Exams

As with any life of a high school student, there came a time when it was either do or die. I'm talking about the inevitable trials and tribulations called exams. Even I thought this description was rather melodramatic. Yet, there were always masses of students panicking days before exams began. Sometimes, they'd even beg their teachers for any kind of aid as if their lives literally depended on it.

I didn't pay much mind to this. If anything, it was a distraction.

Exams weren't all that tough as a lot of my classmates made them seem. You could fail an exam and still pass as long as you picked up the slack. I, for one, had no intention of falling below that line though.

In reality, I didn't need to study all that much when it came to my exams. At most, I'd do a recap of what I had learned now and then. In other words, I've yet to experience spending an entire night just cramming the material in my head.

If my parents were keeping close tabs on me, they'd probably scorn me for not studying every day. Lucky for me, all they needed to know were the results. In the end, nothing mattered as long as I was getting good grades. Still, I couldn't lie and say that sticking to this kind of attitude was the best I was able to do.

I was sure if I wanted to, I could have been able to get to the top percentage of the school. All I needed to do was just study a lot more and try a lot harder. But what was the point? Just for some silly recognition? To me, the amount of effort I'd need to put in just wasn't worth the outcome. I'm fine as long as I do a decent job when it comes to school.

With that in mind, I didn't find myself with shaky or sweaty palms when the time came for papers to be passed out. I was looking forward to getting the work out of the way as soon as possible. The quicker I finished, the more time I'd have to do something else like sleep.

It was a rinse and repeat throughout my first year at Trinity High School.

This time around, the reaction of someone, in particular, caught my attention.

It was Faith Hills, the girl who hadn’t been here with us too long. She was looking a little more than just 'nervous'. She didn't stand out all that much. But when the time came for everyone to put away their things to make room for the test, she hesitated. As the others cleared their desks, she looked frozen in place.

It was at some point later that she finally released a shaky breath. Then, she dragged her things with a weak grip until they were no longer on the desk. In a simple motion, she almost let them fall to the ground. Yet, with some kind of minimal effort, she was able to keep them from breaking as they made their way into her bag.

There was a reason why I didn't just ignore her like the rest of the other students. I couldn't say we were exactly 'friends' yet, but we did get along for the past few weeks after she transferred. Talking with each other wasn't a common thing between us. But with the project Mrs. Rivers gave us, it did give us room to get to know each other a bit better.

It was safe to say she had her own kind of shell she liked to keep close to. Despite sitting together most of the time, she'd usually keep quiet. Any time I heard her speak a word, it was usually about the project we had been working on. And that was when there was a need for some kind of communication. Other than that, it's not like we talked about our hobbies or anything.

I guess I didn't blame her.

Just like her, I didn't feel any different. But with me, I was at least making an effort to try to form some kind of real-life bond with someone. That someone being Naomi.

Speaking of Naomi, I turned to her to have a glimpse of her reaction when it came to preparing for exams. As expected, she had already been ready for battle. If I knew her well, these tests wouldn't even take her more than ten minutes.

As I waited for the papers to arrive at my desk, I went over the route I would be taking to get this test done once more. As mentioned before, my goal was usually to get these exams over with as soon as possible. But that didn't mean I was reckless or irresponsible with them.

It was a fact that I would never beat Naomi's record when it came to finishing tests. I didn't know about anyone else, but I made sure to spend an extra amount of time looking over my final answers. I wasn't one to get too worked up over exams, but being paranoid about my answers was a different story.

Blazing through any question I found an instant familiarity with had its consequences. Now and then, I found my mind getting ahead of me. And there'd be times I'd mark the wrong answer on accident, despite knowing the right answer. It's the reason why I always go back and go over my answers one more time despite having reached the end.

Overall, I found it better to waste a little more time making sure of my choices. God knows it'd take me weeks to let go of getting something wrong just because I didn't do a quick check for potential stupidity.

This time, I found myself finishing up around the same time as everyone else. For a short moment, I couldn't help but wonder if a lot of them had just given up and winged it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I was the only one getting decent grades aside from Naomi. But since everyone else was a mystery to me, their academic status was only a blur as a result.

Once I was sure of my performance, I stood up and took the completed exam to the instructor's desk. As I made my way back to my seat, I caught a glance over at Faith Hills. There were still a few other students who looked like they were on the last page of their test. As for Faith, it seemed like she was still somewhere in the middle. Of course, my guess only came from noticing the few pages beneath the one she was working on. She could've been going over her answers as well for all I knew.

I sat down as soon as I returned to my seat, but instead of burying my head into my arms, I kept an eye on Faith. As time passed, her papers didn't. If I wasn't mistaken, she was still on the same page. The only different thing about her was that she now seemed to be gripping the back of her head with her free hand. Her pencil hardly moved, and that wasn't a good sign to see from my perspective.

At some point, she was the only one who still had a stack of papers right in front of her. For any class, it was the norm for every student to keep quiet even if there was only one person left taking a test. Every now and then, someone would try and sneak in a conversation through whispers. But that only lasted a few seconds before a scolding shush scared it away.

Faith was pretty much guaranteed some kind of peace and quiet for the rest of the class. But that also wasn't always a good thing, especially when you were the only one left. If anything, it only added to the amount of pressure you had beforehand. Other people had an itching to talk, after all. Keeping this in mind, I was curious yet worried about what was going on in her head.

Could she be worrying about what the other students were thinking? They might have been wondering what was taking her so long to finish. If she was already struggling with coming up with answers, this wasn't any better to think about.

If there was any person in the room who didn't care what anyone did with their test, it was Naomi. She was always preoccupied with a book in her face, especially now.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, the classroom suddenly roared to life. Words shot across the room, and personal belongings all moved in adjacent to each other. It was like they had completely forgotten that someone still had her exam in front of her.

In all honesty, I was hoping that she had only been obsessing over her choices like I sometimes did. I didn't want to believe that the real reason for keeping her test so long was because she hadn't finished. It was one thing to be on the last page but in the middle?

As I grabbed my bag and stood up, I noticed our instructor approaching Faith by her desk.

“I apologize, Miss Hills, but I’m afraid I must take your exam now. I do hope you’ve done as much as you can.”

“O-oh… Y-y-yeah.” Her words sounded unsure. Even so, she pulled out a wavering smile. “Right. T-thanks!”

Crinkles formed on the pages in front of her fingertips as she hovered the paper towards the receiver. In a matter of seconds, the exam left the firm grip of her hand. As our teacher returned to organize the tests altogether, Faith appeared to freeze in her seat. Unlike everyone else, she didn't gather her things and walk right out. Instead, she looked like she was staring at an empty void drawn on her desk.

To tell the truth, seeing this bothered me and made me feel...really sad.

“Hm?” I heard someone stop and say by my desk. “You haven’t left yet?”

“Oh, Naomi.” I shook my gaze off of Faith and turned it to the girl nearby. I guess it was a surprise for her to see me lagging behind instead of her for a change. “Yeah…I was just heading out.”

Pulling the strap of my bag closer to my shoulder, I started heading towards the doorway. To my surprise, Naomi stopped me with a few unexpected words.

“I was wondering…” She averted her gaze as I stopped and looked at her. “Would you like to walk to the next class with me?”

Huh?! What the hell is this?! She’s never asked me to walk with her before! Is this the right person I'm talking to?!

“Y-you want me to walk with you?” I repeated like a bumbling idiot. I was in a state of both utter shock and extreme excitement.

“If you don’t mind.” Unlike other girls, she was clear and concise with her words. There was no sign of hesitation in her voice. Even though it seemed to be the first time she was asking for a favor like this, she was firm and straightforward.

“Y-Yeah, sure. Let’s get going then.”

As I led her out of the classroom, I took one last glance at Faith’s seat, but she seemed to have left already. I assumed she took off while I was chatting with Naomi.

Hm…

Out in the hallway, I couldn't help but feel jittery walking by Naomi's side. It was a whole new experience, and the fact that she asked me first made it all the more crazy. Taking several swift glances at her face, I wondered how she was able to be so calm at a time like this. It was almost like she had done this with me before without me even knowing about it.

I guess this was Naomi we were talking about.

“Chase,” she called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Y-yeah?” I almost choked out.

With a delicate wave of her hand, she tucked a long strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Do you have time after school this Friday?”

H-huh?! Friday after school?!

“Y-Yeah...! Why do you ask?” My words felt all over the place.

She was just full of surprises for some reason today.

"I thought about what you last told me before we left for winter break. If you'd like, I wouldn’t mind having coffee with you, if you're free."

“Yeah, sure,” I immediately accepted without sparing so much a second to think about it. “Don’t know if you remember, but I’ve got a passenger seat on my bike. You can ride with me on the way to the shop if you want.”

“Oh, really?” She turned to me, appearing to hold a genuine interest in what I was saying.

I almost froze in place as soon as she looked at me like that. Her face still lacked emotion for the most part, but there was just something about her eyes. At any rate, I believed it was a safe bet to say I was making progress.

“Yeah…”

“If it's alright, I'd like to go with you.” The corner of her lips stretched just a bit further away from each other at that moment.

Maybe this was actually all just a dream and I was still home in bed.

“No problem. I'll take you after school then.” My nerves settled down, but it was only because an overwhelming state of disbelief wore me out.

Whether or not this was a dream, I'm sure as hell taking the opportunity either way.

Naomi and I had the next class together, so we didn't part ways until we got to class. As Naomi flipped open another book in her seat, I noticed something just a bit strange. Faith wasn't here yet even though she had left before we did. She could have just gone to the restroom or something. Even so, after seeing the kind of look she last had on her face, I couldn't help but worry a bit about her.

In the end, she showed up just right before class started. I watched her walk past the doorway and head to her seat. Within this short moment, I noticed something different about her I couldn't exactly ignore. It was difficult to put into words, but she seemed to...lack energy. While she was more of a reclusive person from the time I've known her, there was still some kind of spring to her steps. As I observed her now, that same spring seemed to be missing.

I thought about saying something to her, but I was forced to leave it for another time once our lesson began.

That day wasn't the last day when it came to exams. They littered our entire week. For better or for worse, we weren't responsible for taking them all on the same day. At most, we'd take two for a day or two and then move on to one for the remaining days. Students would be able to focus on one or two at a time, so this worked out for the majority of them. Cram for two subjects one night, and cram another the next night. Either way, everyone was still going to be exhausted yet relieved by the end of the week.

As for Naomi, I'm more than sure she would've preferred taking them all in one go. Unfortunately for her, she was the very small minority.

Despite this looming week, my art class was pretty much a safe haven for everyone who also took it. In a way, it could've been considered a free space for exam bingo. We didn't have any exams to worry about. That being said, that didn't stop someone higher up trying to get one out of us. In the past, Mrs. Rivers has made announcements about this. Something about her "bosses" trying to incorporate standardized testing when it came to a subject like Art.

To tell the truth, there was a reason I considered her to be one of my favorite teachers. She had a knack for turning lame situations on its head with humor. As an example, Mrs. Rivers was pushed one day to assign us a written test since Art was considered "too easy".

What did she do? She did exactly that.

But it seemed no one gave her any details on what the written exams were exactly supposed to consist of. As a result, our questions had been so simple and silly that a kindergartner could ace them.

Name three colors. Who teaches this class?

Stuff like that.

There was even a distinct memory in my mind of a certain multiple-choice question that made for a good laugh.

What are you supposed to do with your paintbrushes after you've finished painting?

A: Eat them.

B: Throw them away and buy new ones for the class with your own money.

C: Leave them in the sink and stay after school for detention.

D: Kindly properly wash them according to the taped instructions by the sink.

Seriously. How could you not appreciate something like that?

After being in her class for a while, I couldn't help but find women being a smartass an attractive trait to have.

Long story short, this class was essentially a free period.

As cool as it would have been to make fast progress with our collaborative project, we weren't in any rush. I didn't feel like I had a good judgment of how long it'd take to finish the sign. But as long as we didn't laze around, I was sure we'd get it done in good time. By the time exams came around, we had already painted the entire background color. Along with that layer of paint, we sketched the finalized design over it with a pencil. It was just enough for us to see what areas we'd be painting with what.

With a simple estimate off the top of my head, I was hoping we'd finish with a week or two left to spare. Keeping this in mind, I felt an enthusiastic yet calm source of energy drive me. My strokes were slow, but they weren't weak. As if I was some renowned artist, I took pride in what I did. I knew it was just a simple sign for the art club, but I couldn't see myself half-assing it for various reasons. I already didn't have much going for me in my high school life. I didn't need the term "slacker" thrown into that sad mix as well. Besides, Mrs. Rivers trusted me with the assignment. That was another thing to keep into account.

I pulled away from the painted board to stretch a bit before I took a short glance over at my classmate's side. While I had been pouring one hundred percent of my focus on our work, she seemed to have had something else in her mind. Her brush strokes were slow like mine, but the bristles of her brush hardly touched the board.

We had been working on different sides of the board, so it was easy to see how much effort we had been putting in. I had covered a lot of ground, but it didn't look like she even covered a quarter of it on her side. I didn't know her for that long, but she didn't seem to be the type to slack with her work on purpose. Instead, it kind of looked like something was bothering her.

I pulled out the earphones snugged into my ear and hung them around my neck as I thought about the words I wanted to say. Even though she didn't look invested in her work, her eyes didn't leave the board. She had been sitting on the floor with her legs lying to the side as her feet pointed toward me. At some point, her hand stopped moving, and she watched the paint on the tip of her brush dry instead.

It was obvious that she wasn’t even thinking about painting anymore.

It was hard to ignore her and say nothing. I wasn't sure if she thought of me as a friend or not, but it looked like she needed someone to talk to. Even if I just forced myself to look away, I was sure Mrs. Rivers would notice anyway if she came by to check on our progress.

"Hey," I spoke. I was waiting for her to turn her head towards me, but she didn't. "You okay? Faith...?"

A sudden gasp fled past her lips, and her head finally swung away from the board her gaze had been fixated on. With a frazzled look on her face, she faced me.

“I-I’m sorry. What?”

“Is something on your mind? You're quieter than usual,” I asked.

“N…No…” Her answer stumbled over as it made its way past her tongue. Despite the hesitation, the tone of her voice wasn't shaky. Instead, it was sort of lagged out as if distracting thoughts were still invading her mind. After a moment of unkempt silence, the corners of her lips slowly fell. “Sorry… I’m not doing anything, am I? I’m just so tired…”

“It’s okay…” I tried to reassure her. “We have until spring to finish this. You can take a break if you want.”

“N-No... I shouldn't.” Faith dipped her brush back into the pond of color she had been using and focused back on the task at hand. Unfortunately, it seemed quite obligatory to her. Her eyelids drew together as if she was forcing herself to try and focus. But her strokes weren't smooth at all. Her hand looked like it was shaking from where I was at. If she kept this up, she'd end up doing more damage than she would taking a break.

With worry crawling up my back, I attempted to persuade her to stop.

“Hey. We've been having our exams this week. We can afford to skip a week, considering all the progress we've made. After all, this isn’t supposed to stress you out. What do you say we just use the time here for studying or something instead?”

“So, what? You just want me to slack off with this too?”

I didn’t quite catch her answer at the moment.

"Huh?"

She hung her head and dropped her brush to her side.

“Sorry… I-I need to go to the restroom.”

Averting her gaze, she stood up and left the class in a hurry. Once I had been by myself, I took a moment to recall what she had last said. She had mentioned something about "slacking off". Trying to make heads or tails of the meaning behind it served to only frustrate me even more.

I stepped away from the subject and thought to myself for a brief moment. My thoughts were blank for the most part, leaving me to turn back toward the board. Then, I started doing something that I couldn't quite comprehend myself.

Scooting over to where she had been sitting, I picked up the brush she had been working with. There, I pressed the tip of the nearly hardened bristles and applied paint to her side of the board.

I did this without thinking about it. I guess my body moved on its own, in a sense. Was it sympathy? Who knew. At any rate, I just figured it was the right thing to do at the time.

Maybe she'll quit stressing over it when she sees her side caught up to mine. Maybe she won't. Ironically, I guess I left this choice up to faith.

I didn't think I was going to see her for the rest of the class. I had already been rinsing our brushes off when several footsteps approached me. I had figured it was just Mrs. Rivers checking up on me. Yet, turning my head, I found that it had been someone just a bit shorter than me.

Faith Hills stood in front of me with her head held down low.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized and kept herself from making any eye contact with me. "I didn't do much today, did I?"

I was once again thrown into a psychological battlefield. I didn't know my enemy long enough, so words were the only weapons I was capable of holding.

“I told you. It's no big deal. We have a long time to finish it, and our grades come from just doing something in this class. Really. You don’t need to worry about anything, alright? Trust me.”

“You’re not just saying those things to make me feel better, are you?” She now summoned the strength to turn her eyes up to me. The fact that her brow furrowed all of a sudden caught me off guard. If I wasn't mistaken, it was almost as if she had been glaring at me. “If you want to be blunt, then you should just be.”

I felt my hands raising on their own.

“N-no. I’m being completely honest with you.”

Luckily, she didn’t pursue it any further. The sudden scowl on her face disappeared with a heavy sigh.

“Okay, then…”

She walked over to where her things had been and grabbed a hold of them. Afterward, she waited by the wall as she curled her hands in front of her skirt and stared at the clock.

I heard the dismissal bell ring just as I finished putting away our tools. After making sure they had enough space to dry, I headed over to my desk to grab my things. Just as I was about to walk out, something I saw stopped me in my tracks.

“You’re still here?” I asked Faith, who had been waiting nearby.

“Yeah…” She returned a soft answer as the hands in front of her skirt rubbed anxiously. “It didn't feel right just leaving without you when you were the one who cleaned up everything. Actually, I feel bad that I didn't do anything to help you. I wanted to, but...I didn't want to get in the way or anything. So, um, you want to walk to the next class together?"

H-Huh? That kind of came out of nowhere.

I believed I had made some kind of face exposing my inner thoughts due to how she reacted next.

"S-Sorry...! I hope that wasn't weird. I just didn't want you to think I was taking you for granted or anything. I mean, what kind of person would I be if I just left without saying anything, you know?"

"I-It's fine. I don't mind, but you didn't have to wait up for me."

"I-I know... It's just..."

Her gaze shifted downwards. It seemed she had more to say. But, after taking a quick look at the clock, I realized we didn't have the time for it.

"...we should get going," I told her. "If we stay here any longer, we'll probably end up being late."

“Oh...! Right...” She nodded in agreement. “Let's go, then.”

Faith kept quiet on our way to our other class. She had the opportunity to talk, but she didn't take it. I couldn't help but wonder if there were things she wanted to tell me but was just too afraid to say them. If that was the case, I wouldn't have minded, but I didn't have any way of knowing that. Our relationship with each other just wasn't at that level yet.

As the rest of the week passed, any noise in my life seemed to stay still and quiet. Naomi focused on her exams as usual, and Faith didn't look like she had recovered from her sulking mood. In fact, whenever she did speak up, it was usually because she thought she was being some kind of annoyance. And, no matter how much I tried to convince her otherwise, nothing seemed to change her mind.

The atmosphere was pretty much the same back home. Chasing_Faith still hadn't been getting on much. I assumed she had been going through some kind of exams as well, so I tried not to bother her as much when it came to texting.

At any rate, the temporary slow pace wasn't all that bad for me. Instead, I took advantage of the time I had from not being online by working on my bike. I needed to make sure nothing would screw up for Friday, after all.

Of course, I had been looking forward to the end of exams. But I was more focused on what happened after. Naomi had asked me to hang out with her. So, I had a good feeling that it wasn't going to be the typical quiet hangout we had every now and then.

To be honest, after having so much time to think to myself about it, I couldn't help but realize something.

Could her asking me out be considered a date? Nah. Naomi didn't really seem like that kind of person in the first place. To her, it was probably just some kind of meeting or something. That still didn't mean I couldn't enjoy it though.

A satisfying wave of relief hit me as soon as the final bell of the day sounded over the speakers. It was like jumping straight into a cooling ocean after having marched in a scorching desert for days on end. All that writing and sitting in my seat had worn me out, and I was just glad to have the weekend ahead of me. Granted, it wasn't like we were going on break or anything. But there was a particular event I was looking forward to.

After putting away my things, I sat up and scanned the crowd heading for the door. A stream of students squeezed through the exit, but once it had thinned out, I noticed Naomi standing by. Based on the arrangement she had made with me earlier in the week, it was safe to assume she was waiting for me.

I felt the corner of my lips lift as I began making my way straight to her. As I did, I couldn't help but notice something else caught my attention for a brief moment in the corner of my eye. Out of curiosity, I turned my head to get a better view. That was when I saw Faith Hills sitting still, surrounded by several empty desks. Her face had been buried within the confines of her arms on top of the desk in front of her. It looked like she was asleep.

I was within a few feet in front of Naomi by the time I turned my attention back to her. Just a short moment ago, I was ready to ditch the classroom. But, after seeing Faith slumping in her seat like that, it didn't feel right to leave right away.

“Hey, I gotta take care of something really quick. You don't have to wait here for me. I'll be right out.” I told her.

“Oh. Sure.” Her eyebrows made a slight raise in response. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be upset by what I said. She made a simple turn and walked out of the class. From there, I was able to approach Faith at her desk.

I dug my hands into my pockets and looked at for her a short moment. In that short moment, I contemplated whether it'd be rude to wake her up or not. I didn't think she wanted to stay after school longer than she needed to, so I decided to call out her name.

"Faith?"

She didn't answer.

I decided touch might be a more effective approach. However, I felt kind of queasy doing that, seeing as we were still kind of new to each other. Despite that thought, I didn't have much time to waste. Hesitating a bit, I tapped her shoulder.

It was then that I heard some soft moans or groans come from her.

"Hey. You up?" I called again.

Her head began to lift slowly. Eventually, her eyes met mine, allowing me to see the glasses on her nose tilted to the side in an awkward state. “Oh… Hey…”

“Class is over,” I informed her. "Just thought you might've wanted to know."

“Thanks, but I can't leave yet…” Her response sounded somewhat slow. “…need to wait...” With a small yawn, she began lowering her head back down.

Her answer was definitely vague. I was curious about what she meant, but for obvious reasons, I didn't ask about it.

“Oh. Well, you should take it easy over the weekend. After this kind of week, I'm sure you deserve it.” I offered her my best attempt at an uplifting smile. But then I realized there was no point doing that since she couldn't see it in the first place.

“Okay…” She returned a distant reply and only kept her gaze away from me.

There was no doubt that something was up with her. I didn't want to leave her like that without knowing, but it could've just been the lingering fatigue of exams. Either way, the fact of the matter was that Naomi was outside waiting for me.

"I'll see you later, then?"

“Mm-hm.”

After a second or two, I decided to finally turn around and head out.

I didn't see Naomi until I was outside the school. She was standing just near the front doors. Her gaze had been captured by another one of the books she had in her arsenal of literature.

I guess it was a good thing she always had something on her to kill time with.

“Hey. Sorry to keep you waiting,” I apologized.

After hearing my voice, her eyes lifted towards me. With only the fingers of her right hand, she pressed the pages of her book against each other. Then, she tucked it into her bag.

“It’s fine,” she stated and continued to look fixedly at me as if waiting for my next move. It took me a second or two to realize this, and I almost stumbled on my way to my bicycle because of it.

As I began the process of unlocking my bike, I stared at the custom passenger seat it had for a good moment. I had installed it a while back with the hope of actually getting to use it pretty often. Yet, this was the first time someone was going to be sitting on top of it. Realizing this, I decided to go over a quick explanation I had been saving for someone else originally.

"You've ever ridden a motorcycle as a passenger before? Or maybe some other kind of motorbike?" I asked.

"I can't say that I have." She returned in a frank manner, continuing to observe me remove the lock on my bike.

"You see the seat on the top of the back wheel?" I pointed. "All you do is sit there."

As I stuffed the lock into my bag, she approached the seat and placed a hand on it.

"Will this be steady enough when we're moving?"

"Yeah," I assured as I took the front seat. "It's just like a motorcycle. I'm sure you've seen two people ride on one before, right? You just have to keep a hold of something to play it safe since there are no seatbelts. It's not like we're going to be going fast or anything. I usually ride on the sidewalk."

From my perspective, she seemed to gawk at the seat behind me for a short moment. Afterward, she grabbed ahold of it and lifted her legs to position herself. To be honest, I felt a little worried since I had never actually tested it before with someone else. I had no one to ride with after all.

"You can put your feet on those bars sticking out from the middle of the wheel there," I advised as I kept a careful watch over her. "If you feel like you might fall off, you can hold on to me. If, at any point, you feel unsafe, just let me know. I'll slow down, or, if it's that bad, I'll even sto--"

Before I knew it, a couple of hands slid around my waist. Then, I heard her voice right behind my right ear.

“Is this okay?” she casually asked as she looked over my shoulder at me.

“Y-yeah.” Almost my entire body felt stiff. I hadn't exactly been expecting her to do something like that without some kind of heads-up first. “I-If that's what makes you feel better, then you do what you need to do.”

“Okay. If it's fine with you, I'll adjust myself should I feel that I need to.”

Inhaling a deep breath through my nose, I allowed it to escape through my mouth shortly after.

"I'll start moving then..."

Placing my feet on the pedals of my bike, I began making a circular motion with my legs. By the time we had already been exiting the school grounds, a lot of the students had already left. I had someone's safety I needed to take responsibility for, so it was a lot easier to maneuver around. Afterward, I took my usual route on the sidewalk as I headed for the coffee shop out in the public streets. Being only a block away from the school, my nerves would be allowed to unwind soon enough.

I thought I already had it rough with keeping Naomi's safety in mind. Yet, as I approached the light ahead of us and began to press the brakes, her hands drew closer around me. It was only a swift glance down, but if I wasn't mistaken, it seemed she had been clenching the shirt of my uniform. In the next second, I was sure her chest had been pressing against me.

At that moment, my heart immediately began racing, and I wasn't able to pinpoint the exact reason why. It could have been because the sensation was sudden and unexpected. It could have also been that this sensation was coming from someone of the opposite sex. Or, maybe it was even the thrill of being this close to the lone wolf of our class? At any rate, I had no time to figure any of that out. Forcing my eyes on what was in front of me, I stopped the bike in its tracks until it was safe to cross the road. It wasn't long before we'd reach our destination.

I didn't realize how tight her hold had been until we had reached the storefront of the designated shop. At the same time, she had already been loosening it to get off. As she removed herself from her seat, I slumped over the handlebars and exhaled a heavy breath. It was far from hot outside, but I felt as if I had been sweating bullets. Ignoring that feeling, I dismounted my bike so I could get to locking it.

"I hope I wasn't any trouble," she mentioned all of a sudden as I hugged the front of my bike to a nearby pole. "Being so close to the open ground like that... I have to admit it felt a little unnerving."

She had been tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as her gaze fell towards the same ground she had been speaking of.

“I-It’s fine!” I felt the need to try and dissipate her troubles as fast as I was able to. After fastening my lock, I stood up and faced her. “Don't worry about it. I know it can be pretty scary your first time on a bike."

“I see…” she responded, her gaze turning towards me. “Well, thank you.” Her body made a light lurch forward, and she was bowing to me before I knew it.

I stood there and observed her behavior without so much of a word to say. It wasn't normal for anyone to bow to each other here. There was no doubt this came from her Japanese roots.

"Y-Yeah, you're welcome," I measly said, unsure of how to react adequately towards that gesture. “Let’s go ahead and get inside.”

Gripping the handle of the front door, I pulled it and held it open for her.

Inside, we sat at a nearby two-person booth after getting our hot drinks. Other than the sound of soft chatter inside, it was relatively quiet. Especially at our table. Neither of us had been making conversation, forcing me to have a look around the shop. She had asked me out, yet it didn't seem like things were going to be much different from last time.

Once my eyes reached Naomi again, I noticed that she had still been staring at her coffee. Her gaze looked busy, almost as if there was something on her mind. I could have asked her about it, but I found myself looking over her wardrobe instead.

It was a little chilly outside, but it wasn't as cold as it had been the day we left for winter break. Instead of her trench coat, she wore the light cardigan sweater from our winter uniform lineup. At some point, I found my eyes wandering over her figure for a bit. Then, I moved up to her head.

It was weird. There was no sign of outward emotion on her face. There was no joy. There was no anxiety. There was no anger, and there was no worry. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to read from that, but I was glad that she at least didn't look upset to be here.

“Is something on your mind?” she asked, her direct gaze lifting towards me before I knew it.

“O-oh.” Startled, I felt my cheek make a slight hop away from the fist it had been resting on. “Sorry. I um…just noticed you weren’t reading your book.”

“I decided I could leave the reading for when I get home,” she answered.

"Really? Why?" I drew my fist away from my cheek and rested my hand on the table.

“I've already made a lot of progress on it. I don't think a short break will be any harm."

“Yeah…” I agreed, wrapping my fingers on the base of my cup. “You know, if you ask me, you’ve been spending so much time with your schoolwork. Yet, you completely ace your exams in a matter of minutes. Do you really need to be studying so much?”

Naomi's hand also moved towards her cup.

“I have to study if I want to stay in the position I'm in. I can't afford any opportunity to lose my place when it comes to my academics. I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

“Oh. Right...” I wasn't sure of what more to tack on to that. I didn't want to say anything that she'd find offensive for any reason. Taking a sip of my drink, I spent a moment to myself to think. It was then that I remembered something else. “Oh, that reminds me. It’s not that I’m not enjoying this or anything, but what made you want to go out for coffee with me today? I thought you’d be too busy studying.”

She remained silent for a minute. In fact, she averted her eyes as if she had to contemplate the answer.

“I’m…adjusting.”

“Huh?” She caught my interest, having me lean in a bit.

“You’re…what you’d call a friend, right?” she responded, causing the lids of my eyes to rise. “I don’t believe I’ve ever had the experience of...socializing like this. As you may already know, I’ve spent the majority of my time with my studies and responsibilities. This is new...and I'm interested.”

“…interested...?” I repeated, feeling dumbfounded and confused.

“To tell you the truth, I’ve never considered this kind of activity to be beneficial to me. After our first group project together, there was a certain feeling I felt that I couldn't ignore. A sense of ease or relaxation. Doing this with you, it's refreshing like drinking a glass of water when one is thirsty.” She paused once again and stared at her drink. “I’m trying to…tie this in with my current lifestyle. I’m trying to make this work without interrupting my studies.” She looked back up at me with serious eyes. “I hope that doesn’t conflict with what you’re looking for from this. I wouldn’t want to waste your time if you feel that I’m not giving you what you need.”

“W-what?” I felt like Naomi might have had the wrong kind of idea of what friendship was. Then again, it was understandable. “No, it’s not like that. You…” I stopped for a second to gather my thoughts. “You’re a friend, alright? What I’m looking for…is to spend time with you. After all, that’s what friends do, I think. You’re kind of the only person I hang out with…” I chuckled a little from embarrassment. “But I totally understand if you feel like there are other priorities you need to put first. As a friend, I get that. I want you to be comfortable with what you decide. As long as you don’t feel like you have to do this sort of thing with me, that’s completely fine.”

“I see,” she replied, seeming to understand my response. “Thank you for respecting my decisions and thoughts. If you are comfortable with my level of learning and my effort to incorporate this social relationship, then I appreciate it.”

“Of course,” I clarified and then proceeded to press on the subject a little. “So…you decided to be with me here today instead of studying to…learn more about being a friend…?”

She nodded.

“I may still find myself busy with my responsibilities, but I’d like to continue to try this friendship with you. That is if you are okay with it.”

“Yeah, of course,” I repeated.

Her lips made a slight crease as they curved upwards. Once again, she managed to reveal a soft smile, and it may have just been a bit brighter than before. Seeing how her expressions have been void of emotion the majority of the time, it was entrancing to see this. Almost like seeing a rare living being no one else bothered believing in. Despite these thoughts of mine, she turned her attention to her coffee and took another sip. It seemed she didn't even realize how much of an effect she had on me.

As much as I wanted to learn more about her, I decided to welcome the comfortable silence between us. She said she was new to the whole idea of friendship, so I didn't want to bombard her with too much conversation. She had already revealed so much to me today. I was fine letting her ease into it at her own pace.

After some time of silence, Naomi turned her head towards the glass pane beside us. She appeared to observe the environment outside. Although, I couldn't tell what exactly she had been looking at.

"Do you like snow, Chase?" she asked.

"Snow?" I almost choked at her sudden yet calm question. "Yeah, I guess. What about you?"

"I'm quite fond of it," she answered as she held her cup. Thin strands of steam escaped and dissipated just before reaching her face. "The sight of it tends to put me at ease."

"Oh, really? You always look at ease to me."

"Is that so?" Her eyes turned toward me, causing my heart to skip a beat for some reason.

"Y-Yeah..." Without thinking, my hands buried themselves into their pockets.

"Hm." She turned her attention back to the window next to her.

If any of our classmates had been with us, I was sure they'd find the lack of conversation uncomfortable. Even so, I realized that there was actually something special between Naomi and me. Something that I couldn't just "get" from anyone else in my class.

With anyone else, you'd have to make the struggle to keep a dialogue going to repel awkward silence. But with Naomi, you didn't need to worry about that. This silence between us wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was somewhat...welcoming and relaxing. It was just like lounging in the comfort of your own room, unwinding with a nice cup of tea. But in this case, you had the comfort of someone else. No stress of making small talk. Just taking it easy...

After realizing this, I couldn't help but feel even closer to Naomi.

It was at this point that I felt that there was something much more I was so close to reaching. Something much more than a simple friendship. Maybe something...I really wanted...?

“I should start heading back home,” Naomi announced, unintentionally disturbing the silence between us. She proceeded to stand up from her side of the booth and gathered her things. “I need to make dinner.”

“Dinner? You don’t have any kids, do you?” I joked with a soft smile.

She smiled back in the same manner, causing another beat of my heart to skip.

“No. No, I don’t. It’s for my family.”

“Oh, I see…” I couldn't lie and say that I wasn't sad that our time together was coming to an end. I decided to stand up and join her as she prepared herself to head out. “Are you going on the bus again?”

She nodded.

“The city bus has tendencies to be late. If that's the case today, I might just walk instead.”

“Well…” I dug my hands into the pockets of my unzipped jacket. “I can take you if you want.”

“It won’t be a bother?” she asked.

“No, not at all,” I nearly exclaimed in excitement. “Actually, I’ll be happy if I can take you home. I don't like the idea of you walking in this cold. I know it’s not a big deal, but…you know.”

“I see,” she responded and didn’t take too long to give her final answer. “If it isn’t any trouble, I accept your offer.”

“Got it.” I dumped my plastic cup from the table into the trash and moved outside.

In front of the cafe, I removed the lock on my bike and allowed Naomi to board. Once she was comfortably in her seat, she took the liberty of wrapping her arms around me again. I was still taken aback by it but not as much as the first time.

"Where do you live?" I asked.

“Not too far from here, actually…” She replied. “It's a few blocks down this street.” She pointed at a perpendicular street connected to the main street the shop and school were on.

“Got it.” I began to pedal onto the nearest path that would let me cross the main street. “I’ll start heading down that way. Just let me know if I need to turn anywhere.”

As soon as I got to moving at what I thought was a comfortable speed, I felt Naomi press herself against me again. At that point, a warmth radiated between us. Once again, I had to force myself to focus on the path in front of me. Still, I couldn't ignore that how I felt about Naomi was on a higher level than just her being a "friend".

I continued moving in the direction she had given me until she pointed to a neighborhood to turn in. When I did, I found a fairly large gate blocking my access to the area up ahead.

“Stop here.” She directed me towards a keypad that stood at the side. I pulled on the brakes just enough until the keypad was next to her. Leaning over a bit, she pressed a few numbers, and the gate soon began to open. “You can keep going straight. I’ll let you know which house to stop at.”

I nodded and moved forward. The street in front of us was wide, and the only cars around were the few that were parked in their driveways. Because of this, I was able to enjoy the feeling of having Naomi close to me a little more. She had never hugged me before, but it was close enough. At any rate, I knew my time with her was about to end the further I rode through the neighborhood.

“You can stop right here.” She pointed to a particular home once we rode far enough.

As I stopped, I caught a good look at the appearance of her house.

It was giant, to say the least. Obviously, it wasn't a mansion, but it was definitely spacious. Taking another quick look around the neighborhood, all the houses were like this. Clean, organized, and even quiet.

Damn. This whole neighborhood was amazing. And a gated community too? Her family must be pretty well off.

“Thank you for the ride home.” Naomi removed herself from the seat behind me and stood by me to express her thanks by making a light bow once more. “I really do appreciate this.”

“Of course, Naomi. If you ever need a ride, don’t be afraid to ask.”

I had the pleasure to see her soft smile once more.

"I’ll keep that in mind.” She paused for a moment before speaking to me again. “I’d…like to have another coffee with you again sometime.”

“Yeah, sure!” I also immediately responded. “Any time you’re free.”

With a careful nod of her head, her small smile didn't falter the slightest.

“Have a good evening, Chase.”

“You too, Naomi,” I said, allowing her to turn and begin walking to her front door. But there was still something I wanted to make sure she knew. “Naomi,” I called again. She looked back with slightly parted lips. “Remember. You still have my number,” I reminded.

Sharing one last gentle smile, she nodded once more and then proceeded to walk to her front door. After watching her make it home, I decided to get going. The sun was already setting, and I always preferred to avoid biking in the dark.

As I got moving back onto the streets, I printed a mental map out in my head. At that point, I realized Naomi seemed to live on the opposite side of where my house was. In other words, we both lived across the school, but also across each other in a sense.

The area between us might have had roads I could've taken to get me home quicker. But there was also the risk of reaching a dead end using those roads. I wasn't familiar with the area, and I didn't have much time to check out a map on my phone. In the end, I decided it was safer to head back the way I came on the main road.

I could always look up this kind of stuff after I'm back home.