Paper Plane

July 8th, 2020

"He's really going to do it!"

"I doubt it."

As the sun shone high in Osaka’s sky, a group of 3 high school students were spreading their excitement around the school hallways, or at least, those who knew what was going on.

"Guys, what is he going to do?"

I wasn't one of them.

"Haruka is finally going to ask Kimiko out." confirmed Hajime, a classmate of mine.

"Who?"

I didn't even know who Kimiko was. My classmates, on the other hand, looked at each other dumbfounded. Lukas was the first to try to enlighten me.

"Kimiko, from classroom C, you know, the one Haruka has been talking about a lot..."

I simply looked at my colleagues with ignorant eyes and a face that had nothing to say.

"How come you don't know this?" Lukas questioned, genuinely shocked that he didn't know where my head had been for the past few weeks.

"You really are the dumb one of the group, aren't you?" Hajime continued.

That's a little harsh....

"Oh, I know." said Hajime as he looked at me with a smirk on his face, "I think Naoki's been too distracted looking at-"

"Look! This is it!"

Lukas interrupted the conversation as he pointed out the window, guiding the attention to the courtyard.

"No way!"

In the courtyard, Haruka and Kimiko were finally face to face. From where the boys were, they couldn't hear anything, but they tried their best to analyze the situation through 'body language'.

"She looks happy."

"I don't think so."

"You're always so negative, Hajime..."

"I'm just realistic."

"No, you're not-"

"Wait, is he giving her a letter?"

"Yeah, I guess he didn't feel confident enough to say everything he feels."

"That's...sad."

As the boys continued to gossip amongst themselves, I wasn't too interested in participating in what I saw, I was just happy that my friend Haruka could express himself the way he apparently wanted to for a while. What actually caught my attention was a bit closer to me. On my right, about 7 meters away from me, was Mayumi, another classmate. Mayumi was also looking out of the window, probably at the 'romantic' situation going on in the courtyard, but I didn't focus on where she was looking, but on her eyes. And without much delay, the same eyes I was looking at, were looking back at me.

Chills went through my body, my heart raced, my face reddened but I didn't stop the eye contact, and neither did Mayumi.

In that instant, we were both isolated from the rest of the world. Students were passing by in the hallway, the wind was blowing outside, Haruka was saying goodbye to Kimiko, Lukas and Hajime were still talking and I was looking at Mayumi's big eyes. The only thing that stopped me was a tap on my shoulder.

"He's coming back." stated Lukas.

"What?" I was still not aware of reality.

"Haruka’s coming back."

I wasn't really interested, I just looked back at where Mayumi was, but by now she was gone.

"Mayumi, huh?" questioned Hajime, with a smirk on his face.

"No..." I was embarrassed, "It's really not like that."

"Hmm, it isn’t? What about the paper plane?"

"What paper plane?"

"The paper plane, the one that ended up on her desk."

"It was a coincidence."

"I've always heard that 'coincidental' things happen for a reason." claimed Lukas, who decided to join the conversation.

"Are you really going to be on his team?"

I just looked at both of them, bothered by the questioning and the looks of who wanted to say something else.

"Hey, guys."

A new voice was making itself into the conversation, Haruka had returned.

"Look who it is, the school’s champion!" celebrated Lukas.

"Tell me, Haruka, what was in the letter you gave her?" questioned Hajime, immediately following.

"Oh, poetry."

The three of us were surprised. We always thought Haruka was odd, but not like this.

"Poetry…?"

"Yes, poetry." Haruka made it very clear.

"Well," Lukas continued, "what could you expect from the guy who fell in love with a girl simply because she asked him for help with math?"

"It wasn't just that!"

"Yes, I think it was." pressed Hajime even more.

"No, it wasn't!"

While they debated among themselves, I had no desire to participate in the banter. I just distanced myself from the group as I headed towards the last class of the day. The group, on the other hand, just stopped for a second, watching me slowly and silently walk away, not knowing if they had done something wrong.

"Come on, this is your fault." said Hajime to the other two.

Almost 2 hours later, as the sun was starting to disappear over the horizon, the sound of the bell was already approaching, and as usual, in the corner of the classroom, I was just hoping I could go home.

"I'm so tired." was a thought that constantly floated in my head.

Tired of the day, of the teachers and everything else. Always immersed in the shadows of the corner of the room, I felt some annoyance, and maybe even some sadness, that I wasn't the one near a window. The lack of light in my day, literally and metaphorically, made me feel like I couldn't make the most out of my life. I looked at my focused classmates, and thought about how I didn't seem to be on the same page as any of them.

Hajime was concentrating on his studies.

Haruka seemed to be writing poems in his notebook again.

Lukas seemed to be in some kind of hypnotism that made him almost fall asleep.

And Mayumi was looking out the window with her bright eyes, not paying attention to the class. I initially looked at her, but remembering what had happened earlier in the hallway, I thought it a good idea not to look much longer.

Overwhelmed by the indifference that my position in the world made me feel, I leaned back in my chair, while I realized that, on my desk, I had left a paper airplane, one of those that I always made when I felt bored. Without much to do and much to dream about, I thought it would be a good idea to try to clandestinely launch the plane.

I picked up the plane, slightly raised my arm, and chose that the plane should end up on Hajime to get him a little distracted, thus getting back at him for the tone of voice he was talking to me with earlier, while the plane could also manage to get the sun that I couldn't get. I bit my lip as I concentrated, pointed to Hajime who was in the row closest to the window, and confidently threw the plane.

Even in my thoughts, the launching of the plane was "horrible", to say the least.

Right off the bat, the plane lifted more than I thought it would, almost hitting the ceiling, circling around for a few seconds, drawing the attention of virtually every classmate and even the teacher. All eyes in the room silently followed the movement of the plane as it slowly lost momentum and landed lightly on Mayumi's desk.

"Not again." I thought, knowing clearly what kind of situation I had gotten myself into.

Fourteen-year-old Mayumi, still distracted looking at the world outside, took a moment to notice the silence of the room and the extra object that was now on her desk.

The teacher, in an attempt to try and end the situation that was occurring, cleared his throat, catching Mayumi's attention who finally noticed the plane. Looking innocently at the plane, Mayumi tried to process why there was a paper airplane on her desk. Immediately remembering the last time, and along with the rest of the class, Mayumi looked over, feeling a little embarrassed.

Also feeling more embarrassed than I had ever felt in my life, I drowned my face in the pages of my notebook, praying that everyone around me would ignore what had just happened. Unfortunately for me, the class continued to exchange glances between me, who continued to hide in shame, and Mayumi, who innocently looked at me with noticeably red cheeks.

A quiet but noticeable "ooh" spread through the room that only lasted as long as the teacher let it.

"Naoki, after class, stay a little longer."

No reaction from me, who kept hiding, asking the shadows to take me away, as the bell finally rang.

10 minutes after the bell rang, I was finally walking through the halls towards the school exit. My energy was already low, after all, it was never a good thing to be called out by the teacher, be given extra homework and still feel humiliated for stupid attitudes.

I bet I'm going home alone.

To my surprise, still in the hallway, I received a call. It was Lukas.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Naoki, it's Lukas. Remember me?"

I really wasn't in the mood to hear jokes.

"What do you want?"

"Ouch, why do you have to be so mean?"

"I'm hanging up-"

"Wait! Wait!"

"What?"

"You know we have to look out for each other right?"

"Hmm-mm."

"Well, I thought it would be a good idea to let you know that I'm pretty sure you're in for a surprise at the school gate."

"Oh, why?"

"I think that, for some reason, Mayumi is standing there waiting for you."

And without waiting for much, after a day I thought was to be forgotten, I just asked the gods of fate, for once in my life, to bless me with some luck.