⌠ 1 ⌡
Four pairs of shoes become three.
"Busy," he says.
Always busy.
Unread messages.
Karaoke, cancelled.
He still walks with us to the station,
but looks past us,
fixed on something
we can't see.
Eri keeps a brave smile.
Yura doesn't.
⌠ 2 ⌡
Long shadows
in the classroom.
Chalk dust in the air.
His arm thrown over my shoulder.
Dragging me through the halls.
Then, the girls
he picked for the day.
Always waiting
somewhere eyes didn't pry.
Bright lips.
Fake promises.
Did you choose me because
you knew I wouldn't...
Couldn't
say
a
thing?
Like always.
Not to them.
Not to anyone.
Not even now.
Ito Takeshi.
Who are you?
Who am I?
⌠ 3 ⌡
Eri's humming a sad song.
She glances to her right
sometimes.
The seat. Empty.
Yura scrolls on her phone,
but looks up every time
Eri quiets.
"The festival's next week."
"Meet up at the shrine?"
"That's the plan."
Eri leans towards me.
"Can you tell Takeshi?"
A practiced smile.
"Sure."
The cafe is cold.
AC rattling in the corner.
The smell of pastries
YOU ARE READING
wingman | Cell Phone Novel
RomanceSakai Keichi has always been the wingman, the shadow helping his best friend chase girls in an empty cycle of double dates and practiced smiles. He lets himself fade into the background. Until he meets a girl who smells of rain, and for the first t...
