Decadence

02 - And the Sister

At her request, Polka had met with one of his classmates, a girl his age and in the same class as him. The two had met through a mutual friend when they started high school. Since then, they had talked almost every day, while other days they would pass each other by with nothing more than a passing glance.

To Polka, it seemed the furthest they would go was friends, at least it was what he thought.

That was until the day came that she asked for Polka to meet her by one of the school's side entrances, one hardly any students used. While he was uncertain as to why, there was a thought Polka had, he had only hoped to be wrong.

It was there that she confessed to Polka, but Polka didn't feel the same. He had only seen her as a friend. Despite his attempts to let her down easy, he couldn't do it as she ran from him before he could finish.

It wasn't until later Polka found out their mutual friend encouraged her to ask him.

For the next few days, she didn't go to school, and every time Polka looked to her empty seat, he felt a pain grow inside of him. That was about the time Polka stopped going to school.

Opening his eyes, Polka turned to face the ceiling of his room, "Morning. Why did I think back to that day?"

* * *

"It's not that I wasn't popular in school, I had enough friends and some sort of status. Enough for a girl to confess to me. But the fact that how she reacted told me that maybe I could've done it a little better, then there was the guilt that came with it, made worse when she stopped coming to school for a while. I don't think I could've faced her again. Maybe I'm putting a little too much importance on myself, but I still can't bring myself to go back, even now."

"But as I think more about it, is school really something I want to go back to? I could just take this staying at home a step further and occupy myself with maybe a job, but what hours would they give to someone like me? I can't even be considered an adult yet."

After doing his usual routine for the day, Polka would sleep for a few hours, setting an alarm to go off at midnight. It was the best time in Polka's eyes, His grandmother had long since been asleep, and his mother would be asleep as well.

Once midnight had come, he quickly changed into a new set of clothes and snuck outside once again.

"It's been a couple days since I first met Towa, and I've already gotten used to doing this sort of thing. I've even learned how to get out faster while also being quiet. That kind of thing took practice, more than I'd like to admit if I'm being honest."

Crossing the street, Polka arrived at their usual meeting place, the park where Towa was already waiting.

"I saw your mother today." Towa said, "It wasn't too long but I was done with my shift and decided to wander the halls until I found her."

"So it was intentional then? Why start it like it was a coincidence?"

Towa just shrugged, "Didn't sound like it to me."

"Well, did you tell her anything?"

Towa just scoffed, "Yeah, because just walking up to a woman you've never met before and telling her all about how you meet with their child almost every night is just a normal way to start a conversation."

"No, I didn't say anything, Polka, give me some credit. I just walked right by and took a quick glance. She was talking to some guy in a suit."

Polka just sighed and said nothing.

"That's right, I try my best to not listen and ignore it, but she recently had been telling us she met a guy at the hospital. I don't really care for him, but I just nod along when she talks about him."