Yumi

"Class, would you know where Ayumi and Samantha are?" We shook our heads as our teacher was watching the time very vigilantly. "Dude, do you think something happened to them?" Alexander whispered to me. "I hope not." We both sat in our seats filled with concern for our friends. "Well, they're not on time for afternoon registration. Therefore I must mark them abse…" The teacher was interrupted by the classroom door opening very abruptly. Ayumi and Samantha were both grasping their knees as they attempted to catch their breath.

  "I'm so grateful you decided to grace us with your presence." "Sorry Mr. Burns, we were on the other side of the school when the bell rang so it took us a while to get to class." Samantha explained. "Well make sure to keep track of the time more attentively and don't arrive late to my class again. Got it?" "Yes sir, it won't happen again." Ayumi said in her soft voice still trying to recover from her dash. "Good, now head to your seats." As they were walking to their desks, other students were snickering at them.

  Seeing them do so wanted me to lash out but I was stopped by Alexander. "Look they're not worth it." He stated as he was struggling to control his anger as well. I heeded his advice and carried on with school like normal. At P. E it got worse. " I am still confused about why Kennedy hangs with those losers." "I know right. It's also a shame that the new girl is acquainted with them. Her status will lower before it even gets a chance to rise." My blood began boiling. I was ready to tell them off right there and then but Samantha and Alexander didn't allow me to.

  They looked at me with smiles on their faces and then shook their heads. Eventually, they got bored from us ignoring them so they left while talking under their breath. "Phew, I thought they never were going to leave dude." "Yeah, our area is much more peaceful without those pests being a disturbance." "Yeah, I prefer it being quiet." I remained silent while lying on the ground. "Are you good bro?" "How could you just sit back and let them tease you like that."

  "Well, I don't care about their insight. In my eyes, they're just pests." "Yeah, what Sam said." "What about you Ayumi?" I was curious about her impending answer. "I guess their opinions don't matter. Why do they treat Sam and Alex like that anyway?"

  "In their eyes we're weird. It's as simple as that. It's kind of messed up now that I think of it but I couldn't care less." Samantha stated. "We don't have to prove ourselves to nobody plus y'all are all I need." "Sure Alex but they don't even know you and they still treat you poorly. It pisses me off." "That's what they want bro." "I agree with Alex they're just trying to pester us and I'm not allowing them that satisfaction." I agreed with their perspectives and carried on with P.E.

  After P.E we had a homeroom period. It was boring and because of that Alexander slept through most of it and Samantha just scribbled in her art book. I looked across at Ayumi and she was reading a book. She seemed very immersed in it so I didn't want to disturb her.

  The bell rang which woke Alexander right up from his seat. The teacher shook his head as he dismissed the class. I could hear the rest of my class badmouthing Alexander but I tried to ignore them. The four of us approached the school gate together. We talked for a bit before we said our goodbyes for the day and Ayumi and I began our walk home.

  "Hey Ayumi," I had grabbed her attention, "do you mind if I gave you a nickname." "Why?" "Well the rest of us call each other by nicknames we decided on. So do you want one?" "Sure.  I'll let you decide what it will be." "I would probably have to get back to you on that after I think about it for a bit." We continued our chat to kill some time while walking.

  "What do you do in your free time Ayumi?" "Well, I guess I read a lot. My aunt read a lot to me as a child so I guess I got obsessed with stories." "That's cool. I read occasionally, maybe you can recommend some stories to me." "Sure. What about you?" "I try to improve my basketball skills whenever I can and I tend to watch anime and play videogames a lot with Alex. There's this one game he suggested to me called Brawlhalla. I like it so much and my favorite character to play as is..." I stopped midway through my sentence which caused some confusion for Ayumi.

  "Yumi, your nickname could be Yumi. Do you like it?" Her face immediately lit up upon hearing it. "I think it's safe to assume she likes it I guess." I thought to myself. "It might be simple but it sounds nice. I love it." For some reason hearing that from her just gave me a warm feeling. "I'm glad to hear that. I guess it's official, Yumi." We were so busy chatting that we almost walked past her house. "Well, bye Ken." "Later Yumi." Before I could turn around completely she rushed and innocently gave me a firm hug. It reminded me of the hug from the first day of school.

  I was startled and inhibited by her actions. From pure reflex alone I was able to return the hug. It felt nice to hug her again. I missed hugging her. She eventually broke up the hug and went inside after waving at me. Walking home was a bit of a struggle for me. I had her on my mind constantly which distracted me. Fortunately, I made it home without being hurt and as I lay down on my bed I couldn't get her off of my mind. 

  I fell asleep comfortably assuming that my dream would be about her but I was proven wrong. The nightmare returned but this time the kid decided to stand up for the woman. It resulted in him being slapped to the floor by the man. The boy then placed his hand where he was feeling pain and attempted to refrain from crying. The man then proceeded to leave the room. The boy felt extremely hopeless. He desired to aid the woman but he couldn't possibly be able to fight the man. He felt weak, pitiful, and useless since he wasn't capable of helping.

  It pained me to see that boy's expression. Tears uncontrollably ran down his face as the hope and cheer from his expression was being siphoned. His eyes were full of despair and his skin turned pale. It seemed like his soul left his body and in return, it was replaced by fear. It seemed like he was a lifeless mannequin.

He didn't budge from his spot and his eyes were fixated on the sight of the woman crying on the floor. I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't bear watching this child lose what little happiness he had left. I approached the kid and firmly embraced him while saying comforting words. Like before, his feelings transferred to me the moment we made contact and I woke up the next day crying.