The Day Before Leavin'

Yuri-chan’s self-proclaimed ingenious idea was to have a sleepover spanning from Friday to Saturday. With her father gone and her mother more than willing to supervise all of us, everyone agreed – yes, so did I.

She spent Thursday packing the rest of her house with her mother, and at the same time, prepared for the sleepover the next day. The rest of us continued our life as normal, going through school and parting ways after the club activities ended. I went to my apartment and replayed that Wednesday evening at her house.

Sleepover is nice and all…but when we wake up on that Saturday mornin’... She’ll be leavin’ us.
I sat down on my futon and pulled out the necklace.
I’ll need to talk to her about the butterfly weed’s new poem…about my feelings for her. What do I even say?

➼ ➼ ➼

One would expect a sleepover to start at night, or at least after school, right? Yuri-chan was never about the normalcy of things, and asked us if we were willing to skip a day of school to spend with her.

I didn’t hesitate to oblige.

It was Friday morning, and I saw students wearing my school’s uniform converging to the school's entrance, but I, for once, was not going to join them. I ran into Akaki-kun on the way to Yuri-chan’s house, and we both met up with Natsu-chan and her older sister, who were already there.

We exchanged morning greetings and collectively waited outside the door for Yuri-chan to greet us. We had backpacks and sleeping bags ready, with Natsu-chan’s sleeping bag being some kind of dolphin. The front door opened, and we were met by the energetic energy of the girl from the hedge.

“Everyone! Good morning!” she exclaimed with ecstasy. “Let’s get this super awesome sleepover started!”

Everyone else cheered along with her, but I simply stood at the back of the group, admiring the girl I fell in love with. It was starting to become difficult to believe that she would be gone by this time tomorrow.

The house was barren, our footsteps and voices echoed around the naked walls. Apparently the movers had already taken the majority of stuff. I finally got to see the basic skeleton of the place that sheltered Yuri-chan all her life. It may appear strange, but I was thankful to this building.

“Okay, we can put our stuff down in my room. I was thinking that we could do some fun little arts and crafts projects during the day, at least until school is out.”

“I like yer idea, Yurichin! What’re we making?”

“Whatever we want! We can do paper and cardstock crafts, or even small macaroni projects. I want us to make stuff that I can take with me to Italy, and also things for you to keep as remembrance.”

"Hey Maru, let's team up t'make the best thing!"

We formed a pentagon around the kotatsu in the center of her room. Yuri-chan’s mother brought us snacks and beverages for us to indulge during the process. Everyone began their own projects, chit-chatting about topics such as sports and skipping school.

Yuri-chan was to my left. I leaned over to ask,
“What are you goin’ to make?”

She already began folding a piece of paper.
“I’ll be making four types of flowers and giving them to everyone. Can you correctly guess which one will be yours?”
She displayed a cute smirk.

“If I do, can my prize be that you stay?”

“Fufu. Not what I expected coming from the boy who told me to go.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try, right? Anyways, I don’t know what I should make.”

“Here,” she said, shifting her upper body towards me, “look at me and stick your hands out. Then close your eyes.”

I followed her instructions. She placed her palms on top of mine. Her warmth sent a tingle through my nerves all the way to my heart.

“Your feelings will tell you what you want to make. Let your imagination create something that you want to give to someone.”

The gentleness of her small fingertips caressing my palm up to my wrist created an image in my head of her standing before me in a white dress. Her hair braided like a red gardenia, with the dress flowing behind her every time she took a step closer. She wore earrings and bracelets, but there was no sign of a necklace.

Necklace…

I imagined equipping the necklace I bought for her around her neck. She was stunning. An angel amongst women on this planet. I wanted to give her that necklace in real life.

I opened my eyes and once my vision refocused on reality, I connected with her again.

“Did you think of something?” she asked, tilting her head with gleaming irises.

I nodded, parting with her hands to grab a piece of cardstock. I knew what I wanted to make.

I want to give her the necklace before she leaves. It’ll be kept in this little box I’ll make. Orange and white paper should do for the outside. A bit of green on the inside. I’ll need some cotton balls too, maybe some glitter for the top.

I took a backseat in the conversations, simply listening while everyone else verbalized their thoughts. I was a novice at arts and crafts, so while I focused on a singular project, the others were able to complete multiple. It didn’t matter much to me, since mine would be the most sentimental.

Throughout the day, we took breaks to eat lunch and do other stuff like watch shows together. By the time everyone finished their projects, we realized it was also around the time school ended.

“Perfect,” said Yuri-chan. “I want us to go to school now!”

“Why?”

“For the environmental club! It’ll be my last time being a member.”

When she said that, the others smiled and agreed, but my smile had been flipped upside down, because I realized that she wouldn’t be back in time to ever be in the club she made me join.

Nevertheless, we walked to school and entered the flower garden. We paced around the outline, looking at the progress made by the plants that meant so much to the girl leaving.

She turned around to face Akaki-kun, Natsu-chan, and Hanayo-senpai to ask,
“Can you guys bring some watering pails? We can nurture these guys one last time together.”

They agreed and left the garden, it was just her and I standing next to each other.

I knew she wasn't going to say anything until I spoke.
“What’s your plan this time?” I asked.

She nudged my shoulder and a failed attempt of concealing a giggle leaked out.
“Fufu, I’ve lost the element to surprise you now, haven’t I? I want us to sit the way we used to, on the opposite sides of the hedge.”

“So that's why you had that grin on your face.”
I listened to her and went outside the hedge to my spot between the butterfly weed shrubs.

“Y’know, my original seat was on the inside, right?”

“Hmm, but my calendar was here before, correct? This is my seat, so deal with it.”

As much as I preferred being next to her, rather than with a hedge between us, I did miss how her voice sounded through the thicket.

She exaggerated a sigh, “I can’t believe I won’t be able to see these little guys bloom to their full potential.”

“What did we say again? They’d bloom in the summer after our graduation?”

“Their growing cycle of three years always made me sad. It takes so long for these beauties to show that most people don’t bother with them. If only they knew that the best kind of developments of all things nature took a healthy amount of time.”

I remembered to listen to what she said and thought hard about what she meant. A prominent reason why I fell in love with her was because she never told a lie, she just couldn’t find the courage to tell the full truth.

I reached into my trouser pocket and pulled out the white lily polymer clay necklace. The image of her in all white wearing this item appeared in my imagination again.

“Hey, Yuri-chan, there’s somethin’ I need to tell you.”
I wanted to confess. I wanted to reveal how I loved her. I wanted to give her all the happiness she deserved and more.

“Hmm, what’s that?”
Her voice had become clearer. Like the first time we met, I knew she was standing. Back then, I looked away because I was scared, but I wasn’t anymore – I was in love. I stood up too, and turned around to face the hedge, and saw her head above it.

I couldn’t tell her how I felt...not yet. Instead, I knew of another way to do it. I’d have to wait, but my plan’s growing cycle needed time too, just like her favorite flower.