If I Open My Eyes, Will Your Face Be In Front of Mine?

"What's the problem? I'll pay you back tomorrow." Haruko said.

"If you can remember something that far into the future, maybe."

"No big deal! I remember everything! I'm all-knowing, remember?"

Would it have hurt you to remember you didn't have enough money in your account?

In one dramatic motion, Haruko plopped herself next to me on the bench. We'd made an emergency pit stop at a park to quell my growing headache. "Cheer up! Wasn't it delicious? Aren't you happy we went?"

"That's funny, I can't seem to recall what it tasted like." I glanced to my side, Haruko stared straight ahead into the late afternoon sky.

She looked at me and I turned away.

"You're such a drama queen. Listen, I'll show you someplace super secret and super cool. I only show it to people under exceptional circumstances, like this!"

I slunk my head back to her. She stared right at me. "You mean the place you already told me we'd go to?"

"Yep!" She bounced up from the bench like a pogo stick, hopping around in front of me.

A chuckle forced itself from my gut. Hard to stay upset around someone so cheerful; to think she was capable of being sad. Haruko grabbed my arm and tugged me up from the bench.

I sighed. "It's at our station?"

"Sort of. You'll see."

Haruko tugged me along until I stumbled into a sustainable stride as if I were an old plane prop that needed an extra shove every once in a while.

It was a convenient time of day for a stroll outside, the crowds had thinned as the bright, blue sky shifted towards orange and yellow. The girl marching beside me was illuminated by the warm, setting sun. The edge of her face touched by shadow. She hummed a tune I couldn't quite place.

You know, I don't think I'd mind if things stayed this way for a little while.

It wasn't a long trip to the station where Haruko's super secret place would be, the same station where I'd first spotted her on the riverbank. I couldn't imagine what my high school life would look like if I'd never decided to get off that train. Who am I kidding? In all likelihood, she would've caused some other trouble to catch my attention. I hope the alternate version of me didn't have to pay for that expensive meal.

"I promise you'll like it. There's even an eighty percent chance you won't want me to pay you back afterwards!" Haruko said.

I doubt my facial expression was able to communicate my disapproval.

After having clanked our feet down a couple of rusted metal staircases and dipped our way through a set of trees, we emerged out onto the path overlooking the river. The scenery had taken on a distinctive purple hue I'd never seen before.

"It's pretty," I said.

"Of course it is. And this isn't even the surprise yet."

She kept glancing over at me with that troublemaker grin of hers. I half expected a tail to sprout from underneath her skirt so she had something to wag.

"By the way, you're gonna have to close your eyes," she said.

"Close my eyes? What for?"

"The surprise! Duh, now close! Close!"

My eyes closed as requested and the serene riverside view vanished. I was only left with the soundscape to listen to. The flowing water, a faint breeze rustling through the leaves, frogs croaking, cicadas vibrating, cars off in the distance, and Haruko's footsteps slowly encircling me. A visceral image of the first time our eyes had met flooded into my mind.

I could envision her flaming glare just like that first day of school. She continued to stalk around me, the steps forced my heartbeat to their pattern, as they'd done once before. But this time, I wasn't afraid. Listening with my eyes closed, I could tell she'd stopped in front of me.

"So? Where's this secret place?"

There was no answer. All the noises kept playing except for Haruko's footsteps. Did she sneak off somehow and decide to leave me here? Was it a prank to see how long I'd keep my eyes closed? Or maybe a test of some kind? Was she pickpocketing me? About to draw a mustache on my face? As much as I might've believed those thoughts in the past, I was a bit more hesitant with them now.

"Hello?"

Hell, it would've been more likely if she'd told me to close my eyes just to kiss—Wait. What? Hello, brain? What kind of crap are you thinking at a time like this? A kiss? Like, the kind of thing that ends off a date? Is that what she meant when she called it a surprise?

No, no way. I mean… It could make sense considering where we were. Wait a second, what if Haruko really did think of this as an actual date? What if her face was hovering in front of mine right this very moment?

Would I even be upset? I mean, of course, it would be crazy for her to pull something like that. But, well, she is crazy after all… I think. Oh, God. If I opened my eyes right now, what would I see? Her face? Would it catch her off guard and make her nervous? Would she bail and give up on the idea? Would I want that to happen? Obviously, dumb brain. So, do I open my eyes?

I stood there, listening to the rising and falling hum of the cicadas. Their rhythmic buzz ticked away like a clock. Counting the seconds my eyes remained shut. Unmoving. Was I just going to stand there? How long had it been? Minutes? I couldn't tell anymore. By now, my face must've been flushed with red, especially since I could feel my heart pounding ever harder.

Without thinking, my eyes opened. There was Haruko, in front of me. Though, she wasn't right in front of my face. She was kneeling on the grass, about the same distance away as before.

She glanced up and noticed my confused look. "Aha! I knew you'd open them! I can't take you if I can't trust you, y'know."

Dear God, you are crazy. "How long do you want me to wait?!"

"Eyes! Close!"

I closed my eyes again, but this time her hand grabbed at my wrist almost immediately. She tugged me along the path until there was a sharp turn to the left and my shoe made contact with the grass. I stumbled, nearly falling due to a small hill she'd neglected to warn me about. After trudging through the wet grass for a while, Haruko stopped and grabbed my shoulders, forcefully turning me.

"Open!" she said.

We were standing underneath a bridge, river to our side. In front of us, sitting against a supporting pillar was what looked to be a small building made out of faintly coloured cardboard. It was painted with markers that had clearly lost their juice. On one side of the shack, there was a mauve cloth acting as a door. Next to it, there was a window cutout showing a glimpse of the interior. For a structure made out of cardboard, it was an impressive size.

"Some homeless guy's house?"

"What? No, no. This is a place of worship. The Church of Haruko!" She spread her arms out wide.

Looks more like a homeless guy's house to me. Are you sure there isn't someone in there?

"Come on," she grabbed my wrist again and pulled me inside.

The decoration indoors was of much higher quality than I was expecting. Though, I wouldn't have called it a church. More like a theatre? The older kind, for plays and stuff. At the far end was a raised platform with a singular cushion in the middle and a shoddy booklet made of printer paper and string. Behind it, a red cloth was strung up, reminiscent of the clubroom's large drapes.

The ceiling was low enough that you couldn't comfortably stand, but there were a few foldable chairs placed in a semi-circle around the stage. They seemed to apologize for the ceiling's incompetence. The walls were covered from top to bottom in children's drawings of fantastical creatures, futuristic spaceships and a few swordfights.

"I have more worshippers than just you and Noiji, y'know," Haruko said. "My cousin and his friends. I'll usually tell stories while they draw or play games. Of course, they're stories of my great conquests. Every God has those."

"Conquests?"

She nodded proudly.

"Can I hear one?"

She looked to the booklet and then back to me, smiling. "Sit!"

I sat on one of the chairs and she stationed herself atop the pillow on the stage. She flipped through the pages to somewhere in the middle and began reading.