Umbrella

Chapter 1 "Beneath the tree"

The school bell rang, signalling the end of school that day. Every student barged out from their classes and went their separate ways to go back home.

     Standing alone in the corner of the bustling students, Rin held her books while waiting for the crowd to disperse. Her head afloat between daydreaming and reality, her eyelids flicked every few seconds.

     After a good while, the crowd disappeared. She took her books and cram them into her locker. Walking alone, she kept wincing. Her back was bruised a few days ago because of a tree branch.

     She took out a phone from the pocket of her hoodie and a pair of earphones. Putting them on, she left the school building to her bike. It was only today that she was able to ride it again. Her mother insisted that she should take her back home but Rin refused.

     When she went to the school parking lot, she was shocked to see a boy near her bike. It wasn't the fact that the boy was next to the bike, but it was who the boy was.

     "Kevin?" she asked, pulling her earphones out.

     He nodded and pulled out a small paper from his trousers. Without a word, he handed the paper to Rin and mounted his own bike beside hers.

     Rin read the paper in her hands, written in her mother's handwriting. 'I'm sending Kevin to fetch you in case anything happens again. You'll be a good girl and follow him, won't you?'

     After reading it, Rin sighed. She looked at Kevin who was getting ready to move in his bike. There's no running out of the situation so Rin went up her bike and left, Kevin shortly behind her.

     Turning her head behind, she could see Kevin speeding up. In just a flash, he was at her front. Still speeding down the road, Rin tried to catch up after him.

     "Is he seriously making this into a competition?" she whispered to herself.

     Holding on to her bike, she kept her pace until Kevin turns his back around. Seeing this, he stops his bike near the woods. By the time Rin stopped, Kevin was sitting down below a tree. His hands fumbled on his phone.

     Rin dropped her bike near the tree and sat next to Kevin. He didn't flinch at all until she came closer.

     Noticing his reaction, she slid away from him.

     "Sorry." She spoke.

     They sat in silence. Rin could feel tense breathing coming from Kevin and turned. He was silently whimpering and shaking, curling up into a ball.

     'He can't speak properly after getting bullied a year ago.' The words echoed in her mind. Heart beating fast, she immediately went in front of him. Silently, she whispered into his ear, a faint sound between each whimpering he made.

     "Breathe."

     It took her a while to quiet him down. By the time he was silent again, his body was still shaking. He held his head down and closed his eyes.

     Rin sat next to him, as if her presence might calm him down. In the span of a few seconds, Kevin was suddenly asleep beside her. Not wanting to leave him nor waking him up, she stayed and opened her phone.

     'I wonder what happened to him last year?' she thought, glancing at Kevin. 'He looks like he's around my age.'

     Putting on her earphones, Rin enjoyed the scene by herself while waiting for Kevin to wake up.

-Chapter 1 end-