Chapter 5
Much to Edamura’s displeasure, it had become sort of an inside joke within their friend group to call Edamura a virgin. The party had happened a week ago, yet nobody forgot. He tried to ignore it as best as he could. He knew they didn’t mean any harm.
“No, but really. Why do you only seem to own two sweaters and a single pair of jeans and Walmart brand sneakers?” Edamura snapped back into the conversation when he realized Cynthia was talking to him. They had been at lunch, but Edamura hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation.
“Huh?”
“I mean, that’s probably why you’re still a virgin. Your looks practically scream nerd.” Cynthia giggled. Edamura rolled his eyes.
“I just don’t have the extra money to buy new clothes.” Edamura shrugged.
“Hey, Edamame. Ever heard of thrifting?” She asked.
“No? What’s that?” He replied in confusion.
“Thrift stores are stores that have clothes that people have gotten rid of because they don’t wear them anymore. They’re super cheap too! If you go to the right store at the right time you can find really nice name brand clothing for as low as three dollars.” Cynthia explained.
“Shall we take a trip to Goodwill after school?” Laurent asked.
“I still don’t have money, though.” Edamura frowned.
“I’ll pay for a whole new closet for you if I have to! Goodwill is cheap so I don’t mind.” Cynthia told him.
“I’ll chip in as well.” Laurent smirked.
“Stupid rich people.” Abby muttered.
“Are you sure?” Edamura worried.
“Of course! You can fill your entire closet for as low as a hundred dollars! I’m buying you as many clothes that will fit in your closet.” Cynthia smirked.
After school, Edamura went to the parking lot to find his friends. This was becoming sort of a normal routine at this point. He was always hanging out with them after school.
Edamura took his usual seat behind Cynthia in the passenger seat. Laurent rolled down the windows as usual and began blasting his playlist. This time, it was Shake It by Metro Station. To his own surprise, Edamura found himself humming along to the lyrics while his friends in the front yelled the lyrics and Abby sat next to him quietly.
After pulling into the parking lot, Laurent rolled up the windows and turned the radio off. He pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off. They all got out of the car and began walking inside.
When they entered, Cynthia had to refrain from going straight to the pajama section to look for lace shirts. Abby stared down at her phone in boredom. Laurent gazed towards the men’s section.
“Okay, okay. We aren’t here for me, I have too many clothes already. We’re here for you, Edamame! Let’s give you a complete makeover!” Cynthia grinned.
“No makeover can fix that.” Abby commented, not looking up from her phone.
“Rude!” Edamura yelled.
“Alright, lets go look in the men’s section. Or you two can go find stuff you want and I’ll help Edamame.” Laurent smirked.
“There’s no way I’m leaving you in charge of choosing outfits for him. Not after I saw you wear that Hawaiian shirt with plaid shorts.” Cynthia shuddered at the memory.
“That was a joke outfit, I have a great sense of fashion.” Laurent assured her.
“But mine is even better. By the way, these glasses make you look even more nerdy. We’re getting you contacts after this.” Cynthia told him as she began to sort through the men’s clothing. After she had gone through every single rack, she handed a pile of clothes to Edamura.
“Try these on and we’ll see if you should buy them or not.” Cynthia ordered. Edamura sighed as he was pushed into the changing room.
In the end, Edamura ended up getting an entire new wardrobe. He had dozens of bags filled with new clothes. Cynthia had also taught him what to pair with what. Their next stop was the eye doctor.
“Do you know your prescription?” Laurent asked. Edamura nodded.
After Cynthia and Laurent had bought him contacts, to which he felt bad for making them spend so much money on him, they got back into the car. It had taken a while since Edamura didn’t like touching his eye and the lady wouldn’t let him leave until he had successfully put them in and taken them out.
Laurent blasted Call on Me by Eric Prydz and Edamura smiled to himself. Laurent and Cynthia danced to the music. Edamura couldn’t tell if it was because of the music, but he had that feeling again. The feeling that he had never felt more alive than at this moment. He stuck his arm out the window with a huge smile and felt the wind high five him. He didn’t notice Cynthia and Laurent smiling at him through the mirrors.
“Address?” Laurent asked Edamura.
“Park.” He responded. He noticed Abby roll her eyes beside him. Laurent sighed before dropping him off at the park. He waved goodbye to his friends and got all his bags out of the car. It was a bit hard to carry them all, but he managed it.
“Wow! What did you buy?” Linda asked when he walked in.
“My friends took me thrifting. They also bought me contacts.” He smiled.
“Oh, so you’re gonna look like a whole new person, huh?” She smiled.
“Yeah, I think it’s time I make a change anyways.” He smiled before walking up to his room.
“Hey, Makoto!” Ethan greeted as he walked in.
“Hey, Ethan.” Edamura smiled as he plopped the bags down. They both had their own closets in the room. Ethan’s was filled halfway since he hadn’t grown out of his clothes from when he lived with his parents yet. Edamura looked in his closet and decided not to get rid of his two sweaters. They had been given to him by Linda.
It took him thirty minutes, but Edamura had finally put all his clothes into the closet. He also put his new pants into his drawer and his new contacts into the bathroom he shared with Ethan. Afterwards, he went straight to sleep, completely forgetting about his homework.
The next morning, Edamura woke up early so that he could plan his outfit beforehand to make sure he didn’t look stupid. As he sifted through his new clothes, he tried to remember which colors Cynthia told him looked good together.
After choosing an outfit, Edamura looked at himself in the mirror. He wore a white hoodie with a brown and orange flannel on over it. He also wore light wash baggy jeans. He finished the outfit with a pair of white sneakers. It was definitely different from his usual style, but a good different.
After taking a while to put his contacts in, Edamura began walking to school. When he arrived on the campus of his high school, he noticed people staring at him. He had always been known as the nerd. Lately his grades started dropping and he stopped participating in class. Him getting contacts and new clothes probably made the rumors even worse.
“Is that Edamura? Why is he actually kinda hot now?” He happened to hear a girl whisper to one of her friends.
“The slacker vibe suits him. Bad boys are so hot.” Is that what he was now? A bad boy?
“He still does all his homework though like a teacher’s pet.” A guy next to them rolled his eyes. Edamura’s eyes widened. He had forgotten to do his homework last night. What was even more incredible was the fact that he didn’t even really care. He was done trying to get adopted by impressing couples with his grades. It was obvious they didn’t care about that.
When he got to class, people continued to stare at him. When the teacher called on him, they were even more shocked.
“Edamura? I think you forgot to hand your homework in when you walked in. I don’t have it here.” The teacher told him.
“I forgot to do it. Sorry.” He shrugged awkwardly. There were a few gasps in the classroom and whispers began.
“Makoto Edamura didn’t do his homework? Is the world ending?”
“I love this new attitude and look of his. He’s so cute without his glasses.”
“Do you think he’d sleep with me?”
“I want him to date me!”
“Oh, well you can still hand it in late for half credit.” The teacher told him in slight shock.
“We’ll see.” He didn’t know where this new attitude of his came from. The teacher glared at him a bit with furrowed eyebrows.
By lunch time, Edamura made his way to the table he usually sat at with his friends. Before we could get there, a girl stepped in his path. He realized it was Katelynn.
“Hey, Makoto. I really regret what I said to you back then. Can we be friends again?” For some reason, she had her arms folded under her chest. Her breasts were pushed up, but Edamura didn’t look at them no matter how much cleavage she was showing.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Edamura frowned.
“Come on! I broke up with my boyfriend. Maybe you and I could have some fun together. I know you always used to secretly like me.” She grinned seductively. Edamura simply walked past her and ignored the noises of protest she made as he continued walking to the table. He sat down next to Laurent and noticed Katelynn had followed him.
“You should come over after school today, Makoto. My parents won’t be home.” She winked. Edamura scowled in disgust. Laurent seemed to notice.
“Sorry, but Makoto is actually coming to my place after school. I thought you were already aware we’re dating?” Laurent raised an eyebrow. Katelynn sputtered for a moment.
“Those rumors about you being a fag were true?” She glared at Edamura.
“Please leave my boyfriend alone.” Laurent’s smirk fell off his face as he glared at her with malice. She squeaked and finally, walked away.
“Since when are you two dating?” Cynthia giggled.
“We aren’t.” Edamura rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, sadly. Edamame still isn’t aware he’s bisexual yet.” The smirk reformed on Laurent’s face.
“I never said I wasn’t bisexual.” He blushed and tried to cover it with his hand as he looked off to the side.
“Aww! I’m so glad you came out to us, Edamame! You finally trust us!” Cynthia smiled.
“What do you mean finally? I’ve trusted you guys for a while now.” Edamura quirked an eyebrow in confusion.
“You won’t even trust us with your address.” Abby rolled her eyes.
“That’s just because I don’t want you guys randomly showing up at my house and dragging me out somewhere.” He huffed.
“We would never!” Cynthia gasped in mock offense.
“Says the girl who literally kidnapped me.” He chuckled. Cynthia and Laurent began laughing as well and Edamura might’ve imaged this, but he could’ve sworn he saw Abby smirk slightly.
“Anyways, looks like I was right! You won’t be a virgin for much longer!” Cynthia chuckled while Edamura groaned with an eye roll.