Lies and Secrets: It Takes Two Words to Change Everything
Walking down the hallway was an annoyed Tsubomi. Receiving a detention for sleeping in class and having to do an essay for homework isn't something to be happy about. One hand gripped the detention slip and the other hand held her school bag. The hallways were full of rushing students, trying to get to class. As usual, many of them pushed past her. Some laughed. Some didn't care.
She went in her next class and was practically thrown in. She sighed and walked to her seat which was in the back of the class. She sat down and shoved the detention slip in her school bag. She puffed out her cheeks as she leaned back in her chair. She was hoping that the day would end soon.
"Just a few more classes, Tsubomi," she muttered to herself.
The class was boring as usual but Tsubomi was used to that. Everyday was a boring day to her. She took out her lunch box and grabbed her bag and walked out the classroom as lunch began. Walking up the stairs, Tsubomi ran her hand over the cold railing, her eyes looking straight ahead, she didn't hear anything but her shoes touching the metal stairs. Soon she reached a door and slowly opened it.
A breeze brushed by her as she closed the door. She was on the roof where she usually eats lunch. She made her way to a spot and sat down, leaning against the wall. She always loved eating lunch on the roof because it's very peaceful and calm. She opened her lunch box, revealing the food that she was going to eat.
She had her bag resting on the floor and her lunch box on her lap. She removed her hoodie and sighed. Her headphones played music as she silently ate. Her head rested against the wall as she looked up at the sky, chewing the last bit of her lunch. As usual, the sky was blue, with a few clouds.
The warmth from the sun was actually soothing to her even though she was wearing a sweater. Feeling the warmth gently touch her face made her close her eyes. She could hear the music from her headphones grow distant until nothing. When everything was silent she was asleep. She was dreaming.
"Tsubomi..." She could hear her mother's soothing voice. She remembered her mother's sweet scent of perfume, her warm touch, and her kindness and love. All she yearned for was to be wrapped in her mother's warm, protective arms. Sadly though, she couldn't have that. She no longer knows what it feels like to be fully loved by someone.
Her eyes slowly opened as she woke up. She yawned and rubbed her eye as she was processing the fact that she fell asleep. She checked the time on her IPod. Its was already 1:30 in the afternoon. She had been in a deep sleep that she ended up skipping a few classes. It wasn't like she wanted to attend class anyway.
Tsubomi stayed in her position. She didn't bother to go back to class. It would be too much of a bother. She decided to stay in her current location for the rest the time until school is over. It was about an hour and thiry minutes left so it wouldn't be for too long.
She removed her sweater as she started to feel too much heat. After shoving her sweater in her bag, she leaned back against the wall and sighed. So many boring days passed by and so many boring days were up ahead. In all honesty, Tsubomi wished for something exciting to happen but since she spent all these years living with pure boredom then what's the point on wishing? She checked the time once again. 2:00.
Time flew by fast whenever she listened to music. Music was the only thing that kept her going. That's mainly the reason why she's constantly listening to music besides the fact that she doesn't want to listen to the idiotic words that the people surrounding her say.
"Thirty more minutes, Tsubomi," she whispered to herself.
Thirty more minutes and she could easily leave and go to the park just to properly relax and enjoy the outdoors. She's an indoor person and an outdoor person. She loves to stay inside in her bed all day but she also loves to enjoy the fresh breeze and the warmth from the sun. She checked her IPod once again and seeing that there were a few more minutes left made her sigh in relief. She gathered her stuff but kept listening to music.
Once it was official that she could leave,Tsubomi stood up and walked out. She went down the stairs and started walking down the hallway. Students rushed out the doors and out the building. Tsubomi was struggling to get through the crowd. Some students played around in the hallway making it even more difficult to get through.
She was pushed to the back of the crowd which annoyed her. She wanted to get out already but due to this hallway traffic she couldn't accomplish her goal yet. Tsubomi puffed out her cheeks. On the bright side the back of the crowd wasn't as bad as the front or middle of the crowd. She continued walking, with music playing in her ears.
Unfortunately, something hard had slammed into her back making her stumble forward and lose her balance so she fell. She put her hands in front of her so she wouldn't fall face first. She stood up and brushed off her shirt and pants. After brushing off she glanced over her shoulder and glared at the person who had bumped into her. The person tensed at her glare.
"I'm s-sorry!" The boy managed to say. The boy rubbed the back of his neck, his yellow eyes looking at the ground.
"I just didn't notice you! You were like uh...a ghost!"
Hearing that made Tsubomi slightly depressed. She never liked being called a ghost and whenever someone had called her a ghost it had always upset her, like an arrow piercing her.
"A g-ghost..." Tsubomi muttered.
"Ah, th-that's not what I uh meant!" The boy assured her.
"Hey Shuuya!" A voice had called out.
Shuuya glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey Kousuke!"
Another boy around Tsubomi's age walked up to the two. He had a friendly smile on his face and a hair pin on his black hair holding up his bangs so it wouldn't cover his eyes. Shuuya then looked back at Tsubomi and remembered they're conversation.
"Oh um listen I'm sorry for slamming into you like that and sorry for calling you a ghost," Shuuya apologized.
Tsubomi was silent for a moment. For once someone was actually being kind. Someone was treating her like a person. Her family and even the staff would treat her cautiously due to being an illegitimate child. Being a child out of marriage does a lot of damage especially when the child's father is one of the wealthiest people in the city.
"It's alright," Tsubomi assured in a quiet voice. Even if he's only apologizing it still made her feel a bit happy.
"What did you do this time?" Kousuke asked, looking at Shuuya.
"I only slammed into her! I didn't do anything serious I swear!" Shuuya held up his hands in defense.
Kousuke sighed. "Whatever you say." He glanced at Tsubomi and smiled. "I'm sorry about him. I'm Kousuke Seto!" He held out his hand.
Tsubomi hesitated but shook his hand. "Tsubomi Kido."
Shuuya stared at her for a moment. He squinted his eyes and leaned a bit closer to her. He studied her face. She felt slightly nervous. Kousuke sighed.
"Shuuya you're making her nervous," he informed as he grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back, away from Tsubomi's face.
"Sorry, you just remind me of someone," Shuuya chuckled and Kousuke sighed again.
"Probably because we have the first class of the day together," Tsubomi said. Though to her she felt like she had seen him before today and Shuuya felt the same with her.
"Probably," Shuuya agreed. There was a silence between the three. It was a bit awkward but at least there wasn't an unsettling atmosphere. Suddenly Tsubomi's phone rang. One of her favorite songs "Creep" by Radiohead played. She shuffled through her school bag and took out her phone. She checked the caller ID and sighed when she saw that it was her sister.
"I gotta go," she muttered and turned around and started walking.
"Hey wait!" Shuuya called out.
She stopped and glanced at him.
He gave her a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tsubomi!"
For an unknown reason Tsubomi blushed lightly. "Y-yeah, bye," she then continued walking. She answered her phone.
"Tsubomi, dad got a call from your teacher about your detention and your habit of sleeping in class."
"I don't want to hear it," Tsubomi growled.
"Well you have to get home. Dad wants to talk to you."
"Fine," Tsubomi hung up. She hated whenever she had to listen to her father lecture. He never paid much attention to her and whenever he does its due to all the trouble she causes. They're usually minor problems but her father is all about perfection. He cared too much about perfection than feelings.
Even though Tsubomi is thinking that she's alone and that everything will stay the same little did she know that the two words "I'm sorry" would change everything.
