Meeting

One day at school while I was laying down on the roof eating my lunch, my classmate Akari who is in a wheelchair rolled up to me. I always thought she was retarded or something because of the wheelchair so I never gave her much thought, but I know that her dad is some famous pro wrestler so I wouldn't dare make fun of her for it.

"Aukai, I found your livestream." she says.

What the fuck. I have like 2 viewers on my good days. How on earth did she find it?

“Uhmm, I don’t know what you think you found; but it’s just someone who looks like me. I don’t stream, alright?”

“Do you think I’m stupid Aukai? Do you think I’m retarded just because my legs don’t work?”

To be fair I did kinda think that, but there is no way I’m ever admitting to it.

“No! No, I would never think you are stupid because of something like that! Actually… I think you are kinda cute!”

Hehe that should throw her off. Akari blushes and she’s visibly flustered.

“Y-y-you think I’m cute? really?”

“Yeah. And that stream you found, the one that you think is me. Don’t tell anyone about it. Especially not that asshole Yamashita.”

Yamashita is another one of my classmates. He streams on Twitch and he’s really popular, getting over a hundred viewers every time he streams.

“Don’t worry Aukai, your secret is safe with me.” She says and winks at me before rolling away.

Wait, what the hell just happened? Is this part of some prank? There’s no way she really found my stream. Did she? Either way I trust her to not tell anyone. I don’t think she has anyone to tell anyway. I have never seen any of the girls in my class hanging out with her.

 After finishing my lunch and snacks, then staring at the sun for a couple of minutes, the bell rings. Ugh It’s chemistry class with Mr. Busudebu. It could have been fun if he didn’t have such a stick up his ass and never allows us to do something cool like make explosives.

I sit down at my usual spot in the back and lean forward on my desk. 

Usually, my friend Yowamushi would be sitting right next to me, but he betrayed me by going on a vacation with his family to Texas, leaving me alone here, that bastard. I end up doodling in my notebook without paying attention to whatever Mr. Busudebu is talking about for a while. Suddenly people start getting up and moving around.

“Huh, what’s going on?”

No one answers me.

“Aukai…”

Mr. Busudebu is looking right at me with a disappointed look on his face.

“Were you not paying attention at all? You need to stop slacking off in my class. Come on up here, you’ll be doing the experiment with me today, so you don’t do something stupid and blow up the classroom.”

Everyone laughs. Those jerks.

“Mr. Busudebu.” Akari speaks up. “Aukai wasn’t slacking off, we agreed before class to partner up today, he was just waiting for me to come over to him.”

“Oh… Well, carry on then.”

Phew, crisis averted. When Yowamushi gets back I’m gonna throw him off the rooftop. When he’s here with me at least it looks like we’re doing something.

“Thanks, Akari, you really saved my ass there.”

“You’re welcome… By the way, did you really mean it?” Akari looks me in the eye.

“Huh?”

“What you said on the rooftop earlier, that you think I’m cute.” She looks away and blushes.

A drop of sweat rolls down my forehead as I awkwardly rub my neck. I definitely only said that to make her shut up.

“Y-yeah, Akari, I really did mean it.” I say while looking away.

She doesn’t answer… This is getting awkward… Oh crap, can she tell I’m lying?

“It’s just that, “ she breaks the silence, “I never really got any attention like that from boys… I used to get bullied a lot when I was younger, but now… now people just feel sorry for me. It’s like they don’t see me as a person.”

“To be honest I used to think that you were a retard, because of the wheelchair.” I say while pointing at it.

She looks shocked. Then she bursts out in laughter.

“Well, at least you’re honest Aukai, I really like that about you. You know, I have been watching your streams for a while now.”

“Yeah, It’s me.” I sigh. “How did you find me anyway?”

“Uhm… Please don’t tell anyone about this, they might think It’s weird. I-I look up everyone in our class online. Like I google the usernames they use on social media and stuff. Just to see what everyone is up to, nothing weird”

Damn, I forgot I use the same username everywhere. I really should change my channel name. To something cool like ‘King Xerxes’ maybe.

“That’s not weird at all.” I say confidently, knowing that she has already seen my browsing habits on my livestream. Compared to her I act like a fucking lunatic online.

Mr. Busudebu interrupts us, coughing loudly to grab everyone’s attention.

“All right enough chatting, settle down and perform the experiment we just went through. And remember to take notes along the way. You are here to learn, not to have fun.”

“Aukai.” Akari pokes me in the gut. She flinches. “Ow, what the hell are you made of?”

Apparently poking me hurts. She’s shaking her hand like something just stung her.

“You weren’t paying attention at all were you?” She asks with a smug and slightly pained look on her face.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Haha, yeah, everyone knows you’re slacking off all the time. You should see what they say about you online.”

“Wait what!? Are they talking shit behind my back? Give me names. I will break their fucking necks” I say angrily, clenching my fists while looking around at my former classmates, now enemies.

Akari laughs. “I was joking Aukai, chill out.”

“Oh… Haha, y-yeah, I knew that. I uhm, I was joking as well.”

Part of me was hoping that bitch Yamashita was the one talking smack, so I had and excuse to put him in the ground.

Akari does practically all the work, only instructing me to do some minor things. In the end we pull of the experiment flawlessly. She even gives me a copy of her notes.

It’s amazing how smart she is. And she really is kinda cute.