The Beginning Of Friendship

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-Togawa High-

"The bell already rang, aren't you going to your class?" Laurie asked Nakamura.

"I could ask you the same." She sat down on the floor and leaned on the cold wall.

She noticed that Nakamura's cheeks have become swollen and redder. That bitch Yamaguchi didn't hold back when she slapped her.

Most students were now inside their respective rooms, the hallways were empty and quiet but she knew that some teachers patrol the hallways to make sure no students loitered around.

She took a deep sigh. She was no longer in the mood to sit through a class that she won't enjoy and get pissed off because Yamaguchi would be in the same class with her.

Besides, she is here in Togawa High as a student exchange for a semester. She isn't really required to be a good student here. The purpose of her studying in this school was for immersion in the Japanese culture. However, she didn't sign up for this kind of immersion though.

'High school is not a place to learn but a place to play. Kids play adults in this contained environment.' Someone told her that before but she couldn't remember.

She stared at her reflection on the shiny surface of the vendo machine. She was choosing what drink to get. She has no idea what Nakamura wants to drink. She forgot to ask her.

And even if she asked, she wondered if she would tell her what she wanted. She left her slumped on the floor, staring in the space.

In the end, she picked two bottles of green tea with lemon.

She doesn't want to dwell too much time thinking about what drink Nakamura would like. In the first place, she decided to buy her a drink not to drink but to put on her swollen cheek.

When she returned, after changing to her indoor shoes and getting them a drink, Nakamura was still in the same place and the same position she left her.

"Hey," she handed her the cold bottle of green tea. She pursed her lips, pointing to the other girl's cheek.

Nakamura mumbled a thank you under her breath, accepting the bottle of drink. She visibly winced in pain when she pressed the cold bottle to her cheek. She sucked in some air, clearly in pain.

"Why don't you go to the clinic?" she suggested.

She scoffed, "And say what?"

"What do you mean?" she sat next to her.

"Exactly what I said. What do you think I should say if I go to the clinic? I tripped and hit my face?"

Her voice was laced with sarcasm, but Laurie heard the vexation and the helplessness in her small voice.

She was about to ask another question when they heard squeaky footsteps from the top of the stairs.

They exchanged panicked glances. Nakamura sprang up from the floor, grabbed her hand, and ran!

She didn't ask any questions or look where they were going. They just ran!

Laughing and panting from the adrenaline being able to get away from the teacher. They slumped down on the stairs.

"Where are we?" she finally asked, still gasping for air.

"This is the library," she said, "...and that's my classroom building," as she pointed to the building opposite from where they were.

Her eyes darted from Nakamura to the building she was pointing at. Her head tilted on the side watching her still panting for air.

"You're still in junior high?" She croaked in surprise.

"Yeah, third year," she replied, baffled with her expression.

"I thought you were a six grader!"

"What?" her eyebrow shot up to her forehead, "Is it because of my height?"

"Yeah," she replied in a low tone, "...among other things." glancing at her height and her flat chest, but she kept her observation to herself.

"How about you?"

"I'm in my third year too. Senior." She sat down on the steps next to her.

"Oh! My brother too," she said, staring at her face.

She smiled, thinking she like this girl. In this school, this is the first time someone has actually looked her on the face.

"Stand up."

She was deep in her thoughts that she got disoriented when she saw Nakamura three steps up from where she was sitting, and she was beckoning her to stand up.

Standing up slowly, she followed her up the stairs. They didn't go far up the stairs. Nakamura stopped on the second landing of stairs from the ground.

"This is my secret place," she grinned at her, twisting the cap of the green tea she bought for her.

She looked around but there was nothing much to see. It is just like any other fire exit.

"I like this staircase because it's different from other fire exit staircase," she answered as though she read the thought in her head.

"Come here," she patted the space next to her on the wall. "This is the best spot. If you leaned back and looked up, you can watch the sky comfortably in this position," she said, leaning her head against the wall.

She copied what she did, and was pleasantly surprised to see that she could look at the sky without the painful glare of the sun when the sun is already high in the sky.

"The best thing about this place is that you can see people passing by on the ground and in those hallways."

She followed her finger pointing to the second floor of the building across from them, where she said where her classroom was located.

"Why does Rina Yamaguchi hate you when she's already a senior and you're a junior?" She asked, confused because kids from different age groups didn't really mingle together, because of the Senpai, Kouhai system.

"Because she thought I stole her boyfriend!" she clicked her tongue. "Insecure bitch!"

"Did you?" she grinned at the girl, "...steal her boyfriend…"

"Heh!" she giggled full of mischief, "...of course — I did! And it was soooo satisfying! You should have seen her face!"

They stare at each other and burst into fits of laughter.