Three: Taking a detour

By the time I couldn’t see Rin anymore, I got up from the bench and picked up some of the trash that Rin and I left behind. I dumped them in a bin beside the entrance and readjusted the strap of my bag as I made my way to the school gates. It was roughly 1:30 in the afternoon, and the sun was still shining brightly as ever.

I was unsure whether or not I was to head straight home, so I decided to take a detour to a park located near the school. Luckily, the swing-set was under the shade of a tree, so I sat on one of the empty seats and motioned myself to build momentum on the swing. I got out my phone and proceeded to search the web like I always do. It wasn’t for long that a bunch of elementary kids came and filled up the park.

I felt a bit tired scrolling on the internet, so I just played a random song from my playlist and plugged my headphones in as I watched the kids play around.

“Hana! Hana! Look at me!” A little kid yelled from on top of the slide. I glanced at where the kid was waving her arms at and saw a familiar girl in a gym uniform sitting on the benches directly across the slides.

She, too, enthusiastically waved back and said, “I’m looking, Chiyo!”

Before I realized that I was just staring at the two of them, the girl in the gym uniform looked over her shoulder and noticed that I was gaping. She stood from the slide and whispered something to the kid, before walking her way towards me.

“Hey! Um, it’s the class president, right?” She said, to which I simply nodded in response and removed my headphones, unable to reply well since I had already forgotten what her last name was. “It’s Takahashi Hana. I think you forgot what my name was.”

“Right, sorry, I’m really bad at names though. It’s Ikeda Teruhiko, by the way.” I told her. Takahashi sat beside me and stretched her legs out, probably exhausted from watching over that kid named Chiyo. We stayed quiet for a few minutes before my brain started to tick at the stillness.

“Is that your sibling?” I asked, mustering the courage to open up a conversation. I just couldn’t handle awkward silences!

“No, Chiyo’s just a neighbor. It just so happened that we coincidentally met at the park today.” Takahashi smiled and faced me. “Just like you, Ikeda!”

“Ah, well, I just took a detour. I’m waiting for the time to pass by faster.” I said. Takahashi simply nodded and faced back to where Chiyo was already playing, which was by the monkey bars.

A few seconds passed and I noticed that it went quiet again. Now, I feel like it’s too awkward for me to casually leave!

Weather. School. Food. Park. Many different random topics crossed my mind. But I couldn’t think of any that didn’t feel too generic to open up.

I sighed. I wonder if it’s possible that I wouldn’t be too nervous about socializing anymore.

Takahashi looked briefly at me before standing up and walking away without saying anything. A part of me felt like a huge weight was lifted off since the heavy awkward silence was already gone, and a part of me felt guilty for being unable to say something to her.

Be a man, Teruhiko!

Just then, Takahashi came back with two bottles of cold tea to which she handed over one of them to me. “Here, take it. It’s pretty hot, you know?”

“Oh, um, thank you. How much is it?” I asked, hurriedly opening my bag and looking for my wallet.

“Hahaha, don’t sweat it. It’s just tea.” She laughed.

“Please let me pay at least half.” I insisted and took out my wallet.

Takahashi looked at me again and this time, she folded her legs to squat on the bench and faced me. She kept squinting and glancing at me up and down, almost as if she was scanning me.

“W-What are you doing?” I asked, feeling really uncomfortable about the whole situation.

“Say, Ikeda–” Just as Takahashi was about to finish her sentence, my phone rang.

I grabbed it out of my pocket and saw that it was Rin calling me, perhaps his sister’s project was finally over.

“Oh, sorry. Let me take this call first.” I said and stood up, pressing the dial button on the phone.

“Teruhiko! Sorry, I have to cancel our plans for later. We’re not yet done and I found out that the deadline for this is tomorrow. Stupid Riko.” Rin said over the phone.

“It’s cool. It’s cool.” I said.

“Alright, thanks, man. See you tomorrow.”

“Alright.” With that, I hung up the call. I went back to the bench and slung my bag over my shoulder.

Thanks for the opportunity, Rin. Now, I can leave in peace.

“Leaving?” Takahashi asked as she stood up and patted her pants from behind.

“Yeah, I’m meeting up with a friend later. So, uh, thanks for the tea. I hope I can pay back for this.” I nodded at her in response.

Takahashi sighed and weakly smiled at me. “Fine, then. I’ll be expecting the same cold tea next time.”

I chuckled and waved my hand as I walked away. I took a glimpse from behind me and saw that Takahashi was also waving back before going back to the seesaws where Chiyo was playing.

A strong wind blew past me, letting out a faint noise from the breeze. A few of the fallen sakura petals hovered in the air and I happened to catch one as I opened my hand out. I picked up the flower petal and it felt like a wave of emotions just washed over me. I let out a deep breath and sighed in relief.

That was definitely one of the blandest conversations I ever had. So much for trying to socialize, how am I going to handle being a class representative now?