Chapter 4 | Starting today, you are a Host!

~Arabella's POV~

The next day after school, I walked into Music Room 3, not knowing at all what the Host Club would make me do.

When I walked in through the doors, Haruhi greeted me. "Welcome to hell." she said. I gulped.

Suddenly, Tamaki appeared out of nowhere.

"Hello, Arabella! I'm glad you came!" he said.

I forced a smile. "Yep." I said through gritted teeth.

Then, I clapped my hands together. "Okay! So, how are we gonna do this? How do I become a Hostess?" I said.

"Oh, slow down, Arabella! We're not there yet! If you're going to be a Hostess, you've got to look the part; a new uniform will do just fine!" Tamaki said.

A new... uniform?

"But... I don't have enough money for a uniform..." I said.

"I know! Which is why we made you one!" Tamaki said.

They made me a uniform?

"You guys made me a uniform?" I asked.

"Quite right."

Kyoya stood next to Tamaki.

"It's in the dressing room. Go try it on." Kyoya said.

I sighed before I made my way to the dressing room.

God, I hope it's not awful...

I pulled the curtin open and stepped inside.

I found a uniform hanging on a hook.

It looked exactly like theirs, only with a black skirt instead of black pants.

I shrugged. "Okay, I can do this..." I said to myself.

I put on the uniform and looked at myself in the mirrior.

Huh, I actually look good in this.

Plus, I have a uniform now.

Yay! Now I won't have to worry about all the rich, popular girls asking me if I got my clothes out of the dumpster anymore!

Woo hoo!

I exited the changing room and was met by the Host Club.

"Wow, you look great, Arabella!" Haruhi said. I smiled.

"Thanks, Haruhi." I said.

Tamaki suddenly looked up at a random clock. "Oh! Club hours start in two minutes!" he said.

Club hours?

"Club hours?" I repeated.

Hikaru and Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, club hours are our hosting hours, it's when we host." they said together.

"What?! We're starting NOW?! Like, right now?!" I gasped.

"Well, actually, we start in about a minute." Kyoya said.

I glared at him. Does it really make that much of a God damn difference, Kyoya?

"IT'S THE SAME THING! The point is, we can't start now! I have no idea what to do!!! Or how to do it!!!" I said.

"Don't worry, just look attractive, and be yourself. That's all there is to it. And, before you host, you're going to watch us for a couple of minutes. Okay?" Kaoru said.

I nodded.

Hikaru just looked at him.

I smiled at Kaoru. "Thanks, Kaoru. That helped a bit." I said.

Hikaru and Kaoru's eyes widened. "Wait, how can you tell us apart? Haruhi's the only one that can do that!"

It's actually pretty easy to tell them apart; you just have to have good attention to detail. It's not hard.

I shrugged. "I guess she's not the only one anymore." I said simply.

Hikaru and Kaoru just looked at me.

Tamaki interrupted the silence. "Okay, everyone! Club hours officially start... right now!" Then, he opened the doors to Music Room 3.

Immediately, several girls came rushing into the room like a wild stampede, some guys came too, I assumed they were here because they heard about me.

I was nearly trampled to death.

After everyone was inside, the hosts all took their seats at some tables. Kyoya stood by the entrance with a clipboard, trying to organize their customers into a single-file line.

For the next fifteen minutes, I watched how they hosted.

One thing I immediately noticed is that Tamaki had the most customers out of everyone, it seems he's the most popular host. I mean, he had girls swooning for him left and right, there wasn't one girl who wasn't blushing at the sight of him.

I rolled my eyes.

The other thing I immediately noticed was how the twins hosted.

I was watching Tamaki's fangirls... well... fangirl over him when I suddenly heard laughter.

It was coming from Hikaru and Kaoru's table.

They were seated with about three girls and looked like they were deep in conversation.

I decided to listen in on their conversation.

"You should've seen his face...!!!" Hikaru laughed, then he pounded his fist on the table. "It was priceless! HILARIOUS!"

I saw Kaoru suddenly draw back from Hikaru as if he'd been hit. "H-Hikaru...! I told you I didn't want you telling that story to anyone! It was so embarrassing...! I'm so embarrassed that you told people! How could you???" he said meekly.

Hikaru suddenly stopped laughing and turned to his twin. "Oh, Kaoru, you're right! I'm so sorry I told people about that! It was just so hilarious and you looked so adorable when it happened, I had to tell! Will you ever forgive me?"

Huh?

Kaoru looked up slightly to meet his brother's gaze, then he smiled meekly. "Of course I forgive you, Hikaru! I could never hate you!" he said. Hikaru smiled.

Then, they embraced in a tight hug.

The girls at their table squealed.

"Oh my goodness!" one said.

"Indeed! I've never seen brotherly love quite like that...!" said the second one.

The third just giggled and blushed insanely red. "They're so hot...! I think may faint...!" she said.

It suddenly made sense to me.

This is how the twins hosted! Well, by the looks on their fangirls' faces, I must admit it seems pretty darn effective!

... What is wrong with the girls at this school???

As well for the rest of the hosts, Honey sold his charm by the obvious: being incredibly adorable. Every five seconds I heard, "HE'S SO CUTE~!" from at least one of the girls at his table.

Mori handled his customers by being strong, silent, mysterious, and handsome of course.

Kyoya was cool and laid-back, that's how he did it.

And Haruhi... Well, she kind of spoke for herself like the twins and Tamaki did. She sold her charm by telling her customers about her life.

In fact, I overheard her saying something about her mother dying years ago.

One of Haruhi's parents is dead? That's one thing we both have in common...

Suddenly, Kyoya approached me. "Okay, Arabella, I'm going to send in your first few customers now. Are you ready?"

"Uh... yeah, I guess..." I said.

Kyoya nodded. "Good. I'm bringing them in." Then he left.

A second later he came back with three guys.

"Arabella, these are the gentleman that requested you." Kyoya said. Then he waved and left again.

The three guys and I sat down at a table.

Okay, Arabella, you can do this...

I cleared my throat. "Uh, hello." I said as politely as I could.

They all smiled at me. "Hello." they all said together.

I smiled back.

"So, you're the new female host we've been hearing about?" the first guy asked.

"Yeah, I am." I said.

The second guy looked at me. "It makes sense, you are very attractive." he said.

"Uh... thanks." I said. I've never been told I'm attractive by anyone before.

"So, we heard you're a commoner, why did you come to Ouran?" the third guy said.

"Well, I'm here on an honor student's scholarship. And I moved to Japan from America." I said.

They nodded. Then, of them asked, "Why did you move here from America?"

"Because of my mom's job... And we needed a fresh start. Mainly because of an incident that happened some years ago..." I said, remembering what happened years ago.

I shuddered, recalling all the terrible moments and pain...

I snapped out of it and faced my customers.

"Incident? What incident?" the third guy asked.

"Well... when I was a little girl, my father passed away from cancer..." I mumbled.

The guys' eyes widened. "Oh my gosh... that's terrible! We're so sorry!" they all said together.

I smiled. "Thanks. It was years ago, but it still makes me sad."

"I bet it does!" the second guy said.

"If you don't mind me by asking, did your mother ever remarry?" the first guy said.

I clenched my fists and froze.

"Y-Yes... Yes she did... But that was some time ago..." I said.

"Really? So you had a stepfather?" the second guy asked.

"You could call him that... But he was no father to me." I said.

I hated that man. More than you could ever imagine.

"Oh... Was he a jerk or something?" the third guy said.

I clenched my fists harder. "... You could say that." I said, my teeth gritted.

He was terrible. Every night he'd--

"Arabella?"

I looked up.

"Uh, are you okay?" the first guy said.

I forced a smile. "Y-Yeah... I'm fine." I said.

"Um... okay, if you're sure." the second guy said.

Luckily, after that I was able to steer the conversation to another direction and another topic.

For the rest of club hours, everything went smoothly.

Hosting is actually a lot easier than it sounds!

All I did was talk a little about myself and my customers ate it up! In fact, several of them asked me if they could request me tomarrow too! I of course said yes.

Hey, the more work I did the closer I was to paying off that ridiculous debt of one million yen!

After club hours ended, the Host Club approached me.

"Wow, you're a natural! They loved you!" Tamaki said.

"No training required!" Hikaru and Kaoru said. I smiled.

"Thanks, guys. As long as I pay off my debt, I'll do anything you ask me." I said. They all smiled back.

"You did great today, Ara-chan~!" Honey said.

"Thanks so much, Honey!" I said. Honey smiled brightly.

"Yeah, great job today, Arabella. You're a natural hostess." Haruhi said. I smiled again.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked to see who was calling me.

It was Daniel.

I answered it.

"Arabella, Mom wants you home NOW. She's freaking out and wondering where the hell you are. So, ottenere la casa inferno! Adesso!" [[Translation: "Get the hell home! Now!"]] Daniel said. I rolled my eyes.

"Calmati! Sono solo con alcuni amichi! Dirlo alla Mamma sarò a casa in quindici minuti! Va bene???" [[Translation: Calm down! I'm just with some friends! Tell Mom I'll be home in fifteen minutes! Okay???"]] I said.

"Va bene! Just get home soon! Mom's throwing a huge fit." Daniel said. I sighed.

"Tutto apposto, sarò presto a casa." [[Translation: "Alright, I'll home soon."]] I said.

"Va bene. Addio." [[Translation: "Okay. Bye."]] Daniel said.

"Ci vediamo." [[Translation: "See ya'."]] I said. Then I hung up.

As I put my phone in my pocket, I noticed the Host Club was staring at me.

"What?" I said.

"Um... what was that?" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"I didn't understand a word you said, Ara-chan." Honey said.

"I was speaking Italian. I'm half Italian, ya' know." I explained.

"That makes sense." Haruhi said.

"Yes, I looked into your record and saw you're indeed half Italian, on your mother's side." Kyoya said.

I nodded. "Uh... yeah... How did you get my record...?" I said.

Kyoya shrugged. "I have connections." he said.

Alright then...

"Well, I better get going, my mom is freaking out because she doesn't know where I am." I said before I gave a small wave and started for the door.

They waved back. "Goodbye, Arabella!"

"See you in school tomarrow!" Tamaki said.

"Yeah, you too. Bye!" I said. Then I opened the door, walked out, and left.

When I got home from school, Mom and Daniel were waiting for me, just as I expected.

I smiled and waved nervously. "Hey, Mom...!" I said.

Mom crossed her arms and frowned. "Young lady, I wanna know where the hell you've been for the past hour and a half! Why didn't you come immediately home after school? You should have told me where you were! You have a cell phone ya' know!" she said.

I gulped. "Yeah, you're right... I should've called you and told you where I was and how I was doing... I just lost track of time, I guess... I'm sorry. But, I was actually still in school the entire time." I said.

"Why?" Mom asked.

"Because... It's a long story... but to make it shorter, I made some new friends...!" I said.

Mom's eyes widened and she immediately smiled. "You made new friends?! Arabella, that's great! I'm so happy for you, sweetie!" Then she engulfed me into a hug.

"Wait... since when do you have friends?" Daniel said.

"Since an hour and a half ago." I said.

"Oh... You have friends... That'd be a first..." Daniel said.

I glared at him.

Mom ignored Daniel and his comment. "I'm just so excited for you, Ari!" Mom said, using my nickname, Ari.

I smiled. "Thanks, Mom!"

Suddenly, Mom looked down. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

She must mean my uniform... Yeah, I bet she's wondering how I did get it...

"My friends gave it to me. When they realized I couldn't afford a uniform, they gave me one." I explained.

Mom smiled. "Well, that was nice of them! Why, your friends sound lovely!" she said happily.

Oh yeah... they're lovely alright...

And by lovely, I mean odd. Yet, I'm in their club.

How do I always manage to get myself into these situations???