Teacher & Student

Akira Yamamoto

After walking into my house and putting my bag down, I went into the kitchen to feed my cat and check to see if there was any food in my refrigerator. I walked over and opened it to see if I had anything leftover. To my surprise It was empty.

"Well looks like I'm gonna have to go to the store,"  I say while petting my cats head.

I went to my room and changed into, my black sweatpants, a black shirt, and a pair of black running shoes. Then I head towards the door and put on my raincoat, grab my keys and head out the door. It wasn't raining as bad as it was before so I didn't grab my umbrella.

the closest convenient store isn't that far, I'll be home in no time. I begin walking to the store thinking about what I should buy. I pull out my phone to check if my parents had sent me my allowance, they did it wasn't as much as before but it was enough for about 2 weeks.

I arrived at the store and went to the frozen food section. There weren't many people inside, most likely because of the rain. I walked over to this girl who appeared to be very intrigued between 2 different brands of Salisbury steak.

"Having trouble deciding?" I asked her

"Yes this one taste the better but this one is on sale," she says.

I picked up the one that's on sale and handed it to her.

"Just add a little black pepper and a pinch of salt to it," I say to her as I grab one from myself.

"It will make it taste just as good," I say smiling.

"Sounds like you spend a lot of time taking care of yourself." She says as she walks towards the counter.

"Yeah my parents are always busy and I don't get to see them that much since they teach overseas in the states," I say to her checking the time on my phone.

"So you're on your own? Reminds me of the time when I moved out of my parent's house when I enrolled in college." She says as she puts her groceries on the counter.

"Yeah, my parents cover my living expenses as far as rent and food anything extra I have to work for."

"You have a part-time job too? You're better off than I was when in high school. I didn't get a job till I was in college, I worked a coffee shop part-time."

The cashier rings her items up and she reaches in her pocket to take out her wallet, but she couldn't find it.

"This is embarrassing I don't have my wallet on me can you hold my items so I can run back to my house to get it?" She asked the cashier.

"Don't worry about it," I tell her as I pull out my employee I.D. for the store.

I then tell the employee to add my items as well and use my employee discount on the items, and pay for them.

"Thanks for that, you didn't have to do that you know?" She said as we walk out the store.

"It's fine the employee in there knows me since I work weekends she's ok with it," I said to her.

She smiles at me as she takes out her umbrella.

"Do you mind if I join you under your umbrella?" I asked looking at the rain.

"I don't mind your home is the block after mine right?" She asked as we begin walking.

I nod my head and get slightly closer to her so I don't get wet from all the rain. We make small talk as we head towards her house. We talked about our parents, hobbies, and whatnot. She told me more about her time in college and her job as a barista. And I told her about my other part-time job which was also working as a barista at a small café.

"This is the place, thank you again by the way you're a lifesaver." She said as she steps on her porch.

"It was my pleasure, it's part of my job to provide excellent customer service," I said as a joke which made her laugh.

"Well, they should give you a raise for all of your hard work." She said as she unlocks her door.

"Well, I should be heading home now, to make dinner and start on the homework," I said as I begin to walk home.

"Hey wait a minute it's still pouring down and I owe you for paying for my stuff." She says as she invites me into her house.

"Are you sure it's not an inconvenience for you?" I asked her.

"Of course not it's no problem I don't mind." She said.

I step inside of her house; take my shoes off, hang my jacket up, and put my umbrella up. I did a quick look at her living room. There was a couch and a nice recliner, she also had a t.v. There were a couple of papers scattered around and she had a blanket and pillow on the floor.

"Sorry about the mess, I've been grading a lot of paper's and I haven't had much time to clean up." She said a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it when my parents were regular teacher's it was the same for them too," I said reassuring her.

She takes my bag and heads to her kitchen and starts preparing dinner.

"Make yourself at home and the password to the internet is by the t.v." she says poking her head out of the kitchen.

"Thank you again." I said entering the password into my phone.

I start to clean up her living room an organizing her paperwork and fixing her couch up. After straightening up her living room I sat on the floor and checked my parents social media accounts to see what they were doing. Looks like they're having fun, that's good at to know.

"I didn't know which one you wanted so I just made you the same one In had." Then sitting on the floor across from me.

"Thank you, oh and I straighten up a few things for you." I said as I began eating.

The two of us sat and ate, it was nice. It seems like we both were lonely, her more so than I. I at least had my cat to greet me when I came home, she had no one. As we sat there talking and eating, she smiled and laughed like she had never experienced the company of someone else before. I mean who could blame her. By how her living room looked it seems she barely has time to do anything else besides grade papers, it even looks likes she sleeps on her couch more often than her own bed. 

"Ms. Yamamoto, I was wondering are you eating properly?" I asked her as I finished my food.

She paused for a moment before answering and finishing her beer.

"You sound like my mother." She said laughing.

She paused again, then sat up straighten her back.

"No not really. I've slacking on my daily nutrition. I've been doing that for awhile now." She said rubbing her neck.

"Lately there's been more and more work, and honestly the healthiest meal I get is school lunch." She said laughing. 

"Well if you don't mind I usually make my own lunch and sometimes dinner when I'm not too busy." I said smiling at her.

Her face brighten, she had a smile reaching from ear to ear. I didn't really understand, but I guess life is tough when your lonely. We talked some more and cleaned up our dishes before I decided to head home.

"It was nice talking with you Sora, I really enjoyed your company." She said smiling.

"Same here Ms. Yamamoto." I said to her returning the smile.

"Please I'm off the clock call me Akira, only out of school though." She said pointing her finger at me with a stern look. 

"Sure thing Akira. Man that sounds weird, but alright." I waved goodbye I walked home.

Today was probably one of the best days I've had in a long time. I wish that everyday could be like this, simple and pleasant. The rain had died down to only sprinkles. The sound of crickets chirping filled the air, and the cool air gently brushing against my face. I arrived home to a familiar face again and procced to go too sleep.