Ring. Ring. Ring.
Always three. No more, no less. The phone would ring three times, and she would pick up, every time, all the time. I'm half convinced that she does it on purpose.
Why?
There is no "why" with her.
"I've got lice."
"…lice?"
"Lice." I could hear her grin. Just like she could hear the motion of my eyes as they drifted nervously upwards towards the mass of hair that now hung so much farther over my forehead, down to the tip of my nose then veering off the side and covering my left eye.
"You haven't seen me since I grew my hair out, have you?" I asked, changing the subject. I did my best to push these thoughts out of my mind, these thoughts that occurred to me so often.
It was all too nostalgic, the nature of parasites and their prey.
"You grew your hair out, huh? My widdle baby's growing up so fast." She said.
"Yeah…" There was silence for a moment. These awkward pauses were routine, and we had both come to expect at least one per call. It was during these moments that I usually wondered why we were talking, how she could act so cool and unfazed, or if she had to act at all.
I hope she's only acting.
It was during these lulls in the conversation that I thought about asking her why. Why she's chasing him, why she needed me, if she really needed me and if so, why did she leave…
But she knows this, I think, and so she will end the silence before I have the chance. Perhaps with a question about my Dad or Mamimi, or even with just a small "purring" noise. Or something like that.
But we both know that these thoughts will not leave my mind, never take the form of useless syllables struggling to contain the meaning of these curses we call emotion.
Without words, we know what would happen should I ask her about her intentions. She would find a way to change the subject and, if that failed, simply stay silent, and pretend not to hear me at all.
Because there is no "why" with Haruhara Haruko.
