The Other Half On The Second Floor

Chapter Three

I feel a tap on my right shoulder. The small and delicate tap wakes me from my half-asleep state. I turn around to see Hiroto writing down notes in his notebook, but still talking to me without eye contact.

"Wake up." He almost hisses, "We can't have our captain get kicked out of the team over slipping grades."

I yawn and rub my tired eyes. "Yeah, Yeah. Thanks." He doesn't respond, he just continues to write down notes for the class. I pick up my pen and proceed to take notes as I was doing before almost falling asleep. I really should begin managing my time better when it comes to talking to Eiichi late at night. Talking with Eiichi was always the highlight of my day, always. I was fortunate that my grades were still stable, but because I was preparing for college, I couldn't afford to not pay attention to class. After I started going out with Eiichi, I promised myself that I'd continue to work hard in school and at my part-time job to not only give myself a better life, but also Eiichi if our relationship kept going in the direction it was already heading. I was going to keep that promise, no matter the cost.

I planned on of course going to college, but not for an education to get a job such as a doctor, cook, teacher, or anything of that sort. I was going for one reason and one reason only- to join the college volleyball team. If I could get into the team, new opportunities could open up for me. I'd always enjoyed playing volleyball, it was one of my only hobbies. I picked up the sport as a kid, my father introduced it to me. He was a pretty athletic guy himself, so it was natural that he wanted his first born son to have some sort of sport in interest. Because he wants to have his children be at least in shape, both of my younger siblings play athletics. The eldest sister, Akari, who was born a year after me, plays basketball. The youngest sister, Aoi, plays soccer. My sisters both continue to play the sports simply because they are told to, but me, I play volleyball because I enjoy it.

The deafening sound of the bell rings. It's finally our lunch break. I put everything away and rushed off to the second floor- specifically Eiichi's class, he never said that waiting for him outside his room and walking him to his room was going against the policy. Eiichi and I had established a "No Affection at School" policy to avoid the possibilities of people finding out that we were dating. Sometimes, though, I wished that we could be open about our relationship. I understood that Eiichi wanted to keep us a secret because of what happened in middle school, but I guess I just didn't like not being able to at least hug him here, you know?

When I arrive at Class 2-3, I see the brown-haired boy waving to a classmate before finally making eye contact with me. He smiles lightly and walks over to me, "Ready to go?"

I nod my head and we start walking to our usual eating spot- the rooftop. We started talking a bit but it wasn't until we reached the door that I realized how distracted Eiichi looked.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask, my question made him flinch.
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Just have something on my mind."

"What's up?"

We sit down at the edge of the rooftop and take out our already planned lunches. Eiichi pulls out his phone and clicks a few buttons to unlock it. I peek over his shoulder and see he had a missed call and message.

"Who's that?"

"I'm not sure. This random person called me in the middle of class and when I didn't respond, they texted me this." He showed me the message, it read 'Hey, is this Eiichi Itsuki?' He sets his phone down, "I get random calls often, but how does this person know my name? Plus, the area code is from where I used to live."

"Maybe an old friend from middle school?" I suggest.

"I doubt it," his voice becomes a mumble, "Everyone hated me until the very last day of school." His dark brown eyes almost seemed to become even darker, not in color but in aura. There were still things I didn't understand or know about him, even after almost a whole year of dating him. My past isn't all sunshines and rainbows either, but I still got over it. Or at least as best as I could. One of the things that Eiichi and I have in common, even if he doesn't know, is that our past is somewhat alike. I had an ex lover who was plain awful. A liar and manipulator. But I got over it quickly, and the pain was gone.

"Maybe I should text them back." Eiichi finally says, "Maybe it's important?"

As he begins to type, I grab his hand to stop him. "What if it's a scam? An unknown caller AND a text message asking if it's you? Definitely sketchy."

He gently pulls his arm away from my grip, "I don't know why, but I have a feeling it isn't a scam. If anything I'll just block them." He continues typing and finally hits send.

I don't say anything. Rather I stopped myself from saying anything. Seeing him send that one message, bothered me. I didn't know why, it just did. After less than fifteen seconds later, his phone goes off, he has yet another message from the same number.

"So this is Itsuki. Good. Don't worry about who I am yet, see you soon."

"'See you soon'? What's that supposed to mean?" I finally say.

"Not sure." He stuffs his phone into his neutral-colored bag. "Let's just eat, we have limited time to eat, you know?"
I put my worries aside and smile at him, "Okay."