Chapter 1

My name is Michihiro David Yoshizumi. My mother gave me my first name and my father gave me my middle name. I don’t enjoy going by my middle name, but it makes people feel more comfortable. Most people I know can’t say my full name. I don’t think it’s that difficult to say.

My dad’s last name was Smith. He and my mother got a divorce when I was six. My mother, Shoko, changed both of our names back to Yoshizumi. We moved across the United States, far away from my dad.

I don’t see him much and I don’t really mind. I mean, I’m seventeen and he has a new family. Two daughters and a wife. My mom never remarried, but invested a lot of her time in her business. It’s a karaoke bar.

It’s really nice. She has no clue what any of the songs she plays are, but all the teenagers think that it’s “retro.” I don’t get why they feel it’s so retro, they’re pretty popular in Japan. I work there all the time. You rent out an empty booth and let them just go at it.

I look Japanese, but I don’t look Japanese. It’s funny, really. I can totally pass as Japanese, but I am white too. It’s just a mix I guess. I’m not very tall, probably because neither of my parents are taller than 5’5. I have black hair, it’s kind of wavy, and I have brown eyes. My hair is long, well not long-long, just a bit below my ears.

I was working. It was a Saturday night and I was working, but it’s not like I have anything else to do. My mother was playing hostess. She was so Asian. Her English was terrible, and I often times had to remind her to actually speak it.

“You karaoke?” My mother asked a group of kids from a school I didn’t go to. They were probably on the football team, they were wearing lettermen jackets. They were with a couple of girls too. I sighed. Their type always left the booths so messy.

“Uh, yeah…” Said the biggest guy in the whole group. I blushed. He was really cute. My mother ushered him towards the register.

“How many in your group?” I asked, smiling foolishly. He turned and counted the number of kids in the group. I saw there were three girls, and four guys, including the cute one.

“Seven.” He said with a smile. I smiled back even more.

“How long do you guys plan on singing? You can purchase extra time if you’re having too much fun.” Ugggh, how rehearsed was that? “And please feel free to order refreshments.”

“Uh, well…” He turned towards the group again. I heard an hour, I heard thirty minutes. They decided on an hour and a half. I took the money and showed them to room 5. I sighed as I returned to the front.

“They have karaoke party!” My mother exclaimed. I laughed and she smiled. She started talking to me in Japanese. I reminded her she had to work on her English and she laughed again. She ushered in another group and I noticed the big guy was making his way to my register.

He was so tall. He had dark blond hair, it was a really nice color. I wish I could describe it as something more than “dark blond.” He had blue-green eyes and a dazzling smile. He lumbered over and gave me a smile.

“What did you say about refreshments?” He asked. I felt tongue-tied. Talk. I had to remind myself to talk!

“Oh, well…we have soda, water, candy, potato chips, umm…ice cream, and yeah, that’s about it.” I said. I felt really embarrassed. I didn’t even know why.

“I’ll take a cola and two bags of chips.” I went to get his stuff. I could feel him looking at me. “By the way, my name is Clay.” I set his stuff on the counter.

“Nice to meet you Clay. My name is...David.” He pulled out his wallet. “It’s on me.” I said.

“Thanks.” He said with a smile. I smiled back.