July 8, Tuesday
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Mai was having fun. She was still second in class, but she was having fun anyway.
Who knew that not caring is such an enjoyable thing to do? she thought, turning a page of her second-hand—maybe third-hand—comic book. Keiko gave it to her when they were still in middle school. It was given to her as an attempt to cheer her up a little since her mother had just died.
Mai's mother and father were both the only children in their families, and all her grandparents already passed away long before. She had no living relatives then, so her friends were her only source of comfort. Despite this, she pushed them away.
Mai remembered how cold she was to them before, and she regretted that now. The moment her mother died was the moment she hardened her resolve to study hard to secure her own future. This decision almost made her lose her friends.
This lapse in judgment happened around the time of preparation for high school entrance exams. During this time, Mai's only focus was to be able to enter one of the top high schools in the country. She had locked herself in her apartment for days to no end so that she could study alone, living only on microwavable junk and tap water.
Her friends, Keiko and Michiru, visited her everyday to make sure that she was still alive. They would leave some food that would be good for her, they would coerce her out, and they would tell her that they were still there for her. At first, Mai had stayed quiet throughout each ordeal. Later though, when she was at her wit's end with a passage she could not memorize, or when she could not solve an equation, she would shout at them, yelling at them to go away and leave her alone. They did, after several days of Mai screaming at them to leave her be. She did not let this bother her, and she kept on studying without a hitch.
When the exam results were posted, Mai was completely elated. She was able to enter the school of her first choice. She wanted to tell the whole world. More importantly, she wanted to tell her two best friends, but she did not know how. She went to their houses, but she was always turned away. She spent a large amount of money on phone calls from a public telephone, but her friends' mothers would constantly say that they did not want to talk to her. There was even a time when she saw them at a convenience store, though they went on, pretending that they did not know her.
Mai was heart-broken. In this world, there were only two people left who loved her. She knew this, but she chose not to see them. This act made her feel shame every time she remembered it.
With a heavy chest, she had entered high school with no hope of being with her friends again. Understanding that she would not have the same pleasure, she trudged by the class listings where her new schoolmates gushed with whimsical excitement and forlorn expectation as they sought out their friends' names.
When the students were then ushered into their respective classes after the lengthy opening ceremony, there was a surprise in store for her. Right outside her classroom door were Keiko and Michiru. They fiercely embraced the moment they locked eyes, jumping together in between buoyant giggles. They said that they had studied hard too so that they could also enter the school Mai was aiming for. She tried not to cry too hard.
Mai promised herself that she would not push them away again. Studying to secure her future was important and all, but she knew now that love was even more so.
She smiled with this thought in mind instead of at the funny drawing in her comic book.
"You like that kind of story?" a patronizing tone asked. Mai could almost hear the dramatic rise of the owner's eyebrow.
In the manner of a flashback from a person threatened with death, her wild rant from last Friday recurred vividly in her mind—complete with every single detail. In return, her blood pumped louder in her veins as her stomach mysteriously gained a ton or two. The lip-clamping girl slowly turned her head to the young man beside her and tried to utter out an articulate response.
"A-ah, yes, well," Mai spluttered, her eyes darting rapidly from east to west in evident trepidation. Fumbling with her fingers with her head slightly bowed, Mai blurted, "I'msosorryforallthethingsIsaidlastFriday."
Amused at the girl's antics, the boy fully clad in dark clothes secretly snickered. He already predicted that she would be this way the next time they saw each other. With the high school student's sudden outburst during the last time they saw each other, he discovered that foretelling her reactions was a pastime he could allow himself.
He glanced at her with false annoyance and said nothing in reply to her careened apology, resisting the urge to smirk when he saw the crimson shade of her entire face. He pushed another wave of condescension onto her before turning back to his map. The second he did, real annoyance crammed his mind. He wanted to rip it to pieces again.
To distract himself from the recurrence of disgruntling thoughts, he decided to talk to the comical girl beside him.
"What are you reading?" he asked languidly, hiding his genuine curiosity under the guise of boredom.
Mai flushed even more at his question. She had no idea why though. She thought that maybe it was because of the guilt of not studying for the quiz she had later that day.
"It's a, um, comedy," she said unhurriedly, desperately trying not to rush her words again.
"Oh, is that so? The book cover misled me then."
They both turned their eyes on Mai's comic book. The cover had a funky clown on it.
The cloud of awkwardness hovered over Mai once again. She was about to perform another rendition of her previous chagrin, but the young man interrupted her with another question.
"Why aren't you studying?" he apathetically inquired, doodling on his map with a red marker. "You're always studying whenever I see you."
Whoa, you're asking me that? Seriously? Look at you right now, skipping class.
"I've already graduated."
"W-what?" Mai asked, laughing as she tried to downplay her discomposure. "Oh, d-did I say that out loud?" She forced out another laugh.
Seeming to empathize with her, bus number 42 saved her from disgrace once again by stopping for the third time as the operator called twice. Mai gathered her book as she grabbed her bag and excused herself so that she could pass by the young man's legs.
She turned to him and stiffly lifted her hand. She dropped it in an instant as she mumbled a quick, "Bye."
Nearly running, she crossed the long aisle and jumped off the vehicle. She then sprinted to her school, but she stopped halfway when a fleeting moment of logic asked her something.
Wait, so does that mean he's at least three years older than me?
This incredulous thought stayed with Mai for a long time.
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A/N: I made this chapter a tad longer than usual as an apology for the wait ;) College sucks. Anyhoo, writing the thoughts of Mai's bus buddy was surprisingly fun, even though it was only a couple of paragraphs, ha. Thanks for reading!