Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 19: The Walk Home

Walking alone with Komi was an interesting yet unnerving experience. Alex was seeing more eyes on them – they were wondering about her and glaring at him. It put a pit in his stomach knowing that they were all probably thinking bad things about him, and yet, he kinda liked the attention that came with it.

He felt as if he was in some special place where he didn't belong but had been invited to.

"Do you need to grab anything before we go, Komi?" Alex asked.

"Mhmm." Komi nodded and pointed towards her locker. He followed her to it and stood by, leaning against the lockers and watching her gather her things.

Watching her get her stuff with her usual delicate grace, it wasn't hard to see why everyone revered her so much. She had this aura that was as mystifying as it was untouchable, like a work of art in a gallery.

Komi stood up straight and looked at Alex. She flinched a little, her eyes getting wide as she noticed that he seemed to be observing her closely. She let out a stifled 'huh?'. Alex realized that he was staring and quickly waved it off with his hand.

"Sorry, ha, I didn't mean to stare. I was just looking at your hair. How'd you get it that straight?" He asked.

"I went to a hair salon very recently. I have been going there since I was 12. The stylist there takes good care of me." Komi wrote her explanation.

"That's really cool. She did a good job then!" Alex laughed, "And you do a good job maintaining it. It's got a nice shine to it." He complimented her.

Komi's eyes widened again at the compliment. She found herself feeling embarrassed; she greatly appreciated him taking notice of it, but she wasn't sure how to respond. She couldn't think of anything to say to reciprocate, and yet a simple 'thank you' didn't feel like enough.

"Thank you very much. My mother says that she thinks it suits me. I think so too." Komi added.

"I agree. All you need now is a fan to blow it back." Alex joked, imitating the sound of wind and making motions with his hands as if brushing back imaginary hair.

"Hmm?" Komi tilted her head, not understanding what he was referencing.

"Never mind." Alex brushed it off.

Alex held the door open for Komi as they exited the school. She nodded to him and stepped through then waited for him to come up next to her. Then the two walked through the courtyard and towards Komi's house.

"I don't know where you live, so I'm just following you." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Do you live in this direction?" Komi asked.

"It's not far." He answered indirectly.

Silence fell between the two of them. Komi kept her hands down in front of her, walking with her lowered down a little to hide her nervousness. Alex swallowed and scratched the side of his face. Neither of them were sure how to continue the conversation.

"Hey, uh, now that you're settled into the Literature Club, how're you liking it?" He asked. Komi's head lifted up, and she quickly wrote her answer.

"I like it a lot. I've been enjoying it, even though I feel like I don't have much to contribute."

"Ah, you're doing fine. Just being there every day is enough. It's not a very big club so, like, it matters who's a part of it. You contribute positively to the dynamic, so that's great! And I know the others appreciate that you're trying your best." Alex said with a smile.

"Thank you for saying such nice things, Alex. It makes me feel better." She expressed appreciatively.

"I didn't realize that you weren't feeling to good about it." He noted.