painting haruka (on hold)

cherry blossom girl

 THIS IS UNDER MAJOT CONSTRUCTION AT THE MOMENT. I'VE BEEN FIXING SPELLING ERRORS AND SUCH. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

april 1st, 2016

"want to walk home together, noah?" i hear a voice behind me say.

"huh?" i turn around and there stands the girl who was next to the cherry blossom tree. she's smiling.

"woah, is that me?" she drapes her wrists on the bench I'm sitting on and the smoke from her cigarette brushes against my face.

"what? uh, sorry. you were just there, so I had to-" she had put her hand over my mouth, and her face was very close to mine. her cigarette was in her other hand, and she dropped it and squashed it with her foot. "don't worry. i think it's cute." she was staring deeply into my eyes—it for some reason made me blush—and she smiled. she took her hand away from my mouth and grabbed my sketchbook. she flipped to the next page and took my pen. i tilted my head, confused. who is this girl, anyway? she doesn't have any manners.

"wait, how did you know my name?" i ask, as she proceeds to draw in my sketchbook. she opens her mouth, about to say something, but then she closes it again. her eyebrows are furrowed with determination. i decide to let the question go, and let her finish her sketch. i stared into the distance, as the wind gently swept through my long, blonde hair. i focused on how the wind is so gentle with plants and trees. how it doesn't harm the tree, even with it's powerful force.

"why're you drifting off?" i jumped a little, and got back to my senses.

"sorry," i apologize. she looks at me up and down, glances back at the sketchbook, and nods.

"here," she says, handing me my sketchbook. there's an amazingly realistic picture of me sitting on the bench. i'm staring at a cherry blossom tree across the lake, and my hair is swept up by a gust of wind.

"this is... this is amazing! you're so talented!" i say, stunned by the beautiful artwork. "are you like, an artist or something?" i ask.

she shakes her head and says "noah. it says your name at the bottom of the page,"

"oh," i say, and see her name at the bottom of her drawing as well. haruka it says on the bottom right corner.

"haruka? is that japanese?" i ask. she looks at me and smiles.

"uh-huh," she mumbles. "my grandma's name is haruka. it means distance," she says, reaching in her pocket for another smoke.

i put my hand on top of hers, not allowing her to get a cigarette. "don't... do that," i hesitate, awkwardly moving my hand back.

"don't what?" she asks, not awkwardly at all. she's so confident.

"smoke. it's... bad for your lungs," i say, stiff. i am terrible in situations where Iim the one being awkward. i always find myself assuming things are awkward for the other person.

"hmm... we've only just met, and you're already caring so much about the way I choose to live my life?" she says, pitifully. she sighs and is about to reach into her pocket when a drop of rain falls on her cheek. she brushes it off and stares angrily at the sky.

"goddamn rain, always interrupting me. hey, i'll put the sketchbook under my coat so it won't get wet," she says, as if i'd have time to respond. i hand it to her, and she takes it under her coat.

"you know, i was serious when i asked if you wanted to walk home together," she says. "get up, it'll start raining harder soon," she grabs my hand and pulls me up. i hop off the bench and she lets go of my hand.

"where do you live?" she asks.

"'few blocks from here," i say sheepishly. it's normal for me to be a bit shy in situations like this. she pulls out an umbrella and holds it over my head.

"thanks, but what about you? i thought you didn't like the rain," i ask, pushing the umbrella towards her. she resists and pushes it back to me, so that a single drop of rain couldn't even drip onto me.

"your needs hold more purpose, cherry blossom girl," she says, turning her head slightly away. did she just blush? am I really not the only one embarrassed for once? wait... why is she blushing? we're both girls, so we shouldn't be embarrassed by communicating with each other....whatever. i'll ignore it for now. rain drops drip down her hair and face, as she hold the umbrella up for me. you know, she is pretty beautiful. i grab the umbrella, and she looks surprised. i hold it between both of us, the umbrella covering a half of both of our heads. she is blushing! "thanks..." she says, her whole face is red. it's kind of ruining her cool ego, but it doesn't bother me. it's actually pretty cute.

"is this it?" haruka asks, staring at me. oh god, i can't look her right in the eye. i face forward and nod. she walks with me to the doorstep and looks at me for a bit. this is so awkward.

"uh, I think i'll go inside now. thanks for walking me home," i say, smiling. she smiled slightly and then she leaned her forearm on the wall, causing us to be face to face.

"this is kind of sudden, but i find you interesting, do you think you could give me your number?" she blushed a bit, but tried to hide it by smirking. wow, she might be a girl but she sure is hot. i feel like i need to get away from her but something is making me want to give her my number. isn't that kind of a thing a guy would ask of a girl, anyway? "one minute," i say, walking into my house at rapid pace. i close the door and slide down it, sitting against it. i lean my head back and stare at the ceiling. i can't have her waiting too long, but i need a bit to figure things out. there's a girl i just met, who is oddly very manly and for some reason i find that attractive? she's a girl, though. i've never liked a girl in that way. i mean, i've had friends who were gay before. It's not like they're bad people. there honestly isn't anything wrong with being gay... so why am i denying my feelings? maybe i'm making too much of a big deal out of this. it's just a phone number, right? no big deal. okay, I've calmed down. i'll give her my number. i doubt she'll even call me, or even text me anyway. i get up and open the door. there stands Haruka, smoking her cigarette under the awning.

"give me your phone," i say, holding my hand out. she smirks.

"ah, so you decided to give me a chance, huh?" she says, grabbing the phone out of her pocket and handing it to me. i blush slightly, but I hide it by looking down. i open her phone. the background is a picture of her and  another girl making a heart shape with their hands together.

"wh-who is this? your friend? best friend? cousin? sister?" i ask, shakily. could this be—

"it's my former girlfriend," she says, blowing smoke into the wind. I stare at her, dumbfounded. i knew it. what now? another awkward situation—great. she doesn't seem to find it awkward, though. ugh, she's so cool!

"uh, okay," i say, swiping her phone open. i add my contact. i hand her back her phone, and she looks at it for a second and smiles. "Noah Wolfe, huh? I like your full name," she says. 

"well, i'll be going now. i hope to see you soon," she says, and before i could say goodbye, she was already on her way home. what an enthralling being, that girl is.