Kajji-Tarra

Chapter 2: Lunchtime

Khathari's POV
The moment the lunch bell rang, the whole class, except Nharro and me, immediately left the classroom with wallets in hand for the cafeteria.

Roro laid back in his seat and gave what seemed to be an overexaggerated sigh.

"Had fun in history, I assume?" I teased with a playful punch to his shoulder.

He rolled his eyes at me with an exhausted, "Shut up."

He really did seem to struggle in history lessons.

"Tell you what, I'll help you catch up on history at dismissal," I offered.

He smiled back with a nod. I'm assuming that's a yes.

Nharro then sat up straight and offered to help me in the language lessons so that we were equal.

I accepted. I really needed help with my language studies.

Roro then picked up his notebook and lightly slapped it on my head.

"How do you not know the difference between a horse and a duck in our language?" Roro asked with a laugh.

I tried giving him a serious look, but I ended up laughing too. He has a contagious laugh.

"We shall not speak of this!" I said, trying to sound like Shakespeare for a humorous effect.

We chatted on while having lunch for a bit more.

When we finished and cleaned our tables, Nharro asked for my attention.

"Tari, I uh well have a small gift for you." he nervously said.

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a bracelet with 2 strings and a uniquely designed charm hanging from it.

I asked where he even managed to get such a beautiful bracelet.

A frown appeared on Roro's face, and he sadly said, "Oh, you don't like it? I'm sorry I didn't mean to make this awkward."

I immediately panicked at how his feelings were negatively affected by this misunderstanding. I immediately responded, "No way! I love it! I'm just surprised at how you afforded something like this and how the craftsmanship of the charm is like nothing I've ever seen!"

Nharro smiled brightly again and locked the bracelet around my wrist.

I hugged him tightly after to show my thanks, and he hugged back as well.

We were so caught up in each other that we didn't realize a group of our classmates enter into the room.

We also didn't realize that they were watching the whole scene until one of them screamed, "I SHIP IT!" from across the room.

Heck! This just got embarrassing.

Nharro then let go of me and yelled, "WE'RE JUST FRIENDS!" back at them, while I, on the other hand, just facepalmed at his... absurd reaction.

Just another day at lunch...

Nharro's POV
Everyone immediately left for lunch once the bell rang, which left me alone with Tari.

History was EXHAUSTING!

Tari teased me for my dumbness in history with an added punch to the shoulder.

I told her to shut up. Clearly, she's not one to talk for not knowing the words for horse and duck in our language class.

Although, I find it rather amusing to see her when she's confused. She unintentionally tilts her head to the side as if looking at things from literally a different angle will aid in her understanding.

After a short silence, Tari offered to help me catch up on my history. I was super grateful.

I nodded with a smile.

Well, I need to do something in return to thank her. The bracelet, perhaps? No, that's a gift, not a payment, but how about...

"Tari, if you'd like, I can help you too with language."

Tari was really happy with this offer and immediately accepted.

Tsk, typical Tari doesn't even remember being the one to talk ill about my weaknesses in history, and by the looks of it, she is still oblivious to my small yet pending grudge for it.

Time to even things up a bit.

I abruptly grabbed my notebook and slapped the back of her head.

I asked her how the world did she not know the words for horse and duck in our language class.

She just responded with a laugh and a humorous, "We shall not speak of this!"

We continued to laugh and talk with each other a bit more while having lunch.

When we finished eating, I took a little look at Tari from the corner of my vision.

She was happily smiling while humming something. I think I can give her the bracelet now.

Wait- I'm feeling nervous. Why am I even nervous? She's been my best friend since 2nd grade! Okay, okay, deep breaths. Here we go.

"Tari, I uh have a small gift for you," I said.

She looked at me and tilted her head in curiosity. I'd point it out but that'd ruin the moment.

I reached into my pocket and brought out the bracelet.

Tari stared at it for quite some time. I couldn't tell if it was because she liked it or she was finding the right words to kindly reject it.

The first thing that came from her mouth was a question concerning where I found this bracelet.

She didn't like it, I guess...

I felt embarrassed and apologized for making this moment awkward.

Tari then looked surprised at my reaction and told me that I misunderstood her.

"No way! I love it!" she quickly said, followed by a clarification of her question.

I was really happy that she liked it. I gestured for her to reach out her hand, and I locked the bracelet around her wrist.

She smiled and gave me a tight hug, and of course, I hugged back...

...until we were interrupted by one of our classmates screaming, "I SHIP IT!"

Geez... can't a guy return a hug to his best friend?

I yelled back at the interrupter, who clearly can't keep her mouth shut and let best friends be best friends, that we were just friends.

No idea how Tari feels about this but I sensed utter embarrassment from her facepalm.

That facepalm was probably meant for our interrupting classmate.