Orange Soda

“Anyway, it’s really hot today, isn’t it?” Takuma complains while fanning himself with his hand. His gaze averts mine as Koichi laughs awkwardly and Sho remains silent.

Since we are on our summer break, the four of them came to my apartment to pass the time. We are gathered around my coffee table in my bedroom, playing Uno when Takuma asks Sho about his new girlfriend, thus the awkward situation.

Although I have to be honest, I don’t have a full grasp of why this turned into an awkward situation.

“You guys are so lame,” Ryu utters.

“I know! You don’t need to rub it on my face.”

Takuma looks me straight in the eyes, then bows with his forehead touching the table between us, saying, “I apologize for my ignorance!”

I turn my head from left to right, looking at everyone’s reaction. I swear, Koichi and Sho look like they are holding their breaths.

Finally, I sigh and respond,“I’m quite confused right now, but I accept the apology.”

It instantly lifts the awkward atmosphere around us. However, just when everyone is finally starting to relax, Ryu turns to me and asks,

“In all seriousness, do you still like Sayu?”S

So that’s the reason why.

I appreciate my friends' kind consideration, but it has been two weeks since my breakup with Sayu, so I don’t understand why they’re still making a big deal out of it. Maybe two weeks isn’t long enough to completely move on, but what else am I supposed to do?

If she can replace you that easily, then you have no reason to mope over her.

The voice echoes in my head.

I shake my head and respond, 

“No."

“Do you hate her?” Sho asks this time.

“No. It’s more like I don’t care anymore.”

“If I were you, I’d probably feel the same.” Takuma leans on the side of my bed. “Six months of no communication before breaking up with you is quite harsh. Not to mention that she started dating someone else immediately after your breakup.”

I think you are a good person. It’s definitely her fault.

There goes that voice again.

As if to lighten the mood, Koichi rests his elbow on my shoulder.

“Anyway, if you’re interested in our next *mixer party, just send me a message. If Sho can find a girlfriend in a mixer, you can find one too.”

"You should drop out of Engineering now and start a company that organizes mixers because that's all you do anyway.”

Koichi glares at Ryu but says nothing.

Here we go again.

Ryu and Koichi’s dynamic is strange in a way. They’re friends, but they’re also enemies. They won’t go as far as killing each other, although they have had a few fist fights before.

Before the situation escalates, I rise to my feet.

“I’ll go out to buy some snacks and dinner.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sho declares as he raises his hands.

Of course, he wants to leave as well.

We both know this kind of situation can only be mediated by Takuma. Although a part of us simply don't  want to deal with their troublesome relationship. 

The nearest convenience store is a ten-minute walk from my apartment. We have to endure ten minutes of excruciating heat to give Koichi and Ryu some time to cool down, which is kind of ironic.

I guess peace can't be obtained without sacrifices.

At least the convenience store has AC. The sacrifice is worth it.

“Do you think they’re done?” Sho asks as he throws another bag of chips in the basket.

“Done with what? Talking? You know there is no way they will compromise in 20 minutes.

Sho's shoulder sags in disappointment. The last time Ryu and Koichi had a clash, we went to karaoke to kill some time.

“Sho —”

As I turn my head to Sho, I notice an orange-haired girl walk past the entrance of the convenience store.

“What?” Sho asks.

I realize that I zoned out for a second.

“I’ve just remembered something. Let’s meet in the park in about… ten minutes.”

Without waiting for a response, I rush out of the convenience store, not knowing where to go.

I'll be lying if I say that I don’t want to see her again. The events that happened last week and the conversation that we had have been replaying in my head constantly. If I knew she would occupy my brain like this, I should have asked for her *LINE. Then again, I already made the mistake of telling her that I didn’t want to make friends, so what am I going to say once I catch up with her?

Come to think of it, she got off the train two stations before me. She lives a little too far from here. What is she doing here?

After minutes of brisk walking, sweating and a bit of drying throat, I finally found her. She stands in front of a vending machine; her orange hair is in a ponytail this time, and she’s wearing an oversize t-shirt with strawberry prints, black jean shorts and sneakers.

Why do I even care how she looks? I don’t even notice when one of my friends had a haircut.

I massage my temple. Maybe I should go back after all. 

I have nothing to tell her anyway. She might also think that I’m stalking her if I show up out of nowhere. I refuse to admit that I chased after her. Maybe I’ll eventually get over her after another week.

I’m about to turn around and leave when I realize she presses one button over and over, then bend over to look at the pick-up box. A minute later, she seems to have given up; she squats down, looking dismayed.

Looks like someone is having a bad day.

I’ll surely feel guilty if I don’t help her out, and I’ll think about this day for the next few days. There is no way I’m getting over her if I leave now.

So I sigh and walk toward her.

“What’s the problem?” I say as I squat down beside her.

She jolts in surprise and slowly turns to me.

“Are you going to stare at me for an hour or tell me what’s the problem?”

“Excuse me? Do I know you?” she asks.

Either she’s mad because I scared her, or she doesn’t recognize me anymore. It would be tragic if it were the latter.

“I don’t know. Maybe you do, or maybe I’m just a stranger passing by. So, what’s the problem?”

“Oh, about that, this vending machine… wait…”

She stares again for a few seconds, then gasps.

“It’s you! The guy who saved me a week ago! It’s you, right? Nozomu, right?!”

She didn’t recognize me right away. Great.

“Please keep your voice down. You’re causing a scene.”

She covers her mouth and looks around.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice comes out muffled.

When she uncovers her mouth, she reveals a bright smile. It’s the complete opposite of her expression before, so I feel a little relief.

“Anyway, can you tell me now what the problem is?” I ask for the third time.

“Oh yeah.” 

She stands up and presses the button at the upper part of the machine.

"It’s not dispensing the drink, but it didn’t return my change either.”

I stand and push the same button, but nothing happens.

“You know you can buy a different drink.”

“But I want the orange soda.”

“But you can always try other drinks.”

“But it’s not orange.”

"Do you like orange so much that you need to have orange hair, buy orange-flavored drink and use orange scented perfume?”

She slowly turns to me, looking perplexed.

“I don’t use perfume. It’s actually body spray. The smell shouldn’t be that strong, so you must have a good sense of smell if you can tell that it's orange scent.”

I turn to focus my eyes on the vending machine in front of us. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but what else can I say? It’s better to tell the truth.

Even if she starts thinking that I’m creepy.

“When we were in the train and my forehead was on your shoulder… I thought you smelled like orange. I didn’t intend to have a smell, by the way. It was hard not to notice it when you were so close.”

Surprisingly, I see her blushed from the corner of my eye. 

“Oh, is that so?”

She got embarrassed?

“My ex-boyfriend from high school hates orange with a passion,” she starts explaining. “So, before we broke up I started obsessing over anything that is orange-themed to spite him. When I graduated, I realized that orange had become part of my identity, so here I am now.”

I turn to her in disbelief.

“Wait, why did you break up?"

“He cheated on me… with my friend of all people. Can you believe that? I caught him waiting outside a cram school and when my friend came out, they held hands on the way to the station. I waited for him to tell me but he never did and that’s when my orange obsession started. Until one day, he couldn’t take it anymore but before he said anything, I slapped him in the face then revealed that I had known he had been cheating on me. The look on his face was priceless.”

She tells the story as if it’s some sort of achievement. I admit that it is impressive, but she also put too much effort into prolonging her own misery.

“How long did you stay together after you found out he was cheating?"

“About three months. It was a month before graduation when we broke up.”

“Did you realize you were probably the only one hurting because you didn't break up with him immediately?"

She stays silent for a minute, then presses a button on the vending machine. When she bends over to the pick-up box, she pulls out a can of regular Coke.

“I realized that, but a part of me hoped that he would admit his mistake and ask for forgiveness so we could carry on with our relationship. We were young, but I did love him. 

She turns to me and forced a smile.

"I’m sorry, I’m ruining the mood now."  

The kind words that she said to me on the train, the way she comforted me sincerely as if she saw right through my heart – there is a reason why I can't get her out of my mind.

Coincidence plays a serious joke sometimes. 

“Wait, where are we going?” she asks as I grab her wrist. 

“You want orange soda, right? We’re buying one right now."

“It’s fine. I already have a coke.”

"But that’s not what you want, right? If there’s a way to get what you want, you should at least try  before giving up.”

She giggles. "That’s quite philosophical for something as simple as buying an orange soda.”

“Philosophy can be applied to everything.”

We walk hand in hand as if it’s a natural thing for us. Summer heat must have fried my brain because it feels like I can get used to holding her soft, warm hand. It doesn’t make sense but I don’t want to think about it right now.

I have to message Sho to go back without me.

***

Quick note: 

*Mixer - gathering amongst group of male and female to mingle and get to know together. 

*LINE - a popular japanese messaging app.