Tomoko Woods P.O.V

In all respects this Wednesday seemed to be another normal day for me. After I was sure that my mother had swallowed her painkillers I walked into the kitchen where I picked up my salad and putted it in to my bag. I've always been very healthy when it came to food. Especially because I take care of my mom, she needs her healty food, and I don't see why I shouldn't have the same healty food as her. After having quickly checked whether there was breakfast ready for my mother, I decided that it was time to go to school, as I didn't want to be late at all. Teachers already seemed to dislike, or even hate me, so why should I give them reasons to even hate me more? With my black backpack around my shoulders, I walked out of the apartment at five high and I took many stairs to the first floor, purely because the elevator didn't do a thing,again, and the stairs eventually went quicker for me. I grabbed my bike out of the garage, which we had to shear with all the other people who live in the building, and made my way to school. It was a few kilo meters away, but I like it to take the bike.. Maybe it's just because I like the wind in my hair, or the morning smell in my nose. Once I got to school I made sure that my bike was locked, so I knew it wouldn't get stolen. After that I walked to the little place where me and my few friends like to hang out before the classes would start. We came mostly fifteen minutes early to school, just to catch up with each other .. You never know what can happen in those few hours that we do not see each other. I played a little with my long black hair. The wind wasn't to strong today, and it was almost warm enough to go outside without a jacket.. Oh yeah typical things for the weather on a early spring day in New York. After a while Nate came walking to me. A few books in his hands, as I am used to see him, the boy just loves his books. "Hey Nate.. How was your trip to the Libary?” “The same as always.. They got some new books though, so I’ll be happy for the next few days.” “You and your obsession with books” “Don’t Judge me” “I’m not judging you though.. So are there any books that would be fun for me to read?” “the Divergent series maybe? I know how much you loved the Mortal instruments books.” “I’ll check it out”  It was not much later that Jodie came running up to us. His eyeliner was on point, and honestly I'm slowly getting jealous of it. Jace was right behind him. "Alright baby, I'll see you tonight" After he gave his boyfriend a kiss on his nose he smiled to us and walked away again. Jace was a busy boy, maybe it was because he was keeping up school life, with a job and having Jodie as boyfriend. Jodie can be really sweet and all, but at some times he can be a real diva and you don't want to be around him at those times. "Hey babe, looking good”. Jodie and me were very close friends, we know everything about eachother andI just call him out for 'babe' because well, why not?  “Hey Tomo, say that about yourself”. He ran his hand through his jet-black hair and looked at me smiling broadly. “How is it that eyeliner looks so much better on you? Like how is this okay?” “Sorry little one, you will never look as y as I do” “You just sound like Jackson right now” “I didn’t” “No yes you did, just as full of himself as he is” “Thanks Nate, I wasn’t the only one who thinks it” “I can’t help it that I’m popular” I looked at Jodie, with one eyebrow a little bit more raised than the other, he just smiled at me and sat down next to me agter that. Jackson came last,as always. The boy simply needed time to wake up and look as perfectly as he does now.

"So, did you guys hear?" “Hate to bring it to you Jack, but I’m still not a guy” “Well, that . There goes Jodie his change to date you” “ you too Jackson” Jackson stuck his tongue playfully out to Jodie and Nate rolled his eyes. Nate was massively mature, even when he was little, he just always did what was best.. He didn't even pull any tricks at his own, no that kind of stuff was the quest of me and Jackson, Jodie was a angle by all means. And he still is to this day. The boy just has a heart that is way to big. “So what did you want to say Jack?” “SHINee is coming to New York this weekend, and I scored four tickets for the show” “YOU DID WHAT?” Of course it was Jodie who got a fanboy attack. He perhaps may look so tough, but Mr. is a big fan of SHINee. “Calm the down Flamer, who said the tickets were for you guys” “Well keykey, don’t you think that is logic.. You don’t have many more friends.” Jodie looked defiant at Jack and I sat quickly between them, knowing that it sometimes can end badly if you would let it go. “And with that, we are with four, and we are awesome and all fans from the band.. It’s simple math really” “Thanks mister Dubu, we can do that kind of math ourselves” “You can? Last time I checked you were horrible in math Tomo” “How is it that we all call each other some kind of SHINee name, but we leave Tomo out” Jodie interrupted the conversation and pulled thoughtful face. “That’s because I’m not really like any of the boys. I mean, Jodie you have a lot of charisma like Minho, that’s why we call you ‘Flamer’. Jack is a ing Diva like Key, so it’s only normale to call him Keykey, and Nate is the oldest of us. We could have called him Onew, but Dubu fits better.”  They all looked at me with wide eyes. “What? Did I say something weird?” “No, you’re just being a smart . But you’re right though. I mean you can’t sing like Jonghyun and you aren’t the youngest like Taemin.” “And I’m gratefull that Jack is the youngest, Cause really it wouldn’t be fair if I was the youngest too.” Jodie rolled his black outlined eyes and he jumped up from the place he was sitting after that. "But you're like really small like Jonghyun though. I've met your mom so many times, and she is even taller than me so you can't have it from her... We could just call you Dino" "Dino? well, I've heard a lot worse, so why not.. And by the way, Jong is not that small" "Well Compared to Minho, he is.. And Minho is my babe so yes he is small" "You know that Minho is like twice your age.." "Yeah so?" "You have a boyfriend, at least let me have Minho as boyfriend" "Forget it Jackson.. Never in a million years" “So that’s setteld than? Friday SHINee day” We looked at each other, and then we all nodded. "Hell yeah, this is gonna be great".. Yeah that's what I said that day. If I only knew what that concert would all carry with them .. Maybe I wouldn't have gone in the first place. 

That afternoon we decided to go shopping, a concert remains a concert and we wanted to make ourself a bit ready for it. I had my hair tied up in a bun on top of my head. We had arrived at the café where my mother worked, here we always put our bikes, skateboards, scooters, or whatever, down. My mom and her colleagues always watched our stuff since we came here whenever we decided to make homework together, or if we simply wanted to go shopping. “So, First shopping, or First a break to eat something?” Nate had exchanged his glasses for his lenses, he wore his glasses really only in the evening and when we were in school. Nobody knew why but he seemed to feel better this way, so who am I to take away his happiness? “First food and coffee.. I need my coffee” Jodie was always the one who most needed his food, that boy always ate a lot but did not seem to gain a kilo, something I was very jealous of. We walked into the cafe, and soon my mother came down at our table. “Hello there guys, hello bubby”  My mother has called me bubby for long as I can remember. It was always bubby this, bubby that. She really only called me Tomo, or Tomoko, as she had to talk with my teachers or when she was very angry at me, which fortunately did not happen so often.  “Hi Shara, how’s it going?” “I’m fine Jodie, so the normal?” We all nodded and my mother went back to the bar where she hung up the order note.  “So what are you going to do this noon?” My mother had walked back to us and she had a smile on her face. “We’re gonna shop, Keykey got us some tickets for a concert this Friday” “Oh, that sounds like fun, which artist? Green day again?” I shaked my head. “No, he got is tickets for SHINee, they are in New York right now and they will give some concerts, the first being Friday” “SHINee.. As in the Kpop group?” “Yes why?” My mother became pale, and straight away I was worried. She never rested really good and she made really long hours .. How could I not be worried about my mother?  “It’s nothing Bubby, just a little head ache” “Are you sure?”  She nodded and smiled slightly at us, and then she went to the next table, where she hellped the next costumers.  “That was weird” “What? Your mother is always weird Tomo, be more direct in these kind of things” “She got all white and all after she heard that we are going to see SHINee.. She doesn’t have that normaly” “She did say that she has a head ache.. Don’t worry too much about it okay?” Nate putted his hand on my hand and gave me an encouraging smile.

After we had eaten our tummy's fill with the delicious cakes they made in the café, and we certainly knew Jodie had enough coffee in his system, we dicided that it was time to go on the shopping spree. Before we left, my mother handed me $ 20, with the message that I had to buy something nice for myself. It was not that I didn't make money myself, because I worked in a dance club for 4 nights a month and I had my nanny jobs, but my mom just liked it to give me some extra money, so I could travle the world some day, which is something that has been my dream ever since I got into middle school. 

After we had been in a few shops, and we had made time to eat some ice cream, because we all know how much I love my cookie dough ice, Jodie and me wanted to go to this very unique really badly. It was one of those shops that only sells unique clothes that you just can't find anywhere else. But Jodie and me both know hoe mucht the other two hated it when we went in that shop. Probably because we can spent hours there.   “Pretty please with a cherry one top?” I looked at Nate while pouting, but he only shook his head, after that I got to Jackson, who laughed and made my hair an complete mess.  “ not the hair. Now I don’t even want you going with us anymore” “Oh how I love your Diva side” “Your Diva side is still bigger, there is still a reason why we call you KeyKey” “Sure what ever Dino”  I stuck my middle finger playfully up to him and hooked my arm into Jodie his arm after that. We walked into the small shop and instantly we are flooded with peace. Besides the shop owner there was only one person in the store, this was one of the reasons why I liked it so much here, it was always quiet. Especially for the busy New York.  “Okay, clothes for the concert.. I’m gonna go black, what about you?” “You are always in black Jodie.. It’s nothing new” “Yeah.. so?” I rolled my eyes and pushed him in the direction of the boys' clothes, and I went to look at the girls clothes. Believe me, I walk often enough in boys clothes from this store, but sometimes .. So very occasionally, I can find something that I like in the girls collection. “Oh My… TOMO, they have the Taemin top!” “Which one? He had a lot of awesome tops” “The one with the half cut away piece” “The one from the second World tour DVD?” “You damn right it is!” “Let me see”  I ran to his side and he showed me the top, and indeed it was exactly what the shirt that Taemin wore. “That’s amazing! Is it in XS? And is there a black one too?” “Wow Tomo, you just said that I was always wearing black.. Look who is talking now! But in fact, yes there is” “Give me it” He gave me the top, while he was still laughing and I looked more closely at it. “This is so my style” “Yeah duh, you were looking for something like this for years.. I know you” “Yeah just a little”  He shrugged his eyebrow.  “Okay a lot..”  I smiled innocently at him and then I walked back to the girls collection where I picked up  a desolate dark blue skinny jeans. I had this already in so many different colors but I still bought it again as it just are the best jeans ever. I walked into the fitting room where I changed everything and smiled at myself in the mirror. My freckles could possibly stand fiercer because it was spring, and normally I hated it so much, but now it was actually still looking pretty good. Maybe it's the clothes but hey. I walked into the dressing room and Jodie immediately nodded.  “Hell yes.. That’s gonna be it baby girl” “Maybe with some other Shoes though” I looked surprised at the boy who was in the store earlier than us. By just giving him one look I knew that he had to be Korean, at least a part of him has to be.   “Oh.. My.. no way” Jodie had now started hyperventilating and I' just walked towards him. Clearly, I worried about him.   “Uhm.. Flamer.. Are you okay there?” “Flamer.. Really?” “Yeah me and my friends always call him that because of his charisma and because he seems to love Minho from SHINee so much.. Why are you asking?”  Jodie looked at me with a look of Dafuq are you thinking while he just cheerfully went on to be weird.  “Seriously Jodie, what the hell is wrong with you?” “For sakes.. Tomo, that’s ing Key.” I looked at the boy again, and indeed it was Key.  "Yeah, he is.. but why are you freaking out like that? Key is still a human just like us” “A very hot human with an amazing talent and an amazing sense in style yes” I rolled my eyes. "And You still have a boyfriend" I looked up to Key again.  “I’m sorry for him.. I shouldn’t have told him about Kpop all those years ago” “No, it’s okay.. so you guys are going to a concert huh?” “Yeah, one of our other friends bought us tickets to the SHINee concert on Friday” “Oh that’s great. let me guess.. You’re a Taemint.” “Uhm.. Nope, I’m an MVP, but I just have loved this top for so long and I couldn’t find it anywhere.. Well until now” “it looks great on you, and those pants with it a really good choice.. Just the shoes” “What would you think then?” “Maybe black all stars?” “Those a really expensive though.” “That’s very true.. But I think any black sneaker will go well with this, so just go for that” “I have enough black sneakers at home, so yeah that will be okay” I smiled at the korean and meanwhile I tried to get some control on Jodie, as he was jumping up and down, and he was Basically making a fool out of himself. .  “Well I’ll see you guys at the concert than I think.. Did you get VIP tickets?” “Knowing Jackson.. He probably did. We always go to concerts as birthday presents and his and mine birthday are really close to eachother so we do it a little bigger at this time of the year.” “Well, see you later than” “See you later Key” Key smiled at us after that he left the store. Immediately I got a slap on my head from Jodie.   “Well for sakes Jodie, what was that good for?” “For making me look like an idiot..” “Oh. I made you look like an idiot?” “Yes pretty much, now go and dress in your normal cloths.. I have mine already , so we have to pay” “Sure whatever you say Jodie”

After we had both paid for our clothing, Jodie had gone for a simple brown leather jacket and a new pair of shoes, we walked back to the cafe. Where Nate and Jackson were waiting for us, Nate sat as always with his nose in a book, a latté in his right hand. Jack was busy on his phone, probably with some useless game as Crossy road or Flappy Bird. Jodie walked straight over to the counter to order his umpteenth cup of coffee while I dropped myself down next to Nate on the small two person bench.  “Did you find something to wear?” “Yeah, I finally found the Taemin top.” “The one from the world tour DVD were you have been talking about for years” “Yeah, pretty much” “Unbelieveable, it has been over a decade and now they start selling it?” “Yeah pretty much.” “You lucky basterd”  I stuck my tongue out playfully, while an irritated groan left Jack his mouth. What? Did you lose against flappy bird again?” “No…” “Judging by your face.. yes” “ you Tomo” “Love you too babe.. Love you too”  Jodie came running up with his coffee while he had his eyes focused on his mobile. “Don’t Spill your coffee this time” I warned him to be sure, since it was the last time that he mannged to throw it over me, luckily it was not very hot anymore and I got off without serious burns.   “Hey Jack, did you get the VIP tickets?” “Uhm yes, which you have to pay some back from like always.. Why?” “Oh you know just asking” Jodie kept the meeting with Key to himself, probably because he knew that if he would tell it, he would be even more ashamed of his behavior.  "How did you even manage to get VIP tickets? It are SHINee tickets, I didn't even know that they still sold them two days before the concert" "I got them a few weeks ago, but I wanted it to be a suprise" Hope, the best friend and colleague of my mother came past us, with a worried look in her eyes. Tomo.. Your mom went home a little over two hours ago, she was really pale and she looked kind of troubled.” I immediately jumped up and took my schoolbag from the lounge that was in the back of the café. I pulled my hair out of the bun. “I’ll go check on her, thanks for letting me know Hope.” “Tell me if I can do anything for you guys, you have my number right?” “Under the H of Hop e of course” She smiled and got back to her work after that.“Well, I guess untill tomorrow, have fun with making your homework” “Says the one who always makes it on school.” “That’s the smartest thing to do you idiot” I Nate gave a smile, as he always was the one who helped me as the other two were busy with their jokes. I gave all three a quick hug and then I went out and got on my bike. Once home, I walked the many stairs up and opened the door of our small apartment, with my key. “Mom?! I’m home. Hope told me you was going home early feeling unwell” I walked through the small corridor and opened the door to her room, where she wasn't, however, my second choice was the living room, as she often enough fall asleep on the couch, which was also this time was case. I smiled little and put a blanket over her, and then I went to the kitchen to get some food for her. Chicken soup seemed like the best choice, as I always heard it was good for you when you are sick .. Let's test that theory out.

After some hard work I finally had a chicken soup together. Along with some aspirns - knowing that mom always needed those when she was ill - and some water, I quietly walked into the living room. I put the tray on the small coffee table and knelt down at my mom down. The sweat stood on her forehead, a sign that she was therefore really sick. She wasn't sick much, but if she was sick she was seriously ill. "Mom?" I shook her gently on her shoulder, and her bright blue eyes opened, she looked very tired. “I made you some soup, and I’ve got the pain killers too if you need them” She sat up an little and I gave her the warm bowl of steaming soup "Thank you sweetie, I would not know what I would do without you" I smiled and stood up for the thermometer, I took her temperature and allowed to shoot my breath when I saw her fever was not too bad, it was probably just the flu and she would be right back on top in no time. “Why didn’t you tell me that you didn’t feel well?” “I didn’t want to trouble you Bubby, I always have the feeling that you’re the one taking care of me, while it should be the other way around” “Mom, don’t say that, you know how important you are to me, so don’t be rediculous like that” Mom shook her head slightly and then quietly ate her soup. "“Don’t you have any homework to make?" I shook my head. "I already made it in school." "Of course you did." I took the empty bowl from my mother and then gave her the painkillers and water. “Take some rest mom, go to bed and just yell if you need anything” “thank you Bubby.”  She was a bit weak when she got up and left to her room ather that, with blanket and all. When we came here to live, she had given me the slightly larger room, not that there are now a lot of difference in, you maybe 5 square meters, but still I appreciate it a lot .. You know like everything my mom did for me, I appreciate everything she ever has done for me. She had me so could have easly not had me, and teen pregnancy is just not easy. She has no contact with her parents, my so called grandparents, and the only family she has any contact with is her twin brother, my great uncle Spencer. When I was little, he was always careful and he always picked me up from school. People thought he was my father, our eyes were also exactly the same, or well, the bright blue color at least. I district very dependent on my mother in my face in terms of appearance. Only freckles and my eye color come from her, my physique I have of her. Quite normal, but I am unfortunately not as long as my mother, which could mean that my father was shorter as my mother .. That's at least the only explanation I have for it.

After I had sended Hope a message, with the message that Mom has a flu, but that everything else goes well with her, I dropped my tired body on my bed. All events of the day took place further off in my head, and to be honest I didn't really know what to think of the day, of course, I met one of the members of my favorite bands, But my mom is sick, which worries me.. I'm just worried about her in general. all those one night stands can not be good for her .. They are generally not  good for a person, though I understand that she needs love .. She remains a pretty young woman.