Brighter

“Hey Evi!” I called out to her in the hallway. I looked around for a second, slightly embarrassed by how loud I’d been. I suppose it wasn’t particularly loud, but on my relative scale it was comparatively boisterous.

“Hey Rin,” she answered back. Voice the color of plain gruel. She stood stooped over, hands bunched deep into the pockets of her skirt. The bag strapped atop her shoulder almost seemed as though it were pulling her entire body down.

“You uh, a-are you okay? You look a little out of it,” I asked.

“Eh. No more so than usual.”

I pouted.

“I’m fine Rin, relax.” Evi lifted her hand up out of its pocket to brush at the back of her neck. “Just tired. It’s early.”

“…If you say so…” A thought planted itself in my mind. “Did I keep you up too late last night? Like, I said I’m a bit of a night owl, but if you’re not then that migh—”

She laughed.

“No, no. That’s not it. I told you already, I liked hearing from you,” her voice lightened, “Besides, I’m kind of a nocturnal animal myself. Just not much of a morning person.”

“Oh. Okay,” I hesitated, “Well then how was your night?”

“Alright,” she shrugged, “Fine. Normal.”

“?”

“We should get to class.”

We headed over to our classroom. Passing through the door, it seemed we caught Fujiwara-san’s attention. Staying seated, she briefly pulled away from her conversation with Takahara-san to greet us.

“Good morning Miyashita-san, Evi-san,” she waved politely.

“G-good morning Fujiwara-san,” I sputtered.

“Hey,” Evi nodded.

Takahara-san’s face registered a small degree of surprise, but he nodded towards us in kind before returning to flirting with Fujiwara-san. A few others took notice as well, but it didn’t really amount to much. As more students began to file in, Evi and I settled at our desks. Nakamura Sensei joined a few minutes later, attendance was taken, and the day began.

To my surprise, Evi tapped my shoulder during our first break between class periods.

“Hey, so. I didn’t ask Nakamura Sensei about the club thing yet.”

“Oh. Um. No problem.”

“I was thinking, we could all ask together,” she tilted her head to the side as she said it.

“Sure.” A pause. The gears clicked into place. “Wait, are you embarrassed?”

I quickly switched tracks as she scrunched up her face.

“Um, sorry, I-I mean it’s fine if you are, I was merely surpri—“

“Of course not,” she blustered. “It’s just that… well, she already does a lot for me, and I’d feel rude asking for even more. Especially considering how dumb an idea this is for a club.” Evi flicked a hand through her hair absentmindedly.

“Aw, that’s adorable!” I said, trying to keep my voice down. “U-unless you don’t want it to be, uh, in which case, it’s not. But please know that I meant that in a complimentary fashion.”

“Yeah, yeah. Alright,” she smirked. Then rapped her knuckles lightly against the desk just as the teacher for our next period entered the room.

“Thanks,” I whispered, sitting back at attention.

“Sure thing,” she whispered back.

Classes continued as they always did, though I felt a bit brighter having compatriots to share it with. Even when we couldn’t speak I was still a little giddy. Somehow, the company of other people had lessened the pressure of other people, even if only slightly, and even if the ratio of friend to acquaintance remained highly out of balance. This. Right now. Felt better.

At lunchtime, Evi got up first.

“Rin, you want to head out?” she asked, bag already in hand.

“Y-yeah. Yeah!” I extricated myself from the chair and grabbed my backpack.

Glancing around the room, it seemed we still drew a few eyes. That said, there was less interest than the day before. I guess that’s how it goes, huh? 

Maybe high school could be nice after all.

Good.

I suppressed a giggle at the thought that things were finally looking up.

Fujiwara-san sat over at the other side of the classroom. For a moment I considered inviting her to come out with us, but she’d already begun talking with a few other students.

I decided not to bother her.

“E-chan, Ri-chan! Yaya! Let’s go for lunch,” Kusumoto-san sprinted into our class from out in the hallway. All heads turned to us as she burst in.

Oh…good... attention.

Fujiwara-san gave us a small wave, then excused herself from her table to join us.

“Hello,” she greeted gently.

“Alright,” Evi sighed.

“Haha, okay, uh, hi, yea. L-let’s go,” I mumbled.

I walked out as fast as I could.