That Summer

Chapter 11

I went to campus and attended my class as if this was part of my normal life without any spiritual forces interfering. Music class was the same every Thursday with piano lessons to improve our skills and hopefully develop perfect pitch. When I was a child, my piano instructor told me that I had perfect pitch because I would complain if a piece was played in the wrong key. With more training and experience, I would have developed my perfect pitch but I quit piano before that could happen. I might have been an amazing musician if I continued my lessons and I would be living a completely different life. So, I was happy to have this opportunity to at least develop this skill.

    After class, I was expecting to see that servant of a god show up and then remembered that he didn't return yet. So, I decided to visit Hiro again. Also, I wanted to know more about him because he seemed more complex than I originally took him for. Hiro was a very intelligent person with a surprisingly normal background. But he seemed to be hiding his thoughts and feelings from people for a reason. If he was at my university, I wouldn't have met him in the first place because I lived in the business college while Hiro lived in his lab. It was a shame that I could only meet this intriguing person through spiritual intervention.

    I made my way over to the science building and before I walked into the building, I stopped and sat on a bench by the entrance. I felt guilty for distracting his research the other day and he ended up losing a productive day because of me. Hiro was working towards his Ph.D. so I didn't want to distract him from achieving his goals. Unlike me who didn't even know what my next step was after graduating undergraduate school, at least he knew that he wanted to get a Ph.D. So, I decided to wait for him to finish his research for the day instead of selfishly barging in and interrupting important discoveries.

I went to the student union and sat in a booth to eat a cheeseburger. It didn't taste as good as Haru's spirit food but it was edible. I stared around the large, open sitting area and saw people eating with friends, conducting study groups, finishing homework 10 minutes before the lecture, and sleeping in between gaps. I smiled looking at all these students living their college life because I would soon be returning to this lifestyle again. There was only a month left before my summer break ended. The weeks went by quickly in the future and I almost forgot that my time here was coming to a close. For some reason, even though I knew I was actually living in this moment, it felt like a dream to me. Like many of my other dreams, this was one I didn't want to wake up from.

    I stayed on campus until the sun started to set. I figured that Hiro would be finishing up his research for the day so I headed back to the science building to see if I could hang out with him for just a little while before I had to go back to the apartment. I sat on the bench by the entrance again. I saw professors and students gradually walk out of the building. But, Hiro hadn't shown up yet. After waiting 20 minutes, I started to doze off because the orange sky was relaxing and the falling autumn leaves were hypnotizing. So, I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds to take in this calm late afternoon.

    "You could get sick sitting out here." I heard a voice by my ear and my eyes shot open.

    "Who?" I looked to my right and I was leaning on a young man who was sitting next to me looking at a tree.

    "It's me, Hiro." He calmly said without looking at me.

    "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sleep on you. I was waiting for you." I stood up and flared my arms around trying to explain.

    "You weren't sleeping on me. I walked out of the building and saw you taking up the whole bench. To make space for other people who might need to sit down, I put your head on my shoulder and waited for you to wake up on your own." He said bluntly.