The word hung in the air between us for a second. ’Friends,’ I thought. ’It doesn’t have to be complicated. Maybe it can just be this.’
That feeling of a huge weight on my chest, the one that had been there for days, just seed to lift. All that overthinking, all the worrying about rumors and what everyone else thought, just faded away.
I looked at her, she was still smiling that small, shy smile. She was just a girl sitting on a park bench, not so popular gyaru I had to be afraid of.
So I decided to just talk. No big plan, no trying to figure out the right thing to say. Just talking.
"So," I started, and she looked up at , a little surprised. "That day... with the car. You were wearing earbuds."
Her smile faltered a little, and she nodded slowly. "Yeah."
"I was just wondering," I continued, "what were you listening to?"
She just blinked at , her head tilted. ’She probably thinks that’s a weird question,’ I thought.
"Oh," she said, looking down at her hands again. "It was, uh, just so pop band. Nothing cool or anything."
"I’m just curious," I said with a shrug. "All I ever listen to is ga soundtracks and ani openings, so my taste in music is probably weirder than yours."
That got another little laugh out of her, the tension seed to lt away completely. "Ani openings? Seriously?" she asked, her voice sounded more like the girl I’d talked to in the hospital.
"Hey, don’t knock it ’til you try it," I said, trying to grin, though it made my jaw ache a little. "So of them are actually good."
"Okay, okay," she said, still smiling. "It was a band called The Lumineers. Do you know them?"
I shook my head. "Nope. Never heard of them."
"They’re kind of... folksy, I guess," she said. "My mom likes them, so I started listening. It’s relaxing."
’She listens to music with her mom,’ I thought. That was such a simple, normal thing. I couldn’t picture her popular friends, Selma and Becky, listening to folksy music.
"So, what do you, uh... what do you do for fun?" I asked. "Besides getting forced into dates by your friends, I an."
I imdiately regretted saying that last part. ’Way to bring the mood down again, idiot.’
But she just sighed and shook her head, though she didn’t look mad. "It’s okay," she said. "And honestly... I don’t do much. I like reading."
"Reading what?" I asked, genuinely curious now.
"Mostly fantasy stuff," she admitted, looking a little embarrassed. "You know, with like, elves, magic and stuff. It’s kind of nerdy."
"I literally listen to ani music," I pointed out. "I don’t think I can judge anyone for being nerdy."
She smiled at that. "What about you?" she asked. "What do you do besides listening to ani openings?"
"I play a lot of video gas," I said. "And I read manga. So yeah, pretty much the sa level of nerdy."
We both laughed a little, and for the first ti, it felt completely normal. Like two people just talking, not two people at the center of so big high school drama. We were just Kofi and Nina, sitting on a park bench.
"So," she said after a second, her voice a bit hesitant. "Does your...face hurt a lot?"
I shifted a little on the bench, the movent sending a dull ache through my ribs. Her question just hung there for a second.
"Yeah," I finally said, touching my jaw carefully. "It still hurts a bit. It’s mostly just... sore, I guess."
I tried for a smile, but it felt more like a grimace. "I’m probably going to be eating soup for a week."
"Oh, don’t say that," she said, her voice soft. She leaned forward a little, her own smile gone now. "That’s not funny, Kofi."
She moved closer on the bench, closing so of the space I’d been so aware of just a minute ago. "Let see," she whispered, like she was asking for permission but wasn’t going to wait for an answer.
Before I could say anything or pull away, her hand was already lifting toward my face. I just froze. Her fingers were so gentle when they touched my jaw, barely even putting any pressure on it.
’What is she doing?’ my brain scread. ’Her hand is on my face.’
She was just looking at the side of my face where Tyler had hit , her expression all serious and focused. Her fingers traced the line of my jaw, and I just sat there, completely still. I think I stopped breathing.
’Okay, stay calm,’ I told myself. ’Don’t be weird. She’s just being nice.’
But then she shifted a little, leaning in even closer to get a better look, and suddenly her face was right there. Way too close. I could see the little specks of color in her eyes, and I could sll that sa fruity shampoo.
’She’s so close,’ I thought, my mind going completely blank. ’Way, way too close.’
I should have said sothing, maybe leaned back a little, but I couldn’t move. It was like my whole body was short-circuiting. She was just looking at my jaw, but I was hyper-aware of everything else. Her hair was practically brushing my shoulder, and I could feel the warmth from her hand even though she was barely touching .
Her eyes moved from my jaw and t mine.
And just like that, everything stopped. The park, the noise, everything else just faded away. It was just us, staring at each other from only a few inches apart.
Her eyes went wide. It was like she suddenly woke up and realized what she was doing.
She snatched her hand back like she’d been burned, her face went bright red. She scrambled back to her end of the bench so fast she almost fell off.
"Oh my god," she stamred, not looking at . She was staring at her own hands in her lap like they’d betrayed her. "I am so, so sorry. I-I wasn’t thinking. I just... I don’t know what I was doing."
I just sat there, stunned, still feeling the ghost of her touch on my skin. "It’s... it’s okay," I managed to get out, though my voice sounded weird and croaky.
"No, it’s not," she said, shaking her head. "That was so weird of . I’m so sorry, Kofi. I really didn’t an to make you uncomfortable."
She still wouldn’t look at . The easy, friendly atmosphere we had just managed to build was completely gone, shattered into a million awkward pieces. Now it was just silent again, but this ti, the silence was a thousand tis worse.
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