Meeting A New Friend

It was a warm summer morning in California. Southeast of Los Angeles is a small suburban town in Orange County called Westminister.

Right in that town is a modest family home. I was one of those residents, a ten-year-old girl who liked lifting other people’s spirits.
Despite this, I was a bit shy back then. I had only a few close friends, such as Alexa Hopper, and a few neighbors, including Hieu Nguyen.
Other than that, I often hung out with my family. That is until that very morning. I was doodling something in my room when I heard my mom's voice call me behind my door.
"Lillian looks like we have some new neighbors."
"Alright, Mom," I called back.
I stopped what I was doing and ran out of my room. In the living room was my mother looking out the front window.
I approached her and asked, "Who are those people, and why are they moving here?"
I don't know, but we'll have to find out," she replied.
The two of us walked out the front door and down the doorstep. To our left, we saw a U-Haul moving truck parked on the curb with men taking things out of the cargo area.
Peering to my right. I looked to see a girl who looked younger than me sitting on a box, swinging her legs back and forth in a repeated motion.
She was wearing a gray hoodie, along with a pair of shorts and grey sneakers. I only saw the girl for a while before someone called out to her.
“Kira! Would you come here for a minute?”
“Alright, okāsan,” the girl called back.
“Okāsan.” At the time, I didn’t know what that meant. I looked at the front of the house to see a woman I assumed to be the girl’s mother peering out one of the front windows.
The girl sat up from the box and ran towards her new house until she reached the front window where her mother was.
“Kira? Are you going to help with the packaging?”
“Hai okāsan,” Kira replied.
*Kira*, I thought. *That must be her name.*
She picked up a package lying on the ground and carried it inside her new house. After a while, the girl exited her new home and did the same process several times.
I will admit. I wasn’t in the mood to meet a new person. It wasn’t that I was mad about anything. I just wanted to get back to doodling.
So, I walked toward the porch of my house and went back inside to proceed to my room. I wasn’t sure how long I was there until my mother opened my door to check on me.
“Lillian?”
“Yes, Mom?”
“Our new neighbors are at our door.”
“Oh. Where are the neighbors?”
“Well, they’re outside right now.”
I stood up and followed my mother to the front door, where she opened it. Right in front of me were the girl and her mother side-by-side.
“Konnichi wa,” the duo announced as they bowed.
"Hello there," I waved, "You must be the new neighbors.”
“Hello there, shōjo,” Kira’s mother answered.
I wasn’t sure what that woman meant. “Shōjo?”
Kira’s mother chuckled. “Sorry about that. It means young girl in Japanese.”
My mother chuckled. "Well then. I'm Cassidy Smith, and this is my daughter Lillian. What about yours?"
“Well,” Kira’s mother answered, “My name is Kaguya Hachisuka, and this is my daughter, Katherine.”
“Kira, Okāsan,” Kira interrupted.
“Right.”
“Well, that’s nice. Why don’t you two kids hang out together?”
With that, my mother and Hachisuka-San began to talk to each other. All the while, I was just standing in front of Kira. It didn’t take long for Kira to have a chat with me.
“So, want to go check out my new home?”
“Alright,” I exclaimed.
“Okāsan. Can I show Lillian our new home?”
Hachisuka-San agreed. “Of course, you can show her, Kira.”
Kira clutched my hand and tugged me across the street. It didn’t take long before we reached the doorstep of her new home.
Taking off our shoes, Kira opened the front door, and we stepped inside. Inside, the place was rather neat for someone who just moved in.
The packages were all orderly stacked near the edges of the main hallway. Boxes were all labeled for their specific room.
It was a bit weird going into someone’s house. Especially since the only other house I had been to up until that point was Alexa’s house. However, Kira didn’t mind.
“Come on. I’ll show you, my room.”
Still grabbing my hand, Kira and I ran to the end of the main hallway, where there were two doors on each side of the hallway.
Entering the left door, I marveled at the sight of what was Kira’s room. Other than the empty packages on the floor. Her room looked finished.
The room was plain white with a carpeted floor. Inside the room was a single bed, a nightstand, a television, and a desk with a chair.
Kira ushered me to sit on the bed with her. We both got on the bed and sat across from each other.
“So Kira,” I asked, “What did you bring me here for?”
“Well,” Kira replied, “I like to show you something.”
“What is it?”
Kira put her hand in her pocket and grabbed something that was inside. She pulled the thing out, and I became interested.
The thing was an origami craft, and I knew that since I had done it before. Although, these aren’t the paper cranes you typically see.
Kira gently squeezed the thing, forming the origami into a cylinder shape with two pointed ends. Then she gently pinched the thing with her fingers and molded it into a ball again.
“It’s called a mini magic ball,” Kira clarified, “I made it back in Japan.”
“Cool,” I answered, “What other stuff do you have?”
“A tiny spray bottle of water and a stuffed turtle. Just to name a few.”
“Pardon me, Kira. Your mother said something about the Japanese language. Right?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“My teacher taught us about several countries and their languages.”
“That’s interesting. Can I teach you some words?”
“Sure, Kira.”
Kira taught me several words in Japanese such as a couple of Japanese greetings and counting to ten in Japanese.
“Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, ku, jū,” Kira said.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,” I repeated.
As Kira and I were in the middle of our lessons. We were both jolted by a sudden knock-on Kira’s door.
“Lillian, it’s time for dinner,” my mother’s voice yelled.
We were both “awed” out of disappointment.
“Well, Yuri,” Kira replied, “I’ll see you soon.”
“Yuri,” I asked.
“It means Lily. Your name reminds me of the flower.”
“Thank you. Sayōnara, Kira.”
“Sayōnara Yuri.”
Kira and I went our merry ways as I walked out the front door with my mother. A walk across the street later, and we were back home.
Having dinner with my mother, father, and grandmother felt nice. We were at the table, having our Caesar salad with croutons.
“So Lillygians,” my father asked, “I heard you got along with the new neighbors across the street. How was it?”
“Good,” I answered, “Kira seems interesting. Did you know she came from Japan?”
“Yes, Lillian, your mother told me about her.”
“Well, that’s good you made friends with someone new,” my grandmother added, “I was a bit shy about making friends, despite coming from a prominent background.”
“I know, Mom,” my mother added, “Our history.”
It was common knowledge that our family had been one of the prominent families in Los Angeles. It made me think about how some wealthy people can get lonely at the top, at least according to Hieu Nguyen, a fellow neighbor of mine.
After that, we finished our dinner. I ran to the bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth. After putting on my pajamas, I lay on my bed, shut my eyes, and went to sleep.
My alarm clock rang. After waking up, I looked at the time to see it was 7:00 A.M. After that. I did the usual morning routine of brushing my teeth and putting on my clothes for the day.
Entering the kitchen, I caught a whiff of today’s breakfast. Looking at the plates on the table, I was surprised at the choices for today.
It wasn’t the usual pancakes or waffles that I usually had. It was something breaded, and there were multiple of those food pieces.
“Good morning,” my mother welcomed, “Want to try some tempura?”
“Tempura,” I questioned, “What is that?”
“It’s a Japanese dish that is battered and deep-fried. Our new neighbors gave this dish this morning as a gift. Would you like to try?”
“Of course.”
I grabbed a fork and picked a piece of tempura with it. Then, I proceeded to eat it. It felt crumbly in addition to being somewhat soft.
“Hey,” I remarked, “Is this shrimp?”
“Yes, Lillian,” my mother replied.
“I like it!”
My mother handed me a whole plate of tempura. Then I gorged down everything on that plate. I could have eaten more tempura. However, I didn’t want to look greedy.
Instead, I simply left the table and washed my hands. After that, I grabbed the phone off the wall to call my friend Alexa Hopper.
*Bonjour?* Alexa answered. *How is it going?*
“Great,” I replied, “I have to tell you something.”
*What is it, Lillian?*
“Well, there’s this kid who came from Japan. Her name is Kira, and I just made friends with her.”
*Intéressant! I’ll call Kira and see if we can meet at your house later.*
“Sure, Alexa! How about at noon?”
 *Bien! See you soon!*
“Goodbye!”
*Au revior!*
A while later, the clock struck noon. A wave of excitement overwhelmed me, and immediately, I ran from the couch to open the front door.
Right on the sidewalk were two girls I recognized heading toward my house. One had a ponytail, while the other had a hoodie and wore an astronaut helmet on her head.
I called out to Alexa and Kira. “Hi there!”
They both took the hint. “Hi, Lillian!”
“Come inside.”
As soon as the two were about to reach the pathway to the doorstep, I heard the daunting voice of two boys who, unfortunately, lived close next door.
Mason Darwells and Paul Williams. One of the biggest nuisances in the neighborhood. No one pays attention to them, yet they still act like douchebags.
To make up for this, they often pick vulnerable targets that they have an easier time lowering their self-esteem on. Today, they sought their eyes on Kira.
“Hey, Alexa,” Mason mocked, “Who’s that Asian kid?”
“I’m not sure,” Paul added, “Probably a space nerd judging by that astronaut helmet.”
Kira turned to Mason and Paul. “Pardon me?”
“Yes, you,” Mason continued, “Unfortunately for you, me and Paul are going to take off that helmet of yours.”
“Mason,” Alexa defended, “Oh no, you won’t.”
The two boys proceeded to march their way toward Kira. Every neighbor in the street had gotten used to their ‘menacing’ walk. Kira’s dull look on her face only proved that.
Keeping the same look on her face, Kira grabbed something from her pocket and lifted a tiny spray bottle.
She sprayed mist into Mason’s eyes, causing him to drop the helmet. Then she sprayed more mist into Paul’s eyes, accidentally losing his grip on Alexa.
Taking their chance, Alexa and Kira ran to the doorstep. I opened the door, and the three of us got inside to close and lock the door.
After that, we all ran towards my room and locked the door behind us just in case. With a great sigh of relief. The three of us all sat on the floor in a circle.
“Lillian,” Kira exclaimed, “Did you see what I did to those bakas?”
“Bakas,” Alexa questioned?
“It means fool or idiot in Japanese.”
“That’s something I should use,” Alexa muttered.
“Well then,” I added, “Why don’t we play Uno?”
“Alright,” Alexa agreed.
“Lillian? What’s Uno?”
“It’s a card game that Alexa and I play. I’ll show you how to play.”
After showing Kira the rules, we played Uno for several rounds. Each of us got at least one win per round.
One particular moment that I remember was when I managed to get four plus cards four times in a row. That was the round Kira won.
After we finished playing with Uno, Kira suggested we go outside. While Alexa and I were unsure about the idea, Kira showed us her spray battle, and we thought it was worth a shot.
While we have a front lawn, we don’t have a backyard. Behind my house is a parking space that connects to a large residential building supporting three tenants.
There are two driveways on each side of the house. My family uses the right one, while the left one is used to enter the parking area. Essentially, we were going to that area.
Right before going outside, I checked my window in case Mason and Paul weren’t in the parking area to sneak up on us. If they did, however, we had Kira and her spray bottle.
We headed to the kitchen, where the back door led to the parking space. After peering the door slightly to check for the boys’ presence, we felt it was safe to go outside.
After getting outside, we thought it would be safe to head to the left driveway if Mason and Paul were still near the other driveway.
Unfortunately, as we approached the end of the driveway, the two boys revealed themselves from a nearby palm tree and proceeded to throw bags of water at us.
With a splash, two of the bags struck me and Alexa. Kira was farther back, so neither Mason's nor Paul’s bags hit her.
“What the heck Mason,” Alexa yelled.
Mason laughed. “Oh my Gosh, Paul, it worked.”
“Honestly,” I questioned, “What benefit does it give you or Paul to do something like that?”
“You should have seen the look on your faces.”
“I think you should check the look on your faces once I told Mrs. Smith what you did,” a familiar voice boomed.
I turned to see a young Asian man wearing a black sweater with jeans. Immediately, I recognized that man.
“Hieu Nguyen!”
“Hey, Lillian,” Hieu called, “Now, about you two guys. Why don’t you just scram and stay at your place.”
Begrudgingly, the two boys walked back toward Paul's house. I shook hands with Hieu and thanked him for his help.
“So, Hieu,” Alexa asked, “Are you going to tell Lillian’s mom what happened?”
Hieu pondered. “Probably not. I only said that to scare the boys. You can tell Mrs. Smith about it yourself.”
“Oh, alright.”
“So,” Kira added, “Your name is Hieu Nguyen, right?”
“Yep. I live in the bottom tenant of that building behind Lillian’s house. It was my childhood home and still is my home. What’s your name?”
“Katherine Hachisuka. But just call me Kira.”
“Kira. I’ll see you soon, kids.”
Hieu then walked down the driveway towards his house. He got inside, and that was that.
“So, Lillian,” Kira asked, “I just realized something.”
“What is it, Kira,” I replied.
“We haven’t properly introduced ourselves.”
“We haven’t? Oh, yeah. I forgot.”
Kira facepalmed. “Alright. We’ll introduce ourselves again. I’m Katherine Hachisuka, but you can call me Kira. I’m eight years old, and I come from Japan.”
I continued. “I’m Lillian Smith. I’m ten years old. I live here in Westminster, California, and I’m friends with Alexa Hopper. Is that better?”
Kira nodded. “Yes!”
“So,” Alexa asked, “What else are we going to do now?”
“I don’t know. Maybe tell your mom what happened.”
“Should we?”
“Nah. Everyone knows how much nuisances Mason and Paul are.”
We all laughed at that thought. After a while, we continued the rest of the day by playing hide and seek. Soon, Kira and Alexa had to return home from dinner.
That is what a typical weekend would be like in my childhood. This weekend is the one I think about constantly. All thanks to a new friend I met that weekend.

**Author Credits**