Chapter 21 - First Day at School Part 3

Minutes have passed, and Amara doesn’t show any signs of moving even though lunch break has already passed. We finished lunch half an hour ago and are both staring at the garden while doing nothing.

I wonder if she’s fine with this… I thought, thinking that it might’ve been boring for her to spend time with me doing nothing.

“Shade.” she called.

“Hm?” I turned to her.

“Let’s do something else.” she suggested.

“Something else?” I asked, confused about what she wanted to do. Then, I reminded her, “Did you forget that you have a class?”

“I’m already late. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works…”

She chuckled. “I don’t think I need to spell it out for you, right?”

I immediately knew what was she trying to point out. “You’re really okay with spending time with someone like me?”

She nodded once slowly. “You know, you ask the most obvious things…” she whispered.

“Sorry.” I answered.

“Huh? Why are you apologizing!?” she exclaimed.

I panicked and shook my head. “No no no. It’s nothing.”

She sighed in relief. “I thought I did something wrong…”

“No, you didn’t…” I laughed awkwardly.

“I’m glad, I just don’t want you to feel bad about it. It’s just a simple thing you know? You don’t need to apologize over that.” she said.

I blinked and pursed my lips, feeling a bit conflicted.

I knew that. I knew that myself.

Even though I know it shouldn’t be that deep, I instinctively apologize for something simple. The fear of slightly bothering others is the thing I wanted to avoid the most, and I knew that it was not normal at all.

I paused and turned away at her, staring at the colorless garden in front of us. At that moment, I knew that there was something that needed to change.

Even though I died…

Nothing has really changed… I muttered in my mind, letting out a faint smile.

I need to stop doing this thing. And if I wanted to change something, learning to stop apologizing for every little thing is the first step.

I turned back to her and smiled. “You’re right.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” she said, standing up. “I know you probably don’t miss the school that much but… Do you want me to show you around the school?”

“Sure.” I answered, standing beside her.

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After eating our lunch, she decided to show me around the school. Since we already finished visiting the canteen earlier, the next place she had in mind was the gymnasium.

“For our first stop, we are at the Gym!” she pointed out.

We then stopped walking and faced the gym. It was the same gym I knew, and nothing had changed other than the fact that I couldn’t see its colors anymore.

“You’re good at basketball, right?” she asked, while we were both facing in the gym.

I raised an eyebrow. “Where did you even get that? I don’t play basketball that much.” I answered, taken aback by her question.

“You’re lying. I definitely saw you destroyed our class at the festival.” she revealed.

“I did?” I asked back, trying to remember what happened.

She nodded. “I saw you took a shot and won the game.”

It was like a year ago since the last sports festival, and I was first year at that time. Considering I died a year ago, then it was two years ago since I played in the sports festival.

But I don’t remember destroying the opposition the last time I played. Besides, I was only able to play a game once, and never again.

“I guess you were only able to see the last quarter then?” I asked.

“Yeah. How did you know?” she asked back.

“Because I was only able to play because we were up by 21 points that time.”

“I-I don’t get it… What do you mean by that?”

“I was able to play because it was already a sure win for our class, and it didn’t matter who plays at the end of the game. That’s why I was chosen to be one of those player.” I explained.

“You mean that you were able to play just because it was a sure win and it doesn’t matter whether you play or not?”

“Yes. And it was the only game I played in the first year, it was nothing that awesome. So, I’m not really good at basketball.”

“Hm… Is that so? I guess that’s what happened.” she muttered, not mused.

Did I say something wrong? I asked myself, noticing the change in her tone.

“Yeah.” I answered hesitantly.

“But, I’m not mistaken that time, right? You were the one who took the last shot and won the game? Tell me I’m not wrong!” she insisted.

I took a step back. “Y-yeah I was the one who took the last shot. But that was about it.” I stammered.

“I told you! I was not wrong!” she repeated, her yellow fire started flickering strongly.

Why is she pressed about it? It was a lucky shot, and It’s not like it was a big deal since we were already bound to win whether I made that shot or not.

“I thought I was mistaken…” she mumbled, facing down.

“What?” I asked, leaning closer to her.

“I said, I thought I was mistaken.” she replied.

“Ah… Well, that game was two years ago. I’m surprised you still remember it.” I said, feeling bashful.

But I can’t blame her, it was one of the best moments of my life. Just being able to play in the game is already something I couldn’t imagine, but being able to score the last shot was more than amazing.

I was standing on the three-point line on the corner unguarded when someone passed me the ball and I immediately took a shot. No one expected that I would be going for a shot at that moment, and being able to shoot in at the buzzer beater.

I smiled, remembering that exact moment of the game.

“How could I forget it when the whole gymnasium was screaming and shouting the moment you made the shot? It was amazing, everyone screaming in joy when it happened.”

“Haha…” I chuckled awkwardly.

“Now, you still believe that it was just a game?” she asked.

I scratched my head. “I guess it was not.”

“Of course, it was not. I was there, everyone was there, and you know that we are all celebrating that time. Even though my class lost that game.” she said.

I grinned and looked straight at her. “Lucky shot.”

I never thought that the game that I believed ruined my trust was maybe one of the reasons why Amara took a liking to me. I thought it was a bad memory, but who would’ve thought someone remembered it as an amazing memory?