awkward

chapter one

I groggily twisted the combination into the knob of my locker, making sure to do it right. I grabbed my lunch encased in a soggy brown paper bag and headed to the third floor of the school.

I always ate lunch in Mr. Shoji room.

I mean why suffer all of the looks and
stares and harsh whispers of the cafeteria when I could sit alone in the comfort his room?

And plus it had an unbalanced odor of sweat and mold.

I slowly pushed the wooden door open and unsurprisingly found Mr. Shoji staring out of the open window.

He nodded as if he had eyes in the back of his head and saw me come in. "I got you a drink Mr.Shoji." I said placing an aloe drink on his desk. It was kinda our unspoken agreement.

He was a peculiar man. He would always get those and mix it with his tea. When I asked him why he did it he responded, "That was unexpected for you Mr.Okonma. But now you'll expect me to do that on a daily basis, making it somewhat expected. And now I'm not expecting you to expect what you thought was expected which is now unexpectedly turning into your expected."

Ok. No more sugarcoating.

He's a nutcase.

Well maybe to everyone else but I enjoy his demented demeanor and his company.

I quietly sat down and took my sandwich out of the bag. I realized how wet and sodden my sandwich was, in a solution of rainwater and the juices from my demolished bag of grapes.

I thought about who invented parchment paper.

"Oh Mr.Okonma, I will be leaving the room soon for an assemblage in the office with the other personnel. You can stay here if you'd please." he said staring down at the mess that dripped out on the table.

"Yeah. I'll get that." I mumbled. I listened to the clicks of his shoes exit the room.

I decided to give up on lunch today and threw the remains away. I sat down, closer to the window this time where Mr.Shoji previously was.

Outside was wet and muggy and had a smell of wet sidewalks. I imagined what the scene would look like in watercolors.

I took out the small notebook I kept with me and grabbed a box of colored pencils from the supply room.

I liked sketching. Most things I drew were just doodles or things that popped into head.

I was shading in a pink background when I heard the door creak open. Thinking it was Mr.Shoji, I continued.

"Uh, Do you know where Mr.Shoji is?"

I looked up and it was a girl.

"He stepped out." I dryly replied.

She nodded and took a seat near the door. She pulled out what looked like her lunch from her bag.

"Do you spend lunch in here? I'm not here because I don't have friends or anything- I mean not saying you don't. Actually, I've never seen you around. Well, I'm just here to finish a project." she rambled.

She noticed I wasn't paying attention and stopped talking.

"I'm Kai by the way.."

I looked up and nodded at her. "Tyler."

I guess she figured me out and just stopped talking.

"Are you working on your project?" she said moments later.

Too soon?

" Nah. Just doodling." I replied.

"Oh, are you in art club? It's great. You should come to a meeting." she said crunching into a potato chip.

"Maybe." I said putting the colored pencils back.

" What? Do you have something to do after school?" she questioned me.

Why is she bothering me?

Just then the bell rung.

"Saved by the bell." I mumbled to myself and chuckled.

I guess she heard and laughed too. "See you at 3." she said handing me a flyer and leaving out of the room.