Sweetness of The Stars

Chapter Short: Middle School

(Story is canon but takes place in Nazuni's seventh grade year which is three years before the main story.)

“Ring!” Every student sat out of their desks, tossed their bags onto their back, and rushed out the door. It was the peak of middle school, seventh grade. I stayed in my desk, knowing it would be futile to get out of class with this crowd of people. 

     “Hey Nazuni!” Ayano flailed her arms in the air while simultaneously dodging incoming people. She walked to me and slammed her hands on the table.

     “Oh hey Ayano.” 

     “You don’t sound very enthusiastic.” She pushed her ponytail behind her shoulder then began drumming on my desk as if it were a drum set.

     “You going to the shop today?” She sang.

     “Yeah, in a bit.” I was dazed, tired and just too impatient as everyone was blocking the door walking really slow or just talking in the walkways. One such  girl caught my eye. She picked up her backpack and slowly yet elegantly strolled to the door. She moved the bangs of her long and beautiful brown hair with blond highlights, giggling uncontrollably as one of her friends said a joke.

     “Nazuni!”

      “Yeah! What’s wrong?”

     Ayano had her arms crossed and she looked me dead in the eyes.

     “Are you looking… ah never mind!” 

     “You sure?” I didn’t really know what ticked her off. Was it because I wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying?

     She sighed then began to walk out the door. 

     “I’ll be at the lunch tables with Daylin and Nuage when you're done.” Her voice slowly faded quieter the further away she was. 

     Mostly everyone was out except for the teacher who was on her computer and a couple students sprinkled here and there, so I thought it would be a good time to head out. I grabbed my bag and sped out the door into the hallways. It was lunchtime, so the hallways were full of kids all over the place. But I wasn’t going to have lunch just yet.

     I turned a corner to a door that had a big red sign saying “Student Store” and so I walked in. An old lady behind the counter waved to me.

     “Hello Nazini.” 

     “Hey Mrs. Hori.” My name’s obviously not Nazini, but she likes to call me that. She says my name sounds like a type of pasta, which is why she gave me that nickname. 

     I set my bag in the back of the room by the counter and began setting up shop. The student store sold various items from chocolate bars to pencils and little toys to mess around with. Whoopee cushions are probably the most sold inedible item here. Within a couple of minutes, the shop was ready to go and kids walked in and out for quite some time. 

     “Hey Naz!” Daylin, along with Ayano and Nuage, walked up to the front counter.

     “Hey! Looking to buy something?” Nuage and Daylin shook their heads. 

     “We don’t have cash.” 

     “What about you Ayano?” 

     She continued to look into the glass countertop that stored toys and candy.

     “I really want to,” Ayano said energetically.

     We all looked at her while she moved from one side of the counter to the other searching for stuff to buy. The sleeves of her silver sweater, longer than her arms, dangled and flopped as she moved around the place. We all wanted to ask the same question, but none of us had the balls to do so… except Nuage.

     He confronted Ayano and cleared his throat. “Do you even have money to buy things?” Our hearts dropped when he got that out, expecting her run out screaming, but she didn’t.

     “Of course I do!” Ayano pulled out a little pouch out of her backpack and began to open it slowly. The pouch… was empty. She had no cash after all. Ayano’s face began to crinkle up and an ocean began to seep from her beautiful eyes. 

    “Waahh!! I really wanted to get something!” 

     We all began to panic as she started crying.

     “Do something Naz!”

     “Why me!”

     “‘Cause you’re closest to her!” 

     I hastily reached into a bag full of candy and pulled out a chocolate bar. She has to like this.

     “Here, you can have this.” I handed her the chocolate bar and her eyes immediately began to shine again.

     “Thanks Nazuni, I really love sweets.”

     We all sighed in relief, and Nuage and Daylin took off. Guess they couldn’t handle her any longer. It was just me and Ayano. She sat behind the counter with me and began to munch on her chocolate.

     “Hey Nazuni?” she said between bites. “Did you have lunch yet?”

     “No, I have lunch but it’s egg sandwiches again. I’m sick of it.”

    “Great! Because you can have my lunch. It’s Chinese food.” 

     That last sentence had my mouth watering already. I instantly nodded my head and she slid over her lunch to me. My eyes were getting a treat too. Oh just looking at the flaky orange chicken and chow mein glistening in the light was enough to keep me relaxed and energized all day. But… then Ayano wouldn’t have lunch.

     “You sure I can have it?”

     “Oh yeah, I’m sure! I had way too many snacks today anyways.” Ayano patted her stomach and began to chuckle.

     I began to chow down at the speed of light. Life is good, and so is this food

     Hours late and I returned to the shop after school to help close down. I was cleaning the countertop and discovered some sort of note on the table. It read: “Since that chocolate bar was ‘on the house’ I want you to pay for it by the end of the week. Sincerely, Mrs. Hori.”

     I opened my wallet to pay it off, and it was empty.

    “Well crap.”