The Lunch Hour 

*Clang*

A loud metallic clank rattled across the rooftop as I punched the chain-link fence. Clutching to the fence with both of my hands, fingers gripping the cold metal links.

I shouldn't have trusted that old man to do the job. His only task was to dispose of her body and wait until she died. But he still managed to mess up.

It's all because of Amon's suggestion. Amon advised that I shouldn't kill Amelia, and I should let her go after 'breaking' her. Which made zero sense to me. I shouldn't have tried to follow his advice and kill her.

A sudden noise came to my ears, coming from the direction of the rooftop door.

"Who's there?"

"…"

There was no response. Despite that, I had a strong feeling that someone was present.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. A medium black-haired girl walked in. She seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite recall her.

"Ah… It's me."

"…"

Who?

"Umm… I just wanted some fresh air and… noticed you were struggling."

"…"

How annoying. I recognize her. She's the one who sometimes gives me those strange glances from afar. At first, it put me on guard, but later I learned from Amelia that she's a little strange. It doesn't bother me much anymore.

She began to walk towards me and gradually closed the distance between us. She stopped beside me, looking in the same direction as me. I avoided making eye contact, observing her in silence from the corner of my eye.

"May I stand here too?" She asked.

"…Sure."

"…"

"…"

For a moment, neither of us spoke, and we just stood there in silence. The only thing I could hear was the gentle sound of the wind blowing and the chatter of fellow students from below.

"It's a nice view from up here, isn't it?" She said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, it is."

"You seem to come up here often."

"Yeah, I like to spend some alone time."

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."

"No, it's fine. I was just lost in thoughts."

While I usually prefer to spend my lunch break alone, I decided to make an exception this time.

I noticed that she was staring at my left hand. Before she could question me, I spoke.

"I burned myself while cooking."

"You should be more careful. That looks like a deep burn."

"It's not a big deal."

That was a lie.

Thanks to Amelia, I got this burn, at least not directly. I intentionally burnt myself to cover up the bite mark she left on me.

She turned her gaze away from my hand and started to look back toward the horizon. Once again we spent a moment of silence. The breeze hit my skin, coming through the fence.

"Um, excuse me... You seemed a bit upset earlier. Is everything okay?"

In a slightly nervous tone, she spoke up.

"Ah. Have you heard about the girl who went missing?" I asked.

"Yes, our teacher mentioned it this morning."

"She's actually a friend of mine."

"I've seen you two together before. I was curious what relation you two might have."

"We are childhood friends."

"I see. That explains why you were upset."

She paused as her expression shifted to a worried look.

"I hope she's okay now."

"I hope so too," I replied.

"Um… I don't mean to complain behind her back, but… I hate her."

I was taken off guard by that. In curiosity, I asked -

"Why do you feel that?"

"During the first year, when I transferred here to your class, some girls bullied me. She was one of them. Because of her, I couldn't focus on my studies and my grades suffered."

Tears were about to spill from her eyes, but she managed to calm herself.

"However, for some reason, they stopped bullying me when you were around. And eventually, they completely stopped. I'm sure it was because you intervened and put an end to it."

What is she talking about?

I was confused. There was clearly a misunderstanding going on. I had no memory of trying to stop anyone. But I decided to go along with her story.

"She wasn't always like that. But when she came back to the country a few years ago, something changed in her. I don't know what it was, but it definitely had an effect on her behavior.

Regardless, I'm sorry that she and her friends bullied you. It's not right and it shouldn't have happened."

"Don't apologize, none of this was your fault. In fact, you helped me."

She added, "It's still hard to forgive her. I guess I'll just have to try and move on from it. And I hope she gets well soon."

Unfortunately, that will never happen.

"I hope so too," I respond.

"The class is about to start. Are you two finished yet?"

It wasn't either of us speaking. The voice came, interrupting our conversation. We turned to see a girl standing by the gate. I did notice her presence before, but since she wasn't trying to hide or eavesdrop on our conversation, I didn't react.

"Rubyyy~ Were you listening to us? How sneaky~" She said in embarrassment.

"You two can go ahead. I think I'll stay up here for a while longer."

As she had a smile on her face, the other girl gave me a cold stare before leaving.

Despite the fact that most of what I said were lies, I felt a sense of ease after our conversation. But more importantly -

"I forgot to ask for her name," I muttered to myself.

A smile unconsciously formed on my face.

"Oh well, that girl doesn't matter. But 'A girl with long brown hair, who was previously in the same class as mine.' Yeah, she does look familiar."

"I've found you, Ruby."

To be continued…