Chapter 4
A few days after hanging out outside of school with Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby, Edamura had a meeting with a couple who was interested in adopting a teenager. Couples like this were rare to come by, so he wanted to make as good of an impression as possible.
After hanging out with his new friends, he was surprised when he was added to a group chat with Cynthia, Abby, and Laurent. He already had Cynthia’s number saved, but he had trouble with Laurent and Abby’s numbers. Luckily, he was able to tell the difference between the two after an hour of lurking in the chat.
Laurent was currently spamming the group chat with TikToks. Edamura would’ve never expected Laurent to be on TikTok. He had to admit, some of the videos were actually pretty funny. Cynthia seemed to enjoy TikTok as well. She even had thousands of followers on her account after a video of her dancing went viral. It wasn’t even an original dance. The only reason it went viral was because she was a pretty girl.
“Edamura? The Johnson’s are here!” Linda poked her head into his room excitedly. He had been sitting in there ever since getting home from school, waiting by himself. All the other children of the orphanage were still in school, so he couldn’t even hang out with them.
Edamura entered the room, making sure his clothes were straight and tidy. He sat in the chair across from the man and woman, who smiled at him nicely.
“Hi, Makoto! Is it okay if we call you that?” Mrs. Johnson asked.
“Sure.” No, only his real parents and Ethan had ever called him by his first name. He wasn’t even sure if these people were going to adopt him. He didn’t want to seem rude, though.
“How was school today?” Mr. Johnson asked.
“It was alright. Nothing really interesting happened.” This was true. Cynthia had gone on a class field trip today, Laurent had a doctor’s appointment, so he left early, and Abby didn’t want to be left alone with Edamura, so she skipped school.
“I see. Do you play any sports?” Mr. Johnson asked.
“No, but I’m really smart! I have straight A+’s in all my classes and I have the highest GPA in school.” Edamura smiled.
“Impressive! But, don’t you think giving sports a try would be nice? You can get scholarships much easier that way and make lots of lifelong friendships!” Mrs. Johnson urged.
“I’m not all that interested in sports. I’m sure I can easily get a scholarship, though with how great my grades are. Plus, I’m already starting to make some new friends, so I have that part covered.” Edamura smiled.
“You aren’t willing to give sports a try?” Mr. Johnson frowned.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t think you’re the right fit for us. I’m sorry, kiddo.” Mr. Johnson sighed.
“That’s okay, sir. It was nice meeting you.”
Edamura went back to his room after that with a sense of defeat. Why couldn’t anyone want to adopt him for him? All they wanted were little kids who would grow up to be athletes. Edamura was neither of those things. He’d never be loved by a family. He ignored the texts from the group chat and turned his phone off.
The next day at school, Edamura is greeted by his three friends bright and early. Cynthia held a cup of coffee in her hands, which could explain her good mood. Laurent was just always in a good mood. Abby never was, so it wasn’t a surprise that she looked as tired and annoyed as he felt.
“Hey, Edamame! There’s a party tonight at one of my friend’s houses. He’s in college, so there’ll be lots of pretty college girls and boys there to hook up with.” Laurent smirked.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you’re going with us, silly!” Cynthia butted in.
“Huh?”
“We’ll get food after school then head over to the party, okay?” Laurent told him. Edamura knew he had homework to do. He also had a test tomorrow. It was clear that nobody even cared if he got good grades anyways. What good was college for really?
“Okay.”
Edamura was surprised to say he was feeling excited for the party. It would be his first one and he had secretly always wanted to experience one. When the time came for him to meet up with his friends in the parking lot, he grabbed his bag and walked briskly out of the school.
“Yo, Edamura! Where should we go to eat?” Laurent smirked.
“Why does he get to choose?” Abby scoffed.
“Because knowing you, you’d make Laurent drive to a bunch of different places.” Cynthia giggled.
“It’s not my fault. Every place has their specialty. McDonald’s has great chicken nuggets, Burger King has good chicken fries, Wendy’s spicy chicken nuggets are amazing, but so is KFC’s popcorn chicken. I could also really go for a Baja blast right now.” Abby listed off her favorite food items.
“That’s a lot of chicken.” Edamura commented.
“So? Chicken is good.” Abby glared at him and Edamura held up his hands in defense.
After getting into the car, the four of them eventually decided on KFC. Laurent had his windows down as usual. This time, All Star by Smash Mouth was playing. Cynthia and Laurent laughed hysterically as they sang along to the lyrics. Edamura didn’t know why they still found it so hilarious. It was a dead meme.
After going through the drive thru and getting their food, they decided to take it to the park. They brought the food down by the water and sat on a bench. They ate their food while talking and laughing at the jokes Laurent and Cynthia made. Afterwards, it was time for the party.
As they got back into the car and began driving to whoever’s house this party was at, Edamura began to feel nervous. His leg bounced as he began to overthink every possibility that could occur at this party. What if he was drugged and... no. He didn’t want to think about that anymore. That part of him was locked away deep forever. Edamura wanted to have a good time tonight. He decided he would trust his friends and stick with them.
When Edamura walked into the house, his ears were immediately bombarded by the inappropriate lyrics of a Cardi B song. Hundreds of college students were singing and dancing to the music. The room smelled of smoke and alcohol. Just before Edamura could chicken out and turn right around and leave, he felt Cynthia nudge him. He looked over to see her beckoning him over where Laurent and Abby were heading.
First, he followed them into the kitchen. There was a guy in there pouring drinks. Laurent walked over and did some sort of handshake with the guy and he gave him a few drinks. Laurent handed a red solo cup to Edamura. He hesitated a bit before taking it. He smelled it and realized it smelled somewhat like cough syrup.
Edamura watched as Laurent spoke to the guy who gave them the drinks. He looked at Abby and Cynthia to see Cynthia chugging her cup with a sour expression on her face and Abby lightly sipping hers. Cynthia noticed him watching her and slung an arm around his neck, her breasts brushing up against his arm.
“C’mon Edamame! Loosen up a bit! You’re always so tense with your nerdy glasses and sweaters!” She giggled.
“How are we even going to get home after this?” Edamura asked.
“Laurent never drinks too much! I’m the only one who ever gets blackout drunk, but I don’t want your perception of me to be skewed.” She smiled at him. “This time I’ll only get a little bit drunk.” After that, she let go of his arm and wandered into a crowd of dancers.
“Should we go with her?” Edamura asked in concern.
“She can take care of herself.” Abby took another sip of her alcohol.
“Don’t worry, Edamame. I’m only having a few sips. I would never drive under the influence. I’m more of a social drinker anyways.” Laurent smirked. His friend raised an eyebrow beside him. Laurent seemed to take notice.
“Ah! Yes! Owen, this is Edamura. Edamura, this is the friend I was telling you about, Owen.” Laurent introduced them.
“Nice to meet you.” Edamura greeted shyly.
“Nice to meet you too, kid! Cynthia was right, though. You really should loosen up. How about I introduce you to some hot girls who are into nerds like you?” Edamura was too nervous about being introduced to girls to take offense to being called a nerd.
“That’s a great idea! How about it, Edamame? Ready to lose your virginity tonight?” Laurent smirked. Edamura tried not to think about the fact that it sounded as if Laurent himself wanted to take his virginity.
“I’m not a virgin.” Edamura blushed.
“Suuuure.” Abby rolled her eyes.
“Leah!” Owen beckoned a girl over. She had tan skin, but it wasn’t as dark as Abby’s. She had a perfectly white smile and wavy blonde hair that reached to her butt. She was extremely skinny and petite. She was wearing a form fitting black dress.
“What’s up?” She smiled at him. Edamura could see slight hope in her eyes.
“I have someone I want you to meet! This is Edamura. I trust you’ll show him a good time?” Owen grinned at her. Edamura noticed her smile falter slightly.
“Yeah, of course.” She looked at Edamura with a sultry gaze. “Follow me, handsome.” She took his hand and dragged him towards a nearby bedroom. Edamura looked back at Abby and Laurent with a panicked expression. Laurent was smirking at him while Abby seemed to be more interested in her cup.
Once they reached the bedroom, Leah locked the door. She led Edamura to the bed and pushed him down. Edamura was immediately reminded of one of his fathers many old clients. He freaked out and pushed her off of him before she could take his sweater off.
“What’s wrong?” She asked with a hurt expression.
“I-I’m sorry!” Edamura ran his hands through his hair. It became harder to breathe as he attempted to push away the unwanted memories.
“Hey! It’s okay! Just breathe. Follow my breathing.” Leah began taking deep breaths. Edamura matched her breathing after a few moments of struggling.
“I’m guessing you were peer pressured into losing your virginity?” She asked as she sat beside him on the bed.
“Yeah.” He admitted sheepishly.
“Don’t be embarrassed. I should be the embarrassed one. I let Owen pressure me into having sex with a stranger again.” She sighed.
“Again?” Edamura asked.
“I’d do anything for that man, unfortunately. I’m in love with him. But all he does is treat me like shit. And I’m the idiot who keeps going back to him in hopes that one day he’ll see how much I love him and ask me to be his girlfriend.” Leah smiled sadly. “Pathetic, huh?”
“Nah. I get it. It kinda used to be the same way with me and my dad.” Edamura admitted.
“Really? Your dad sounds like an asshole then. You shouldn’t keep forgiving him. Don’t make the same mistakes I do if he’s anything like Owen.”
“The same goes for you in that case. You should take your own advice.” He suggested. Leah pauses in consideration.
“I really should. I don’t know if I’m strong enough, though. I understand why he acts like such an asshole. He tells me he loves me, but he never shows me.” Leah sighed.
“What do you mean you know how he feels?” Edamura asked curiously.
“The truth is Edamura, we’re all fucked up. That’s the one thing everyone at this party has in common. Everyone came here tonight to forget about their sadness and stress for tonight. Not the healthiest way of coping, but I can’t judge obviously.” She chuckled darkly.
“Huh. That’s kinda sad to think about.” Edamura wondered what business Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby had here in that case.
“Yeah, but that’s life. Some people here are gonna end up dead after overdosing on drugs. Don’t be one of those people, Edamura. You’re a nice guy. Stay that way.” Leah smiled at him.
“I don’t want you to become one of those people either. You should leave Owen. I know you feel bad for him with whatever he’s going through, but that doesn’t give him an excuse to treat you like shit constantly.” Edamura frowned. Leah sat silently in contemplation for a few moments.
“I guess you’re right. I should focus more on me instead of him. I’ve been so focused on him I forgot the entire reason I came to California in the first place.” She smiled slightly. It seemed to be a genuine smile.
“You know what? Fuck Owen! And fuck your dad! We don’t need them. We’re better off without them.” Leah smiled brightly.
“Yeah!” Edamura smiled back at her.
“Thanks for this, Edamura. I doubt I’ll ever see you again, but this was a nice talk.” Leah bid him farewell with a wave before exiting the room. Edamura exited and decided he had enough excitement for his first party already. He had too many thoughts of his father swarming around his head. He hadn’t ever wanted to remember them, but they were slowly coming back to the surface of his brain. Edamura headed straight for the front door, until a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He jumped and turned around defensively. It was Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby.
“Did you lose your virginity that fast? Geez, you must have pretty bad stamina.” Laurent chuckled.
“Stop talking about it.” Laurent felt the memories begin to come to the surface much faster. He needed to get out of there.
“Aww! Are you embarrassed?” Cynthia giggled.
“Please, stop! I want to go home.” Edamura replied seriously, a scared look on his face.
“You okay?” Cynthia asked, sobering slightly.
“I’m fine. Just tired.” He frowned.
“Alright, I’ll bring you home.” Laurent replied. With that, the four of them exited the house without saying goodbye.
In the car, the windows were open once again. Edamura kept his face close to the window. The night air blew into his face as they drove on the highway. It was a nice distraction from his thoughts. The loud music blended into the background. Once they neared Edamura’s neighborhood, Laurent glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
“What’s your address?”
“Just drop me off at the park again.” He replied.
“You’re gonna get kidnapped if you walk home at night.” Abby rolled her eyes.
“I won’t. This is a safe neighborhood.” Respecting his wishes, Laurent let him out of the car at the park.
“Text us when you get home.” Cynthia gave him a slightly worried look.
“I will.” He smiled at her. He waved as Laurent drove off.
The walk home gave Edamura time to clear his head. He took deep breaths in and out as he continued to walk down the street. Once he reached the orphanage, he was immediately tackled by Ethan.
“Makoto! You’re back!” He grinned. Edamura hugged him back.
“Yeah.” He smiled.
“Did you have fun with your new friends?” Linda asked from the doorway. Edamura nodded.
“I’m a bit tired, so I’m gonna go to bed now.” Edamura told the two. He wished them a goodnight before trekking up the stairs to his shared room with Ethan. After plopping down on his bed, sleep overtook him almost immediately.