Evergreen

Sadness, gladness, and fear

In the evening, the surroundings had calmed down. There were almost no people outside having fun or talking. Many of them had already turned towards the Dormitory.

N and A were also leaving the "cafe in the up" and walking towards the Dormitory.

Sky was clear, but N was falling asleep. It's true that they hadn't had dinner yet, but there was so much food in the cafe that N was like she was coming back from some party where she'd been eating and drinking all day.

That's why she felt a little tired. But this tiredness was just physical. Because it was the first time since her arrival that she had spent the whole day with her friend A.

Actually, rather than going to the Dormitory, she wanted to spend some time outside, in more beautiful places, but it was late, so the day ended.

This meant that the holiday was over and the Inspectors could warn them at any moment. So she remembered A firmly telling her that it was better to be inside.

J wasn't the Refectory that evening. When N left the boys to go to bed, she found her on her own bed in the room.

She was lying on the bed, but her eyes were open. N thought she had woken her up as she walked in, but then realized she wasn't asleep anyway.

"I thought you were already asleep." said N, and sat on her own bed.

"No, not yet." said J in a weak voice.

The room was relatively darker, because a purple curtain was draped over the window. The curtain made the room look prettier now.

There were good ambience for sleeping. However, seeing J awake, N lost her sleep.

"The curtain looks pretty." said N, "It'll be easier to sleep now."

"Yeah, pretty." said J, "What's in your hand? It's not like the papers here." asked J curiously.

The drawing that A gave her was folded in N's palm.

"This? Oh, A gave this to me. I mean, it's mine, it was a sketch I drew back then. A has kept it ."

N opened and showed it to J.

"Not so perfect, but..."

"That's nice." said J with a smile.

Then N folded it and put it under her pillow.

"Let it stay here." said N.

But J seemed thoughtful. N saw that she was holding something green like a stone between her fingers. As she looked closely, she saw that the stone was hanging from a necklace around her neck.

J was looking at it for a while. At first glance, N thought the necklace around her neck was one of the mud and stone handmade bracelets boys were talking about today.

Later she realized that it wasn't handmade. The necklace looked real.

N thought J was thinking about something. She wanted to ask her that.

"Do you miss your family N?" asked J, and raised her head.

N wasn't expecting this question.

"Yeah, actually... I don't know, I don't think about them that much for some reason. Why?"

"I miss."

J sat up.

"Do you know what? Sometimes when I look at you, I wonder how you left them there alone. I get it, you're with your best friend here, but..."

J picked up her necklace's pendant again. She looked very disappointed. Seeing her, N was also made to think differently for a moment.

She suddenly remembered that J had died and that she had been away from her family for months. It wasn't easy. When N thought about all this, she felt sad about J.