before I could say anything. “Do you have plans tonight?” he asked.
“Well, I could make some, but” I cleared my throat, uncertain of how to say my next sentence. Dad and I really didn’t make a habit of talking to each other. “I could stay home, too. Do you want me to stay here and, like, watch TV with you or something?”
“Oh, no, Bumblebee,” he said with an unconvincing laugh. “Go have fun with your friends. I’ll probably go to bed early tonight, anyway.”
I looked him in the eye, hoping he’d change his mind. Dad always got really depressed after his fights with Mom. I was worried about him, but I wasn’t really sure how to approach the subject.
And in the back of my mind, there was this tiny fear. It was stupid, really, but I couldn’t shake it. My father was a recovering alcoholic. I mean, he quit before I was born, and he hadn’t touched a drop since but sometimes, when he got all pouty about Mom, I got scared. Scared that he might take those car keys and head to the liquor store or something. Like I said, it was ridiculous, but the fear couldn’t be vanquished.
Dad broke our eye contact and shifted uncomfortably. He turned and walked toward the sink, washing the plate he’d just eaten spaghetti off of. I wanted to walk over there and take the plate—his pathetic excuse to distract himself—and throw it on the ground. I wanted to tell him how stupid this whole thing was with Mom. I wanted him to realize what a waste of time these dumb depressions and fights were and just admit things weren’t working out.
But, of course, I couldn’t. All I could say was, “Dad”
He faced me, shaking his head, a wet dishrag dangling from his hand. “Go out and have fun,” he said. “Seriously, I want you to. You’re only a kid once.”
There was no arguing. That was his subtle way of telling me he wanted to be alone.
“Okay,” I said. “If you’re sure I’ll go call Casey.”
I walked upstairs and into my bedroom. I picked my cell phone up off the dresser and dialed Casey’s number. Two rings in, she answered.
“Hey, Casey. I changed my mind about the Nest and, um, do you think it would be okay if I stayed over tonight? I’ll tell you about it later, but I just don’t want to stay at home.”
I refolded the clean clothes on the floor at the foot of my bed before I left, but it didn’t help as much as it usually did.
The Duff by Kody Keplinger CHAPTER 1
NOTE: I HAVE THIS AS A PDF FILE, SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY, COMMENT HERE AND I'LL EMAIL IT TO YOU.
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This was getting old.
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This was getting old.
Once again, Casey and Jessica were making complete fools of themselves, shaking their asses like dancers in a rap video. But I guess guys eat that shit up, don’t they? I could honestly feel my IQ dropping as I wondered, for the hundredth time that night, why I’d let them drag me here again.
Every time we came to the Nest, the same thing happened. Casey and Jessica danced, flirted, attracted the attention of every male in sight, and eventually were hauled out of the party by their protective best friend—me —before any of the horn dogs could take advantage of them. In the meantime, I sat at the bar all night talking to Joe, the thirty-year-old bartender, about “the problems with kids these days.”
I figured Joe would get offended if I told him that one of the biggest problems was this damn place. The Nest, which used to be a real bar, had been converted into a teen lounge three years ago. The rickety oak bar still stood, but Joe served only Coke products while the kids danced or listened to live music. I hated the place for the simple reason that it made my friends, who could be somewhat sensible most of the time, act like idiots. But in their defense, they weren’t the only ones. Half of Hamilton High showed up on the weekends, and no one left the club with their dignity intact.
I mean seriously, where was the fun in all of this? Want to dance to the same heavy bass techno music week after week? Sure! Then maybe I’ll hit on this sweaty, oversexed football player. Maybe we’ll have meaningful discussions about politics and philosophy while we bump ’n grind. Ugh. Yeah, right.
Casey plopped down on the stool next to mine. “You should come dance with us, B,” she said, breathless from her booty shaking. “It’s so much fun.”
“Sure it is,” I muttered.
“Oh my gosh!” Jessica sat down on my other side, her honey-blond ponytail bouncing against her shoulders. “Did
you see that? Did you effing see that? Harrison Carlyle totally just hit on me! Did you see that? Omigosh!” Casey rolled her eyes. “He asked you where you got your shoes, Jess. He’s totally gay.”
“He’s too cute to be gay.”
Casey ignored her, running her fingers behind her ear, as if tucking back invisible locks. It was a habit left over from before she’d chopped her hair into its current edgy blond pixie cut. “B, you should dance with us. We brought you here so that we could hang out with you—not that Joe isn’t entertaining.” She winked at the bartender, probably hoping to score some free sodas. “But we’re your friends. You should come dance. Shouldn’t she, Jess?”
“Totally,” Jessica agreed, eyeing Harrison Carlyle, who sat in a booth on the other side of the room. She paused and turned back to us. “Wait. What? I wasn’t listening.”
“You just look so bored over here, B. I want you to have some fun, too.”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “I’m having a great time. You know I can’t dance. I’d be in your way. Go live it up or whatever. I’ll be okay over here.”
Casey narrowed her hazel eyes at me. “You sure?” she asked.
“Positive.”
She frowned, but after a second she shrugged and grabbed Jessica by the wrist, pulling her out onto the dance floor. “Holy crap!” Jessica cried. “Slow down, Case! You’ll rip my arm off!” Then they made their merry way to the middle of the room, already syncing the sway of their hips with the pulsing techno music.
“Why didn’t you tell them you’re miserable?” Joe asked, pushing a glass of Cherry Coke toward me.
“I’m not miserable.”
“You’re not a good liar either,” he replied before a group of freshmen started yelling for drinks at the other end of
the bar.
I sipped my Cherry Coke, watching the clock above the bar. The second hand seemed to be frozen, and I prayed the damn thing was broken or something. I wouldn’t ask Casey and Jessica to leave until eleven. Any earlier and I’d be the party pooper. But according to the clock it wasn’t even nine yet, and I could already feel myself getting a techno-music migraine, only made worse by the pulsing strobe light. Move, second hand! Move!
“Hello there.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to glare at the unwelcome intruder. This happened once in a while. Some guy, usually stoned or rank with BO, would take a seat beside me and make a half-assed attempt at small talk. Clearly they hadn’t inherited the observant gene, because the expression on my face made it pretty damn obvious that I wasn’t in the mood to be swept off my feet.
Surprisingly, the guy who’d taken the seat next to me didn’t stink like pot or armpits. In fact, that might have been
cologne I smelled on the air. But my disgust only increased when I realized who the cologne belonged to. I would have preferred the fuzzy-headed stoner.
Wesley. Fucking. Rush.
“What do you want?” I demanded, not even bothering to be polite.
“Aren’t you the friendly type?” Wesley asked sarcastically. “Actually, I came to talk to you.”
“Well, that sucks for you. I’m not talking to people tonight.” I slurped my drink loudly, hoping he’d take the not-so- subtle hint to leave. No such luck. I could feel his dark gray eyes crawling all over me. He couldn’t even pretend to be looking me in the eyes, could he? Ugh!
“Come on,” Wesley teased. “There’s no need to be so cold.”
“Leave me alone,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Go try your charming act on some tramp with low self-esteem, because I’m not falling for it.”
“Oh, I’m not interested in tramps,” he said. “That’s not my thing.”
I snorted. “Any girl who’d give you the time of day, Wesley, is most definitely a tramp. No one with taste or class or
dignity would actually find you attractive.”
Okay. That was a tiny lie.
Wesley Rush was the most disgusting womanizing playboy to ever darken the doorstep of Hamilton High but he was kind of hot. Maybe if you could put him on mute and cut off his hands maybe—just maybe—he’d be tolerable then. Otherwise, he was a real piece of shit. Horn dog shit.
“And you do have taste and class and dignity, I assume?” he asked, grinning. “Yes, I do.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Is this your attempt at flirting?” I asked. “If it is, you fail. Epically.”
He laughed. “I never fail at flirting.” He ran his fingers through his dark, curly hair and adjusted his crooked, arrogant little grin. “I’m just being friendly. Trying to have a nice conversation.”
“Sorry. Not interested.” I turned away and took another drink of my Cherry Coke. But he didn’t move. Not even an inch. “You can go now,” I said forcefully.
Wesley sighed. “Fine. You’re being really uncooperative, you know. So I guess I’ll be honest with you. I’ve got to hand it to you: you’re smarter and more stubborn than most girls I talk to. But I’m here for a little more than witty conversation.” He moved his attention to the dance floor. “I actually need your help. You see, your friends are hot. And you, darling, are the Duff.”
“Is that even a word?”
“Designated. Ugly. Fat. Friend,” he clarified. “No offense, but that would be you.” “I am not the—!”
“Hey, don’t get defensive. It’s not like you’re an ogre or anything, but in comparison” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Think about it. Why do they bring you here if you don’t dance?” He had the nerve to reach over and pat my knee, like he was trying to comfort me. I jerked away from him, and his fingers moved smoothly to brush some curls out of his face instead. “Look,” he said, “you have hot friends really hot friends.” He paused, watching the action on the dance floor for a moment, before facing me again. “The point is, scientists have proven that every group of friends has a weak link, a Duff. And girls respond well to guys who associate with their Duffs.”
“Crackheads can call themselves scientists now? That’s news to me.”
“Don’t be bitter,” he said. “What I’m saying is, girls—like your friends—find it sexy when guys show some sensitivity
and socialize with the Duff. So by talking to you right now I am doubling my chances of getting laid tonight. Please assist me here, and just pretend to enjoy the conversation.”
I stared at him, flabbergasted, for a long moment. Beauty really was skin-deep. Wesley Rush may have had the body of a Greek god, but his soul was as black and empty as the inside of my closet. What a bastard!
With one swift motion I jumped to my feet and flung the contents of my glass in Wesley’s direction. Cherry Coke
flew all over him, splattering his expensive-looking white polo. Drops of dark red liquid glistened on his cheeks and colored his brown hair. His face glowed with anger, and his chiseled jaw clinched fiercely.
“What was that for?” he snapped, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “What do you think it was for?” I bellowed, fists balled at my sides. “Honestly, Duffy, I have no earthly idea.”
Angry flames blazed in my cheeks. “If you think I’m letting one of my friends leave this place with you, Wesley, you’re very, very wrong,” I spat. “You’re a disgusting, shallow, womanizing jackass, and I hope that soda stains your preppy little shirt.” Just before I marched away, I looked over my shoulder and added, “And my name isn’t Duffy. It’s Bianca. We’ve been in the same homeroom since middle school, you self-absorbed son of a bitch.”
I never thought I’d say this, but thank God the damn techno played so loud. No one but Joe overheard the little
episode, and he probably found the whole thing hysterical. I had to push my way through the crowded dance floor to find my friends. When I tracked them down, I grabbed Casey and Jessica by their elbows and tugged them toward the exit.
“Hey!” Jessica protested.
“What’s wrong?” Casey asked.
“We’re getting the fuck out of here,” I said, yanking their unwilling bodies along behind me. “I’ll explain in the car. I
just can’t stand to be in this hellhole for one more second.”
“Can’t I say bye to Harrison first?” Jessica whined, trying to loosen my grip on her arm.
“Jessica!” I cricked my neck painfully when I twisted around to face her. “He’s gay! You don’t have a chance, so just give it up already. I need to get out of here. Please.”
I pulled them out into the parking lot, where the icy January air tore at the bare flesh of our faces. Relenting, Casey and Jessica gathered close on either side of me. They must have found their outfits, which were intended to be sexy, ill equipped to handle the windchill. We moved to my car in a huddle, separating only when we reached the front bumper. I clicked the unlock button on my key chain so that we could climb into the slightly warmer cab of the Saturn without delay.
Casey curled up in the front seat and said, through chattering teeth, “Why are we leaving so early? B, it’s only, like, nine-fifteen.”
Jessica sulked in the backseat with an ancient blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon. (My piece-of-shit heater rarely decided to work, so I kept a stash of blankets on the floorboard.)
“I got into an argument with someone,” I explained, jabbing the key into the ignition with unnecessary force. “I threw my Coke on him, and I didn’t want to stick around for his response.”
“Who?” Casey asked.
I’d been dreading that question because I knew the reaction I’d get. “Wesley Rush.”
Two swoony, girly sighs followed my answer.
“Oh, come on,” I fumed. “The guy is a man-whore. I can’t stand him. He sleeps with everything that moves, and his brain is located in his pants—which means it’s microscopic.”
“I doubt that,” Casey said with another sigh. “God, B, only you could find a flaw in Wesley Rush.”
I glared at her as I turned my head to back out of the parking lot. “He’s a jerk.”
“That’s not true,” Jessica interjected. “Jeanine said he talked to her at a party recently. She was with Vikki and Angela, and she said he just came up and sat down beside her. He was really friendly.”
That made sense. Jeanine was definitely the Duff if she was out with Angela and Vikki. I wondered which of them left with Wesley that night.
“He’s charming,” Casey said. “You’re just being Little Miss Cynical, as usual.” She gave me a warm smile from across the cab. “But what the hell did he do to get you to throw Coke at him?” Now she sounded concerned. Took her long enough. “Did he say something to you, B?”
“No,” I lied. “It’s nothing. He just pisses me off.”
Duff.
The word bounced around in my mind as I sped down 5th Street. I couldn’t bring myself to tell my friends about the
wonderful new insult that had just been added to my vocab list, but when I glanced at myself in the rearview mirror, Wesley’s assertion that I was the unattractive, undesirable tagalong (more like dragalong) seemed to be confirmed. Jessica’s perfect hourglass figure and warm, welcoming brown eyes. Casey’s flawless complexion and mile-long legs. I couldn’t compare to either of them.
“Well, I say we hit another party, since it’s so early,” Casey suggested. “I heard about this one out in Oak Hill. Some
college kid is home for Christmas break and decided to have a big blowout. Angela told me about it this morning.
Want to go?”
“Yeah!” Jessica straightened up beneath the blanket. “We should totally go! College parties have college boys. Won’t that be fun, Bianca?”
I sighed. “No. Not really.”
“Oh, come on.” Casey reached over and squeezed my arm. “No dancing this time, okay? And Jess and I promise to keep all hot guys away from you, since clearly you hate them.” She smirked, trying to nudge me back into a good mood.
“I don’t hate hot guys,” I told her. “Just the one.” After a moment, I sighed and turned onto the highway, heading for the county line. “Fine, we’ll go. But you two are buying me ice cream afterward. Two scoops.”
“Deal.”
Friday, January 23, 2015
MY COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY
UPDATE: Just a warning, PLEASE don't copy and paste this essay or summarize it in any way for your application. I actually received a few emails from admission officers notifying me of the similarities in the pieces they're reading. If this continues to happen, I'd probably have to remove this post (or else it will get taken down). As much as I hate to do this, this essay is just for reference to spark your own idea in writing your essay. So please keep that in mind.
*ALSO, I DO NOT REVISE ANYTHING OTHER THAN COLLEGE ESSAYS. IF YOU SEND ME YOUR SCHOOL/ESSAYS, I WILL NOT LOOK OVER THEM. Sorry, but I've been getting these essays continuously and I really cannot read and revise all of them.
**AND PLEASE DON'T SHARE MY EMAIL ADDRESS. I'VE BEEN RECEIVING EMAILS FROM PEOPLE WHO I HAVE NOT CONTACTED FIRST.
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As said in the video, I will be pasting my Common App college application essay of 2014 here. Thank you guys so much for trusting me with your essays and I look forward to reading more of them!
This is the essay question:
Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
My response:
Every spring, my father would lift me onto his shoulders so I could smell the freshness of the budding cherry blossoms. Although the blossoms were still developing, I recall myself always eagerly asking my father to pick some flowers for me. Chuckling, he would shake his head and say, “A flower has to bloom before it can be picked. A flower that blooms in time is the most rare and beautiful of all.”
I didn’t understand the purpose of my dad’s message until after I took a summer job teaching ten middle school students algebraic concepts at Verona High School in New Jersey.
The room was silent when I taught the first class. The students either dozed or doodled; the atmosphere felt lethargic.
One student, John, faced me and mumbled, “It’s summer. Why are we learning algebra if we are not going to use it later? This is a waste of time.” The other nine students nodded their heads in agreement.
I laughed nervously and thought, “Teaching cannot be that hard. I can do this.”
I have never been more mistaken in my life.
I wanted to catch every student’s attention. I told jokes and drew pictures. Yet, the more I tried, the more frustrated I became. That’s when I remembered, “A flower that blooms in time is the most rare and beautiful of all.” And I thought I finally understood what my father meant. I felt as if I had completed the puzzle.
Despite my efforts, I could not force the students to listen, just as I couldn’t force a cherry blossom to grow. I had to flow with the current, not struggle against it. I learned that patience is the key to motivation. And so, I developed a game.
In this activity, a leader produces questions and answers while the participants perform silly tasks while competing to see who could answer the questions quickly and correctly. I played along as the students took turns being the leader. They thought it was humorous that they could order the teacher around with commands like “calculate the value of x while hopping around the room” or “find the average speed while doing pushups.” They enjoyed the competition, and I caught their attention and helped them gain a solid grasp of algebra in an unorthodox fashion.
A parents/teachers night took place during the last week of tutoring. At the conclusion, John's father thanked me for teaching his son algebra. He said, “John was so fascinated with algebra that he wanted to participate in a math league camp this fall.”
I gaped, but I resisted my immediate desire to say, “John did what?”
On the last day of summer, when I saw John at the Verona graduation party, the first words out of his mouth were, “Is there going to be a math class next year?” John was the budding flower that has finally bloomed.
As summer washes into autumn, the college season is in bloom. I recall my father’s words once again and frown. The puzzle I thought I finished this summer is missing a piece. It took a while until I finally realized that I was also a budding flower, and thus, the key to completing the puzzle. My work does not end with the students I helped achieve, the minds I helped broaden, or the roads I helped expand. One by one, as my students have found their paths to blossoming, I have yet to find mine.
I hope these next four years will be a fresh challenge for me, as I explore new intellectual paths and my mind continues to mature and puzzle pieces continue to fall into place. And next spring, after I wake up to the smell of cherry blossoms, I too can bloom a bit.
This is the video I'm making my response to:
Again thank you guys so much for your trust! Good luck with your college applications!!
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
AMVs: Anime & Manga
This is an AMV of Kou & Futaba to the song You by Hollywood Ending.
This is an anime/manga mix of Last Game, Kaichou Wa Maid Sama, Sword Art Online, Ao Haru Ride, Kimi Ni Todoke, Ouran High School Host Club, Naruto, Fruits Basket, Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji, Say "I Love You", Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun, and Strobe Edge.
Pairing:
Last Game: Yanagi Naoto & Kujou Mikoto
Kaichou Wa Maid Sama: Takumi Usui & Misaki Ayuzawa
Sword Art Online: Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya & Asuna Yuuki
Ao Haru Ride: Kou Mabuchi & Yoshioka Futaba
Kimi Ni Todoke: Shouta Kazehaya & Sawako Kuronuma
Ouran High School Host Club: Tamaki Suoh & Haruhi Fujioka
Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha & Sakura Haruno
Fruits Basket: Kyo Sohma & Tohru Honda
Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji: Kyouya Sata & Erika Shinohara
Say "I Love You": Yamato Kurosawa & Mei Tachibana
Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun: Haru Yoshida & Shizuku Mizutani
Strobe Edge: Ren Ichinose & Ninako Kinoshita
The song I used is Kiss You by One Direction.
This is an AMV of Sakurasou No Pet Na Kanojo.
The anime and manga I used here is Ao Haru Ride, Last Game, Kaichou Wa Maid Sama, Kimi Ni Todoke, Ookami Shoujo To Kuro Ouji, Naruto, and Ouran High School Host Club.
Pairings:
Last Game: Yanagi Naoto & Kujou Mikoto
Kaichou Wa Maid Sama: Takumi Usui & Misaki Ayuzawa
Ookami Shoujo To Kuro Ouji: Kyouya Sata & Erika Shinohara
Kimi Ni Todoke: Shouta Kazehaya & Sawako Kuronuma
Ouran High School Host Club: Tamaki Suoh & Haruhi Fujioka
Ao Haru Ride: Kou Mabuchi & Yoshioka Futaba
Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha & Sakura Haruno
And this is just a plus! A video of my top manga to read!
And this is just a plus! A video of my top manga to read!
Monday, January 19, 2015
My 42 Favorite Shoujo Manga Of 2015-2016
These are my 42 favorite manga. There's no specific pattern I like them in. Read however you like and enjoy!
*ALL CREDITS OF PHOTOS GO TO GOOGLE IMAGES
Sunday, January 18, 2015
MY FAVORITE SHOUJO MANGA AND/OR ANIME
Ok, so this is a complete list of all the manga and anime I read/watched in my life so far that I find beautiful, fun, and worthwhile.
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Story & Art: Sakisaka Io
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Yoshioka Futaba has a few reasons why she wants to "reset" her image and life as a new high-school student. Because she's cute and had a demure personality she was ostracized by her female friends in junior high, and because of a series of misunderstandings and mishaps, she couldn't get her feeling across to the one boy she has always liked, Tanaka Kou.
Now in high school, she is determined to be as unladylike as possible so that her friends won't be jealous of her. While living her life this way contentedly, she meets Tanaka-kun again, but he now goes under the name of Mabuchi Kou. He tells her that he felt the same way as she did when they were younger, but that they cannot go back. Will Futaba be able to continue her love that never even started from three years ago?
Story & Art: Hatta Ayuko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Erika lied to her friends about having a boyfriend by showing a picture of an anonymous guy who turned out to be a a schoolmate of hers and was shortly recognized by her friends. Their conversations then was overheard by the guy, Sata Kyouya. Erika went to explain and proposed her idea of faking as lovers.
However, Sata who gave off the nice-charming feelings guy turns out to be a black prince and used her reasons to blackmail her instead.
Story & Art: Fujiwara Hiro
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Brilliant and overachieving, Misaki Ayuzawa is the President of the Student Council at Seika High School, formerly a boys' school. Unfortunately, most of the students are still male and stuck in their slovenly habits, so man-hating Misaki really socks it to 'em in an attempt to make the school presentable to attract more female students. But what will she do when the sexiest boy in school finds out that after school, Misaki works in a maid cafe.
Story & Art: Amano Shinobu
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: He's rich, he's smart, girls gather around him all the time, and he has always gotten first place on his exams... well, until Kujou transferred in his primary school class. She was quiet, plain, and poor, yet not once has she failed at beating Yanagi, both in academics and sports! Yanagi has made it his life goal to defeat this girl Kujou, and ten years later, as they enter high school, he just might finally win! This is the story of their last game.
Story & Art: Shiina Karuho
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Sawako Kuronuma is the perfect heroine... for a horror movie. With her jet-black hair, sinister smile and silent demeanor, she's often mistaken for the haunting movie character Sadako. But behind her scary facade is a very misunderstood teenager. Too shy to fit in, all she wants to do is make some friends. But when a popular boy in class befriends her, she's sure to make more than just that--she's about to make some enemies too!
Story & Art: Ayashin
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Mizuki cannot readily open her heart to anyone, but she is going to turn over a new leaf in high school and change that. But how can she get along with a good-looking group of four, especially with rumors at school about how they met? Although cautious at first, she gradually gets to know their true personalities. A story about good-looking men and the insanity of youth!
Story & Art: Sakisaka Io
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: 15-year-old Ninako Kinoshita has never been in love until an encounter on the train with her school's most popular boy, the quiet Ren Ichinose. As she grows closer to Ren, she falls in love with him, but must learn to cope with the unfortunate fact that Ren already has a longtime girlfriend.
Story & Art: Bisco Hatori
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a fictitious high school located in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon the Third Music Room, a place where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six male students, gathers to entertain female "clients." During their initial encounter, Haruhi accidentally knocks over and breaks an antique vase valued at ¥8,000,000 (US$80,000 in the U.S. English manga) and is told to repay the cost in service to the club as an errand boy. Haruhi's short hair, slouching attire and gender-ambiguous face cause her to be mistaken by the hosts for a male student. After a brief run as such, the Hosts soon realize that she's a "natural" in entertaining girls and promote her to full-Host status. She agrees since Hosting will help her pay off her debt more quickly. The members of the club discover her true gender one by one, but they keep this fact a secret.
Story & Art: Natsuki Takaya
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: When high school student Tohru Honda's mother dies in a car crash on her way to work, she decides to live with her grandfather. Renovations on the house cause her to move out of her grandfather's house temporarily and, since she has nowhere else to go, Tohru begins living in a tent and supporting herself. That is, until she finds a home in the least likely of places, inhabited by her popular classmate Yuki Sohma and his cousins Shigure and Kyo.
The Sohmas live with a curse. Twelve members of the family (not including Kyo, who is the cat) are possessed by spirits of the Chinese zodiac and turn into their zodiac animal when they are weak, under stress, or when hugged by someone of the opposite gender.
Story & Art: Miwa Ueda
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Momo Adachi is a former member of the high school swim team. She tans easily and her hair is bleached out; unfortunately, she is stereotyped by her ignorant classmates and is forced to endure rumors about being an "easy girl" who has had many sexual relationships. Her only friend is Sae, who is actually responsible for spreading the nasty gossip due to her jealousy of Momo. Momo is in love with Toji, a taciturn baseball player, but the scheming Sae also has her sights set on the boy. Momo's life is further complicated with the introduction of Kairi Okayasu, a wise-cracking playboy who is determined to make her his. He reveals to Momo that she had saved him from drowning the summer before high school started.
Story & Art: Sakisaka Io
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: She didn’t want to fall in love but then, she met a boy she became interested in...
Story & Art: Hatta Ayuko
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: First Chapter: Mayu falls in love with Naoki Hagiwara at first sight. For some reason, Naoki seems to look sexy in her eyes. But of course, she can’t tell him that along with her feelings for him. The two get into a fight, but afterwards Naoki seems to be oddly closer to her.
This has a subset of 4 stories about 4 couples.
Story & Art: Robico
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: My Little Monster focuses on the relationship between Shizuku Mizutani, who has absolutely no interests except in studying and her plans for the future, and a boy named Haru Yoshida, who sits next to Shizuku in class but rarely attends school. After Shizuku is tasked with delivering class printouts to Haru's home, she meets Haru, who immediately greets her as a friend, starting their new relationship. Nicknamed "dry ice," Shizuku is renowned as a girl who is emotionless and cold. However, when she met Haru, she was touched by his innocence and his lack of knowledge towards human relationships. Though known as a violent and uncontrollable monster, Haru is actually kind and gentle. Haru immediately declares his love towards Shizuku, but it takes much longer for Shizuku to realize and accept her own feelings towards Haru. Together, they help each other, two previously unsocial beings, learn how to care for others and make friends.
Story & Art: Sato Zakuri
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Senou Miku is a normal high school girl. On the day that she had her first boyfriend, her mother had a job transfer. And then, her guardian, who came to live with her, turned out to be her homeroom teacher, Nishizono-sensei...
Story & Art: Amano Shinobu
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Sekiya-san of the cultural library has an unrequited love for Yuuki-kun. The one who cares about Sekiya-san is the popular Kasai-kun, who is also Yuuki-kun's friend! And, what's this? Yuuki-kun is rooting for Kasai-kun?! It seems that everyone's feelings are one-sided... or are they?
Story & Art: Tomori Miyoshi
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Tsunagi's a high school girl who admires the famous, beautiful and distant imperial prince: Koji Ninomiya. Tsunagi's life takes a new light with a new classmate, Haruhi, who amazingly - and suspiciously - looks exactly like the famous prince...
Story & Art: Nakahara Aya
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Risa and Otani are in a similar predicament. Neither is dating anyone, they are both continually being laughed at as a comedy duo (courtesy of their loving sensei), and they both have height problems! Risa is taller than the average girl, and Otani is shorter than the average guy!
Determined to be in a relationship, they both decide to cheer each other on in the war of love. However, along the way, Risa begins to develop feelings for Otani... Are these feelings mutual? Can love win, no matter what the height?
Story & Art: Hajime Kamoshida
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Sakura Dormitory is a dorm of the high school affiliated with Suimei University of the Arts (often shortened as Suiko), which hosts the strangest, most trouble-making students. After being kicked out of the normal dorm for keeping a stray cat, Sorata Kanda moves into Sakura Dormitory. As he starts to get used to the life in the dorm, Mashiro Shiina, a world famous artist who cannot even take care of her daily life, moves in. Sorata is forced to become Mashiro's handler. The story is about their daily lives as well as mental growth.
Story & Art: Kamio Yoko
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis:Tsukushi Makino, a working-class girl, attends an elite elevator school called Eitoku Academy, populated by children from rich, high-society families. She is the "weed" of the school surrounded by all the rich kids including the "Flower" Four (F4). The F4 leader and son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan, Tsukasa Domyoji, takes an interest in Tsukushi, because she is the only girl at Eitoku who doesn't fawn over him. However, his hot-headed nature and bullying ways are originally a major turn-off for Tsukushi, who has her sights set on someone else.
Story & Art: Nakamura Yoshiki
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Kyouko Mogami lived solely for her childhood friend Shoutaro "Shou" Fuwa. She follows Shou to Tokyo so that he may realize his dream of becoming a famous singer. When his dream is realized, Kyouko overhears the truth behind his decision to bringing her with him: he was using her as a maid.
Shocked and enraged, Kyouko swears to take revenge by outdoing him in show business. With a new look and a new attitude, she joins LME, the agency where Ren Tsuruga (Shou's rival and the #1 actor of LME) works, in the hopes of achieving her goal of destroying Shou's pride.
Along the way, she discovers her true self, makes new friends (and enemies), and finds herself at the heart of some interesting situations that will change her life, and the lives of all others involved, forever.
Story & Art: Taamo
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: “Back in the day, that place was a house filled with magic—a place where you ended up smiling even if you were crying. Surely, an invisible wizard must have lived there. Or so I thought.”
What’s a young child to do when her mother leaves her father for another man? Or when her father remarries a woman who brings along a child from a previous marriage? Or when her childhood neighbor friend invites her to live with him?
Story & Art: Akizuki Sorata
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Shirayuki is a young woman born with unique apple-red hair. After catching word about her hair, Prince Rajin sends orders for her to become his concubine. With nowhere else to go, Shirayuki cuts her hair and escapes to a neighboring country. While traversing through the forests, she meets a young man, Zen, who helps her after she boldly cures his wounds. He soon, however, becomes poisoned by an apple meant for Shirayuki. What will happen to Shirayuki? What is Zen’s true character? A refreshing fantasy story between an optimistic heroine and a prince who constantly stays on her watch.
Story & Art: Kouchi Kaede
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Shiharu is a high-school student who loves kids, lives in an orphanage, and works at a daycare... Until the handsome uncle of two-year-old twins offers her a raise if she'll be their babysitter. Often relying on memories of her mother's actions for guidance, Shiharu quickly finds herself falling in love with her new makeshift family.
Story & Art: Nakajo Hisaya
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Japanese-American track-and-field star Mizuki has gotten herself to transfer to a high school in Japan...but not just any school! To be close to her idol, high jumper Izumi Sano, she's going to an all-guys' high school...and disguising herself as a boy! But as fate would have it, they're more than classmates...they're roommates! Now, Mizuki must keep her secret in the classroom, the locker room, and her own bedroom. And her classmates--and the school nurse--must cope with a new transfer student who may make them question their own orientation...
Story & Art: Takano Ichigo
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: In the Spring she was 16, Takamiya Naho receives a strange, but detailed letter from herself, ten years in the future. At first she thinks the letter is a prank, but then the things written in the letter actually happen, including the new transfer student that sits next to her in class, Naruse Kakeru. The letter reads just like her diary entries, down to the same characters. It is not till two weeks later, when Kakeru shows back up at school, that Naho finishes the letter.
In the letter, her 27-year-old self tells her 16-year-old self that her biggest regret is that Kakeru is no longer with them in the future, and asks her to watch him closely.
Story & Art: Reki Kawahara
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: In the year 2022, Kirito (the main protagonist), a solo player who had the luck-of-the-draw to play the beta version, and the many other players of Sword Art Online (SAO) are trapped inside of a game, unable to logout; the only way to live is to win. Death in-game means death in the real world; tampering with or prolonged power outages to the Nerve Gear, the gear that simulates in-game character control by redirecting brain signals, also means death. To win means to defeat the final boss on the top floor; out of the original 10,000 players at the start, two years later, over 6,000 remain with 26 floors left to clear.
Story & Art: Miwa Ueda
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: The story is about an ordinary (and rather unpopular) girl named Ageha who is constantly overshadowed by her popular and beautiful twin sister, Hana. Because Ageha grew up in the countryside with their grandmother while Hana was raised by their parents, the two girls ended up with drastically different personalities.
Story & Art: Haruta Nana
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: I’m Anna. I’m 14 years old and I've just entered the ninth grade. Sou and Hinata, who live in the same apartment complex as me, are my childhood friends and we’re all the same age. I thought that from now on we’d become even closer friends, but then my senior came! I don't know what to do!
Story & Art: Kusanagi Mizuho
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Setia is prisoner of Azurite, the tyrant king. She has a fiance waiting for her but the king seems to have taken a fancy in toying with her! But under his ruthless facade there appears to be...
Story & Art: Akizuki Sorata
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Jiru and Vahlia were engaged. But Jiru suddenly went missing! Four years later, Vahlia was betrothed to his younger brother. During the night of the celebration of her second engagement, Vahlia decides to go on a journey… in search of Jiru!
Story & Art: Nanba Atsuko
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Nina's neighbor, Kyousuke, is starting high school while she's still stuck in junior high. Just walking to their nearby schools together isn't enough for her--especially since they keep running into Yuiko: a beautiful, outgoing girl in Kyousuke's grade who also seems to harbor feelings for Nina's next-door neighbor.
Story & Art: Nanao Mio
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis:
He is, by nature, a quiet man.
But when he open his mouth, he always go right to the point.
"In brief, would you marry me?"
"You really are an idiot!"
"I always have to interfer in your life"
But why doesn't it suprised me at all?
Because he always was like that so I can't imagine him differently.
Because he uses his eyes instead of his mouth.
Story & Art: Matsuzuki Kou
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Takamura Uru takes her mother’s remarriage as an opportunity to strike out on her own and begin a part time job. Filled with the thought of “If only I could make someone happy…” she begins working at Café Bohneur, a shop famous for cakes; but the employees, Ichirou-kun and Shindou-san, turn out to be incredibly unsociable. These two, though frightening at first glance, begin to change something inside of her. This is the start of a romance about Uru’s search for happiness.
Story & Art: Shiraishi Yuki
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: A girl whom experienced unsuccessful "threads" of love with her teacher, encounters her fated person!?
Story & Art: Ogura Akane
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: The long-lasting war between the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms is unbearable. So the northern Prince Johane and the southern Princess Euda decide to tell everyone they are in love, because their marriage can stop the war. But the truth is they don’t get along at all!
Story & Art: Toma Rei
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: "You are my property." With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power!
Story & Art: Kumaoka Fuyu
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Nanase Sakashita is good at playing the role of model student but that doesn't stop her from taking an interest in Hana-kun, the school's delinquent. Hana-kun accidently drops a small box while sneaking around on the school grounds. When Nanase tries to return the box, Hana-kun tells her to keep it for its already too late to give it to the person he likes. Who is this person?!
Story & Art: Hayakawa Tomoko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: It's a gorgeous, spacious mansion, and four handsome, fifteen-year-old friends are allowed to live in it for free! There's only one condition - that within three years the guys must transform the owner's wallflower niece into a lady befitting the palace in which they all live! How hard can it be?
Enter Sunako Nakahara, the agoraphobic, horror-movie-loving, pockmark-faced, frizzy-haired, fashion-illiterate recluse who tends to break into explosive nosebleeds whenever she sees anyone attractive. This project is going to take more than our four heroes ever expected: it needs a miracle!
Story & Art: Minamori Koyomi
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: 10-year old Niina is special. This is because she has the memories of her past life as a girl named Chitose still intact. Among these memories is a promise with Chitose's boyfriend which Niina then decides to try and fulfill. But can she really?
Story & Art: Tsukishima Haru
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Our crybaby protagonist Hirahara Tsukasa hasn't always been a crybaby. Due to the death of her older sister Chihiro, Tsukasa hasn't been able to dam up the flood of tears ever since - even about little things.
She is further disheartened after moving to Tokyo from Hiroshima, especially after a series of incidents cause her and her four classmates to miss the bus and be late for the entrance ceremony on the very first day of the school term. However, it is precisely this event that ends up drawing her closer to maturity and fueling her determination to stop her crybaby tendencies. And perhaps, she may even find an unexpected love on the way...
Story & Art: Minami Touko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Ririko is a hardworking girl who has been performing the role of a mother in her household after the death of her own one when she was five. When her father, a handyman, is stricken with illness and admitted to a hospital, Ririko decides to take up the role of a handyman to help her father's business in his absence. Her first client is a rich teenage boy with high expectations of his helpers. Will she be able to satisfy him?
Story & Art: Yamakawa Aiji
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Furuya Utako is shy and reserved, but because of her height (172 cm), she sticks out like a sore thumb. Her mind is constantly plagued by thoughts of Harada Naoyuki, the popular boy who sits next to her in homeroom and claims that he'd like to be friends. She is a bit surprised at his straightforward attitude, but slowly the distance between them is starting to close...
Story & Art: Komura Ayumi
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Hinata Saotome is suddenly asked out by En Shinohara, a gorgeous boy in her grade. What she doesn’t know, though, is that his hobby is cross-dressing! En has always hated men, and whenever he sees his own reflection, he punches out whatever is doing the reflecting (windows, mirrors…). To combat this hatred, he dresses up as a girl. Hinata decides to go out with him anyway, despite his weird hobby.
Story: Tani Mizue
Art: Ayuko
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: The story is set in 19th century England and centers on a "fairy doctor" named Lydia. Her life takes a 180-degree turn when she meets a legendary blue knight count named Edgar and his crew. He hires her as an adviser during his quest to obtain a treasured sword that was supposed to be handed down to him by his family.
Story & Art: Morishita Suu
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Upon entering high school, the very quiet but extremely cute Suiren becomes the immediate center of attention among the boys… but one particular boy does not look her way.
The story of a quiet girl and a quiet boy. A short, refreshing love story.
Story & Art: Junko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Serinuma Kae is a chubby second-year high schooler and an avid fujoshi who secretly ships her classmates, Igarashi-kun and Nanashima-kun. The death of her favorite anime character causes her to become stressed--and loses weight rapidly. Now that Serinuma has became an attractive girl to her classmates, her snarky kouhai Shinomiya-kun, and her senpai Mutsumi. How is she going to deal with them...with her constant BL-filled, fujoshi mind?!
Story & Art: Miyuki Mitsubachi
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Upon first sight, Machida Yuki knows that she doesn’t want anything to do with Naruse Shou, but how can she keep her cool when he is a part of the basketball club she manages?
Story & Art: Takagi Shigeyoshi
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: With her love lost, Miwako promises to give her beautiful hands to the handsome demon Rin.
Story & Art: Tsujita Ririko
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: In these super ordinary days something unexpected happened?
Mirutsuki is shocked when Fujiyama suddenly approaches her with an unusual request: The smartest, most popular guy wants to observe her, the most average girl? What could be the reason for his strange behavior?
*I apologize but somehow the pictures won't load in this post!
**ALL CREDITS DO NOT GO TO ME. I searched for the plots online and the details of the manga and/or anime. The only part I did was watch/read it, which I'm sure you will do too. :) ENJOY!
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This is a video I made summarizing the titles below.
AO HARU RIDE
Story & Art: Sakisaka Io
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Yoshioka Futaba has a few reasons why she wants to "reset" her image and life as a new high-school student. Because she's cute and had a demure personality she was ostracized by her female friends in junior high, and because of a series of misunderstandings and mishaps, she couldn't get her feeling across to the one boy she has always liked, Tanaka Kou.
Now in high school, she is determined to be as unladylike as possible so that her friends won't be jealous of her. While living her life this way contentedly, she meets Tanaka-kun again, but he now goes under the name of Mabuchi Kou. He tells her that he felt the same way as she did when they were younger, but that they cannot go back. Will Futaba be able to continue her love that never even started from three years ago?
OOKAMI SHOUJO TO KURO OUJI
Story & Art: Hatta Ayuko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Erika lied to her friends about having a boyfriend by showing a picture of an anonymous guy who turned out to be a a schoolmate of hers and was shortly recognized by her friends. Their conversations then was overheard by the guy, Sata Kyouya. Erika went to explain and proposed her idea of faking as lovers.
However, Sata who gave off the nice-charming feelings guy turns out to be a black prince and used her reasons to blackmail her instead.
KAICHOU WA MAID-SAMA!
Story & Art: Fujiwara Hiro
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Brilliant and overachieving, Misaki Ayuzawa is the President of the Student Council at Seika High School, formerly a boys' school. Unfortunately, most of the students are still male and stuck in their slovenly habits, so man-hating Misaki really socks it to 'em in an attempt to make the school presentable to attract more female students. But what will she do when the sexiest boy in school finds out that after school, Misaki works in a maid cafe.
LAST GAME
Story & Art: Amano Shinobu
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: He's rich, he's smart, girls gather around him all the time, and he has always gotten first place on his exams... well, until Kujou transferred in his primary school class. She was quiet, plain, and poor, yet not once has she failed at beating Yanagi, both in academics and sports! Yanagi has made it his life goal to defeat this girl Kujou, and ten years later, as they enter high school, he just might finally win! This is the story of their last game.
KIMI NI TODOKE
Story & Art: Shiina Karuho
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Sawako Kuronuma is the perfect heroine... for a horror movie. With her jet-black hair, sinister smile and silent demeanor, she's often mistaken for the haunting movie character Sadako. But behind her scary facade is a very misunderstood teenager. Too shy to fit in, all she wants to do is make some friends. But when a popular boy in class befriends her, she's sure to make more than just that--she's about to make some enemies too!
HARU MATSU BOKURA
Story & Art: Ayashin
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Mizuki cannot readily open her heart to anyone, but she is going to turn over a new leaf in high school and change that. But how can she get along with a good-looking group of four, especially with rumors at school about how they met? Although cautious at first, she gradually gets to know their true personalities. A story about good-looking men and the insanity of youth!
STROBE EDGE
Story & Art: Sakisaka Io
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: 15-year-old Ninako Kinoshita has never been in love until an encounter on the train with her school's most popular boy, the quiet Ren Ichinose. As she grows closer to Ren, she falls in love with him, but must learn to cope with the unfortunate fact that Ren already has a longtime girlfriend.
OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB
Story & Art: Bisco Hatori
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a fictitious high school located in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon the Third Music Room, a place where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six male students, gathers to entertain female "clients." During their initial encounter, Haruhi accidentally knocks over and breaks an antique vase valued at ¥8,000,000 (US$80,000 in the U.S. English manga) and is told to repay the cost in service to the club as an errand boy. Haruhi's short hair, slouching attire and gender-ambiguous face cause her to be mistaken by the hosts for a male student. After a brief run as such, the Hosts soon realize that she's a "natural" in entertaining girls and promote her to full-Host status. She agrees since Hosting will help her pay off her debt more quickly. The members of the club discover her true gender one by one, but they keep this fact a secret.
FRUITS BASKET
Story & Art: Natsuki Takaya
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: When high school student Tohru Honda's mother dies in a car crash on her way to work, she decides to live with her grandfather. Renovations on the house cause her to move out of her grandfather's house temporarily and, since she has nowhere else to go, Tohru begins living in a tent and supporting herself. That is, until she finds a home in the least likely of places, inhabited by her popular classmate Yuki Sohma and his cousins Shigure and Kyo.
The Sohmas live with a curse. Twelve members of the family (not including Kyo, who is the cat) are possessed by spirits of the Chinese zodiac and turn into their zodiac animal when they are weak, under stress, or when hugged by someone of the opposite gender.
PEACH GIRL
Story & Art: Miwa Ueda
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Momo Adachi is a former member of the high school swim team. She tans easily and her hair is bleached out; unfortunately, she is stereotyped by her ignorant classmates and is forced to endure rumors about being an "easy girl" who has had many sexual relationships. Her only friend is Sae, who is actually responsible for spreading the nasty gossip due to her jealousy of Momo. Momo is in love with Toji, a taciturn baseball player, but the scheming Sae also has her sights set on the boy. Momo's life is further complicated with the introduction of Kairi Okayasu, a wise-cracking playboy who is determined to make her his. He reveals to Momo that she had saved him from drowning the summer before high school started.
SONO OMOKAGE O SHITTERU
Story & Art: Sakisaka Io
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: She didn’t want to fall in love but then, she met a boy she became interested in...
BOKU NO SEKAI KIMI NO REAL
Story & Art: Hatta Ayuko
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: First Chapter: Mayu falls in love with Naoki Hagiwara at first sight. For some reason, Naoki seems to look sexy in her eyes. But of course, she can’t tell him that along with her feelings for him. The two get into a fight, but afterwards Naoki seems to be oddly closer to her.
This has a subset of 4 stories about 4 couples.
TONARI NO KAIBUTSU-KUN (MY LITTLE MONSTER)
Story & Art: Robico
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: My Little Monster focuses on the relationship between Shizuku Mizutani, who has absolutely no interests except in studying and her plans for the future, and a boy named Haru Yoshida, who sits next to Shizuku in class but rarely attends school. After Shizuku is tasked with delivering class printouts to Haru's home, she meets Haru, who immediately greets her as a friend, starting their new relationship. Nicknamed "dry ice," Shizuku is renowned as a girl who is emotionless and cold. However, when she met Haru, she was touched by his innocence and his lack of knowledge towards human relationships. Though known as a violent and uncontrollable monster, Haru is actually kind and gentle. Haru immediately declares his love towards Shizuku, but it takes much longer for Shizuku to realize and accept her own feelings towards Haru. Together, they help each other, two previously unsocial beings, learn how to care for others and make friends.
OTONA PINK
Story & Art: Sato Zakuri
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Senou Miku is a normal high school girl. On the day that she had her first boyfriend, her mother had a job transfer. And then, her guardian, who came to live with her, turned out to be her homeroom teacher, Nishizono-sensei...
KATAKOI TRIANGLE
Story & Art: Amano Shinobu
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Sekiya-san of the cultural library has an unrequited love for Yuuki-kun. The one who cares about Sekiya-san is the popular Kasai-kun, who is also Yuuki-kun's friend! And, what's this? Yuuki-kun is rooting for Kasai-kun?! It seems that everyone's feelings are one-sided... or are they?
OUJI KA PRINCE
Story & Art: Tomori Miyoshi
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Tsunagi's a high school girl who admires the famous, beautiful and distant imperial prince: Koji Ninomiya. Tsunagi's life takes a new light with a new classmate, Haruhi, who amazingly - and suspiciously - looks exactly like the famous prince...
LOVELY COMPLEX
Story & Art: Nakahara Aya
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Risa and Otani are in a similar predicament. Neither is dating anyone, they are both continually being laughed at as a comedy duo (courtesy of their loving sensei), and they both have height problems! Risa is taller than the average girl, and Otani is shorter than the average guy!
Determined to be in a relationship, they both decide to cheer each other on in the war of love. However, along the way, Risa begins to develop feelings for Otani... Are these feelings mutual? Can love win, no matter what the height?
SAKURASOU NO PET NA KANOJO
Story & Art: Hajime Kamoshida
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: Sakura Dormitory is a dorm of the high school affiliated with Suimei University of the Arts (often shortened as Suiko), which hosts the strangest, most trouble-making students. After being kicked out of the normal dorm for keeping a stray cat, Sorata Kanda moves into Sakura Dormitory. As he starts to get used to the life in the dorm, Mashiro Shiina, a world famous artist who cannot even take care of her daily life, moves in. Sorata is forced to become Mashiro's handler. The story is about their daily lives as well as mental growth.
HANA YORI DANGO
Story & Art: Kamio Yoko
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis:Tsukushi Makino, a working-class girl, attends an elite elevator school called Eitoku Academy, populated by children from rich, high-society families. She is the "weed" of the school surrounded by all the rich kids including the "Flower" Four (F4). The F4 leader and son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan, Tsukasa Domyoji, takes an interest in Tsukushi, because she is the only girl at Eitoku who doesn't fawn over him. However, his hot-headed nature and bullying ways are originally a major turn-off for Tsukushi, who has her sights set on someone else.
SKIP BEAT!
Story & Art: Nakamura Yoshiki
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Kyouko Mogami lived solely for her childhood friend Shoutaro "Shou" Fuwa. She follows Shou to Tokyo so that he may realize his dream of becoming a famous singer. When his dream is realized, Kyouko overhears the truth behind his decision to bringing her with him: he was using her as a maid.
Shocked and enraged, Kyouko swears to take revenge by outdoing him in show business. With a new look and a new attitude, she joins LME, the agency where Ren Tsuruga (Shou's rival and the #1 actor of LME) works, in the hopes of achieving her goal of destroying Shou's pride.
Along the way, she discovers her true self, makes new friends (and enemies), and finds herself at the heart of some interesting situations that will change her life, and the lives of all others involved, forever.
TAIYOU NO IE
Story & Art: Taamo
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: “Back in the day, that place was a house filled with magic—a place where you ended up smiling even if you were crying. Surely, an invisible wizard must have lived there. Or so I thought.”
What’s a young child to do when her mother leaves her father for another man? Or when her father remarries a woman who brings along a child from a previous marriage? Or when her childhood neighbor friend invites her to live with him?
AKAGAMI NO SHIRAYUKIHIME
Story & Art: Akizuki Sorata
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Shirayuki is a young woman born with unique apple-red hair. After catching word about her hair, Prince Rajin sends orders for her to become his concubine. With nowhere else to go, Shirayuki cuts her hair and escapes to a neighboring country. While traversing through the forests, she meets a young man, Zen, who helps her after she boldly cures his wounds. He soon, however, becomes poisoned by an apple meant for Shirayuki. What will happen to Shirayuki? What is Zen’s true character? A refreshing fantasy story between an optimistic heroine and a prince who constantly stays on her watch.
LOVE SO LIFE
Story & Art: Kouchi Kaede
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Shiharu is a high-school student who loves kids, lives in an orphanage, and works at a daycare... Until the handsome uncle of two-year-old twins offers her a raise if she'll be their babysitter. Often relying on memories of her mother's actions for guidance, Shiharu quickly finds herself falling in love with her new makeshift family.
HANA KIMI
Story & Art: Nakajo Hisaya
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Japanese-American track-and-field star Mizuki has gotten herself to transfer to a high school in Japan...but not just any school! To be close to her idol, high jumper Izumi Sano, she's going to an all-guys' high school...and disguising herself as a boy! But as fate would have it, they're more than classmates...they're roommates! Now, Mizuki must keep her secret in the classroom, the locker room, and her own bedroom. And her classmates--and the school nurse--must cope with a new transfer student who may make them question their own orientation...
ORANGE
Story & Art: Takano Ichigo
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: In the Spring she was 16, Takamiya Naho receives a strange, but detailed letter from herself, ten years in the future. At first she thinks the letter is a prank, but then the things written in the letter actually happen, including the new transfer student that sits next to her in class, Naruse Kakeru. The letter reads just like her diary entries, down to the same characters. It is not till two weeks later, when Kakeru shows back up at school, that Naho finishes the letter.
In the letter, her 27-year-old self tells her 16-year-old self that her biggest regret is that Kakeru is no longer with them in the future, and asks her to watch him closely.
SWORD ART ONLINE
Story & Art: Reki Kawahara
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: In the year 2022, Kirito (the main protagonist), a solo player who had the luck-of-the-draw to play the beta version, and the many other players of Sword Art Online (SAO) are trapped inside of a game, unable to logout; the only way to live is to win. Death in-game means death in the real world; tampering with or prolonged power outages to the Nerve Gear, the gear that simulates in-game character control by redirecting brain signals, also means death. To win means to defeat the final boss on the top floor; out of the original 10,000 players at the start, two years later, over 6,000 remain with 26 floors left to clear.
PAPILLON: HANA TO CHOU
Story & Art: Miwa Ueda
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: The story is about an ordinary (and rather unpopular) girl named Ageha who is constantly overshadowed by her popular and beautiful twin sister, Hana. Because Ageha grew up in the countryside with their grandmother while Hana was raised by their parents, the two girls ended up with drastically different personalities.
STARDUST WINK
Story & Art: Haruta Nana
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: I’m Anna. I’m 14 years old and I've just entered the ninth grade. Sou and Hinata, who live in the same apartment complex as me, are my childhood friends and we’re all the same age. I thought that from now on we’d become even closer friends, but then my senior came! I don't know what to do!
KUROORIHIME TO KAWAKI NO OU
Story & Art: Kusanagi Mizuho
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Setia is prisoner of Azurite, the tyrant king. She has a fiance waiting for her but the king seems to have taken a fancy in toying with her! But under his ruthless facade there appears to be...
VAHLIA NO HANAMUKO
Story & Art: Akizuki Sorata
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Jiru and Vahlia were engaged. But Jiru suddenly went missing! Four years later, Vahlia was betrothed to his younger brother. During the night of the celebration of her second engagement, Vahlia decides to go on a journey… in search of Jiru!
TONARI NO ATASHI
Story & Art: Nanba Atsuko
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Nina's neighbor, Kyousuke, is starting high school while she's still stuck in junior high. Just walking to their nearby schools together isn't enough for her--especially since they keep running into Yuiko: a beautiful, outgoing girl in Kyousuke's grade who also seems to harbor feelings for Nina's next-door neighbor.
SONO ME, KUCHI HODO NI.
Story & Art: Nanao Mio
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis:
He is, by nature, a quiet man.
But when he open his mouth, he always go right to the point.
"In brief, would you marry me?"
"You really are an idiot!"
"I always have to interfer in your life"
But why doesn't it suprised me at all?
Because he always was like that so I can't imagine him differently.
Because he uses his eyes instead of his mouth.
SHIAWASE KISSA SANCHOUME
Story & Art: Matsuzuki Kou
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Takamura Uru takes her mother’s remarriage as an opportunity to strike out on her own and begin a part time job. Filled with the thought of “If only I could make someone happy…” she begins working at Café Bohneur, a shop famous for cakes; but the employees, Ichirou-kun and Shindou-san, turn out to be incredibly unsociable. These two, though frightening at first glance, begin to change something inside of her. This is the start of a romance about Uru’s search for happiness.
DAISUKI DATTA YO, SENSEI...
Story & Art: Shiraishi Yuki
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: A girl whom experienced unsuccessful "threads" of love with her teacher, encounters her fated person!?
ZETTAI HEIWA DAISAKUSEN
Story & Art: Ogura Akane
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: The long-lasting war between the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms is unbearable. So the northern Prince Johane and the southern Princess Euda decide to tell everyone they are in love, because their marriage can stop the war. But the truth is they don’t get along at all!
REIMEI NO ARCANA
Story & Art: Toma Rei
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: "You are my property." With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power!
HANA-KUN TO KOISURU WATASHI
Story & Art: Kumaoka Fuyu
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Nanase Sakashita is good at playing the role of model student but that doesn't stop her from taking an interest in Hana-kun, the school's delinquent. Hana-kun accidently drops a small box while sneaking around on the school grounds. When Nanase tries to return the box, Hana-kun tells her to keep it for its already too late to give it to the person he likes. Who is this person?!
THE WALLFLOWER
Story & Art: Hayakawa Tomoko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: YES
Synopsis: It's a gorgeous, spacious mansion, and four handsome, fifteen-year-old friends are allowed to live in it for free! There's only one condition - that within three years the guys must transform the owner's wallflower niece into a lady befitting the palace in which they all live! How hard can it be?
Enter Sunako Nakahara, the agoraphobic, horror-movie-loving, pockmark-faced, frizzy-haired, fashion-illiterate recluse who tends to break into explosive nosebleeds whenever she sees anyone attractive. This project is going to take more than our four heroes ever expected: it needs a miracle!
HAJIMARI NO NIINA
Story & Art: Minamori Koyomi
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: 10-year old Niina is special. This is because she has the memories of her past life as a girl named Chitose still intact. Among these memories is a promise with Chitose's boyfriend which Niina then decides to try and fulfill. But can she really?
NAKANMON!
Story & Art: Tsukishima Haru
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Our crybaby protagonist Hirahara Tsukasa hasn't always been a crybaby. Due to the death of her older sister Chihiro, Tsukasa hasn't been able to dam up the flood of tears ever since - even about little things.
She is further disheartened after moving to Tokyo from Hiroshima, especially after a series of incidents cause her and her four classmates to miss the bus and be late for the entrance ceremony on the very first day of the school term. However, it is precisely this event that ends up drawing her closer to maturity and fueling her determination to stop her crybaby tendencies. And perhaps, she may even find an unexpected love on the way...
RERE HELLO
Story & Art: Minami Touko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Ririko is a hardworking girl who has been performing the role of a mother in her household after the death of her own one when she was five. When her father, a handyman, is stricken with illness and admitted to a hospital, Ririko decides to take up the role of a handyman to help her father's business in his absence. Her first client is a rich teenage boy with high expectations of his helpers. Will she be able to satisfy him?
STAND UP!
Story & Art: Yamakawa Aiji
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Furuya Utako is shy and reserved, but because of her height (172 cm), she sticks out like a sore thumb. Her mind is constantly plagued by thoughts of Harada Naoyuki, the popular boy who sits next to her in homeroom and claims that he'd like to be friends. She is a bit surprised at his straightforward attitude, but slowly the distance between them is starting to close...
USOTSUKI LILY
Story & Art: Komura Ayumi
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Hinata Saotome is suddenly asked out by En Shinohara, a gorgeous boy in her grade. What she doesn’t know, though, is that his hobby is cross-dressing! En has always hated men, and whenever he sees his own reflection, he punches out whatever is doing the reflecting (windows, mirrors…). To combat this hatred, he dresses up as a girl. Hinata decides to go out with him anyway, despite his weird hobby.
HAKUSHAKU TO YOUSEI
Story: Tani Mizue
Art: Ayuko
Status: Completed
Anime: YES
Synopsis: The story is set in 19th century England and centers on a "fairy doctor" named Lydia. Her life takes a 180-degree turn when she meets a legendary blue knight count named Edgar and his crew. He hires her as an adviser during his quest to obtain a treasured sword that was supposed to be handed down to him by his family.
HIBI CHOUCHOU
Story & Art: Morishita Suu
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Upon entering high school, the very quiet but extremely cute Suiren becomes the immediate center of attention among the boys… but one particular boy does not look her way.
The story of a quiet girl and a quiet boy. A short, refreshing love story.
WATASHI GA MOTETE DOUSUNDA
Story & Art: Junko
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Serinuma Kae is a chubby second-year high schooler and an avid fujoshi who secretly ships her classmates, Igarashi-kun and Nanashima-kun. The death of her favorite anime character causes her to become stressed--and loses weight rapidly. Now that Serinuma has became an attractive girl to her classmates, her snarky kouhai Shinomiya-kun, and her senpai Mutsumi. How is she going to deal with them...with her constant BL-filled, fujoshi mind?!
NAMAIKIZAKARI
Story & Art: Miyuki Mitsubachi
Status: Ongoing
Anime: NO
Synopsis: Upon first sight, Machida Yuki knows that she doesn’t want anything to do with Naruse Shou, but how can she keep her cool when he is a part of the basketball club she manages?
AKUMA NI ITSUKUSHIMI NO TE O
Story & Art: Takagi Shigeyoshi
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: With her love lost, Miwako promises to give her beautiful hands to the handsome demon Rin.
FUTSU HYAKKEI
Story & Art: Tsujita Ririko
Status: Completed
Anime: NO
Synopsis: In these super ordinary days something unexpected happened?
Mirutsuki is shocked when Fujiyama suddenly approaches her with an unusual request: The smartest, most popular guy wants to observe her, the most average girl? What could be the reason for his strange behavior?
*I apologize but somehow the pictures won't load in this post!
**ALL CREDITS DO NOT GO TO ME. I searched for the plots online and the details of the manga and/or anime. The only part I did was watch/read it, which I'm sure you will do too. :) ENJOY!
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