Short story 1: The aspiring novelist (Part 2)
1306 Words
Days after.
The last time was a real disaster. The voice of the girl named Serizawa Shina remains vivid in my mind. Good thing the janitor seems to understand what just happened. He kept his word and didn’t tell anyone about the thing he had just seen. Instead, every time we met walking in the hallway he made a small nod. I replied by nodding back to him.
There are times I see the angelic girl in school. She is in the same year as me, the 2nd year. She is attractive and has many admirers. Most of them were boys and some of them were girls. She is not just good-looking. She is athletic and smart, ranking one of 4th of the smartest students in our year.
Serizawa Shina, despite all of these admirable stats, is surprisingly not stacked up. She remained approachable in school.
While in the middle of class, I took a glance at the window. On the schoolyard. The other class is playing dodgeball. One of them is Shina. Staring at her for a while, she noticed me looking at her and waved her hand.
I don’t have any intention of waving back. I’m not being petty or anything. I just don’t want to have anything to do with her.
She has lots of admirers and my being with her is out of the question. I’ll be in trouble if I let someone like her in my life.
I’ve already decided to have a silent, peaceful life in my new school life. I should stay still and have myself on a low profile.
“Oh, are you staring at the girls outside?”
Hanamori said and turned her glance to the girl I was looking at.
“Oh, Shina… I see that kind of girl is your type. The angel by looks and heart… Her existence is almost a sin to lots of girls. She is way too beautiful and kind. I even try decorating my face with lots of cosmetics. My appearance won’t go near to her beauty.”
“I won’t say that… I think Hanamori is plenty cute already.”
“Eh? Are you hitting on me? Too bad I’m already interested in another man.”
Her response is teasing and with a tone of joking. I like the way Hanamori cracks a smile after saying something funny.
I smiled back and replied:
“I’m not hitting on you.”
“Do you think Shina is cute?”
“She’s cute, but that’s it.”
“How bland… I bet you’re someone who has never had a relationship before.”
Hanamori commented.
I have never had any relationships before. It makes me very sad every time I realize it. At my age, I should have a love experience of one or two.
“She is like a flower on a high peak that my hand could never reach. I’ve got nothing to do with her. Looking at her from afar is enough.”
“Fair.”
Some quick fate may have brought Shina and me together that other day, but we’re truly destined to live in different worlds.
The idea that I, an admitted hopeless loser, and Shina, the beautiful, super-popular student who could do anything, might one day have any kind of relationship, let alone a romantic one, was frankly ridiculous. It was a veritable impossibility.
That’s right, there is no need to concern me with her any further.
…
“What are you eating?”
My theory that I would never have any interaction with her is disapproval.
I was sitting in my usual spot behind the school gym eating a sandwich.
The girl with sandy blonde hair made her appearance.
“Can’t you see it's a sandwich?”
“Don’t tell me that’s what you’re calling lunch.”
“Of course it is.”
“But a small sandwich like that is not enough for a teenage boy like you.”
“ It's none of your business.”
Normally, I would buy something with rice in the cafeteria. But today I would like to save more money. I’m not sure if I can survive after all. I used my savings to rent an apartment and I have to buy food to survive. There is still plenty of money in my savings account, enough for me to survive for another year.
I don’t have time to waste money.
Shina sits down beside me and has her lunch box opened. Her lunch box looks pretty glimmering like jewels.
She took her chopstick and got an eggplant.
“Here… You look so pale. You should eat lots of vegetables.”
“What are you, my mom?”
“Taking care of yourself is normal.”
I don’t want to admit it, but she is truly speaking some sense. I’ve been alone for a very long time. I don’t have anyone to rely on. I could cook basic things if I tried. But cooking just for yourself every day is exhausting. Eventually, I quit cooking and just relied on cold convenience store meals. Having those kinds of meals is free of hustle. After eating, I could throw the container away.
I think being healthy is normal. Being concerned about health is normal. Then, I guess, I wasn’t normal at all.
The girl beside me still has the eggplant on her chopsticks.
“Are you going to feed me?”
I asked.
“You wanted to be fed? I didn’t expect you to say that.”
She seems cold and looks at me with slight disgust.
She might be recruiting me to be her illustrator, but it doesn’t mean that she’s in love with me. There is no reason for an almost perfect girl like her to be in a relationship with me.
I offered a piece of bread that was still in my hand. She puts the eggplant on the bread. I used it as a filling and took a bite.
The combination of eggplant and bread is not that good. Honestly, it tastes bad. But I can’t tell those things to her. She offered a helping hand to my hopeless self after all.
“I think you should be eating your lunch in other places.”
“Why is that?”
“I mean, you sitting beside me. Other students might think that something is going on between us.”
She has lots of admirers and I don’t want to have trouble with them.
“Well, nothing is going on between us. Second, why would I care about what they think? I don’t have to explain to them.”
Her words stunned me completely. Why would I care about what they think? She said… I thought girls were complicated people who always think about their public image. But she is different. She somehow doesn’t care much about the negative things or positive things people think about her. That’s the reason why she is so down-to-earth.
A perfect beauty park with an angel. Not just by looks but also by her personality.
I think I can finally understand why there are lots of people admiring her.
“There is still an egg left. I’m already full.”
“ Let me have it.”
I said.
“It's great that you can read the mood.”
She handed me her lunch box with a flower pattern design and I took the egg using my hand. I put it in my mouth.
“So sweet.”
“I have a sweet tooth. I like everything sweet.”
She said.
The egg was so sweet I felt like I was chewing a honeycomb.
In everyone's eyes, she might be perfect, but the angel still has flaws in her.
“Now, will you become my Illustrator?”
“Nope.”
My answer didn’t change.
- Writer
