The Half Time Show part 1

In Heian era Japanese culture, it was considered extremely beautiful for women to grow their hair out as long as possible, and it is rumored that the record holder was 7 meters (23feet) of hair. By those standards, Daishi would have been the envy of many women in Heian era Japan. Daishi stroked a lock of her shining black mane, which fell to her ankles when she stood up. Her hair wasn't particularly thick except for her poofy forward falling bangs that covered her forehead. The wind from the lowered window of the car she rode in blew her poofy bangs around, tickling her eyes. She adjusted her glasses and leaned her head back against the seat rest.

Her first few weeks in America had been uneventful. Her father was a science fiction writer who had been hired to assist full time with a local LA movie studio. This meant he either had to leave his family alone in Japan or relocate to the sunny streets of LA. He, or course, had chosen the latter. It had been a month since the move and Daishi was still getting acquainted with her new home. Her mother was a veterinarian who worked with animals at the local shelter in their Kanto region home. Because of this, Daishi's mother had not moved immediately to America with them, but was planning to stay behind in Japan for a few months to train her successor. This meant that aside from her dad, Daishi didn't have anybody to socialize with.

Being only 16, Daishi would have been enrolled in 10th grade classes at LA high, but she was a bright student and got bumped up a grade. The downside to this was that not only did she not know a lot of the American customs, but she was also younger than all her classmates. During lunch she often snuck off to a corner of cafeteria to eat alone, and she spent most of her free time between class periods in the library, enjoying her favorite pastime, reading. Perhaps it was her father's love for writing or the stories she heard as a little girl, but Daishi had always enjoyed reading stories about fantasy worlds. She read about everything from monster hunters in Scotland to futuristic police dramas. If it excited the imagination, it was good by her. Of course most of her books were in Japanese, so nobody in the school could read anything she showed them. This, again, meant finding friends was difficult.

One afternoon Daishi got a call that her father was running late from a set and she would need to take a bus home. The bus stop ran every 30 minutes which meant Daishi had some time to kill before it arrived. Nestled under the shade of an oak across the road from the school, she opened her book and became engrossed in a tale of two warring criminal factions. After 4 chapters, and a surprise twist, Daishi looked up to see the sun was much lower than when she had started. It was 6:20PM, and the busses had long since stopped going by this route.

Panicking a little, Daishi pulled open her phone and began tapping till she had found her dad's number. The phone rang for several seconds without any answer, and she left a rather long winded voice mail telling him what had happened. Just as she was hanging up, she looked across the parking lot next to the school to see a group of cheerleaders exiting after a practice session. One of the girl's broke away from the group and began walking towards a light yellow, VW bug. As scary as the idea of hitchhiking was, Dasihi needed a ride home.

Beth threw her practice bag into the passengers seat of her car. She pulled out a blue waterbottle and let the cool liquid touch her lips, giving her instant refreshment from the intense workout she had just done. Handstands and pyramid drills aren't a joke in this LA heat. She grabbed a handful of her thick, waist length, blond hair and wiped the sweat from her face. Though uncomfortable during workouts, her hair often became a convenient sweat rag. It's thickness meant it could soak up a lot of water without loosing volume.

As she sat there in the drivers seat, finishing her chilled drink, she saw the shadow of another person get closer to her car. She turned and dropped her jaw at the sight of the longest head of hair she had ever seen. Daishi approached the vehicle with her hands clutching a book tightly; she was obviously nervous. "Um...I...I need...car...ride. You...uh, help me? 

Beth stood up and took inventory of the adorable Japanese doll before her. Her long black hair was complimented by her beautiful brown eyes and dark pink sweatshirt. She was uncomfortable looking directly in someone's eyes and kept averting her gaze to the side. 

B-"Oh, you need a ride? Where to? I guess you missed the bus right? That used to happen to me sometimes before I got my license. Hop in, I'll take you where you need to go, so long as it isn't too far away.

Daishi, knowing enough English to make out basically what Beth had said, nodded and got in on the passenger's side. Using the gps on Daishi's phone, the two cruised across the LA hills towards a quaint little suburban home nestled just on the edge of The city limits. As they rode, Daishi didn't speak much, but nodded as Beth asked her questions about where she was from and how she grew her hair out so long. Daishi wasn't sure if it was admiration or jealousy, but Beth was obsessed with her hair.

After reaching the destination, Beth threw the car in park and leaned over to Daishi.

"Listen hun, I don't normally get to taxi around other people, so I'll make you a deal. I'll call us even for the car ride if you agree to show me your hair care routine sometime. Though it sounded like and odd request, Beth seemed friendly enough, and Daishi nodded in agreement. Daishi exited the yellow bug and walked to the door of her home as the sun was setting. Her father's car was parked in the driveway, but he had not picked her up from school. She checked her phone to see that her father had not returned her call. Something was very wrong.

As she entered the modernist home, she took off her shoes and left them by the front door, as was tradition in her home. She put her bag on the couch and walked around the corner to the kitchen, where she saw her father. He was leaned over against the table with his face buried in his hands and...he was crying!?!

Suddenly he spun around to see his daughter standing in fear and confusion,and he realized he had forgotten to pick her up. With tears in his eyes he rushed to wrap her in a bear hug, stroking her hair the same way a scared child strokes a blanket. He leaned down and looked at her with red, teary eyes. "

Sweety...your mother...she's been diagnosed with breast cancer."

...to be continued...