[Chapter 3] Closer?

(2 April) As the morning light shine through the school corridors, I make my way to my classroom like the usual. I sense no lifeform in the classroom ,"Arrived pretty early today huh" I mumbled to myself.

I took out a pretty interesting history book about the Roman empire. Immersing myself in the pages of a book. Lost in the world of words, I felt a sudden poke on my forehead, which made me... Annoyed

"Ouch!" I said, rubbing the spot where the unexpected annoyance had occurred. Looking up, I found myself confronted by a girl with a mischievous grin, her eyes sparkling with determination. "Oh you.."

"Should've noticed me waving at you earlier," she teased, her voice said with amusement. "Anyway, want to eat lunch together later?"

I hesitated, caught off guard by her forwardness. "No." I replied bluntly, hoping to stop whatever she's trying to pull here.

But she was ... Well nothing, no reaction from her. Her smile unwavering. "I will," she said with confidence. I replied with "What.. is the talking about.." I was very confused like always, I could never truly understand her.

Later that day, as I sat down for lunch, I found myself uncomfortably aware of her presence as she pulled up a chair beside me without invitation. But inside of my heart, I was pretty happy cause someone was willing to go this far to spend some time with a good for nothing like me.

"What do you want?" I asked nicely.

"When I said I'm gonna do something, I will do it," she said with such a strong.. will, her tone may be gutsy but it's somehow affectionate. You know, it's odd but I kinda like it.

Before the tension could escalate further, Mizuki, my long long long time friend (just got close yesterday but whatever) interjected with an invitation directed to ONLY me. "Asahi, want to go eat some icecreams after our dear school ended? the closest one here is prob near electronic store.

"Sure I guess" I replied. Shihana interrupted the question and said "hey, can I come with you guys? I live close there anyway". "You're Shihana right? ,sure I suppose" Mizuki replied. "Why is she coming." I said with such an uninspiring and depressed tone.

As we made our way to the electronic store, Shihana, a newcomer to our newly made group, expressed her desire to join us. "Hey, can I always join you guys?" "Why not? I think you're a fun person" mizuki replied.

Despite my initial reluctance, Mizuki welcomed her with open arms. (I can't believe he accepted so easily *cries*) I don't mind it much anyway, it's just.. my heart feel uneasy when there's her.

After school, seated on a bench, our differences seemed to fade away as we savored the sweetness of our delish and cold treats called icecream. I got a strawberry ice cream cause I felt like it's superior. Mizuki went with typical chocolate ice cream and the girl well, she chose mint.

Laughter filled the air as we shared stories and jokes, our camaraderie(first time using this word) blossoming with each passing moment. I really enjoyed this scenes cause... The world feel very bright and colourful during those time. It was grey and.. boring but now, everything changed. Never thought this was possible, I wanna cry.

In the days that followed, our unlikely trio forged bonds that transcended mere classmates, each encounter keep bringing us closer together in unexpected ways. the most meaningful connections are formed when we least expect them. What we have in the future? Can we stay like this?