Chapter 1: See You Again

The last time I freaked out, I just kept looking down

…I can't wait to see you again

- See You Again by Miley Cyrus

I boarded the late bus tiredly, the sound of Somebody to Love by Queen still in my head from choir practice. I still had a mountain of math homework to figure out. I sighed and throwing myself on an unoccupied seat and pulled out my wireless headphones and slipped them over my ears. Soon, the upbeat Re:member by FLOW, Naruto's eighth opening theme, blasted through my ears, drowning out all babble of choir nerds, theatre geeks, cheerleaders, the debate team, and athletes finishing sports practice. Lucia, my childhood friend who I joined the choir with, was sick today so I sat by myself, feeling like a loser.

Ehh. It's okay. I've always got Naruto to help get me through it, right?

I zoned out listening to my anime playlist, staring out the dirty window smudged with hundreds of kids' fingerprints. Anime isn't cool, and sometimes it feels like I'm the only one at my school who likes it — I've only seen people at conventions who like Naruto, or anime even, the way I do. And look, I'm gonna keep watching anime because it makes me happy, regardless of how popular it is or isn't, but you gotta admit it gets pretty lonely when you have no one to talk to about your favourite thing. I've even started watching The Bachelor and Bachelorette just so I can join in conversations at school, but they make me want to just —

Wait a second!

I sat up straighter and practically pressed my face against the window.

It can't be.

It can't be.

I just stared in disbelief as the bus came to a halt and let a couple kids off in my neighbourhood. A kid who looked about fifteen, my age, casually strolled on the sidewalk. He looked about average height, slim and built like a runner, pale skin, and the most unique spiky black hair I've ever seen. His bangs were parted in the centre, hanging down to about his chin, and his hair stuck out in the back.

Like Uchiha Sasuke.

I couldn't breathe.

The bus started up again, and I craned my head to get a better glimpse of the kid, but he was soon out of sight.

I had to have been imagining it, right?

I barely noticed when we reached my stop. I grabbed my things and walked off the bus in a daze, my mind on that spiky-haired kid. It had to be a coincidence, he was probably a cosplayer or just wanted to style his hair to look like Sasuke's, right?

But I made sure to look out for the kid on my way home from the next choir practice.

Same time, same place.

There he was!