First Time for Everything

With the end of the day leading up to the final toll of the school bell today. My heart continuously beats faster and faster every passing second, overly anticipating the meeting with two secret admirers. So many feelings right now, but all positive. Excitement in particular, this very moment is something that I’ve thought about during middle school because of books and TV. I never thought I’d have a moment like this since I went to such a small school. Within the first week of my parents asking if moving would be something I wanted to do. I distinctively remember thinking that if we moved somewhere with a bigger school, I’d be more likely to have a cute relationship like the ones I’ve seen in the media. Looking back, it seems quite kiddish but I will say that I initially agreed with their reasoning that they showed me and my teenage fantasies came after.

RIIIIIIIIIING!!!

Okay there’s the bell, I guess I’ll meet the Pink Heart Sticker admirer first.

Ah, I can’t get out of my chair. My legs won’t move…

This was to be expected, unfortunately. I had a feeling that I was going to get this nervous, but there isn’t much I can do about it at the moment. Mom just told me to do the breathing exercise she taught me and I’ll be able to go where I have to.

After most of the other students left the class along with some quick and somewhat awkward conversions with them. The minor distractions were helpful to calm down. It still feels impossible to avoid my mind racing with endless thoughts of what could go wrong. I then had the thought that if I can simply act as if stuff like this happened often I’ll be able to think more clearly. An odd strategy, but before I knew it I was up and walking to the first spot.

I marched my way to the school bleachers, with every step my heart knocking all over in my chest. Luckily, I think with my makeup decisions, I’m able to appear cool and collected. Well, I hope at least. All I could think about is what they look like. I don’t even know if they are a girl or a boy! Oh gosh, even with all the advice Mom gave me, I still feel clueless going into this! What am I going to do if they are really pretty!

Is that them!?!??!?!

They are the only one at the bleachers, I can’t quite see their face. They must be in sports because they have what appears to be a bag of athletic equipment. I can only see the back of their head… They’re turning around! Oh no, they’re pretty.

Our eyes met. They are the only one here. Can this really be the one that waits to meet me?! What should I do?! I'm getting closer!

“Konbanwa! Watashi wa Hiromi Takeda desu! O ai dekite kōeidesu!” I blurted out with hastily politeness.

“AH! HAI! Konbanwa! Boku wa Minato Abe! Hajimemashite!” They quickly shouted at my intense politeness.

“Hajimemashite!” I shouted for little to no reason.

This is without a doubt the most awkward interaction I’ve had at this school so far. I greeted him as if he was a celebrity while bowing at a perfect ninety degree angle. I said ‘Nice to meet you’ twice. Also, thanking him for meeting me, as if I requested it. First one being embarrassingly overly polite. This cannot be the person that wanted to meet me…

Frozen in place, all I can do right now is stare at his face. Gazing into his eyes, I’ve never felt the need to describe someone so pretty before. Everything about him felt like I was near the water. The stunning ultramarine hair on his head is like soft waves. Even his eyes evoke the seas themselves; dark but sparkling like stars. He’s like the walking embodiment of night walk at the beach.

Okay! I need to gather myself. I wonder if I’m just overstimulated again and I'm overexaggerating his looks? I will say that he is definitely attractive, even by conventional standards. I just need to… breath.

“So um, my bad if I was a little over the top.” I took a deep breath then apologized for my oddness.

“Oh, no worries… I wasn’t really sure what to expect.” Minato remarked with a nice reserved smile.

“So then did you uh… Give me this letter?” I asked.

“I-I did.” Minato attempted to appear confident and cool, but his voice stuttered a bit.

“Sweet…” I said with nothing to follow.

No words were said for several seconds. The excitement was so strong that it turned into awkward silence. I kept glancing at his face and noticed it was red as an apple. I’m no different though, the way my face felt, I’m sure it was just as red. This was when I remembered one of my Mom’s bits of advice. Small talk and be honest that this my first time getting a letter.

“Uh, this is the first time I’ve been part of something like this, so sorry if I do something weird.” I stated.

“Really? This-this is the first time I gave someone a letter!” He quickly replied.

“Really?!” I asked with a surprise expression.

“Yeah, my friends kinda made me do this, actually… N-Not that I didn’t want to meet you or anything! Uh, I-I should say that my friends encouraged me. If that makes sense.” He somewhat stumbled over his words, trying not to offend me. Which I found very considerate.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Hehe.” I giggled.

“Haah, cool, so um… I’d, um, like to see you more, if that’s okay with you.” Minato remarked slowly as he scratched his head, in the likely attempt to relax his nerves.

“Oh, well, I’m still new… so-” I began to reply but took too long to answer.

“Right, I understand-” Minato remarked with a low tone.

“Oh! No, I mean that I haven’t met too many people, so that would be, uh, fine with me…” I tried to recover from my miscommunication.

Minato’s face turned even redder than before, and mine did the same shortly after looking into his eye.

“Oh-okay, great… H-here. It’s my phone number if you want to send me a message sometime.” With both hands, also shaking, he handed me a small piece of paper.

“Oh, yeah. Uhmm, so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” I remarked slowly.

“Ah, yes! See you tomorrow! Oyasumi!” Minato yelled with enthusiasm.

“Ah, Oyasumi!” I yelled to match his energy, and we promptly went our separate ways.

◑ ◒ ◓ ◐

Alright, that wasn’t bad at all, but I still have to meet one more admirer. Hopefully they won’t be as pretty as Minato-San. Or, wait, is that a bad thing? Thinking about it, that is a good point. What will happen if I find them interesting too? Minato-San seems cool and nice. So what should I do if this admirer is also cool and nice? I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle two pretty admirers. I still can’t believe I have to meet someone else with similar intentions.

Well, I’ll just have to find out first. I also have to find them first too! They’ll be at the ‘highest peak on the grounds of knowledge’, whatever that means. I’m guessing that's on top of the school? I recall that Aoi-San said that the roof is where students will often hang out. So that has to be the place. I never would have thought that would even be allowed.

Okay, here we are… But no one’s here… Ohh, I hope I didn’t miss them.

“About time you showed up.” From the top of the entryway to the roof a voice made the condescending announcement.

Before I could even look in the direction of the voice, the possible secret admirer leaped off of the entryway in an epic display of their abilities. Landing directly behind me with such elegance and confidence, it was like I was dealing with a superhuman.

Then they slowly stood up. Because they jumped in the air in overly dramatic fashion, their hair got messy, they then slowly slicked their hair with one hand as if it was a luxurious comb. My eyes were able to focus on their face and I recognized who it was! It was the student with the strange and mysterious aura in my class!

“Now… Let's talk about what you’ve been hiding.”

Huhhhaaa?!?!?!