August 6^th

^{10:27 a.m.}

A knocking sound awoke both Mariel and Yesenia. It almost made them jump out of their skin but they soon heard Adam’s voice saying that there was nothing to worry that it was just him. Since Mariel was the closest to the door she slowly made her way to the door rubbing her eyes as Adam looked at her with a genuine smile. “C’mon wake up, we have to start leaving in 25 minutes.”

Yesenia, who was still lying on the ground slowly sat up and gave him a confused look. “Leave? Where are we going Adam…” her voice sounded extremely groggy. Adam let out a sigh, he should have known that they would probably forget but Mariel soon reacted. “Oh ! We almost forgot we’re leaving!” Within that instant Ellen, Amber and Clarissa woke up. They too looked completely lost.

Adam handed Mariel a large bag of clothing as he instructed them to get dress and to hurry up that he would be waiting for him outside in his car. Mariel and Clarissa quickly dug into the bag throwing out clothing that didn’t belong to them and throwing the garments at the other girls. While everyone else changed Ellen and Amber tried waking up Susana. Amber tried shaking her only for her hands to be slapped away by the sleeping girl. So Ellen decided a totally different approach. One that she knew would probably piss off Susana but it was seriously better than nothing.

She started ‘kicking’ her while she slept. Her foot moved the other girl’s body while also slightly kicking her but with not that much force. “Ellen, what are you doing?” Yesenia asked while she put on her flats. “Waking her up, what else does it look like I’m doing?” “Point taken.”  Ellen kept on ‘kicking’ her though, it wasn’t until Ellen stated, “C’mon we’re leaving today.” Now that instantly woke her up.

“What?”

“Yeah, did you forget? C’mon change so we can go to the airport.”

“Can’t I just stay in my PJ’s? At least stay with my shirt and just change out of my shorts.” She was wearing a shirt with a little panda and it actually looked like a T-shirt that you would just wear for sleep or a day out. “Just hurry up Susana.” Clarissa said who was now putting her hair up in a simple ponytail.  As they waited for Susana to change everyone kept looking at the dance studio. Mariel wasn’t sure about the others but she soon started getting really nostalgic.

She sighed. She wondered when would she be back to dance here again. To go on stage and have that wondrous feeling of accomplishment after every performance and dancing alongside idols. (Well, mostly Shinee…)  She never thought that she would have the opportunity to do this, let alone with her friends. Especially the people whom she has known for almost a total of almost 5 years…

“Mariel! C’mon let’s go!” Amber’s voice completely woke her up from her deep thoughts. She quickly stood up and didn’t really much take at least one look at the room again. As soon as she walked out of the room she felt the corners of her eyes rather watery.

None of the girls really didn’t look back twice at the building that they were leaving once they got in the car. They were still rather tired and didn’t really care at the moment that it was probably their last time seeing that building. But slowly as Adam made his way near a stop sign it immediately hit Yesenia. When would they ever comeback again? When would they ever be together like this again?

The memories they made here…when would they ever be able to make memories like that again? She looked over to her shoulder to notice that Ellen and Clarissa were snuggling up to each other while Mariel like always, was looking out the window same as her. He eyes moved up to the review mirror seeing Adam thinking about who-knows-what and seeing Susana beside him slowly dozing off.

Certain memories started flowing inside her mind. The day they met Shinee and how well they all got along. Their first performance. Susana’s jealousy towards Mariel who of course was doing nothing but being her innocent self. The sudden hatred and interest they got from fans. Mariel’s first date. The day at the beach…

Her smile instantly fell once she remembered that certain day. She was grateful to know that she was not pregnant at all but the memory was still very uncomfortable to think about. She had recently started her cycle yesterday and she had never been so happy to know that she finally got it. She couldn’t wait to tell her mother about her experiences here, but of course, some would just stay between her and the girls she thought as she looked out the window looking at random coffee shops that they passed by.

Amber noticed that Yesenia was in her own world at the moment. Deeply thinking about who-knows-what and decided to stay quiet and not ask her if she was ready to go home yet. She knew she probably wasn’t, yet, she also knew that for the past weeks that they had been here Yesenia has been homesick. She always talked about her family and her dogs every now and then. Which Amber didn’t really seem to mind one bit. She too though, would get homesick seeing how she kind of rather missed her father at certain moments of the day but the person she missed the most was definitely her sister seeing how she and her sister;  Emily were pretty close.

Another person she also missed, though she would never admit it, was her little brother. Even though her little brother was a pain-in-the- she couldn’t help but miss him…every other week. ‘Stupid kid, making me miss him.’ She thought bitterly as she folded her arms and made herself comfortable between Yesenia and Clarissa.

Amber started getting rather nostalgic thinking about everything that has happened this past summer. She couldn’t help but smile to herself thinking about all those memories. She honestly never had so much fun with friends before, not even that one time where she went to Disneyland during October for her birthday with other friends of hers. No, this trip was nothing compared to that. This trip was…something like a life experience. She got an inside look of how it was working with K-pop idols and performing on stage and even  experiencing their own little…How would she put it?

Their own slice of fame…? Even though they were nothing but 5 girls dancing in the background people still yet gave them notice. She still couldn’t believe that.

“So when we come back she should somehow make Taemin kiss Minhow.”

Clarissa just let out a giggle. “What? What are you saying?”

“Don’t you think Taemin and Minho make a cute couple? Seriously, I wanna play cupid with those 2.” Ellen said fascinated by her own thoughts. Clarissa couldn’t help but just face palm. The things that her dear friend came up with, though she had to admit, seeing Taemin and Minho together seemed rather cute, “So, how are you going to do it?” She asked interested with what Ellen might say next.

“To be honest I’m not sure yet but hey, you know how I am, I’m capable of turning people gay or Bi.” Clarissa nodded in response. That was true after learning that she turned 2 complete straight guys  Bi and just e completely gay she might be able to pull it off.  Well, her and the other girls. She knew that they were all into . Even Mairel was into that type of stuff.

So it was most likely that almost all the girls were probably capable of turning a straight man gay.

Susana was slowly drifting herself to sleep. She was sitting right behind the passenger seat and she tried taking the last few views of South Korea, but dear god if she had not slept so god damn late she would not be feeling like this at this very moment. This experience was something she felt like she would never have again. A once-in-a-lifetime thing. That is what it felt like.

Even though Adam had stated that there was a slight possibility of them coming back but she honestly doubted that. They were just ing lucky this past summer. They were just plain lucky es from what she saw. It was all out of luck. And now that luck was slowly going away…since she was going back to the hell hole that is at the very moment her ‘Home’. A place she most certainly despised with all her soul.

Mariel had her eyes glued to the random buildings that they were passing by she tried brushing off the fact that this would be her last time being here…but she just couldn’t. Just like her small friend who sat across from her she as well had doubts about ever coming back to this place. She hoped that someday, when she had the money, she would most definitely comeback here again. She was grateful for getting this chance to visit the other side of the world and it was all thanks to some stranger that they had met by chance. She couldn’t be any happier than that.

Adam gave them all of this. The chance to meet another country, (That was not Mexico.) The chance to work in an entertainment building training room. As well as the chance to meet famous idols. What more could a teenager ask for?

But…just how the hell am I going to repay him back?

She felt that she needed to do something for him at least. Something to tell him that she was so grateful that he did all this for them. But, how could she? She still couldn’t even find a way to repay Ellen, whom to her is like the greatest person she had ever met. Elle, the person who made her life so different than what it used to be about 6 years ago…but of course Ellen would never know that.

You see, Mariel had the habit to keep these deep feelings to herself. A habit that she wasn’t sure if it was good or bad…Either way she had a bad time finding out how to repay people who had helped her in her life. “Mariel? You ok?”

She literally almost smack her forehead against the glass window. “ Huh?” was all she could say. It was Adam who was already out of the van and looking at her with a worried look. “I asked if you were ok, but I guess not…What time did you fall asleep?”

“That Sir, is confidential.”

He smirked at her. She was hanging out way too much with the little one who seemed to be sleepwalking towards the airport.  When they all got off the van and walked towards the airport they probably might have looked like an odd group since they were getting stared at random pass-byers.

As they were lining up to get onto the plane Adam noticed just how close the girls were standing next to him. The realization of him feeling like a caretaker suddenly sunk into his thoughts. The girls were completely exhausted. Ellen was slowly falling asleep with Clarissa and Susana leaning onto her like if she were some pillow. Mariel was just waiting patiently with her arms folded though Adam knew that she couldn’t wait to just enter the plane just  go to sleep. As for Amber and Yesenia well, Amber was leaning against Yesenia’s shoulder sleeping already while Yesenia  against Adam’s arm.

And he did not mind one bit. “Adam…” Yesenia’s voice was for once barely heard. “Yeah? He whispered softly. “We will come back right?” No sound was made. “We will come back…right?” Why wasn’t he answering her? It was just a simple yes or no question nothing to it. So why was he hesitating to answer. She was about to look at him but then that is when he decided to answer to her.

“Soon…You girls will come back soon.”

Yesenia was content with that though she knew that he probably did not mean what he said.

When entering the plane they immediately sat down and dozed off to sleep. Adam on the other hand decided to text Kanae who wouldn’t go back to America till around next week.  He stared at Yesenia who was sitting next to him. He wasn’t really sure that what he said to earlier was good or not because to be honest he did have plans to come back, but, we would have to wait for a few more weeks to see if anyone else would want to consider working with them.

It noticeable that they really didn’t need any training whatsoever since they knew most of the choreography for the songs. It really wasn’t much his true motive to actually bring them there to do that. Adam actually had other plans of his own that he wanted to take care of which also had to with the reason why the girls were able to dance alongside Shinee. His main purpose to go to Korea was to see if he was able to make KiraKira popular as a dance group and hopefully something even more. He believed in these girls, probably a lot more than what their parents did seeing how some of their parents just saw this as a trip and their dancing abilities as merely a hobby.

But Adam saw something more with the girls, but of course he had no say to tell them that they should become something more than just some dance group. No, that decision was up to them and them only. Though, he really hoped that they would soon come to realize of what they are truly capable of.

“KiraKira…not a bad name.”