Normally characters are speaking in Japanese. If they speak English, it's in italics instead.
Tanya Lyndon stood shyly in front of her class, clenching her backpack straps. Her teacher smiled reassuringly at her, then turned to the class and rapped her ruler on her desk to get everyone's attention. "Class, I'd like you all to welcome our new student, Tanya Lyndon. She moved here from America, and she doesn't speak very much Japanese. Everyone please treat her kindly."
Everyone said in unison, "Good morning, Lyndon-san." Tanya blushed and shyly looked down at her shoes.
"Lyndon-san, would you like to introduce yourself?" the teacher asked. Tanya blinked, confused. "Um... could you write your name on the blackboard?" She gestured towards the board. Tanya hesitantly picked up the chalk. The teacher nodded. "Your name. On the blackboard." Tanya seemed to understand then. She slowly wrote her name on the board in Japanese characters as carefully as she could, her tongue stuck out in concentration. She finally finished, then swiftly wrote her name in English below it.
ー
ニ
ャ
リ
ン
ド
ン
Then Tanya turned around and looked at the class. She took a deep breath and said, "Good morning. My name is Tanya Lyndon. Pleased to meet you." Then she bowed.
The teacher smiled. "Lyndon-san, I'm your teacher, Sasaki-sensei. You can sit right here." She put her hand on an empty desk beside a girl who was twirling some of her hair around her finger. Tanya sat down, setting her backpack beside her desk. "Oh, you can go put that in your locker. Here, your locker number and combination." Sasaki-sensei handed a slip of paper to Tanya. Tanya gave a tiny nod and walked out into the hall.
Tanya was soon back and class began. She didn't understand very much, but she listened closely anyway. At noon, the students began to eat their lunch. A few girls walked over to Tanya's desk, pulling over chairs. Tanya looked up, confused. The first girl said, "Um, hello."
Tanya gave a tiny smile. "Hello."
The second girl said, "I am Ayako."
"Hello, Ayako-san," said Tanya.
Ayako briefly tapped her finger on her chin thinking. "Well..." she said. "This is Hiroko." She gestured towards the first girl. "And this is Kaoru."
"Pleased to meet you," said Tanya.
Another girl walked over. "Hey, American!" she said.
"She has a name, you know," said Hiroko, glaring at the other girl.
The girl laughed. "Oh, whatever. Lyndon-san, right?"
Tanya stared blankly at the girl. "Um..."
The girl looked confused. "Sorry, I don't know much English. I don't pay very much attention in English class. Hey, you'll get a great grade in that class, won't you?" She laughed again. Tanya looked lost.
Hiroko looked bothered. "Um, Lyndon-san? Could you hand me that textbook?" She pointed to a book on a nearby desk. Tanya nodded, handing it to her. "Thank you," she said. "Here, try reading this Japanese." She opened the book up to the 50th page and pointed to some text.
Tanya studied it carefully, then slowly pronounced the hiragana on the page. Hiroko smiled, nodding. Ayako and Kaoru nodded as well, and began to clap their hands. The other girl rolled her eyes and walked away.
The other girl, whose name was Aoi, (which I figure I should tell you at this point,) soon reappeared, holding her bento box. "Hey, Lyndon," she said. "Try some of this." She held up a small brown food. Tanya was about to take it when it Hiroko snatched it from her hands.
"No, Lyndon!" said Hiroko. "This is really spicy!"
"Aw, you're such a spoilsport," said Aoi. "It would have been funny."
"Don't bother Tanya-chan!" said Hiroko defensively. "She probably doesn't know much about Japanese food so don't trick her into eating anything that she probably won't like!"
Aoi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're so a first name basis now?" she said. Hiroko didn't respond to that. Instead, she grabbed Tanya's hand and pulled her away. Ayako and Kaoru followed quickly behind.
At recess, Hiroko and Tanya jumped rope together. Tanya kept getting her feet tangled in the rope and falling on her bottom. Every time, Hiroko helped her up and they kept going. Tanya soon got the hang of it. "Good job, Tanya-chan!" said Hiroko, clapping her hands. Tanya beamed.
"Yeah, good job!" another voice said. Hiroko turned around and Tanya looked left. It was Aoi.
Hiroko looked pretty aggravated. "What do you want now?" she huffed.
"Nothing!" said Aoi, waving her hands in front of her face. "I was just watching you and Lyndon jump rope."
"It's none of your business!" Hiroko shouted. "So just leave us alone, okay?"
"Jeez, calm down," said Aoi. "Gosh, why are you so quick to defend her? Do you like her?" She smiled mischievously.
Hiroko's face slowly turned dark pink. "N-no! I mean, I've only known her for a day! And, um, well, I don't like girls that way! So you know, just leave her alone, okay?"
Aoi laughed. "Hey, everyone! Hiroko and that American girl are dating!"
Students ran over from all directions and surrounded Hiroko and Tanya. "Is it true, is it true?!" they asked all at once.
"No, no, it isn't!" shouted Hiroko. But the crowd didn't go away. Tanya looked flustered, and had her hands over her ears. It was pretty loud. But Tanya didn't even know what was going on!
When saying no didn't work, Hiroko shouted, "Fine! We're dating, okay?! I admit it!"
Everyone smiled and began to whisper loudly to each other. Finally, Hiroko was able to get Tanya away from the crowd.
Once they were alone, Tanya said, "Hiroko-chan, what was that?"
Hiroko sighed. If only she spoke English, maybe she could explain it to Tanya. She thought a while, and said. "It doesn't really matter."
"Huh?"
Hiroko took Tanya's hand. "It's not important."
"Not... important?" Tanya said, in a tiny voice. "What? What is it?" She looked concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," said Hiroko. "Don't worry about it." Tanya nodded, looking back down at the ground.
That afternoon, Hiroko walked home with Tanya. They were both silent for a long time. Hiroko watched Tanya walk. She noticed that Tanya avoided stepping on cracks in the sidewalk. Hiroko said then, "Tanya-chan, I really need to teach you Japanese."
Tanya looked up at Hiroko (who was slightly taller than her) and blinked, her expression blank, clearly not understanding. Hiroko just shook her head. Tanya grabbed Hiroko's hand. Hiroko smiled, but didn't say anything.
She was really gonna like this girl.