The Lunch box

Besides the homeroom annoucement and my "event" early in the morning, the day went by quite peacefully.

Even though there was something that bothered me.

As our homework papers were being submitted to the teachers by the class rep, for some reason, I could feel her piercing gaze at my direction.

Probably the dignified class rep did not like school life relationship.

She did not constantly do it maybe because of being too suspicious. Nontheless, she did not make me feel confortable.

Ding dong.

The school chime rings a couple times.

Lunch time has come.

I take out my lunch box and turn around.

Seeing my face, The Girl smiles. In class, we did not have many chances to interact

"Let's have lunch together."

"I was about to ask the same thing."

"Where should we go?"

Suddenly, The Girl shows me a mischievous look.

"I have been having lunch quite freely in a really special place. Just follow me."

"Now I'm interested."

We quickly move out of the classroom, away from the other students.

"Where are we going?"

"Be patient. It is a very special place." She puts her index finger on her lips.

We go from our classroom corridor, to the school yard, and then to the back of the building.

"We are almost there." She says. "Just a bit more."

I follow her footsteps, until we reach a big warehouse.

From the outside, it looks really old with old wood patterns and rusty nails. If I must say then the place must be a decade old or even more than that. Rather than a warehouse, it looks closer to a shed. The is a big square right next to the door. That probably was where the builder put the window.

"Come on it. Don't worry about the exterior. I made changes on this inside." She claims.

I can actually hear her enthusiasm in her words.

"You know. From the moment we met, I think we are changing."

"I think so too. Why are talking about that right now?"

"Because I can feel myself becoming more attracted to you. The urge to be normal is becoming something else completely different. It feels like the whole purpose of my life has changed."

"I'm glad you feel like that."

She stops for a second to think. And I hold back my words to wait for her.

"The normal that I have always wanted to have, is probably just someone who could understand me to an extend. I feel like I could say whatever I want to in front of you without seeing a disgusted or irritated look."

"You are my normal." She says. "Now get in already. Lunch time is not gonna last forever."

"Alright alright. No need to pull that hard."

The Girl pulls on my arm. I can tell that it is not because she was afraid of being late.

The inside is a totally different world.

The old, shabby look on the outside probably is only to be a decoy of sort.

Inside the old warehouse, it is decorated like a cozy room.

Yellow lighting on the ceiling, green potted plants on the table placed near the old window, a microwave and a coffee maker.

Somehow, The Girl managed to put a bed with pillows in the corner too.

"Here, have a sit." From a corner, she pulls out a wooden chair and told me to sit.

"I am amazed. How did you do all of this?"

"3 years of high school isolation can create amazing things, no? No one comes hers because they know I am here. So technically this place is all mine. Well. Now it is ours."

"Really cool. I wish I was there for you. But looking at this, I don't know if I was even needed."

"I don't know. Like I said, I don't care for the loneliness. I actually prefer being left alone rather than being forced to communicate."

I understand what she means. It is true that being alone in her case might have been better.

I admire her strength and resolve. At least I could not do the same thing.

No matter how tiresome and boring it was, I still had to smile and faked my laugh.

I had no interested in others, but I still had to find ways to not be kicked out.

For someone like her, who embrace her own drawbacks, she is much better than me.

"What are you looking at? Eat. Do you need to heat you meal up? The microwave is to your left."

Seeing my stare, she says.

I blurt out: "You are strong."

"Wh..what are you talking about?! Eat!"

"Okay."

I make a smile at her stutter and open my lunch box.

"Who make your meal everyday?"

"My mom. My dad sometimes too. What about you?"

"Me too. Since my parents have to leave early for their school, they usually help each other first thing in the morning with household chores and then leave."

"I have an idea. Why don't we share our meals?"

"Just what I thought. You read it on the internet, didn't you?"

"I most certainly did not!"

"Of course. Here, have my fried chicken."

Making an 'I know what you did there face', The Girl gave me a small piece of her fried chicken.

"Here, have a piece of my bacon grilled with honey and coriander."

"What's with that name?"

"It's one of our family's specialties. Bacon grilled in all types of add-ons. It is one of the best sellers too."

"So there are more bacon types?"

"If you go to our family restaurant, I'll ask them to give you a big treat."

"Thanks."

She takes a big bite into the bacon strip. Immediately her eyes sparkle.

"What is this? The crunch, the umami, the sweetness, everything is perfect. It's attacking all of my senses. The crunch even though it has been inside a lunchbox since this morning, it's still a crunchy with only a bit of chewiness. The scent of coriander and the smokiness of bacon combine into something so fragant. And the sweetness! The sweetness from honey is massaging my taste buds! Aaaaaah."

She makes a really lewd sound.

And I make a big gulp thinking about a specific series on the internet about cooking.

"The chiken is also nice."

"But the bacon...I have decided. We will go to your house today. You will introduce me as your girlfriend and your future wife. We will have bacon for dinner."

It seems like a seal has been released from her inside.

"Tell me, can you do something like this?"

Suddenly, she turns to me. Her eyes are now more like those of predators.

A little hesitant, but I still answer.

"Well, I can. More or less. I used to help my parents with cooking."

Bam.

She slams her hand on the table.

"On the way back, we will go by the Marrige registration office for a paper."

"Yes, Ma'am."

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Parmesan: Welp. I intended for the chapter to focus more on the actual plot, but it got to this.

I really like wholesome content and writing them, so please everyone forgive me for delaying the main storyline again.

I shall now prostrate myself.