The Strange Girl by the River

My story begins with a school called River High.

It was named as such in partial thanks to its creative founder, Mr. Oldman Something-or-other, and in part due to its next-door neighbour, the Arakawa River. I liked the river almost as much as the serene riverbank that cradled it.

I mention this because that was the view I found myself taking in on my first day's train ride to school. It was early enough in the morning that the group of kids caught my attention as a little unusual. More unusual though was the girl wearing a River High uniform standing in front of them all, her arms raised up to the sky, spread out wide like a preacher.

What the hell is going on down there?

I stared for as long as I could trying to figure out what kind of game they were playing: running in circles and stopping at random. Right as they passed out of sight I decided it couldn't have been a game, and instead, I'd watched a ritual take place. I wonder, is that the kind of thing you're supposed to report to the police?

At the time, I assumed it to be a meaningless incident. But I should've taken it as a warning sign my day was about to be anything but normal. While a "normal first day of high school" sounds like a contradiction, I can assure you your first day will be of standard affair. Part of my confidence stems from my first morning, which was, by all accounts, normal.

Up until lunch, I was gleaming with optimism for my new high school life. I'd even managed to start a conversation with the guy sitting next to me. He tried bringing up movies at first, but I was able to steer the discussion toward mutually appreciated video games, instead. At this point, I should probably mention that throughout the first half of the day, the seat behind me was left empty. The corner seat, next to the window.

Chatting away overtop of our lunchboxes, the entire class was blissfully unaware of what was about to unfold. In one fluid motion, our new history teacher, Mr. Horiguchi, turned to face the sliding door at the front of the room. Within the confines of the door frame stood the slender figure of a girl. One hand on each hip. The pose made it look like she'd be willing to debate the concept of a door altogether.

I recognized her as the girl from the riverbank. This time, I got a better look. Her smile was elegant the whole way through, save for a devious curl near its edges. Same went for her uniform, the hem of her skirt had been covered in dirt along with the ends of her sleeves, now rolled up to her elbows. A portion of her hair was wrapped tightly into a bun and held in place with what looked to be a pair of barber's scissors, the rest of it barely reached her shoulders.

The atmosphere in the room shifted away from a sharp shimmering hope. All eyes pulled to her silhouette and silence flowed through the bustling chatter like a dull summer breeze.

"Miss Arakawa, you're late. Did you get lost?" Mr. Horiguchi's words reeked of sarcasm.

Without so much as a nod of her head in response, the girl waltzed on through the room. She must have glared down each and every classmate because it took a minute before her gaze met my own. I tried not to return it, but there was some force, wholly unknown to me, keeping my head locked in place. Her beaming eyes burned like the sun, imprinting themselves into the back of my retinas. The shape of her pupils lingered well after she'd passed by my seat and filled the empty desk behind me.

Slowly, the bustle of class returned to normal. Some were discussing the strange girl who was late on her first day, others continued on with prior conversations. The guy sitting next to me (whose name was Mitsuhide Takamoto) tried to get my attention again, but I wasn't hearing anything he was saying.

For some reason, all I could hear were the footsteps of the girl behind me playing on repeat in my chest. They were getting quicker too. Rapid thumping rattled my body from the inside out.

What's her problem? It was as if she tried to brand her presence into my mind with eyes alone. Maybe checking if I'd be a good desk buddy? Yeah right.

Might as well ask, no use dwelling on—thump.

My chest. That rapid thumping came back with a punch. My face crumpled up in displeasure and the rest of my body tensed. The desire to talk to the girl behind me no longer stemmed from an innocent curiosity, instead, it came from a fiery stubbornness befitting of a storybook lesson-learner. With a concentration of reinforced steel, I pushed myself to act.

Wait a minute, what would I think if the person in front of me asked if I had stared them down? Wouldn't that be cause for concern?

Before I could come up with any other reason to talk to her though, my body began to turn. Oh God, I'm going to have to invent an excuse on the spot, aren't I?

I leaned over the back of my chair and twisted my head to meet her. My mouth opened and before any noise escaped my lungs, I noticed something. Her arms were folded across the table, supporting her head. She was sleeping. Right there, on the desk.

The pressure not to say something stupid dispersed and a nervous giggle escaped from under my breath. I would've never admitted it at the time but looking at her there, without all the hostility in her eyes, she was kind of cute. Takamoto, sitting next to me, tapped me on the shoulder and laughed with me for a moment.

"So, what's so funny?" he said, still snickering along.

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

"That Arakawa girl sure is strange, isn't she?"

She sure was. Ritualizing on the riverbank. Making herself known to the entire class without a single word. Falling asleep immediately upon head to desk. And overall, acting like she owned the school itself. Everything about her was strange. Looking out the window for the rest of the day, I couldn't help but think: she probably doesn't own the school but maybe the Arakawa River.

The remaining classes went by without a good opportunity to talk to her and thus concluded my first day of high school. Well, that's how it would've been if I hadn't spotted her down by the riverbank. It's how it would've been if I hadn't been curious what she was up to. And it's how it would've been if I hadn't gotten off the train at that stop.

But I did. I did. I did.