Walking down the hallway by yourself in the morning can be lonely. Especially when you've been doing it for the past three months. I can't believe it's been three months. Time tends to move slowly when you're alone as well. The only benefit between the relationships of time and alone, is that there tends to be more of it. More time for being alone, which can be productive. I guess.
I always arrive 30 minutes before class starts. Most people do. Usually I was like most people. Except I go to the library before my class starts. People still do that, just not most people. I used to do it more freshmen year, who knew that I'd regress back to that two years later.
At least the library is – oh, no.
Brown shaggy hair, small brown eyes, a grin so wide I can see his canine teeth; of course I'd see him. I'm in school after all.
We catch a glimpse of each other. I can't look away, so I just close my eyes and turn around. I'll sit outside today. I can't do this. Not today. Not right now. I was making so much progress.
"Hinata!" I instantly know its Naruto's voice behind me. But I can't turn around and look back, because all I'll see is him, and I just can't. Not right now. I pick up my pace to an almost jog. I must look ridiculous.
Class is usually safe. Not from everything, but from the things I'm afraid of the most. Such as real life, school drama, hateful comments. All of that goes away, mainly because teachers say that classroom time is their time, meaning that we are now in their world and there is no time for our own. Many people get annoyed by that, but I like it. It's like a real life fantasy, escaping your own reality for 50 minutes. But even fantasies and dreams make you face some sort of reality at some point.
"Pst!" I hear from the seat next to me. I look over and see Naruto. He's not looking at me, but his hand is out with a piece of paper in his grip. I know it will have something to do about this morning, but if I don't take it from him, it'd be rude. He doesn't deserve that.
I reach out and take out. I slowly open it, trying to make as little noise as possible. I glance over at Naruto, who is watching me, waiting for me to read the letter.
You can't keep ignoring him. Hiding isn't the answer.
Just talk to him. You never know!
We all miss you Hinata.
I get that lump in my throat before I cry. I know everything has been different and it's all my fault. It really is. I take a deep breath before finally scribbling back.
I'm sorry.
I don't know what else to write. I neatly fold it up and hand it back to Naruto. I don't want to see his face as he reads it. I'm pretty sure he is either confused or upset. But I can't, I'm not ready. I know it's been three months, I know I need start being a real human being again, but this is just easier.
"Pst!" I hear. Immediately after a paper lands on my desk, I look at Naruto who is pouting. I open the note.
Lunch? You + Me!
I'm not taking no.
I smile. Naruto never takes no for an answer, so of course I can't fight him on this. Also, not having to eat lunch alone for once sounds nice. I look at him and wait for him to look at me. When he does, I smile and nod. He grins back.
As soon as class ends, Naruto approaches my desk without hesitation.
"Where do you wanna go?" He asks.
"Go?"
"To eat." He says, which I am still not following. "We're not going to eat here, too risky, right?" He is right, or he is making fun of me. Either way, he's doing that to make me more comfortable.
"Are you sure?" I ask. He nods.
"Of course, and I know just the place!" He grins. I smile, but from knowing Naruto, I know the place too.
"Two miso ramen!" The old man/owner of Ichiraku Ramen announces. Naruto is immediately excited and raises his hand.
"Right here!" He exclaims. The man laughs as he hands us our food. He winks at me and I blush. He knows Naruto really well so he probably thinks I'm his girlfriend or something.
"Hinata," Naruto mutters. I look over and there were literally noodles falling out of his mouth. I couldn't help but giggle a little. He finally manages to swallow what he could before talking. "You not gonna eat?"
I look at my food and back at him. I keep my eyes directly on him as I put the food in my mouth. I chew, swallow and smile. He smiles back and together we continue to eat our food, which was very delicious, I had to admit. I haven't eaten out in a long time, 3 months.
"Another round, Mister!" Naruto yells, holding his empty bowl up in the air. The old man chuckles and takes the bowl from his hands.
"Coming right up!"
Naruto's amazing. I mean, I always knew he was amazing, I guess I just forgot for a while. That tends to happen when someone you stop following someone's life for a while. I used to know almost everything about Naruto, but now my only facts come from rumors. But it's nice to see that he still has that charm to make everyone smile when they're within his presence.
"Do you want another one?" His voice is just as bright as his smile. I look down at my bowl, there's still half a bowl of ramen in it. I don't really know how to respond. He leans towards me and gasps. "You're still not done? Quit slacking, Hinata." He smiles.
He's amazing. For an instant I remember why I fell so hard for him, but the thought of love makes my heart hurt. A lot.
"W-W-Wait, Hinata! I was just joking, please don't cry!" Cry? I blink and feel a full tear run down my cheek. I rub my other eye and sure enough there's water on my hand. I quickly scramble to remove every last drop from my eye sockets.
"I'm sorry," I whispered quietly. "I didn't know I was." I try to force a smile. "I'm just…" I can't think of words. I don't want to talk anymore, so I just stop and eat my ramen.
Of course, after that, everything got awkward. We ate in silence and even when the man returned to Naruto with his food, Naruto accepted quietly. Again, I ruined everything. I always tend to make the situation worst and all Naruto was trying to do is help me. Why must I be me?
After Naruto pays for the meal, despite how much I try to convince him I'm fine, we start walking… in the opposite direction of school. It took me a minute to notice, but we are definitely not headed back to campus.
"Naruto, where are we going?" I ask him. No response. I hope he's not mad at me, of course he still has every right to be. "S-Shouldn't we go back to school?"
"Do you want to go back to school?" He asks me, stopping in his tracks. I almost bumped him. He turns around and stares at me. His crystal blue eyes that was filled with brightness a minute ago, is now pure stone.
I nod. I'm too intimidated to speak.
"Say it." He says. I look at him, lost. "Say you want to go back to school." I wait a moment. I have no idea what is happening. "Hinata, it's okay to say it." He smiles.
"I want to go back to school." I say. A soft smile creeps across his face. He looks at me, so differently. I don't think he's every looked at me this way before. Was is it pity? It almost looked a bit like sympathy.
"On one condition." He says. He takes my right hand and holds it. I blush, I haven't held hands since… "Hinata Hyuga, will you go out with me?"
I blink. I blink again. And again. Soon, everything is black.
StereoxHearts