traces

128 20 8
                                        

⌠ 1 ⌡

Eri's goodbye.

Echoing in my dreams

until the weekend vanishes.


School returns.

A gray Monday,

wind scraping at my face.

Even the waves sound colder now.


Classes,

slow motion.

My gut twists.

Takeshi might've glanced over once.

Maybe not.

A flicker.

Nothing more.


...


At lunch,

there's an empty spot under the tree.

A strange sight.


I sit anyway, trying not to shiver.

Open my lunchbox.

Close it. No appetite.

My eyes close.

The rollercoaster rush

replays over and over.

Her laughs,

my screams.

Her fingers on my sleeve.

Our stomachs lurching

on every rise and fall.


"Hey, idiot."

Ai's voice floats from above.

Dry as always.

"You're late today."

"Can't always be first. Senior duties."

She plops next to me.

Close enough that I feel her cardigan

brush my shoulder.

Her warmth and

the faint smell of citrus.


"How was your date?"

"It wasn't one."

"Sure it wasn't."

She unwraps a sandwich.

Salmon. Cream cheese.

Typical her.


I sigh. "It was good."

"Did you guys make up?"

"...maybe."

She snorts.

"That tells me nothing."

I scratch my ear.

"Well... Eri wants us to meet at the library today."


Her tone brightens.

"That's a good thing!"

A munch.

wingman | Cell Phone NovelStories to obsess over. Discover now