To Have a Conversation

 A month had passed and…still nothing interesting had happened. School was a chore. I mean, when would we need to know what the ‘Collatz Conjecture’ was or what the word ‘credulity’ meant? Honestly, sometimes I thought they weren’t even teaching high school. Give me my eight hours back.

Actually, I’ll take only seven. Talking with Lego, Mona, and Aito was…fun. I could have thought it was enjoyable or lively, but I felt ‘fun’ best described whenever we hung out, a pleasant feeling always spreading across me. It had gotten to a point where we all conversed freely with one another. We still had our own secrets, but it never stopped our fun. Today was another one of those days…

“You’re such an annoying brat Lego.”

“Says the ‘Crimson Witch’: bringer of destruction, champion of all game clubs.” …or maybe not. Mona and Lego were at each others’ throats again. Aito, unsurprisingly, was eating her bento silently. Mona and Lego’s fights happen a lot more often these days. Maybe it was because they were close. I wonder if I can be…nope shouldn’t think that. I shook my head, trying to think of a topic to divert their attention and my own. Actually, speaking of the ‘Crimson Witch’...

“Why do you call Mona the ‘Crimson Witch’?” I asked Lego. “Is it because she’s good at academics?”

“Hmm? Is that all ya think? It’s because Mona is actually, ow! Mona, get your heel off my foot!”

“Then stop being annoying.”

“Is ‘annoying’ the only word you know?” Mona tilted her head dramatically, giving Lego a harsh glare. I could feel death coming from those eyes. I thought Lego felt that too; he was shivering slightly.

“Okay, okay,” Lego responded, lightly backing off. “Though actually Lucas, I’m surprised you actually managed to score a point on Mona, much less take a game.” Lego seemed genuinely impressed.

“Is it really that impossible?” It wasn’t as though Mona was an impregnable fortress. I thought anyone who studied had a decent enough chance of winning against her at least once. Though, maybe after a few hundred tries…

“Mona is not only studious, but she actively tries to improve herself. I mean, I once saw her answering doctorate level questions in mere seconds. She even gets mad when she’s too slow, so she tries to improve her speed as much as possible. She’s basically a genius.” I was surprised at how much attention Lego paid to Mona, though Mona frowned when he said that. Regardless, that makes sense, I thought. I only managed to beat her with shortcuts and luck. If we competed purely with skill alone, I probably would’ve lost terribly.

“I want to do things to the best of my ability. Though, ever since Lucas left, it’s been kind of boring. None of the other students come close to matching me.” Mona pouted a bit, her expression contrasting her authoritative appearance. Mona then turned towards me and spoke with a hint of sass, “But you wanted to try different clubs.”

“Which clubs?” Aito asked, having looked up from her meal for a brief moment.

“Umm…the Archery Club and Manga Club.”

“Right. And in both of those clubs, you didn’t even stay the full week!” Mona’s voice held a tinge of annoyment.

“Well, that’s for different reasons. The Archery Club made my arms so sore that I wasn’t able to complete my homework. The Manga Club was nice, but it was too expensive for a hobby. I had almost no money to buy food for a week.” My dad gave me an allowance to buy what we needed since he worked almost eighteen hours. He said I could use whatever was left over for myself. I couldn’t have told him that I spent all of it on manga for a club.

“I already told you, just look it up online if you want to read it. Then you won’t have to pay!” Lego made a show of casually breaking the law. If he wanted to do it, it was fine by me. I was way too paranoid to even attempt it. I didn’t need nor want a virus on my computer, and I told Lego as such.

“Fine, fine. I’m pretty sure that’ll never happen, but you do you.” Lego put his hands up in the air and shrugged. I casually shifted the topic once again.

“Speaking of clubs, how’s the Football Club coming along?”

“Ooh, you want to know?” Lego was raising his voice, beginning to stand up. Mona let out an exasperated sigh. I thought I saw Aito roll her eyes as well. I don’t think I should have asked this. All at once, Lego jumped out of his seat and began talking theatrically.

“It’s awesome!! I didn’t think the football team at this school would be that good, you know? We’re focused on academics, so imagine finding out that the team made it all the way to nationals last year! It was amazing! I wished I’d joined the football team last year instead of the baseball team–” and on and on and on… It was astounding how much one person can extol a single sports team. I don’t think I had ever been that passionate about anything.

Lego went on about the Football Club’s achievements for about ten minutes before he actually started talking about his teammates. “Of course, there are some standouts among the members. Well, not including myself anyways.” Sometimes I wished his inflated ego would decrease in size, but I wasn’t going to interrupt his monologue. “You know Xander in 4-4, Lucas?” I thought back, remembering a slightly hazy figure a bit shorter than Lego.

“I think he was in my class last year, but I don’t think I talked to him.”

“Well, he has astounding footwork. It’s like trying to catch a Xander fly with chopsticks. No one could catch him. I think he’s still the only one who hasn’t been tackled yet.”

Aito looked up from her lunch again. “Always scored a touchdown?” Actually yeah. Wouldn’t that mean he never stopped running down the field?

However, Lego soon corrected himself. “No, no, no, no. Whenever he was in a pickle, he just ran out the sides.” That made more sense, assuming he was one of the players near the edge.

Lego continued, “On the opposite end, we have Maxim. I don’t think you guys know him since he’s a sophomore. But, seriously. The guy is huge. Like, even taller than Mona in six inch heels. The defense threw four people on him and he still moved like it was nothing. I’m not even sure if he’s human.” That’s kinda rude to say, I thought. Mona voiced my thoughts.

“People build themselves differently. Seeing a bodybuilder is no different than seeing an expert artist. Doesn’t matter what age they are.”

“I guess…” Lego seemed unconvinced. Instead of arguing though, he dropped it and continued.

“Then there was the quarterback, Jake.” Lego’s voice rose a bit; he was getting excited. “The dude is a monster. His throws were like a homing beacon. I don’t even know how to describe how impressive he was. You could really tell he threw balls for thousands of hours.” Lego was gushing over him like a schoolgirl.

“Lovebirds.” Aito was quick to point that out, still eating her lunch. Lego waved off her statement with his hand, smiling like it was a joke.

His face then lit up even brighter. “Hey, Aito,” he began. “–do you have any new drawings?” Aito suddenly tensed up and put her chopsticks down. She then slightly nodded her head, letting out a small “Yes.”

“If you’re comfortable with it, mind showing us?” Lego was acting respectful this time. I think he remembered how uncomfortable she was when he forcefully showed her notebook to us.

Aito grabbed her backpack and pulled out her notebook. She flipped through it, most likely searching for her latest work, and then turned the notebook towards us.

““That’s…”” both Mona and Lego began.

“...me.” It was a portrait of me. It was surprisingly detailed. She even drew the micro-wrinkles on my forehead. I wish she left those out though. She then flipped to the next page, showing Mona, Lego, and then herself.

“Wanted to try out portraits instead of landscapes,” Mona quietly stated. In all regards, it looked like the portraits could jump out of the pages. They were still sketches, but you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if the world was in black and white.

All three of us started to heap praise on Aito. Aito turned more and more red, almost seemingly embarrassed. Though, I still saw some traces of conflict lingering on her face. She didn’t seem to hate the praise, but she wasn’t particularly happy to receive it either. Regardless, she still thanked us and put on a smile, albeit a bit forced.

We remained silent as we all took a few bites out of our lunch. Conversations were nice, but silence was also good. It was a nice reprieve from the current of words. However, too much silence felt awkward. So, only a few minutes later, I started a new topic.

“Did you guys look over this term’s event calendar?” I saw the calendar on the bulletin board when I first headed to the Math Games Club. I grabbed my phone and pulled a picture of it up to show the others. “There’s a breakfast next week, but I’m not going.”

“Why not?” Mona asked.

“It costs $30, that’s too much to pay to eat breakfast.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Mona. It is.” My breakfast typically consisted of two hard boiled eggs. Why would I spend $30 when I could have breakfast for 60 cents? I thought. There is a lot you can buy for $30, like…something worth $30.

“I agree with Lucas, though I wasn’t planning on attending anyways. It starts way too early,” Lego argued.

“Too many people,” Aito concurred.

“Only me then? Ugh, fine.” Mona looked irritated, but she also lowered her head. She quickly moved onto the next event. “What about the game tournament then? Are any of you participating?”

“You’re kidding right? Why would I want to get creamed by the, ow! Stop stepping on my foot!”

“Then stop making me want to step on your foot.”

“Ergh.” Lego was holding his foot, still in pain from the first time. I wonder what he was about to say. I wasn’t pushing my luck though, so I remained silent.

“What about the talent show then?” Mona continued. “You would be perfect as a comedian, Lego.”

“Very funny.” Lego rolled his eyes. He then crossed his arms and leaned forward, putting on a serious expression. “If I was to participate, it would probably be on the piano.”

“You can play the piano Lego?” I asked.

Lego smiled, giving a thumbs up while puffing out his chest. “Of course I can! Been playing for five years now. I’m pretty good, if I do say so myself.” I’m not sure if he’s trying to look cool with that, but it looks dumb. Out of the corner of my eye though, I saw Aito staring at Lego. Her eyes were shining. Wait, did she actually think that was cool? I attempted to remain oblivious and switched topics instead.

“There’s also the end of term party right? We can go to that as well.”

“““No.””” It surprised me how strongly they denied going.

“But…why?”

“Waste of time,” Mona stated.

“Want to sleep,” Lego yawned.

“People,” Aito mentioned.

“Umm…okay then.” I guess the Lunch Bringers Society doesn’t like parties.

“However…” Lego began, “I wouldn’t mind if we all just hung out instead.” Mona and Aito both nodded their heads. It took me a moment to process what he said. My eyes opened wide. Before I could say anything…

Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! The bell rang, indicating the end of lunchtime. Aito and Mona cleaned up their desks. Lego began moving his own desk back. I was still sitting down trying to figure out how to respond. All of a sudden, I felt a smack on my back. I turned around and saw Lego smiling kindly at me.

“We can talk later.” Lego then looked at Aito and Mona, my eyes following his eyes. Both of them were smiling slightly as they moved their desks back. They both seemed excited to meet outside of school. I got up as well, moving my desk back to its spot, my head still processing.

I wasn’t paying attention to what the teacher said during afternoon lectures. It wasn’t out of disinterest this time though. I was hung up on the others wanting to meet outside of school. The words kept repeating in my head. The pleasant feeling I usually felt spread more strongly. I guess I am that close to them. I smiled softly, and for the rest of the day…

I was the happiest man in the world.