Chapter 8: Drawing Japanese Comics
1249 Words
I began to sketch. In the first box in my paper, I filled the scene when my feet were trampled by a tall guy in the crowd screaming out loud.
Then, the second box I filled with the scene of myself crawling in tattered clothes supported by a curly cane, was gawking stressed in front of the cinema with the announcement of a sold-out ticket.
I drew the third box with scenes of me crying like a fountain with a tall boy passing by laughing.
At the fourth box, I filled with the scene of myself trampling on the tall guy while laughing triumphantly.
Hehehe ...
I was so happy with the last scene I drew! Why did I think of myself as someone who wanted trouble for the tall guy, Andrew? Ah, who did care? Well, It was just a comic anyway. It was an excellent way to express my anger to him without harming him in reality.
"Sorry, can I borrow an eraser?" Raymond asked with a smile that I was sure would make girls scream hysterically. I would react that way too if my mind weren't busy with the question, who was this guy since earlier. I was sure that I met him somewhere. But where?
"Here is my eraser. Use it," I said, giving an eraser.
"Thank you," he said, accepting my eraser.
I continued to stare at him, unconsciously. Suddenly Raymond caught me and looked back at me with a mischievous smile.
"Thanks. What's up looking at me all the time? Is there any specific reason?" he asked while returning my eraser.
"Ah ... eng ... no, really. It's nothing. I just... well... It just a coincidence, accidentally. That ... um ... I feel like I've met you before somewhere, but I can't remember... " I replied nervously, awkwardly.
"It's okay. It's free of charge to look at me. If you want to ask me to have some lunch or dinner together, I'm also okay with that," said Raymond, smiling mischievously.
Raymond leaned on his chin and looked back at me steadily with a pleasing face.
Duh, I was so ashamed of myself. What was I doing? You were stupid, Michelle. Raymond could think that I fell in love with him if I stared at him like this. I tried to look away. At that moment, I was trying to look at my work desk, awkwardly. I saw Raymond almost done did his manga.
"Can I see your manga, please? Is it finished already?" I asked Raymond, tried to start a new topic.
"Yes, you can, but please wait a little bit. I need to do a finishing touch," said Raymond smiling so handsomely. He put a small correction in his comics and then showed it to me.
"May I see your works too?" Raymond asked politely to me while pointing to my paper.
"Sure," I said while handed my work to Raymond.
Raymond's sketch tells about a boy who pretended to be a hero, but too bad, the boy used to late to take action. It was funny.
Raymond still saw the picture I made, his forehead furrowed as if trying to remember something.
"Ah, I remember now! No wonder I felt like I know you somewhere! Yes, you're right. We've met before. You're the girl Andrew was chasing after at the mall about a week ago, right?!" Raymond exclaimed, laughing.
"How come you know about Andrew?!" I cried in surprise.
"Of course! The one in this picture is Andrew. This was the scene of the queue in front of the cinema. At that time, there was a girl who shouted in pain very loud. It turns out you were that girl, huh?" Raymond asked, smiling amused.
"Yes, indeed. After Andrew was stepping on my feet, I couldn't move from home for a whole week. Thanks to him. Now, I remember something about you. Were you the one who played Daytona next to me? No wonder your face looks familiar to me" said I finally remember my first time meeting Raymond. What a fool! Why didn't I remember that moment earlier?
"I see. No wonder you seemed upset to Andrew. Now, I understand," Raymond said, nodding, grinning to himself.
"Yes, I was very resentful at that time," I replied, recalling the incident.
"Forgive him, Michelle. It wasn't intentional. Besides, If you keep upset and think about Andrew, you could have a crush on him. You know, who knows both of you meant to be together somehow as a soulmate," said Raymond, grinning.
"Yuck!" I said, sticking out my tongue.
I moved from my chair to show my works to sensei. Nanase Sensei gave several suggestions for the improvement of my practices.
"Mm, Michelle-chan, your comic story already has a good idea, but what should I do? I think 'ochi' is less pronounced. Michelle-chan tried again, huh," said sensei with his unique accent.
"Yes, sensei," I replied.
Ochi, mm, it means that my story in the comic did not give any surprise ending. In yon coma manga, an unexpected end or Ochi became very important.
It turns out my story doesn't have ochi. Alright. I had to fix it again.
Nanase Sensei stood up in front of the class and bowed to us.
"Time is up. It is enough for today. Tomorrow we will continue again. Arigatou. Matanee, mina san!" Nanase Sensei said while bending down.
"Matanee, sensei," I said with the other students in unison.
I was tidy up my stationery that was scattered on the table. I brought my sketches home to do some rework.
"Michelle, share your phone number, please," Raymond said, carrying his bag.
"Okay, please wait," said Raymond.
We exchanged telephone numbers.
"Thanks. Michelle, My Dear, do you want to meet Andrew again or not? It looks like he has an interest in you. Maybe he has crushed on you," Raymond said with a smile that was full of meaning.
"No, I'm not. Please don't tell Andrew that you meet me here. It is a secret. I'd kill you if he knew," I threatened Raymond, annoyed.
"Okay. I won't tell Andrew then. I keep my mouth shut. But if you don't want to be with him, choose me to hang out around with you," Raymond teased.
"You guys are the same," I snorted.
Raymond just chuckled. "Come on. I'm just kidding. You don't need to be that serious, girl. Okay, see you tomorrow. I have to go," he said, taking out the car key.
"See you tomorrow," I said.
My vacation time was over to do manga school work. But, even though I was tired, I was delighted. One day I will make comics to be sent to Japanese publishers.
Because of me and Raymond were schoolmate at manga school, I became quite familiar with Raymond. We used to discuss and talk about making comics. Maybe someday we could collaborate on a comics project together.
I forgot about Andrew. Raymond sometimes came to my house to play games together or exchange comic collections.
Somehow, I saw my brother figure, Ruben, in Raymond. I missed Ruben so much. Well, it was not very similar in their look, actually. But, Raymond was very connected about the hobbies and the world of comics. It used to happen that there was exciting talk between us.
More or less, I had a friend who understands my passion for the Time being. He never mentioned Andrew at all, as promised. I didn't even think about Andrew anymore. All I had in mind right for that moment was making comics and making comics.
Well, hopefully, I didn't have to deal with Andrew anymore! One foot sprained more than enough already.
- Writer
